Chapter 123: General Feihong Hongyu is in distress

Zhang Zhimu was waiting for Zheng Zhilong in Quanzhou for the past two days, and he was also thinking that Zheng Zhilong was really a great character. With Zheng Zhilong's current identity and strength, he was able to come to Quanzhou to see him, which shows that in addition to our Yaogang people who have now made their own reputation, this Zheng Zhilong is definitely a person who can bend and stretch.

After Zheng Zhilong was recruited by the imperial court, he was awarded the "Five Tiger Guerrilla General". He is also known as General Feihong. It should be said that Zheng Zhilong made a very great contribution to the pacification of the sea frontier in the Ming Dynasty. In particular, when disasters occurred in Fujian and other places, Zheng Zhilong began to organize a large number of immigrants to Taiwan, and the impact on Taiwan in the future was very huge. At that time, Zheng Zhilong gave every victim who immigrated to Taiwan three taels of silver, and one cow for every three people. This was a very remarkable feat at the time. Now the original history has changed thanks to its own appearance. Otherwise, at this time, the Qing army had already entered the customs, and Zheng Zhilong had already begun to participate in anti-Qing activities after returning to the Southern Ming Dynasty.

Yan Boju was reluctant for Zhang Zhimu to meet this Zheng Zhilong, "Zhimu! I don't think it's very solid for you to see this Zheng Zhilong. I heard that this guy also married a widow's wife. Besides, haven't you heard people say how this Min character is written? That's a bug inside the door. They are all good on the surface, but they are a worm in their stomachs. Don't take their word for it. ”

"Haha! Uncle Yan, where do you say there are no such people? Needless to say, there are no such people in Shanxi? Zhang Zhimu felt that Yan Boju was a little extreme, "Don't you see, isn't Mr. Lin Zongwei a very real person?" So it can't be said that all Fujian people are good on the surface, with a bag of worms in their stomachs. ”

Two days later, Zheng Zhilong really came to the Yaogang branch. This person is really extraordinary, and he came to Quanzhou with a light car.

I heard the report that Zheng Zhilong had arrived. Zhang Zhimu and others hurriedly greeted him. Seeing Zheng Zhilong, Zhang Zhimu Shili said: "General Feihong has arrived, please forgive me for missing the distance!" ”

Zheng Zhilong is in his forties, and his height is quite tall among the already small Fujianese. But what made Zhang Zhimu want to get close to him even more was his eyes. Although the eyes are not big, the light emitted by the eyes is very wise. From there, Zhang Zhimu didn't see the slightest bit of pirate ferocity.

Seeing Zhang Zhimu's gift, Zheng Zhilong also returned the salute and said: "I have heard the name of Zhang Dongjia for a long time, and it is a great honor to see it today. The past two days have been riddled with mundane affairs, Zheng is late, please forgive me! ”

"Where, where!" After the two sides were polite, Zhang Zhimu introduced Zheng Zhilong, Yan Boju, Lu Chengxiang, Li Mao and others, and then invited Zheng Zhilong to the living room of the branch.

It should be said that as soon as Zheng Zhilong and Zhang Zhimu met, both of them felt good. Unfortunately, they also have difficulty communicating in the language. If you don't understand each other, you also need Lin Zongwei to translate.

Zheng Zhilong was still very interested in the battle between Zhang Zhimu and Li Zicheng, Zhang Zhimu started from Li Zicheng's oath in Xi'an to march eastward, until Emperor Chongzhen issued an order to let the Yaogang people beg for thieves, and the Yaogang people began to counterattack, and told Li Zicheng about the process of beating Shanxi. Zheng Zhilong also clenched his fists at times when he heard this, and sometimes laughed heartily.

After Zhang Zhimu introduced the situation, Zheng Zhilong also gave a general introduction to his experience. The atmosphere between the two sides is very harmonious.

Zheng Zhilong proposed: "Zhang Dongjia, there is something I can tell you alone. ”

Zhang Zhimu knew that what Zheng Zhilong was going to say next was the right thing, and said, "Of course you can!" ”

Everyone else went out, leaving only Lin Zongwei as a translator.

"That's right, Zhang Dongjia. Recently, the Franc Robot in Luzon began to massacre us Chinese. It is said that more than 30,000 people have been killed by them, and I think this account must not be settled like this. However, we are not afraid of them at sea, and on land our firearms are inferior to others. I heard that the muskets in your kiln are very powerful, and there are already many people in Sulu who have muskets. Of course, I also know that you have a rifle that is more powerful than a musket. But I don't have much luxury, I hope that Zhang Dongjia can sell me some muskets. Zheng Zhilong said.

"If General Feihong can have such a heart, I will definitely support you in this operation. But you know, our Yaogang people can be said to have exhausted their strength to beat Li Zicheng this time. If you need a small number of muskets, I'll give them to you on behalf of the Kiln Man. It's also about doing things for our fellow citizens. Zhang Zhimu said.

"No, no, Zhang Dongjia, don't get me wrong. Truth be told, we don't lack silver. I'm just hoping to get a musket from you. You can earn some money by doing business in the mainland, but compared with our overseas trade, it is really not easy. Although our overseas trade is somewhat risky, a 20-fold profit should not be a problem. So Zhang Dongjia doesn't have to worry about the silver. Zheng Zhilong was also very truthful.

"How many muskets do you need?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"I want two thousand muskets to form an all-musket army. Do you think it's okay? It doesn't matter if you want cash or goods. Zheng Zhilong said.

"Two thousand muskets, it will take a long time to produce slowly, if you don't mind, I can sell you the muskets that are being used in our ranks. My troops can wait for the new guns to be produced. Otherwise, there is no guarantee of time. "Zhang Zhimu really wanted to shoot all the muskets.

"It's okay, I think the guns used in Zhang Dong's team must be easy to grab. Besides, you have fought a few battles with Li Zicheng in total, and you don't use all muskets. "Zheng Zhilong.

"To be honest, muskets that have been tested by the army are more reliable. The smoothbore gun has no rifling, and there is no need to worry about the wear and tear of the rifling. Zhang Zhimu explained, "Under normal circumstances, each gun should be equipped with 100 rounds of shotgun and 100 rounds of live ammunition. How many bullets do you need? ”

"If my soldiers go out to sea, they will never have a chance to replenish their ammunition. So, I gave each gun 500 shotguns and 500 live rounds. Zhang Dongjia, I hope to do this transaction according to the rules of business, and you can give us a fair price. Zheng Zhilong said.

"In this case, I will give you a thousand taels of silver for each musket and ten rounds of ammunition at the price of the court officers and soldiers. What kind of way to pay, I think you can let your subordinates talk to our shopkeeper Lu. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Good! This is the business of two million taels of silver. Let them arrange the specifics. Zheng Zhilong said, "There is one more thing, I want to say sorry to Zhang Dongjia." The Lin family's boat, I won the love without saying hello. Please don't mind Zhang Dongjia, I really want to save face for our Ba Fujian children. ”

"No, no! General Feihong is not welcome. Zhang Zhimu said, "To be honest, we Yaogang people don't have the strength to take care of the ocean affairs in Shanghai." I asked Lin Zongwei to come over, and I was also building a ship that could sail on inland waterways. It's just that I heard about Mr. Lin Zongwei and the ship later, and I was moved by their strange relationship with the ship, and I wanted to fulfill Mr. Lin. When we arrived at the Lin family, we were all very happy to hear that General Feihong had made a move. This ship is in your hands, and it really deserves it. Zhang Zhimu said this, but he also didn't want Zheng Zhilong to feel that the kiln people were also a threat to him.

"It would be great if the Zhang Dongjia didn't mind." Zheng Zhilong said, "I wonder when we will be able to have a steamship like Zhang Dong's family join our fleet?" ”

"It's not difficult, wait for us to slow down. After increasing the production capacity of both steel and ships, we can work together to do this. We never refuse anything that can make money. Zhang Zhimu said, "There is one more thing, I want to ask General Feihong to bother a little." The fact that our seafaring predecessors, the Three Treasure Eunuchs, went to the West left a lot of wealth for our descendants, and our descendants benefited a lot. I wonder if someone should sort out all the information he left behind. Someone has to collect about him. I'm far away in Shanxi, and I don't have the strength to take care of it. I would love someone to do something like that. ”

"Oops! This is what our children should do, and I am ashamed to let you say this. Zheng Zhilong said: "When I go back, I will arrange someone to do this, please rest assured that Zhang Dongjia will see the results when Zhang Dongjia comes here again." ”

In his previous life, Zhang Zhimu felt very regretful that a lot of Zheng He's Western materials had not been preserved. Some were deliberately destroyed during the Qing Dynasty. Even where Zheng He's final destination is has become an open case. So when I mentioned this matter to Zheng Zhilong this time, I hope that Zheng Zhilong can do something about it, so that future generations will have less regrets.

When sending Zheng Zhilong out, Zhang Zhimu asked, "Does General Feihong have a son?" Zhang Zhimu asked Zheng Chenggong, who beat away the Dutch and resisted the Qing Dynasty in Taiwan.

"Yes! Twenty years old. Now Ying Tianfu Guozijian is studying with Qian Qianyi, a famous Confucian in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Speaking of his son, Zheng Zhilong is still very proud.

After Zheng Zhilong returned, he sent someone to discuss with Lu Chengxiang the next day how to pay for the musket.

Since 2.2 million taels of silver is really a large amount, after Zheng Zhilong left yesterday, Zhang Zhimu and the others also discussed it. It was decided that most of the gold would be collected in the name of convenient transportation, which was also a matter discussed between Zhang Zhimu and Lu Chengxiang. As for the gold that is not good to circulate, the kiln people are not afraid, with this gold as a reserve, just issue paper money. The remainder was exchanged for food and other goods.

Zhang Zhimu's stay in Quanzhou this time was not short, but the strange thing was that Zheng Zhilong and none of them mentioned the matter of the pirate ships that were sunk by Zhang Zhimu and them. However, Lin Zongwei has not been idle these days. After several days of hard work, Lin Zongwei recruited more than 1,000 trainees, craftsmen, and workers this time.

The two warships in Yaogang couldn't take away so many people at once, and the final result of the discussion was that the warships would come back to pick them up again, and the personnel would have to be divided into two.

Because he needed to wait for Lu Bingyi and Li Yunhe, Zhang Zhimu had no choice but to wait patiently in Quanzhou.

That night, Li Mao asked Zhang Zhimu: "Mr. Zhang, can we have a good relationship with Zheng Zhilong?" ”

"A relationship that takes advantage of each other. They bought two thousand muskets at once, and I thought this man was very unusual, not because he had a lot of money, but because he was very scheming. He would never have sent all these musketeers out to the South Seas. Instead, there will be a lot left in Fujian. I think they feel threatened by us. Zhang Zhimu said, "He bought so many bullets at once, so that we were prepared not to sell them bullets in the future." ”

"Just by the fact that they lost six large ships, and did not show their faces, it can be seen that they have a good city. Actually, their boat is gone, and we just came from that direction, and it's normal to come and ask if we see it. But they didn't. I think they are afraid of ruining our musket trade. Li Mao said.

"It was the pirate ship that was lost, and no one dared to say too much. We don't have to think about them. I don't think what they know is that those firearms are not much stronger than burning sticks in front of our rifles. If they had really gone to fight the Francs, our muskets would have not been sold to them in vain. Zhang Zhimu said.

finally waited for Lu Bingyi and Li Yunhe to come back. Zhang Zhimu decided to set off for home as soon as possible.

Lu Chengxiang told those who could not get on the boat together this time that the Quanzhou branch would arrange food and accommodation for them. When the ship arrived in Zhenjiang, it immediately came back to pick them up.

When the boat left the Quanzhou wharf, Li Jing asked Zhang Zhimu: "Mr. Zhang, what does it mean that Fujian people call themselves the children of Fujian?" ”

"Huh! You're still very attentive. Fujian in the Yuan Dynasty divided into Fuzhou, Xinghua, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jianning, Yanping, Tingzhou, Shaowu eight roads, to our Ming Dynasty, changed to eight provinces, so there is the name of Fujian. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Mr. Zhang, I see that the one you eat is really that delicious?" Li Jing said. "How do I feel like it's about the same as a stewed bunny. If I didn't say it was a pangolin, I really thought it was a rabbit. ”

"Actually, I can't tell what's so special about that thing. This is why scarcity is expensive. Zhang Zhimu said, "But people's stews are well stewed." We Shanxi people still have to learn from others in terms of food. We invited a few Hokkien cooks back this time, and we can also eat Hokkien cuisine in Shanxi in the future. ”

Li Mao said beside him: "When you leave here, the Hokkien cuisine you eat is not the same in authenticity." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "I just don't know how the talents we recruit in Yangzhou are. ”

"I'm going back with a tailwind, and I think we'll know the outcome soon." Li Mao said: "I'm thinking, this business we did with Zheng Zhilong is a bit big, should we do it separately a few times?" ”

"Rest assured, they won't have a problem with this." Zhang Zhimu said, "I hope they can blatantly repay their debts." In that case, we can just destroy them. None of us are afraid to play hard now. ”

After Zhang Zhimu and their ship left Quanzhou Bay, they immediately pulled up the full sails, and the warship really sailed north with a tailwind. Come to the mouth of the Yangtze River and enter the Yangtze River against the current. At this time, the wind and waves were much lighter, and the people who had been stuffed in the cabin for a few days also came to the deck to see the scenery on both sides of the Yangtze River.

After entering the Yangtze River, after more than two days, the boat finally arrived in Zhenjiang. When the boat slowly stopped at the Zhenjiang wharf, the gangplank on the boat had just hit the wharf, and the people on the wharf ran up without waiting for the people on the boat to start getting off the boat. The person who came pushed everyone away and ran directly to Zhang Zhimu, who had just walked out of the cabin, and said, "Mr. Zhang, it's not good, something happened!" ”

Zhang Zhimu realized that something must have happened very seriously, and said, "Don't panic! Say it slowly. Tell me what's going on? ”

The person who came pulled Zhang Zhimu aside and said, "Xiao Hongyu and their troupe were kidnapped, Mr. Ouyang asked me to wait for you here." He said to see you and let you rush to Yangzhou as soon as possible. ”

Listening to the words of the visitor, Zhang Zhimu felt very guilty in his heart, why didn't he take some measures against Xiao Hongyu and them.

Zhang Zhimu immediately convened a brief meeting on the ship, and after telling everyone what had happened, he decided to leave for Yangzhou immediately. The speedboat of the Yangzhou branch was waiting in Zhenjiang, Zhang Zhimu and his main personnel all took the speedboat back to Yangzhou together, and the others rented a boat to go back.

Now Zhang Zhimu: They only roughly know that this is the case. Xiao Hongyu, like all the employees who returned to the south, went home after Zhang Zhimu and the others left Yangzhou. According to the agreed time, they also went back to Yangzhou on time to gather and prepare to go back to Yaogang together. Xiao Hongyu and the people in their troupe also went home separately. A few people who didn't have a home followed Liu and Xiao Hongyu back to Liu Banzhu's house. Liu, the class master, a total of six people, chartered a boat to go home. After returning home, they also chartered a boat to go back to Yangzhou, but on the way back, their boat was stopped by several large ships and the six of them were robbed together. Put it back to the boatman's house, and let him inform the Yangzhou branch to prepare a million taels of silver to ransom the person, otherwise he will come to collect the body. It is not known who kidnapped the person, nor is there any contact information.

After Ouyang He returned to Yangzhou, he couldn't think of any other way, so he decided to raise money as soon as possible, if he could redeem people with silver, the silver could be found again. Without people, things are not easy. Later, the kidnapper sent someone to contact him about the payment. Ouyang He told them that one million taels of silver was a large amount and would take time to raise it. But the opponent is also very cunning, saying that if he does not pay the money within five days, he will kill people and tear up the ticket. There are still two days to go in five days, and Ouyang He has already gathered the silver on Yangzhou, Huai'an, and Wuluo Island, and he is ready to hand over the silver if he has no choice.

On the ship, Li Mao said: "It would be best if I could pay the money to redeem the people." I'm afraid that if I pay the money, I will be in trouble if I can't come back. ”

"Let's do what they say." Zhang Zhimu said: "After the people come back, the matter is not difficult to solve. This million taels of silver is not something that ordinary people can ask for, nor can ordinary people transport it. ”

Li Jing said: "These people don't know what's wrong? Don't you know what we kiln gang people do? ”

Li Mao said: "The most afraid are those outlaws, they don't care who you are, as long as you can get the silver." They will definitely kill people, they don't necessarily have any background, and the bet is that things will not be exposed. ”

Li Jing suddenly said, "We should go back quietly." Those who dare to rob us like this will definitely have their eyes outside our Yangzhou branch. They shouldn't have been let know that we're all back. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Li Jing is right, we went ashore in front of Yangzhou Wharf. The speedboat also returned to Zhenjiang and informed the people there that after returning to Yangzhou, they would stay in an inn in Yangzhou City. Don't expose the news of our return just yet.

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Five-line scores, oscillating circuits, caesarean sections. Guo Shoujing made alloy cannons, and Guan Hanqing created "Journey to the West". --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".