Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 329 Chongzhen's Ambition

Early this morning, Uncle Liu Kongzhao came to Wei Guogong's mansion.

When he was led into the West Flower Hall by the butler of the Xu Mansion, he saw Wei Guogong Xu Hongji trimming a plate of animal husbandry pills.

Facing the freshly pruned Mudan flowers, Xu Hongji praised: "Mudan is worthy of being the king of flowers. It is gorgeous in color, fragrant with pearls, elegant and magnificent, and other flowers are hard to come by."

Liu Kongzhao then agreed: "The Duke of Wei's mansion is just like this shepherd danhua, and it is also the king among all the nobles. No other nobles can compare to the Duke of Wei's mansion."

"Sincerity, I made you laugh."

Xu Hongji handed the scissors to the maid, and took a wet towel from another maid to wipe his hands.

While wiping his hands, Xu Hongji sighed and said, "Uncle Chengyi, what you said just now was wrong. The glory that belongs to our Duke Wei's mansion has passed away. Now the number one nobleman in Ming Dynasty is the Duke of Min."

Liu Kongzhao's face suddenly showed embarrassment, but he didn't dare to say anything.

The Duke of Min that Xu Hongji mentioned was Zheng Zhilong. Just two days ago, Zheng Zhilong finally arrived in Nanjing.

The first time he saw Zheng Zhilong, Chongzhen granted him the title of Duke of Min, and set aside a large piece of land by the Qinhuai River, rewarding the Zheng family to build the Duke of Min's mansion.

It is said that the gold-lettered plaque of the government of Fujian Province was also written by Chongzhen himself.

Not to mention Liu Kongzhao, even Xu Hongji was envious of this kind of favor.

Xu Hongji continued to ask: "By the way, I heard that those generals who made great contributions in the Xuzhou War have arrived in Nanjing? The Holy One will be conferred on a large scale soon?"

"Yes, more than a hundred have come." Liu Kongzhao said.

"What? More than a hundred?" Xu Hongji was also dumbfounded when he heard the words, "It seems that from now on, there will be nothing unusual about nobles in Nanjing."

"Who says it's not?" Liu Kongzhao joked, "If you pick up a brick on the street and throw it in any direction, you may be able to hit a nobleman. I really don't know what the Holy One is thinking. Why are those Qiu Ba knighted?"

"What did the Holy Majesty think? We have no way of guessing." Xu Hongji sat down and motioned for Liu Kongzhao to also sit down, "The case of killing the king and seizing the court is said to be over, and even the Donglin party members who were implicated are also reported in the newspapers." After the statement was cleared up, the official was reinstated, but there has been no explanation for us nobles."

"Wei Guogong, this is exactly why I'm here." Liu Kongzhao asked with a sad face, "What do you mean by the Holy Majesty? If you say you won't punish us, some people will believe it, but if you say punish us, the Holy Majesty will be too late." He hasn't said anything, and he hasn't sent anyone to arrest us, so what exactly does he want?"

Xu Hongji took a sip of Longjing and asked, "Where did your Majesty go today?"

"The Holy Spirit went up to Lion Mountain." Liu Kongzhao replied, "The group of Qiu Ba and the Zheng family brothers from Xuzhou climbed up to the top of Lion Mountain to see the scenery. Maybe they will drink tea on the foundation of Yuejiang Tower .”

……

It really made Liu Kongzhao hit the mark.

Chongzhen and his party were resting on the foundation of Yuejiang Tower at this time.

In addition to Huang Degong, Zuo Menggeng, Ma Huabao, Wang Zuntan, Jin Shenghuan and other frontier military generals, there were also brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui, and some scholars accompanied them.

Zheng Sen is also one of the Qin Wang Shizi who served him.

It was no wonder that even Xu Hongji envied the Zheng family.

The current situation of the Zheng family is really a raging fire.

"Long Live Lord." Gao Qiqian diligently wiped a stone clean, "Sit down and rest your feet."

Chongzhen was really tired, so he immediately sat down and said to everyone: "Don't stand still, everyone, find a clean place to sit down, let's sit and chat."

After speaking, he said to Zheng Zhilong: "Zheng Qing, sit by my side."

Zheng Zhilong, who was going to sit far away, hurried back and sat cross-legged beside Chongzhen.

Looking at Zheng Zhilong, Chongzhen suddenly asked: "Zheng Qing, the last two times I summoned you, you didn't want to lead the soldiers to come in person. Are you worried that I will put you under house arrest in Nanjing and prevent you from returning to Fujian?"

The atmosphere of talking and laughing just now froze.

Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Hongkui brothers, and Zheng Sen even changed their faces.

Smiling, Chongzhen said again: "Even now, do you have such worries?"

"Your Majesty." Zheng Zhilong hastily turned over and lay down on the ground, panicking, "I have no such intention."

Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Sen also hurriedly knelt down on the ground, and said anxiously: "My lord, my brother/father has no such worries."

"Hey, get up, this is just chatting, why are you so nervous?" Chongzhen motioned the Zheng family father, son and brother to sit up, and then said with a smile, "Actually, it's not surprising that you are worried about this. If I were you, even if I might not dare to come to Nanjing this time, so which emperor would tolerate the Zheng family being in charge of the Great Ming Navy?"

"My lord, my minister..." Zheng Zhilong wanted to defend himself, but he didn't know what to say.

It is undeniable that the fact that the Zheng family is in sole control of the Daming Navy is not in a hurry.

"My lord!" Zheng Sen gritted his teeth and shouted, "Our Zheng family can hand over the navy!"

Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui all looked at Zheng Sen with shocked eyes when they heard this, thinking what nonsense are you bastard talking about?The navy is the foundation of my Zheng family's life, how can I hand it over just by saying it?

But in front of Chongzhen, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui did not dare to say this clearly.

"Zheng Sen, did I ever say that I want your Zheng family to hand over the navy?" Chongzhen said, "Okay, even if your Zheng family is willing to hand over the navy, is there a competent navy general in the court who can command the navy?" division?"

"This..." Zheng Sen was at a loss for words, he really wasn't a competent navy general in court.

If you are familiar with water warfare, especially naval warfare, you can count the Zheng brothers and their children.

Chongzhen turned around and said to Zheng Zhilong: "Zheng Qing, I'm not telling you these things to beat you, but just want to tell you that your structure is small, but in fact your vision can be set farther."

There was a strange light in Zheng Zhilong's eyes. He had vaguely guessed the implication of Chongzhen's words, but he was not sure, so he asked immediately, "I don't know what the Holy Majesty's words mean?"

"Zheng Qing, it's just as you guessed." Chongzhen smiled slightly, but immediately continued with a straight face, "Your end point should not just be the parent of the Zheng family's navy, there are too few navy commanders, you should lead five A total of one, ten or even twenty naval divisions will move across the four seas and fight against the Red Barbarians of the West to seize sea power!"

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong felt something surging in his body.

Like Zheng Sen, Huang Zongxi, Xu Yingwei and other Qin Wang scholars, their blood boiled all over their bodies.

"Zheng Qing, don't nest in that corner of Jinjiang, come to Nanjing, come to my side!" Chongzhen stood up, waved his hand fiercely and said, "I will use the wealth of the whole country to build you a Far surpassing the navy of Zheng He's fleet, and then set up a naval academy under the Imperial College, specially for the navy to train scholars who are familiar with water warfare."

"I can also issue an edict to set up a shipping and shipbuilding bank to raise funds to build a navy!"

"The Naval Academy's first enrollment quota will recruit [-] scholars, if it is not enough, we can add more!"

Speaking of this meal, Chongzhen stared into Zheng Zhilong's eyes again, and asked: "Zheng Qing, you will be the general manager of this Naval Academy, what do you think?"

"Still wanting what I want, I dare not invite you!" Zheng Zhilong solemnly bowed down.

Establishing a shipping and shipbuilding bank, raising funds to build a navy, and setting up a naval academy to train scholars for the navy, these two points are enough to impress Zheng Zhilong.

Although the mansion in Anhai Town is nice, how can it be so attractive to lead a huge navy across the world?In any case, Zheng Zhilong is only [-] this year, and the blood in his veins is still not cold!
"Please Zheng Qing, this matter is settled." Chong Zhen helped Zheng Zhilong up.

Now, Zuo Menggeng, Jin Shenghuan and other generals looked at Zheng Zhilong with even more envy.

Even Huang Degong was envious, because he had already seen that when he returned to Nanjing this time, the Holy One would probably not let them return to the front line of Xuzhou, but Zheng Zhilong still had the opportunity to gallop across the sea.

Patting Zheng Zhilong, Chongzhen said again: "Zheng Qing, I hope that in a few decades, the number one honorable man in the Ming Dynasty will no longer be the Duke of Wei, but you, the Duke of Min, or even the King of Southern Fujian!"

Chongzhen is almost Chi Guoguo's promise.

It means that if you do a good job, it is also possible to confer kings with different surnames.

However, Zheng Zhilong's heart skipped a beat when he heard it.

It's not so easy to be the number one honorable man in the Ming Dynasty. It seems that Wei Guogong's mansion is going to be in bad luck?
Although Zheng Zhilong just arrived in Nanjing the day before yesterday, he has already heard from many people that Wei Guogong, Bao Guogong, Chengyi Bo and other dignitaries are likely to be confiscated by the emperor because they are involved in the regicide case and the planting case.

It's good that Chongzhen didn't mention the No. [-] honorable man of Ming Dynasty, but this mention directly led to a chill in the atmosphere at the scene.

Not only Zheng Zhilong, but also Huang Degong, Zuo Menggeng, etc. began to worry about their titles. After all, the Holy Majesty only conferred titles on them this time, but did not give Dan Shu an iron certificate.

What's more, even if there is an iron coupon of Danshu, it may not be useful.

Doesn't Wei Guogong's mansion have the iron coupon of the alchemy book bestowed by the great grandfather?

When Chongzhen saw the atmosphere, how could he not guess what everyone was thinking?
At that moment, Chongzhen pointed to the foundation under his feet and asked: "You said that the foundation of the Yuejiang Tower was already laid, why didn't Emperor Taizu Gao let it continue to be built?"

"This..." All the generals were silent.

We all know this, but dare not say it.

According to legend, Taizu built Yuejiang Tower in order to imitate Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty in building Lingyan Pavilion. He also enshrined in Yuejiang Tower the founding heroes of Ming Dynasty, and there are more of them.

There are only twenty-four heroes in Lingyan Pavilion.

But Yuejiang Tower has thirty-six heroes.

However, just after the foundation of Yuejiang Tower was built, Taizu suddenly had a dream.

After Taizu dreamed that he was the dragon controlling Bintian, these heroic officials rebelled one after another, and the new emperor Zhu Biao, who was more than benevolent but not strong enough, could not suppress it, and Taizu woke up in a rage.

After that, the construction of Yuejiang Tower was stopped.

Later, most of the thirty-six heroes were killed.

The construction of Yuejiang Tower was put on hold for nearly three hundred years.

(End of this chapter)