Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 181 Fleet and Bonus

After Huang Sixi took out the treasure of Tianning Temple in Jingzhou City, he continued to lead his troops northward, successively conquered Zhongzhou and Northern Zhili, and then attacked the capital with great force.

It took him only three years to finally surround the Forbidden City and recover the entire Central Plains.

This speed of conquest is definitely unprecedented.

During this period, Huang Sixi did not encounter any large-scale resistance, and he conquered every place almost without bloodshed.

In fact, Huang Sixi himself was not very happy about establishing his rule over the world, because he knew that the world situation was in a period of drastic changes. He had only quelled internal troubles, and there were still external threats to be resolved. He had a long way to go, and it was not time to cheer yet.

However, the heroes who followed Huang Sixi to start the rebellion were very different. They risked their lives to help Huang Sixi seize the world, and their contribution to the cause was indispensable.

Now that Huang Sixi has entered the capital, he will definitely enjoy the fruits of victory.

On the day when Huang Sixi broke through the Forbidden City, memorials advising Huang Sixi to ascend the throne flooded into his presence. Even those generals of the Dragon Subduing Army outside the Central Plains sent people to deliver the memorials to the capital.

……

Far away in the Prince of Yanping's Mansion on Taiwan Island.

Feng Xifan, Liu Guoxuan and Chen Jinnan, known as the three heroes of the island, were leading their respective families and were in a tense standoff inside the palace.

When Huang Sixi started his rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, the three heroes all urged Prince of Yanping Zheng Jing to send troops to southern Fujian to support Huang Sixi's Jianglong Army.

However, Zheng Jing did not send troops rashly. He planned to wait and see. After the Jianglong Army fought a few battles in the Central Plains and confirmed that it had the strength to fight against the Tartars, it would not be too late for him to send troops to southern Fujian to seize territory.

But Zheng Jing could never have imagined that the Jianglong Army was so swift and powerful that while he was still watching, the Jianglong Army generals Meng Zheng and Ding You had already led their troops to capture the entire southern Fujian.

Wherever the Jianglong Army went, local officials, gentry and common people acted as insiders and voluntarily opened the city walls and surrendered. This gave Zheng Jing the illusion that the Qing court was doomed and that any anti-Qing army in the world, as long as they arrived in the Central Plains, would be welcomed by officials, gentry and common people like the Jianglong Army.

Zheng Jing could no longer sit still and planned to order Feng Xifan, Liu Guoxuan and Chen Jinnan to organize a fleet of troops and ships to send troops to the Central Plains to recover the lost territory.

Unexpectedly, before Zheng Jing could pass on the order, he was horrified to find that Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan had actually launched a military rebellion and led thousands of soldiers to surround the Prince of Yanping's Mansion.

At this moment, Zheng Jing was leading his sons Zheng Kezang, Zheng Keshuang and other family members, standing in front of the hall door and trembling.

If Chen Jinnan had not received the news and led his troops to rescue them in time, Zheng Jing's entire family would probably have been captured alive.

Zheng Jing looked at the murderous Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan, and was particularly angry. He shouted angrily: "You two families have been favored by the Prince of Yanping for generations, why do you want to rebel against me?"

Feng Xifan had a gloomy face: "After the Prince of Yanping took control of Taiwan, he has been oppressing the local people for many years, causing them to live in misery. Today, I am here for the people!"

Liu Guoxuan said righteously: "You, the Zheng family, have seized most of the good farmland on the island, forcing many people to become homeless. If you continue to govern the island, it will be hated by both humans and gods, and sooner or later you will harm all of us!"

Zheng Jing became even angrier and questioned, "When my father landed on this island, where was the good farmland? Most of the arable land on the island was reclaimed by my father and the people, and the taxes are much lower than those of the Tartars. My family is benefiting the people on the island, so how can it be said that we are exploiting them?"

His eyes suddenly swept past Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan and looked at the dense crowd of soldiers behind them. Many of these people were old soldiers who followed his father Zheng Sen. He didn't believe that these old soldiers would follow Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan in rebellion.

He opened his voice and shouted loudly: "Back then, my father led everyone to drive out the red-haired barbarians on the island. You and the Prince of Yanping have a life-and-death friendship. When my father was alive, he regarded you as brothers. Do you really want to work for the rebels?"

The soldiers present were not moved at all; they just looked at Zheng Jing's family coldly.

This made Zheng Jing suddenly frightened, and he wondered what kind of magic potion Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan had given to these old soldiers?

Feng Xifan said mockingly, "If the Prince of Yanping really regarded the soldiers as his brothers, why did he increase the land tax on their family members every year? The soldiers have never been to school and do not know the truth, but they know who is good to them!"

After saying that, he turned around and asked the soldiers: "Marshal Jianglong has exempted the people of the world from paying taxes in the Central Plains. Do you want to continue paying taxes to the Prince of Yanping's Mansion, or join Marshal Jianglong together?"

The soldiers shouted in unison: "Submit to the Great Marshal Jianglong!"

Zheng Jing reacted quickly and expressed his opinion, shouting: "I can also exempt your land tax! No matter how many people are in your family, all taxes will be exempted. As long as my Zheng family is still there, I promise not to collect a single grain of food from your family!"

He wasn't just talking nonsense.

Taiwan Island is surrounded by the sea and has a developed shipping industry. As early as when his father Zheng Sen was in power, he had used tough measures to impose a customs tax on all ships involved in maritime trade, with annual revenue of up to several million taels of silver. Even if the agricultural tax on the island was exempted, it could still support the expenses of the Prince of Yanping's Mansion.

Feng Xifan chuckled, raised his fist, and bowed in the direction of the capital: "Marshal Jianglong is grateful to the soldiers and civilians on our island for continuing the Ming Dynasty and persisting in fighting against the Qing Dynasty for thirty years. He praised us as righteous soldiers and righteous people, and sent people to invite us to return to our homeland!"

Then he said something that struck Zheng Jingru as thunder: "Marshal Jianglong has sent people to measure the fertile land in southern Fujian, including the ancestral property of the soldiers and civilians on our island. As long as we cross the sea and land, we can move back to our hometown at any time!"

Liu Guoxuan added: "In addition to the farmland, Marshal Jianglong also built houses for us. When he recovered the Central Plains, he never gave special favors to the people of any place. We are the first! Prince Yanping, can you take the soldiers back to your hometown and let everyone take back their villages and homeland?"

At that time, Taiwan Island was occupied by the red-haired barbarians. Zheng Sen, Prince of Yanping, led tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians from southern Fujian to the island to expel the red-haired barbarians and settled down on the island.

Because southern Fujian was occupied by the Tartars, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were unable to return home. However, the people in the Central Plains have always wanted to return to their roots, and their determination to return to their hometowns has never wavered.

Originally they hoped that Zheng Jing could lead them back to southern Fujian and drive out the Tartars. Unfortunately, after waiting year after year, thirty years passed in a flash. The Tartars had already taken control of the Central Plains, and their return home was no longer in sight.

Just when they were feeling discouraged, news came that Marshal Jianglong had recovered the Central Plains. When the soldiers and civilians on the island received the news, they were overjoyed. The time to go home had finally arrived.

In fact, even if Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan did not lead these soldiers to rebel against the Prince of Yanping's Mansion, they would have sneaked back to southern Fujian one by one in the future.

When Zheng Jing heard this, he seemed to shrink and all the strength in his heart and mouth was drained away.

He knew that the situation was hopeless and that the Prince of Yanping's Mansion had lost the foundation for ruling the military and civilians on the island.

His eldest son Zheng Kezang was still unwilling to give up, and suddenly shouted: "You didn't follow the Dragon Subduing Army to conquer the world, why do you think the Dragon Subduing Army will reward you with farmland for nothing? No reward without merit, aren't you afraid that after returning to southern Fujian, you will be escorted to the execution ground by the Dragon Subduing Army as soon as you step onto land?"

Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan asked at the same time: "Who is the Great Marshal Jianglong?"

The soldiers behind them answered in unison: "Dragon-Subduing Hero!"

Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan asked again: "Will the Dragon-Subduing Hero deceive the people of the world?"

The soldiers had no doubts: "We will definitely accept the invitation of the Dragon Slayer and return to our hometown in southern Fujian!"

Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan were unwilling to waste words with the Zheng family. They turned their eyes and looked at Chen Jinnan: "Brother Chen, do you want to be an enemy of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the island?"

Three years ago, Chen Jinnan witnessed the return of the Dragon Subduing Hero in Hejian Prefecture, and also witnessed the Dragon Subduing Hero's recovery of Yunnan and Yunnan in Kunming. In fact, he had long wanted to join the Dragon Subduing Hero's army. Following the Dragon Subduing Hero to help the Central Plains would surely have a brighter future, and in the future it would be easy for him to gain the merit of following the dragon and have his wife and children honored with titles.

But Chen Jinnan was grateful for the support from Zheng Sen, the Prince of Yanping. If Zheng Sen had not taken him in, he would not be alive today. He was a nostalgic person, so he gave up the idea of joining the Dragon Subduing Hero and returned to Taiwan to continue his loyalty to Zheng Jing.

Seeing Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan forcing the emperor to abdicate, Chen Jinnan was resolute: "As long as I, Chen Jinnan, am still alive, I will never let anyone harm the Prince of Yanping's family!" However, Chen Jinnan was not someone who did not understand the greater good. He added: "If you can ensure the safety of the Prince of Yanping's family, I will not object to the island's military and civilians accepting the command of the Grand Marshal Jianglong!"

After he finished speaking, Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan turned around and said, "Please welcome Lord Meng Zheng, the governor of the Southeast Fleet of the Dragon Subduing Army!"

The soldiers immediately made way for him, and an old man in his sixties walked into the Prince of Yanping's Mansion.

Zheng Jing lived on the island for a long time and had never met Meng Zheng, but Chen Jinnan met with Meng Zheng many times.

Meng Zheng's father, Meng Bofei, was a veteran of the Dragon Subduing Society. Meng Bofei was originally a wealthy man in Hejian. In the past, he admired the reputation of the hero Jianglong and joined the Dragon Subduing Society with his family. Later, when the Dragon Subduing Society was defeated in the Central Plains and retreated to the sea, Meng Bofei died of illness. Meng Zheng stayed with the Dragon Subduing Society and went to Burma to rebuild his business.

Among the current leaders of the Dragon Subduing Society, apart from Chief Li Xihua and Deputy Chief Luo Liru, Meng Zheng has the highest prestige.

Three years ago, after Huang Sixi announced his uprising against the Qing Dynasty, Meng Zheng immediately led his troops to join Huang Sixi's army. He was also highly valued by Huang Sixi, who ordered him to lead a detachment into the southeast and successfully recovered southern Fujian.

However, this was the first time Chen Jinnan heard of Meng Zheng's title of Governor of the Southeast Fleet. He guessed that this was a temporary appointment given to Meng Zheng by Huang Sixi in order to recover Taiwan Island.

Meng Zheng walked between Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan and met them with a smile.

He then took out an imperial edict and said to Zheng Jing and Chen Jinnan, "This is the Marshal's personal order. As long as the Prince of Yanping is willing to return to the Central Plains and let the Dragon-Subduing Army garrison on the island, the Prince's title and property will be retained. This order will be announced to the world to praise the Prince's contribution to the anti-Qing struggle!"

After hearing this, Zheng Jing was hesitant, not knowing whether he should believe the promise of Marshal Jianglong.

At this time, his second son Zheng Keshuang whispered, "Father, the Dragon-Subduing Hero is a man of his word. He has always respected the heroes who fought against the Qing dynasty. When I first met the Dragon-Subduing Hero in Hejian Prefecture, he specially invited me to a banquet. During the banquet, he mentioned the anti-Qing deeds of my grandfather and father many times. If we move back to the Central Plains, we will definitely be treated with courtesy by the Dragon-Subduing Hero. I think we should accept this order."

Chen Jinnan also said: "The Dragon-Subduing Hero raised his army based on his prestige. Every time he recovered a piece of land in the Central Plains, the people of the world surrendered to him. A benevolent monarch like him who values his reputation would never do anything that would harm His Majesty."

He suggested that Zheng Jing surrender his military power and move back to the Central Plains to settle down, which would be a good outcome for both parties.

Zheng Jing hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! I will hand over the seal to the Dragon Subduing Army and return to the Central Plains with Governor Meng to meet the Grand Marshal!"

Zheng Jing knew that he had no room for refusal. Huang Sixi was willing to give him respect. If he did not accept this respect, then his title of Prince of Yanping and all his property would be stripped away.

……

At the same time, a struggle for military power broke out at the Dragon Subduing Society headquarters in Myanmar.

However, the competition is not as intense as on Taiwan Island.

Deputy chief Luo Liru personally returned to the headquarters and went alone to the official residence of chief Li Xihua and his mother Hong Niangzi, trying to persuade the mother and son to settle in the capital.

Three years ago, Huang Sixi ordered Luo Liru to return to the headquarters to mobilize troops. Fortunately, Luo Liru fulfilled his mission and brought back 20,000 elite soldiers equipped with artillery and muskets from the headquarters.

As the chief leader, Li Xihua did not stop Luo Liru, because half of the elders of the Dragon Subduing Society were desperate to join Huang Sixi. Strictly speaking, Li Xihua's father Li Yan was also Huang Sixi's subordinate in the past.

But Li Yan once fought for the Central Plains and left a foundation for Li Xihua. This foundation had nothing to do with Huang Sixi. Li Xihua did not stop veterans such as Luo Liru from working for Huang Sixi, but he was also unwilling to give up his own foundation for nothing.

Li Xihua's intention is to split up the Dragon Subduing Society. Huang Sixi can take away all the legacy left behind, but Li Xihua plans to preserve the foundation left by Li Yan.

Li Xihua also told Luo Liru his thoughts and asked Luo Liru to convey them to Huang Sixi.

Since Huang Sixi was busy with the Northern Expedition and had no time to pay attention to Li Xihua, he put the matter aside.

After three years, Huang Sixi had recovered the Central Plains with great momentum, and the issue of Li Xihua had also come to a conclusion. Huang Sixi then sent Luo Liru back to the headquarters in Burma to negotiate with Li Xihua in person.

After Luo Liru met Li Xihua and Hong Niangzi, he first proposed a deal: "Back then, our Dragon Subduing Society fleet landed in Myanmar from the Tianzhu Sea and built a pier on the southern island of Myanmar for use as a berth for sea vessels. This pier is of great use to my husband, and he wants to buy it from the chief leader!"

Li Xihua was a little confused. "The islands in southern Myanmar are all unowned. The Dragon Subduing Hero can just send troops to occupy them. It doesn't matter how many docks you want to build. Why do you need my dock? Even if the Dragon Subduing Hero wants it, he doesn't have to buy it. After all, the dock was built by all of us brothers in the Dragon Subduing Society. It's not my personal property."

His mother, Lady Hong, was also there, and she asked Luo Liru, "Whether the dock is valuable depends on how many ships dock there! Do you want to take over all the ships in Tianzhuhai?"

Hongniang's guess was correct. Huang Sixi not only wanted the wharf, but also the fleet that the Dragon Subduing Society had operated for decades.

After Li Yan's death, the remnants of the Jianglong Society retreated collectively to the East China Sea and formed a fleet to sail south. Due to harassment by the red-haired barbarians, they bypassed the Strait of Malacca, landed in Myanmar from the Indian Sea, and rebuilt their headquarters in Myanmar.

In order to maintain the headquarters expenses, they began to expand their fleet and engaged in maritime trade in the Indian Sea all year round. They even sold goods from the Central Plains as far as the various regions of the Arab Empire.

After thirty years of development, this fleet not only formed the scale of ocean-going trade, but also mastered advanced cannon and gun casting technology, but the foundation of the fleet was created by Li Yan.

The foundation that Li Xihua wanted to preserve was this fleet. As long as he had the fleet, he could take Hong Niangzi to retreat to the Tianzhu Sea at any time without worrying about being affected by the situation in the Central Plains.

Luo Liru smiled and said, "When my husband sent me back to the headquarters, he personally told me that since you are his old friend, the chief will treat you as his son or nephew and will never force you to do anything. He just wants to make a deal with you!"

Li Xihua became interested and said with a smile: "What kind of deal does Uncle Huang want to make with my nephew?"

Luo Liru replied: "He hopes that you will merge the Indian fleet into the Dragon Subduing Army and let the Dragon Subduing Army command it! In return, he will confer the title of Prince to Chief Li Xian after he ascends the throne, and you will inherit the title of Prince. If you are willing, you will also have a seat in the imperial cabinet!"

Li Xihua was not very satisfied after hearing this. After all, he controlled tens of thousands of naval forces, and the empty title of a prince was far less important than military power.

Unexpectedly, Luo Liru's next words directly changed Li Xihua's mind: "If you insist on keeping the Tianzhu fleet, that's fine! But my husband has already formed the Southeast Fleet, which is the old foundation of the former Prince of Yanping. When the situation in the Central Plains stabilizes, he will let the Southeast Fleet go south to drive out the red-haired barbarians and control the trade route of the Java Strait!"

Luo Liru emphasized: "From now on, all ships in the East China Sea, South China Sea, and Tianzhu Sea that trade with the Central Plains must be operated by the Southeast Fleet. Any ship that attempts to share the trade profits will be sunk!"

He did not just threaten, but mainly negotiated with Li Xihua: "Of course, if you are willing to merge the Tianzhu fleet into the Dragon Subduing Army, then the Tianzhu fleet can join the ranks of the Southeast Fleet and operate maritime trade together. You can enjoy a profit every year!"

Li Xihua did not think that Luo Li was exaggerating. He knew very well how huge the profits of maritime trade were. If Huang Sixi set his eyes on this piece of fat meat and mobilized the power of the Central Plains to build ships, then within ten years, the entire East China Sea, South China Sea, and Tianzhu Sea would become waters for Central Plains ships to roam.

Although the red-haired barbarians' ships were strong and their guns were powerful, their homeland was too far away and they were definitely no match for the Central Plains fleet, which had the backing of the vast continent.

Li Xihua hesitated for a while and asked Luo Liru: "If I accept Huang Shishu's title of king and return to the capital to pay homage, can Luo Shishu guarantee my safety?"

"Who do you think the Dragon Slayer is? If he wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be alive today even if you had ten lives!"

Lady Hong lightly rebuked him, "Go to the capital with peace of mind. I guarantee you will be safe and sound!"

She was not without concerns, and looked at Luo Liru and said, "But after my mother and I hand over the fleet to the Dragon Subduing Army, how much maritime trade revenue can we get in the future?"

Seeing that the mother and son were already interested, Luo Liru said, "Madam, you can accompany the chief leader to see your husband and discuss this matter face to face! Didn't the red-haired barbarian set up a company called East Tianzhu in Tianzhu? Your husband plans to set up a business based on this model and distribute dividends to all the old brothers in our Dragon Subduing Society. Every family can get a profit every year. As long as we keep the incense burning, the dividends will continue to flow in!"

(End of this chapter)