Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 968 Deputy Envoy
Seeing that Zhu Shenzui was not angry, Zheng Hongkui finally put his heart at ease.

What Zheng Hongkui said was true. At present, the Shandong Navy did not have the possibility of sailing far, mainly because of the ships and the actual situation of the navy. In addition, there was one point that Zheng Hongkui did not say, that is, the South China Sea trade was currently controlled by his elder brother Zheng Zhilong. Once the Shandong Navy intervened in the South China Sea trade, it would inevitably have a conflict of interest with Zheng Zhilong.

Although Zheng Hongkui was different from Zheng Zhilong, he was more loyal to the court and hoped to do more for the Ming Dynasty. But he and Zheng Zhilong were brothers after all. If the emperor forced him to expand the South China Sea business, Zheng Hongkui would inevitably have conflicts with Zheng Zhilong on this matter. As a former member of the Zheng pirate group, he knew his elder brother too well. Although Zheng Zhilong was now a senior official of the Ming Dynasty, he was still a pirate in his bones. He attached great importance to his territory and sphere of influence and did not allow others to interfere.

Even if they were his own brothers, Zheng Zhilong would still be on guard against them, and Zheng Hongkui was even more aware of the importance of the South China Sea to Zheng Zhilong.

You must know that after Zheng Zhilong was recruited, he still had a large navy and capable subordinates. These troops were nominally the army of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact they were not much different from his private army.

Moreover, when Zheng Zhilong was recruited, the imperial court imposed restrictions on him, allowing him to retain only a part of the navy and land forces, which were not large in scale. In recent years, the imperial court has allocated military pay according to the resettlement conditions agreed upon when he was recruited. However, the military pay allocated by the Ming Dynasty was never sufficient, let alone Zheng Zhilong, a mere pirate who was recruited. Even the soldiers of the Nine Frontiers, who served as the country's military barrier, often received irregular pay.

Even the soldiers in the nine borders couldn’t get sufficient military pay, let alone a mere Zheng Zhilong?

Therefore, since the surrender, it was impossible for Zheng Zhilong to rely on the imperial court to maintain his navy and military expenses. The silver allocated by the court was pitifully small, and was often in arrears. How could Zheng Zhilong support these people without silver? Without these people, how could he guarantee his status and control over the army?
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong had to find other ways to get money. As the pirate leader who controlled the South China Sea, the only thing Zheng Zhilong could do was to continue to use the South China Sea as a treasure trove to maintain military expenditures. How to do it? Zheng Hongkui knew it very well. It was nothing more than doing his old business. He controlled the South China Sea by force and collected tolls from ships passing through. In addition, he privately carried out large-scale smuggling trade in the South China Sea to obtain a lot of financial resources. Sometimes he even secretly engaged in sea robbery. Otherwise, how could Zheng Zhilong be so comfortable?
Of course, these words must never be said. This is a secret within Zheng Zhilong's group. Moreover, this business has many connections with the local gentry groups in Fujian and even Guangdong. They have long formed a common interest group. The benefits involved are far beyond the estimation of ordinary people. If you really want to calculate it, it would be terrifying.

Although Zheng Hongkui was loyal to the court, he had left the Zheng Group and did not want to get involved in the South China Sea, but the blood connection and origin between the two sides could not be cut off. Moreover, he knew in his heart that Zheng Zhilong was playing with fire under the eyes of the court. Such things could not be brought to the table at all. Once the Shandong Navy went south, many secrets would be exposed. Zheng Hongkui did not want his brother to fall out with the court because of this matter. He could only use other reasons to explain why the Shandong Navy could not go south at present. Of course, his reasons were also real.

In Zheng Hongkui's view, it is not so easy for Ming Dynasty to solve the problem of long-distance sea voyages. At present, Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding technology is flawed and other practical conditions are restricting it. In addition, the Jiannu in Liaodong has not been dealt with yet. The Shandong Navy can only take care of the north and cannot go south immediately.

It will take a long time to solve these problems, maybe three to five years, maybe ten years, or even longer. The Ming Dynasty today is no longer the Ming Dynasty a few years ago. The Ming Dynasty is now showing signs of rejuvenation, and its finances are also improving. When the Ming Dynasty can fully afford the military expenses of the Fujian Navy, perhaps this situation will change.

So Zheng Hongkui did not mention this matter, this was his selfishness, and as a brother, it was understandable for Zheng Hongkui to do so. But Zheng Hongkui did not know that Zhu Shenzhui had already known what Zheng Zhilong did privately, and these secrets he deliberately concealed were just a joke.

With a sigh in his heart, Zhu Shenzhui was a little disappointed with Zheng Hongkui. Although Zheng Hongkui was loyal to the Ming Dynasty, he was Zheng Zhilong's brother after all. It was human nature for him to cover up for his brother out of brotherly love. It was not unreasonable, and apart from this incident, Zheng Hongkui had no other problems.

But just this alone made Zhu Shenzhu more determined to deal with Zheng Zhilong, and he was also a little glad that he did not act rashly before. Fortunately, he kept his composure and did not attack Zheng Zhilong immediately, but began to plan and play steadily. If he did something too radical and forced Zheng Zhilong to rebel, the problem would be difficult.

Moreover, this time, Zheng Hongkui was asked to come to Beijing to test the other party's attitude. Now Zheng Hongkui's answer also made Zhu Shenzhu make another decision.

In response, Zhu Shenzui turned to ask about the current manufacturing situation of Ming Dynasty ships, and curiously asked about the differences and advantages and disadvantages between Western warships and Ming Dynasty warships.

Zheng Hongkui answered these questions. He explained them one by one from the perspective of Eastern and Western shipbuilding technology and the gap between the warships of both sides. In particular, he told Zhu Shenzhui that although the Ming navy had strong combat effectiveness and a good scale, it was far inferior to the West in terms of warships alone. In particular, the large Western sailing ships were not only capable of long-distance voyages, but also possessed extremely strong combat effectiveness. Some Western warships were several times or even more in size than Ming warships. In addition, the firepower of the enemy warships was not comparable to that of Ming warships.

Ming warships generally only had two or three guns, and the larger main battleships had only four or five guns. However, a single galleon had more than two decks and thirty-six or even more guns. In a naval battle, the enemy's several warships fired hundreds of guns at once, which was powerful. Ming warships were no match for them. All along, Ming warships and Western warships had been engaged in naval battles based on the number of warships and tactics such as close fire attacks and boarding melee. Such tactics were extremely limited and required an unexpected attack. Once the enemy was well prepared, it would be difficult to fight.

So from all aspects, the Ming warships are far behind those of the West. This technological gap cannot be made up by the number of ships and bravery. Zheng Hongkui believes that to change this situation, we must find a way to learn Western warship technology and build more advanced warships for the Ming Dynasty. Only in this way will it be possible to compete and sail far.

"Zheng Qing is a man of great talent! He knows so much about the naval warships of European countries." Zhu Shenzhui said with emotion.

"Your Majesty, I have only dealt with these red-haired devils at sea in the past, and I know a thing or two about them. I do not deserve your majesty's praise." Zheng Hongkui replied very modestly.

"No!" Zhu Shenzhui shook his head and said, "Although our Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, Western Europe is not ordinary. The fact that they can come to our Ming Dynasty from afar is enough to show their extraordinaryness. Let's not talk about other things for now. Their strength on the sea alone is beyond the reach of our Ming Dynasty."

"Some time ago, Sweden and Poland sent diplomatic envoys to Ming Dynasty. I met with them and received their letters. I also learned a little about them. Although there are many countries in Europe and wars are endless, the national strength of each country is not weak. Moreover, it is a blessing to have envoys from overseas. Therefore, I agreed to their diplomatic needs with Ming Dynasty and planned to send envoys to communicate with these two countries."

"There is such a thing?" Zheng Hongkui was quite surprised to hear this. He was naturally unaware of Adolf's visit to the capital when he was in Shandong, and the Ming court did not publicize this matter much. It was no different from an ordinary audience with envoys from vassal states.

Seeing Zheng Hongkui's curiosity, Zhu Shenzhui immediately told him about the matter in detail. After listening to it, Zheng Hongkui hurriedly congratulated Zhu Shenzhui, saying that foreign envoys had come from afar to pay homage, which meant that all nations were paying homage. Moreover, it was unprecedented for European envoys to come to the Ming Dynasty. It was precisely because the Ming Dynasty was revived under Zhu Shenzhui that there was such a scene!

Hearing these not-so-good flatteries, Zhu Shenzhui burst into laughter, waved his hand politely, and then talked about the arrangements for sending envoys to each other.

At present, under the instruction of Zhu Shenzhu, the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple have reached an agreement with Adolf, accepted the diplomatic demands of the other party, and are ready to formally establish diplomatic relations with Sweden and Poland. The establishment of this diplomatic relationship is only an agreement of intention. Next, the Ming Dynasty needs to send a formal envoy to Europe to meet with the kings of Sweden and Poland and exchange letters of credence before it can be officially confirmed.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty will send an envoy to Europe to deal with this matter. After the envoy completes its mission, the Ming Dynasty, Sweden and Poland will set up special diplomatic agencies in their respective capitals to facilitate subsequent diplomatic exchanges.

The dispatch and formation of this diplomatic mission are still in progress. It is a long way from Ming to Europe. Moreover, the journey is very risky, and life and death are unpredictable. In addition, it takes at least two years to go back and forth. If the diplomatic officials are stationed there, it is not known when they will return to Ming. There are very few people who are willing to go and are qualified. In addition, there are some other factors, so it is not possible to form a mission immediately.

As he talked about this, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but sigh and shook his head. When he looked at Zheng Hongkui, he suddenly asked, "Zheng Qing is good at sea and has dealt with Europeans. The delegation is currently in need of a deputy envoy to be responsible for the security and military tasks along the way. I intend to let Zheng Qing take on this important task. What do you think?"

"Ah!" Zheng Hongkui had never thought that he would be mentioned in the conversation? Why was he suddenly asked to serve as the deputy envoy to Europe? Zheng Hongkui was completely unprepared and was stunned.

(End of this chapter)