Quanzhou Mansion City, Mansion Palace.

Zheng Hongkui sat high in the lobby, frowning, the battle for many days and the situation for many days forced his subordinates to hold this meeting of all the henchmen.

His eyes swept across the hall, and every general looked dejected.

The days of fighting with the Portuguese, as well as the fighting of the Qing army, exhausted the last vestiges of their confidence and courage.

Because they were all defeated, although they even crossed the river in the early stage, captured Jiuxing County, and besieged Xiangshan County, the persecuted Portuguese had to give up most of the peripheral territories and retreat into Xiangshan County, as well as the castle, but the Portuguese tenacity was not as fragile as they imagined, but as hard as a stone, but they did not smash the enemy's hard shell sledgehammer.

Just when they thought they could defeat the Portuguese with their numerical superiority, the Xiangshan people, who had been ruled by the Grape people for decades, actually revolted and attacked them, fanatical as the Manchu white-armored soldiers of the Qing army, and this was not the most fatal.

The most important thing is the Mongolian cavalry, the Qing army's Han military banner, and the Qing army's eight banner soldiers.

Together with Ruan Jie, a general of the Longwu Dynasty who had rebelled in Fuzhou, Zheng Hongkui had to give up attacking the Portuguese, but only surrounded them, and used most of his army to fight the Qing army and defend Zhangzhou and Quanzhou.

If it weren't for the material support of the Jinhua rebels, they might have collapsed and been defeated by the Qing army.

But now, the Qing army was defeated by the landed Zhou Cong, the general of the Jinhua Righteous Army's Governor's Mansion, Ruan Jin, as well as Xiao Fei of Xinghua Mansion, and He Jin of the Prefecture Mansion, but what was the final result?

The Jinhua Righteous Army got the Fuzhou Mansion, and then it could border the Quanzhou Mansion, if this is the case, it is not a big thing, after all, their forces are close to the coastal Quanzhou Mansion and Zhangzhou Mansion, and now, the Jinhua Righteous Army will not leave here.

Such a powerful Jinhua rebel army actually didn't leave, did they still want to occupy Quanzhou Mansion?

"Eleven, you went to Tingzhou Mansion to see the emperor, what did the emperor say?" Zheng Hongkui turned his head to one of his henchmen and asked.

"Back to the Marquis, the emperor asked you to lead the army to the north, attack Ganzhou Mansion, cooperate with Zhang Tianlu's army to capture Ganzhou Mansion, Quanzhou Mansion will be handed over to Counselor Zhou Congee of the Jinhua Righteous Army to take care of, and you will garrison Zhangzhou Mansion in the future." Confidants love will eleven ways.

"Master Hou, this is forcing us to death, Quanzhou Mansion is our base camp, let us give up the prosperous Quanzhou Mansion and go to the Zhangzhou Mansion where birds don't, isn't this to reduce your strength?" Another henchman stood up and slapped the table angrily.

"Master Hou, why don't we also take refuge in the Jinhua Righteous Army, now this southeast coast, to be strong, the Jinhua Righteous Army is relatively strong, with our current 30,000 troops, 5,000 elite soldiers, and Jinhua Righteous Army 120,000 troops, 80,000 elite soldiers to compete with, that is looking for death, compared to the weak Longwu Imperial Court now, the Governor is thriving, and the hero who will achieve a great cause in the future." A young subordinate said.

His words drew reproaches and rebukes from several generals of Zheng Hongkui, who disagreed with or were disgusted by the aggressive momentum of the Jinhua Rebels.

There was a mess in the lobby.

"That's enough," Zheng Hongkui slapped the table and roared angrily, stopping everyone from arguing.

He turned to his staff and said, "What do you think?" ”

A staff member said: "This Zhang Qiang, his background is a mystery, we don't have much to do with him, and his people may not be willing to accept us, compared to the current situation of the Longwu Imperial Court, which is in danger and difficult to return to the sky, it is better to learn from King Zheng and go to the sea." The staff slowly voiced their opinions.

Zheng Hongkui lowered his head and pondered the words of his staff, he was more willing to listen to the opinions of these scholars than a group of rough people under him, they had more twists and turns in their chests, and their views on the situation were more objective, or more favorable to him.

After pondering for a while, he turned to another staff member and asked, "What is your opinion?" ”

The staff rolled their eyes and said: "Hou Ye, it is better for us to take refuge in King Zhengjun, in the past, everyone was in the same vein, understood each other, the army retreated to Zhangzhou Mansion, and gave up Quanzhou Mansion to the Jinhua Righteous Army, avoiding them, we fought with them, and it was we who suffered in the end."

As far as I know, there is now a naval division, six fleets, and only one fleet is stronger than the strength we have now after the war with the Portuguese, more than 200 warships, more than 50 large warships, and most of them are the kind of Dutch fifth-class, sixth-class warships, and even fourth-class warships, the number of artillery is equivalent to more than our five or six Fu ships combined, and the artillery is hugely powerful, the cannon body is lighter, and the range is longer, and at the same time, they also have a naval team on the warship, specializing in gang jumping.

And although we have more than 700 warships, but most of them are centipede ships, merchant ships and other small ships, even large fortune ships have suffered heavy losses, and now all of them are combined, not as strong as the strongest fourth-class warships of the people, five or six, our sailors have suffered heavy losses, and they are not enough to operate the boats anymore, so retreat to Zhangzhou Mansion, and then ask King Zheng to surrender and take refuge in King Zheng, which is the best policy.

In the same vein, King Zheng will not do anything to the Hou Ye, if we listen to the court, our final strength will also be exhausted, so the subordinates feel that it is better to take refuge in King Zheng. ”

Zheng Hongkui thought for a while and sighed, "That's it." ”

Several opposing generals stood up, "Master Hou, don't do this." ”

Zheng Hongkui waved his hand, "I've already decided, so let's do it." ”

He stood up and walked to the back of the lobby, turned the screen, and a person who looked like a master said to him: "Hou Ye, whether it is the Longwu Imperial Court, or the seemingly powerful Jinhua Righteous Army, or King Zheng should not be the object of Hou Ye's consideration, if you want to take refuge, you have to recognize the situation, now that a large area of Ming land has fallen into the hands of the Qing army Tartars, it is better to learn from the Hou Ye, an official, and it is the right way to take refuge in the Qing Dynasty." ”

Zheng Hongkui's confidence was shaken again, and the strength of the Qing army was an eternal knot in his heart.

"So what do I do?" Zheng Hongkui looked at the person who looked like the master in front of him.

"Not only to gain a firm foothold, but also to attack the Jinhua Righteous Army in Quanzhou Prefecture, the Ming army, take them, the vast Ma Degong Department will help you clean up the current enemy, we will contact the Portuguese, let them attack Guangzhou together, you will attack the Longwu Ming Army that attacked Ganzhou, when the time comes, Hou Ye will protect you as the governor of Fujian, how about it?"

Zheng Hongkui couldn't make up his mind, "Let me think about it, think about it." ”

"My lord, don't think about it, only by taking refuge as soon as possible can you be prosperous and rich, and only then can you have high-ranking officials, if you wait for the Qing Dynasty to pacify the southwest, wave the army and overthrow the Longwu Dynasty, is there still your place?"

He bowed his hand, "My lord, this is for your sake." ”

Zheng Hongkui was upset and irritable, he didn't know how to answer, he understood the situation of Zheng Zhilong now, and was more worried about the settlement of the Jinhua Righteous Army in the future, he couldn't beat the Jinhua Righteous Army, the powerful attack of the Jinhua Righteous Army, the brave soldiers, the well-equipped army, the artillery fire of the sky, he was afraid when he thought about it, he didn't know that if he agreed to give blessings, the Jinhua Righteous Army would attack, how could he resist, I am afraid that he would not wait for the Qing Army to come from Guangxi or Jiangxi, he would have to be killed.

When he hesitated, as soon as his generals came out, one of the generals said to the guards beside him: "Go and tell your lord, just say that Zheng Hongkui is swaying from side to side, and he is afraid of defecting to the Qing army after a long time, I heard that the lobbyists of the Qing army have entered the mansion, let them make plans early." ”

The guard looked around cautiously, "Yes, my lord, I'll report right away." ”

(End of chapter)