Zheng Hongkui told his two sons in detail, "If the sailor wants to go north, you brothers must not board the ship together, if you go south, there is no need!" ”

Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian brothers bowed down to receive the order. This time, the faces of the two brothers changed in unison.

"Isn't my father optimistic about the naval battle with the Three Guards Naval Division?"

The two brothers asked almost in unison. Zheng Hongkui said in a sullen voice when he heard this: "You have all forgotten the loss that your father suffered at the hands of Li Xin?" ”

Zheng Hongkui's tone was heavy and a little majestic, the two brothers knew that this was a scar in their father's heart, and they didn't dare to ask at will, so they didn't know how their father lost all the ships in Hangzhou. However, Zheng Hongkui was well-known for his bravery and good fighting among the Zheng family's sailors, so his solemn admonition was not completely deaf to the two brothers.

"My son wrote it down!"

The two brothers spoke almost in unison. Zheng Lian's expression changed slightly, and just as his mouth was about to move, he was grabbed by the eldest brother next to him.

"If the father does not have any other orders, the sons will retire and not disturb the father's rest."

After obtaining Zheng Hongkui's permission, Zheng Cai dragged Zheng Lian, who still wanted to say a few words, out of Zheng Hongkui's study.

It wasn't until he got out of the courtyard that Zheng Lian broke free from the drag of his eldest brother, and said angrily: "Eldest brother, what are you dragging me for?" Father is obviously prejudiced against the eldest uncle, our Zheng family sailor is invincible on the seaside, how dare he say defeat? You, why didn't you let me say it! ”

Zheng Cai said coldly: "What did you say? Say that the Three Guards are vulnerable, and say that the shame of my father's defeat? ”

"You, you, this ......"

Zheng Lian opened his mouth and stammered, yes, how can he fight, can he poke his scars with his father's failure? However, Zheng Lian soon realized the crux of the problem, "My father's judgment is wrong, can't I point it out?" If you miss an opportunity, won't you regret it? ”

At this time, Zheng Cai's complexion returned to peace.

"Father's judgment is not wrong, not all the eggs are put in one basket, and if the basket rots in the future, the eggs will not be burned together, understand?"

The two brothers argued a few more words, and in the end Zheng Lian was not fully persuaded by Zheng Cai, but although Zheng Lian didn't want to admit it, he still agreed with his eldest brother in his heart, and the egg can't rot in one basket. It's just that he still insisted.

Until the two sons left the mansion and returned to the barracks, Zheng Hongkui called the old housekeeper.

"You can do this matter personally, close all the big and small doors in the house, and no one is allowed to enter and leave without the old man's military order!"

The old housekeeper knew that his master had a secret matter to discuss, so he bowed down solemnly and received the order.

"The old servant has written it down!"

After a while, a family member brought in a mysterious person dressed as a family member. However, Zheng Hongkui did not treat him as a family member, but bowed to this person.

"Secret envoy, please take a seat, please ask the town captive Marquis how he is doing!"

The mysterious man didn't take a seat, he just stood in place, and replied in a steady tone: "You don't have to be polite to the military gate, you can eat in the house with your current identity, it's not appropriate to take a seat rashly, let's get to the point as soon as possible!" ”

Seeing the lukewarm attitude of the mysterious man, Zheng Hongkui no longer insisted, so he calmly asked: "What does the secret envoy want to know, Zheng knows everything, and he has nothing to say." ”

At the same time, Zheng Hongkui also took out a letter sealed with fire paint from his arms and handed it over with both hands.

"This is the information that Zheng has collected recently, and I also ask the secret envoy to forward it to the Marquis of Zhenyu for reading!"

The secret envoy took the official document from Zheng Hongkui's hand, quickly put it into his arms, and then asked straight to the point: "When I came, the Marquis of Zhenyu once confessed that he must find out the whereabouts of Zhang Yingguan, I wonder if Zheng Junmen has any definite information to provide?" ”

Zheng Hongkui had long known that this secret envoy was going to ask about Shao Wu's victory, and he had done a lot of work for this before, so he hurriedly said: "Zheng Zhilong has kept the news tightly sealed until now, and the information that can be obtained from public channels is very limited. ”

The mysterious man's brow furrowed imperceptibly.

"Isn't there any other way to find out?"

Zheng Hongkui was waiting for him to ask such a question, so he smiled: "Zheng naturally has his own channels to know, and he can't guarantee 100% accuracy. Nine is not far from ten. Zheng Hongkui's verbosity made the mysterious man impatient for a while, but this time he didn't continue to urge, although his brows were visibly furrowed, he still quietly waited for him to say the answer he wanted to know.

"What can be clearly known now is that Shi Kefa's entire army was annihilated, Shi Kefa himself is missing, and his life and death are unknown. Zheng Sen's men did not find any real ...... about this man on the battlefield."

"I don't know if Zhang Shiying's official has a real whereabouts?" The mysterious man couldn't help it, and interrupted Zheng Hongkui's rambling ramblings, he went deep into Fujian this time, not to find out the news of Shi Kefa, he wanted to know what the situation of the Three Guards was.

Now the border between Shaowu and Jiangxi is full of Zheng Sen's blockade, and Jiangxi has sent people to go there several times but there is no return, so he desperately exposed the danger of his identity and personally came to Zheng Hongkui's mansion to inquire about the news. As for whether the information provided by Zheng Hongkui himself is credible, this is another matter.

Zheng Hongkui pondered, and his face gradually became solemn.

"Zheng speculates that at least six or seven percent of the content about the Three Guards in Zheng Senjie's report is false!" He saw the mysterious man's eyebrows change, and knew what he wanted to ask, so he explained: "This is not Zheng's speculation. Although Zheng has now lost his position, he still has some eyeliner in the army, and someone sent back the news yesterday, saying that Zheng Sen led the troops in Jianning and Taining for two consecutive days, and the losses were quite light. Judging by the secret envoys, what does this mean? ”

Sure enough, Zheng Hongkui's words made a trace of excitement flow in the mysterious man's eyes, but then it dimmed again, and he only sighed.

"After all, it's just speculation, Zheng Sen's men and horses wiped out the rebels of Shi Kefa's department and Huaiwang's department, at least it is generally credible."

This is the mysterious man's own judgment, Zheng Hongkui also agrees with this judgment, Zheng Sen can't lie about all the military information, the fiasco of Shi Kefa's department is a certainty, after all, the miserable situation of Yingye is real, and his henchman Ding has witnessed it with his own eyes.

However, Zheng Hongkui is very confident in his judgment, and further said:

"There is a piece of news that the secret envoy doesn't know yet, Zheng Zhilong has already transferred Zheng Sen back to Anping four times, guess what? Zheng Sen rejected on four occasions for various reasons. Just this afternoon, he also refused Zheng Zhilong's order on the grounds of guarding against the three guards' big whistleblower. ”

The mysterious man sneered, "Zheng Sen's concerns are right, the Three Guards will retaliate sooner or later!" ”

Zheng Hongkui continued: "The point is not here, but why Zheng Sen repeatedly refuses to return to Anping!" ”

Based on Zheng Hongkui's understanding of Zheng Sen and his person, he is not a person who is not proud of his achievements, and with such great achievements, he is still willing to live in the deep mountains and dense forests, responsible for the security of the border, which is very abnormal with his character. If in the past, he would have returned to Anping a long time ago and accepted the bows and worship of all parties, how could he not even take half of the credit as he does today?

After listening to Zheng Hongkui's analysis, the mysterious man also felt a little reasonable, so he asked again: "Based on what Zheng Junmen saw, the reason why Zheng Sen didn't dare to return to Anping easily was because Zhang Yingguan was still in Shaowu?" ”

Zheng Hongkui replied solemnly: "It can only be so, otherwise looking at Fujian, no one will hinder the footsteps of this Zheng Dagongzi." At this point, his eyes were full of disdain and mockery. It's just that these disdains and mockery, the mysterious man can see clearly, and it is clearly aimed at Zheng Sen. The mysterious person doesn't know how deep Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Sen's father and son are, but this is always a joy to see by the Three Guards. The more contradictions between the Zheng brothers and nephews, the more they have a gap to take advantage of.

The mysterious man smiled indifferently and made a rare joke: "It seems that this Zheng Dagongzi is still a great figure!" ”

Zheng Hongkui nodded, and immediately shook his head, "Yes and no, although Zheng Sen is so happy, his ability is unsurpassed in the Zheng family, especially his tough and spicy character, even my eldest brother has to bow down." ”

Although Zheng Hongkui's attitude towards Zheng Sen was full of ridicule and dissatisfaction, there were many praises for his ability, which made the mysterious man frown.

"According to Zheng Junmen's meaning, this Zheng Sen will really be a strong opponent of my Three Guards in the future?"

Zheng Hongkui was noncommittal, but suddenly replied to the question.

"Can the secret envoy know that Fujian is now moving people to Taiwan on a large scale?"

The mystery man shook his head, these things were not his concern.

"These are all promoted by Zheng Sen, and those who respond to the relocation will be rewarded with ten taels of silver and a corresponding amount of land after arriving on the island."

When the mysterious man heard this, he said, "This is a good thing! Taiwan is the southeast gateway of China, and it is a problem of elbows and armpits in the hands of Westerners after all, and Zheng Sen is also far-sighted when he knows that immigrants expand his territory. ”

Zheng Hongkui snorted: "The secret envoy praised it, the reason why Zheng Sen did this is actually to leave a way back for the Zheng family!" In case Fujian is not guaranteed, it can temporarily retreat to the island in the future, and these people who have migrated in large numbers are the foundation for establishing a country. Moreover, this island can be attacked, retreated and defended, and choked the communication throat between the Japanese and the southern seas, it is really a rare treasure......"

This time the mysterious man stopped talking, as if pondering something. Zheng Hongkui said again: "Zheng said this, not to prove that Zheng Sen and his people have pessimistic expectations about the prospects of the Zheng family, but to show that this person did not think about victory and first thought about defeat, and he is really a fierce opponent that must not be underestimated." ”

The mysterious man suddenly sneered: "How about the rival? In front of the Marquis of Zhen, he can only retreat!"