Ming politicians

On February 15th, the [-]th year of Chongzhen, Su Tiancheng arrived in Fujian Province.

After traveling through so many years, except for the county magistrate who served in Jiangning County for a period of time, most of the time Su Tiancheng was active in the northern provinces. He went to Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Shandong and other places successively, but rarely had the opportunity To the south, this is Su Tiancheng's first visit to Fujian Province.

Before crossing over, Su Tiancheng was not very familiar with Fujian as a civil servant at the grassroots level. He only knew that Fujian and Taiwan were across the sea. It can be regarded as one of the settlements of ethnic minorities. The Fuqing Gang and Changle Gang in Fujian are very famous, and they are famous overseas. There are also many overseas Chinese in Fujian. Many people have traveled across the ocean. Went to Nanyang.

The speed of economic development in Fujian is average, and the reputation after a few hundred years is not great. It is far from being comparable to neighboring places such as Guangdong and Zhejiang. This is also because Fujian has lost some opportunities for development as a combat readiness base.

In the eyes of court officials, Fujian is not considered a very good place. Many officials have been reviled, or have offended the dignitaries in the court. The most likely place to be distributed is Fujian. The overall terrain of Fujian belongs to the hilly area. There are quite a few big mountains. In the eyes of court officials, this is not a suitable place to live.

But Fujian still had some fame in the entire Ming Dynasty, mainly because of the rampant maritime smuggling activities here, especially when Zheng Zhilong was in charge of the South China Sea, most of the smuggled merchant ships transported goods ashore through Fujian.

After the imperial court opened the Weihaiwei Wharf, it had a certain impact on the smuggling of merchant ships in Fujian, but the impact was not too great. The main reason was that Fujian was far away from Weihaiwei.The cost of transporting goods to Fujian by land has increased a lot. Some merchants who specialize in smuggling must be dissatisfied. They have enough financial resources to kill birds for food.It can affect all aspects. After Zheng Zhilong withdrew from Fujian and Xiong Zijian entered Quanzhou, Fujian on behalf of Jiangningying, he mercilessly attacked these merchants who specialized in smuggling. Because of the strength of Jiangningying and the bravery of the Jiangningying Navy , These merchants have suffered a heavy blow, and there are some merchants.I fled Fujian and went to Japan or Taiwan, hoping to make a comeback one day.

Xiong Zijian's ability to rectify the once rampant smuggling activities in Fujian was also due to Su Tiancheng's rise in status. Even if officials at all levels in Fujian wanted to intervene in the affairs of the Jiangning camp, it was unlikely.Especially after Su Tiancheng entered the cabinet, officials at all levels knew it better.If you think about making trouble for Xiong Zijian, you're offending Su Tiancheng, and I'm afraid you shouldn't think about being able to wear an official hat safely.

Xiong Zijian himself is very clean and honest, and he does not enter in. Those merchants engaged in smuggling activities have also thought of many ways.I hope that Xiong Zijian can accept their money and let them go. Unfortunately, this goal cannot be achieved, and those officials who have benefited from merchants cannot mediate from it.After learning about Xiong Zijian's attitude, he backed away.

Xiong Zijian's doing this is also Su Tiancheng's arrangement. If the smuggling activities in Fujian become too rampant, Weihaiwei Wharf will definitely suffer a major impact, and it will even be difficult to maintain. After all, smuggling can save a lot of costs and avoid a lot of taxes This kind of situation is not unusual, Su Tiancheng is very clear that even after hundreds of years, there will still be large-scale smuggling activities, the purpose is to avoid many taxes and let the money directly enter the pockets of individuals.

Merchants along the coast of Fujian, or merchants who have gained huge benefits through smuggling activities, are not only Han Chinese, but also merchants from Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and other places, and their interests have also been affected.

According to the information Su Tiancheng got, some merchants who escaped from Fujian united with merchants from Japan, the Netherlands, and Spain to form forces in Japan and Taiwan. profits.

Under such circumstances, Su Tiancheng decided to attack Taiwan, drive away the Dutch colonists, command Taiwan, and then completely command the surrounding sea areas, build a golden channel for maritime transportation, and control the surrounding places such as Luzon, Nanyang, and North Korea. , there is another most important task, that is to completely conquer Japan, and then completely transform Japan, and then use Taiwan as a base to launch a strategy of conquering the world, so that the influence of the Ming Dynasty can cover all parts of the world.

These things are all plans for the future. The current task is to take over Taiwan and then run Taiwan well.

Su Tiancheng went directly to Quanzhou.

Few people knew the news of Su Tiancheng's coming to Quanzhou, Fujian. Along the way, Su Tiancheng took Qu Qingze, Liu Tiehan, Song Sijun and others with him. Arrived in Quanzhou.

Sun Chuanting, Xiong Zijian, Wang Dazhi, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Chenggong and others have long been waiting for Su Tiancheng.

Zheng Zhilong donated his mansion as a place for Xiong Zijian and others to work and live. After Xiong Zijian learned that Su Tiancheng was coming to Quanzhou, Fujian, he vacated the best courtyard and rooms.

The [-] Jiangning battalion soldiers led by Sun Chuanting and Wang Dazhi were stationed in the barracks built by Zheng Zhilong before. Many warships were moored in the open sea, which was close to Zheng Zhilong's former residence. The guards here were very strict. The people are not allowed to approach at all.

After a hasty meal, Su Tiancheng went straight back to the room.

Everyone followed to the living room, silently waiting for Su Tiancheng.

After washing up a bit, Su Tiancheng appeared in the living room.

Everyone knew the purpose of Su Tiancheng's visit to Quanzhou, Fujian. According to Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong's suggestion, attacking Taiwan Island in early March would be the best choice. Take action and try to avoid encountering storms at sea. The power of nature is not something humans can easily contend with.

Su Tiancheng came to Quanzhou, Fujian, which means that the time to attack Taiwan Island has entered the countdown.

Sun Chuanting, Qu Qingze, Xiong Zijian, Liu Tiehan, Wang Dazhi and others all know Su Tiancheng's temper, he does things neatly, and doesn't gossip so much. Even Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong have heard and seen Su Tiancheng clearly. Require.

"Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong suggested that we start attacking Taiwan Island in early March. This suggestion is very good. However, the difference is not very big when we start attacking in February. I have already made clear the preparations in the early stage. Everyone is here today. We will work together. Discuss, if you have any considerations, if you have any questions, you might as well speak up directly."

Xiong Zijian, who was familiar with the situation, spoke first.

"Your Excellency, according to the information of the lower officials, some merchants in Fujian who specialize in smuggling fled to Taiwan and Japan, and some Japanese merchants also followed to Taiwan. Continuing to engage in smuggling activities at sea, the subordinate officials also learned that Japanese merchants even thought about being able to move Japanese pirates and forcibly open a passage. In addition, the Dutch, because they occupied Taiwan and controlled places such as Luzon and Nanyang, also Thinking of carrying out smuggling activities at sea in Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong, and gaining huge benefits, the forces of several parties are united and ready to move."

A sneer appeared on Su Tiancheng's face. If it wasn't for the involvement of the Empress Jin Tartars, in such a situation, Su Tiancheng would have led an army to conquer Japan after recovering Taiwan, and let the Japanese pirates know how powerful Ming was.

After Xiong Zijian finished speaking, Sun Chuanting continued.

"My lord, the officers and men of the Jiangning Camp Navy have arrived in Quanzhou, Fujian Province for more than a month, and they have to patrol and train at sea every few days, because the warships and patrol ships are huge, and some small boats to assist landing are all ready. Yes, Mr. Xiong, Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong gave great assistance, and also helped train the soldiers of the navy, how to quickly transfer from warships and patrol boats to small boats, and land quickly. This aspect of training is still in progress today. The soldiers have been able to master and operate it very skillfully.”

After Sun Chuanting finished speaking, Su Tiancheng looked at Zheng Hongkui.

Zheng Hongkui also spoke quickly.

"Your Excellency just mentioned the issue of the time of attack. His subordinates and Chenggong once suggested that the attack in March is also based on the actual situation here. It is completely feasible to launch an attack now. The sea is relatively stormy in summer. Going from Fujian There are still some islands along the way to Taiwan, these islands are mainly occupied by smuggling merchants, there is no basis for this, and the subordinates think that taking Taiwan is not a problem."

Having said all that should be said, Su Tiancheng spoke slowly.

"It's my first time to Fujian, and I have a good impression of it. There are outstanding people here, and the climate is suitable. It is not the impression that the old and the young are poor. The life of the people is relatively poor. This is the responsibility of the government. In Quanzhou, I feel that the lives of the people are generally better than those in other places in Fujian. This is probably due to Mr. Zheng Zhilong's previous contributions, which shows that Fujian can be built well."

"The imperial court doesn't have any special impression of Taiwan. I don't need to tell you that you know that the imperial court thinks Taiwan is a barren land. I learned from the intelligence that the situation in Taiwan and Fujian is not very far apart. In the first year of Chongzhen , there are a lot of people from Fujian who moved to Taiwan, and lived in Taiwan, Taiwan was built, but such a good place was occupied by the Dutch, can we tolerate such a situation, definitely not Yes, Taiwan must be retaken and Taiwan must be well built.” (To be continued..)