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

Chapter 340 Joint Surname Granting
Jiao Lian was sent as an envoy to Zhongzuo.

Without Jiao Lian, there would be no Cen Danchu. If it weren't for Jiao Lian's nurturing, promotion, and protection, Cen Danchu would not have been able to achieve his success in the war and build his career today.

Danchu was also grateful to him and treated him as a father, often giving him generous gifts. However, Jiao Lian was too old in the army, had too high a prestige, and was also ambiguous with Emperor Yongli. Danchu was not at ease with letting him take control of the military power.

When Kong Youde led the Dingnan vassal to invade Guangxi, Jiao Lian divided his troops to guard Guilin and Wuzhou, and also resisted in Pingle, which led to his defeat and the army was completely scattered. After that, Jiao Lian served as a councilor of the Council of State Affairs and held the title of consultant in the Military Advisory Office, but he remained in office in vain.

Jiao Lian was well-known and had the title of Duke of Xuan, so it was appropriate for him to be sent as an envoy to Cixingfan. If he could successfully unite Cixingfan, Jiao Lian would also be able to improve his prestige in the Red Army and pave the way for him to take up a real position in the future.

In June, the weather was hot and the monsoon was strong. Jiao Lian and his party first traveled by land to Chaozhou, then boarded a ship in Chenghai and headed to Zhongzuo under the escort of a navy warship.

Zhongzuo is now Xiamen, and its full name is Zhongzuo Shouyu Qianhu Suo, which is under the jurisdiction of Yongning Guard and is located on Jiahe Island, Tong'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture. Although this place belongs to Quanzhou Prefecture, it is located at the southernmost end of Quanzhou Prefecture, adjacent to Zhangzhou Prefecture in Fujian, and is only a few dozen miles away from Zhangzhou Prefecture, so it can be reached within a day.

This area has always been the gateway to Fujian's coastal defense. During the Ming Dynasty, key defense points such as Jinmenso, Yongningwei, Wuyu Village, Dong'ao Village, and Wutong Village were established nearby.

Relying on its powerful navy, the Cixing Fan took Zhongzuo as its base and established a foothold right under the nose of the Qing army in Fujian.

The Qing army was unable to occupy Zhongzuo, and the army of Cixing Fan was weak and unable to capture Zhangzhou. The two sides maintained a delicate balance.

Zhu Chenggong still had to give Jiao Lian face. He personally went out of the Zhongzuo Station to the port outside the South Gate to greet him.

"This vassal has long heard of your great name, and seeing you in person today has no regrets."

Jiao Lian returned the greeting and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Prince Yanping is young and promising, and dominates the southeast coast. Lian has long admired him."

After returning to the city, the two men sat down as host and guest, and the general named Fan sat with them.

Jiao Lian first presented Cen Danchu's handwritten letter and said, "Your Majesty, this is written by the King of Nanyue himself. Please take a look."

Zhu Chenggong picked up the letter and first looked at the font on the envelope, praising it: "Good font, vigorous and powerful, with some of the charm of Wei stele."

"Well," Jiao Lian, who didn't know calligraphy, said, "The world is in turmoil now, and the mountains and rivers are broken. It has a bit of the decadence of the Wei and Jin dynasties."

Zhu Chenggong had already opened the letter and began to read it silently.

After the Red Army occupied Chaozhou, the navy entered Nan'ao Island and was bound to come into contact with Zheng's navy. In order to compete for maritime trade, the two factions might clash.

To this end, Cen Danchu proposed in his letter that the two vassals divide their spheres of influence according to the boundary between Fujian and eastern Guangdong during the Ming Dynasty. The area north of Xuanzhong in Zhangzhou Prefecture belongs to the Cixing vassal state, and the area south of Dacheng in Chaozhou Prefecture belongs to the Nanyue vassal state.

From now on, the two vassals will not interfere with each other, and the navy of each side will not enter the other's sphere of influence without reason. Both sides will station personnel at Xuanzhong and Dacheng to communicate at any time.

This division is more beneficial to the Nanyue Kingdom. Cixing Fan will not only lose the trade interests along the eastern coast of Guangdong, but also lose the most important Nan'ao Island for the coastal defense of Fujian and Guangdong.

In exchange, Cen Danchu proposed a condition that Zhu Chenggong could not refuse: the Red Army would assist the Cixing Fan in conquering Zhangzhou. This would greatly alleviate the food shortage problem of the Cixing Fan and also enable the Cixing Fan to gain a stable foothold on the mainland.

After reading the letter, Zhu Chenggong did not comment and showed it to all the generals. He then looked at the map on the wall in silence.

Jiao Lian said: "The two vassal states are in danger of losing each other, so they should join hands to resist the Qing Dynasty. The King of Nanyue is willing to help the King of Yanping capture Zhangzhou. Please restrain the navy and stop harassing the sea off eastern Guangdong."

The generals were either happy or worried, but most of them dared not speak, just waiting for Zhu Chenggong to speak.

Zhu Chenggong was also hesitant. He wanted to take Zhangzhou as a source of grain, but he was also reluctant to give up the trade benefits in eastern Guangdong.

Fujian is mountainous, with plains only scattered along the coast. Zhangzhou is located at the confluence of the Jiulong River and the Xixi River, and there are also rivers such as the Zhangjiang River, the Dongxi River, and the Changtai River in the territory. Although the grain production is not as abundant as that of Chaozhou and Quanzhou, it is still considerable, enough to alleviate the food shortage problem of the Cixing vassal.

As the army was weak, the Cixing vassal state could not capture Zhangzhou, let alone Changtai County under the jurisdiction of Zhangzhou Prefecture and Haicheng County which was across the sea from Zhongzuo.

In order to solve the problem of food shortage, Zhu Chenggong took great pains and even attacked Tongan and Chaozhou, but both ended in failure.

Although there were many naval forces granted by the surname Zhu, most of them were merged from the old subordinates of the Zheng family, some were old subordinates of his father Zheng Zhilong, some were from the brothers Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian, and some were from his uncle Zheng Hongkui. Zhu Chenggong's prestige was not as high as Zheng Zhilong's, and the internal situation was not monolithic. Shi Lang's defection was enough to illustrate the problem. He urgently needed to solve the problem of food supply, find a base for the entire vassal, settle his family, and operate for a long time, so as to establish absolute authority in front of the Zheng group.

"It is better to teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish. I have heard that the Red Army's firearms are the best in the world. Can you ask the Red Army to sell firearms to our domain and send military officers to teach us how to deploy the battle array?"

The person who was speaking was named Gan Hui, a native of Haicheng County, Zhangzhou Prefecture. He had always been in charge of the central army for Zhu Chenggong and could be regarded as the number one general of the Cixing Fan.

"That shouldn't be a problem." Jiao Lian said bluntly, "The Red Army once sold firearms to Duke Kangguo and sent military officers to teach him how to use firearms. The King of Yanping is determined to fight the Qing dynasty and has made outstanding contributions. The King of Nanyue will be happy to sell weapons and teach him how to use firearms."

Duke Kangguo was Li Dingguo. Cen Danchu married him and made his adopted son Wang Hua marry Li Dingguo's daughter. Li Dingguo had been suppressed by Sun Kewang for a long time, but with the help of the Red Army, he gradually became a rival to Sun Kewang.

"I heard that the Red Army does not wear heavy armor, and the soldiers charge into battle without any protection. Why is that?" asked General Lin Cha.

The soldiers of the Cixing Fan were not good at land warfare and were often defeated when facing the Eight Banners. For this reason, someone suggested that Zhu Chenggong establish an "Iron Man Army". The Iron Man Army wore heavy armor, iron helmets, and used sabers as weapons, which had a particularly strong protective power.

Zhu Chenggong was very interested and ordered the selection of elite troops to try out the Iron Man Army.

Jiao Lian was good at using heavy cavalry, which was actually heavy armored infantry on horseback. They had to dismount before fighting, and he also attached great importance to armor protection. He smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that the Red Army doesn't have heavy armor, but because of financial constraints and the rapid expansion of the army, we can't afford to equip soldiers with armor."

The generals felt relieved and asked Jiao Lian several questions, and the atmosphere gradually relaxed.

Zhu Chenggong had been thinking, and the audience was talking. He was a little impatient, so he cleared his throat and said, "Zheng has many descendants, but my sister is already married. Duke Dingguo has a daughter named Zheng Li, who is very beautiful. If the King of Nanyue does not abandon her, you can take her as a concubine."

In order to befriend Zhu Chenggong, Cen Danchu asked Zheng for a concubine in a letter.

The Duke Dingguo mentioned by Zhu Chenggong is Zheng Hongkui, his uncle. Zheng Zhilong has many brothers, and Zheng Hongkui is the most talented and has the most outstanding military exploits.

Not long ago, Zhu Chenggong held Zheng Zhiwan responsible for the loss of Zhongzuo Station accountable and beheaded him for fleeing first. Zheng Hongkui, following his mother's order, let the Qing army return to the mainland, but was also severely rebuked by Zhu Chenggong. He surrendered his military power, retired to Baisha, Dongshi Town, and no longer interfered in government affairs.

Now, Zhoushan is in danger, and Lu Jianguo is no longer reliable. After Zhu Chenggong's recent defeat, if he can marry Cen Danchu and bring in the Red Army as support, it will be enough to boost morale.

This is the best of both worlds. Jiao Lian was also very happy and said, "The King of Nanyue admires Zheng and will send a betrothal gift soon."

"I heard that the King of Nanyue was originally a boy soldier under the command of the Duke, and he had made great achievements in the war, but he ended up in the current situation. If it weren't for the military affairs, this vassal really wanted to meet with the King of Nanyue and talk about the great cause of resisting the invaders."

There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. The two kings each have their own army. Even if they are united in fighting against the Qing Dynasty, they are bound to be suspicious of each other. If they do not distinguish between master and servant in the future, they will never meet each other.

Jiao Lian avoided talking about Cen Danchu's background for the sake of respecting his elder brother, and said, "The King of Nanyue said that the Red Army would stop at Chaozhou and would not advance eastward to Fujian. Next, the Red Army will reorganize its troops, rectify internal affairs, and wait for an opportunity to march north. When the time is right, the two vassals will meet at the Yangtze River, and Jiangnan can be conquered in one fell swoop."

If they can really work together, the Red Army should advance eastward to Fujian, and then join forces with the Cixing Navy to govern Fujian and Zhejiang. However, the two vassals have never had any contact, so this is not feasible for the time being.

"I heard that Shi Lang fled to your vassal state. I wonder what position he holds?"

As soon as Zhu Chenggong said this, all the generals looked at Jiao Lian. Shi Lang had always served as the left vanguard in the Cixing Fan, fighting bravely and with remarkable achievements. Zhu Chenggong killed dozens of Shi's family members, and most of the generals were dissatisfied.

"Well," Jiao Lian hesitated for a moment and said, "The King of Nanyue believes that although Shi Lang made mistakes, he has made contributions in resisting the invaders and should not be killed. At present, Shi Lang is a leader in the shipyard, responsible for inspecting ironwood and supervising the repair of warships."

"So he is a foreman." Zhu Chenggong smiled contemptuously, and the generals also felt regretful.

Danchu had some experience in controlling a proud and brave general like Shi Lang, which was to use both kindness and force. He demoted Shi Lang to a shipyard to supervise the construction of warships, to first curb his arrogance. If this man was really useless, it would not be too late to kill him.

Zhu Chenggong was in a much better mood and said, "If the King of Nanyue can help our clan seize Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, our clan will repay the favor by sending people to the Red Army to teach the secrets of naval warfare. The two clans will be separated by the big city, with the north belonging to our clan and the south to the King of Nanyue. How do you think?"

Jiao Lian was very happy with his great success and said, "There should be no problem. The two vassals should sign a treaty and swear an oath to fight against the Tartars together."

(End of this chapter)