Daming Yinghua

When Zheng Haizhu came to Taiwan this time, he also brought his nephews Zheng Shoukuan and Gu Shouqian, Han Ximeng and his wife, two employees from the Zhenjiang Shipping Insurance Company, and a weaver and embroiderer from the Han family in Songjiang.

Han Ximeng gave birth to his son Gu Zuoyou at the beginning of this year.

When the baby was full moon, it happened that Zheng Haizhu returned to Songjiang to transport artillery.

Zheng Haizhu squeezed out two or three hours to get together and talk with Han Ximeng who brought him the first good relationship in his life.

She was keenly aware at that time that Miss Han, who was soon upgraded to a mother after marriage, although she was cared for by her husband Gu Shouqian and taken good care of by her servants, a faint feeling of disappointment was still looming between her brows .

They are all young women, and their family background is far superior to that of Zheng Haizhu. Seeing her ex-employees roaming around, even to the extent of helping the military and receiving rewards from the court, Ms. Han has some subtle emotions in her heart, and she is very happy. normal.

When Zheng Haizhu said goodbye, he didn't have the sense of superiority of a grassroots counterattack and successfully crushing a real daughter.

Han Ximeng is a woman who needs character, ability and ability. She should not be confined to the back house just because of marriage and childbirth.

As people of the same sex who cherish each other, we should understand each other's confusion, and do our best to create opportunities for each other to break out of the cocoon.

So, returning to Songjiang again in the early autumn, Zheng Haizhu went back to the Gu Mansion in Wenzhe Garden to observe for a while, and after confirming that the Gus and his wife were very affectionate and that the little Gu Baobao was also in good health, he proposed that they go to Taiwan to visit Yan Siqi and bring them with him. Songjiang's weaving and embroidery technology, talk about business, and spend the New Year in Taiwan by the way.

Of course, she also invited Ximeng's mother-in-law, Lu, and Miao Atai, who was originally from Fujian, and vividly described how the island of Taiwan is still warm as spring in the middle of winter. , much more comfortable.

Mrs. Miao said that she was getting older and was afraid of the bumps in the boat, but Mrs. Lu also declined because of her small feet.

But these two elders, who are open-minded and easy-going, were not at all displeased with Zheng Haizhu's flamboyance.

The group set off smoothly, and entered Fujian through the inland river through Jiangxi, arrived at Yuegang, and then transferred to Taiwan by sea.

More Xiyan Siqi and Wen Akun, the female chieftain of Siraya, have also given birth to a daughter.

Seeing this young mother, Gu's couple was holding a baby in her arms, inspecting the affairs of the village, and if they wanted to teach the tribal youth how to shoot, they would put the child in the basket without affecting the strength of the bow.

This kind of woman's ecology is so different from Jiangnan's young grandmother who is forced to stay behind closed doors and cultivates nonsense women's morality, which opened the eyes of the Gu couple.

……

After reassuringly handing over the Gu couple and the weaving workers to Wen Akun, Zheng Haizhu took his nephew Zheng Shoukuan, led by Yan Siqi, to appreciate the changes in Tainan this year.

After all, Yan Siqi is a subordinate led by Li Dan, the first generation of Chinese businessman, and he is very good at breaking new ground.

The Baodao aborigines of Siraya and other tribes, the mainland immigrants recruited from Zhangquan, Fujian, and the sea merchant brothers who left Japan and took boats to Yan Siqi, these three groups of people were arranged very well by Yan Siqi.

The aborigines are good at fishing and hunting, and also take into account a small amount of planting. The mountains, forests and lakes on the island, as well as the calm harbors where boats can be parked safely, are reserved for them.Yan Siqi was very magnanimous, and he also took the initiative to visit several tribes adjacent to Siraya, donated bird guns to the chiefs, and brought them good food seeds.

Mainland immigrants are good at farming and are responsible for the production of economic crops such as grain and tea. Yan Siqi allocated them a well-irrigated and fertile plain area, where rice was planted and tea gardens were opened on slightly higher ground.

Farming civilization and the traditional Confucian ideology are relatively compatible, so the descendants of Nanxi Zhu Xi invited by Zheng Haizhu and Ma Xianglin more than a year ago were also arranged in academies in large villages as the first batch of masters in Tainan.

The old brothers and subordinates from Hirado, Japan, each brought their own sailors and ships. Some of the firecrackers and small cannons on the ships were just exchanged from the Portuguese or the Dutch in Japan. The value of force should not be underestimated.

Yan Siqi divided nearly a thousand people into ten villages, and arranged them in the four major traffic hubs, so that they could defend the island when they were on the island, and it was convenient for them to come and go when they left the island to sell goods.

After Zheng Haizhu saw Yan Siqi's dedication to the construction of Tainan, he proposed to take a boat ride around the island with his nephew Shoukuan to see the north and east.

From Tainan to Taitung, the straight-line distance within the island is about [-] to [-] miles. However, the central part of Taiwan Island in this world is still a large area of ​​virgin forest, and crossing by land is far more difficult, dangerous and time-consuming than by sea.

So Yan Siqi chose a medium-sized blessing boat, hoisted the well-known Taiwan Xuanfu envoy "Yan" flag, and sailed from Mosquito Harbor in the west, first south and then north, passing Kaohsiung, Hengchun and other places in later generations, and came to Taitung .

During the four or five days of the voyage, Zheng Haizhu and Yan Siqi explained the new situation on the mainland in detail.

"Brother Yan, this time in Liaodong, I urged Uncle Mao not to delay doing business during the war. Taking advantage of the military merits and the commander-in-chief's favor, I used the name of blocking Nurhachi's backyard to take the Phi Island on the North Korean side. Occupied. In the Phi Island area, go to Dongying, Denglai, and Songjiang, which is about to open. The waterways are all easy for sea boats. If the weather permits, you can arrive in as little as two or three days, or at most five or six days.”

Yan Siqi nodded.

He was Mao Wenlong who was rescued near Shenmi Island back then, so he is no stranger to the situation of Phi Island.

He heard from Zheng Haizhu that the headquarters of Haoming Trading Company in Hangzhou is used as a Chinese military account for dispatching goods and transportation routes, and collecting money. The port monopolizes sea vendors from Liaodong to Fujian and Taiwan.

At the same time, Yan Siqi was indoctrinated with fresh theories of shipping insurance by the young Zheng Shoukuan.

Zheng Haizhu added: "Brother Yan, you are now a dignified Taiwan Xuanfu envoy with the title of the imperial court. If you are like Dengzhou Xunhai Road or Li Dan, and ask the ships going to and from the sea to collect protection fees, no one will dare to refuse to pay. But this kind of practice, like bandits, is too useless, it is better to let the sea-going ships entering the port pay the shipping tax and insurance premiums, turn the underworld into white ways, and launder dirty money into clean money."

After careful consideration, Yan Siqi said, "Ah Zhu, if you have land, how can you get money to support people and land? I won't underestimate the method you mentioned. At worst, let's try it first. But to tell you the truth, since I am more worried every day since the imperial court recognized my Yan family's entry into Taiwan."

"What are you worried about?" Zheng Haizhu asked.

"Worried about becoming the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Shen Wansan."

Zheng Haizhu smiled.

"Brother Yan, you are right to worry, but you are also wrong."