Chapter 237: Negotiation

Although there are not as many high-tech means of collecting intelligence as in modern times, basic intelligence personnel are still necessary, that is, spies in this era, and there are quite a large number of them.

The "fishermen" who went ashore in Dengzhou were certainly not the sailors, and some even went around Shandong and Beizhili for a whole circle before returning. There are also people in the north who disguise themselves as Mongols, and they go south at various entrances, and they also walk around as small traders and vendors, investigating the truth and all kinds of things that should be understood.

Jingshi and Beizhili are also like such spies, anyway, there are many Han people in Later Jinzhong, and after the Eastern Jurchens raised troops, many Liao people entered the customs, and it was difficult to identify each other.

At the feet of the Son of Heaven, the gossip is the most rumored in the imperial court, and the news that Gao Qiqian and Yang Sichang advocate peace with the Jurchens is naturally easy to hear, and the soldiers and horses of the Beizhili foreign tribes are even a little lax compared with previous years because of this policy proposition of peace.

As for Shandong, the spies' comments are almost the same, and they all say that "the troops are scarce, and the people's livelihood is withered after the catastrophe." ”

Most of the sentinels of the Dongyu Jurchen are Han Chinese, these people walk in the inland or on foot, or on horseback, naturally can not search in a carpet way, the Ming army in the middle and late periods, the military camps like to be stationed in the city, or directly stationed in the city, one can rely on the natural scope of the city to delineate the defense area, two to the city of the houses can be directly used as barracks, three to the city itself is a very good fortification, four, the city is rich in materials, and the levy is also much easier.

Of course, such a performance of the army is itself an act of depravity and corruption, which is why the earlier Swiss infantry military discipline strictly ordered that night accommodation should not be in civilian houses.

Since this is often the case, when the spies of Houjin explored the interior of the Ming Dynasty, they did not go to any wilderness, but moved along those cities and the like.

The Jiaozhou camp is different, the Jiaozhou camp is camped far away from the city, choose the location with convenient transportation and dangerous terrain, and set up a camp. This purpose was, firstly, to cover the city, and secondly, to avoid allowing his soldiers to have too much contact with the local gentry.

Jiaozhou City, Laizhou Prefecture, is stationed with the headquarters of the Jiaozhou battalion, but the Jiaozhou battalion is located, but it is the area between Fengmeng Town and the seaside, this is the same place as no man's land, there are a large number of cavalry routine training patrols every day, outsiders appear in this area, and the end is basically caught.

Those spies didn't think to come to check such a remote place as Jiaozhou, the place where the soldiers were stationed in Laizhou Mansion has always been Pingdu Military Prefecture, and they all heard that a staff general guarded the four prefectures, and there were only more than 1,000 soldiers in each prefecture, who would have thought that there were soldiers in the Jiaozhou battalion, who would have thought that a general would have such a scale of army.

In mid-July, Zheng Zhibao came to Jiaozhou City by boat for the second time, and if there were still some psychological obstacles when he saw Li Meng's official ceremony that day, this time he was respectful from the heart.

The generals of the four prefectures of the town can be regarded as a general who can be handled, and his strength is so inflated that people have to be in awe.

"General Li, my eldest brother is willing to give five merchant ships, and the two gunboats requested by the lord can also be sold, but I want to talk to the general about the conditions."

For Li Meng, the value of these two gunboats is much higher than that of these five merchant ships, and he does not have the strength to take into account the interests of the sea at present, so he is naturally willing to exchange them, so he nodded and signaled the other party to speak.

"If there is no war, those two gunboats come to Shandong once a year, the adults arrange sailors and crews, they can be regularly checked, and they have to act with our Zheng family in Fujian on weekdays, obey the deployment, these five merchant ships do not need to manage anything, and the Zheng family will settle the silver according to the most profitable fleet, and there will be no shortage."

It seems that this Zheng Zhibao has already had a belly case, sitting there and talking eloquently, after saying this, he asked Li Meng with his eyes, Li Meng pondered for a while, this Zheng Zhibao said that the plan is no different from what he first said, but the other party will not make a loss-making transaction, since it is agreed, there will definitely be a follow-up, and said in a deep voice:

"I have no objection to this arrangement, I don't know what Zheng Guerrilla needs?"

This Zheng guerrilla is Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhibao heard Li Meng agree, his spirits perked up, and he said with a smile:

"My eldest brother said, the adults allowed us to open a port in Shandong, it is already the kindness of the world, these five cargo ships and two gunboats in return, it is too stingy, there will be a good reward in the future, but there are some things that the adults have to agree to first, the Zheng family's business adults can not interfere, the Zheng family goes to the Japanese Bodo, and the Zheng family wants to monopolize the two routes of Seoul in Goryeo."

Maritime trade, to the route to Japan is the most profitable, to Seoul is much worse, this Hakata is the modern Fukuoka, is an important port of Japan's trade with the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese princes on the island of Kyushu conquest, for this port tax is just that. Li Meng didn't know this, but at present, the Jiaozhou camp was not here, so he could naturally give up, and said with a smile:

"The official is not interested in maritime affairs, and this condition is agreed."

"If the Zheng family has conflicts with other families at sea, please also ask General Li to focus on maintaining it."

"This matter is simple, you and I are now one, these things will definitely be done by the official, don't worry, but the official also has a taboo, and he has to say it first, so as not to give birth to dirt when the time comes."

Hearing that Li Meng agreed to the above conditions very simply, Zheng Zhibao's heart was relaxed for a while, and when he heard the other party suddenly say that there were other conditions, he couldn't help but feel a tightening heart, and asked cautiously:

"What conditions do you have, let's hear it, if you can't agree here, send an urgent letter back to Yanping to ask my eldest brother for information."

He didn't dare to say anything to death, Li Meng didn't groan, but just said loudly:

"Shandong port is quite close to Liaodong, and North Korea is also occupied by the Tartars, there is a saying that in front, you just do business with the Goryeos, don't have a relationship with the Tartars, otherwise, I, Li Meng, will turn my face and deny people."

Zheng Zhibao was stunned at first, then reacted, couldn't help laughing, and said in a loud voice:

"It turns out that this is the case, don't worry, adults can also call the shots for such small things, and they will definitely not be contacted, please rest assured."

Since it is all decided, then naturally there is no problem, and Ning Qiangui and Huang Ping are naturally responsible for the next entertainment, and the terrain of several private ports on the side of Lingshan is originally very good, and the manpower repair is only slightly complete, and it can already be used.

Li Meng's advice was just because the other party talked about North Korea's trade and remembered this aspect, and Zheng Zhibao's answer after laughing was not straightforward, but he used this laughter to give himself time to think about it.

For the Zheng family, the Houjin Jurchen, who occupies Liaodong, is an object that can do business since there is a seaport and Haikou, but this time when he came to Shandong, Zheng Zhilong said clearly to Zheng Zhibao before leaving:

"As long as Li Meng agrees to let us monopolize Hakata's routes, other routes can be given to him."

With the words of his own leader, Zheng Zhibao naturally knows how to make trade-offs, not to mention that Houjin Juzhen is just a potential trading partner now, and there is not much benefit.

In the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years, the trade between the sea and Japan is the most profitable, the war is endless, the gold and silver reserves are extremely rich, and the demand for various supplies in the Ming Dynasty is great, as long as you dare to go to the sea to do business, there is no one who does not get rich, the Zheng family ensures that after this route, the others can be temporarily abandoned.

Zheng Zhilong was the overlord of the Oriental Sea at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the Dutch, Spaniards, and Japanese had to avoid it for three points, and this person was indeed talented, starting from a commoner to run a wealthy prince at this time, commanding tens of thousands of pirates, which was also a miracle of this era. But Zheng Zhilong does not have much ambition, there is such a scale, with the help of the Chinese resources in Nanyang, to lay down one or two small countries, it is not difficult to claim the king overseas, but he concentrated on accepting the appeasement, became Fujian's coastal defense guerrilla, and the local ordinary generals were also satisfied, in Anping Daqi Mansion, it is said that it is extremely luxurious, and there is an artificial canal from the sea to the mansion.

This man's later fate was to surrender to the Manchus, and he was later killed by Dolgon, and his death was extremely unworthy.

When he arrived at his son Zheng Chenggong, he had great ambitions, but no great talent, so he could only run a place in Taiwan, and several Northern Expeditions were failures, as for Zheng Jing, he was a rat with no talent and no ambition.

Zheng Zhilong's surrender to the Qing Dynasty is one of the few historical events that Li Meng remembers, you must know that in modern times, because of Taiwan, Zheng Chenggong's history is highly evaluated, and propaganda and education are carried out on various occasions. And in order to highlight Zheng Chenggong's tall image, he also made a special mention of the drama of breaking with Zheng Zhilong, his father who had no national integrity.

As a non-commissioned officer in the army, Li Meng sometimes has to preach and educate recruits, so he understands that although the Oriental people in this era are not very accepting of things related to the navy and the sea, Li Meng does not want a maritime force that colludes with the Jurchens around him.

Although there is not much binding force, after saying hello to himself, the Zheng family will always pay some attention, after all, the business of Haiyan and private port with the Zheng family accounts for a huge proportion of Jiaozhou's income, and it cannot be given up at will.

The north wind blows, and the weather gets colder......