In early March in southeastern Fujian, on the sea shrouded in darkness, the Dutchman "Cod" sailed eastward at full speed with bulging sails.
Its mission was to sail out of the waters beyond the reach of the Jinmen Guards of the Ming Dynasty before dawn, and successfully transport the second batch of forty men to Penghu Island.
Gurlitt was writing letters to be sent to Batavia and presented to Governor Cohen under an oil lamp.
"Dear Governor, without interference from the navy of the Ming Dynasty, the voyage of the Galen ship from Penghu Island, which the natives call Baisha Island, to the unnamed island east of Kinmen, the Ming Dynasty guard station, is one day and night. From Kinmen It takes another two to three hours to reach the remote harbor of Tong'an, Xiamen. Because I was buying slaves from the Ming Dynasty, I saw a small boat in Tong'an that looked like a hammer. The load capacity would not exceed 200 tons, but it could not only carry It can carry more goods and people, travel very fast, and is easy to hide in the night and avoid detection by the Ming Dynasty navy. I implore the company to allocate funds to purchase more Tongansuo ships from the Chinese. Your faithful Gulit .”
After finishing writing, Gullit put down his quill, read through it again, and said with a smile to Zheng Haizhu, who was sitting opposite: "Mrs. Zheng, I found that your gaze on this letter is far more intense than when you see a handsome gentleman like me. warm."
Zheng Haizhu said without hesitation: "Yes, because the ship mentioned in this letter may allow me to earn another commission."
Like a cat asking for credit, Gulit stretched his body and said: "Look, I really obey your words. You promoted the Fujian boat, and I immediately wrote to the company."
Zheng Haizhu's face was calm and he said calmly: "You are short of small boats to begin with. A soldier like Chief Lu Fen only sees warships with dozens of cannons. He wishes that the Ming Navy couldn't see him. Wait until you really have one. I can occupy the whole of Fujian, and then use such a big ship to carry piglets."
As she spoke, she held up the letter and stared at the cursive characters that resembled German word formation.
Gullit stood up and walked behind Zheng Haizhu. He chanted the pronunciations of "Governor", "Weisuo", "Day and Night", "Clipper" and other words in Minnan dialect, and pointed out the Dutch words on the letter one by one.
Then, he lowered his cheeks more and more and said: "Mrs. Zheng, you should really learn the language of my motherland quickly. In that case, you can understand my pursuit of you in the ancient and beautiful Dutch language."
Zheng Haizhu avoided the strong scent of perfume mixed with a strange smell, folded the letter paper with dried ink, and put it into a beautifully patterned tin box on the small table.
"Mr. Gullit, who always considers himself handsome and passionate, I don't want to use your last name, I just want to share the spoils with you."
Zheng Haizhu said, carelessly pushing Gullit away, walked to the cabinet again, poured a small glass of wine, woke up for a while, took a sip and smacked his lips.
Not to mention, the wine Hongmao kept on the ship was pretty good, not spoiled, and the compound aroma of dried fruits and smoke was still there.
Wine is also a good item for sea trade. The premise is to defeat the Dutch first and put away their banditry.
Over there, Gullit pretended to cover his chest and said: "Mrs. Zheng, you seem to hate the men of your Ming Dynasty so much, and you like our Netherlands very much. I thought I would have a chance."
Zheng Haizhu took another sip of wine.
"Gullit, I do think that you Europeans are very powerful. Whether you were the Queen of Spain or the current Consul of the Netherlands, you know how to use the power of the country to support brave merchants and sailors. And we The Ming Dynasty was accustomed to antagonizing and separating the government from the people. What our emperor and our court like to do most is to squeeze us businessmen who are not officials, and more common people. They don't care about the ocean at all. The world is like the world on the land beyond the ocean. What they love most is to be enclosed in their gorgeous and dirty officialdoms and mansions, control their minions remotely, and enslave the bodies and minds of thousands of civilians. Our Forbidden City It is not surprising that the emperor looked like a waste, because the end of totalitarianism has never lacked such arrogant, stupid and cruel leaders. And inside and outside the Forbidden City, there were more men from the Ming Dynasty who relied on kneeling and licking that person to climb to high positions. , or bite each other for personal gain, it doesn’t matter at all that the national power is reduced.”
Zheng Haizhu suppressed her voice but expressed it freely.
She didn't think it was a bit ironic. In many eras before and after, speaking out against current ills may only be done in this way, to foreigners whose Chinese listening skills are still at a low level.
Gullit, who had a provocative look just a moment ago, gradually lost his lustful look and became surprised.
The woman from the Ming Dynasty spoke too fast and suddenly used many unfamiliar words, so Gulit didn't understand most of them.
He just read a strange meaning in her eyes.
It felt like he lazily opened the window in the morning when the birds were singing and the flowers were fragrant, but he was suddenly greeted by the stormy waves amidst lightning and thunder.
"Bang, bang, bang!" The door of the cabin was suddenly knocked violently, and some rapid Dutch was heard outside the door.
Gullit opened the door, and a Dutch soldier reported: "The Chinese slave workers in the cabin kept banging on the door and shouting loudly. Our translator went to ask, and they said inside that one of the members had received a revelation from the goddess of the sea. , they were told that they were not going to work in Xiangshan Ao, they felt cheated and wanted to see Mrs. Zheng.”
"I'll go take a look." Zheng Haizhu put down the wine glass and frowned slightly.
Gullit stopped her: "Those piglets are all tied up with ropes, let them make noise."
Zheng Haizhu raised his eyebrows and squinted at the Dutchman: "Since they are tied with ropes, what do I have to fear? If I can coax them from the fishing village to the boat, I can coax them a second time. At least tonight, all of us will You can have a good sleep peacefully. Gullit, if you want to be a knight, stand behind me and protect me."
Gullit was aroused and saw the fleeting mockery in the eyes of the Dutch soldiers. He said "ha" and said, "Let's go and have a look."
Change source app]
With the sound of the chain dragging, the bottom deck of the "Cod" was opened. The lantern held by the Dutch soldiers reflected Zheng Zhilong's face and the hemp rope tightening around his shoulders.
Zheng Zhilong's hands were behind his back.
He raised his face and glared at Zheng Haizhu and Gulit who were condescending.
"Auntie, let's go up to the deck and see if the ship is heading southwest!"
Zheng Haizhu squatted down and said softly: "Of course we are going to Xiangshan Ao. Ah Zai, don't be afraid. If you are not caught by the Nan'an patrol, there is Jinshan ahead of you, where you can make a lot of money and send it home."
Their conversations were all in southern Fujian dialect. The Fujianese Chinese brought by Gullit from Batavia could understand them and translated them in a low voice for Gullit.
However, the translator would not know that Er Zheng was reading a secret code.
The Fujian Navy sergeants disguised as "piglets" in the cabin could not see the sea in the distance. Zheng Zhilong could only rely on the pocket watch he bought from the Portuguese and Zheng Haizhu's experience when he first took the "Cod" to estimate the progress of the voyage and confirm with Zheng Haizhu whether he had arrived near Kinmen.
After getting the code "Jinshan Mountain is ahead", Zheng Zhilong said "Huh" and nodded slightly towards Zheng Haizhu.
Suddenly, the rope around Zheng Zhilong's shoulders was loosened. While being pushed upward by the Ming army who had been prepared for it, Zheng Zhilong stretched out his arms and held up the deck board with all his strength.
While Zheng Haizhu was holding his breath and concentrating, he took a look at Zheng Zhilong's belt, grabbed it, and gritted his teeth to help.
In this brief moment, which was only a few breaths away, Zheng Zhilong had already jumped up, kicked Gulit into the cabin before he could react, and then pulled out his short sword to protect Zheng Haizhu.
At dusk on the Nan'an beach, the men of the Ming Dynasty were searched one by one. When they went to the bottom of the ship after boarding the ship, Zheng Haizhu stuffed rice cakes for them with a kind face and took the opportunity to quietly hand the dagger to Zheng Zhilong.
The dagger cut dozens of ropes while the Dutch were writing letters to the governor and talking to women.
"Hi, hi, Zheng, are you crazy!"
"God, when did you break free from the rope!"
Gullit's roar came from the cabin.
The Ming army tied up the Dutchman, whose beard was crooked with anger, and left someone to guard him. Then they all climbed up through the ladder that Zheng Haizhu quickly put down.
The translator from Batavia was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, while the Dutch soldier woke up from his stunned state, blew his whistle, and ran to the deck to alert his companions who were gathering above to drink.
A trumpet arrow shot into the sky from Zheng Haizhu's hand, and the sharp sound spread far farther than the whistle.
On the right side of the "Cod", towards the dark Liaoluo Bay, two lucky ships, which had been lying quietly for several hours, revealed a fierce light like wolves suddenly opening their eyes, and lit up many lanterns.
As the bamboo sail rose, the Junk boat gained speed from the sea wind, its bow heaved, and headed towards the "Cod".
"Mr. Gullit is in the hands of the Ming people. Don't shoot. The Ming people will not kill you. They will just escort everyone to Kinmen Island and let our chiefs negotiate. Ah, the Junk ship over there is also theirs. .For God’s sake, don’t shoot, don’t shoot. They have many people and gunboats. We only have a dozen people and we can’t win even if we shoot.”
On the deck, the Batavia translator who had been lifted up by Zheng Zhilong stopped shivering when it came time to save his life. He shouted in Dutch nonstop to the Dutch soldiers and sailors on the deck.
"Tell them whoever dares to fire the first shot, or fire the first shot at the Junk ship, I will turn around and have my men slit Mr. Gullit's throat. Put down the musket and leave the gun position."
Zheng Haizhu shouted loudly and ordered the interpreter.
The translator hurriedly added these few sentences.
The leader of the Dutch soldiers turned around and looked at the two Junk ships. No sparks were seen on the sides of the ships.
It seems that the Ming people really only wanted to take hostages and did not want to bombard them. Besides, their own people are still on this boat.
The leader then spoke a string of Dutch, and the soldiers began to put their muskets at their feet.
Seeing that Yu Zigao's navy ship had reached a distance where it was possible to pick up the string, Zheng Haizhu breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and walked towards Gulit's cabin.
There lies the evidence of Dutch ambition written upon it.
When she put away the letter written by Gullit to the Governor of the East India Company and returned to the deck, she saw that Yu Zigao's general named Zheng Yi had come to the "Cod" and pretended to be a "pig boy" The Ming army all issued swords.
"General Zheng, just tie these Dutchmen to Kinmen. Don't hurt them. Killing them would be a bad omen."
Zheng Yi nodded and looked at Zheng Haizhu with burning eyes.
This woman indeed has a lot of skills. In terms of bloodline and seniority, she can actually be regarded as her niece.
Mr. Zhengge of Ningde said that her grandfather was highly valued by the Holy Master back then, and that wisdom and courage were probably passed on to future generations.
In today's operation, Zheng Yi was afraid that Yu Zigao's commander would be reckless and impetuous, and if his gun went off and accidentally injured Zheng Haizhu, he took the initiative to ask for a boat to intercept the "Cod".
"Don't worry, Miss Zheng. With Mr. Yu's military orders here, we won't make any arbitrary decisions tonight. However, with the Dutch's current arrogance, I'm afraid a big battle is inevitable here in Liaoluo Bay."
As soon as Zheng Yicai finished speaking, he saw two Ming soldiers escorting Gulit onto the deck.
"You woman, you are so despicable! God will punish you and you will go to hell!"
Gullit stared at Zheng Haizhu angrily.
"Gullit, don't be stupid, where is hell? You Dutch have killed so many black slaves, are you going to hell? Not only are you not going to hell, you have become the richest man in Europe. There is no God in this world, there is only The two countries of the Netherlands must either talk or fight."
