Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 339: Shi Lang's Surrender
The Cixingfan Navy was the best in East Asia and had long coveted Huizhou and Chaozhou. When the Red Army and the Qing Army fought, the Cixing Navy took the opportunity to move south to seize Huizhou and Chaozhou.

Huizhou and Chaozhou are near the sea, with many alluvial plains and abundant grain production. If Cixing were to seize Huizhou and Chaozhou, it would be very disadvantageous to the Red Army's strategy in eastern Guangdong. Danchu was deeply worried, but he could do nothing about it.

Unexpectedly, the rear of Cixing Fan changed, and Zhongzuo's old nest was also destroyed by the Qing army. Zhu Chenggong had to give up Huizhou and Chaozhou and lead his troops to recover Zhongzuo.

The Red Army's conquest of Huizhou and Chaozhou was no longer hindered, as if it had divine help. Danchu was also very happy, with a feeling that "God's will is in my hands".

Another unexpected surprise was that General Shi Lang, who was given the surname Fan, came to join the army.

Shi Lang, whose courtesy name was Zunhou and pseudonym was Zhuogong, was a native of Jinjiang, Fujian. He was proficient in battle formations, good at naval battles, and familiar with the wind and tides at sea. He was originally a general under Zheng Zhilong.

In the second year of Longwu, Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. The Qing army ordered Zheng Zhilong to recruit his old subordinates to surrender. "Those who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in accordance with Zheng's order included Wuyi Earl Shifu, Haicheng Earl Zheng Zhibao and ten generals under his command, with a total of 113,000 soldiers and generals."

When Li Chengdong entered Guangdong from Fujian, Shi Fu led Shi Lang and other 5,000 soldiers to follow him. However, these Fujian soldiers were not Li Chengdong's direct subordinates and were marginalized in eastern Guangdong. After Li Chengdong rebelled, Shi Lang immediately returned to Fujian and joined Zhu Chenggong, becoming the youngest, most knowledgeable and skilled general in the Cixing Fan.

However, Shi Lang was arrogant and domineering, and was never liked by his superiors. He served under Huang Daozhou, a university scholar in the Longwu Dynasty, and also served under Li Chengdong, and was suppressed in both cases.

Zhu Chenggong was even more stubborn and would not tolerate Shi Lang's arrogance in front of him. The two gradually developed dislike for each other until they became enemies.

Dan Chu knew that Shi Lang was a rare naval talent, and when he heard that Shi Lang was coming to surrender, he immediately ordered a meeting with him.

The people around him naturally objected: "The king is trying to establish friendly relations with the Ci surname. If you take in Shi Lang, you will definitely make enemies with the Ci surname."

"No," Danchu retorted, "There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. Although our vassal and the Cixing vassal are both determined to resist the Qing, they will inevitably compete with each other for supremacy at sea in the future. Shi Lang is a naval genius and will be of great use in the future."

Yang Yuqi, the right military officer, came out to greet Shi Lang, who was flattered. After entering the palace, Shi Lang bowed to Danchu and said, "I, the guilty official Shi Lang, greet the king."

"Please stand up, please stand up." Danchu was very polite and allowed him to sit down.

Shi Lang was only thirty years old, with a strong build and eyes like lightning. He was indeed a rare and powerful general. The only puzzling thing was that he shaved his head like a monk.

Danchu said: "Your Excellency is at odds with the Ci surname, and you did not surrender to the Tartars but to the Red Army, which shows that you understand justice. This vassal has heard that you are familiar with maritime affairs, understand battle formations, are good at water battles, and are familiar with the wind and weather at sea. If you surrender sincerely, you will not have to worry about wealth and honor in the future."

Shi Lang felt relieved, knowing that he had found the right person. He said, "The Lord has shown me kindness and taken me in. I am deeply grateful. I will repay you wholeheartedly in the future."

After the greetings, Danchu changed his courtesy name and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that Zhu Chenggong was so stubborn that he killed your entire family. There are many different opinions about this. What is the reason?"

Shi Lang was straightforward and eager to refute the accusation, saying: "Your Majesty, please see that I am bald because of Zhu Chenggong. At the beginning of the year, Zhu Chenggong went south in full force..."

At the beginning of the year, Zhu Chenggong marched south in full force, intending to seize Huizhou and Chaozhou while the Red Army and the Qing Army were fighting. Shi Lang was the vanguard of the Left Frontier Army, and he thought that the Central Left Frontier Army had just been established, and Zheng Zhiguan, who was in charge of the garrison, was not up to the task. He knew that Zhu Chenggong was stubborn and would not listen to different opinions, so he met with Zhu Chenggong and lied that he had a dream last night, dreaming that the southern expedition failed.

Zhu Chenggong had always disliked Shi Lang and accused him of daydreaming and disrupting the morale of the army. He took the opportunity to seize Shi Lang's military power and kept him in Zhongzuo.

The Qing army launched a massive attack on Zhongzuo. Shi Lang led more than 60 family servants to fight hard, beheaded the brother of Ma Degong, the general of the Qing army, and almost captured Ma Degong alive. The Qing army was terrified. Although they had captured Zhongzuo and looted its wealth, they knew they could not hold it for long and quickly retreated to the mainland.

Shi Lang had made great contributions and thought Zhu Chenggong would restore his post as the left vanguard. Unexpectedly, Zhu Chenggong only rewarded him with 200 silver coins and still made him retire. What made Shi Lang even more embarrassed was that Zhu Chenggong promoted Shi Lang's deputy general to the general, completely depriving Shi Lang of his military power. Shi Lang was disheartened and simply shaved his head and became a monk in a temple. Zeng De was originally a trusted general of Shi Lang and had always followed Shi Lang. Seeing that Shi Lang had lost power, he joined Zhu Chenggong as a close follower.

Shi Lang was furious and sent people to capture Zeng De, and beheaded him without asking for permission.

Zheng Chenggong "issued an order not to kill him", but Shi Lang ignored it and "ordered him to be killed".

Zeng De was originally a general under Zheng Cai, and could also be considered Zheng's private general. He held a high status, and Shi Lang had no power to kill him.

Zhu Chenggong was furious and believed that Shi Lang was planning a rebellion. He arrested Shi Lang's family on the pretext of discussing military affairs. Shi Lang's father Shi Daxuan, his younger brother Shi Xian, and Shi Lang himself were all captured by Zhu Chenggong.

Shi Lang was well-known for his powerful reputation. Although he was arrested, he miraculously escaped from Zhongzuo with the help of his trusted generals and the people. After returning to the mainland, he disguised himself as a monk and came to Guangzhou overnight.

……

Thinking that his family, father, and brothers might have been executed by Zhu Chenggong, Shi Lang was very sad and his eyes were wet with tears.

Danchu listened to him patiently and gained a deeper understanding of the internal affairs of the Cixing Fan. Zhu Chenggong rose too quickly and failed to integrate the internal affairs. He was also stubborn and self-willed, and was not a good commander.

The Zheng family started out by monopolizing maritime trade, was good at naval warfare, and had abundant financial resources. However, the Qing army was not used to naval warfare, which was an important reason why the surname-granting vassal was able to rise quickly and dominate the southeast coast.

This Cixing Fan monopolized trade and followed the Zheng family's model of collecting protection fees. It sent navy warships to patrol the sea at any time and inspect merchant ships. Merchant ships paid huge sums of money to buy the special flags of the Cixing Fan and obtained the credentials before they could trade along the coast. Otherwise, the Cixing Fan navy could directly take the merchant ships for themselves.

Generally speaking, 100% of the merchant ships along the Fujian coast paid protection fees to the Cixing people. At least half of the merchant ships along the Zhejiang coast paid protection fees. At least half of the merchant ships along the eastern Guangdong coast paid protection fees.

In the early years, Zheng's navy often went south to fight against pirates in eastern Guangdong, and repeatedly fought with pirates such as the Red Flag Navy, Suli, Xu Long, and Wu Liuqi, in order to completely monopolize maritime trade.

Even the famous Dutch East India Company had to pay protection fees to the vassal states before they could enter the Chinese waters to conduct trade, not to mention the merchant ships from Japan and Ryukyu.

The Cixing Fan thus accumulated enormous wealth, becoming rich enough to rival a country.

The Red Army's occupation of eastern Guangdong and the Nanyang Fleet's galloping in the South China Sea will inevitably break the trade monopoly of the Cixing Fan. With Shi Lang's help, this matter will be much easier to handle.

"My land forces are about to occupy the entire eastern Guangdong, and the Nanyang Fleet also has hundreds of ships. We will definitely control the trade in eastern Guangdong. If Zhu Chenggong leads his troops to fight for it in the future, what will we do?"

Shi Lang readily offered his advice, saying: "When sailing, ships must regularly dock to restock fresh water, coal, and fruits and vegetables. Zhu Chenggong's navy is indeed powerful, but it is not good at land warfare. He has used troops many times in eastern Guangdong, but has never captured a famous city or a large town.

"As long as we hold the key points along the coast and prevent Zhu Chenggong from landing for supplies, even if he has tens of millions of warships, it will be useless. Along the coast of eastern Guangdong, Nan'ao is the most important, followed by Jieshiwei, and then Jiehaisuo, Pinghaisuo, Dapengsuo and other places.

"As long as our army holds these places, Zhu Chenggong will have no choice but to sigh in despair. In the future, we can use ironwood to build warships, recruit sailors, and train them diligently. Within three years, the Red Army will be able to compete with the Cixing vassal for supremacy."

(End of this chapter)