The sound of horse hooves rumbled like thunder. Thirty-two hundred cavalrymen only walked on the official road outside Nanjing City, surrounded by Zhu Cixiang, the crown prince of Fujun in the Ming Dynasty.
Behind them, there were countless flags of various colors, followed by thousands of infantry carrying firecrackers. Two associations of cavalry and three associations of gunmen were escorting Zhu Cixiang out of the city to meet Zheng Zhilong, the richest man in the Ming Dynasty, in the suburbs 30 miles away.
These elite soldiers of the Five Associations, plus the Fire Gun Association of the Central Division led by Wu Sanfu and Zheng Sen to Zhenjiang to meet Zheng Zhilong, a total of 9,600 officers and soldiers of the Sixth Association, are Zhu Cixiang's base for dominating the southeast!
Now he has taken out all his old capital and shown it to Zheng Zhilong in the best condition. Of course, it is to discuss the dowry issue with Zheng Zhilong...
Naked marriages and the like, that's what Dorgon's daughter can enjoy - Dorgon is a pauper regent and a minority, so Zhu Cixiang was too embarrassed to ask him for a dowry!
And Zheng Zhilong’s daughter still wants to get married naked? Father Zheng, richest man Zheng, are you embarrassed?
As for the amount of dowry, of course it depends on the strength of the man. Later generations will look at the real estate certificate, diploma, annual salary and so on. Now Zhu Cixiang is the leader of a feudal country. He owns the imperial city of Nanjing, and he issued the Jinshi diploma himself. Of course, the annual salary does not matter... As a national leader in a feudal society, who can truly show his strength , in fact, it is the barrel of a gun and the handle of a knife!
Only with gun barrels and knife handles can we have a feudal political power!
So Zhu Cixi took out all his old capital at once and showed it to Zheng Zhilong.
In front of the team that was showing off their strength, there were still many passers-by riding around, constantly bringing up the situation of Zheng Zhilong's team in front.
"Master Chitose, the Zheng family's army stretches for twenty miles, and the vanguard is already ten miles away!"
"Master Chitose, the sentries have been deployed in all directions, and all the other people have been driven away."
"Master Chitose, General Zheng of Fujian Province is leading dozens of followers and is here first!"
Upon hearing the report, Zhu Cixiang reined in his horse, then raised his right hand and gave the order for the entire army to stop. Then he said to the naval guard commander Huang Binqing who was leaving the city with him: "Huang Weishuai, are you familiar with Zheng Zhilong?"
"Children, I do have some friendship with Zheng Zhilong," Huang Binqing replied with a smile. "Back then, I and Zheng Zhilong fought against the great pirate Liu Xiang. That Liu Xiang was very powerful. He harassed the coasts of Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang, causing trouble. There will be no peace in the southeast. He and Zheng Zhilong were brothers at first, but later they turned against each other because Zheng Zhilong was favored... Speaking of which, Zheng Zhilong was willing to be favored, which was also a blessing to the court! If he and Liu Xiang made trouble together, it would be terrible There is really no peace in all directions.”
Zhu Cixiang nodded. Zheng Zhilong's surrender was indeed the Ming Dynasty's luck - after all, this is the 17th century, the age of the ocean!
After Zheng Zhilong, a great pirate, surrendered, Ming Dynasty had a bridge to overseas. Although Zheng Zhilong could not defeat the main naval fleets of the Netherlands, Spain, England and France. But the main force of their navy will not wander around the coast of China. This is not the 19th century. However, it would still be a headache for the armed merchant ships of those Western maritime powers on the coast of China to encounter the Zheng family's fleet.
Otherwise, given the strength of the Dutch East India Company, it would not have agreed to pay protection money to the Zheng family!
With the Zheng family's big name, Ming Dynasty can obtain the power to resist the Qing from the sea, instead of distracting the already weak anti-Qing strength for coastal defense.
"Huang Weishuai," Zhu Cixiang smiled, "tell me the truth, why is Zheng Zhilong being caressed? What benefits does being caressed do to him?"
Huang Binqing smiled: "Zheng Zhilong is a maritime merchant, and he is favored for profit... and the profits of maritime merchants are in business and sales. Silk from Jiangnan, porcelain from Jingdezhen, and lacquerware from Japan, these three It is also on a shipping route. Zheng's merchant ships can transport lacquerware from Japan, sell part of it in Ningbo, and then load it with silk and porcelain produced in the south of the Yangtze River and ship it to Guangdong, Luzon and other places in Southeast Asia.
Before Zheng Zhilong was appeased, his family's merchant ships could not cover an entire route. After coming from Japan, we can only stay at Taiyuan Island. It is very inconvenient for other ships to go to Taiyuan and Ningbo. "
Zhu Cixiang smiled and asked: "So as long as the southeast is firmly controlled by the imperial court, Zheng Zhilong will be my loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Ah, more or less," Huang Binqing said with a smile, "Qiantose is still wise."
While the two were talking, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves, and dozens of horses were seen galloping towards them. The one who was leading the way was Senior Brother Zheng Sen.
...
"I, the Commander-in-Chief of the Fujian Army, Commander-in-Chief Zuo Zhilong, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Prince of Fujun!"
A tall, tanned man knelt at Zhu Cixiang's feet. He should be Zheng Zhilong, the richest man in the Ming Dynasty. But Zhu Cixiang frowned a little when he saw him - why didn't he look like Zheng Sen! Why are you so dark? Did you become a pirate or was it natural? If it's natural, don't pass it on to your daughter...
He quickly looked at the crowd following Zheng Zhilong. They were all dark, except for Zheng Sen and a middle-aged scribe in his forties (that is Chen Jinnan's father) who were fairer.
"Quickly please get up, everyone!" Zhu Cixiang smiled and gave Zheng Zhilong a virtual support, helping his second father-in-law up.
He found that Zheng Zhilong was much stronger than Zheng Sen, half a head taller than himself, and about the same height as Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu.
"Let's go," Zhu Cihong took Zheng Zhilong's rough right hand, imagining Zheng Chagu's big hand, and had to smile to himself, "Zongrong, it's getting late, and the weather has been very wet and cold these days, so why not talk to him first? Let us enter the city together."
As he spoke, he took Zheng Zhilong and got on the horse together. He first took him to see the 3,200 armored cavalry and 4,800 fire gun soldiers that were following, and then headed towards the Xianhe Gate outside Nanjing.
Xianhemen is at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain, close to the east foot of Zhongshan Mountain. The scenery is beautiful, so there are several gardens that originally belonged to Nanjing nobles. After those noble families went bad, these gardens were confiscated and redistributed. One of them was awarded to Huang Binqing. Now the house has been cleaned up by Haosheng for Zhu Cihong and Zheng Zhilong to rest.
Huang Binqing also has another identity, that is, the matchmaker who brings Zhu Cihong and Zheng Chagu together - in fact, Zhu Cihong takes Zheng Chagu as his concubine, so he does not need a matchmaker. But you can't ask for a dowry when taking a concubine. Zhu Cixiang had never asked Wu Xiang for a dowry before.
So after Huang Binqing invited Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Sen, and Prince Zhu to serve tea in the inner hall, he didn't know what to say for a while and just said pleasantries.
After talking for a long time, Zhu Cixiang became a little impatient. He simply coughed and asked Zheng Zhilong with a smile: "Zheng Zongrong, you are sending your daughter to the palace this time... The dowry matter is now Isn’t it time to say something?”
ah? dowry?
Zheng Zhilong was stunned for a moment, and then winked at Zheng Sen.
Zheng Sen hurriedly asked: "Master Qiansui, is my sister-in-law going to the palace to be elected as a servant?"
"Yes!" Zhu Cixiang nodded with a smile.
"Choose a servant to be a concubine..."
"But I will treat her like my wife!" Zhu Cixiang said shamelessly, "My sister will be treated like a crown princess and will be treated like a queen in the future."
Like a queen...
Zheng Zhilong frowned slightly, didn't "like a queen" mean "like a madam"?
"Your Highness, Junior Brother," Zheng Sen saw that his father was silent, so he had to speak by himself, "How much do you want?"
Zhu Cixiang smiled and said: "I heard that the Zheng family owns more than one million acres of land in Fujian Province?"
Zheng Zhilong frowned and replied: "I did purchase more than one million acres of land along the coast of Fujian...Does Master Qiantui want my land?"
Not all of the Zheng family's land in Fujian was purchased, but mainly embezzled by using the power of the Fujian General Soldier. Mainly distributed in Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Xinghua, Fuzhou and other four prefectures. Among them, the land located in Zhangzhou, Xinghua, and Fuzhou is not important to Zheng Zhilong.
However, the large areas of land located in the Kinmen, Zhongzuo, and Fuquan offices of Yongning Guards in Quanzhou, as well as Tong'an County under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou Prefecture, are the fundamental places of the Zheng family!
Anping City, the hometown of the Zheng family, and Shijing Town, where the Zheng family's shipyard is located, are located in the center of this territory.
