weaving

Chapter 1230 Agent Title?

"Master Zheng, you must be exhausted after the long journey. Please come to the camp as soon as possible. I have prepared some wine to welcome you."

Zheng Zhibao trotted forward, lifted his front lapel and leaned forward to kowtow: "Zheng Zhibao from Fujian, I pay my respects to Yongning..."

Zhang Cheng hurriedly supported him and said, "Mr. Zheng San, please get up quickly. Why bother with these clichés?"

Zheng Zhibao seemed to want to test whether Zhang Cheng's reputation as "the bravest among the three armies" was in vain. He nailed his feet to the ground, concentrated all his strength on his shoulders, and transferred it to his elbows to press down hard. He never thought that he would be completely held up by Zhang Cheng. No matter how hard he pressed down, he could not shake Zhang Cheng at all.

Seeing this, Zheng Zhibao quickly stopped his effort and stood up with the help of Zhang Cheng. Only then did he realize that the Earl of Yongning in front of him was actually taller than him, but his physique seemed slightly inferior to his.

At the same time, Earl Yongning was also looking at Zheng Zhibao carefully. Although he was slightly shorter than himself, he was almost a whole circle fatter than himself, which was considered a tall and strong man in the late Ming Dynasty.

Looking more closely at his face, he had a completely different look. Although he was sailing on the sea, Zheng Zhibao did not get tanned at all. Not only was his complexion fair and handsome, his beard was only short and neatly trimmed, making him look refreshed.

This appearance was almost completely contrary to Zhang Cheng's previous guess, which really stunned him. If Liu Jinhai and Weiyuan Battalion Deputy General Xu Jinyong had not been accompanying him, Zhang Cheng would hardly have dared to believe that the person in front of him was the feared sea tycoon.

"The Earl of Yongning is the best among the three armies. His reputation is well-deserved. It is a great honor for Zhibao to meet him today!"

Zhang Cheng held his big hand and said, "I never thought that Mr. Zheng San was so gentle and refined. How can he look like a sea tyrant?"

"No, no... Earl Yongning is so tall and handsome, but he doesn't look like the commander of the three armies who fights against bandits at home and Tartar invaders abroad."

"Hahaha……"

After they finished talking, they both burst into laughter.

…………

Here, Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, kept calling Zheng Zhibao "Master Zheng Sanye" instead of referring to him by his official title. This showed that he did not want to use his official position to oppress others, but also that he thought highly of Zheng Zhilong and wanted to be close to him.

Zheng Zhibao is also a person with long experience in society. He has come into contact with all kinds of people from all walks of life. His ability in dealing with people and observing their words and expressions is much better than that of ordinary people.

He saw that the Earl of Yongning treated him with such courtesy. Although that was to give face to his brother Zheng Zhilong, after all, it was him, Zheng Zhibao, who was in the situation, so he naturally felt very happy.

Zheng Zhibao shook Zhang Cheng's hand and said, "I feel bad that Earl Yongning condescended to welcome Zhibao!"

"Mr. Zheng San, our Xuanfu Town has always respected guests, and now you are a guest from afar, so you should be treated as such."

Zhang Cheng pulled him and walked into the camp, saying as he walked: "I have been friends with General Yiguan for a long time. Since you have come to my camp today, I will get drunk with you."

Zheng Zhibao felt very comfortable and benefited from his generous behavior. He said as he walked, "I am flattered that Earl Yongning is like this."

Zhang Cheng naturally extended his courtesy to him, and said to him with a smile: "We hit it off right away, and we are of similar age. If we were to discuss this in detail, I'm afraid I would have to call you Brother Zhibao. Why should you be so restrained and polite? If you don't mind, you might as well just call me by my courtesy name."

Although he became more and more polite, Zheng Zhibao was not a three-year-old child, so he naturally did not dare to call Zhang Cheng by his given name. He only heard him say: "How can Zhibao dare to call the Earl of Yongning by his given name? If the Earl of Yongning does not mind, then Zhibao will dare to call you 'Master Shuai'. How do you think?"

"It's up to you. It's up to you."

Zheng Zhibao let go of Zhang Cheng's hand, clasped his fists and saluted, "Master, please."

Zhang Cheng also raised his hand to show courtesy and said with a smile, "Third Master, please."

The two walked into the military camp side by side, and saw armored warriors on both sides. Their armor was shining brightly, and their weapons were also shining brightly, reflecting a dazzling light under the sunlight.

"Third Master, look at my soldiers and the guards you brought with you. How big is the difference?"

"Ah. They are just for show."

Zheng Zhibao said a little embarrassedly: "Although the things I brought with me may look impressive, they are all useless."

…………

It turned out that Zheng Zhibao, accompanied by Liu Jinhai, headed west after landing in Jining Prefecture, entered Henan Province through Cao County, and when he crossed the Yellow River here, he met Xu Jinyong and the Tiger Guards who came to greet him.

Although Zhang Cheng and the Yongyi Army have become very famous in recent years, having suppressed bandits and fought against the Tartars, many generals and officers from all over the country are not very convinced by this. They always feel that it is nothing special and that if they were to take over, they would also be praised as "the bravest among the three armies."

This is exactly what Zheng Zhibao thought!

So when he saw Xu Jinyong and the Tiger Guard Cavalry, although they seemed very brave, Zheng Zhibao was very skeptical about what kind of people they were.

Moreover, the eighty guards who came with him this time were all brave men he selected from his own army. They were usually fierce fighters who would not give in to anyone until they were convinced. To them, no achievements or titles were as beneficial as defeating them.

  It has been like this since ancient times. The strong are more convinced of the strong and admire the strong more!

Finally, under Zheng Zhibao's provocation and connivance, a friendly match was held between the soldiers of the Tiger Guard Battalion and his guards. It was very exciting. This battle alone completely conquered Zheng Zhibao and the eighty guards he brought with him.

In fact, Zhang Cheng had already anticipated this when he summoned Liu Jinhai to accompany Zheng Zhibao to Kaifeng, so he sent Xu Jinyong to lead the Tiger Guard Cavalry to welcome them.

This is also the reason why only Lin Fangping led the Yulin Cavalry back after meeting up with Hu Dawei's troops.

So it can also be said that Zheng Zhibao fell completely into the calculations of Earl Yongning, but this was not a conspiracy. It was like "Zhou Yu fighting Huang Gai", one was willing to fight and the other was willing to be beaten.

  Although the one who was beaten was like a dumb person eating bitter herbs, he could not express his pain in words, but he could only endure it in his heart!

The Tiger Guard Cavalry, like the Yulin Cavalry, is also the ceiling of combat power in the Yongyi Army, not to mention the shoddy Ming troops in other military garrisons.

Even when facing the strongest pirate among the Ming Dynasty, he felt no pressure at all.

What made Zheng Zhibao even more disheartened was that after Xu Jinyong accepted his challenge, he made a request, which was that Zheng Zhibao must randomly select eighty soldiers from the one thousand cavalrymen he led to fight against the eighty guards he brought with him.

  This move is really vicious!

Because if Xu Jinyong had chosen them himself, they would have said that those who were chosen by you are naturally the best fighters in your camp. Now, letting Zheng Zhibao choose is a pure blind selection.

In this way, if the eighty guards brought by Zheng Zhibao still lose the competition, they will have nothing to say!

The result was indeed not surprising. Although the guards brought by Zheng Zhibao were all excellent in combat skills, their best sea combat skills were of little use. Moreover, the soldiers of the Tiger Guard Camp were also excellent in combat skills and were not inferior to them at all.

As for fighting in formation, the Tiger Guard Cavalry had practiced whether they were two, three, five, or even seven or ten men. They could cooperate effectively with each other in both foot and cavalry battles, and complement each other in attack and defense. Therefore, after two days of competition, the pirates had some wins in individual competitions, but they were all defeated in the battle formation competition, which stunned them.

Zheng Zhibao was even more dissatisfied with this, so he proposed that he and his team leader Xu Jinyong have another competition. His initial idea was very simple, he just wanted to use this opportunity to save some face for his side.

But he never expected that Xu Jinyong would not give him any face at all. He defeated him twice in front of the eighty guards, first with fists and then with weapons, and he was defeated both times.

Although Zheng Zhibao was born a pirate, he was not a reckless man. Even though someone among his guards suggested another "duel on horseback", he was very self-aware. He was already a king on the sea, and if he had another "duel on ship", he might still have a chance of winning.

  As for "horse riding and fighting", it is not what I am good at, so why should I use my weakness to attack my strength and bring humiliation upon myself?

At this moment, Zheng Zhibao's generous side was fully revealed!

He highly praised the bravery and ferocity of Xu Jinyong and the Tiger Guards. He bluntly admitted that he had lost the competition, and subtly hinted to Xu Jinyong and Liu Jinhai that he would definitely win if the competition was on the sea or on a boat.

Naturally, neither Xu Jinyong nor Liu Jinhai had any objection to this.

  Moreover, from the two days of competition, they both felt that the Zheng family was indeed worthy of its reputation. As Earl Yongning said: There is a reason why the Zheng family can dominate the Ming Dynasty's maritime borders, and it should never be underestimated!

Take the group of guards brought by Zheng Zhibao for example. They were actually not much inferior to the Tiger Guard Cavalry, except that they were slightly inferior in terms of coordination in battle formation. In fact, if it were soldiers from other battalions of the Yongyi Army, they probably would not have won so thoroughly.

  It can be said that there are only a few armies in the entire Ming Dynasty that can have the same level of combat skills as them!

From then on, Zheng Zhilong and Xu Jinyong got along well with each other. They appreciated each other and their feelings grew stronger day by day. They became lifelong friends. Of course, this is a story for later.

…………

That night, a not-so-luxurious banquet was held in the central camp of the Yongyi Army in Xinchengji.

In the central army tent, Zhang Cheng, the Earl of Yongning, Zheng Zhibao, the deputy commander of the Fujian Navy, as well as Chen Zhong, Lin Fangping, Xu Jinyong and others, as well as Liu Jinhai, Sun Shixiang, Hu Yiwen and Liu Chengzu, were all present.

Zheng Zhibao's group of guards were arranged to dine in the side tents on both sides. Zhang Cheng specially arranged for officers above the rank of captain of the Tiger Guard Cavalry to accompany them.

During the dinner, after exchanging pleasantries for a while, everyone started talking about their feelings, and no one talked about the main topic at all.

This surprised Zheng Zhibao very much. According to his previous experience, they would discuss serious matters in the first half of the banquet and drink freely in the second half. But today was different. As soon as they sat down at the table, they started drinking like crazy, which really made him unable to adapt.

  However, since "a guest from afar is a guest", he could only "follow the host's wishes". Since Zhang Cheng did not mention the main business, he had no choice but to accompany Zhang Cheng to the end!

Zheng Zhibao originally thought that with his drinking capacity, he could easily get Zhang Cheng and Xu Jinyong, and even the entire table of Yongyi Army's civil and military officers, drunk under the table, so as to save some face for the failure in the competition.

But when the banquet was only halfway through, he was dumbfounded!

Although Zhang Cheng is no longer as unrestrained as usual at banquets, his alcohol tolerance is increasing with his age. He looks like he is drinking in a refined manner, but in fact, he just speaks a little softer and moves a little slower.

The wine bowl was still empty when picked up, just like usual!

After a round of drinking, it was late at night. Even Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng felt dizzy and a little unclear in mind. Naturally, everyone else was no exception.

Only Chen Zhong and Lin Fangping were exceptions because they had the duty of patrolling the camp at night and only took a sip of the wine without drinking too much. Even the three literati, Sun Shixiang, Hu Yiwen and Liu Chengzu, drank until their faces were red.

…………

"Third Master, how was the wine last night?"

Facing Zhang Cheng's question, Zheng Zhibao took a big sip of rice porridge before saying, "Strong, strong enough. This is the first time I've drunk such strong liquor."

"How does it feel?"

“Delicious, strong, and refreshing!”

Zheng Zhibao put down the spoon and continued, "It's just too strong. My throat feels like it's on fire before it even enters my stomach."

"Ha ha……"

Zhang Cheng laughed from the bottom of his heart. People of this era were really not used to drinking such strong liquor. He looked at Zheng Zhibao and said, "This is the 'shaojiu' that is unique to our army. It is much stronger than the rice wine and yellow wine we drank before."

He made a gesture, indicating Zheng Zhibao to continue eating breakfast, and he also grabbed a steamed bun, put it in his mouth and started chewing it. Then he picked up a piece of beef and drank a big sip of the broth.

Then he added: "I prefer to call this liquor 'strong liquor' or 'white wine'. It is spicy at first, and the feeling is even stronger when it passes through the throat. It goes from the throat to the stomach, like a line of fire burning. I call it 'a line of throat'."

"A line of throat?"

Zheng Zhibao frowned at first, as if recalling the feeling he had when drinking last night. After a moment, he really said, "Now that you put it that way, Master Shuai, it really feels that way."

He smacked his lips and said, "One Line Throat... One Line Throat, this name is good and very distinctive. Master Shuai, have you named this wine?"

“This wine is called ‘Shao Dao Zi’ on the market.”

"Burning the knife...burning the knife?"

After Zheng Zhibao muttered a few words, he suddenly said to Zhang Cheng: "Master Shuai, can you sell us some of this wine?"

"Oh. Third Master, are you interested in this wine?"

"Master, you don't know that we travel on the sea all year round and always encounter strong winds and waves. The sun is shining brightly during the day, but it is freezing cold at night. After drinking this 'burning knife', it is like a ball of charcoal in the stomach that lasts for a long time, which can keep you warm."

"That's easy... easy to say."

How could Zhang Cheng not be happy when he managed to sell his homemade liquor before even starting to talk about serious matters?

"Master, there is one more thing. This wine is called 'Shao Dao Zi' in Jiangbei, but once it enters Jiangnan, it is called 'Yixian Hou'. What do you think?"

"Ah. Do you mean...agent sponsorship?"

"What? What is 'agency title'?"

"Ah...hahaha...it's okay...it's okay!"