"Sir, Commander-in-Chief, there are two new beauties from Yihong Courtyard in front of you. Are you free?"
"The imperial court ordered officials to be prohibited from entering brothels."
Zheng Zhilong refused.
In the past, Zheng Zhilong would have ignored the imperial ban.
Since His Majesty ascended the throne, anyone with a discerning eye can see that His Majesty has been reorganizing the officialdom, both covertly and overtly.
Although Zheng Zhilong is now the commander-in-chief, he knows in his heart that he was just a pirate in his previous life and had no foundation at all in the Ming Dynasty.
Once something is found in His Majesty's hands, it might be cleared up one day.
"Of course we must obey the imperial court's order.
A new restaurant opened in front of us. The food is good. We finally got together. I am the host. I wonder if the Commander-in-Chief will appreciate it? "
"Okay, let's go have a meal in front, but I say it first. You can drink wine, but you can't drink too much. So as not to cause trouble."
After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.
Everyone started chatting.
"Boss Zheng, you are well-informed, but do you know what the court means?"
“It stands to reason that if the imperial court wants to regain Taiwan, it will definitely find someone who is familiar with the surrounding sea conditions to lead the way.
For now, we pirates who have just surrendered to the Ming Dynasty are the best candidates, but the court's move is not like destroying the Western Barbarians, but more like establishing prestige. "
"Establishing prestige, I'm afraid it's not for Xi Yi to establish prestige." A sea battle is not a land battle. The sea conditions are not familiar to me, so what a fart. Moreover, the Xiyi ships are strong and powerful, and our Lord Zhu is so arrogant. In my opinion, 99% of them will be defeated. '
"Yes, what Brother Zhang said makes sense."
.....
"Hush, be careful, the imperial army is strong and strong, and I heard that Liaodong was already recovered in the near future.
As ministers of the Ming Dynasty, we should naturally think about the future of the Ming Dynasty. Although you do not need us to fight, we should also actively train to protect the safety of the Ming Dynasty's coast. "
Zheng Zhilong is different from other pirates in that his vision is far farther than other pirates.
There is also a greater focus on intelligence.
Some time ago, intelligence showed that the North Korean Navy captured Nagasaki, Japan.
Later, they carried out sneak attacks everywhere and eliminated most of Japan's navy.
But who is Zheng Zhilong?
North Korean Navy, what a joke!
If the North Korean Navy had this capability, would they have been able to be beaten to Pyongyang by the Japanese during the Wanli Period?
Xiyi's fleet is in the south and cannot go to Japan quietly.
After all, the only people around him who could have such strength were the Ming Dynasty Navy.
think of. The Ming Emperor asked Zhu Dinghai to lead the navy to go south to regain Taiwan. Zheng Zhilong further confirmed this idea.
Since Zhu Dinghai is not someone who doesn't understand naval warfare, he should naturally know the importance of maritime charts.
We are only now looking for sea charts from the generals, there is definitely something wrong.
"Recovering Taiwan is a lie. It is true to test whether everyone is loyal to Ming Dynasty!"
Zheng Zhilong smiled bitterly and said, even if he guessed the imperial court's thoughts, so what, facing the behemoth of the imperial court, Zheng Zhilong did not dare to have any different intentions.
"Brother Zheng, why don't we form an alliance secretly? If the imperial court fails, we will fall under your command. Then let the Western Yi know that our Ming Dynasty also has naval forces."
At this time, Zheng Zhilong had more than 30,000 men and more than a thousand ships, directly accounting for about half of the surrendered pirates.
In addition, Zheng Zhilong is a generous person. Good reputation. In the eyes of many pirate leaders who surrendered, it was better to take refuge with Zheng Zhilong than to hand over their lives to someone who was not good at naval warfare.
"No, no!" Zheng Zhilong refused.
If he were still a pirate, he would naturally not miss this opportunity to increase his strength.
But it's different now. The imperial court is clearly testing everyone's loyalty. If he dares to accept it, he probably won't even be able to leave Fuzhou.
"Master Zheng is indeed loyal to the Ming Dynasty..."
...
"Brother Zhang, what do you think of this matter?" After the banquet dispersed, the group of generals who had just surrendered were divided into groups in twos and threes.
"Brother Liu, I think this matter needs to wait and see. First, follow Master Xiong's instructions. Contact the brothers who are still hanging out at sea.
At that time, it will depend on the situation on the court's side. If the court can regain Taiwan, we have made a contribution. If the court fails, there is nothing wrong with us. If it is really urgent, we will have to go back to the sea to make a living. "
The same situation occurred everywhere in Fuzhou. Almost all the pirate officers who surrendered did not think Zhu Dinghai could win.
But no one chose to leave at this time.
Not that they are very patriotic!
In fact, it is too dangerous to make a living at sea.
Many of them are not big pirates like Zheng Zhilong. You can make money by selling a flag. When we got to the shore, the county magistrate also gave us face.
One person, several boats, dozens or hundreds of brothers.
He occupies an inconspicuous island and makes a living by fishing.
Occasionally, if you are lucky, you will appear as a pirate.
I was always in fear when I entered the mainland. I was afraid that someone would cut off my head in exchange for a reward of silver when I bought a bag of rice.
Living on the edge of a knife every day, maybe one day your life will be gone.
But few people really want to live like that.
.....
On the vast sea, Zhu Dingguo was studying the charts near Fujian.
Also following were two crew members from Qiming Merchant.
As Ming's treasure, how could Zhu Youjian feel comfortable letting him enter an unfamiliar sea to fight the enemy?
"The order goes down. After entering Fuzhou, rest for a day and then go to Taiwan."
....
If there is a fifty percent profit, capital will be risked;
If there is a 100% profit, capital will dare to risk hanging;
If there is a 300% profit, capital will dare to trample all laws in the world.
Marx's "Das Kapital" thoroughly demonstrates the greed of human nature.
According to the secret guard. South Zhili and Shandong seem to be calm, but problems are very likely to occur.
In Nanjing, countless nobles have been in frequent contact recently.
In Shandong, Qufu Yan Shenggong and Qufu County Magistrate frequently contacted each other.
The rise of the Ming Dynasty drove away the Mongols. The founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang did not like the Confucius family very much because the Confucius family defected to the Yuan Dynasty. However, the influence of Confucianism was too great, so he could only continue to confer the title of Holy Duke.
However, it did divide the Kong family and let another lineage of the Kong family serve as the magistrate of Qufu County.
People's hearts are selfish. Gradually, the lineage of Qufu County Magistrate and the lineage of Yan Shenggong were not very easy to deal with.
Sometimes the Qufu County magistrate dared not give Yan Shenggong face in private.
But now, Zhu Youjian has touched their interests, and the two sides have to unite.
The Nanjing nobles met for their own benefit.
Take Wei Guogong's family as an example. Judging from the land deeds in their hands, Wei Guogong's family has no less than 200,000 acres of farmland, distributed in southern Zhili, Huguang, Henan, Shandong, northern Zhili and other places.
However, among these 200,000 acres, at least 180,000 acres were donated by outsiders over hundreds of years. They only belong to the Wei family in name, but in fact they belong to individuals.
This involves one of the most serious tax obstacles in the Ming Dynasty-donation.
