Reborn Ming Dynasty as Emperor

Chapter 368 The Enemy Comes to Guangzhou City

Although Li Mingrui has been recalled to Beijing, the recruitment of Zheng Zhilong is still going on, and Xiong Wencan is still keen on it.

However, everyone except Xiong Wencan could see that neither Zhu Youxiao nor Zheng Zhilong had the patience to resolve the issue of maritime trade rights at the negotiating table.

Perhaps, as long as the negotiations are terminated, the war will begin.

And this Zheng Zhilong has not yet completely separated himself from the imperial court, so he is still arguing with Xiong Wencan in Quanzhou Mansion, but the preparations for the war behind the scenes are already in full swing.

"Tell Burrow of Frangji that the [-] cannons we purchased must be delivered before the [-]th, otherwise we will buy the cannons of the red ghosts, and they will not regret it then!"

Now, in order to compete with the imperial court in the future, Zheng Zhilong has almost spent all his wealth to buy a batch of more advanced artillery in the hands of Frang Jiren.

After all, Zheng Zhilong and other Zheng pirates knew that the main reason for their failure near the Ryukyu waters last time was that the artillery was not as good as that of the imperial court.

In addition, Zheng Zhilong is also planning to purchase a batch of soft sailing boats with better performance from the Folang Robots. In his opinion, the Folang Robots and the Red Fangui can sail here from Europa Ocean, which is comparable to the sailing boats. Goodness is irrelevant.

However, these Westerners are also afraid of the influence of Zheng's pirates in Nanyang, and they don't want Zheng's pirates to be too powerful, so that they can get involved in the Nanyang and Indian Oceans they control.

Therefore, now both the Flang robot and the Hongfan ghost are implementing a technical blockade against the Zheng pirates.

But now, as the Ming court began to intervene in the battle for the right to speak in the sea, and after the Ryukyu naval battle, these Western fans also began to realize the threat of this ancient empire, and their relationship with the Zheng pirates began to warm from coldness.

Whether they mind the Ming court intervening in this sea space, breaking the existing balance and re-disrupting the order of the sea, these Western fans and Zheng's pirates have the same position.

It is to resolutely prevent the Ming Empire, which was once famous in the entire Western Pacific, from re-entering the ocean world!
"Brother, Shang Zhouzuo, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, recently issued instructions to Xiangshan County Magistrate, and ordered Xiangshan County Magistrate Xiao Hegui to send notes to Western countries in Macau, asking them to leave Macau within a time limit, or to register at the Yamen of the Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi, and re-apply for legal residency. But the price of this legal right of residence is that Western countries need to report the type and scale of commodities they operate to the Governor’s Office of Guangdong and Guangxi. The imperial court will levy taxes according to their size and category. Punish the crime of rights and interests!"

"And these Western fans are unwilling to pay this expensive sum of money, and they have to pay for a long time, which makes them very reluctant! In addition, once they report to the Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi, many of their things can no longer be kept. Daming sells, such as opium, but merchants from Western countries want to stay in Macau and continue to make money in Daming. All of them beg us for help, and they seem to be united to put pressure on the Ming court, especially the governor’s office of Guangdong and Guangxi. !"

"In addition, when they learned that you were negotiating with the imperial court, they suggested whether we could propose to the imperial court to give them Macau directly!"

Zheng Hongkui is one of the most powerful people under Zheng Zhilong's command. He is proficient in various languages. He can be regarded as a master of Zheng's pirates.

At this time, he was also in charge of liaising with Western countries. Zheng Zhilong did not express his opinion immediately after hearing this, but asked his third brother Zheng Zhibao: "Where is the new South China Sea Fleet built by the imperial court?"

"It has already marched to the Zhoushan area, brother, shall we intercept it and prevent it from going to Nanyang?" Zheng Zhibao asked.

Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said: "It doesn't have to be like this. Last time we underestimated the strength of the imperial court, thinking that a lesson could make the imperial court obediently obey our orders, but we didn't expect that the imperial court came prepared and made us still Falling into a passive position, if we do this again now, we will probably start a war directly, so it is difficult to guarantee the final outcome; In the name of righteousness, we can't take the initiative to provoke a war. Therefore, we can't tear ourselves apart from the imperial court and let them go. Anyway, Qiongzhou is not our territory. Let Li Kuiqi and the people from Macau Worry about those Westerners!"

After speaking, Zheng Zhilong asked again: "Who is the commander-in-chief of the South China Sea Fleet?"

"It was Gu Sanmazi who captured Second Brother!" Zheng Zhibao couldn't help but gritted his teeth.

Zheng Hongkui couldn't help laughing: "Scholars will treat each other with admiration for three days. This guy who used to be just a beggar behind our ass is now doing well. He accidentally became the president. Sergeant, but the imperial court now intends to only let you be a real-time guerrilla, so it seems that the official position of this guy is much smaller than this guy."

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help laughing: "You can't say that. Zhu Youxiao has explained that if I want to serve the court, I can only be a guerrilla. If I want to retire and return home, I can directly award it to the Marquis. Sen'er can also directly Entering the Royal Military Academy, it is certain that you will be the chief military officer in the future, look at how well the calculations are made, if you want to be high-ranking and rich, you have to surrender military power!"

Zheng Zhilong said and said: "You can't let Gu Sanmazi get too proud, Zheng Zhibao, you take your people to pick up Gu Sanmazi and escort him for a while, so that Gu Sanmazi's journey can't be too easy. At the same time, let the court also see that my Zheng family has not collapsed yet, so don’t think that our Zheng family can be bullied by him after destroying dozens of our boats.”

Then, Zheng Zhilong ordered Zheng Hongkui again: "Tell those Westerners that I can help them fight for the management of Macau, and even help them conquer Macau, but they must provide us with fifty soft-sailed giant ships and two hundred Buddha gates." Lang machine artillery."

Zheng Zhilong didn't think about national righteousness and national interests. Although he was just a pirate leader, he sold Macau lightly in exchange for dozens of ships and artillery.

However, Xiyang Fan was very happy when he learned about Zheng Zhilong, and decisively agreed to Zheng Zhilong's request. For Zheng Zhilong, Macau may not be a big deal, but for Xiyang Fan, it is an important strategy to connect Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. hub.

……

However, when Zhu Youxiao learned through Jinyiwei that Zheng Zhilong had sold his Macau to Xiyangfan, he couldn't help but Longyan was furious: "Good Zheng Zhilong, when is it his turn to point fingers at my country, Macau is my Ming Dynasty It is really shameless for him to give the territory to Xiyangfan whenever he said it would be given to Xiyangfan! An order was issued to publicize Zheng Zhilong’s traitorous behavior, and he sent a letter to Shang Zhouzuo, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, personally note the businessmen from Western countries in the Governor’s Office of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Macau is The inherent territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty has no proposals to cede the territory, and refuses to recognize any individual or collective traitorous behavior!"

Zhu Youxiao once again instructed the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Shang Zhouzuo, to also issue a decree to Gu Sanmazi, the commander-in-chief of the South China Sea Fleet, to closely cooperate with Shang Zhouzuo's actions, and ensure the defense security of Guangzhou and the sovereignty of Macau.

At the same time, Zhu Youxiao returned the secret decree to the two people. If there is any mistake in Macau, the Ming Dynasty will be humiliated with the blood of the two people.

After Shang Zhouzuo heard about it, he didn't dare to be negligent, so he personally brought the pacesetters from the governor's office to the Xiangshan County Yamen. Xiao Hegui, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, was busy ten miles away to greet him.

But when Shang Zhouzuo saw him, he didn't give him a good face, but asked directly: "Xiaozhi County, I have repeatedly ordered you to send a note to the Westerners in Macau to come to the governor's office to re-apply for the right of residence, otherwise you will be directly deported." , but now no one has come to Zhaoqing to register, why is that?"

"Don't dare to hide the truth from Taiwan's lord, all these western fans have left the country, so they didn't come to Zhaoqing," Xiao Hegui, magistrate of Xiangshan County, replied cautiously.

But Shang Zhouzuo was greatly astonished by this. Although Macau is small, he still knows its importance to Western fans. The meaning of today's holy majesty is not that he really wants to drive out all these Western fans, but wants to reaffirm Ming's sovereignty over Macau and collect money from these Western fans to collect taxes, so he doesn't believe what Xiao Hegui said.

"Xiao Hegui, Xiao Hegui, I don't know how much money you have received from those Westerners. How dare you treat me as a three-year-old child?" A voice shouted from behind: "Vice General Liu!"

"The last general is here!" A rather burly general came over.

"Since the magistrate Xiao said that the western fans from Macau have left the country, I will order you to bring [-] soldiers to defend Macau as soon as possible!" As soon as Shang Zhouzuo said this, Xiao Hegui, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, immediately replied without thinking: "No, the system Mr. Tai!"

"Why not?" Shang Zhouzuo asked lightly.

"To tell you the truth, what I said just now must have been misunderstood by the master of Taiwan. Most of the Western fans have left the country, but some of the Western fans who have surrendered to my Ming Dynasty and become my Ming people have not left the country. In addition, some of them One is Lizheng from Macao Town, and he also pays money, food and taxes, so." Before Xiao Hegui finished speaking, Shang Zhouzuo replied: "So I can't drive them away, can I? Good Xiao Hegui, these How the Western Fans became my subjects of Ming Dynasty, I don't know how!"

"This... the yellow book registration is the job of a subordinate, why do you need to come in person?" Xiao Hegui replied tremblingly, but Shang Zhouzuo was so choked that he couldn't speak for a long time.

Naturally, Shang Zhouzuo could see that Xiao Hegui must be helping these Western fans, but Shang Zhouzuo didn't know how much these Western fans had benefited Xiao Hegui, so that even a small county magistrate dared to oppose himself and the court.

However, Shang Zhouzuo did not give up because of this, and said: "No matter which country these Western fans are now, as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, I have the right to dispatch the military affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi. Macau is the territory of my Ming Dynasty and belongs to Guangdong and Guangxi. Jurisdiction! I have the right to strengthen the defense of the territory. Vice-General Liu! With my order, I immediately went to Macau. Recently, piracy activities have been rampant. Macau must be strictly controlled. Foreigners and other people will be expelled from the country. Those who refuse to leave the country directly Take it back to the governor's office of Guangdong and Guangxi!"

Xiao Hegui, magistrate of Xiangshan County, was slightly taken aback, and didn't know how to stop Shang Zhouzuo's behavior. For a while, he had to send someone to take a shortcut to inform the Western Fans in Macau, and suggested that these Western Fans evacuate first.

……

What Xiao Hegui didn't know was that the Western Fans in Macau had already prepared countermeasures.

Because these Western fans have agreed to Zheng Zhilong's conditions, and at the cost of [-] soft-sail giant ships and [-] cannons, they have successfully obtained Zheng Zhilong's support for their occupation of Macau.

And Zheng Zhilong also promised them to enter the Pearl River Delta with them with half the strength of Zheng's pirates, and directly marched to Guangzhou Mansion to blackmail the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Shang Zhouzuo to make concessions.

Because of this, when Shang Zhouzuo received Zhu Youxiao's order and directly crossed Xiangshan County to let his subordinate, Deputy General Liu, enter Macau directly, he saw people from Shi Dakai, the prefect of Guangzhou, rushing over in a hurry: " Master Taiwan, something is not right. Hundreds of pirates and warships of Westerners suddenly appeared outside the city of Guangzhou. Hundreds of cannons were aimed at the city of Guangzhou. Master Tai immediately report to the imperial court and decide on a good strategy to defend against the enemy!"

Shang Zhouzuo pondered for a moment, but he didn't show any panic because of this, but asked the person who came: "You know the details, has the enemy already attacked the city?"

The man shook his head and said, "No."

"What are you panicking about! Those who violate our gate can be expelled, why worry about their wolves coming!" Shang Zhouzuo scolded, couldn't help but dragged a sentence, and then ordered: "Send an order to your master to strengthen the city defense If the enemy really attacks, be sure to stick to it. I will immediately dispatch troops to rescue him. In addition, let him not panic. The South China Sea Fleet of the imperial court is about to come to Guangdong and Guangxi. So why not be afraid of these young people? In my opinion , they are mostly bluffing and intimidating."

Shang Zhouzuo said so, but he didn’t dare to take it lightly, so he had to ask Vice General Liu to go to support Guangzhou Mansion, and he also rode to Guangzhou Mansion after writing the urgent memorial to the cabinet. Come.

Just as Shang Zhouzuo expected, Zheng Zhilong and these Western soldiers came to Guangzhou Mansion just to intimidate the Ming court. According to their expectations, they wanted to frighten the courage of the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Shang Zhouzuo, and then use Shang Zhouzuo's words to intimidate him. To Zhu Youxiao.

"This Shang Zhouzuo is just a scholar who can't lift a three-foot sword. I don't believe that he is really not scared when he sees this battle. Even if he is scared, I don't believe that the officials in Guangdong and Guangxi will not be afraid, at least they will Let them and Zhu Youxiao in the capital know that we are not easy to bully! If you want to set up a government office in Macau to collect taxes, you have to ask us if we agree!"

After Zheng Zhilong said something with a smile, Turia, the Folang machine man beside him, couldn't help laughing, and said in crappy Hokkien: "Mr. Zheng, why don't I try to break into Guangzhou Mansion. , how about we go in and grab a point, then you and I will get half, how about it?"

"Come on, Turia, Guangzhou City is easy to fight, but the tiger's butt is hard to touch. It's enough to scare them, so that both of them have a way out!"

Zheng Zhilong laughed.

(End of this chapter)