Chapter 246
If it were October in Liaodong, the cold wind would roar and the breath would turn into ice. However, in the Java Sea, even in October, it still feels very muggy. If it hadn't been for the occasional heavy rains, and the howling sea breeze had already brought a bit of coolness, Cheng Shijie wouldn't have known how he would have endured it.
On board the Zhili of the Ning Navy's main fleet, the Shark-class battleship, Cheng Shijie looked at the lunch in front of him, which was luncheon meat, canned yellow peaches, plus canned braised mutton, canned beef, pickled radish strips, and several kinds of seafood.
No matter how delicious the food is, there is a time when you get tired of it. Cheng Shijie was preparing to have lunch when Li Zhixiang reported to Cheng Shijie: "The Dutch are coming!"
"I'm afraid I'm just here for negotiation!"
Li Zhixiang smiled and said: "It seems that Li Weiluan has established a foothold in Batavia!"
"Who knows!"
Cheng Shijie put down his chopsticks and said, "It's really disappointing. I can't live without even eating!"
"Maybe the Dutch are trying to make peace!"
"Probably not. The Dutch will never give me what I want!"
"If the Dutch plan to form an alliance with us to deal with the Zheng family, the commander might as well give in and borrow their strength, and then settle the accounts with them after the Zheng family is eliminated!"
"No! I, Ning Haijun, are more than capable of dealing with the Zheng family. We don't need their help! If they dare to interfere, I will kill them!"
"Commander, this is just a temporary measure..."
"I don't care! This is my bottom line. I will punish anyone who dares to cross the line!"
Deal with the Dutch first, and then deal with Zheng Zhilong. Cheng Shijie wants to recruit the Zheng family to surrender. Deal with Zheng Zhilong first. Ning Haijun will definitely suffer a lot of losses and prevent Zheng Zhilong from being defeated. Even if Zheng Zhilong only has a few hundred warships left, as long as he escapes and follows him on the sea Cheng Shijie plays maritime guerrilla warfare, or raid warfare.
Then this battle will be endless, but it will give the Dutch a chance. You must know that the Netherlands truly became independent in 1648, which was also the second year of Yongli in the Nanming Dynasty. The key battle that laid the foundation for the rise of the Netherlands was the Battle of Downs, which was the 12th year of Chongzhen.
Now the imperial court has asked Cheng Shijie to return to the capital many times. Cheng Shijie has been in Nanyang for too long, and he cannot stay like this forever.
Cheng Shijie also knew the real reason why Emperor Chongzhen asked Cheng Shijie to return to the capital. The imperial court appointed Chen Qiyu as Minister of War, governor of Shanshan, Henan, Huguang, and Sichuan. Together with Lu Xiangsheng, governor of Yunyang, they advanced by land and water to surround and attack the rebels on all sides.
At first, Chen Qiyu tried his best to describe the serious situation of famine and the rise of peasant soldiers thousands of miles away from Yanzhou and Yan'an to Yansui Town (Yulin). At this time, with the money transported by Cheng Shijie and Gao Qiqian, as well as the three million shi of grain transported by Liaodong, Emperor Chongzhen was so confident that he issued an edict to exempt the Yan'an and Qingyang areas from the court land tax for that year.
The people of Shanxi, who were almost breathless under the heavy taxes of the imperial court, finally took a breath. Since Emperor Chongzhen sent people to directly read the imperial edict this time, almost all the people knew about the tax exemption. Since then, Shanxi refugees have been running away from the peasant army. .
The battle to encircle and suppress the peasant army went very smoothly. Yu Wangjiacha beheaded Wang Chenggong's troops, and deputy commander Lu Wenshan annihilated and beheaded the rebel leaders Jie Shanhu, Liu Piozhi, Jin Yipeng and others.
Soon, Chen Qiyu sent guerrilla Chang Huaide to kill Xue Rengui, the leader of the rebel army; Dai Junen, who participated in politics, killed a dragon, a diamond, a mountain harrier, a black evil god, a tiger among men, five kings of hell, and a horse to fly; the captain of the capital, He Sixian, killed the king Deng Huai; and inspected Luo Shengchu. Killing horses and red wolves, flying all over the sky; Zhang Bojing, who participated in politics, killed many geese, captured Huang Canyao, and flew across the ditch.
Guard Yan Shiheng and kill Zhang Cong, Fan Dengke, Fan Jirong, a piece of iron, Green-backed Wolf, Pangolin, Old General, Second General, Mangyissing, and Shangshan Tiger; guard Bai Shixiang and kill the sweeping tiger; guard Guo Jincheng and kill the sweeping tiger and Kuotian. Flying; guard Guo Tai kills Jumping Mountain Tiger, New General, Roll on the Place, Little Yellow Eagle, and Fangri Rabbit; guerrilla Luo Shixun kills Manager Jia, Forces to Heaven, and Little Red Flag.
The other generals killed Caoshangfei, Yihu, Yiyifei, Yunlishou, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the One-tailed Wolf. The leaders of the peasant armies were basically wiped out.
Under Chen Qiyu's tactics of encirclement and suppression, Chen Qiyu himself led deputy generals Yang Hualin, Liu Guozhen and others to station themselves in Yangxian County to prevent the rebels from escaping eastward. He also sent a message to Lian Guoshi, Lu Xiangsheng, and Xuanmo, asking them to guard key areas respectively. , intercept the enemy and prevent them from escaping.
It can be said that even if the peasant army is not completely wiped out, it will be severely damaged. In history, it was precisely because Jiannu attacked Datong and broke through the border that frightened Emperor Chongzhen that Chen Qiyu failed.
It's just a pity that even if there are no slaves to cause trouble, Chen Qiyu still wants to be greedy for great achievements and recruits Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others. Since then, he has become a famous general of the Ming Dynasty ZTE.
Well, in fact, Chen Qiyu's greed for merit was also forced out by Cheng Shijie. Because Cheng Shijie's contribution was too great, the civil servants were suppressed by Cheng Shijie, and the Xungui Group, which had been suppressed by the civil servants for a long time, also faintly reared its head.
Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, granted him the title of Crown Prince and Tutor, and led the Left Army Governor's Office and the Prime Minister's Camp in Beijing. Chen Qiyu was pushed out by the civil service group to replace Lu Xiangsheng, and was prepared to be packaged as a Confucian general.
As a result, the joke became too big. When the imperial court was preparing to celebrate the death of this peasant army, Gao Yingxiang broke out from Baoji and entered Guanzhong. He defeated He Renlong and Zhang Tianli's army in dozens of prefectures and counties in Gongchang, Pingliang, Lintao and Fengxiang, and killed Lu Menglong in Guyuan Road. , the entire Guanzhong and northwest collapsed instantly.
Emperor Chongzhen issued three imperial edicts in succession, allowing Cheng Shijie to return to the capital.
Under such circumstances, Cheng Shijie actually didn't have much time. Although he could keep Li Zhixiang to continue fighting, the problem was that it involved foreign-related diplomatic work. Cheng Shijie had no way to fake this matter with others. Xie Jinglin was more than capable of maneuvering, but Lack of overall perspective.
Forget about the subordinates, there is nothing that can be done by others, and there is no great talent who can stand alone.
At this time, the warships on guard had already driven over with a small boat flying the Dutch flag. Because the bridge was too small, there was no way to build a trestle, so they had to climb the rope ladder to get on the boat.
As the negotiator this time, it was Sidney, the former director of the Batavia Port Authority. He and Xie Jinglin came to the North Zhili together.
As soon as he boarded the ship, he was greatly impressed by the astonishing size and spacious deck of the Beizhili. This is not a compliment. The Netherlands is a long-established maritime power with a very developed shipbuilding industry and advanced technology. They can tell whether a warship is good or bad at a glance.
Obviously, the design of the Beizhili is very advanced and its construction technology is so superb that even the guys from the established maritime powers are impressed by it.
"My lord, pay your respects to the commander-in-chief!"
“It’s been a hard journey!”
Sidney looked at Cheng Shijie. Cheng Shijie was wearing a purple official robe. However, this official robe looked a little out of place on Cheng Shijie. Sidney had traveled to Quanzhou with a caravan and met officials of the Ming Dynasty. Cheng Shijie They were not as serious as the Ming Dynasty officials Sidney had seen, let alone the solemnity of those Ming Dynasty officials.
Cheng Shijie and Xie Jinglin were chatting about home affairs, seemingly carelessly. In a diplomatic situation, this was somewhat rude. Several members of the Dutch diplomatic corps who followed Sidney had unnatural expressions on their faces. It should not be said that they were unnatural. It should be said that their faces were uglier than the last.
Only then did Sidney realize that the Duke's entourage actually numbered dozens of people! Moreover, these people are all in neat military uniforms and move nimblely. They look like a small army!
Unlike the Dutch army, Cheng Shijie's personal troops did not actually use firearms, but armor, cold weapons. To be different, they each had four defensive grenades hanging on their waists, two of which were smoke grenades. .
In addition to grenades, each man is equipped with a shield and a revolver, although this pistol is larger than an ordinary revolver.
Sidney bowed to Cheng Shijie and said, "Duke, I'm so happy to see you!"
West Germany continued in an exaggerated tone: "Respected Duke, I must admit that your craftsmen have built you an extremely powerful battleship! If you can own a hundred such battleships, you will become the overlord of the ocean!"
"I am working hard in this direction...so far I only have six battleships of this level, and there are still ninety-four to go!"
Cheng Shijie said rudely: "You have worked so hard to come here, don't you just want to see my warships? Say what you want and say it quickly. I have to go to war, so I don't have time to waste time! "
Sidney was not used to Cheng Shijie's straight-to-the-point way of talking. According to the way Europeans talk, Cheng Shijie should follow their lead and brag about his warships, and talk to them about the development status and future of the world's shipbuilding industry. direction, talk to them about today's weather, drink a few cups of tea, and then get to the point without leaving any trace, so as to appear elegant...
Cheng Shijie was good, he got straight to the point in less than three sentences!
Sidney squeezed out a smile and said: "Dear Your Excellency the Duke, as you expected, we have been ordered to come here to discuss important matters."
"Okay! Say it!"
"We come with sincerity for peace!"
"Where is your sincerity?"
"That pirate Zheng Zhilong has been running rampant in the South China Sea for more than ten years. The maritime merchants and coastal residents of Guangdong and Fujian who took this route have been tortured. Even those of us who have worked hard to do business in Asia cannot be punished. They looted and killed, and we all hated him..."
"If you talk like this again, I will throw you into the sea. Let's get to the point!"
Sidney said: "To be honest with you, Your Excellency, although our warships are not large in number, they are fast and have fierce firepower. One ship can defeat ten of Zheng's ships, and one of our soldiers can defeat ten of them. We are attacking from both sides." Come on, even if Zheng has extraordinary abilities, he won’t be able to last long!”
"The debt you owe has not been repaid. It is impossible to cooperate with you!"
Xie Jinglin tried to smooth things over by saying, "Commander, it's easy to make enemies but not easy to make them..."
Cheng Shijie said calmly: "I am a peace-loving man. If the Dutch hadn't massacred the Chinese in Nanyang and seized the Chengfeng, it would have been impossible for me to send troops!"
Not only did Sidney not believe this, but in fact, even Xie Jinglin and Li Zhixiang did not believe it. The Luzon incident was actually not a big problem. It was just that the five Spanish soldiers were not paid for food and even beat up the hotel clerk.
If this matter is placed in any country, it will not cause a war. At best, it will only punish the parties involved. As the saying goes, if the forest is big, there are all kinds of birds. Even any king cannot guarantee that his subjects are all highly qualified talents.
But the problem is that Cheng Shi sent out troops, and when faced with problems that could be solved through negotiation, he sent troops directly. Although it was claimed that Cheng Shi acted recklessly, the problem was that in everyone's eyes, Cheng Shi received direct instructions from Cheng Shijie.
The same is true of the problem in Batavia now... It's just that Cheng Shijie was not sincere enough in the beginning of the negotiation, and the conditions he proposed were a bit excessive in Xie Jinglin's opinion.
Of course, Cheng Shijie could not admit it. He smiled faintly and said: "I will review it again. Although our Ming Dynasty has a population of 20 million, none of the subjects of our Ming Empire is redundant. Our Ming Dynasty has always loved peace. You have also seen it. , our Ming Empire has never taken the initiative to attack you. However, the problem is that you, the Dutch, are entrenched in the East Indies and rely on squeezing the East Indies to maintain your domestic luxury life. You wantonly massacre our Ming people and pressurize our ships. If the Dutch It doesn’t matter if a person’s national power is strong, haha, please forgive me for being presumptuous, the world today is the law of the jungle, only with strength can you have a matching status!”
Facing Cheng Shijie's words, Sidney didn't know how to answer.
Everyone understands the law of the jungle, but no one brings it to the table to openly discuss it. Cheng Shijie has torn through the warm veil of international law. The colonial system and the Three Emperors Alliance are all naked interests.
Was the Ming Dynasty indifferent as he watched the Dutch occupy the East Indies?
Don't be ridiculous, it's just that the Ming Empire began to go downhill after the Tumubao Incident. Domestic and foreign troubles took up most of its energy, and there was no spare energy to deal with the Dutch.
Why did Emperor Wanli resist the Japanese and aid the DPRK?
To put it bluntly, it is also interests, the interests of national strategic security, how can we allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the bed?
Now the Dutch East India Company is not strong enough. The largest Dutch East India Company once accounted for half of the world's trade volume. The British East India Company once controlled the entire India. The Opium War was initiated by the British East India Company.
Naturally, it was impossible for Cheng Shijie to negotiate directly with Sidney because his status was not equal.
When Sidney left, Xie Jinglin asked frankly in front of Cheng Shijie: "Commander, what is your purpose?"
"I think Sumatra, as well as half of the port control of Batavia, and things like the Wind Rider cannot happen again!!"
The Strait of Malacca is too important. If East India loses Sumatra, then East India will lose control of the Strait of Malacca. This is absolutely unacceptable to the Dutch.
If in the past, Xie Jinglin really didn't know the importance of Sumatra, but the problem is that now he knows. He smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid the Dutch won't agree. It's absolutely impossible for them to accept such conditions!"
"That doesn't matter. I know the Dutch will not accept it, but the Dutch will face reality sooner or later. However, when the Ninghai Navy takes control of the entire Sumatra Island, my request will no longer be limited to Sumatra Island."
Cheng Shijie is so ambitious that one Sumatra Island is certainly not enough to satisfy Cheng Shijie's greed for land. In this time and space, Cheng Shijie will never allow any more disgusting things to happen.
In fact, the Dutch East India Company was a company disguised as a country, and the Ke Ning Navy was also a country disguised as an army.
Cheng Shijie will not ask the court for instructions on external expansion, and Cheng Shijie also has absolute control.
The Netherlands was the first country in the world whose colonies were stronger than its own country. Even though Britain later became an empire on which the sun never sets, Britain's military strength among all its colonies in the world was far inferior to that of Britain itself. Spain, the current empire on which the sun never sets, is also stronger in its native land than in its colonies. It also adopts the traditional method of ancient China, strengthening its trunk and weakening its branches.
It is precisely because the Spanish Empire adopted strong branches and strong branches that the Dutch East India Company was able to easily seize the majority of its members from Spain. The area of the empire exceeded 35,000 square kilometers, and the total number of Spanish people was less than 1,500. In the entire Luzon, which is more than 18,000 square kilometers, there are no more than 5,000 Spaniards.
In Batavia alone, there are more than 20,000 Dutch. Counting the entire East India Company, the number of Dutch is more than 65,000. Add in the hundreds of thousands of colonial troops in the Dutch East India, and the entire Netherlands There are not even 100,000 troops in the army.
Faced with the conditions proposed by Cheng Shijie, it was naturally impossible for the Dutch East India Company to agree. However, the problem was that the support that the mainland could provide to the Dutch East India Company was very limited. You must know that the Dutch navy at this time could reach more than 10,000 people, and all the warships combined , even counting small warships of three to four hundred tons, there are no more than a hundred.
As for the main battleships, there were less than fifty. In order to cope with the pressure of the Spanish Armada, they had to transfer battleships from the Dutch East India Company and return to their homeland to fight.
Brewer can only place his hopes on Zheng Zhilong now.
Zheng Zhilong's war experience when he wanted to send troops was one million Dutch guilders, which is equivalent to 20 million pounds. The Maritime Monarch class can build more than fifty ships.
"Here, give it to him, but we can't afford so much money at once. We can pay it in installments over ten years!"
Brewer looked at Putmans and asked, "What else does Zheng Zhilong ask for?"
Putmans smiled bitterly and said: "Zheng Zhilong hopes that we can provide him with 30,000 muskets!"
"This is impossible, the most we can provide is fifteen thousand!"
"In addition, he also hopes that we can build a battleship for him, a seven-provincial battleship!"
"Yes, seven-provincial warships are very expensive to build! We in the Netherlands don't have a hundred seven-provincial warships in total!"
"He already knows this problem!"
Brewer thought for a while and said: "Tell Zheng Zhilong that each of our seven-provincial warships in the Kingdom of the Netherlands costs 25,000 guilders!"
Of course, this value in Brewer's mind is equal to the actual cost out of the factory multiplied by ten.
This means that one million guilders can build forty seven-provincial battleships for free.
"Besides, he wants a port!"
"where?"
Although the Dutch are also very greedy for land, the problem is that under the pressure of powerful enemies, they have no choice but to accept Zheng Zhilong's blackmail.
“Subic Port!”
Brewer thought for a moment and said, "Isn't Subic Port in his hands?"
"Zheng Zhilong hopes that we will recognize his status in Luzon. Allow them to freely settle and do business in Luzon, and give them the power to collect taxes and recruit young men in Luzon. Then we will be inclined to do our best to help us destroy Cheng Shijie! "
Brewer did not have an attack. The covenant is just a piece of paper. When the strength of both parties fundamentally changes, the covenant can be torn up at any time.
The covenant will only be effective when both parties are of similar strength. Just like Morris of Nassau led the Dutch to defeat the Spanish, but the Dutch did not have the strength to completely defeat Spain, and Spain also signed the "Twelve Years Truce" with the Netherlands because it needed time to adjust its strategic deployment. protocol.
If Zheng Zhilong's strength does not recover as quickly as the Dutch East Indies' strength, they will definitely have another fight in the future.
Brewer looked at Putmans and said: "I agree in principle, but I have to sign a supplementary agreement!"
"Supplementary agreement?"
"right!"
"Let Zheng Zhilong help us gain a foothold in India!"
Brewer said: "You know, we discovered India first. The damn British and French are unruly and bent on squeezing us out of India. This is absolutely not allowed!"
"I'm afraid they won't agree!"
"He will agree. You can tell Zheng Zhilong that if he helps us occupy India, we will give him Tamil!"
Tamil State is a state in southern India, bordering the Indian Ocean to the south, Sri Lanka across the Bay of Bengal to the east, Karnataka and Kerala to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the north. The area of Thamel is about 130,580 square kilometers, which is about the size of four people.
The problem is that the main residents of Tamil Nadu are Tamils, and the people are tough. The Netherlands launched two attacks on the Tamils. Without exception, they all failed and returned home in vain.
While negotiating with Zheng Zhilong, Brewer also wrote to the board of directors of the Dutch East India Company and the King of the Netherlands, asking for help, of course, asking the Kingdom of the Netherlands to support the Dutch East India with more warships and more sailors.
As for whether the King of the Netherlands and the board of directors of the Dutch East India Company could allocate more troops and warships to him, that was not his concern.
When Shi Daxuan brought back the Dutch and agreed to his request, Zheng Zhilong was very depressed at this time.
Before Zheng Zhilong fought against Cheng Shijie, he was the king of Nanyang. He had more than 3,000 warships stretching for dozens of miles, and his flags covered the sea. How majestic was he?
However, after three battles with Ning Haijun, he only had about 2,000 warships left. Although it was still a huge force, what made Zheng Zhilong vomit blood was that the supply line of Ning Haijun was originally stretched, and he could attack Ning Haijun for a long time. supply line, thus weakening the combat effectiveness of Ning Haijun's navy and forcing Cheng Shijie to return to the rear supply line.
But the problem is that it is not easy to attack Ning Haijun's supply line. The pirates who originally obeyed Zheng Zhilong stopped listening to his orders and instead informed Ning Haijun.
This time he deliberately opened his mouth and proposed very excessive conditions to the Dutch, but the Dutch actually agreed. They agreed to pay one million guilders for the cost of sending troops.
Now Zheng Zhilong had a headache. After losing three battles with Ning Haijun, the pirates under his command did not dare to attack Ning Haijun's black flagship. This is already the most dangerous signal.
Zheng Zhilong is now certain that many people want to use his head to claim credit from Cheng Shijie.
(End of chapter)
