The negotiations between Zhu Daolin and Zheng Zhilong went very smoothly, and after two days of bargaining, the two sides quickly reached a series of agreements of mutual benefit and reciprocity to work together against the enemy.

Since the meeting coincided with the festive season, both sides were in a hurry.

In addition, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Cai were worried that after the Jiangnan Gate Valve learned of this secret agreement, it would trigger an uncontrollable impact, which would lead to an overreaction in the entire Fujian and Liangguang officialdom, damaging their own interests and shaking their foundation, so after completing the agreement, they proposed to postpone the date of signing the secret agreement for three months on the grounds that they needed to return to Fujian to seek the consent of their elders, and set the location as a tamsui port that was convenient for both parties.

Zhu Daolin was very cheerful and showed great sincerity, not only agreeing to Zheng Zhilong's request to postpone the signing of the secret agreement, but also agreeing to a series of requests from Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Cai:

Within six months, it sold five new 800-ton warships under construction at the Tamsui Shipyard and Jinling Shipyard, 15,000 flintlock pistols manufactured by Tianshu Pavilion, 200 12-to-18-pound marine guns equipped with buffer machinery, 60 sets of four-barrel rocket launchers, and 2,000 Korean war horses to the Zheng family.

The Zheng family only needs to pay the deposit of 3 million taels of silver to the Four Seas Bank of Tamsui Port, and the sale and purchase agreement will take effect immediately, and the balance can be settled in a lump sum after the delivery is completed.

In addition, Zhu Daolin also ignored the worries and opposition of the generals around him, and generously agreed that the Zheng family would send 500 shipbuilders to enter the new shipyard in Baguazhou in Jinling to learn the construction of paddle steamers, and promised to give Zheng Zhilong 10 sets of Tianshuge steam engines and supporting boilers that can be used for sea warships a year later, so that the Zheng family's shipyard can imitate it by itself and achieve the purpose of working side by side to protect the Ming Maritime Frontier.

Zhu Daolin's sincerity and magnanimity completely dispelled the Zheng family's deep concerns.

Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Cai's hostility and vigilance towards Zhu Daolin decreased sharply, and they hurriedly returned to their old nest in Fujian after saying goodbye, seizing the time to implement the purchase and sale of a huge number of weapons and equipment and new large warships. 500 highly skilled craftsmen were selected from its major shipyards and sent to Jinling Baguazhou Shipyard as soon as possible to master the manufacturing technology of steam clippers as soon as possible.

How did they know that the huge fleet of the Dutch had already sailed past the Cape of Good Hope at this time, and was rushing to East Asia day and night to carry out retaliatory operations, and within three months, it would fight to the death with the Zheng family and even Zhu Daolin, so as to completely establish its maritime supremacy in the Far East.

Zhu Daolin sent away Zheng Zhilong and his entourage, who didn't know whether they were in the scheme, with a grand ceremony. He immediately held a secret meeting with more than 10 generals and colonels, including Wu Jicheng, commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang New Army, Jiang Yulong, deputy general, Xu Wentao, commander of the North Sea Fleet, and Li Yiliang, commander of the Qingdao base and commander-in-chief of the Fushan Army.

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During the meeting, a very unexpected and embarrassing news came to Zhu Daolin:

The army of Huangtaiji Tatars, who had besieged Jinzhou City for several months, finally died of a large number of war horses and clothed slaves due to the lack of food and grass, and the death of a large number of war horses and clothed slaves, which caused the army's morale to fluctuate, and had to withdraw from the siege of Jinzhou and return to Liaoyang and Shenyang.

Zhu Daolin and his generals analyzed it repeatedly. Realizing that in addition to the tenacity of the Guanning Army and the help of the cold weather, the Liaodong Campaign launched by the army last year finally took effect.

The Liaodong Campaign was launched suddenly, disrupting the overall deployment and military plans of the Later Jin regime, forcing Huang Taiji to eliminate the Mongol opposition forces, and had no time to take the attached Mongol troops south to plunder, so he had to hurriedly turn around and return to rescue the old nest.

After that, because hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Liaodong were completely destroyed by the Dongjiang New Army, the grain harvest was lost, and more than 100,000 Han slaves were lost. and the subsequent occupation of the east bank of the Yalu River by the new army of the Dongjiang River to cut off the supply of grain and grass to the Liaodong Tartars, all these factors add up. It constitutes the fundamental reason for the failure of the Golden Tartars this time.

"In this way, I am afraid that after the beginning of spring, the front line of Xuanda will not be peaceful, and the Liaodong Tartars can only raise troops to the south without eating or drinking, and cross the Great Wall to plunder Shanxi and Beizhili."

Li Yiliang sighed loudly, and all the generals and schools understood and echoed one after another.

Zhu Daolin smiled lightly: "Not so fast...... Liaodong Tartars have just returned in vain, and people are tired and tired. The grain and grass are exhausted, and it will take at least three months to recover. ”

"Even if they send troops to plunder in order to fill their stomachs, they will first attack the Mongol tribes and other tribes who oppose them, and they will not be able to cross the line of the Great Wall without half a year of preparation...... What's more, I have a natural and man-made disaster last year, and the harvest has dropped sharply. At least after the summer harvest, grain will not be produced! ”

"If my guess is correct, at least until July, the Liaodong Tartars will not be able to break through and go south, but if Huang Taiji can grit his teeth and conquer the Mongolian tribes with all his might, the threat to my Ming will increase exponentially, and it is likely that he will move south between July and August, which will bring great harm to my Ming Dynasty far greater than before."

The generals looked solemn, as if they had seen all kinds of miserable scenes in the Tartar iron hooves rampant in the pass, and they were worried but unable to speak.

Wu Jicheng and Jiang Yulong glanced at each other, and both stood up and said loudly: "I, the Dongjiang New Army, am willing to fight with all my strength to contain the main force of the Tartars on the front line of Liaodong, so that he cannot endanger the people of my Guannei!" ”

"My North Sea Fleet is willing to pour out to attack Jinzhouwei!" Xu Wentao and Guo Zhongjun both stood up very tacitly and asked for battle.

Zhu Daolin motioned to all the generals to sit down: "We must fight, but we can't fight like you, this time as long as we shoot, we won't take it back, we won't leave a trace of strength, we must go all out, with the invincible spirit and momentum of sacrificing life and death, we must occupy the two strategic places of Liaoyang and Shenyang, and eradicate all the alien races on the ground in the entire eastern Liaodong, so as to inflict a devastating blow to the Houjin regime and solve the biggest enemy of our Han nation once and for all!" ”

"What the armies are facing will be a life-and-death battle that will determine the fortunes of the country, with the current strength of the Dongjiang New Army and the Beihai Fleet, it is really impossible to meet the needs of the big war, even if it is not enough to add the 10,000 Fushan recruits who are training hard day and night under the command of Lao Li, even if I transfer you more artillery and muskets."

The generals were shocked and excited, and veterans like Li Yiliang were also so excited that their eyes were red and their bodies trembled slightly.

Zhu Daolin raised his hand to stop everyone from asking, and gave an extremely solemn order: "All departments and armies must hurry up, after you go back, you will immediately recruit troops and horses, hoard grain and grass, especially on the Korean side, I will give you as much money as you want." ”

"Lao Wu, you and Yulong went to see the monarch Li Liang in person, and directly told him our plan, there is no need to be polite to buy as much grain, grass and war horses, and if you don't give it, you will rob his mother, and he will not be unwilling!"

"In the past year, we have given him such a great help to North Korea, half sold and half sent, reorganized 50,000 troops for them, sent batches of instructors to teach them to shoot guns, artillery, march and set up formations, and updated the warships and equipment of the two major naval armies in the north and south for them, isn't it just for this day?"

"Otherwise, why should I help them? If anyone on the Korean side dares to obstruct it, I authorize you to immediately unite the ministers of the pro-Myeong faction and the five families that have secretly formed an alliance to eliminate the opponents in one fell swoop! (To be continued.) )