Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Unlike Hong Chengchou who was stimulated, Zheng Zhilong was still excited about being granted the title of Earl and was choosing his own fiefdom in Borneo.

The emperor's reward to him this time was extremely generous. Not only was he granted the title of earl, but he was also allowed to reserve duke's land in preparation for expanding his fiefdom after he was promoted to a higher title in the future.

This made Zheng Zhilong and other pirate leaders extremely happy, because this title was the result of their joint efforts.

It also means that the emperor does not discriminate against them. They all have the opportunity to become earls and have the opportunity to establish a vassal state.

Zheng Zhilong said to Li Guozhu and others with great emotion:
"The emperor really treats us as meritorious officials, instead of abandoning us like Emperor Zhao did."

"From now on, we can serve the court without worrying about anything else."

Li Guozhu and others also nodded. Even Liu Xiang, who was most opposed to the amnesty, had to admit:
The Ming Emperor has been very kind to them. If they still want to rebel, they deserve to be killed.

It can be said that the impact of Zheng Zhilong being conferred the title of Nan'an Earl was far beyond the reach of his previous title of Baron or Viscount.

After all, before the Ming Dynasty, there were only princes, dukes, and earls, and there was no hereditary barony at all.

In the eyes of many people, Zi Nanshi is not a real title of nobility at all, but just a hereditary official with a different name.

Therefore, the emperor's appointment of Zheng Zhilong as the Earl of Nan'an shocked them greatly. They realized that the Zheng family had truly become nobles who shared the same ties with the state, just like the dukes and marquises in the capital.

However, some people were not satisfied and grumbled:
"They said they were giving us fiefdoms, but in fact they only let us choose an island in the South Seas."

"We will never get the chance to take advantage of good places like Dongning Island and the mouth of the Lancang River."

"If you ask me, we have the power to dominate Southeast Asia. Why should we be controlled by the imperial court and give up the good land to them?"

"Why not just start a country yourself and be the ruler? Wouldn't that be free and easy?"

Zheng Zhilong's face changed when he heard this, and he immediately rebuked:

"shut up!"

"Without the support of the court, how can we win this battle?"

"And don't think that the Dutch are willing to sign the contract just because they won once at sea. They just had to give in because they needed Ming's goods."

"Without the support of the imperial court, if you were asked to take a small boat to Southeast Asia to fight the Dutch, what chances would you have of winning?"

Now those who were not convinced stopped talking.

Those who made a living on the sea all knew that the Dutch warships were stronger than their own. Otherwise, why would they need hundreds of ships to siege just a dozen Dutch warships?
Moreover, this siege tactic can be used in near seas, but it is simply a way to kill the enemy in the open sea.

Because of the limited range and seaworthiness of the small boat, even vegetables cannot be delivered.

Only by relying on the Ming Dynasty's proximity to the coastline could they win by taking advantage of the geographical location.

And relying on the human and material support from the Ming Dynasty, they were able to quickly replenish their resources after suffering setbacks.

So although they won the battle, it would have been impossible without the support of the imperial court. It was only natural that the imperial court did not give them the entire Nanyang.

But people are greedy, and it is inevitable to want more. Some people can't help but drool when they think of the benefits of the Lancang River Estuary promoted by the court. That is hundreds of millions of acres of land, and if it is fully developed, it can really recreate a new Jiangnan.

It's nothing like the land in Borneo, most of which cannot be developed at all.

When some people thought about the fact that they would have to pay the eleventh tax to the emperor after establishing a vassal state, they felt unfair and thought it would be better to establish themselves directly overseas.

Zheng Zhilong and Li Guozhu both laughed at these people's ideas.

Do you think you can keep your wealth and status just by becoming the ruler of a country? Is that so easy?
Li Guozhu said to them:

"To tell you the truth, without the title of the court, your status will not be passed down."

"We all make a living on the sea, and we know what people on the sea value. If you don't have strength, don't even think about having a position."

"My father was once the leader. Does that mean you will obey me more than Brother Zheng?"

This personal example made everyone silent for a while, because they could not recognize Li Guozhu as their leader just because he was Li Dan's son.

In this case, even if a country is established, how can the status of the leader be passed down?

Or as Li Dan said, he still has to obtain the title of Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Emperor wrote the feudal and inheritance system into the rites and laws, and anyone who violated it would bear the responsibility of the Ming court.

This is a measure to safeguard their status so that they don't have to worry about their descendants being incompetent and having their power taken away.

As the current leader, Zheng Zhilong laughed and said,

"When we gathered together, the leader was of course the most capable one."

"But now I am an official appointed by the court, and I also have a title."

"That status is determined by the court, and the title is inherited by future generations."

"Everyone should think about choosing a good place and leave a good land for future generations."

As the heroes who gained the hegemony over Nanyang, the emperor gave them the power to choose their fiefdoms first. Among them, Zheng Zhilong was able to reserve a duke's fiefdom with an area of ​​500 square miles.

This is also the reason why he does not mind the poor quality of the land in Borneo. With such a large land, a lot of arable land can always be reclaimed.

Looking at the map, Zheng Zhilong said to everyone:

"I have decided to choose Borneo. Which island will you choose as your fiefdom?"

"Brother Li, do you want to choose Java Island? That's a fertile land."

"It is said that some people in the court have proposed that good land and bad land should be differentiated, and that they should not all be given the same area of ​​fiefdom."

"You better hurry up, or your fiefdom will be reduced if you are too slow."

This rumor was released together with the adjustment of hereditary officials' transfer of titles, all in an effort to force hereditary officials to open up fiefdoms overseas as soon as possible.

Although it is not implemented now, it is possible that it will be enacted according to this statement in the future.

Because even Zheng Zhilong himself thought it was more reasonable to separate the good and bad areas. If someone proposed this in the noble council, he would definitely vote in favor.

The emperor had ordered him to send representatives to the capital as one of the organizers of the Parliament of Nobles.

Li Guozhu frowned when he heard this, and he did feel a sense of urgency.

Unlike Zheng Zhilong who was not worried about the indigenous forces in Borneo, the Mataram Kingdom on the island of Java was quite powerful, a force that even the Dutch had not completely conquered.

Moreover, the peace agreement signed by the Dutch this time only recognized that Borneo belonged to the Ming Dynasty's sphere of influence. If Li Guozhu wanted to establish a fiefdom on Java Island, he still needed to defeat the Dutch.

If he continues to be unable to make progress like before, the dignitaries in the capital and the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River may covet that place.

Thinking of this, Li Guozhu said to Liu Xiang:

"Brother Liu, Java Island is huge, a little bigger than the entire Fujian Province."

"How about we go and open a domain together?"

He estimated the area of ​​Java Island to be about 500,000 square miles.

This area is enough to confer titles on two persons. Li Guozhu thought it was impossible for him to monopolize it, so he wanted to pull Liu Xiang over.

However, Liu Xiang had no enthusiasm for farming. He was eyeing places where he could rob. He pointed to the Spice Islands and said:
"There's a word '香' in my name, so I want to go to the Spice Islands to find a fiefdom." "Brother Li, I won't accept your kindness, you can find someone else to go with you."

Li Guozhu was now in a difficult position, because he had the best relationship with Liu Xiang and recognized this person's abilities.

He did not recognize the abilities of other pirate leaders at all, and did not want to be neighbors with them.

He even thought that instead of developing Java Island with these people, it would be better to find a nobleman. At least a nobleman could provide help in the court and bring greater benefits.

Of course, because he is only a viscount now, he is inevitably at a disadvantage when facing the nobles. This is also the reason why he has ideas but has not put them into action.

He advised Liu Xiang:

"Brother Liu, you know that the emperor left the Spice Islands to the Dutch."

"This is the core territory of the Dutch. If we move it, it will lead to a war."

"If this delays the opening of the Nanyang vassal state, how can Brother Liu afford it?"

After defeating the Dutch and reaching an agreement to divide up Southeast Asia, these people were very satisfied.

Now everyone wants to secure their gains and consolidate the sphere of influence they have gained.

Liu Xiang wanted to start a war at this time, but no one would agree.

Zheng Zhilong warned him:
"The emperor is far-sighted and far-sighted. His orders must have deep meaning."

"If anyone disobeys orders and pretends to obey but secretly disobeys, don't blame Zheng for being against him!"

Liu Xiang curled his lips and turned a deaf ear to Zheng Zhilong's warning. However, he still explained to Li Guozhu:
"I'm not going to attack the Dutch strongholds. I'm just looking for some islands they haven't set foot on."

"When the time comes, brothers, we can hide on the island. What can the Dutch do to us?"

"How can we make money by robbing people and cultivating the land? Let's take back the money the Dutch made first."

After this was said, many pirate leaders were ready to act. After all, robbery was their main business, and not many people were willing to farm.

Some people have already thought about going to Southeast Asia with Liu Xiang to rob, including but not limited to robbing the Dutch.

Zheng Zhilong frowned when he heard this, and even Li Guozhu reminded him:
"Brother Liu, although the emperor didn't say that we can't rob the Dutch, we must not intensify the conflict in the next few years."

"You can't push the Dutch too hard, and you can't let the Dutch recognize your identity."

Liu Xiang said casually:

"Got it, got it. It won't delay your opening of the fiefdom."

"Besides, wouldn't it be more advantageous for you if I could hold the Dutch back?"

"There are still Dutch strongholds on Java Island. If they are not tied down at sea, their support will continue."

"Just focus on establishing your fiefdom. Don't worry about the Dutch recognizing me."

Li Guozhu was unsuccessful in persuading him, so Zheng Zhilong warned him again:

"You can't plunder Ming merchant ships, especially if they have insurance policies."

"Don't forget that you also have a share in Dongning Insurance Company, as well as Nanyang Insurance, which is a subsidiary of Nanyang Group."

These insurance companies are variations of robbery, collecting protection fees in the name of insurance premiums.

Especially those without Ming customs tax receipts will be treated as non-Ming merchant ships. Not only will the insurance premiums be much higher, but they can also be plundered at will.

The emperor used this method to collect taxes in disguise and force maritime merchants to pay taxes actively.

If Liu Xiang dared to hijack these ships, he would be in big trouble. Both the Dongning Group and the Nanyang Group would have a hard time with him.

Both groups have shares in the inner court and the guards. Zheng Zhilong is even the head of the Dongning Insurance Corps, the future commander-in-chief of the Nanyang Fleet. He must remind Liu Xiang not to act recklessly.

Liu Xiang was very displeased when he heard his warning, and even felt that Zheng Zhilong was now too arrogant and was no longer the same kind of person as himself.

He said impatiently:
"I know I know!"

"I won't rob randomly in Southeast Asia, I will only target Westerners."

"If you're still worried, I'll go to the West to rob. You won't say anything, right?"

After hearing this, Zheng Zhilong and others had to give up their persuasion.

However, the idea of ​​plundering the West still touched the hearts of some people. They felt that if they could figure out the routes of Westerners' sailing, it would not be impossible to plunder the West.

Or we can set up a Western Group modeled after the Nanyang Group and establish a Western Insurance Company to collect insurance premiums.

In short, under the court's policies, the original pirate groups began to split.

Some people chose to establish fiefdoms to seek stability and integrate into the imperial court.

Some people still couldn't forget their life at sea and still wanted to be pirates and rob people, and they were also distant from the imperial court.

The two groups of people take different paths and will have different destinies in the future.
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After discussing with them and deciding on future strategies, Zheng Zhilong returned home and accepted the compliments.

He was awarded a title for his merits and his title was taken from his hometown, which received great praise.

Everyone thought that he had brought honor to his family, and they no longer viewed him as a pirate as before.

His father Zheng Shibiao said:

"Yi Guan, you are now an earl, and you can have a house of 300 acres."

"Isn't the hundred-acre house we built before a little too small? Should we expand it a little more?"

The one hundred-acre house he had built earlier was when he accepted the amnesty and was conferred the title of baron by the emperor.

Due to the limitation of his status, he only repaired one hundred acres.

At that time, I thought the area was very large, but now compared with the status of an earl, it is naturally a little bit inferior.

At this time, Zheng Shibiao was thinking about building a bigger house.

Having a bigger house is certainly a good thing, but Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but grin when he thought about the cost of building this house.

In order to comply with regulations, his house was designed and provided with materials entirely by the Imperial Household Department. Although it was very grand after it was built, it was also very expensive.

The one hundred-acre mansion cost him one million taels of silver to build.

If we build another 300-acre house, wouldn't it cost 3 million?
Even with Zheng Zhilong's wealth, he couldn't help but feel a little painful at the thought of this.

Because he did not have much money at the moment, he had been forced by the emperor in the past two years to change his protection fee into insurance premium, and he also had to share the profits, so his income dropped a lot.

Later, in order to defeat the Dutch, he spent a lot of money recruiting soldiers and building ships, and he simply could not come up with three million at once.

Especially now that he was going to Borneo to establish a fiefdom, it was a bottomless pit. Zheng Zhilong was unwilling to spend money on the house, not to mention that he didn't know whether he would come back in the future.

Although his title was Nan'an Earl, he had few opportunities to return to Nan'an. The emperor would not allow him to expand his power in his hometown and influence the local political situation.

Especially since the emperor had granted him 300 mu of land in the capital, it was obvious that he wanted to live in the capital when he returned to Ming Dynasty, rather than in the countryside. (End of this chapter)