1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 913 Stumbling Block

Wang Tom's words made Zheng Zhilong, who had understood a little bit, fall into a confused state again. He really didn't understand why these overseas visitors who were said to have lived thousands of miles away and had never dealt with him before they came When he was in Ming Dynasty, he listed himself as an opponent.

If calculated from time, Zheng Zhilong established himself at the end of 1625, the fifth year of the Ming Dynasty, and began to form Shibazhi. In the next two years, taking advantage of the severe drought in southern Fujian, he led his troops to plunder the coast of Fujian. Tens of thousands of disaster victims were transported from Quanzhou to the west coast of Taiwan Island for reclamation.The arrival of the Haihan people on Qiongzhou Island was the seventh year of the Apocalypse. In that year, Cai Shanji, the Quanzhou sea patrol, tried to recruit Zheng Zhilong. I gave up this recruitment and returned to Taiwan to continue to be a pirate.In the same year, Shibazhi also had a battle with the Dutch on Taiwan Island, and they also gained the upper hand.At that time, Zheng Zhilong had never even heard of the name of the Haihan people, let alone had a grudge against them. This hatred was indeed a bit unclear.

Seeing the question mark expression on Zheng Zhilong's face, Wang Tom could naturally think of why he was confused. Even if Wang Tom was willing to explain to him, Zheng Zhilong probably wouldn't be able to believe the various reasons.After all, most of Haihan's fear of him comes from things that never happened. Zheng Zhilong neither killed Xu Xinsu nor went ashore to become a general of the Ming army, nor surrendered to the Qing Dynasty as a traitor. Haihan demanded that Isn't it a big joke in his opinion that he is responsible for these things that he didn't do at all?

Wang Tom said: "You don't need to ask about the reasons for this anymore. In short, we came prepared. If the Eighteen Zhis are not destroyed, the war will not end. Today's ending has already happened a few years ago." Doomed."

Naturally, Zheng Zhilong couldn't be relieved by such a comprehensive answer. He had struggled for many years to acquire a family like Shibazhi, and he had originally hoped that after getting rid of Xu Xinsu, a serious confidant, he would be able to wash his hands and go ashore and become an official in the court.However, the appearance of the Haihan people not only blocked the development route he had planned, but also supported his opponent Xu Xinsu to take the position, and bit by bit wiped out Shibazhi's advantages.As the saying goes, blocking someone's way of making money is like killing one's parents. This Haihan not only blocked his way of making money, but also blocked his official career. With such a deep hatred, Tom Wang took it lightly. Can't bear this tone.

Zheng Zhilong asked: "General Wang, you want to compete with Shibazhi for the control of the Fujian Strait, and you want to cooperate with the Fujian government in exchange for business opportunities. These purposes are understandable below, but four years before Chongzhen, Shibazhi and Gui There is no conflict between the two sides, why did you not even give Shibazhi a chance to negotiate, and you must get rid of us and hurry up?"

The "four years of Chongzhen" mentioned by Zheng Zhilong refers to the first direct conflict between the two sides in this year. That is, in May 1631, the Haihan mission encountered an assassination operation organized by Shibazhi in Zhangzhou City. Together with the Fujian government army, they broke through Nanri Island, an important stronghold of Shibazhi on the coastline of Fujian. Only at this time did the two sides start a real confrontation.Prior to this, Haihan had never ended up fighting in person, but only played against Shibazhi through the agent of Fujian Mingjun.Zheng Zhilong believed that those vague excuses that Tom Wang said were all excuses.He can face failure due to lack of strength, but it is difficult for him to accept that his opponent is so perfunctory.

Wang Tom said: "What we want is not just control over the Fujian Strait and business opportunities. The existence of Shibazhi is a threat that must be eliminated for us."

"But we have already given up the territory!" Zheng Zhilong retorted very sadly and indignantly.

"The only thing you gave up is the Fujian Strait." Tom Wang's tone also became serious: "But now we need the waterway from Taiwan to Ryukyu. For us, Shibazhi is still a stumbling block that must be removed. As for certain You need to use force to solve your reasons, as I said just now, this is something that has been settled from the very beginning, no matter what you do, it will not change our plan."

After all, Zheng Zhilong still didn't hear Tom Wang give a reasonable explanation, which made him very disappointed besides grief and indignation.Judging from Wang Tom's attitude, Haihan paid more attention to Shibazhi, but the reason was only because he regarded it as a stumbling block in the process of expanding the territory, which must be completely eliminated.And for Zheng Zhilong, who has been striving to get ahead all his life, this is undoubtedly a complete denial of his personal value.

"It seems that Mr. Zheng's life cannot be saved. I have nothing else to ask for, but I just hope that General Wang can let him live because he is young and ignorant." Zheng Zhilong knew that there was no reason, so he got up immediately Bowing, begging Wang Tom to give his son a yard.

Wang Tom replied in a deep voice: "You don't have to be so discouraged, we have no intention of executing you, and we will not harm your family. It's just that you will probably not have personal freedom for a long time to come. As for your son Zheng Fusong, you can choose different future paths for him. One is to be imprisoned with you until we think that you are no longer a threat, then there will be a chance to regain freedom. The other is to let us raise him up Adult, so that he can get rid of the identity of Zheng Zhilong's son and live freely in the sun."

Wang Tom's words made Zheng Zhilong feel relieved. What he worried most was that the Haihan people would execute him to avoid future troubles, even his own son.But since Wang Tom expressed this attitude on behalf of Haihan, the lives of his father and son were basically saved.It's just that Zheng Zhilong really can't understand why the Haihan people are so kind to their sons, and even propose to raise them on their behalf. Could it be that the Haihan people have some other conspiracy?
The most valuable asset under the name of Zheng Zhilong is Shibazhi, but this armed force has been suppressed by Haihan in a small area of ​​the island, and it is determined to surrender to Haihan, so even if Haihan The Han people controlled Zheng Fusong, and it was difficult to achieve the effect of "holding the emperor to order the princes".The possibility that Zheng Zhilong can think of is probably only the Haihan people who want to use this method to control themselves so that they can spend their prison life honestly.

Of course Zheng Zhilong didn't want his son to be imprisoned with him, but the second choice was a bit weird, which made it difficult for him to make a choice for a while.Even if Zheng Zhilong wanted to break his head, he would never have imagined that the reason why the Haihan people were so tolerant to his son had nothing to do with him. The "feeling" behavior across time and space cannot be explained by common sense.

Seeing that he was silent, Wang Tom knew that this guy should be calculating the pros and cons, so he said immediately: "You don't have to feel embarrassed, even if you don't agree with our proposal, we won't make it difficult for your son, but I still want to remind you You point, if you choose to let him be imprisoned with you, then he probably won't have a chance of being released until you pass away."

Zheng Zhilong clenched his fists. He himself is not yet 30 years old. After such a long period of imprisonment is over, his son will be at least [-] years old. Even if he is released by then, he will have nothing to do with the outside world. How can a person who has been cut off from contact for many years survive in this world?Even if I left some secret property for him, how much can I get back after decades?Although long-term imprisonment can save Zheng Fusong's life, there is no doubt that this will also ruin his future life, which is also the result that Zheng Zhilong does not want to see.

"Then if I entrust the dog to you, will I still have the opportunity to meet with you in the future?" Zheng Zhilong asked with a glimmer of hope.

"There will be a chance to meet, but the time will be arranged by us." Tom Wang paused and said, "Probably once a year."

Zheng Zhilong took a deep breath. Although this arrangement was still impossible to satisfy him, it was undoubtedly the most favorable way to deal with Zheng Fusong known so far.Considering Zheng Fusong's future life, Tom Wang's proposal has made him unable to refuse.However, this also made him more and more unable to understand the ways of the Haihan people. On the one hand, he spent several years and countless wealth just to deal with himself, and on the other hand, he generously spared his family and even Willing to raise his son on his behalf.The two completely contradictory approaches of the Haihan people made Zheng Zhilong really feel a little at a loss, and it was even more difficult to figure out the other party's real purpose.

After some discussions, Wang Tom and Zheng Zhilong reached a three-point agreement.First, to ensure the safety of Zheng Zhilong and his family; second, to ensure the safety of Zheng Zhilong’s subordinates who choose to surrender; third, Zheng Zhilong must lead his subordinates to surrender unconditionally to Haihan before noon the next day and accept the arrangement.

After the two parties agreed on the place to be surrendered the next day, Zheng Zhilong stood up and said goodbye. Wang Tom didn't try to detain him, but sent him out of the camp very politely.On the contrary, the Fujian official representative who was in charge of identifying the identity did not agree with Tom Wang's handling, and believed that he should detain Zheng Zhilong on the spot or even kill him directly, so as to avoid other variables after he was released.

"Zheng Zhilong can't die yet." Wang Tom explained patiently: "In the field of trade with Japan, it is difficult for us to find a more professional consultant than him. For us, he still has great value. It is more useful to be alive than to be dead."

Of course, the Fujian side hopes to eradicate Zheng Zhilong in order to avoid the troubles in his heart, but Haihan does not intend to follow the official opinions of Fujian in the way of handling this matter.If Zheng Zhilong was just a pirate leader like Wang Jialin of the Zhoushan Ship Gang, then he would be killed if he was killed, no big deal.However, Zheng Zhilong was stationed in Japan in his early years, and he is a real expert in understanding the maritime trade between China and Japan. He also has many local connections in Japan that continue to this day. These are the resources and information that Haihan currently lacks.

Saving Zheng Zhilong's life is equivalent to adding an experienced and highly qualified consultant who can slowly extract all kinds of information Haihan needs from him.From the intelligence field, Zheng Zhilong may be more valuable than the thousands of Shibazhi remaining on the island combined.So before the war started, the Haihan Security Department had already made a request to the military through the executive committee to save Zheng Zhilong's life as much as possible.If it's a battle on the battlefield, and the sword and gun have no eyes, then that's fine, but since Zheng Zhilong has already chosen the path of surrender, it is not too difficult to save his life.

Although Fujian's official representatives were somewhat dissatisfied with this, the operation was led by Haihan, and Fujian did not directly participate in the war. It only sent a military observation team to participate, and it was difficult to interfere with Haihan's decision.At most, he would report the situation to Xu Xinsu after returning home, and then he would personally negotiate with Hai Han.But by that time, Zheng Zhilong would have already been transported back to Hainan Island and locked up in a secret place of imprisonment.

After Zheng Zhilong returned to Shibazhi's residence, he informed everyone of the results of his discussions with Wang Tom, but he withdrew the relevant details of Zheng Fusong.Everyone was naturally relieved that they could save their lives in the current situation of defeat and nowhere to escape, but they still had a lot of anxiety about how the Haihan people would deal with the prisoners, and they asked Zheng Zhilong questions one after another.

Zheng Zhilong explained: "General King Haihan said that they have always dealt with prisoners of war through hard labor with varying time limits, ranging from a year or a half to several years. After the hard labor is over, they can resume their freedom. body. Although it will take some suffering, it is better than losing your life in vain."

"Then how do the Haihan people plan to deal with the boss?" At this time, there are only a few people who still remember Zheng Zhilong's fate.

"I will probably be treated a little better than you brothers, and I won't have to do hard labor." Zheng Zhilong smiled self-deprecatingly: "The people of Haihan made it very clear that I will be imprisoned in solitary confinement. As for the time limit... probably all the time." locked up until death."

Everyone immediately quieted down. For pirates like them, losing freedom is actually not much different from dying, let alone life imprisonment.Zheng Zhilong's reason for accepting such a condition is probably to save his own life, but it is more likely to save their lives.

If Zheng Zhilong hadn't mentioned the matter of surrender before, everyone might have fought the Haihan people to the end with blood, but now that they have seen the hope of life, let them give up the chance to live and fight the Haihan people to the death. Many people fight The will is not so firm.Zheng Zhilong was slightly disappointed when he saw that no one in the audience expressed their willingness to fight for him with the Haihan people. He could only forcefully smile and said: "Brothers, don't worry, the handover will be completed with Haihan tomorrow according to the agreed time. Follow them." According to the arrangement, all the pigs, cattle and sheep on the island will be slaughtered tonight, let's have a breakup meal together, brothers!"

(End of this chapter)