Back to the end of the Ming Dynasty when the emperor

Chapter 742 Zheng Zhilong Captured

Although Zheng Zhilong is not afraid of the Dutch, as early as 1633, he personally commanded the fleet on behalf of the Ming Dynasty and taught the arrogant Dutch warships a lesson. That battle was also near Kinmen Island. He concentrated his superior forces and finally used fire to attack. Nearly a hundred of the Dutch fleet knelt down and begged for mercy. It is said that the Dutch government at that time also paid tribute to Emperor Chongzhen.After Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, the Dutch unilaterally tore up the agreement and refused to admit it.

The name Zheng Zhilong and his Zheng family army became famous all over the world in that battle.

But now, Zheng Zhilong can't win Zhu Yousong's fleet, and loses every battle. Tens of thousands of Zheng's troops died and surrendered. Now there are only a few thousand people left.There are nearly a thousand warships in size, but now there are only dozens of them left. At the time, Fukeda was such a large territory, but now they are driven homeless.

The desperate Zheng Zhilong plans to take refuge in Japan because he is very familiar with Japan, especially before he entered politics, he was a businessman and a thief, and he lived in Japan for a long time. There are his good friends and relatives there, and his wife is Zheng Chenggong's biological mother is an islander, so in a sense, Japan is simply his second hometown.

But his fleet only traveled a few tens of miles before being surrounded by two Ming fleets.In the front is the fleet commanded by his brother Zheng Hongkui, and in the back is the fleet commanded by Liu Wenxiu. More than 1 navies and more than 300 warships trapped dozens of Zheng Zhilong's warships.

"Brother, stop being obsessed with obsession, and surrender quickly. Emperor Hongguang is the unparalleled lord, and it is right to turn around." Zheng Hongkui persuaded sincerely.

"Bah! Who is your elder brother!" Zheng Zhilong always thought that not only Zheng Hongkui betrayed him, but also instigated Zheng Chenggong to betray him, so when he saw Zheng Hongkui, he didn't get angry.So Zheng Zhilong gritted his teeth, "I really regret handing over Sen'er to you. You betrayed your ancestors and fooled around with a foolish king. Come on, come on, and use my head to get promoted and get rich!"

"Brother, are we like that? We are blood and we should be reunited. Why should we kill each other? I know you have prejudices against my younger brother. Zheng Chenggong is your own son. You sent him to study at Nanjing Guozijian Academy. Yes, these are all things after the death of Emperor Chongzhen, Emperor Hongguang's supervision of the country and his ascension to the throne. Besides, you can see who is the faint king and who is the bright master. The imperial conquest drove out the Tartars, pacified the thieves, strictly enforced political and military discipline, provided disaster relief and comforted refugees, made the government sound and the people harmonious, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Which of the thousands of subjects in the Ming Dynasty did not feel grateful for the mighty Long En? As for the emperor, is it true that in the eyes of the eldest brother, Emperor Hongguang is not as good as Emperor Chongzhen?"

"I can't say no to you, I really regret that I didn't kill you at the beginning, today either you die, or I live, kill!"

The two brothers couldn't go on talking, they could only talk with swords and guns.

Zheng Zhilong began to break through with dozens of ships, Zheng Hongkui and Liu Wenxiu led more than 1 sailors and began to shrink the encirclement. The two sides fought together on the vast sea.

For a while, the sound of artillery was loud, and finally bows and arrows, knives and guns were used, but after all, they were outnumbered, and the power ratio of the two sides was 3:1.Therefore, the fierce battle ended in less than an hour. Zheng Zhilong's general Zhong Bin and more than 1000 Zheng's troops were wiped out. Seeing that the situation was over, the remaining 3000 chose to abandon their weapons and surrender to save their lives.

Zheng Zhilong, who fought to the end, jumped into the water, trying to escape, but was caught by Daming's sailors, tied him tightly, and brought him to Zheng Hongkui.

Zheng Zhilong kept cursing, and only wanted to die.

Zheng Hongkui ignored him, thinking that his big brother was either bewitched or crazy.But he won't kill him either, this is his eldest brother, a compatriot of the same mother.

They have four brothers in total. The second brother, Zheng Zhihu, was killed in the battle with Liu Xiang a few years ago, and now there are only three of them left. No matter what, they can't do anything to their own brothers.

Although they are all pirates who kill without blinking an eye, Zheng Hongkui is different after all. He was born as a Wu Jinshi and has been an official in the court for many years. He has also been greatly educated by Zhu Yousong for his military exploits, and the gangster spirit on his body has long since disappeared, leaving only his righteous spirit.

He wrote a memorial, explaining the battle situation here, and asked his deputy Liu Wenxiu to tie him up, and escorted Zheng Zhilong to plead guilty to His Majesty.

Liu Wenxiu was puzzled and said: "Your Majesty has always distinguished rewards and punishments, merits and demerits, right and wrong, why is your lord doing this?"

"General Liu, Zheng Zhilong is my own brother. He committed a heinous crime. According to the law of Ming Dynasty, he should be punished by his family. This official cannot absolve himself of the responsibility. Let the Holy Majesty decide everything."

Zheng Hongkui looked very distressed, he knew that even if he didn't kill his elder brother Zheng Zhilong, at least Zheng Zhilong would have to lose his head for the crime of treason, so what?

However, this is entirely his own fault, who can be blamed?
Liu Wenxiu had no choice but to follow suit, leaving a team to clean up the battlefield, guard the prisoners, extinguish the remaining fire on the wrecked ship, and deal with post-war affairs.Liu Wenxiu pressed Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui to bring the memorial to Nan'an Prefecture to meet Zhu Yousong.

At this time, Zhu Yousong, with Wenwu and several beautiful concubines, was studying a Dutch warship.

Of course, this ship was captured by the Daming Navy just now, and it was towed from the sea along the waters of the Jinjiang River by boat.

Surrounded by Imperial Guards and Imperial Guards from the Imperial Battalion, eunuchs and court ladies waited on them.All the people present were looking at this large ship. Most of the civil and military officials and generals present had never seen a Dutch warship. Today was an eye-opener.

Zhu Yousong circled the big ship twice, and finally boarded the warship. The ship was set up three stories high, with a huge hull design. The overall height was higher than a four-story building, and the draft must be at least dozens of tons.

Moreover, each floor is equipped with artillery ports, equipped with red-clothed cannons and thousands of golden Flang machines, which is the same as the firepower equipment of Ming Dynasty navy warships, but due to the large hull and many artillery fires, one ship, the firepower It is equivalent to the firepower of several Ming warships.

In addition, the advanced feature of this ship is that it has an upwind navigation system.The current warships are all wooden, there are no armored warships, and no mechanical power.Sailing is powered by the wind and the strength of the sailors, but the Dutch ships have a strong headwind sailing system, which is one of the reasons why they lead the world.

Zhu Yousong was very interested in this aspect. He took Xiao Liushi and several concubines and eunuchs to study this advanced warship very carefully. At this time, Liu Wenxiu escorted Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Zhilong to see His Majesty Zhu Yousong.

(End of this chapter)