When the imperial court disturbed the heroes and heroes who were unwilling to live a mediocre life with a list of knighthoods and rewards, the fleet led by Zheng Zhilong, the chief of the Ming Navy, also quietly berthed into the port of Shanghai.

As the first person in the Ming Navy, Zheng Zhilong took a fleet south to inspect the Ming Sea Frontier soon after taking office, and only returned to the country today, which lasted more than a year, and it can be said that the work was not active enough.

For Zheng Zhilong, who has been entrenched in his hometown in Taiwan and Fujian for more than ten years, this long sea voyage also made him feel a little tired. Zheng Zhilong actually understood in his heart that it was the long rich life after Zhao'an that made him too lazy, which made him a little unbearable and difficult to endure the silence of the sea but needed to take risks from time to time.

However, with the satisfaction of just becoming the commander-in-chief of the navy, he still personally participated in this voyage to the south. Because he knew that this trip to the south was not only to ensure the safety of Daming's overseas grain transportation routes, but also a move by him to assert his power on the territory of the navy.

It is also strange to say that when Zheng Zhilong was a local military leader, what he hated most was that the Navy Staff Headquarters always issued some policies from time to time, wanting to take away such and such power from him. However, after he became the chief of the navy, he immediately felt that the power of the local military leaders was a little excessive, and in this way, he basically had nothing to manage except for the Bohai Fleet and the Taiwan Strait Patrol Office.

After witnessing the arrogance of his former pirate colleagues in the local area, Zheng Zhilong finally made up his mind to report to the emperor and reduce the mountain power in the navy. This is not only to make him, the chief of the navy, worthy of his name, but also to lay a solid foundation for the development of the Zheng family in the navy.

Zheng Zhilong's family is also a rare Ding Xingwang family in this era, Zheng Zhilong himself has seven sons in addition to Zhihu, Zhibao, Zhifeng and other brothers, Zheng Cai, Zheng Lian and other brothers. Except for a few sons who are still young, other relatives and brothers have a lot of power in the navy, especially Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Cai, the former has a title no less than him, and the latter is deeply trusted by Chongzhen, which can be said to occupy half of today's Ming Navy.

Of course, with the expansion of the Zheng family's power in the navy, it also brought some sequelae, that is, the relatives who originally revolved around Zheng Zhilong as the center, and now many people have turned to Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Cai, and even Zheng Zhihu's other younger brother, Zheng Zhifeng, is also actively moving closer to the imperial court.

As Zheng Zhifeng, who was the first batch of Zheng Zhifeng who was ordered by the emperor to be recruited to study at the Naval Military Academy, stayed in the Navy Staff Headquarters after graduating from the Military Academy. After hearing the news that Zheng Zhilong was going to take over as the chief of the navy, he changed his name to Zheng Hongkui, the reason was to avoid outsiders being afraid of the Zheng family's excessive power in the navy, so he changed his name to reduce unnecessary associations among outsiders.

Although Zheng Zhilong sometimes feels annoyed by these separatist tendencies revealed in his kinship, it will not become a major problem for him, after all, this sequelae of the sequelae of the Zheng family's rise of power in the navy, not an internal strife for the power in his hands, so he can still accept this change.

And with the outward expansion of the power of these Zheng clansmen, Zheng Zhilong's sons have also been relieved of a lot of competitive pressure from within the clan. Although Zheng Zhilong has seven sons, the eldest son Zheng Sen is only 18 years old this year, and his brothers are all in the prime of life.

As for now, these brothers have become a good help for his son Zheng Sen's future development in the navy. As long as he can take out those local hills in the navy, especially the fellow pirates who have been recruited with him in the past. Zheng Zhilong felt that the eldest son, who was about to graduate from the Naval Officers Academy, was still very likely to take over as his chief in the future, and as long as the Zheng family could take root in the navy, they might not be able to become a wealthy eunuch family on a par with the old nobles.

Even Zheng Zhilong himself is not without pursuits. Despite the fact that he now has power and wealth, he still longs for a reputation to clear his history as a young thief at sea. The greatest extravagant hope hidden in his heart was germinated when he accompanied the emperor to inspect the army and navy military academies when he first entered Beijing and took up the post of chief of the navy.

As the founders of the Army and Navy Military Academies, the first principals all had portraits and bronze heads set up in the school's memorial hall, but Sun Chengzong, as a field marshal, also had a special treatment, that is, a bust was established on the campus for the students to remember.

Zheng Zhilong felt that the rules of the Army Military Academy were good, and he also wanted to get a bust for himself to set up in the Naval Military Academy. However, after a little probing, he learned that in order to obtain such an honor, he must at least obtain the title of marshal of the navy. And if you want to get the title of Admiral, in addition to the trust of the Emperor, you have a special contribution to the Navy.

Therefore, whether it is for the future of the Zheng family or for personal desires, Zheng Zhilong has made up his mind to teach a lesson to those unruly people in the navy, even if it will affect the interests of his family.

The fleet led by Zheng Zhilong returned from its southern tour, in addition to carrying a lot of Nanyang specialties and grains, it also brought back several overseas kings who wanted to meet the emperor, as well as a special passenger, the father of the current British Duke of the Ming Dynasty, the Malay Governor Zhang Zhiji.

Although the British princess, who had been stripped of his British succession by the emperor and rushed overseas, was later forgiven by the emperor to re-establish the Malay governor to administer the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo, he was not allowed to return to the emperor.

The reason why he appeared on Zheng Zhilong's ship this time was because he was unwell and it was difficult for him to continue living in Nanyang, so he returned with the fleet.

However, even people like Zheng Zhilong, who do not practice medicine, can see that Zhang Zhiji's body should be difficult to recover. And for the vacancy of the Malay governor left by Zhang Zhiji, it is really exciting.

As the top nobles of the Ming Dynasty, the power of the Malay governor is still not very regarded by the British government, but the huge benefits brought by this position every year are difficult for even the British government to give up.

However, it was also quite difficult for the British government to continue to occupy the position of Malay governor. After all, a weighty and capable British princess like Zhang Zhiji came overseas out of complete accident. After Zhang Zhiji returned to China to recuperate, the British government should not be able to send such a weighty figure to sit overseas.

So naturally, the British government joined forces with the Zheng family. Teo promised to let Cheng Cai, the Governor of Malacca, who was temporarily acting as his deputy, take his place, while Cheng Zhilong assured that the interests of the British government in the South Seas would not be affected in any way. In addition to expanding their interests in Nanyang, the Zheng family can also be regarded as receiving an Austrian aid in the DPRK.

Zheng Zhilong still felt comfortable for such a good start, so after sending Zhang Zhiji on the train to Nanjing, he quickly took a third of the fleet ships to the north, wanting to rush back to Beijing as soon as possible to surrender to the emperor. Of course, when the ship sailed out of the mouth of the Yangtze River and turned to the north, standing on the deck, he couldn't help but look at the boundless sea in the south, and was a little worried that his eldest son, who had followed the Ming mission to visit the Mughal Dynasty, would be able to complete his first voyage safely.

Zheng Sen, a midshipman officer of the Navy who was being worried about Zheng Zhilong, was on duty as a duty officer of the trainee ship Mingwu at this time, commanding the sailors on board to steer the ship, slowly leaving the port dock of Malacca City, and joining the fleet visiting the Mughal Dynasty.

He always felt that once he left the city of Malacca and crossed the strait into the Indian Ocean, it was as if he had really left his homeland, which made him feel a little reluctant in his heart. To a certain extent, the eldest son of the Ming pirate king lacks a natural optimistic spirit, but there are some Japanese who have a sad personality and a sense of homeland that the mainland people have.

Therefore, he could not hear that there was a mission to go overseas like his uncle, and immediately jumped to the try, trying to find some unknown satisfaction. For Zheng Sen, going to an unfamiliar place always makes him a little nervous, and it also makes him miss his family more and more.

Although the Ming Dynasty has established a lot of colonies in the Indian Ocean region, for Zheng Sen, being away from the last place where his relatives live, Malacca City, is really leaving his familiar homeland.

Compared to the turbid yellow waters off the coast of China, the waters of the South Sea-Malacca Sea have a thrilling clear blue, and it is sometimes really difficult to tell whether the ship is sailing on the surface or flying in the sky.

Such a beautiful scenery is always a scenery that cannot be seen enough for the members of the Ming mission who go to sea for the first time. It's just that the sea is not always quiet and soft, and when the wind and waves come, the unpredictable and violent side of the ocean is revealed.

For Zheng Sen, who has been living by the sea since he was a child, he has become accustomed to the unpredictable and changeable character of the sea. But for some people who grew up in the mainland, this character of the sea is inevitably a little too unpleasant. For example, an army officer cadet from Shaanxi Tubaozi compared the sea to a half-old who was abandoned by her husband, so her personality became so distorted.

This disrespect for the sea is an unpleasant joke for sailors and naval cadets who generally worship Mazu. Therefore, there were several small clashes between the two sides, and although the army cadets had the upper hand on land, they suffered a lot of losses on the ship, but this conflict was still maintained on the basis of fist fighting, so the contradictions between the two sides were only maintained to the level of mutual disgust.

In the midst of such small group conflicts, small group leaders soon emerged. The leader of the naval cadets is naturally Zheng Sen, who has a good family background, and on the army side, Li Dingguo, who is slightly older than Zheng Sen. Compared with Li Dingguo, who struggled out of the pile of dead people since he was a child, Zheng Sen's courage in the fight is still a little insufficient, so although the two cannot be said to be incompatible, there is also a faint feeling of incompatibility.

When Zheng Sen's gaze shifted from the dock in the distance to Li Dingguo and the others standing on the other side of the deck, the little homesickness that had just germinated in his heart suddenly came to naught, and he turned his head to the sailors beside him with a straight face and ordered firmly: "Raise the sail of the mainmast, half the height..."