The smoke-filled Liao Luo Bay finally returned to calm.
Zheng Zhilong became the only winner in this sea area.
After the battle, cheers from the Zheng family echoed throughout the world.
But Zuo Hua, who was watching coldly, saw clearly.
"Zheng Zhilong can only be regarded as a disastrous victory in this battle. The court lost completely and the Dutch were injured."
Yes.
Although Zheng Zhilong won, the loss was definitely not small.
In the entire Zheng fleet, two gunboats were sunk, two gunboats were scrapped, more than 40 fireships were destroyed, and more than 2,000 people died in the battle.
Discussing only in terms of battle loss ratio, Zheng Zhilong is far inferior to the Dutch.
But in terms of strategic situation, Zheng Zhilong's victory was well deserved.
The imperial court was the most unsuccessful party.
The imperial navy along the coast of Fujian was completely wiped out, and the officers and soldiers suffered heavy losses. They could no longer contain Zheng Zhilong's expansion.
The Dutch fled all the way back to Taiwan, losing a third of their entire fleet and unable to get replacements from Batavia.
Because Batavia was at war with the Spanish at this time, there was no extra strength at all.
After the battle, while cleaning the battlefield, Zheng Zhilong sent a message to the government reporting his victory.
But the news from the government surprised him.
Zou Weilian, the governor of Fujian, was dismissed from office.
This news is of course a great joy from heaven for Zheng Zhilong.
Just because Zou Weilian was never friendly to him, he kept suppressing him.
Without Zou Weilian, the shackles on Zheng Zhilong's head were inevitably loosened again.
The reason why Zou Weilian was dismissed from office originated from the Shangshu of Fujian patrol officer Lu Zhenfei.
Lu Zhenfei criticized Zou Weilian a lot in his memorial, believing that he bore a great responsibility in the battle against the Dutch.
Lu Zhenfei's memorial was obtained by Wen Tiren, as if he had found a treasure.
Wen Tiren had long hated Zou Weilian.
Just because Zou Weilian is a member of the Donglin Party.
Wen Tiren's party used Lu Zhenfei's memorial to make a fuss and finally dismissed Zou Weilian.
A few days later, the new Fujian governor Shen Youlong arrived.
"Brother Dehui, I am fully aware of your grievances. I will report it to you impartially and clear your name."
Shen Youlong is also a member of the Donglin Party.
However, his attitude towards Zheng Zhilong is much better than that of Zou Weilian.
Just because Shen Youlong is from Songjiang Prefecture, and the Shen family is also one of the participants in the cotton spinning industry, they have benefited a lot.
However, on the way to Fujian, Shen Youlong conducted extensive investigations and found out that Zou Weilian had been framed.
Zou Weilian no longer cared about his relief.
"Haha, traitors are rampant in the DPRK. Even if you and I are determined to serve the country, what can we do? Brother Yun Sheng, you must be careful of Zheng Zhilong. This man is ambitious and will not obey the king. One day he will definitely cause trouble in the sea and become a country of his own. He will not lose his tail."
Even if Shen Youlong heard about it, it would be impossible to deal with Zheng Zhilong.
After sending Zou Weilian away, he went to find Lu Zhenfei.
Although Zou Weilian was dismissed from office because of Lu Zhenfei's memorial, the irony is that Lu Zhenfei was also a member of the Donglin Party.
Lu Zhenfei can be regarded as the Teddy in officialdom in the late Ming Dynasty.
This person does not regard himself as Donglin, and always does things fairly and impartially.
As long as he can't stand it, he will impeach him.
He initially opposed Wei Zhongxian, impeached Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren in the fourth year of Chongzhen, and now impeaches Zou Weilian.
However, after Shen Youlong presented the evidence, Lu Zhenfei finally knew that he had wronged a good man.
He knew his mistakes and could correct them, so he quickly wrote to the court again, explaining Zou Weilian's achievements.
The memorials of Shen Youlong and Lu Zhenfei were not seen by Chongzhen until the following year.
When Chongzhen learned that his loyal minister had been wronged, he immediately corrected himself and summoned Zou Weilian back to the capital to prepare for his reuse.
It's a pity that Zou Weilian died of a serious illness, and a generation of loyal ministers came to an end.
After Shen Youlong took office as governor of Fujian, he completely changed Zou Weilian's strategy.
He appointed Zheng Zhilong as the commander-in-chief of Fujian, with full authority to manage Fujian's maritime territory, which was equivalent to handing over the trading rights along the southeast coast to Zheng Zhilong.
"Zheng Zongrong, from now on, the sea will be quiet and all kinds of business transactions will not be delayed. Especially for ships coming from Shandong, you must provide more convenience."
Shen Youlong pointed at Zuo Hua with a clear attitude.
This approach made Zheng Zhilong look askance.
He had no idea that the new governor of Fujian would actually hook up with Shandong.
Zuo Hua felt at ease with this.
He had already received a message from Songjiang Mansion and knew Shen Youlong thoroughly.
This naval battle allowed Zuo Hua to establish contact with the Dutch. It is conceivable that there will be no shortage of business exchanges with the Netherlands in the future.
But if you want to trade with the Dutch, you must pass through Zheng Zhilong's territory.
What Zheng Zhilong will think will have a great impact.
Now that the governor of Fujian has endorsed him, Zheng Zhilong will sell this face no matter what.
Sure enough, Zheng Zhilong maintained restraint.
"It is my duty to protect the country and the people. Your Majesty Zhongcheng has your orders, how dare you disobey him? From now on, ships coming from Shandong will be able to sail unimpeded, and I will never dare to stop them."
Zheng Zhilong only agreed to release Shandong merchant ships, but he did not relent at all in terms of taxes and money.
He would never let go of the tax of two thousand taels per ship per year.
This huge cost made Zuo Hua secretly annoyed, but it didn't show up on the surface.
Now is not the time to care about some things.
"First officer, I heard that we have met with the Dutch? I don't know when the negotiations will take place. I want to go together."
Zheng Zhilong looked over warily.
"General Zuo seems to have ulterior motives for the Dutch? Is there something he is hiding from Zheng?"
Zuo Hua laughed.
"We in Shandong don't care about anything else. We don't want to lag behind others when it comes to business. The Dutch occupy Nanyang, and they have a lot of good stuff. If they can be transported to Shandong, we can make a lot of money."
Zheng Zhilong is not a fool, how could he believe it so easily.
"General Zuo won't sell the artillery to the Dutch, right?"
In this naval battle, the artillery sold to him by Shandong performed really well and actually suppressed the Dutch naval guns.
Zheng Zhilong was most worried about Shandong selling artillery to the Dutch.
If that were the case, the Dutch's ships would be bigger, faster, and stronger, and with the blessing of Shandong artillery, his advantage would be gone.
Regarding this point, Zuo Hua's attitude was resolute.
"Official, today in person of Mr. Zhongcheng, Zuo can assure you that no one of Shandong's artillery pieces will be sold to the Dutch at any time."
These words really surprised Zheng Zhilong, but he was a little confused about Shandong's thoughts.
However, as long as Shandong did not sell the artillery to the Dutch, he could not find anything disadvantageous to him after repeated consideration.
"Okay! A manly man, spit and nail. Since General Zuo is a friend, I, Zheng Yiguan, can't let my friends look down on me. In three days' time, I will be in Penghu, and I will invite General Zuo to go with me."
