Jinjiang County School is usually very quiet, but now that it houses hundreds of people from the Zheng family, it has become very noisy. [Read the latest chapter] The voices of adults and the cries and giggles of children. In the hall, green smoke from cooking and cooking emerges from time to time.
Fortunately, the Zheng family and the family members of the shopkeepers and generals of the Zheng Group who escaped with Zheng Zhiwan have been living here since they fled to Jinjiang County. The Zheng Group has great influence in Jinjiang and Nan'an counties, and many people have purchased property. Therefore, the wealthy people quickly moved to live with relatives and friends or to live in their own villages. People in the county school gradually dispersed. However, the tribesmen who escaped from Anping City and lived in distant places, the families of middle- and lower-level personnel, the separated servants, clerks and soldiers had nowhere to go. I am waiting here bitterly for the day to return to Anping.
In the hall at the back of the county school, hundreds of people gathered in the hall, wing rooms and courtyards. Many of them were dark-skinned black soldiers, and many were Japanese samurai with tachi.
After Tongtaro and his team escaped from Kinmen Island with Zheng Sen, they did not dare to stay on the shore for a long time. After all, Tongtaro was a foreigner and was not very familiar with the geography of the coast, so they took Zheng Sen and fled to a place he had visited many times. , Jinjiang County is the most familiar route.
Along the way, Tongtaro took in many stragglers and fled all the way to Jinjiang. Many Congjinxia people have gathered in Jinjiang County. Zheng family members who escaped peacefully.
However, Zheng Zhiwan, who had the highest status in the city, seemed to have no interest in the heir of the Zheng family. He did not even pay a formal visit. He only sent a servant to bring some money, rice and clothes, and he was never heard from again.
Except for Zheng Zhiwan, the Zheng Group seemed to have forgotten them, and no one ever came to question Tongtaro and his party. Such indifference surprised Tontaro: the head of the family has died, and the young master left behind is the natural heir. Why is there no one to support him? He began to think that others did not know that Zheng Sen had taken out the tiger's mouth. They sent people around to look for the escaped members of the Eighteen Zhi, especially Zheng's "One Sect", but so far, no one has come.
The stragglers gathered in the county school all regard the young master as a life-saving straw - they are all lower class and do not have much savings. Once the Zheng family is destroyed, they will become unemployed and homeless. Of course, they all hope that the young master can inherit the family head. Position, I at least have the feeling of "sharing the same joys and sorrows".
Although Tongtaro didn't know much about the power struggle within the Zheng Group. But I also know that it will be very difficult to bring the Zheng family together after the commander-in-chief Zheng Zhilong is gone.
There is no formal problem with Zheng Zhilong's eldest son Zheng Sen succeeding his father. But Zheng Sen is only seven years old this year, and anyone with a discerning eye knows that he is unlikely to be able to lead the Zheng family through the crisis.
When Zheng Sen ascends the throne, he must have strong assistants to control the situation.
Logically speaking. This is a good opportunity for the emperor to bring orders to the princes, to assist the young master's powerful ministers to usurp power and act arrogantly. There are many examples in China and Japan. Zheng Sen should be the most popular person, but unexpectedly, no one cares about him at all.
Even Zheng Zhilong's brothers did not express their intention to assist his nephew. Only Zheng Zhifeng sent someone to send money and rice, saying that Anping, Kinmen, and Xiamen were all reduced to rubble and could not be resettled for a while. We can only force them to continue to live in the county school. Then there was nothing more. After all, Toutaro is a foreigner and can't do anything about it.
In these days, only Matos, who had narrowly escaped death, came here with dozens of remnants of the black guard, but this non-Portuguese mixed-race man could not give any advice.
Now the only person Toutaro can discuss with is Qian Taichong.
This Qian Taichong was originally an ordinary case master under a certain Zheng Zhipeng. It is said that he was originally from Cantonese and was recommended to come here to make a living. Now that his master has died in battle, he has become a jobless vagrant.
Tongtaro felt that Qian Taichong was a very mysterious person, even though he was a scholar. But he has dark skin and a strong body. His hands and feet were covered with calluses, and he looked like a man from a hard-working background. Once, Totaro saw him fetching water for a bath, and found that he still had many scars on his body, as if he had been on the battlefield.
But Qian Taichong almost never talks about his past and often sits alone in a daze. It wasn't until a few days ago that Tongtaro wanted to invite an envoy to be a lobbyist for Zheng Zhifeng that he had contact with Qian Taichong.
Tongtaro believes that Zheng Zhifeng is Zheng Sen's uncle and one of the powerful members of the Zheng family, so it is most appropriate for him to come forward to assist the young master. So I always wanted to convince him. But he was a Japanese warrior after all, and it was really difficult to be a lobbyist, so he fell in love with this taciturn scholar.
Qian Taichong took the money without saying a word. He came back a few days later and still found nothing except a few hundred taels of silver.
"He is unwilling to send someone to greet the young master?!" Tongtaro was extremely disappointed.
"I just want to say that Kinmen Island is currently in ruins, and there are many corpses that have not been cleaned and buried. The young master has moved there, and his daily life has been inconvenient. I also ask the young master to rest in Jinjiang for a while."
"Asshole!" Tongtaro scolded, "My master's bones are not yet cold, and they are already treating the young master like this!"
It makes sense for Tongtaro to be so angry, because yesterday he sent an envoy to Zheng Zhiwan and asked him to clear out a farm owned by the Zheng family in Jinjiang County and let Zheng Sen and his party move in - No. 100 People living in county schools have many inconveniences.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Zhiwan, who had already accepted all the Zheng family farms in Jinjiang County, actually refused on the grounds that "the banditry has not been cleared up, and it is not safe to live outside the city."
"It seems that the only option is to find brother Zheng Lian and Zheng Cai..." Tongtaro was at a loss.
"Looking for them isn't seeking skin from a tiger?" Qian Taichong said.
Tongtaro was stunned. Until now, this scholar had not expressed any specific opinions. Now that he was willing to express his own opinions, he couldn't help but perked up and said quickly: "What about your noble opinion, sir?"
"No Gao Jian, but even my uncle and nephew are unwilling to come forward, let alone they are outsiders." Qian Taichong said a little lonely, "The two brothers of the Zheng family were originally an independent force, and later they defected to the general. They were borrowed from The general’s power, now that the general is dead and they have occupied Xiamen Island, they probably plan to do their own business, so why should they support the young master?”
Totaro was deeply disappointed.
"Xiamen Island has become the world owned by brothers Zheng Lian and Zheng Cai, right?!"
"There are now seven heroes in the Warring States Period in Zhangzhou Bay." Qian Taichong said disdainfully, "They are all thinking about their own plans, but they have nothing to do with the young master."
While Zheng Sen and others were sitting in Xue Kong in Jinjiang County, members of the Eighteen Zhi who were not killed or captured were fiercely fighting over the corpses of the Zheng Group.
The strongest Zheng Zhifeng occupied Kinmen Island, Zheng Zhibao occupied Little Kinmen Island, Zheng Lian and Zheng Cai brothers occupied Xiamen Island. Although Zheng Zhiwan moved quickly when escaping from Anping, when he heard that the Kun thieves had withdrawn from Anping, he immediately armed the villagers on his farm, along with his own soldiers and servants, and "recovered" Anping with great fanfare.
The rest of the Zheng family will either join a certain force or occupy a small island in Zhangzhou Bay. Some of them are weak and unsure of the wind direction, so they will lean on the shore or enter the Jiulong River or Shijing River to wait and see what happens. The huge Zheng Group seemed to be falling apart.
Although the Zheng Group has been established under Zheng Zhilong, its internal cohesion is still very weak, and it is basically maintained by Zheng Zhilong's personal prestige. At present, the Zheng Group has suffered unprecedented heavy losses, and its leader and a large number of backbones have died in battle. The shortcomings of weak cohesion were immediately exposed.
In this sea where everyone has a boat and someone is a grass-head king, the title of Zheng Zhilong's legitimate son is of little use. He has no direct power in his name. Once Zheng Zhilong died, the remaining troops, ships and property were quickly divided up by the survivors among the top leaders of the group. Lost. Except for Zheng Zhilong's black guards and Japanese guards, no one took him seriously.
As for the generals and shopkeepers, they were weak and could only rely on one party. It was even more impossible to place their future on a seven-year-old child.
"It's a pity that I have no soldiers." Although Tongtaro only experienced the end of the Warring States Period, he knew the importance of force. However, in this tragic defeat, the Black Guards and the Japanese Guards suffered heavy losses, including those killed, captured, and separated. , almost all lost.
"The people gathered here now are probably willing to follow the young master." Qian Taichang said suddenly.
"How many people can there be?" Tongtaro said. "With my men and Matos's, the total is less than two hundred people." Tongtaro suddenly understood what Qian Taichong meant and asked:
"You mean..."
"It doesn't matter if we have a small number of people. As long as we dare to fight, we are still better than a mob." A flash of light flashed in Qian Taichong's eyes, "Besides, we may not need to fight."
Although the Zheng Group has been divided, they are still of the same clan. The current situation will not lead to fighting among the same ethnic groups, but various forms of struggles over leadership will be inevitable. At such a moment, the number of personal soldiers is indeed a key issue, but it is by no means the main issue.
Tongtaro realized that this scholar had a clear plan and was a "strategist". He was now lacking someone who could come up with ideas, so he quickly said: "Please teach me, Mr. Qian!"
Qian Taichong smiled: "General Tong, you are from Japan, why do you want to protect the young master from taking the throne? What does the survival of the Zheng family have to do with you?"
"This is the general's final entrustment." Tongtaro said loudly, "We were forced to run away from Japan and have been serving under the general for these years. We have been able to live a comfortable life with no worries about food and clothing. Shouldn't we repay our kindness in return?"
"Haha, that's good!" Qian Taichong nodded, "Then I'll help you."
