After choosing to negotiate, Zheng Zhilong immediately repaired a letter and sent his cousin Zheng Cai to take a boat to Dayuan to congratulate Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, on defeating the red-haired ghost and discuss the matter of the sea route.

Zheng Zhilong has strongly realized that with the strong rise of Zhoushan's power, it is impossible for the Zheng family to dominate the East and South China Sea routes.

The purpose of sending Zheng Cai to the senior officer is to find out the current strength of Qi Guogong, and then to conduct preliminary contacts to prepare for the next negotiations. After all, Zheng Cai had contact with Zhoushan Qiyun Firm when he went to trade in the Japanese Kingdom, and he was the most suitable person.

When Zheng Cai set off from Quanzhou on a three-masted sailing ship and passed through the Penghu Islands, he was shocked to find that a camp had been set up on the main island of Penghu, and several sea ships were moored in the bay under the banner of the Ming army.

The Penghu Islands have belonged to China since ancient times, and the Ming Dynasty also set up an inspection department in Penghu, which was managed by the Fujian military, and the Fujian garrison would send troops to garrison Penghu in spring and autumn every year.

Now Zheng Zhilong is the chief soldier of Fujian, and Zheng Cai naturally knows whether he has sent troops to Penghu or not. Penghu is the gateway to Dongfan Island, and it seems that Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, has strengthened his defenses against Fujian, Zheng Cai said secretly.

When the sea ship arrived at Dayuan, Zheng Cai specially ordered the sea ship to pass near the Luermen Seaway, but saw that camps were also erected on both sides of the seaway, and soldiers firmly blocked the seaway.

As soon as the sea boat approached Dayuan Island and entered the main channel of the Taijiang River, a bird boat quickly greeted it and asked about the identity and intention of the comer. When it became clear that it was a messenger sent by Zheng Zhilong, the general soldier of Fujian, he came to the ship and asked Zheng Cai to anchor and wait for the time being, and then flew back to report.

It didn't take long for another clipper to come out and lead Zheng Cai's sea ship into port.

The boat passed over Dayuan Island, Zheng Cai looked at the towering Dutch Hongmao City on Dayuan Island in the south, but now it is planted with the military flag of the Ming Dynasty, the sturdiness of the Hongmao City Zheng Cai naturally knows that he once took the Dutchman Armand when he returned to Quanzhou from the Wa Kingdom, when Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, had just sent troops to attack Beigang, but he didn't expect that even the Hongmao City was beaten down by Chen Yue in a few days, which shocked Zheng Cai at the same time, and was deeply jealous of the strength in Chen Yue's hands.

And when he saw more than a dozen huge Galen ships moored in the inland sea of Taijiang, Zheng Cai's fear in his heart was even greater!

Zheng Cai, who had fought naval battles with the Dutch, knew the strength of the Dutch in naval warfare very well, and each of these Galen ships was loaded with dozens of nearly 100 red-coated cannons.

When the Zheng family and the Dutch fought several times, they could only compete by relying on a large number of people on the ship, and they did not take much advantage at all, which was also the reason why the Zheng family had to give up the foundation of Beigang. I was really afraid that the Dutch would overturn the route and threaten my own home.

And now, there are so many Galen warships moored in this big man, not to mention where so many Xiyi plywood ships come from, just with so many ships, he can compete head-on with the Zheng family's fleet! Not to mention that he also has Qi Guogong's amazing fighting skills.

At this moment, Zheng Cai was really a little jealous, when he came, he was still aggressive, thinking that with the strength of the Zheng family, he could force Qi Guogong to make concessions, but now he gave up this idea.

Perhaps the era of Zhengjiahai's dominance has passed, and perhaps the rise of Zhoushan's maritime power has become unstoppable.

With Dongfan Island in the Zhoushan Islands, Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, has firmly controlled the route to the Ryukyu North Korea, and whether the Zheng family's sea ships can pass through safely is a problem, which makes people anxious, and I am afraid that all ships on the route from Fujian and Guangdong to the East will be intercepted.

Threat of force? Not to mention that the Duke of Qi has so many Galen warships, even a red-haired city is not easy to fight, and Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, is not a Dutchman, and there is no restriction on the shortage of troops. In the war, the Zheng family is not sure of winning!

With complicated feelings, Zheng Cai boarded Dayuan Island in a small boat and entered Hongmao City, which had been converted into Pingnan City. I saw that there were three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry in the castle, and there were fully armed and fierce Ming soldiers everywhere.

Chen Yue summoned Zheng Cai in the living room, and only accepted Zheng Cai's congratulations after a few small talks, and then sent Zheng Cai out. As for the negotiation, the identities of the two parties are not equal, and Chen Yue naturally will not talk directly with Zheng Cai.

"You are Fu, Fu ......" Looking at Fu Chun in front of him, Zheng Cai felt very familiar.

"In Xia Fu Chun, Brother Zheng Cai is really a noble person!" Fu Chun sneered.

When Fu Chun was the captain of the ship under Yan Siqi, Zheng Cai was also Zheng Zhilong's henchman and assistant, and the two sides were very familiar. However, with Yan Siqi's inexplicable death, when Zheng Zhilong annexed Yan Siqi's forces and began to crowd out his former brothers, Fu Chun chose to break with Zheng Zhilong, and since then he has become a pirate and the Zheng family's enemy.

Nearly 20 years have passed in a blink of an eye, the Zheng family has monopolized Fujian and controlled the Oriental and South Sea routes, and Zheng Cai has also become a deputy general, but after defecting to Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, Fu Chun has also been reused, not to mention becoming the captain of a Galen battleship, not to mention, he also has the title of general, and his status is not much worse than Zheng Cai.

"It turned out to be Brother Fu!" Zheng Cai's face changed, and he did not have the joy of meeting in the old days, judging from the fact that Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, sent Fu Chun, who had never had a holiday, to negotiate with him, the attitude of the Duke of Qi was very tough.

Sure enough, as soon as Fu Chun opened his mouth, Zheng Cai was furious.

"The northern route of Dongfan Island to the Ryukyu Kingdom of North Korea is owned by Qi Guogong, and the route to South Luzon Java and other South Seas belongs to South Amber." Fu Chun said coldly.

"Brother Fu is joking?" Zheng Cai's face suddenly turned cold, "The route of the Japanese Kingdom was opened up by my brother's hard work, and it was obtained from countless battles with the Dutch Francophile. One of the objects that the Japanese state allowed trade with was the Dutch, and the other was my Zheng family. How big is the profit of the maritime trade of the Wa Kingdom, Brother Fu, you should know, do you or the Duke of Qi think that my Zheng family will give up the Wa Kingdom? ”

"I'm afraid I can't give up or not, right? Now the Duke of Qi occupies Dongfan Island and Zhoushan Islands, and the sea ships from Guangdong and Fujian to the Wa Kingdom must pass through our territory, as long as the Duke of Qi does not allow it, I don't think there will be a piece of board passing through Zhoushan! Fu Chun sneered.

"Is this what Brother Fu meant, or what Qi Guogong meant? Could it be that Qi Guogong wants to fight a big battle with my Zheng family? Although the Duke of Qi is invincible, but my Zheng family's thousands of warships and 200,000 troops are not in vain! Zheng Cai sneered and directly threatened.

"Brother Zheng Cai, are you funny? What kind of army of 200,000 people, most of them are the army of the imperial court, not your Zheng family's private army. Not to mention that even if your 200,000 troops can defeat our army, will the governor of Fujian and other senior officers allow you to recruit so many troops to fight with us? The Duke of Qi is the beloved general of His Majesty today, the future son-in-law, and the hero of the defeat of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and his position in the imperial court is deep-rooted. I'm afraid that before you mobilize 200,000 troops, the imperial court's decree to remove Zheng Zhilong from his official position will reach Quanzhou! ”

Fu Chun was not threatened in the slightest.

"Oh, really? Although Fujian's army is not my brother's private army, but the Duke of Qi is only the duke of the imperial court, but he has so many warships and so many private troops in private, and now he occupies Dongfan Island, could it be that he wants to follow the example of the Duke of Qiu to open the country overseas? But I don't know how the imperial court will react when it learns of this situation, will it allow the state of Qi to stand on its own, or will it send troops to crusade? If you send troops to fight, will my brother be the general candidate to lead the troops? ”

Zheng Cai sneered.

After some verbal arguments, the two quickly recognized this fact, that is, they couldn't make each other compromise by words.

And the war, one of the two sides is the duke of the imperial court, the important general has an outstanding reputation, and the other is a maritime tycoon who dominates one side and is in the post of the general army of Fujian.

Since there is no direct war, there is only mutual compromise.

Fu Chun directly threw out his own opinion, that is, peaceful coexistence and route sharing. Regardless of whether it is the South Sea or the East Ocean, ships on both sides can pass freely, but the Zheng family is no longer allowed to sell ship marks to the Wa Kingdom, and they are no longer allowed to charge any more sea vessels to the Wa Kingdom, but should give the right to collect fees to the Qi State Mansion.

Of course, sea ships going to the South Seas still need to go through the permission of the Zheng family, and they need to pay tolls to the Zheng family. In this case, the Duke of Qi and the Zheng family respectively controlled the maritime profits of the South and Oriental Seas, and of course, the sea ships of both sides did not need to pay tolls to each other.

Fu Chun's method divided their respective spheres of influence according to the strength of the two sides, and even Zheng Cai could not raise any objections. But he also knew that if the two sides reached an agreement, it would be equivalent to a large piece of cake that originally belonged to the Zheng family being crossed by Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi.

Every year, there are hundreds of merchant ships going to the Ryukyu Kingdom of Korea, and the Zheng family collects hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for tolls alone, and I am afraid that this item will no longer belong to the Zheng family from now on.

However, since the Duke of Qi occupied Zhoushan and Dongfan Island, and had such a strong strength in his hands, it was impossible for the Zheng family to monopolize the benefits of maritime trade as before, and compromise was inevitable.

However, Zheng Cai couldn't make a decision on such a big matter, and immediately proposed to return to Quanzhou to report to Zheng Zhilong, the general soldier of Fujian.

"Does General Fu think Zheng Zhilong will agree?" When Fu Chun reported on the negotiations, Chen Yue asked with a smile.

"In the opinion of his subordinates, Zheng Zhilong will agree, the older the rivers and lakes, the less courageous he is, and now Zheng Zhilong's family is working hard to get closer to the real nobles, and he is no longer the outlaw on the sea back then. Go against you, Grandpa Guo, he doesn't have the guts! Fu Chun replied with a smile.

"Hahaha......" Chen Yue laughed loudly.

"However, Grandpa Guo, don't you plan to destroy the Zheng family and dominate the sea?" Looking at Chen Yue's face, Fu Chun asked cautiously.

The previous festival with Zheng Zhilong made Fu Chun always have the idea of destroying Zheng Zhilong, and he also knew that Chen Yue was a bold person. The so-called side of the couch does not allow others to sleep soundly, Fu Chun does not believe that Chen Yue has no idea of replacing it.

"The meal has to be eaten in one bite, we have just occupied Dongfan Island, so let's run Dongfan Island first." Chen Yue said with a smile, "However, the Zheng family has accumulated a lot of wealth by monopolizing the sea trade, but they have never paid taxes to the imperial court, these are ill-gotten gains, and they must not last long!" ”

In Anping Town, Quanzhou, Zheng Cai returned from the senior staff and told Zheng Zhilong about the negotiation situation, asking for instructions on what to do.

"The surname Chen is so unruly, he doesn't take our Zheng family in his eyes at all, and he is trying to get involved in the Japanese route, it's really a dream!" Before Zheng Zhilong could speak, Zheng Zhibao said angrily.

"That's it, the Oriental route is the eldest brother, you and your brothers have worked hard to fight, these years we have beaten the Dutch, Yang Liu, Yang Qi, killed Li Kuiqi, and killed Liu Xiang, which has created a great foundation, why should we hand it over to Chen Yue in vain!" Zheng Zhiguan also shouted.

Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Zhiguan are both Zheng Zhilong's brothers, and when the two of them spoke, Zheng Cai kept silent.

"What is the strength of the Duke of Qi?" Zheng Zhilong was much calmer than the two brothers, ignored their quarrel, and asked Zheng Caidao.

"There are thirteen Xiyi plywood ships in the inner harbor of Dayuantai River, each with dozens of red-coated cannons, most of which should have been taken from the Dutch, and more than 20 three-masted ships, hundreds of two-masted ships and sloops, and hundreds of other small ships, and this is only the warships in Dayuangang.

Zhoushan is the foundation of Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, and it is presumable that Zhoushan will also have a certain number of warships.

As for the strength of troops, as far as I know, there are more than 10,000 troops in the Dayuan Qi Guogong alone, and the total strength is unknown. By the way, they seem to be moving people from the mainland, and I met my old acquaintance He Bin in Dayuan, according to He Bin, more than 30,000 people have moved from Shandong to Dongfan. ”

Zheng Cai's words shocked the three Zheng Zhilong brothers. The battle at sea is compared to the warship, otherwise why would more than 1,000 Dutch people rush along the coast of Daming?

Now Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, actually has thirteen Xiyi plywood ships, plus hundreds of other warships, and the strength of the naval army alone is no longer under the Zheng family's army.

Of course, the Zheng family's military ships are far more than Chen Yue, the Duke of Qi, but there is not a single warship that can compete with the Xiyi plywood boat, even the five-masted giant ship of Zheng Zhilong's ship, which is only equipped with six red-clothed cannons!

"What's so great about having a Xiyi plywood, it's not like we haven't beaten the Dutch's plywood." Zheng Zhibao was still stiff-mouthed, but Zheng Zhiguan stopped talking.

Because everyone knows that the reason why the Dutch were able to defeat the Dutch in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay was to rely on the narrow sea surface of the bay and dozens of times the number of ships on their side, and then attack with fireships to achieve victory.

If you meet on the sea, even if your own warship is dozens of times that of others, it is very difficult to win, after all, people will not give you the opportunity to engage in battle, and if you want to attack with fire, don't even think about it.

"Big brother, I think the conditions publicly offered by Qi Guo are quite generous, and they didn't wantonly bully us, so you might as well agree." Secretly looking at Zheng Zhilong's face, Zheng Cai knew that Zheng Zhilong was already moved, or he was helpless in the face of Qi Guogong's strength, so he spoke.

"The Duke of Qi is the hero who expelled the Manchu Tartars, and I should respect him for three points. Give him the route of the Wa Kingdom, let it be given to him, the loss of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year is still lost by our Zheng family! Zheng Zhilong smiled.