Zheng Zhilong said the day before yesterday that he wanted a marquis for Zheng Zhibao, and today Emperor Longwu added the title of Zheng Zhibao Chengji Marquis, Zheng Cai as the Marquis of Yongsheng, Zheng Lian as Dingyuan Bo, Zheng Tai as Jianping Bo, Zheng Sen as the loyal and filial piety Bo, and the Zheng family was suddenly full of princes and was favored.

Zheng Zhibao won the reward, so it was not good to disobey the emperor's wishes, and he happily led his troops to Quanzhou, leaving the matter of dealing with Wang Yan behind, and then Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian also led their troops to Xianxia Pass to guard against the Qing army.

Within the imperial court, the power of the Zheng clan weakened, but Zheng Zhilong did not notice it, but thought that with the addition of officials to the Zheng family, especially Zheng Sen's control of the Imperial Forest Army, the power of the Zheng clan not only did not weaken, but greatly increased.

In the palace, Emperor Longwu was strolling in the imperial garden, Zheng Sen followed behind him with a sword in armor, he saw that the emperor's face was full of melancholy, and he said: "Your Majesty is worried about the Northern Expedition?" ”

When Emperor Longwu heard this, he stopped and sighed: "Today, the Jiangnan Righteous Army is swarming and waiting for the king, but I have done nothing in Fujing, and I feel very guilty in my heart!" Yesterday, I newly promoted the Jinyi Wei Qianhu Wang Zhilong reported that Kunshan County, Suzhou Prefecture was broken by the captives, Wang Zuocai, the general soldier of Wolf Mountain, was killed, and the county ordered Yang Yongyan to commit suicide by throwing himself into the water, and the number of victims reached tens of thousands, only Xunyang garrisoned Wu Yishan, only with hundreds of remnants broke through and went to Taihu Lake. If the Jiangnan volunteers do not get the support of the imperial court, they will inevitably not be able to hold on for a long time, how can I not be angry in my heart? ”

"Your Majesty!" After listening to the emperor's words, Zheng Sen couldn't help but bow: "Although the minister is not talented, he is willing to share his worries for His Majesty." The minister is willing to personally raise an army, go out of Xianxia Pass to rescue the Jiangnan volunteers, and recover the rivers and mountains for His Majesty! ”

"Success is a true and loyal person!" Emperor Longwu exclaimed, personally helped Zheng Sen up, and then sighed: "However, the ministers of the court and the central government are not as dedicated to the country as Qing!" Qing wants to raise the army and take prisoners, but the treasury is empty, there is no money and food support, but he can't drop the army! ”

When Zheng Sen heard this, he couldn't help frowning slightly, and after thinking about it in his heart, he seemed to have made up his mind, and saluted Longwu again: "Your Majesty, the matter of food and salary, the minister has a plan, maybe it can be solved." ”

"Oh?" When Emperor Longwu heard this, he couldn't help but smile and said, "What is Qing's plan?" Let's put it mildly. ”

"Your Majesty!" Zheng Sen replied: "Nowadays, there are many ships of trade on the sea, and the imperial court has not made a profit, if it can get this profit, it will enter at least one million every year!" ”

Emperor Longwu couldn't help but be shocked when he heard this, he and Wang Yan both knew that the interests of the sea were huge, but they didn't expect it to come to such a point, you must know that during the Chongzhen period, the annual income was only more than 10 million taels, and the sea tax in Fujian alone could collect millions of dollars, and Longwu believed that Zheng Chenggong would take into account the interests of the Zheng family to some extent, so the real income would only be more than this.

"Is what Qing said true?" Long Wu was first surprised, and then pretended to sigh: "Alas! Even if what the Qing family said was true, the Pingguo Gong said that there was chaos on the sea, and the imperial court sailors were weak, but they could not control the sea area, so it was naturally difficult to collect taxes and silver. ”

"Your Majesty!" Zheng Sen said: "The matter of sea tax, but my father can do it for me, and the minister is willing to persuade my father to let him share the worries of the court!" ”

"Pingguo Gong has been running Fujian for many years, his prestige is high, and he has thousands of sea ships under his hands, if he can really help the court, then great things can be done!" Emperor Longwu nodded and said, "I will raise this matter tomorrow morning, and when the time comes, I must support my decision!" ”

"I am willing to serve Your Majesty!" Zheng Sen saluted.

"Haha~" Emperor Longwu smiled when he saw this: "I talked to Qing today, listened to Qing's advice, and the depression in my heart was resolved, Qing is really my good minister!" ”

At that moment, Emperor Longwu and Zheng Sen walked in the imperial garden for a while, and then asked Zheng Sen to inspect the palace, while he returned to the study to deal with government affairs.

Not long after Emperor Longwu returned to the study, a brocade-clothed guard entered the study under the guidance of the chamberlain.

The person who came was Wang Zhilong, he traveled thousands of miles with Liu Shun, and after escaping to Fujing, Wang Yan recommended him to Emperor Longwu, and the emperor felt his loyalty, felt his martyrdom, and crowned him as a thousand households in Jinyi, and regarded him as a confidant.

"Your Majesty!" Wang Zhilong walked in front of the emperor and bowed.

"The Qing family is flat!" When Emperor Longwu heard this, he raised his hand with a smile, and then put the letter written on the imperial case into an envelope, handed it to Wang Zhilong, and said: "The Qing family will go out of the city immediately and hand over this letter to the Marquis of Zhongyong, don't let him know, understand?" ”

"The minister knows!" Wang Zhilong took the letter and saluted again: "The minister will not live up to His Majesty's trust!" ”

"Hmm." Long Wu nodded and said, "Go ahead and do it!" ”

At that moment, Wang Zhilong took a few steps back, then turned around and walked out of the study, running to the place where Wang Yan was stationed outside the city.

The next morning, the hundred officials will meet.

Zheng Zhilong stood at the head of the generals, Zuo Maodi stood at the head of the civil officials, Emperor Longwu sat on the top of the big treasure, and the attendants on the side sang loudly: "If there is something to play, there is nothing to retreat!" ”

"The minister has a book!" University scholar Huang Daozhou took out a newspaper from his sleeve, and saluted: "Jin Sheng, the squire of the military department and the imperial envoy of the right capital of the Imperial Court of the Imperial Palace, has recovered the Huizhou Mansion, and is now fighting fiercely with the captives in Congshan Pass, although he has repelled the captives several times, but he has neither elite soldiers nor food and grass, all relying on the blood of thousands of volunteers, he can barely keep Congshan Pass. ”

"The minister has a book!" Su Guansheng, a university scholar, said: "Jiangxi Governor Li Yongmao and Wuyingdian University scholar Yang Tinglin, and the Qing general Jin Shengheng fought fiercely in Ji'an, and the soldiers could not continue, so they asked the court for support!" ”

"The minister has a book! Kunshan and Jiaxing have been broken by the captives, and the righteous people have been slaughtered countless times. Huang Mingjun also came out.

In a year, three scholars came out to report on the report, and what they said was either to ask for soldiers, but also to ask for money, which made Zheng Zhilong, who was in the first place in the military generals, suddenly feel a little bad in his heart.

"The three Aiqing are all urgent. Huizhou and Jiangnan Yishi are related to whether our dynasty can recover the southern capital, and the land of southern Jiangxi is the barrier of Fujian, and there must be no loss! Emperor Longwu said solemnly: "I have decided to allow the three Qing families to play, send troops out of Xianxia Pass, and march into Jiangnan!" Ladies and gentlemen! Who dares to be a pioneer? Help me recover thousands of miles of rivers and mountains! ”

"Zhu Chenggong, the left governor of the Imperial Forest Army, is willing to lead the athletes under his command to serve His Majesty, be loyal to the imperial court, and send troops to the Northern Expedition!" When Zheng Sen heard the emperor's words, he went out to worship and said.

When Zheng Zhilong heard this, his face couldn't help but change greatly, he asked Zheng Sen to select five thousand elites from Zheng's private soldiers, which was used to control the emperor, but not to let him go north to fight the Qing army.

For a while, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be angry, glaring at Zheng Sen, he was about to speak out against it, but his heart was suddenly shocked, at this time he looked around the court, but suddenly found that most of the people of the Zheng family were not listed, and most of the Wenchen were the first party of Zuomao, and among the generals, the Zheng family, which originally had an absolute advantage, was unable to suppress Wang Yan because Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Cai, Zheng Lian and others led the troops out of Fujing successively, plus the rebel Zheng Sen, Zheng Zhilong has fallen behind.