Spring is getting stronger, and the pedestrians on the road gradually fade off the layers of jackets and take to the streets.

The scenery by the river is beautiful, and the slightly cool wind blows on the face in early spring, blowing people's impetuous hearts to be calm and sober.

Passers-by walk slowly, enjoying a comfortable and prosperous life.

Jinling is a city in peacetime, and only in the prosperous era can it reflect its unique charm. The prosperity of maritime merchants has many more ways to make money out of thin air, as long as people who are not too lazy can find some ways to make money.

A group of burly blonde and blue-eyed fans, dressed in standard Hanfu, landed from Longtan Port. There were dozens of people in the group, the one in front was the authentic Fanren, and the one behind was many dark-skinned and short Nanyang natives. Although there were many of them, they could only walk behind with their heads bowed, carrying heavy gifts on their bodies.

These people are dressed decently, but when worn by a group of fans, they always look nondescript. The surrounding pedestrians looked sideways, and some pointed and pointed. One of them had a slight anger on his face, and cursed in a low voice: "These Ming people are really uneducated, and they always boast of being a country of etiquette, if this was in the Netherlands, I would have gone up and beaten them a long time ago." ”

The people in front of him turned around and said angrily: "Owat, you give me honesty, we are here to negotiate with them this time, these people forced Zheng Yiguan to the sea and grabbed territory with us in the Nanyang area." If we can't recapture Penghu and Dongfan Island, we will definitely be judged by the East India Company. ”

"Caron, I still have a headache when I hear the name Zheng Yiguan now, this person is simply too difficult, I really don't know how Da Ming defeated him."

After a while, a Ming official greeted him, and the whole person looked lazy, and he didn't pay attention to these people at all.

Originally, the Ming Dynasty prided itself on being a state of etiquette, and it was very grand to treat the envoys of the barbarian lands who came to pay tribute for various reasons. After arriving in the capital, there will be a "post courtesy" by the prefect of Tianfu, the next day by the Ministry of Rites Shangshu in the hall to entertain them, the third day by the Zhongshu Province to send officials to set up a banquet to comfort them, and then to the Tianjie Temple to learn etiquette for three days, such as how to bow, how to address the emperor, etc. But this group of Dutch red-haired fans should be unlucky, and they met this waiter of the Ministry of Rites, who is an old man named Qin Muyun who has made military achievements in the army, and the battle of Changsha This kid shot Luck Dehun with an arrow, and avenged the blood of hundreds of thousands of people in Chuzhou. Later, during the pursuit, he fell from his horse and couldn't pull the big bow with his arm, so Hou Xuanyan directly arranged him into the imperial court and became a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Rites.

Qin Muyun has been in the Northern Expeditionary Army for a long time, and he was still born in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and has always been above the top. Where is he willing to put this group of fans in his eyes, he reluctantly came to Longtan Port, and saw this group of nondescript fans at a glance.

The official of the Ministry of Rites stepped forward, stopped a few people and asked, "Are you Dutchmen who came with the watch?" ”

The people didn't use Chinese, but they brought a few interpreters, and they stammered to translate the question.

As the Dutch governor of Dongfan, Caron was like a local emperor, when was he questioned like this by the soldiers. He was unhappy, but when he thought of the purpose of this trip, he still held back his anger and said, "Tell them that I want to see the emperor of the Ming Dynasty tonight." ”

At this time, Qin Muyun walked over leisurely, looked at a few fans and couldn't hold back, and burst out laughing: "What is this, it looks too casual." ”

Several officials of the Ministry of Rites had ugly faces, but they knew that the backstage of this Lord Squire was very hard, and he was born in the descendant of the Duke of Yueguo, although the officials of the Ministry of Rites felt that it was inappropriate, but no one was willing to offend their top bosses for these people.

"Since you are here, you are finally a little filial and know that the tributary kingdom is superior. So be it.. Hey, who's that, that's you, you go find a place to arrange for them to stay overnight. Guogong told me to take them directly to Guogong's house. ”

Fortunately, it was the Dutch who came, and the Dutch have always been pragmatic, as long as they can get benefits, they are willing to even kneel and knock nine times. This is the arrogant Franco, and it is estimated that he has already fought with the people of the Ministry of Rites in Longtan Port.

Caron's follower, Qin Muyun, boarded a carriage, Qin Muyun disliked the smell on their bodies, and rode to the Guogong Mansion alone.

When they arrived at the Guogong Mansion, to their surprise, the most powerful person in this huge empire, the Duke of Yue, Xuan Yan, was quite polite to them.

Hou Xuanyan is not a blind xenophobia, and he does not sincerely discriminate against Fanren, and both sides now have common enemies. Although the Zheng family made peace with the imperial court, everyone knew that this was only an expedient measure. The hatred between the two sides is deep-rooted, and Zheng Zhilong hates Hou Xuanyan for seizing his lair and occupying Fuzhou. And Zheng Zhilong took advantage of the fire to rob and stir up wind and rain in the southwest, especially the closure of the sea for half a year, which made the imperial court's finances empty, and the first Northern Expedition had to be abandoned. This matter has exceeded Hou Xuanyan's bottom line, and Zheng Zhilong has long been a mortal person in his heart.

"Caron, you have occupied Dongfan Island, and you should have sent troops to fight against it. But we, the heavenly kingdoms, have compassion for you, and we are very sorry that you have left your land at sea. Besides, Dongfan Island is a place outside the world, so take it and take it. As long as the people of the island are treated well, our court can not be held accountable. Hou Xuanyan was not ashamed to speak, and he said this as if he was sincere, and he couldn't see hypocrisy at all.

Caron was overjoyed, and secretly scolded these Ming officials for being pedantic and arrogant. Dongfan Island is such a good place, it is the only way for merchant ships to pass through, and they even said that if they don't want it, they don't want it. With respect on his face, he said, "Your Excellency Lord Duke, your magnanimity and compassion will move even the gods of heaven, and this is a small gift that we have brought to us, and I hope you will be able to accept it with a smile." After saying that, he clapped his hands, and a group of thin slaves like Nanyang monkeys came in, carrying boxes of spices and jewelry.

Hou Xuanyan didn't even look at it, and waved his hand to signal the soldiers to carry it to the treasury. Caron secretly rejoiced, it seems that this duke is not only an arrogant man, but also very greedy, as long as he is greedy, he can use it for himself.

Seeing that the gift was carried away, Caron hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and said: "Lord Duke, Zheng Yiguan of your country was originally a barbaric and cruel pirate, I don't know why he surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and now he is constantly invading Dongfan Island. We pray that you will order him to stop his criminal acts and stop his invasion of Dongfan. ”

Hou Xuanyan frowned slightly and said: "Although that Zheng Yiguan is our Ming person, he has always been unruly, and he and I just fought in Fujian. Our troops have reached 300,000, and although I have defeated him, I cannot help him. ”

Caron stood up excitedly and argued, "Lord Duke, I have already inquired clearly, as long as you give an order, his six territories in Fujian will be completely destroyed. When the time comes, he will lose his land roots and will not be our opponent at sea, and I think we can unite and punish this greedy pirate together. ”

After listening to the translator's words, Hou Xuanyan suddenly chuckled and said, "Governor Karon, you are speaking lightly, a group of savages are invading my country in the north, and if I start a war in the south, they will take the opportunity to attack me. When the time comes, I will be attacked on my back, and if I fail, I will be a sinner for the ages. You and I can't afford this crime, and you can't afford to pay for the whole of the Netherlands, you understand? ”

Hou Xuanyan has the intention to cooperate with the Dutch, but he knows that these people are also a group of black-hearted capitalists who eat people and do not spit out bones, if they talk about viciousness, they are even more fierce and brutal than the Manchu Qing, and the reason why they are willing to talk to themselves so respectfully is that they are not strong enough to use force against Daming.

When Caron saw him, he seemed to be really angry, and although he was aggrieved in his heart, he didn't dare to say it again, after all, Dongfan Island was too important to them. Now in the entire East, the only person who can deal with the hateful Zheng Yiguan is the person in front of him. The East India Company had about 35 bases in Asia, and Japan ranked first with 40 percent profits. Dongfan Island (i.e., Taiwan) ranked second with a profit of 25 percent. The Dutch fortune was shipped back from Taiwan every year, worth 400,000 dong, equivalent to four tons of gold, and a Dutch governor at the time said: "Taiwan is a good cow for the company." “

Caron didn't want to lose the cow, let alone let Zheng Yiguan come to drink the milk, and he said in an almost pleading tone: "We still hope that you can consider that this pirate is our common enemy, and we will definitely not be able to defeat him ourselves." ”

Hou Xuanyan took a sip of tea and said, "Of course I will think carefully, the crusade against Zheng Zhilong is not a trivial matter, I just signed an armistice agreement with him." We Han people are the most credibility, especially me, and my motto is an old saying of the Han people, 'people cannot stand without trust'. Of course, if our sailor can fight with Zheng Zhilong's sailor, I am willing to help you, but I don't know if you are willing to help me and build my sailor? ”

Of course Caron didn't want to, and the happiest thing for them was that this huge empire had not paid much attention to its sailors. Despite this, they did not taste the sweetness of the Great Ming Sailors, and the dilapidated Masters of the Great Ming Sailors had defeated them and the Franciscans more than once. If this empire had a powerful navy, coupled with their population and strength, it was hard to imagine who could match them.

Hou Xuanyan saw his dodgy eyes, and said angrily: "You don't help you with such a request, and what do you say to attack Zheng Zhilong together, I think I should negotiate with him thoroughly, let him be the marshal of our Ming Dynasty's sailors, and sweep away the entire coast." ”

Caron sighed, "What do you want us to do?" ”

Hou Xuanyan was overjoyed in his heart, but said casually: "Send someone to me to help me build ships and artillery." ”