The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 248 Zheng Sen's Plan

Zheng Sen had considered this point when he came, so facing Zuo Liangyu's questioning, he did not continue to defend his second uncle, but tried his best to put the blame on Zheng Zhihu alone, leaving the Zheng family aside.

"Report to the Empress Dowager, if the matter is true, then Zheng Zhihu must rob the family and bring it to justice, otherwise the court's majesty will be lost, and Zheng Zhilong will be dismissed if he is not strict, and the others will not be implicated!"

Ma Shiying was silent for a while, then spoke slowly.

He didn't speak for the Zheng family, but he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. The Queen Mother and Zuo Liangyu didn't know the strength of the Zheng family, but he knew it all.

Once the entire Zheng family is really labeled as a rebel, it will inevitably implicate the entire Zheng family and its subordinates.

At that time, the suppression will not only delay the time, but also affect the implementation of the New Deal, and may force the Zheng family to flee overseas again, becoming pirates, robbing merchant ships, and disturbing the coastal areas.

As the second assistant of the Ming Dynasty who is actually in charge of the government affairs of the southern provinces, Ma Shiying is unwilling to have such a situation, so he wants to cut through the mess quickly, dismiss Zheng Zhilong, reprimand him, punish Zheng Zhihu, and send his family members.

"Ma Ge's words are wrong. The Zheng family was unscrupulous and domineering in Fujian in the early years. They were called officials and soldiers, but they were actually pirates. They not only killed countless people in Fujian, but also extorted merchant ships. With a little bit of awe, this killing of officials is the best proof, if it is not suppressed, the prestige of the imperial court will be wiped out!"

Zuo Liangyu stood up in a tit-for-tat manner, cupped his hands and said slowly.

Zheng Sen, who was at the side, saw Zuo Liangyu mention those old sesame seeds and rotten millet, and hated Zuo Liangyu to the bone.

And Ma Shiying also rolled her eyes in anger, feeling contemptuous in her heart.

Because if you want to talk about the Chongzhen Dynasty, which general is the most arrogant and domineering, causing people and gods to be angry, and he has no respect for the court.

This guy dared to speak out in front of the Queen Mother, mentioning such nonsense, if His Majesty came in person, I'm afraid he wouldn't dare to fart, he was as good as a cat.

"Right and wrong, the Ai family will investigate clearly. The court will not wrong your Zheng family, nor will it cover up and connive. Zheng Sen, you go back first!"

The content of the letter from the governor of Fujian was that the Zheng family obstructed the New Deal, killed officials, and was suspected of treason. Now that Zheng Sen said that, Zhang Yan didn't know who to trust, so he planned to ask Jin Yiwei to investigate the matter clearly before reporting to Lang'er for a decision.

After all, this matter involved too much. Once the Zheng family was really labeled as a rebel who obstructed the New Deal, with Lang'er's temperament, I am afraid that the entire Zheng family would be exterminated and used to deter other big families.

That's why she didn't want to cause innocent people to be implicated because of her biased listening and partial belief. For example, Zheng Sen must be innocent.

"Thank you Empress Dowager Mingcha!"

"But the student still has one thing to report to the Queen Mother!"

Zheng Sen was very satisfied with such a result, he was afraid that the queen mother would mistakenly believe the slander and directly order to suppress the Zheng family.

After all, his Zheng family has really attracted attention over the years and offended many people, especially civil officials in Fujian and maritime merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. They absolutely hate the Zheng family.

So he knew that even if the Queen Mother dealt with this matter fairly in the end, the final fate of the Zheng clan would probably not be much better.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

Not only Zhang Yan, but other people are also a little curious. Apart from this, Zheng Sen has other things that need to be reported.

"I report to the Empress Dowager that in the east of Fujian Province, there is an island called Dongfan Island, also known as Ryukyu Island. It has been the territory of our Ming Dynasty since ancient times. If the Xiyi people from outside take over, if we let it go, it will not only damage the majesty of our dynasty and His Majesty's holy name, but also cause endless troubles."

"Oh, there is such a thing. The Xiyi people are Fulangji people from Guangdong Haojing?"

When Zhang Yan heard this, her expression was also upright.

Because she knew that Lang'er was going to be an emperor through the ages that surpassed the Emperor of Qin, Han and Wu. If a small western barbarian country occupied the territory of Ming Dynasty, it would definitely affect Lang'er's reputation, and Lang'er would never let it go.

Ma Shiying and all the civil servants cheered up, and Zuo Liangyi's eyes lit up. It was obvious that they could think of things that Zhang Yan could think of.

As the saying goes, what kind of emperor there is, what kind of courtiers and generals there are.

In fact, as the emperor, Zhu Cihong didn't need to say some things at all, and the ministers and generals under him could infer his attitude and make changes in order to cater to the emperor.

The best proof is that all the literati in the south of the Yangtze River are learning Arabic numerals and arithmetic.

The matter of Macau and Dongfan Island was brought to the court not long after, which is also the best proof.

Otherwise, in the Chongzhen Dynasty and other emperors, no one would report these things at all.

Because most emperors hold the attitude that more things are worse than less things, and they only want the stability of the world. If you report these things, you will only annoy the emperor.

"Report to the Queen Mother, it is not the Portuguese from Guangdong who occupy Dongfan Island, but the Dutch..."

Zheng Sen was not surprised that Zhang Yan couldn't tell the difference between the Dutch and the Portuguese, so he carefully explained the situation of the three Western countries, almost telling what he knew.

After hearing this, everyone was greatly impressed by their knowledge, and Zhang Yan was equally amazed. She never thought that there would be so many small countries thousands of miles to the west, and a large tract of land thousands of miles to the east.

"In this way, the Dutch and the Spaniards are really hateful. Not only have they repeatedly disturbed the coast of our Ming Dynasty, but now they are living in Dongfan Island. Zheng Sen, I don't know how big Dongfan is. Are there any Han people on the island?"

Zhang Yan first scolded Holland and Spain with a straight face, and then looked at Zheng Sen and asked kindly.

Apparently, Zhang Yan also noticed that this Zheng Sen is talented, courageous, and a rare talent. He has already developed a love for talents in his heart, and he plans to recommend him to Lang after the investigation of the Zheng family's affairs is clear. Son.

Zheng Sen could also feel that the queen mother's attitude towards him had changed, and he was overjoyed, and hurriedly replied: "Back to the queen mother, the area of ​​Dongfan Island is very large. The students estimate that it should be at least half the size of Zhejiang. Years ago, my father had migrated many Han people to the island to open up wasteland. Later, after my father returned to the imperial court, he no longer cared about things on the island. Over time, some of the Han people on the island returned to Fujian, and the rest were taken over by Spain. Killed by others, or reduced to slaves and let them build port castles, the end is extremely miserable!"

"It's unreasonable. How dare those Spaniards be so rampant, wantonly killing and enslaving our Han people, Zheng Sen, so your father is also to blame?"

Zuo Liangyu said angrily.

I don't know if I'm really angry or just pretending.

But Zhang Yan's pretty face was really frosty, and she was very angry. It's fine for Jiannu and Mongols to bully Daming with cavalry, but she never thought that even a small country thousands of miles away would dare to offend Daming, especially The Netherlands, which is less than a country.

But while being angry, Zhang Yan was also shocked by the huge size of Dongfan Island, which was as large as half of Zhejiang, even larger than Qiongzhou Island.

(End of this chapter)