Chapter 212
In any case, the imperial edict came, and Emperor Chongzhen gave Cheng Shijie the authorization to start a war against Zheng Zhilong this time. This can be regarded as a famous example.
For the people of Liaodong, fighting in Ning Haijun is a normal phenomenon, and it would be a strange thing if they did not fight. When Cheng Shijie was training Ning Haijun's officers, he asked them that as Ning Haijun's soldiers, they should only do two things in their lives, fight or prepare for war.
With Emperor Chongzhen's imperial edict, Cheng Shijie would fight this battle. Even without this imperial edict, in fact he would still fight.
Emperor Chongzhen gave Cheng Shijie two imperial edicts. One was to mobilize the Ning navy to go south to exterminate the pirates. The other was an edict to change the title of Princess Zhu Weiti of Le'an to Princess Chongming and change Chongming County to Zhu Weiti's fiefdom. Unlike the princess or the vassal king, Zhu Weiti was specifically allowed to open a mansion, build a government office, and manage the fiefdom of Chongming on his own.
Now it's fun. Zhu Weiti, a princess who was originally in name only, now has the same power as a vassal king. This is a reward from Emperor Chongzhen, and it is also to support the struggle between Cheng Shijie and his wife in a fair and just way.
The official title of Kaifu Jianya is Kaifu Yitong Sansi. Kaifu Yitong Sansi refers to the act of setting up a shogunate and staff subordinates in one's own name. Those who are awarded the number of the Three Officials can receive the same treatment as the Three Officials. Kaifu Yitong Sansi was generally a heavy reward given by the court to meritorious ministers from the Wei, Jin and Yuan dynasties.
In the Ming Dynasty, this was the first rank of Wen Sanguan. But the problem is that Cheng Shijie did not have this power yet, but Zhu Weiti did. This approach was simply to show off the horse and let Zhu Weiti, the Ming princess, have a man. The same power formed a situation of two giants within Ning Haijun.
No matter how Cheng Shijie manages his Ning Haijun, there will always be people who are unhappy within the Ning Haijun group. For example, Zhou Yandong, the second-in-command of Ning Haijun, has a very weak presence in Liaodong.
If Emperor Chongzhen's wishes were followed, the frustrated Zhou Yandong would naturally turn to Zhu Weiti, and Ning Haijun would be divided internally.
But the problem is, what Emperor Chongzhen didn't expect was that after Zhu Weiti received the imperial edict, he directly went to Cheng Shijie: "Husband, the emperor has no good intentions!"
Cheng Shijie looked at Zhu Weiti and smiled lightly and said: "I will grant you a fiefdom in a county in Chongming County. This is a reward that no vassal king in the world has enjoyed. Don't let others say you are ungrateful!"
"Husband, please stop testing me. I don't believe you can't see through what the emperor means!"
Zhu Weiti smiled charmingly: "Although I am a member of the Zhu family, when I marry my husband, I am a member of the Cheng family. We are my husband and a family!"
"What are you going to do?"
"You know my abilities. I am powerless to manage our family!"
Zhu Weiti seemed to have thought of something important. She looked at Cheng Shijie and said, "My husband, please choose a good and auspicious day to take in Yun Niang, Jin Qiao'er, and Yang Wan! They are all capable people. If you marry someone else, you Don’t worry if you use it!”
Cheng Shijie smiled bitterly and said, "You know my husband's body. Isn't this harmful to others?"
"Give them a title, that's what they want most!"
Zhu Weiti said: "My lord, you can have one wife and four concubines. I will make the decision to make Gu Ziyi, Yang Yuniang, Jin Qiaoer and Yang Wan the four concubines!"
A concubine is a concubine with a formal status, usually a dowry from her mother's family. The higher-status ones are sisters marrying together; the medium-status ones are a higher-status woman marrying one or more clan girls; the lowest-status ones are maids dowry. The former married in this way is the wife, and the latter is the concubine.
The status of a concubine is much higher than that of a concubine. She has a formal status and can attend formal banquets and so on. This system was very popular among the nobles from the Warring States Period to the Three Kingdoms period.
For example, Sun Quan's mother married his father Sun Jian together with her sister. From a political perspective, this system maximizes the interests of the married woman. If the woman who is the main wife dies or has no children, then the concubine takes her place. The close relationship between the concubine and the "natal family" can still ensure the interests of the "natal family".
Of course, from the perspective of Zhu Weiti's interests, there is nothing wrong with making Gu Ziyi a concubine. Gu Ziyi was originally Zhu Weiti's personal maid. From a sixth-grade female official in Shangyi, after she married Cheng Shijie, she became a concubine. Normally, she should become Cheng Shijie's concubine.
And she is a concubine with a relatively high status, but the problem is that Yang Yuniang, Jin Qiaoer and Yang Wan are all the original members of Cheng Shijie. Before Zhu Weiti got married, they stayed in Cheng's house. Although they didn't reputation, but in fact, no matter it is Jin Qiaoer, Yang Yuniang, including Yang Wan, or even Wang Wei, who has never met Cheng Shijie.
In the eyes of others, they are all Cheng Shijie's women.
Cheng Shijie didn't discuss this issue with Zhu Weiti. He still couldn't get over his own hurdle in his heart. He couldn't let Xiang Hui be sorry for his wife.
Cheng Shijie looked at Zhu Weiti and said nervously: "Princess, let's discuss this matter when we get back!"
"No, I feel like this matter should be settled first!"
Zhu Weiti held Cheng Shijie's hand, as if Cheng Shijie would not let go if he disagreed.
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "I'm just fighting a group of pirates, don't worry! Don't worry, it'll be fine. Jiannu is so fierce and can't do anything to me, let alone a bunch of petty thieves!"
"You can't say that... You and Jiannu are fighting hard on land. Whoever is ruthless will win. But this sea battle is different. A strong wind comes and all the ships capsize. No matter how hard we fight, we can't fight." It’s useless…”
Cheng Shijie couldn't laugh or cry: "My wife, there's going to be a war. Can you think of something good?"
"Anyway, I feel very uneasy... You must take care of yourself, don't be too desperate, don't be greedy for success, and don't underestimate the enemy! Promise me, even if you face a group of vulnerable thieves, you will treat them as Here comes the two yellow flags of establishing slaves! I...I don't care, but my child cannot be born without a father!"
"Okay, I promise you!"
Cheng Shijie should actually be grateful to Emperor Chongzhen, because with Chongming Island in hand, Cheng Shijie had a foothold in Jiangnan, even though Chongming Island was very small, with only more than 1,300 square kilometers, equivalent to a small county.
But this site is already good for Cheng Shijie.
What makes Cheng Shijie more satisfied is that this territory is not unfamiliar to Cheng Shijie. The Shachuan Gang is a local gangster in Chongming. Now the Shachuan Gang no longer exists. This is one of the conditions for joining Cheng Shijie.
As compensation, Shen Boyun, the leader of the gang, was made one of the 19th member of the Liaodong Administrative Committee. Shen Tao, the second-largest figure in the Shachuan Gang, and the father of Shen Tingyang, the national hero and anti-Qing martyr, was one of the 20th member.
Although the Shen family's ancestors were also shipwrights, during the Shen Boyun and Shen Yong eras, shipping enabled their family's business to develop astonishingly. The Shen family has accumulated a fortune of millions, owns hundreds of sand ships, and owns thousands of hectares of land. They are the richest people in Chongming and one of the largest maritime merchants in the southeast. Because the Shen family has huge wealth and a large number of sand ships, it is also the maritime power second only to the Zheng family.
The taciturn Admiral Ning, who was dressed in a black military uniform, boarded the ship with great arrogance. The shiny sword and gun were tightly held in his hands, and the blade of the gun flashed with a frightening edge.
"Commanders, when we arrive at Chongming, we must first establish a foothold. If Zheng comes, we will fight hard to let Zheng Zhilong know how powerful our Ning Navy is!"
In fact, Zheng Zhilong's intention and purpose were just as Cheng Shijie guessed. He was indeed instigated by the court bosses and Jiangnan maritime merchants, and to maintain his monopoly on the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade. But the deeper reason was that there could only be one in this sea. king!
Maritime supremacy means endless wealth. In order to monopolize the maritime trade in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, Zheng Zhilong could brazenly fight with the Guangdong and Fujian navies and beat them to death. He could also kill all his former brothers after joining the Ming Dynasty. In order to maintain his status, he Dare to do anything.
He went on a killing spree against the Shachuan Gang because Cheng Shijie started working with Jinzhou Shipyard and Lushun Shipyard in an attempt to build warships with larger tonnage and more powerful firepower in Liaodong. This was something Zheng Zhilong could not tolerate and wanted to ensure that the Zheng family would dominate the sea. status, he must nip all dangers in the bud!
On November 19, the sixth year of Chongzhen, the leading force of the Ning Navy, an infantry force of about 3,000 people who had trained on Jeju Island, arrived in Chongming. Then, five days later, on November 24, Liaodong The second echelon from Lushun arrived in Chongming with more than 6,000 people and a large amount of supplies.
On November 28, the sixth year of Chongzhen's reign, Cheng Shijie went to Chongming with the third echelon of the Ning Navy, which was the main force of the army, totaling more than 16,000 people.
When going to Chongming Island, all the officers of the Ning Navy and the members of the Liaodong Management Committee collectively opposed Cheng Shijie's going to Chongming. At this time, Cheng Shijie compromised with everyone.
It was decided to take Zhu Weiti's Eighth Princess to Chongming. The Liaodong Management Committee did not object to this, because the Eighth Princess was not loaded with artillery, which meant that it was a ship without force. Since then, Cheng Shijie There was no way to directly participate in the battle. If Cheng Shijie commanded the Eighth Princess ship to rush forward, he would definitely be killed.
Zhu Weiti also accompanied him.
Cheng Shijie said to Zhu Weiti: "Auntie, please don't cause trouble. I am fighting, not traveling. I can promise you that I will never go to the Qinhuai River, and I will never go to see the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai who work hard! "
"The Eight Beauties of Qinhuai?"
Zhu Weiti said: "If your husband likes it, you can redeem their lives for them. Our family has a big business and we can afford to feed them if we have more mouths to eat!"
Hearing Zhu Weiti's words, Cheng Shijie was so moved that he wanted to cry. The Ming Dynasty was better.
If he dared to tell Xiang Hui about this, he would have to sleep on the sofa for a few days even if he just watched a dance.
Zhu Weiti's reasons are very strong. Chongming is her fiefdom and she wants to go to Chongming. Besides, Ning Haijun may lose to the Zheng pirates in a sea battle, but on land, Ning Haijun is invincible.
Listening to Zhu Weiti saying that Ning Haijun was invincible, Cheng Shijie suddenly thought of a key question. Perhaps he could use his identity to attract Zheng Zhilong to attack Chongming, and then he could wait for work and ambush Zheng Zhilong.
With Zhu Weiti on board, Cheng Shijie was blessed, because she brought dozens of maids and more than a dozen cooks with her. Not only did she eat well, but her life was not boring.
The palace maids who were thrown to Zhu Weiti in Chongzhen were definitely old enough in the Ming Dynasty. But the problem is that they were only in their twenties, eighties, nineteen, or thirty years old. Even women in their thirties or seventeen years old They all call themselves little fairies, and they are definitely still young.
On the Eighth Princess, Cheng Shijie and Zhu Weiti were preparing to have a barbecue. Gao Qiqian came over and said, "General Cheng, can Zheng Zhilong really make more than ten million taels of silver a year?"
"Hey, is it unusual to have more than ten million taels of silver?"
Cheng Shijie smiled and said, "Do you know how many ships there are on the sea?"
"There should be hundreds of ships, right?"
"Hundreds of ships, not just hundreds. Zheng himself has more than 3,000 ships, our Ning Navy also has 400 to 500 ships, and the Shachuan Gang has more than 800 ships. If we count them all, there are 7,800 ships of various sizes. There are still some!”
Cheng Shijie said: "Zheng Zhilong is actually very shady. He charges protection fees based on the value of the cargo of each ship. If a ship is worth ten thousand taels of silver, they will charge two thousand taels of silver. If you have money, you will pay the money. If you don't have money, you will pay the protection fee." , just use the goods to pay the bill, Eunuch Gao, you can calculate for yourself, how much money can Zheng Zhilong make this year?"
Gao Qiqian counted with his fingers, but soon gave up. He was really not good at calculating accounts. However, he handed over this problem to his godson. Zhang Muzhi calculated for a while and gave Gao Qigong a look of affirmation.
Gao Qiqian smiled and said: "General Cheng, there is one thing you probably don't know yet!"
"What's up?"
"When the imperial court issued an imperial edict to you, it also sent someone to issue an imperial edict to Zheng Zhilong!"
"What imperial edict?"
"It's exactly the same as your edict!"
"interesting!"
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "So, neither His Majesty nor the Ministry of War has given me and Zheng Zhilong a clear target to attack?"
"is this necessary?"
"It's really not necessary. We know exactly who we want to hit."
Because the development of Ning Haijun exceeded the expectations of the court officials, even Emperor Chongzhen was afraid that Ning Haijun would be too late to lose. In this battle, Emperor Chongzhen was greedy for money on the surface and came for Zheng Zhilong's maritime protection fee. In fact, he It is hoped that this battle can make Cheng Shijie's Ning Navy and Zheng's Navy fight in a lose-lose manner.
As the saying goes, when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman wins.
Emperor Chongzhen also wanted to be a fisherman.
The navy and land forces of Ninghai launched an attack together, and the coastal areas were covered with war clouds. The war was about to break out. As the Minister of War, Fu Zonglong was worried about this.
Fu Zonglong was promoted from Governor of Tianjin to Minister of War. But the problem is that he is now very troubled. He has no doubt that Ning Haijun can defeat Zheng Zhilong on land, because he has seen the scene of Ning Haijun fighting to build slaves. In front of Ning Haijun, his combat power could only be abused.
Zheng Zhilong was not good at land warfare to begin with, but he was not at all optimistic about the prospects of Ning Haijun's naval battle. The Zheng family has dominated the sea for nearly ten years and has developed into a behemoth with two to three million troops and three thousand warships. The Guangdong and Fujian navies defeated Zheng Zhilong in many encirclement and suppression campaigns. In the end, he had no choice but to recruit troops. He held his nose and made Zheng Zhilong the admiral of the Fujian Navy.
Use Zheng Zhilong to fight the Dutch. And Zheng Zhilong did it, defeating the Dutch many times at sea, making the Dutch have no temper at all in front of him. How could it be easy to deal with such a giant sea beast?
No matter how powerful Cheng Shijie's Ning Haijun is on land, they can't kill this behemoth at sea. I'm afraid they won't get a good deal!
The worried Master Fu Zonglong, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, went to the cabinet and put forward his opinion tactfully: "Hai Guo Gong and Zheng Zhilong are two fierce tigers. Once they meet, they will fight to the death. Hai Guo Gong is good at land warfare, and Zheng Zhilong dominates the sea. Once they meet, they will fight to the death." If a war begins, the war will definitely continue for several years, and I am afraid that the people along the coast will suffer a lot! In my opinion, the imperial court should mediate to avoid this military disaster!"
Originally, if Xu Guangqi spoke for Cheng Shijie in the cabinet, there would be no reaction at all. But the problem is that after winter, Xu Guangqi and Xu Ge fell ill again, and they were very serious. It seems that whether they can survive it is still unknown. number.
Wen Tiren was very happy. As Cheng Shijie became stronger, Xu Guangqi's voice became more and more important. Fortunately, Xu Guangqi's health was not good, otherwise Wen Tiren would really not be able to sleep well.
Wen Tiren smiled and shook his head: "No, no, no, Mr. Fu is wrong! The Zheng family is entrenched in the sea, and the merchants and fishermen in Guangdong, Fujian and even Jiangnan are exploited by it. They are suffering unspeakably. It is really a big harm. The imperial court wants peace. He really had no choice but to do this... Now that the world is at peace and Duke Hai has such intentions, why not let Duke Hai go and deal with the Zheng family and eliminate this serious trouble for the court? "
Fu Zonglong smiled bitterly and said: "I also hope that Duke Hai can solve the serious problems for the court. The problem is that the Ning Navy only has dozens of warships, while the Zheng family has three thousand warships. There is a huge disparity in strength!"
Wu Zongda said: "Master Fu, you are unfounded. Duke Hai is a genius and invincible. It is not difficult for him to defeat the strong with the weak... Master Fu, please don't worry too much. Wait. Let’s watch the show!”
In short, the cabinet also hopes that Zheng Zhilong can teach Cheng Shijie a lesson, because Cheng Shijie never takes their cabinet seriously. When other ministers come to the capital, they must give a big gift to the cabinet, whether overtly or secretly.
But Cheng Shijie was on the good side. If he had any good things, he would give them to Emperor Chongzhen and not bother them.
It's really unbearable for my uncle, and my aunt can't bear it anymore.
Wen Tiren actually didn't want Cheng Shijie to be killed by Zheng Zhilong. He also wanted Cheng Shijie to deal with Jiannu. The best result would be that Cheng Shijie and Zheng Zhilong would fight to the death so that they could reap the benefits.
Fu Zonglong's mouth was dry as he talked, but Wen Tiren still talked about him indifferently, which made him angry and helpless, so he could only give up in anger.
Fu Zonglong knew that Cheng Shijie was too arrogant and domineering, and had offended the civil servant group and even the entire scholar-bureaucrat class. Everyone wanted him to die. It was too late for everyone to be happy, so how could they try to break up the fight?
He had no choice but to let out a long sigh: "Haijiang will be troubled from now on!"
…
Almost at the same time that Cheng Shijie received the imperial edict, Zheng Zhilong in Xiamen also received the imperial edict from the imperial court. The person Zheng Zhilong used most conveniently was actually his second brother Zheng Zhihu. Unfortunately, Zheng Zhihu was raped by Liu Xiang in front of Zheng Zhilong last year. Wrapped in a fishing net, Zheng Zhihu was thrown into the sea.
Now Zheng Zhilong decided to use the chamber pot first to try out Cheng Shijie's quality.
The so-called chamber pot is a young warrior under Zheng Zhilong. Although Wen Tiren promised Zheng Zhilong a lot of benefits, including a title and the world town of Fujian, the problem is that Zheng Zhilong is not a flower in the greenhouse. He started from scratch, starting from a small translator. Step by step, he grew up to be the king of the sea.
Zheng Zhilong has seen too many intrigues and stabbings in the back. He cannot trust the big bosses of the court. If the big bosses of the court turn against him and deny his credit, he will be forced to leave Xiamen and live on the sea. .
Once Ning Haijun can attack Xiamen and Quanzhou from land, he really has no idea.
It would be best to use his chamber pot. No matter whether these big shots in the court were planning to plot against him, he could blame the problem on the Japanese pirates. It would be best if he could kill Cheng Shijie, but if he couldn't, his losses would not be big.
This time the troops were led by Zheng Zhibao, who dispatched one-third of Zheng's elite troops, including more than 280 main battleships, more than 600 small ships, and nearly a thousand ships, including 40,000 infantry and cavalry, and six More than a thousand little warriors served as the main force.
Zheng Zhilong also knew very well that when fighting in his own territory, no matter he wins or loses, the losses are his own.
Therefore, after receiving this imperial edict, Zheng Zhilong prepared to take Wusongkou first. As the strategic frontier of the Zheng family, with this forward base, the Zheng family fleet not only had a foothold, but could also threaten the Jiangnan Maritime Group.
This is Zheng Zhilong's intention and determination to fight a decisive battle outside the country. With nearly a thousand ships and more than 30,000 sailors, this is a powerful force. In addition, there is also a big gift prepared by Zheng Zhilong for Cheng Shijie. Cheng Shijie will definitely not be able to bear it. Walk.
In fact, Zheng Zhilong has the same idea as Cheng Shijie. They both focus on the Yangtze River estuary, which is the most important strategic location. With the Yangtze River estuary, both Cheng Shijie and Zheng Zhilong can force Jiangnan Maritime Group to take sides. , no one can stay out of this war.
If both Zheng Zhilong and Cheng Shijie were injured, wouldn't it mean that the imperial court would benefit? The one who would benefit the most would actually be the Jiangnan Maritime Group, and they would be able to take advantage of the opportunity to rise.
Jiangnan Maritime Group has its own supply of goods. They control a large number of silk merchants and can improve the most difficult export goods, that is, silk and tea. This is a profitable business.
They also have shipbuilding technical talents and can build countless large ships.
If Jiangnan Maritime Group wants to sit on the fence, it should first attack the fence-sitters to prevent them from turning back at the critical moment. In this era, the area for merchant ships and warships was really small.
ps: No need to stand upside down to wash your hair, just write it down.
(End of chapter)
