Listening to Zilharang's words, Huang Taiji couldn't help but shake his head. However, Mr. Fan didn't seem to hear it, and continued to introduce the situation: "Now Wu Sangui's army of about 30,000 people is confronting the thieves in Tongguan. I heard that Wu Sangui pursued the army before, but he won several battles, but now that the thieves are defending according to the danger, Wu Sangui can't beat it for a while, and I heard that he is waiting for the rear army to come over with Hongyi cannons. ”

"Then where is Li Zicheng?" Huang Taiji asked.

"Your Majesty, the slave heard that Li Zicheng is leading the army to attack Zuo Liangyu in Wuchang." Mr. Fan replied.

"Is there any news from the Zheng family?" Huang Taiji asked again.

Since the strength of the Zheng family, especially the exemplary army's attack on Jinzhou and the defeat of the two white flags in a frontal battle, the collection of relevant information about the Zheng family has become the most important task of our intelligence system in the Qing Dynasty. Some businessmen who had business dealings with the Manchus had always been tasked with collecting intelligence for the Manchus.

"Your Majesty." Mr. Fan said, "Recently, Zheng Zhilong's eldest son, Zheng Sen, entered the Yangtze River with an army of more than 20,000 people, and it is said that he is going to crusade against Li Zicheng. But in fact, it was because Zuo Liangyu couldn't resist the thieves under the pretext that he wanted to lead the army to retreat east. Speaking of this, Mr. Fan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, although Zuo Liangyu is a famous official and soldier, he is actually no different from a rogue. He wants to go east, just to go to Jiangnan to grab a handful. How dare the gentry in Jiangnan let someone like Zuo Liangyu enter Jiangnan? The servants heard that some of them said that they would rather let Li Zicheng come to Jiangnan than let Zuo Liangyu in......"

Hearing this, Huang Taiji couldn't help but smile slightly: "Thieves come like combs, and soldiers come like grates." ”

"That's what the emperor said!" Mr. Fan hugged his fists and said, "The Zheng family's wealth comes from sea trade. And the sea trade is to exchange silk, porcelain and tea with the Taixi people for silver. Now the Ming Kingdom says that it is a sea ban, but in fact, it is just that it does not collect taxes on sea trade, but this tax money is actually still there. Anyone who runs a maritime trade at sea must join the so-called 'Maritime Affairs Council' led by the Zheng family, and pay an annual membership fee according to the deadweight of the vessel. Then you will be able to get a pass and a red flag from this 'Maritime Affairs Council'. ”

"What would happen if it wasn't for the one who didn't participate in him?" Bolo on the side asked.

When Mr. Fan heard this, he smiled and said, "Master Pei, if you don't pay this due, you can't do business at sea." Even if he secretly went to sea, as long as he was discovered by the Zheng family's ship, the ship, the cargo full of the ship, and the personnel would be gone. You don't know, Bei Ziye, although this sea is large, there are always limited ports that can be used for trade. And if the ship is caught, the benefits are not exclusive to the Zheng family, but are equally divided among the entire council. As a result, there is no council in any port, even in small private ports. In addition, some guys with bad consciences still like to play fishing, that is, pretend to be a buyer to negotiate business with others, and then when you go to sea, he will notify the Zheng family's boat to catch it, and then he doesn't need to spend a tael of silver, everything on the ship is his. ”

"And how much silver does this boat cost?" Bolo asked again.

"Depending on the size of the ship, and the rank of the merchants who joined, it generally ranged from five hundred taels of silver to two thousand taels of silver per year per ship. Generally speaking, each ship costs more than a thousand silver. There are more than 10 large merchants, dozens of medium-sized merchants, and thousands of boats in this council, and these dues alone are millions of taels of silver a year. In addition, the Zheng family is also a maritime merchant themselves, and in a year, I am afraid that they can earn millions of taels of silver just by sea trade. In addition, among those large and small merchants, in fact, many people originally followed Zheng Zhilong as a pirate. Later, Zheng Zhilong exterminated other pirates and dominated the sea, and there was no need for so many people and ships (in fact, it was because special warships eliminated multi-purpose ships) that they became maritime merchants. Zheng Zhilong's ships and businesses of these people naturally also have a share. This is another big sum, and then the Zheng family has some rare goods in their hands, such as whale oil, such as all kinds of ironware, grain, and fertilizer, which are sold to China and make a lot of money. In this way, their family will have tens of millions of taels of income in a year. What he sold to the Tessie was from Jiangnan; Most of his whale oil and iron tools were bought by Jiangnan people. So Jiangnan is the life of the Zheng family. Root. Child. Whoever dares to move Jiangnan, then the Zheng family will naturally have to fight with whom. So after hearing Zuo Liangyu's movements, the Zheng family immediately sent troops to block Zuo Liangyu. Mr. Fan replied.

"The Zheng family went to the south of the Yangtze River with more than 20,000 people, so there shouldn't be many of them in the north." Huang Taiji sighed, "The Zheng family's more than 20,000 soldiers have arrived in Huguang, whether it is Li Zicheng or Zuo Liangyu, they are definitely not opponents. The Zheng family is not short of money, and their soldiers can also fight. If Zheng Zhilong has great ambitions and there is no interference, I am afraid that it is a dragon and snake like Li Zicheng...... Well, Mr. Fan, you still need to worry more about the food matter this time. ”

That Mr. Fan knew that Huang Taiji meant to discuss some important things, and his identity and status should not be listened to. Then he knelt down and kowtowed, and said, "It is a great fortune for a slave to serve His Majesty. ”

"Well, you go down." Huang Tai Ji Road.

Mr. Fan walked out.

As soon as Mr. Fan went out, Jierharang stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, we can't watch Li Zicheng be destroyed by Zheng Zhilong!" This Zheng family's army is no better than other armies in the Ming Kingdom, they can really fight! No worse than our Eight Banners. And listening to this Nikan's statement, the Zheng family's annual income is actually tens of millions. Whether it is the Ming court or us, he is not rich. He has money, food, and soldiers, if he really lets him destroy Li Zicheng and control the world, I am afraid that my life in the Qing Dynasty will not be so easy. So, Your Majesty, we have to fight! Break through the customs and enter, firstly, to get some money and food to live, and secondly, to mobilize the Zheng family's soldiers. Let them keep running at both ends, and they can't let Li Zicheng finish like this. ”

Huang Taiji listened, nodded and said, "This is also our old method. Well, the twelve, the fourteenth, the fifteenth, what do you think? ”

Huang Taiji called the names of the three Azigo brothers, and Azigo stood up first and saluted: "Your Majesty, the courtiers also feel that they should send troops. ”

"What about you?" Huang Taiji asked again.

Dolgon said, "Your Majesty, my courtiers also think that we should send troops. ”

"Old Fifteen, what about you?" Huang Taiji asked with a frown.

If it had been before, Duoduo would have jumped out and said that he would have sent troops. However, since the last time the model army suffered a big loss, the previous arrogance is now gone, and people have become much more silent. Seeing Huang Taiji's roll call, Duoduo also hurriedly replied: "The younger brother also thinks that we should send troops, but we have to guard against it, and we don't want to send troops, and then they make a surprise attack on Jinzhou." ”