Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 480
Zhengfu, Quanzhou, Fujian.

Zheng Zhilong stared at everyone in the hall with a frosty face.

After a long time, after everyone read the order from Li Jing, Zheng Zhilong said coldly: "Let's talk about it, what should we do now?"

As soon as Zheng Zhilong finished speaking, there was a bang, and then one of them suddenly stood up and shouted: "Damn it, I thought it was a good thing that Li Jing was promoted to the admiral of the Fujian Navy a few days ago, but I didn't expect him to Have evil intentions. Don’t let us get involved in overseas trade, isn’t that making us drink the northwest wind?”

The person who spoke was Zheng Zhilong's younger brother Zheng Zhibao.

Zheng Zhibao is the fifth eldest among the Zheng brothers, and his nickname is Mang Er. From his name, Zheng Zhibao has a reckless personality.

After hearing Zheng Zhibao's words, everyone echoed: "Yes, don't let us go into business, what do we people eat?"

"The elder brother has more than 3 brothers, and he is not allowed to run a business. How can he support so many people?"

……

"Brother, turn the other way! Since Li Jing is not benevolent, don't blame us for being unjust! With our strength, even if we become kings at sea, Li Jing can't help us." Zheng Zhibao continued.

"Uncle Wu is not good enough. Li Jing is far-sighted and far-sighted, not as simple as Uncle Wu thinks." Zheng Sen got up and said.

"Oh? How do you say that?" Zheng Zhilong squinted at Zheng Sen and said.

Zheng Sen looked at Zheng Zhibao and said with a smile: "Uncle Wu, it is said that Li Jing convened a meeting of important ministers in the DPRK half a month ago. The decision to open the sea ban and the promotion order was made during that meeting, but why did the order to open the sea ban have to be made? Send it half a month later?"

Zheng Zhibao scratched his head: "I don't know."

Zheng Sen smiled and said, "Actually, Fifth Uncle just needs to think about it carefully, and it's not hard to guess."

Zheng Zhilong glared at Zheng Sen, and shouted: "Speak well, no matter how big or small, how decent it is!"

Hearing his father's reprimand, Zheng Sen quickly restrained his smile and said, "Fifth uncle, all uncles, the purpose of Li Jingwan's order to open the sea ban is actually to buy time for him to mobilize the army.

Now Liu Erleng has led the army to Fujian, Chen Erhu has led the army to Zhejiang, Zhou Daqing has led the army to Guangdong, and the navy led by Sun Chuanting will soon arrive in Fuzhou.

In addition, Sun Meng's troops will soon arrive in Fujian, and Li Jing's five armies will arrive together. The purpose is self-evident, and it is to prevent us from rebelling. "

"His five-way army has a use, can it stop our strong ships and guns?" Zheng Zhibao said disdainfully.

Zheng Sen shook his head: "I don't know if I can stop it. My nephew only knows that Li Jing has not lost a single battle so far. How powerful are the Jurchens in Liaodong? Daming suffered countless defeats at the hands of the Jurchens in the past ten years, but Li Jing It took only one year for Jing to pacify Liaodong, which shows how powerful Li Jing is."

"Hmph, I admit that Li Jing's methods are powerful, but that's on land. On the sea, with just a few small boats from the imperial court, how can they be our opponents?" Zheng Zhibao sneered.

"Uncle Wu, the land is our foundation, if we can't keep the land, can we float on the sea for a lifetime?" Zheng Sen said with a wry smile.

"We don't need to be adrift at sea for a lifetime. We only need to beat the imperial court a few times like ten years ago. The imperial court couldn't stand it, and finally had to recruit us." Zheng Zhibao said disdainfully.

Zheng Sen shook his head: "Uncle Wu, it's not like it was ten years ago."

Zheng Zhibao sneered and said, "What's the difference? If it's different, it's because the court's navy is weaker, and it's not our opponent."

Zheng Sen smiled bitterly and said, "Uncle Wu, you are wrong! Ten years ago, Fujian was not our territory, and we could do whatever we wanted without any scruples. But now, from Fuzhou to Zhangzhou, most of the people in this area are related to our soldiers Therefore, if we destroy these places, I am afraid that before the imperial court comes to attack us, the soldiers themselves will mutiny."

"Uh..." Zheng Zhibao was dumbfounded when he heard this, and after a while he said: "We can attack other places, anyway, as long as it hurts the imperial court, we can go anywhere."

Seeing that Zheng Zhibao decided on the path of rebellion, Zheng Sen sighed and said, "Uncle Wu, why don't you understand? As I said just now, land is our foundation, because brothers and relatives all live on land. These people It can help us, but it can also hold us back.

When we were pirates in the past, we mostly changed our names and surnames in order not to hurt our family members. Even so, many brothers’ identities were leaked and relatives were arrested.In addition, in order to recruit us, the imperial court did not want to go too far. Instead of exterminating the relatives of those brothers whose identities were exposed, they used them to persuade us to surrender.

If we rebel now, the relatives of the brothers will be against the party.

If we don't harass the place, Li Jing may be ready to take the relatives of the brothers. If we harass the place, Li Jing will be furious, how can he let the relatives of the brothers go?Don't forget, the brothers are now officers and soldiers of the imperial court, and their identities are all recorded in the Ministry of War, so it's a sure thing to catch one.Once Li Jing ordered the arrest of the relatives of the brothers, what would the brothers do?Can you still follow us wholeheartedly to rebel? "

"Damn it, I haven't thought about this level. According to what you said, it's really easy to think about it." Zheng Zhibao scratched his head and said.

Seeing that Zheng Sen talked eloquently and thoughtfully, Zheng Zhilong felt very relieved.

Smiling, Zheng Zhilong suddenly said, "Fusong (Zheng Sen's nickname), I'm afraid this matter is not as serious as you think. In my father's opinion, Li Jing will not easily do anything to his brothers' relatives."

Hearing this, Zheng Sen bowed to Zheng Zhilong and said, "Please give me your advice, Father."

Zheng Zhilong smiled and waved his hands: "You are right, in Fujian, especially in Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou are our foundations, and most people here are devoted to our Zheng family.

If Li Jing takes the common people here, it will inevitably spark a civil uprising, and the common people will definitely support us even more. Li Jing absolutely does not want to see such a situation.

Of course, the premise is that we cannot lead troops to plunder along the coast of Daming. If we plunder places, I am afraid it will be a different matter. "

Zheng Sen pondered for a while and said, "That is to say, even if we rebel, as long as we don't harass Daming's coastal areas, Li Jing will not attack the common people who are involved with us."

Zheng Zhilong nodded with a smile: "Li Jing values ​​public opinion the most, and will never do such a stupid thing."

Zheng Sen hesitated for a moment and said: "If this is the case, then even if we rebel, Li Jing will have nothing to do with us. With these ordinary people around, we can get supplies at any time, unless Li Jing seals the sea."

"Just a few ships from the imperial court still want to seal the sea? Just dream!" Zheng Zhibao said disdainfully.

Zheng Sen shook his head: "Feng Hai doesn't have to be a naval force, infantry can do it too."

Zheng Zhilong laughed and said, "How many soldiers are needed to seal the sea on land? Don't say that Sun Meng only has 3 to [-] people, even ten times more will not be enough."

Zheng Sen nodded silently. People don't need to go out to sea from the pier to deliver supplies to pirates. They can go out to sea at any seaside.

The coastline from Fuzhou to Zhangzhou is nearly a thousand miles away, and infantry can't seal such a long coastline.

After pondering for a while, Zheng Sen asked: "Father, are you ready to accept the imperial court's order?"

Zheng Zhilong glanced at the crowd, sighed softly and said, "Li Jing's skillful handling of affairs is even better than his use of troops. Lifting the ban can put us to death. To be honest, I am not afraid of the court's navy, and I am also I am not afraid of the army of the imperial court, but what I am worried about is that the barbarians will unite against us."

"Those barbarians have been scared by us for a long time, why worry about them?" Zheng Zhibao asked puzzled.

Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said: "Mang Er, you don't understand. Do you think that the Dutch were really scared by us in the battle a few years ago? You must know that the Dutch came to Ming Dynasty not to fight. Their purpose It is to make money.

Because Daming does not trade with the Dutch, that's why they went to war against Daming. Although the Dutch ended in failure in that battle, they finally achieved their goal of trading with us. Now that the goal has been achieved, the Dutch naturally don't care about a little loss .

But the Dutch are not fools. They follow our rules and trade in Taiwan. How much benefit do you think they don't know?The reason why the Dutch agreed to this condition was that they could not trade directly with Daming, they could only trade privately with us, so they accepted it as a disadvantage.

But when Li Jing lifts the sea ban, the Dutch are definitely not willing to continue to suffer this loss. If we want them to trade with us in Taiwan, the Dutch will definitely not agree, and there will definitely be conflicts at that time. "

(Note: The Dutch were called Hongmao or Hongmaofan in the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Xie of the Ming Dynasty wrote in "East and West Foreign Research" published in the 45th year of Wanli; Since ancient times, he has no knowledge of Chinese, he has deep eyes, long nose, and red hair, so he is called Hongmaofan. Zheng Zhilong understands Dutch, and he has been trading with the Dutch for many years, so of course he would not call the Dutch as Hongmaofan like others.)
"Brother, what you mean is that Li Jing lifted the sea ban because he wanted to unite with Hong Yi to deal with us?" Zheng Zhibao was surprised.

Zheng Zhilong sighed and said: "If it's just the Dutch, we don't have to be afraid of them. What I'm worried about is that the Franks will also join in. None of these countries are as powerful as us, but once they join forces, we will Maybe they are no longer opponents, even if they can be defeated, they must suffer heavy losses."

Zheng Sen continued: "If we can keep the shipyard, even if there is a loss, we will recover sooner or later, but if Li Jing wants to attack us, I guess the first thing is to take down our shipyard. Without the shipyard, our strength will be limited." It will get weaker and weaker."

Zheng Zhilong nodded: "That's what I'm worried about."

"Are we just obediently obeying Li Jing's mercy?" Zheng Zhibao said indignantly.

"At the mercy of Li Jing? How is that possible? Li Jing wants me to listen to him, and it will definitely not work if I don't offer benefits that satisfy us." Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said.

"Brother, what are you going to do?" Zheng Zhibao said.

"Hmph! I'm still the court's official. As long as I don't raise my banner to rebel, Li Jing won't dare to do anything to me. Didn't he let me engage in overseas trade? So what if I promise him?" Zheng Zhilong sneered.

(End of this chapter)