On the tenth day of the first month of the first year of Longwu, there is no so-called New Year atmosphere in the South Zhili area. Because of the defeat of Zheng Zhilong's army, He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, died in Huangzhou Mansion, and the entire Huguang Ming army collapsed.

In this battle, the elite of the Zheng army itself lost more than 40,000 people, and its vitality was greatly damaged, and the 300,000 troops that were put together in its heyday were gone. The Zheng family, who had finally been killed from Fujian, was suddenly beaten back to its original form.

After arriving in Anqing for a few days, Zheng Zhilong, who had already come to his senses, did not see any visitors, and even Shi Kefa, Hu Dawei and others, who led the troops to help, did not meet each other.

But early this morning, after hearing that his eldest son Zheng Sen hurried back from Huguang, Zheng Zhilong immediately summoned Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Hongkui, Xiao Gongchen, Huang Ting and others to meet.

"What's going on with Huguang now?" Zheng Zhilong, who had just recovered from a serious illness, was still a little pale, and he looked empty under a wide cotton robe, obviously losing a lot of weight. But as soon as he saw Zheng Sen, he couldn't wait to ask.

Zheng Sen, who was covered with dust and had not even had time to remove his armor, shook his head gloomily, "I can't hold it, He Tengjiao, Lu Ding, Fu Shangrui, Yan Qiheng, Zhang Kuang, Zhou Daqi, Wu Jinxi and other Huguang generals have all died in Huangzhou, and the whereabouts of Du Yinxi are unknown, and the entire territory of Huguang has fallen into the hands of Wu Sangui." Coupled with those thieves who surrendered, Wu Sangui's strength was close to 300,000. Yuan Jixian retreated into Jiangxi to defend it, guarding the first line of Wuning and Jiujiang with heavy troops, and even our defeated soldiers and horses were not allowed to enter Jiangxi. This time the army withdrew, and many soldiers were lost along the way, and there were countless armor and baggage! ”

Zheng Hongkui and Xiao Gongchen on the side secretly gestured at Zheng Sen, meaning that Zheng Zhilong's body had just recovered, and he must not be stimulated at this time. But Zheng Sen hesitated for a moment. Or decided to tell the truth, at this time it is completely pointless to hide it.

"Big brother!" After watching Zheng Sen finish speaking, Zheng Hongkui hurriedly said: "Don't worry too much, my Zheng family in Fujian still has tens of thousands of armor, as long as you open your mouth, you can also recruit one or two thousand soldiers from the Nanyang countries at any time." Wu Sangui's command is also a newly built army, and he may not have the courage to attack Nanzhili for a while. The Shi Pavilion Department and the Governor of Huaiyang are all dispatching troops and horses from all over the south of the Yangtze River to defend the Beijing Division, as long as we hold on to Anqing, the Qing army will be at a loss! ”

Zheng Sen also fully agreed with Zheng Hongkui's construction.

didn't wait for Zheng Zhilong to speak, but Zheng Zhibao opened his mouth first, "What? Do you still want to stick to Anqing? ”

Zheng Zhibao spoke without concealment, "I think you two are blinded by lard, right?" We swore to the north from Fujian, and suddenly took out the family foundation of more than ten years. My Zheng family crisscrosses the seven seas, how can I ever suffer such a defeat. For him, Zhu will go down tomorrow. We lost tens of thousands of elites, as well as countless baggage, military quartermasters, and silver. Don't look at us now as the officials of their Zhu family, but in the final analysis, we are still maritime merchants, and what we pay attention to is a sure profit and no loss. It's better to turn around and go back to Fujian and continue to do our maritime business. Even if the Tartars are powerful, what can we do to get them at sea? ”

Although Zheng Zhibao is a student of Guozijian. But he is good at martial arts by nature, and he is indeed a fierce general in the Zheng family, but his brain and insight are fundamentally negligible. His words made Zheng Sen, Zheng Hongkui and Xiao Gongchen shake their heads uncontrollably.

But Zheng Zhilong had a solemn face, thought about it for a long time, and suddenly nodded vigorously. This one comes. Zheng Sen, Zheng Hongkui, and Xiao Gongchen were taken aback.

"Although the words of the text are sloppy, they do have merit!" Zheng Zhilong said slowly: "Although we are now members of the imperial court, we must not forget our roots. No matter what time it is, don't forget that our roots are in Fujian! ”

Zheng Sen suddenly became excited. "Father, my Zheng family has finally taken charge of the center, and now although it is difficult, there is no chance of recovery! If we go back to Fujian, will the blood of our tens of thousands of Fujian children be shed in vain from time to time? ”

Zheng Hongkui also said: "Big brother, there is still something to be done. His Majesty has high hopes for the eldest brother and my Zheng family, if we ignore His Majesty, then what will we call the heroes of the world in the future! ”

Zheng Zhilong snorted coldly, threw aside the brocade quilt covering his legs, and stood up regardless of it. But the body was a stumbling one, Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Sen hurriedly helped each other.

Zheng Zhilong pushed the two of them away, stood up straight stubbornly, and his voice became a little high-pitched and trembling because of anger. "How much blood does the Zheng family have to fight, and after fighting all these chips in their hands, who else cares about the Zheng family, will Zhu Ping'an let the Zheng family go? No matter who the Zheng family is going to do this world, but the Zheng family must not lose the foundation of the sea, as long as there is a foundation, whether it is the Qing Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, no one dares to underestimate the existence of my Zheng family! ”

"Besides, I don't want to give up the authority of the Zheng family in the center now, why are you making such a fuss! The emperor is now in Nanjing, and Nanjing is still under our control, and whether to go or stay is not a matter of our words. Even if you go back to Fujian, the emperor is still in our hands, and you can still hold the central power, what else do you have to worry about. ”

Zheng Zhilong became more and more energetic the more he spoke. "Fujian is mountainous, backed by the sea, we advance and retreat freely, the emperor is in hand, you can also wait and watch the trend of the overall situation of the world, recuperate, and you can kill the ...... again at any time!"

Zheng Zhilong's endless talk was embarrassing, which made Zheng Sen and Zheng Hongkui stunned on the spot. A cold sweat broke out on Zheng Sen's back, and he knelt in front of Zheng Zhilong with a plop, "Father, don't!" His Majesty is affectionate and favored by my Zheng Jiaen, and I am a family of three marquis of the Zheng family in Shijing, and the general and the government affairs of the country are all entrusted, so trusted, unprecedented. Recently, His Majesty also said that he wanted to give his child a national surname, and let my Zheng family's wealth and prosperity rest with the country. With such grace and such trust, how can we Zheng family be Wei Wu who coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes! Father think twice! ”

Zheng Sen's head pounded to the ground, and Zheng Zhilong didn't care about his words, but was furious.

"Rebel, don't forget, your surname is Zheng, not Zhu! Not to mention the son of Emperor Longwu today, you are the son of my Zheng Zhilong, and the foundation of our Zheng family will be entrusted to you sooner or later! Your mind should be used on the rise and fall of the Zheng family, not on his allegiance to Zhu Ming! ”

Hearing this, Zheng Sen suddenly raised his head, "Could it be that my father still has a plan to surrender?" ”

Zheng Zhilong was furious, and slammed a palm on Zheng Sen's face, Zheng Sen's cheeks suddenly swelled high, and this time, even Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Hongkui and Xiao Gongchen panicked, and knelt in front of Zheng Zhilong, begging to calm his anger.

"Someone!" Zheng Zhilong roared angrily: "Unload this rebel's weapon, and let me go to the stable in the backyard to face the wall and think about it!" ”

The attendants broke in, surrounded Zheng Sen, took off his saber and the soldier seal on his body, Zheng Zhilong was still angry, pointed at Zheng Hongkui and said: "Gradually, I will hand over this rebel to you, in the future, without our permission, this rebel is not allowed to mobilize a single soldier, you take good care of him, if you let him run away, or do something rebellious, you don't have to see me, go back to Anping to protect the ancestral hall, and apologize to the ancestors and ancestors!" ”

Zheng Hongkui sighed in his heart, but he had no choice but to agree.

After Zheng Hongkui escorted Zheng Sen out, Zheng Zhibao and Xiao Gongchen asked Zheng Zhilong to show them, after all, there are still 100,000 troops, and now they are scattered on the vast front at the junction of Nanzhili and Huguang to fight against the Qing army.

Zheng Zhilong looked at Huang Ting, who had not spoken and his face was a little pale, and said tiredly: "You and Liang Li's subordinates are now in Liziguan, right?" ”

"Yes, Dashuai!"

"You immediately return to the army, discuss with Liang Li, and see how to get rid of the entanglement of the Qing army and retreat eastward with your generals and horses. Assemble near Zongyang, I will inform the sailor Shi Fu Department, arrange ships in the area of Yezi Lake, and then return to Fujian along the Yangtze River! ”

"Obey!"

Subsequently, Zheng Zhilong arranged for Xiao Gongchen to replace Zheng Sen, and arranged the retreat and route of his and Zheng Zhibao's soldiers and horses.

After Zheng Zhibao left, Xiao Gongchen deliberately stayed at the end, "Handsome! Mr. Huang Zhao wrote yesterday and entrusted me to ask the commander to show me. Liukou Luo Ru just returned to my Zheng family, and now he is stationed on the front line of Qianshan, what should I do about what to do with them? ”

"What does Huang Zhao mean?" Zheng Zhilong asked rhetorically.

"What Mr. means is that the thief is difficult to change, He Tengjiao recruited Wang Jincai, Ma Jinzhong, Zhang Xianbi, etc. is a lesson from our past, for Luo Rucai, it is best for the handsome to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, and merge the elite of them for my use, and the first evil must be removed!"

Zheng Zhilong thought for a while, but still shook his head. "Huang Zhao's words make sense, but I still want to take another look. Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying's Fifth Battalion of Gezuo is different from the rest of the rogues, and they have been recuperating over the years, and some of them are commendable. Our withdrawal of the army, the space left behind the Qing army is not small, and it is still of great use for Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying to keep it. We don't feel at ease with their tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, but it is extremely suitable to cover our rear wings! ”

Xiao Gongchen's eyes rolled, and he immediately understood Zheng Zhilong's intentions, he wanted to leave Luo Rucai's soldiers and horses as a barrier for Zheng Jun's retreat. On the one hand, Zheng Jun can withdraw without scruples, on the other hand, it is a test for Luo Rucai and his person, if this person can do things honestly and buy time for Zheng Jun's retreat, then this person can also be used in the future, if it is still the old style of the rogue, then it will be thrown directly to the Qing army to be cannon fodder.

"Handsome and high-handed!" Xiao Gongchen said convincingly. (To be continued......)