Since Chen Kai outwitted Chaozhou in the second year of Yongli, and even from the beginning of the second year of Longwu, the Zheng Group restarted its operation in Guangdong Province from Nanao Island.

At the beginning, it was only a Chaozhou mansion, and then Zheng Chenggonghuo, Zheng Cai, and Zheng Lian brothers recaptured the original Zhongzuo Institute of the Zheng Group's maritime trade center, and then shifted the strategic focus to southern Fujian. However, as the situation in Guangdong continued to deteriorate, especially the re-fall of Chengxiang and southwestern Chaozhou, Chen Kai took over the military and political affairs of Chaozhou, forming a back-to-back pattern with Zheng Chenggong.

In the years that followed, Hong Kong was stuck like a nail at the mouth of the Pearl River, the Qiongzhou Mansion recovered by Li Dingguo at a time when the city was in turmoil outside Zhaoqing Mansion, the spoils of the Battle of Guangzhou, and the recent Huizhou Mansion, the western part of Guangzhou Prefecture, and the central and southern part of Shaozhou Prefecture. In summary, although the Zheng Group's control area in Guangdong Province is not as vast as that of Fujian, it also controls Guangzhou, Chaozhou, Qiongzhou, Huizhou and most of Shaozhou.

With such a huge territory, it is natural that a large number of troops are needed. Nanao Town, the new chief military officer, Hong Zhengguan, was appointed to manage the land division and water battalion of the headquarters, taking into account the tasks of guarding the island and patrolling the surrounding waters; Chaozhou Mansion, in the middle there is Chaozhou General Soldier Zhongyong Marquis Chen Bao, in the south there is Chenghai Local Affairs Chief Military Officer Hong Xishan, and in the north there is Zhang Jin, who sits in the north of Chaozhou Mansion and the northeast of Huizhou Mansion.

Chaozhou Mansion is like this, and Huizhou Mansion also has Hao Shangjiu, a new Taibo sitting in the west of Huizhou Prefecture, and a 5,000-strong army outside the town plus a city guard association. On the side of Qiongzhou Mansion, there were also Fuming Hou Lincha who was in charge of the water division, Du Hui, the general soldier of Qiongzhou who was in charge of the land division, and Cai Yuan, the deputy general of Changhua.

Aside from these three prefectures, the Zheng group concentrated the real main forces in Guangzhou and Shaozhou. Not counting the local troops including Hong Kong, Zuo Admiral Ke Chenshu, Qianchong Town Zhou Quanbin, Houchong Town Ke Chenmei, Houchong Town Lan Deng, Guarding Qianzhen Shen Ming, Guarding Houzhen Chen Kui, Guarding Zuozhen Xiao Gongchen, Guarding Right Town Shen Qi, Guarding Zhongzhen Chen Yaoce, Zhongquan Town Huang Xing, Houjin Town Chen Bin, Tieqi Town Wang Qifeng, Hussar Town Li Jianjie, plus Anding Bomabao, who has just changed his court. Tens of thousands of troops gathered here, if it weren't for the fact that the people's livelihood in Guangdong was not enough to support further wars, Chen Kai would have taken them to recover the lost territory a long time ago, and they would not have stayed here for so long.

With so many troops, military supplies of grain and grass are one of them, and the true color of military salaries is one of them, and the generals and commanders are stationed in local areas, especially many of these troops are transferred from Fujian, and they are like guest troops, and there must always be a local distribution of profits in order to have a stronger cohesion for Guangdong, and this is also a way to ensure combat effectiveness.

Local hidden subsidies are one thing, but now that there is this Guangdong-Haihai business alliance, Chen Kai has pulled Chen Qice and Li Changrong into the gang, and the Guangdong generals naturally cannot be ignored. However, how to proceed is also a big problem. Whether to participate in maritime trade in the form of officials and businessmen like the Zheng Group, or to form a trading company to join like Chen Qice and Li Changrong, Chen Kai had an idea in his mind, but it still needs further calculations and trade-offs before it can be put into practice. However, in private, Chen Kai has already communicated to the generals, saying that he will definitely take care of his brothers, and there will definitely be benefits.

The prestige in the army, Chen Kai still has it, after all, he has been in charge of the army in Guangdong for many years, and he has not been tossed in Fujian, and he has a good friendship with the generals in Guangdong. There is still some time to think, but it can't be delayed forever, after all, it will change later, and it is not good to let hope gradually become disappointed.

However, before deciding on these things, Chen Kai had more important things to do, and that was to make his first meeting with Cao Conglong, the new Guangdong envoy. Even if, whether or not this person can be taken down, it is indispensable to go to the Yamen to make it a Buda - it is not only the rules of officialdom, but also the tacit understanding between him and Zheng Chenggong.

"Yunlin, why is it too late?"

Whether it is friend or foe has not yet been determined, and when they got married, they also sent a congratulatory gift. Therefore, when he heard the news of Cao Conglong's arrival, Chen Kai put down his work and lowered his rank to greet him. When the visitor saw Chen Kai, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute, but was helped by Chen Kai.

"You are a soldier of the military department, and I am also a soldier of the military department, since you are at the same level, why bother."

"Chen Fujun is the governor, and the subordinate is just an envoy, so it is the etiquette to meet the superior in person."

There is the action of saluting, there is the saying of saluting, and this has a basic attitude. With this attitude, it is a good start for Chen Kai. Immediately, he grabbed the small arm of the visitor and walked directly to the official room.

Chen Kai strode forward, and everyone followed. Looking closely, he is a thirty or forty-year-old civil official, not like Chen Kai, who is not a Confucian in the first place, and has held military and political power all the year round, and has already had the aura of a superior. Come to think of it, although his person has been in the official position of this military department for many years, but the military department of the Lu Jian Dynasty was originally a rotten street, in the center, but the military power is in the hands of those Ming army feudal towns and the leaders of the rebel army, and there are not many people who can intervene in the military department, let alone a squire.

In this way, there is still a bit of Confucian temperament on the body, which can be seen at a glance, but with Chen Kai's experience in knowing people, he always feels that there is a temperament on this person's body that can move and forbear, at least it is not as flamboyant as ordinary Confucianism, let alone arrogant.

Chen Kai didn't know if this had anything to do with his exploits over the years that made other civil officials unable to open their eyes, but as long as he felt the slightest bit of forbearance, he always felt uneasy in his heart.

Caring about this too much, Chen Kai introduced Cao Conglong into the second hall, sat down in the two compartments, and immediately smiled at him: "It's just right, I have heard that Yunlin is coming, I specially invited someone, and Yunlin should have some common language." ”

"Oh?"

Sitting on the chair, Cao Conglong was slightly puzzled, and then his face showed a little understanding. However, at this point, he didn't say what he thought, just nodded.

Such a move, although it has not been moved, but in Chen Kai's eyes, it is more worthy of thought than action. During this period, the two chatted with each other, Chen Kai just didn't have any ideas, talked about the situation in Fujian, talked about what he saw and heard along the way, until a moment later, Cao Conglong was a little impatient, and simply said that he had something to discuss with Chen Kai in detail, but his eyes drifted to the next person on the side.

This is the meaning of secret talk, of course Chen Kai understands. Perhaps it was the sequelae of the heavy responsibility of the assassination car back then, Chen Kai had fantasized about the scene of the assassination more than once, and Cao Conglong Rusi here, such an association resurfaced, but immediately waved his hand and smiled. Because, seeing each other for a while, looking at the pace and posture, it is estimated that he will have to be restrained in hand-to-hand combat in less than five seconds - it is not that Chen Kai has great confidence in his own martial arts, but he has personally experienced the scene on the verge of life and death more than once, and the psychological quality alone is definitely much higher than this guy with Confucian temperament.

With a wave of his hand, the subordinates who were waiting on the side retreated with interest. After the door was closed, Cao Conglong subconsciously looked around, making sure that there was no longer a fifth ear that could hear the secrets of this room, so he stood up and strode in front of Chen Kai.

"The earth is reverberating Gaogang, and the West Mountain is a beautiful show."

Cao Conglong's volume was not loud, but when Chen Kai heard this, his original smile was gone. His face was stunned, but he immediately regained his composure, stood up, and made the same movement, and at the same time replied: "The door faces the sea, and the three rivers flow together for ten thousand years."

"Cao Conglong, a member of the Lotus Hall of the Heaven and Earth Society, has seen the chief helmsman."

Heaven and Earth Society!

Lotus Hall!

The Helmsman!

There was that code word, and Chen Kaiyue already understood what was going on. In this sentence, the lotus hall alone explains the situation even more. Because when Chen Kai recruited Lu Ruoteng and Shen Yanqi to join the Heaven and Earth Society, the two asked about the hall name of the branch if they would establish a branch in Fujian in the future, and Chen Kai replied with the word lotus. This is set by Chen Kai according to his memory, and for example, Guangdong is Hong Shuntang, which is limited to his memory and Lu and Shen, since Cao Conglong is in charge of the Lotus Hall in Fujian as soon as he speaks, then it is naturally the heaven and earth meeting that the two of them led him into.

I think that he and Zheng Xiyuan had not been married for a long time, and it was when they invited Lu Ruoteng and Shen Yanqi to join the Heaven and Earth Society, they had mentioned the affairs of the overseas societies. The two of them are also members of several overseas societies, and said that the six sons of several overseas societies also planned to invite Chen Kai to join the society, but Chen Kai was busy with the affairs of Guangdong at the time, so he did not come down.

However, to this day, Lu Ruoteng and Shen Yanqi have even developed a member of the Heaven and Earth Society from it. Chen Kai clearly remembered that the two were not authorized to recruit others to join the club at that time. But now that I think about it again, it seems that he didn't forbid the two of them to do it.

In this case, Chen Kai no longer talked about this matter, but just acquiesced. Then he talked to Cao Conglong in detail, and sure enough, it was really Lu Ruoteng and Shen Yanqi who did it, and these two not only pulled Cao Conglong into the Heaven and Earth Society, but Xu Fuyuan and Chen Shijing from several overseas societies also joined the Heaven and Earth Society, only Zhang Huangyan is still clean and self-conscious, or he has been with Zhang Mingzhen to Chongming since the year before last, so he has not had time to be pulled in. Otherwise, the overseas societies would have been almost swallowed up by the Heaven and Earth Society, I really don't know how Chen Zilong and Xia Yunyi felt under Jiuquan.

"Yu Tunan, Shen Guangwen, Ren Tinggui, Cai Yingchang, Wang Zhongxiao, Ren Yingmei, Fu Qifang, Qian Suxuan?"

"That's true."

In addition to Lu Ruoteng, Shen Yanqi, Xu Fuyuan, Cao Conglong and Chen Shijing, Cao Conglong also reported to Chen Kai about some other members they had secretly developed during this time. Among them, Shen Guangwen is the secretary of the Taifu Temple, Yu Tunan is the deputy envoy of the Taifu Temple, Ren Tinggui is the secretary of the Taichang Temple, Cai Yingchang and Ren Yingmei are the secretaries of the Taichang Temple, and Fu Qifang and Qian Suxuan are the directors of the Ministry of War.

Like the five major positions in several overseas societies, Chen Kai listened to their backgrounds and immediately classified them all into the collection of former bureaucrats. This is not uncommon among anti-Qing people, and it is not a big deal to say that it is not a big deal. But the problem is that these people are all civil officials of the Lu Jian Guo Dynasty, and that Qian Sule is the seventh brother of Qian Sule, the secretary of the Soldier Department of the East Pavilion University of the Lu Jian Guo Dynasty. And the only one of them is not an official appointed by the Lu Jian Guo Dynasty - Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple of the Longwu Dynasty, Wang Zhongxiao, the right attendant of the military department of the Yongli Dynasty and the secretary of Taichang Temple, who is now also in Kinmen with Zhu Yihai of the Lu Jian State.

It is understandable that secret societies are not easy to put into writing. But what Chen Kai never expected was that the Lotus Hall of the Heaven and Earth Society should have been the strongest place in the Zheng Group, but now it has become a small group within the Heaven and Earth Society of the Lu Jian Guo Dynasty, which really made Chen Kai not know what to say for a while.

Whether the Lu Jian Dynasty intends to use the organization of the Heaven and Earth Society to use his power to engage in a means of re-listing on the backdoor. Chen Kai has no way of knowing. Lu Ruoteng and Shen Yanqi have already recruited Xu Fuyuan, Chen Shijing and Cao Conglong, the three former ministers of the Lu Jian Dynasty, according to their vision, and these three people have taken advantage of the situation to bring in that vote, they are all trustworthy figures personally, and Chen Kai is not easy to say anything. However, this had to cause him to think deeply, so much so that the vigilance that Fang had just put down against Cao Conglong was raised again, even heavier than Fang Cai.

Compared with the Guangdong Business Alliance, which is blatantly posing and is playing an increasingly huge role, Tiandihui has always been a secret chess piece of Chen Kai. For the members of the Tiandi Society in Jiangxi, Nanjiang and Fujian, there is brainwashing, but the investment in other aspects is minimal. In terms of control, due to the communication technology of this era, it is relatively relaxed. In this way, it is indeed conducive to the self-expansion of the Heaven and Earth Society, but whether it will suffer from the invasion of people with ulterior motives is also something to be concerned about.

"So, it was proposed by Mu Zhou and Fu Zhai, and Yun Lin lost his sincerity to the country?"

"Returning to the words of the helmsman, it is true. In addition to Zaixia, there are several members who have also dissolved their close ties with His Royal Highness King Lu, and have been appointed with the surname of the country through the recommendation of Chuxian Pavilion and Muzhou and Fuzhai. At this stage, except for Zaixia, they are all serving in Fujian. ”

"That's right."

Cao Conglong's coming this time, in addition to Zheng Chenggong's appointment, also had the task of Lu Ruoteng reporting to Chen Kai on the development of the Tiandi Society in Fujian. Obviously, Fujian's Lotus Hall has begun to consciously infiltrate the Zheng Group's administrative system in Fujian - they want to play a greater role, but this is very dangerous, no different from playing with fire. Now it seems that there is a need for this organization to be reorganized, and at the same time, it is necessary to consider whether to make it substantive and public.

There are a lot of issues to consider, and Chen Kai has no intention of making a decision immediately. At this time, the sound of the announcement from outside came. So, Chen Kai motioned for Cao Conglong to return to his seat, and he didn't talk about the Tiandihui.

"Uncle, Yunlin shouldn't have seen it, but the old things in eastern Zhejiang back then are still worth reminiscing."