Yang Chao followed Zheng Zhilong to make some money in the past few years, and returned to his hometown in Nan'an to build a large number of projects and become a squire.

At this time, because Li Chengdong was anyway, Zheng Chenggong was forced to retreat to Kinmen and Xiamen, and finally had no choice but to retreat to Taiwan. At this time, Taiwan was not as densely populated as described in the Lu Ding Ji, and the real development of Taiwan was at the end of the Qing Dynasty. During this period, in addition to the population of more than 10,000 people in Tainan, the whole island was native.

Zheng Chenggong had no choice but to retreat to Taiwan, and hundreds of thousands of people under his command still had to eat, so Zheng Chenggong sent people back to his hometown to find his father's old brother to help, including Yang Chao.

Zheng Chenggong is very simple to find them, that is, they need food and materials, or they don't have to wait for a counteroffensive * to the mainland, and they will starve to death directly in Taiwan.

Yang Chao originally thought that Zheng Zhilong's team would disperse after he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, but he didn't expect that Zheng Damu still had the courage to incorporate the rest of Zheng Zhilong's army, and also drove away the Dutch in Taiwan and occupied Taiwan.

Yang Chao didn't want to have anything to do with Zheng Chenggong, after all, Yang Chao was in his forties, and his years of life at sea had caused great damage to his body, and he was ready to retire at home. But the old brothers were all about to starve to death, no matter how they really didn't want to go, Yang Chao had no choice but to take risks again and began to smuggle grain, salt and other materials to Kinmen and Xiamen.

In the first few years, because Zhu Hongsan also wanted Zheng Chenggong to fight against the Qing Dynasty together, the inspection was not strict. However, with the defeat of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the occupation of the whole country by Zhu Hongsan, the management of smuggling ships along the coast of Fujian became more and more intensive. Yang Chao also knew that Zheng Chenggong's failure was the trend of the times, but he had already been swept up here, and it would be difficult to get out again.

Today, Yang Chao is sitting at home in Quanzhou City, and the family outside the door has come to report, and the prefect Xin is invited!

Yang Chao sighed in his heart when he heard this, two years ago, the imperial court stepped up its efforts to investigate smuggling, and this old man Xin asked for money more and more ruthlessly.

But no matter how powerful the Yang Dynasty is, it can't fight the government, not to mention that the Yang Dynasty doesn't have the heart to compete in the angry sea now, and there are a lot of wives, concubines, sons and daughters in the family, and they are reluctant to run.

Yang Chao had no choice but to notify the account office, took out a 5,000 silver dollar bill, and went out to the prefect's yamen.

Entering the yamen of Quanzhou Mansion, Yang Chao learned that the prefect was waiting for him in the study of the back house. Yang Chao was stunned when he heard it, Yang Chao himself was a pirate, and the prefect was the master of Jinshi, although he gave the prefect a lot of money, but the prefect Xin still looked down on Yang Chao in his heart. In the past, when I came to give gifts, I sat in the second hall of the Yamen, and I didn't even have a cup of tea, but today I don't know what happened to let me go to the backyard study?

You must know that those intellectuals pay attention to the promotion of the temple and worship the mother, that is, let you enter the back house and introduce your wife and children to you, which can only be done by the world, and the Yang Dynasty was made a little confused by the prefect.

Yang Chao was led to the study in the backyard by the family, and the prefect Xin Zixiu wore civilian clothes and was sitting in the study waiting.

Xin Zixiu saw Yang Chao coming, and quickly stood up and came to the door to greet him: "Brother Yang, please come in!" Come on, serve tea, and use this year's new Da Hong Pao! ”

Yang Chao was really flattered to hear Xin Zixiu say this, he used to be tea foam when he came, but he didn't expect to be in a big red robe today.

Yang Chao didn't dare to have any excessive thoughts, although Xin Zixiu was so good to him, but there must be etiquette.

Yang Chao knelt down on his knees and said, "Grass people Yang Chao to meet his old parents!" ”

"Hurry up, Brother Yang is a gentry from Quanzhou, please hurry up!" Xin Zixiu hurriedly helped Yang Chao up with both hands.

Yang Chao himself knew that although he wore the hat of a gentry, this identity was completely bought with money, and as for learning, it was even more like a rolling pin blowing fire, and he didn't know anything.

After Yang Chao got up, he took out the silver dollar bill in his arms, put it in front of Xin Zixiu and said, "Old parents, this is a little heart, not a respect!" ”

Xin Zixiu smiled and waved his hand to ask his family to take down the silver ticket. Xin Zixiu is from the prefect of the fourth grade, and his annual income is full of 3,200 silver dollars, although he doesn't think much of these 5,000 silver dollars, but who can be afraid of money!

"Brother Yang, you don't have to spend so much money in the future! I guess your work is coming to an end! ”

Yang Chao was taken aback when he heard Xin Zixiu say this, he thought that the imperial court would intensify its inspection of smuggling, and that Taiwan, Kinmen, and Xiamen had a population of more than 300,000 people, and all grain depended on the mainland, and if they really couldn't transport grain, then all these people would starve to death.

Yang Chao was anxious, and quickly stood up and asked, "Old parents, is the imperial court going to ban the sea?" ”

Xin Zixiu saw Yang Chao's appearance and smiled: "Brother Yang, it's not like this. In November last year, Gui Yi Zhu Youlang, who was entrenched in Yunnan, was captured alive, and hundreds of thousands of his soldiers either died or surrendered. This is secondly, the most important thing is that Zhu Youlang wrote to His Majesty the Emperor claiming that he was not right, and admitted that His Majesty the Emperor was the orthodox Ming Dynasty. Isn't Taiwan's Zheng Chenggong based on Gui Rebellion? Now that his masters have surrendered, he is also about to come! ”

Yang Chao was relieved when he heard Xin Zixiu say this, but immediately his heart was raised again, Zhu Youlang is finished, so is it Taiwan's turn next?

Yang Chao cautiously asked: "Old parents, since Gui is finished, is the imperial court going to use troops against Taiwan?" ”

Xin Zixiu said with a smile: "Brother Yang is right, no matter which emperor must not allow a place outside the law. However, Brother Yang rest assured, His Majesty the Shenwu Emperor has clear rewards and punishments, the king of Yanping County had the merit of breaking the enemy in Nanjing, and for the great cause of the family and country, he was able to draw a clear line with Zheng Zhilong in time, these emperors and their Majesty knew that, because of this, His Majesty the Emperor wanted to peacefully solve the Taiwan issue, which would bother Brother Yang! ”

Yang Chao breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Xin Zixiu say this, and then patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, my lord, the grass people have some relationship with Taiwan, if there is anything that needs to be done by the grass people, please arrange it!" "This is the true words of the Yang Dynasty, in the past few years, Fujian has been peaceful, and the Yang Dynasty still has silver in his hands, and it has been a few years of comfortable life, and the Yang Dynasty does not want to go back to the days of licking blood on the knife edge in the past.

Xin Zixiu laughed when he heard Yang Chao say this: "This is going to trouble Brother Yang, here is a letter, written by the official himself, please Brother Yang find an opportunity to send it over!" Brother Yang rest assured, as long as the matter is done, according to Brother Yang's merits, he will definitely be able to seal an official position, and then the old man will call Brother Yang a colleague! ”

Yang Chao was fluttering by Xin Zixiu's compliments, and this official position was absolutely attractive to him. At that time, Zheng Zhilong crisscrossed the seven seas, with more than 30,000 soldiers and thousands of warships. This kind of strength When the imperial court gave him a position as a five-rank guerrilla general, Zheng Zhilong went to Quanzhou to report. Now Yang Chao is going to give himself an official, which is a great thing for the glory of the ancestors.

Yang Chao knelt on the ground excitedly and said, "Please rest assured, the grass people will definitely deliver the letter and persuade Zheng Chenggong to come and surrender!" ”

Yang Chao said excitedly, but Xin Zixiu didn't take it to heart, he is a mature bureaucrat, and he naturally understands that this kind of recruitment is something that can be done with a letter. However, seeing that Yang Chao's enthusiasm was so high, Xin Zixiu couldn't beat him, so he had to help him up and use words to motivate him.

"Okay, Brother Yang, this is a letter, take it with you! This official is here to wait for your good news! ”

Yang Chao took the letter from the prefect, went out with great interest, returned to his home and immediately arranged a boat, ready to go to Xiamen.

Although Zheng Chenggong went to Taiwan, most of his strength stayed in Kinmen Xiamen Island, which is located by the sea and has great wind and sand, especially Kinmen Island, facing the Taiwan Strait, where the cold sea breeze constantly stirs up sand and dust to advance to the mainland, constantly swallowing up fertile land. Therefore, the fields on Kinmen Island have a large sediment content, and the harvest of rice cultivation is not high, and since the introduction of sweet potatoes, the islanders have planted sweet potatoes for food, and the food shortage has eased slightly. As for Xiamen Island, although rice can be grown, due to the limited supply of fresh water, most of the islanders rely on fishing for their livelihood.

Xiamen Bay between Kinmen and Xiamen is an excellent seaport. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court built a military fortress on Xiamen Island and stationed it in the center of Yongningwei.

The rise of Xiamen Port in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties was actually the inevitable result of the development of Yuegang and Anping Port. Xiamen is located at the junction of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, close to Anping Port and Yuegang, and the port conditions are far better than the above two ports. Therefore, the development of Yuegang and Anping Port will inevitably lead to the rise of Xiamen Port.

The replacement of Xiamen Port by Yuegang was at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Moon Harbor was first known as a smuggling port, but it actually had poor navigation conditions. In the late Ming Dynasty, due to the siltation of the port brought by the Jiulong River, large ships could not enter the port directly, so they could only moor at the periphery of the port and use small boats to transport goods into the port.

In addition to the port, the cities around Xiamen Bay in the Ming Dynasty include Quanzhou Fucheng, Zhangzhou Fucheng and Tong'an City, all of which are large-scale cities with large populations, and it can also be said that Anping Port, Yuegang and Xiamen Port are all serving these three cities. At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the coastal cities of Fujian were damaged by the war, and the city of Quanzhou was under the control of the Qing army, and was attacked by Zheng Chenggong's army many times, and Zhangzhou Mansion was besieged by Zheng Chenggong's army, and the death toll was said to be more than 100,000. As for Tong'an, the Qing army slaughtered the city, and more than 50,000 people died.

In the tug-of-war that lasted for many years, all the city residents were looking for a paradise that could protect their lives, at this time, Xiamen Island was under the long-term control of Zheng Chenggong, and it was difficult for the Qing army to come here, so Xiamen City became a place of refuge for coastal residents, and tens of thousands of people flocked to Xiamen, making Xiamen grow from a town to an important city.

Now there are tens of thousands of people on Xiamen Island, plus more than 100,000 soldiers, merchants, and craftsmen. There is also Kinmen Island, where Zheng Chenggong's army is also tens of thousands. But now these people do not listen to Zheng Chenggong's command, and the guards stationed here are Zheng Chenggong's brother Zheng Lian, and Zhu Youlang's own Dingyuan uncle.

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