Chapter 201 Marquis Dingwu only makes money
"After the slave chief Hachi failed to attack Ningyuan twice, he retreated to Menjibao. His old injury has recurred and he is not expected to live long."
Zhao Xin handed the secret report he received to Chen Cao, and then continued: "Wang Xiaojie was impeached by Zhang Heming because he failed to send troops several times. Please remove him from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Western Liaoning Army."
'Boom...'
Chen Cao punched the desk: "Zhang Heming, who has been cheating on you, do you really think he is a lot tougher now?"
"Master Hou, what should we do?"
Chen Cao took a deep breath: "I helped the Donglin Party last year, and now it's time for them to repay us. Go and get the evidence of Zhang Heming's corruption and perversion of the law, as well as a letter from me, and send it to Zhao At Nanxing’s house.”
"How to write the content?"
"Put in 10,000 taels of silver and just put my name on it. Those old foxes know what to do."
"Yes, my subordinates will definitely take care of it. Then, Lord Marquis, how should we respond to Wang Xiaojie?"
After Chen Cao read Wang Xiaojie's secret report, he handed it to Zhao Xin to destroy it: "Don't the Tatars always like to go against Yuan Chonghuan? Then remove all the defenses around Guangning City and allow them to pass safely in the future."
Zhao Xin's eyes lit up. His prince's move was really cruel. The road that originally crossed the Shuangtaizi River to Ningyuan was blocked by fortresses such as Luyangyi and Tuanshanyi on the outskirts of Guangning City. If these places were withdrawn, the Tatars would After crossing the Shuangtaizi River, you can go directly from the Dujiatun side to the original Guangning Zhongzuo Station, which is now the Dalinghe Fort. The Big and Small Linghe Rivers are the forefront of the Ningjin Defense Line that Yuan Chonghuan strives to build. In these two places, the city of Guangning Zhongzuo Tunwei (Jinzhou City) was directly exposed to the Tatar front.
"Master Hou, what about the food?"
Once places such as Luyangyi are given up, the food routes in Guangning City will be interrupted, and there will be a big problem with the food rations of the more than 30,000 people under Wang Xiaojie's command and the 100,000 people in Guangning City.
Chen Cao naturally thought of this: "Giving up these places is not giving them away, but doing business with them. You must know that I only make money, and I will not do business at a loss. Besides, if Wang Xiaojie loses these places , his position as Commander-in-Chief of Liaoxi Province is really not guaranteed;
I heard that the Tatars are also short of food..."
...
Today, Chen Cao personally welcomed the envoys from the Three Kingdoms into the newly built Songjiang Governor's Office. The envoys from the Three Kingdoms were the same group of people who came as special envoys last time. However, they did not come alone this time. They came under the newly appointed Songjiang Governor's Office. Guerrilla Zheng Zhilong arrived at Pudong Port with dozens of ships under the escort of his fleet, and prepared to settle down within the Three Kingdoms Concession that Chen Cao had demarcated for them.
As the saying goes, everyone who comes from afar is a guest. According to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Cao gave each of the ambassadors of the three countries a young lady Wu Nong to accompany them. Then he happily looked at the letters of credence handed over by these people and the congratulatory gifts for the first meeting. Then he asked the singing and dancing team to entertain the group, and he personally took Xin Zhao and his party to the port.
"Except for the Dutch's cannons, I don't like the Franco machine cannons. After the arsenal is built, the new mortars will be able to produce more energy, and the artillery shells will no longer be a stumbling block in our way. .”
The gift list in Chen Cao's hand contained various artillery and muskets donated by the Three Kingdoms. Although the number was small, it was absolutely no problem to equip a guard station.
"Master Marquis, there are also many gold, silver and Taixi lenses."
Lenses are glass. European glass manufacturing technology had reached the level of perfection at this time, and these things were generally presented to the palace for use.
Chen Cao naturally didn't like it, but he saw the word "rubber" on the Dutch gift list. Although it was written in Dutch, the gift note had already been marked with Chinese characters on the side by a translator taught by Xu Guangqi and others.
"Rubber is a good thing. This kind of thing can make many objects we need." Chen Cao closed the gift list: "Go and invite Ambassador De Vries here."
De Vries was having fun and almost caught Miss Wu Nong taking off her pants, but was called to the port by Xin Zhao. However, it was the young Marquis who made the decision, so he naturally did not dare to neglect the other party.
"My dear Mr. Marquis, do you have anything to tell me?"
With a smile on his face, Chen Cao held up a piece of raw material rubber for the finished product and said: "Mr. Ambassador, I want this, the more the better. If Mr. Ambassador is willing to cooperate with me privately, I can give it separately in addition to the annual trade." Mr. Ambassador, how about adding a special trade?"
Rubber is a specialty of Indonesia. There are many such things throughout Southeast Asia, but the rubber that comes out is used by locals to light fires, and it burns longer than fish oil.
De Vries just randomly searched for some worthless things in his colony, but he didn't expect that Mr. Marquis would value these inconspicuous colloids so much.
"Dear Mr. Marquis, what are the good uses of this thing?"
The reason why the Europeans were able to dominate the entire world in later generations is because they have a very advanced learning culture. As long as it is good and undeveloped objects, it is a big deal for them if they can benefit their country, and they can also benefit from it. They received a lot of benefits and the noble title they longed for.
Chen Cao was a young and cunning man, so naturally he would not reveal the true purpose of this solidified colloid, so he said: "This material can be used to regulate rivers. After treatment, it can form a protective film like iron sheet, but it is soft. It’s not a big problem to keep out the water.”
De Vries naturally believed this serious explanation, because even the locals who produced this rubber only used it as a burning object. The only drawback was that the black smoke produced was too large.
"Okay, since it is something that is beneficial to the country, I can provide it. There are many more of these things. Since Mr. Marquis wants it, I can make the decision to trade with your country. I just hope that Mr. Marquis can keep his promise just now. "
Of course, Chen Cao's cunning can't be matched by this group of people. He is a master who will not let go of eagles when he sees rabbits. Anything that can be promised to be traded again in private is definitely a good thing that he cannot suffer a loss.
What's more, his reason is to regulate rivers. What a good reason, it is related to people's livelihood.
...
On the third day of July, Chen Cao received the emperor's decree.
"Eight million taels?"
Chen Cao almost laughed out loud: "What is this emperor doing? Do you really think that I am a rich man who just comes to fight against the autumn wind?"
Naturally, only his confidant Zhao Xin could hear these words. In the study, Chen Cao was expressing his dissatisfaction with the imperial court.
Because last month, with the support of all the eunuchs, the emperor approved the removal of Chen Caocao from the post of deputy general of the Jiang Navy, and also removed Xu Hongji's admiral Cao Jiang.
What Chen Cao didn't expect was that the person who succeeded Xu Hongji as the admiral of Caojiang was Qi Boyu, the Minister of War in Nanjing, and the person who served as deputy general of Caojiang was Zhao Tianlin.
After Chen Cao saw the post below, he stopped and his expression gradually became cold: "Huh... Zhao Tianlin... it's a bit interesting..."
Xin Zhao also had a stern face: "Master Hou, if my subordinate's guess is correct, the person who betrayed Master Hou for so long should be Zhao Tianlin."
Chen Cao didn't speak for a long time, and then stared at the official document in his hand: "It's not necessarily true, or maybe Wei Gong knew Zhao Tianlin's background and promoted him deliberately."
Now Chen Cao has dismissed Cao Jiang from his official post as naval commander, but what makes him happy is that the emperor did not beat him to the end, but still gave him his ship, and also dispatched five ships with three thousand materials to him. The main battleship was commanded by Chen Yongsu, the commander of the left wing battalion, instead of Chen Cao. For this reason, Chen Yongsu was granted the hereditary title of Jin Yiwei, which is hereditary to thousands of households, to show the emperor's great favor.
"The person who delivered the order was not Wu Chun, which means that the Hakka family did not protect me," Chen Cao said after a long silence: "I was deceived by Zhao Xin... A woman is a woman after all, so you can't believe it."
"Master Marquis, if we rebel now, we still have a chance of winning..."
Xin Zhao spoke in a low voice. After hearing this, Chen Cao raised his head and laughed: "Here, take a look at the last few sentences of the official document."
When Zhao Xin saw it, he raised his head and said, "Wei Eunuch has won over Zheng Zhilong?"
The last few sentences of the official document are to create a new Southeast Navy based on the official position of Zheng Zhilong Songjiang Guerrilla General, and to promote the Southeast Navy Deputy General Zheng Zhilong Songjiang Guerrilla. The candidate for the Southeast Navy Admiral will be appointed by a civilian official from above.
"Zheng Zhilong should have collected the official documents. His brother Zheng Zhibao is a character who is dissatisfied with me. Believe it or not, he can persuade Zheng Zhilong not to mess with me."
"Master Marquis, why don't you send some dead soldiers to strike first?"
Chen Cao waved his hand: "Do you know what these eight million taels mean?"
Xin Zhao shook his head: "This subordinate is stupid."
"This is the opportunity the emperor gave me."
Chen Cao looked at the secret order on the table with cold eyes: "With military resources, hahaha, the emperor wants me to give up my military power."
"Master Hou, what happened?"
"Beizhen Fusi blocked our news. How do I know what happened over there?"
Chen Cao closed the secret edict as he spoke, then stood up and took a deep breath and said: "Since they want me to lie dormant, then I will lie dormant. If I am really pressed, I will rebel and show them."
"What about Shanghai County?"
"The emperor is short of money and will not resign me as governor of Songjiang until he has squeezed out the last bit of my value." Chen Cao said and ordered: "Xu Guangqi and Huang Chunyao know my preparations in Shanghai County. Everything Leave everything to them for implementation. In addition, make preparations for me and send troops to escort eight million taels of silver to Beijing as a donation, along with my letter of resignation."
"Resignation letter?"
"I'm going back to Jinling. You can just keep an eye on me here. Huang Shijing, Liu Wenzheng and Yu Shimin have to be careful. With them here, the construction of Shanghai County will not stop. I will help you in Jinling." help."
Xin Zhao immediately became anxious: "Master Hou, what's going on?"
Chen Cao laughed: "I want to resign as the commander-in-chief of the Dingwu Army..."
