Chapter 373 is full of concerns

At this moment, Zheng Chenggong remembered the rumors that he had reported in detail-

This ship is so special, not only does it cover the sky and the sun, but it also has a strange appearance...... There were no sails on the ship, and there were no cannons, but just off the coast of Haojing, they were stunned to kill the Portuguese gunboats.

The most terrifying rumor is that the ship did not have no guns, but a new type of naval gun was hidden, and it is said that a shell shot more than ten miles away, and there was a violent explosion after landing......

For a man like Zheng Chenggong, firearms and large ships were not particularly frightening to him, and he himself had large Galen ships and heavy artillery that were not inferior to those of the maritime powers of the time.

However, the rumor that the ship had no sails made him feel very incredible.

He really couldn't figure out how it was possible that this ship was so big that it didn't have sails and smoked.

"Could it be...... Rowing with a big stove and a big oar? How many oars do you have to use? ”

Zheng Chenggong asked himself, since he was a child, he has followed his father across the ocean, he has dealt with all kinds of foreigners, and he has seen countless strange things, but he just can't think of what the power of this ship is.

"It's not going to be today, I must go to Weitou Bay another day to see in person, what kind of scraping is hidden in this boat."

Zheng Chenggong thought secretly.

He was secretly glad that this chattering Marquis of Qinchuan didn't seem to be an opponent with hostility.

They dared to take the initiative to anchor in the harbor instead of staying outside the harbor, which shows that although they will not just come to meet and reminisce as Qu said in the letter, at least they will not come to provoke.

Because, although all the ships entering the port are large warships, there is only one big iron ship like this kind of giant, and the total number is less than ten, so they have no advantage in terms of numbers.

If you really want to fight each other, as long as you find the right fighter to close the door and fight the dogs, even if you send out a fireboat, you should be able to wipe them out.

You must know that in the Battle of Luowan, when his father did not have large gunboats, he used fire to defeat the Dutch gunboats.

"I hope I'm overthinking, maybe...... There really is no covetousness. ”

Thinking of this, Zheng Chenggong settled down a little.

After pondering for a long time, he finally spoke: "Order, please...... Hyosido. ”

"Yes!"

The general responded respectfully, and hurriedly went out to give the order and arranged.

As a close soldier, he only needs to listen to the master's tone and the place arranged, and he will know what kind of specifications to use to welcome guests, and there is no need for the master to talk nonsense.

This Zheng Mansion in Anping Castle has a total of five courtyards, of which the first vestibule is the "Catholic Church" dedicated to Jesus, which is never used to usher in the send-off.

The host designated to wait in the second "filial piety hall", which should be the highest courtesy to the guests, and this place is generally only used to kneel to welcome the holy decree.

After the general left, Zheng Chenggong thought about it for a while in the inner detention room before instructing the servants to wait for him to change his clothes and prepare to go to the filial piety hall to welcome the guests......

Master Qu is a member of the cabinet of the current dynasty, and he is a big difference in age, but after all, he has the same friendship as himself, and if there is any trouble, he will not come to hold him accountable in person.

Yes, it is expected that he will not have any substantive intentions on this trip, it is estimated that he is the role of an introducer, in any case, the Qinchuan Marquis behind him is the main one among the guests.

He decided to be polite and listen to the purpose of their trip.

Although he is already the king of the county, and he still has the aura of "the surname of the country", he does not have to put on a too formal posture to welcome a prince.

But he knew that in this stormy era, all official positions and titles were decorations, dealing with the court officials, and relying entirely on territory and strength to speak.

It's not strange to be polite, it's always good to be low-key and humble.

However, Zheng Chenggong did not let down the necessary vigilance.

This Qinchuan Marquis, his army has been killed to Quanzhou, all the way like a bamboo, there is a single soldier to break through, and the courage to recover Fuzhou alone.

At this time, he led the fleet to come and specially visited him Zheng Chenggong, then, there are only two possibilities.

On the bright side, if he is really loyal to the imperial court, then he came this time in the hope that the two armies will join forces to march together, jointly defend Fujian, and even negotiate the next step of the Northern Expedition.

However, on the bad side, he may also coerce the Son of Heaven to respect himself, blame him for Zheng Chenggong, weaken his influence on Fujian, and even make it clear that he wants to insert a foot in the foreign surface of Fujian.

If this is the case, it must not be taken lightly.

After muttering repeatedly, he decided to salute first and then soldier, and wait and see what happened.

Zheng Chenggong asked himself, on land, the people of the Marquis of Qinchuan did show unparalleled combat power, but above the sea, no one wanted to underestimate the strength of his Zheng family.

……

In fact, there is a reason why Zheng Chenggong is so cautious and worried.

Two things that happened not long ago really made him feel a little weak.

The first thing was started by Zheng Chenggong's brother Zheng Cai.

At first, as early as the time of Emperor Longwu, the armies of the two brothers Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian were ordered to defend Xiamen.

And Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu, who guarded Taizhou and Zhoushan in eastern Zhejiang, was elected by his ministers as a supervisor of the country as early as after Emperor Hongguang was killed in Nanjing, and often fought with Longwu for orthodoxy.

After Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and Emperor Longwu was killed in Tingzhou, Zheng Cai, who was guarding Jinxia, was unwilling to surrender, and together with Zhou Rui, the general of Dingbo, he led 400 boats to Zhoushan and moved at the opportunity.

When he arrived in Zhoushan, Zheng Cai saw that Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu, was in a difficult situation, so he welcomed him to Fujian, where Zhu Yihai was able to settle down, and named Zheng Cai as the Marquis of Jianwei, and later as the Duke of Jianguo.

However, Zheng Cai's support for Dai Lu Jianguo actually wanted to repeat the old trick of his uncle Zheng Zhilong to manipulate Emperor Longwu in the palm of his hand.

He was arrogant, rejected dissidents, and killed the scholar Xiong Rulin without authorization, because the generals loyal to Zhu Yihai hated him deeply.

In the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, Zheng Chenggong, who had already pledged allegiance to Emperor Yongli and was given the king of Yanping, in order to expand his strength, used Zheng Lian's strategy to kill Zheng Lian under the pretext that Zheng Lian was tyrannical in Xiamen and the people were not able to make a living.

After Zheng Chenggong occupied Jinxia, King Lu had no choice but to retreat back to Zhoushan, and struggled to support it with the assistance of Zhang Mingzhen and others.

The problem is that because of the consideration of the Northern Expedition and other matters in the future, Zheng Chenggong, who has a long-term vision, has not severed contact with them, and often has private contacts with them, while King Lu and Yongli are incompatible.

Because of this, Zheng Chenggong has been worried in private, worried that it will be self-defeating, but he will be blamed by Yongli for excuses......

The second thing has to do with the recent failed expedition to the west.

In November last year, because Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao led tens of thousands of iron cavalry to invade Guangzhou, Zheng Chenggong sent Wang Qinqin to the west, and ordered his uncle Zheng Zhiguan to stay in Xiamen.

In December, Zheng Chenggong arrived in Jieyang, Guangdong, to join his other uncle, Zheng Hongkui.

After the two discussed, because they were worried about the lack of troops in Xiamen, it was decided that Zheng Chenggong would continue to lead the army westward, while Zheng Hongkui would move to Xiamen by ship to assist in the defense.

Due to the shortage of grain and grass, Zheng Chenggong adopted the practice of "giving up water to land and raising grain and salary by plundering", but was opposed by his subordinate Shi Lang.

The young Zheng Chenggong was very unhappy, thinking that he had disobeyed orders and shaken the morale of the army, so he cut Shi Lang's military power and ordered him to return to Xiamen as a leisure man.

When the Qing army attacked Xiamen with a sneak attack, the guard general Zheng Zhiguan actually panicked, and only cared about carrying his belongings to a private boat and fled in embarrassment, so that the Qing army broke through Xiamen quite easily, and plundered the Zheng family's savings and equipment.

At that time, Shi Lang personally led more than 60 people around him to take the initiative to resist the Qing army, and was unstoppable, killing the brother of Ma Degong, the main general of the Qing army, and Ma Degong was almost captured alive, and the Qing army had to flee Xiamen in panic.

At this time, Zheng Hongkui, who rushed to Xiamen to support, happened to encounter the returning Ma Degong Qing army on the sea, so he besieged it, but was threatened by Ma Degong to kill his mother and brother (Zheng Zhilong), and had no choice but to let Ma Degong go.

Zheng Chenggong, who was in Guangdong, saw that the army's heart was shaken, so he had to return to Xiamen, but he didn't expect it, but it buried a disaster.

(End of chapter)