Zhou Renyuan didn't know what Zheng Chenggong was thinking, and asked with a smile, "Okay, the things that the emperor handed over to me are finally completed." Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Let's talk about private matters, I don't know what you think about the situation in the north of the Ming Dynasty? ”

Zheng Zhilong touched his beard, shook his head and said, "The northern thieves are powerful, and the Tartars are not small. I look at the situation of Daming in one word, difficult! Two days ago, the imperial court reported that the governor of Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting, had been reduced to the rank of the people, and that Yang Sichang, a cabinet scholar, had been appointed as the governor of Shaanxi against Li Zicheng, while Lu Xiangsheng had been appointed as the governor of Xuanda and had gone to the border of Datong. ”

"What? Lu Xiangsheng still went to Datong? Who did the overseer? Zhou Renyuan's heart beat violently.

"I heard that it is a father-in-law in the palace, called Gao Qiqian." Zheng Zhilong replied.

"Bad things!" Zhou Renyun slapped his thigh violently.

"How so? Governor Lu is known as the victorious general, both civil and military, and the combat strength of the Tianxiong army under his command cannot be underestimated. Lord Wang, why is this? Zheng Zhilong still admires Lu Xiangsheng in his heart.

"Alas--" Zhou Renyuan sighed, "Although what you said is right, Mr. Zheng, the combat power of the Tartar soldiers and this thief is the difference between the heavens and the bottom, the Tartars are fierce and well-equipped, and most of the troops are mainly cavalry, good at riding and shooting, and flexible. The thieves, on the other hand, were poorly equipped, most of them had no armor, and they were mainly foot soldiers. Not the same day! And now I know best about this prison army, I am the capital that I went to from Hengzhou with him, this person is good at greeting, but he is timid and afraid of things, the battlefield is changing day by day, I am afraid that he is greedy and afraid of death, and spoils the war situation. ”

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be very worried when he heard this, "But how could the imperial court send this Gao Qiqian to be the prison army?" Zheng Chenggong said angrily. Are all the ministers of the court blind? ”

"Yes! The problem of the imperial court is very big now, and it has repeatedly made stupid moves! Therefore, my Guiwang Mansion has long been not counting on this court. Zhou Renyuan sighed leisurely.

Zheng Zhilong and the three of them were shocked when they heard this, and they didn't dare to take the conversation, this is a very taboo thing, especially from the mouth of a great Ming clan.

Zhou Renyuan explained: "The three of them don't need to panic. In fact, not only you know, but even the court and the emperor know that my army in Hengzhou is in the hands of my father, not that we want to create dissent against the court, but because the current situation is forced to protect ourselves! ”

Zheng Zhilong felt the same way when he heard this, nodded and said, "In troubled times, I don't have an army in my hands, I don't know if I will be in a different place one day, what the prince said is reasonable." ”

"So don't think that I didn't want to go into my pocket to enjoy the tax of Zheng Zongbing, I want to use the money here to train the army, only by training a strong army can we destroy the thieves in the world, so that the Tartars will not dare to repeatedly violate my Ming Dynasty!" Zhou Renyuan said loudly.

"The prince is so courageous!" The unhappiness in Zheng Chenggong's heart just now has all disappeared, it turns out that he misunderstood the little prince just now, and hurriedly praised.

"So I have a proposal, I want to form an alliance with Zheng Zongbing on behalf of my father and work together for the future of this Ming Dynasty." Zhou Renyuan further probed.

"This --?" Zheng Zhilong frowned, although he admires Zhou Renyuan now, but if you want to talk about an alliance, it is a matter of losing your head if it is known, the main thing is that Zhou Renyuan is now the vassal king, and the vassal king is befriending the army, which is to be labeled as a rebellion. But he thought about it, now that King Gui was in fact in control of the local garrison, the imperial court ignored it, and the risk was not too great.

Zhou Renyuan saw that Zheng Zhilong was still a little undecided, and then threw out a bait: "As a reward for the general soldier's tax payment to me in Hengzhou, I can provide more advanced artillery of the Fujian Navy Division to make your fleet more powerful." ”

"What? Can you provide more powerful artillery? Is this true? Zheng Hongkui couldn't sit still and asked excitedly.

Zheng Zhilong was also shocked in his heart, but his face could still remain calm, he glared at Zheng Hongkui, and said in his heart why his younger brother was so uncomposed. His heart was already a little loose, but now was the critical moment of bargaining, he wanted to see what kind of benefits this magical little prince could give to himself.

"Lord Wang, most of the artillery of my Fujian Navy Division was purchased from the Francophone people in Macao, and they are already very advanced? Could it be that the artillery made by the prince can be sharper than the cannon of the Fran machine? Zheng Zhilong said tentatively.

Zhou Renyuan smiled, "I know that Zheng Zongbing is suspicious. Do you remember what I said about my friend, the foreign missionary Rost? Although he was a missionary, he was an artillery expert, and when I left Hengzhou, he was in charge of improving the Hongyi cannon, and I think it has achieved results now, and the firing range should be able to reach six miles from the original three or four miles. He still concealed the power of his artillery, in fact, his sample cannon was already able to hit eight miles before he set off.

"So far? My goodness! Zheng Hongkui smacked his tongue.

Zheng Zhilong slapped the table and immediately said, "Lord Wang, it's decided." The last general is willing to form an alliance with King Gui, and we support each other, but I wonder how many advanced artillery pieces the prince can give me to the Fujian Naval Division? ”

"I estimate that we can equip the Fujian Navy Division with 20 first, but it will not be delivered until the end of the year." Zhou Renyuan replied.

"It's been so long!" Zheng Hongkui couldn't wait to equip it immediately.

Zheng Zhilong knew that this cannon was very difficult to build, and the quality of the barrel and body was extremely high, otherwise there would be a danger of exploding and falling apart if three shells were fired, so the process requirements for ironmaking were very complicated. Moreover, even if Hengzhou produces more artillery, the army in Hengzhou must be given priority to equip, which he also understands, and immediately said, "Twenty is twenty, but the transportation process is a troublesome matter." ”

He looked at Zhou Renyuan and continued, "One is that Hengzhou is far away from my Fuzhou, and the safety of transporting artillery is a problem, and the other is that we can't be asked in a grand manner, this must be done in secret. It's hard! ”

"I've already thought of ways to solve these problems. Mr. Zheng doesn't have to worry. Zhou Renyuan said confidently.

"Huh? What is the king's plan? Zheng Zhilong and the three of them hurriedly leaned over.

"Wouldn't it be beautiful that the major general could bring twenty warships with me into Beijing, and then go south along the Yangtze River to Yueyang, Hunan, and then enter the Xiangjiang River to reach Hengzhou, and directly equip our Hengzhou with artillery, and then return, without knowing it, isn't it beautiful?" As soon as Zhou Renyuan said the route, Zheng Hongkui shouted, "Wonderful!" The prince is clever, I might as well wait! ”

"However, the dog needs a name when he is by the prince's side." Zheng Zhilong asked.

"Simple! Didn't the general soldier want to dedicate thirty percent of the tax to the imperial court, and the young general followed me into Beijing in the name of escorting the tax, and at the same time Zheng Zongbing wanted to ask the court for guilt, of course, this is just a scene, as for how to phrase it, I don't need to elaborate on it. But I believe that as long as this guilty fold is handed over to the emperor, Zheng Zongbing, you will wait to be knighted! ”

Zhou Renyuan said with a smile.

"Really?" Zheng Zhilong's eyes lit up, receiving a knighthood is something that many civil and military officials dream of, a guilty plea can be exchanged for a knighthood, and a fool won't do it! Immediate consent.

Fuzhou General Military Mansion, Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong gathered in Zheng Zhilong's study after visiting Zhou Renyuan and returning to the mansion.

"Third child, tell me first, what does this Yongming prince mean?" Zheng Zhilong had already changed into civilian clothes, and said with a tired face.

Zheng Hongkui scratched his head, and thought for a while before he said, "Big brother, this little brother is really hard to say!" said that he was bold, but the younger brother saw that he was sincerely Ming. Say that he is dedicated to the Ming Dynasty, but he proposed to form an alliance with my Zheng family. I really can't understand it. ”

"Sen'er, what do you see? For your father, the prince is favored by you, you can talk about it. Zheng Zhilong turned to Zheng Chenggong.

"My son thinks that this King Yongming is different from other Ming vassal kings, he is not vain, thoughtful, and a pragmatic person." Zheng Chenggong replied.

"Yes!" Zheng Zhilong nodded with satisfaction, "Sen'er can have this opinion, and it is a comfort for his father!" You have many brothers, and in the future, this family business can only be handed over to you, and your father can rest assured! ”

Zheng Chenggong hurriedly knelt down, kowtowed, and said, "Thank you, father, for your trust!" ”

Zheng Hongkui is the most trusted person of Zheng Zhilong besides Zheng Chenggong, and he has long known that the successor of the Zheng family in the future will be his eldest nephew, and he is not surprised at the moment.

"This Yongming prince is pragmatic and understandable. This great tomorrow is not Taizu for a long time, and it was like that during the Chengzu period, the court issued an order, hundreds of officials drove them away, and it was time for the soldiers to use their lives. Our Zheng family is to put it bluntly, it is to divide Fujian, you look at the Liaodong ancestor Dashou, Shanxi Zuo Liangyu, even if it is Sun Chuanting, who has just been dismissed, aren't they all self-respecting? Only that Lu Xiangsheng was summoned by the imperial court, and today he listened to the prince's analysis of Xuanda in the Qin Mission, and it seems that the Governor of Lu will not die well! You see, this is what happens when you are called! Zheng Zhilong's analysis is straightforward.

"But isn't it Governor Lu that my father admires the most?" Zheng Chenggong asked.

"It's true that the father admires him, but he will be outside, and the king's order will not be affected. Is there any minister in the court who knows how to fight? And Governor Lu is too respectful of the will of the Wei court, even if he has a thousand hearts, can he follow his own wishes when he fights? Zheng Zhilong said regretfully.

Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong nodded silently after hearing this.

"Okay, let's not talk about the court. Let's move on to our own business. Zheng Zhilong waved his sleeves and said, "Third brother, you are responsible for arranging the loading of 600,000 silver into the ship in the past two days. Sen'er, for your father, let you choose which warships to go north with you. ”

"Big brother, isn't it too much to give 600,000 once, and the younger brother thinks it's better to divide it into two or three times!" Zheng Hongkui said.

"You, if you don't have good vision, you're too petty!" Zheng Zhilong scolded with a smile, "Since I have promised the imperial court, it is already a fact, what is the difference between paying off once and paying off twice." I am a bargaining chip, not only to show the court, I Zheng Zhilong is a good talker, so that people can't find their tongues, and give Sen'er a step to appear in the capital, and at the same time sell a face to the prince and the prince, do you say that there is such a benefit in paying it off in two or three times? ”

Zheng Hongkui replied ashamedly, "The eldest brother is thoughtful, and the younger brother is not as good as it!" ”