Zhu Youzhen attaches more importance to Ma Liujia, only by controlling Ma Liujia, the Ming Dynasty has the basis for trade with Xiyi, "Taiwan is too close to Fujian, which is extremely important to the Ming Dynasty, but as far as I know, the imperial court has never regarded Taiwan as the land of the Ming Dynasty, what is the reason for your use of troops this time?" "The South China Sea Fleet is a country's navy, not a pirate, and if you want to start a war, you must have a good reason, and you can't fight as you want like pirates.

“……”

"In the second year of the Apocalypse (1622 AD), the Dutch East India Company occupied Penghu of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming sailors fought fiercely with it for eight months, winning and losing each other, and in the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624 AD), the Ming reached an agreement with the Netherlands, the Dutch demolished the fort in Penghu, evacuated Penghu, and moved to Taiwan, the Ming Dynasty did not interfere with the Dutch occupation of Taiwan, because Taiwan was not a territory recognized by the Ming court, in fact, Taiwan at that time, did not belong to any country, General Zheng was engaged in maritime commerce all the year round, and would not know this history, right?"

"The last general knows what it was like."

Zhu Youzhen was a little painful, what kind of ignorant scum did he give Taiwan to the Netherlands, "In the course of the negotiations, in order to expel the Dutch from Penghu as soon as possible, the Ming negotiators also asked Li Dan, a maritime merchant living in Japan, to coordinate, when the Dutch said, 'They don't know the way to Taiwan', the representative of the local officials of the Ming Dynasty actually said, 'We know the road, we can show you the way'." General Zheng, is there such a thing? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, there is really such a thing, when the Ming Dynasty negotiated with the Netherlands, the last general happened to participate in the mediation between the two sides with his father-in-law, and at that time, the last general once verbally said to the Dutch: 'Taiwan is ours, temporarily borrowed for your use'."

"Ah...... It's true? Zhu Youzhen was ecstatic, when Zheng Zhilong said this at the time, the Dutch may not have paid much attention to it, and now I am afraid that it has long been forgotten, but Zhu Youzhen doesn't care about this, as long as there is this sentence, Daming has a reason to use soldiers.

Zhu Youzhen is already looking forward to the scene of the South China Sea Fleet entering Taiwan, Zheng Zhilong asked the Dutch for Taiwan, the Dutch, who have been operating in Taiwan for nearly ten years, will definitely not give up #Taiwan, then the war between the two sides is inevitable.

"Really, Your Majesty, this is what the last general said himself, and the last general remembers it clearly." Zheng Zhilong said very resolutely, but he didn't know whether this sentence was a blessing or a curse.

"Ao," Zhu Youzhen came to his senses, "When General Zheng said this, I'm afraid it wasn't for Daming, right?" ”

"The last general should be damned, the last general only thinks about his own interests." Zheng Zhilong was so frightened that he got up from the chair, and he was about to kneel down like Zhu Youzhen to plead guilty.

Zhu Youzhen waved his hand to stop Zheng Zhilong from kneeling, "At this time and that time, General Zheng was not a member of the imperial court at that time, fortunately with General Zheng's words, otherwise, I really couldn't find a reason to start a war with the Dutch - however, General Zheng is now a coastal defense guerrilla of the imperial court, so he should consider everything for the imperial court and the country." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, the last general is no longer engaged in maritime business, and after recovering Taiwan, it will naturally be handed over to the jurisdiction of the imperial court."

"I believe," Zhu Youzhen changed the topic: "The Ming Navy is about to go on an expedition to the South Seas, and the cost is very huge, General Zheng thinks that what is the purpose of the imperial court's doing this?" ”

"Your Majesty, this is for trade, the Ming overseas trade, very huge, but the goods can't go out of the ocean, can only change hands to Xiyi, huge trade profits, are monopolized by Xiyi, Ming merchants can only earn a little labor costs, sometimes they will be exploited by Xiyi, so businessmen are not interested in overseas trade, if the Ming Navy controls Ma Liujia and protects the passing Ming merchant ships, the profits obtained by my Ming merchants will increase several times and dozens of times."

Zhu Youzhen nodded and motioned for Zheng Zhilong to continue.

"Secondly, for the people, on the islands of the South Seas, the Han people have a lot of residents, no less than hundreds of thousands, but because they are far away from the Ming Dynasty, lack of military protection, and their own inability to form an army, they are often exploited by the local aborigines and Xiyi, Wanli 31 years (AD 1603), the Spaniards on the South Ryukyu Islands, just because they suspect that the Han people oppose them, take an inhumane massacre of the Han people, it is said that the Han people were slaughtered more than 30,000 people at one time...... In other places, incidents of looting property and even killing people and stealing goods against the Han people are also endless. ”

When Zheng Zhilong said this, his tone changed significantly, as if he was suppressing the great sadness, and his eyes suddenly sparkled.

The massacre of the Han by the Spaniards seems to have happened later, but Zhu Youzhen has come to Daming, and there should be no more massacres in the future, so Zhu Youzhen arrived The strange thing is that Zheng Zhilong was a pirate before, why do you remember this incident so deeply? "General Zheng, weren't you a pirate before? How can you care about the lives of the people? ”

"Your Majesty, the last general was indeed a pirate before, but the last general intercepted all the merchant ships of Xiyi, although he also plundered the people of Fujian, but it was for temporary relief, and the last general never injured a single Han people." Zheng Zhilong let it go, if Zhu Youzhen was suspicious of him because he had been a pirate, then it didn't matter if he didn't do this coastal defense guerrilla, anyway, the wealth he had accumulated was enough to live for ten lifetimes.

"Haha......" Zhu Youzhen laughed unscrupulously, "General Zheng, this is the first time I've heard of it, it turns out that there is also a patriotic pirate." Zhu Youzhen's only remaining suspicion disappeared in an instant, he knew that Zheng Zhilong was telling the truth, whether it was from Zheng Zhilong's eyes or the information sent back from Guangdong Jinyiwei, Zhu Youzhen saw the real Zheng Zhilong, "General Zheng, do you know why I summoned you to Beijing?" ”

"This ...... I don't know. "Actually, Zheng Zhilong can guess something, isn't it because he used to be a pirate?

Of course, Zheng Zhilong has no complaints, Zhu Youzhen is the emperor, he can do anything, and besides, the emperor handed over such a large fleet to a pirate leader, if he didn't worry about being abducted by him, it would be really strange.

"If you were the Emperor and I was a pirate, would you be worried if our status was reversed?" Empathy, the best way to regain people's hearts, the help of later generations to Zhu Youzhen, is really everywhere.

"The last general will not dare." On Zheng Zhilong's forehead, a cold sweat broke out in an instant, his face turned pale, and he lay on the ground, not daring to move.

"Get up, General Zheng, I don't blame you." Removing the suspicion, Zhu Youzhen's mood suddenly improved.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zheng Zhilong sat down again, and he didn't dare to wipe the beads of sweat on his face.

"A few years ago, there was a civil uprising in Shaanxi, although I suppressed the riots, but I didn't have the heart to kill, because they were forced, they had no food to eat," Zhu Youzhen pondered, as if he had returned to Shaanxi, "As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I want to let the people of the Ming Dynasty have food, clothing, and houses to live in, and life is getting better and better, I originally planned to let you go to Shaanxi to see the current life of the people in Shaanxi, haha, it seems that there is no need." ”

"The last general knows that His Majesty is worried about the country and the people, and he works day and night." This time, Zheng Zhilong did not kneel, but gave a military salute.

"It's not enough to know, but also to keep the people and the people's affairs in mind," Zhu Youzhen earnestly taught, "There are many Han people in Nanyang, they are also my people, in a foreign land, they have a difficult life, and they will be bullied by others. ”

"陛xià......"

"Before the Ming Dynasty, the border troubles in the north were too heavy, Jiannu was approaching Shanhaiguan, and the Mongolian tribes were strictly threatening the Great Wall," Zhu Youzhen waved his hand, not letting Zheng Zhilong interrupt him, "Despite the great pressure from the north, I still formed the South China Sea Fleet, hoping that one day, I can help them, General Zheng, do you understand what I mean?" ”

"The last general understands that His Majesty is dedicated to the people of the Ming Dynasty."

"In order to survive, the Han people went to Nanyang, but their lives are still difficult." Zhu Youzhen said that he was a little emotional, as if he was an angry youth, but he was the emperor, who else could he complain about?

"Your Majesty, the last general understands, once the last general goes to Nanyang, he must put the Han people in the most important position in his mind."

"Hmm." After being silent for a while, Zhu Youzhen adjusted his feelings, "There is one more thing, General Zheng, you are now a soldier of the Ming Dynasty, although some of your subordinates used to be your brothers, but the image and management of the army are different, and their sitting, lying and standing must conform to the norms of soldiers." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"In the past, you were the head, a man of his word, happy to enmity and hatred, but now it doesn't work, the army of the Ming Dynasty belongs to the state, not to any private person, and the military must abide by the discipline of the military."

"The last general understands that the last general must learn the military rules of the Ming Dynasty, and let his subordinates abide by the military discipline."

"I plan to send you to the Daming Military Academy to study for half a month in an anonymous way, although the time of half a month is a little shorter, but the Military Academy is a place to train professional soldiers, as long as you pay attention, you will definitely be able to appreciate the essence of the Daming army."

"The last general must study hard and be a real soldier." Zheng Zhilong also realized Zhu Youzhen's good intentions, he used to be a pirate and had no restraints, but now he is a soldier of the Ming Dynasty, once he violates the law, no one can save himself.

"Okay, it is worthy of being a dragon on the sea, I hope that the general will lead the South China Sea Fleet to become the dragon of the sea of the Ming Dynasty, and create a pure land for the Ming Dynasty and the Han people." Zhu Youzhen picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip gently.

"Thank you for your praise, the last general will never live up to your majesty's trust."

"In the past half a month, you have mainly done two things, one is to learn how to be a soldier of the Ming Dynasty, and the other is to formulate a short-term, medium-term, and long-term battle plan for the South China Sea Fleet, and after half a month, you will come back to see me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After sending Zheng Zhilong away, Zhu Youzhen immediately met with Qin Yongnian, Minister of the Navy, and Cao Wenzhao, Minister of Staff, and asked them to immediately summon the craftsmen of Fujian and the relevant personnel of the Daming Academy of Sciences to design a new type of warship according to the new Fu Ship.

The new warship has a displacement of no less than 200 tons and can be equipped with about 40 naval guns.