Nanzhili, Nanjing, Zhujialong Xingding capital. Since the third emperor Zhu Di moved the capital, Nanjing still served as the nominal southern capital of the Ming Dynasty, and even established a set of central government teams exactly like the northern capital Beijing. Then, for more than 200 years, Nanjing became a resettlement and recuperation center for a group of unsuccessful politicians from the north.

Probably Emperor Yongle himself did not expect that the political chess game he left behind would really play a role more than two hundred years later, but whether it was a chessboard or a chess piece, it had long been decayed.

……

On Wednesday, February 24, 1645, the twenty-sixth day of the first month of the first year of the Ming Empire.

In the early spring when the cold air has not faded, the microwave in the Qinhuai River is misty, a number of painting boats float with the stream, and the silk and bamboo piano are gracefully undulating.

Inside a painting boat, a middle-aged man with a long beard in ordinary clothes was staring blankly at the Qinhuai River outside the window, surrounded by several beautifully dressed and delicate courtesans.

On the seats on either side of the middle-aged man, several well-dressed strong men were either respectful or solemn, and they did not squint.

“…… Big brother, the rumors in the DPRK and China are indeed true. Zhao Youheng, the governor of Guangdong, wrote to the imperial court a few months ago, asking for the renewal of the lease of Mifan Hong Kong, and the opening of Songjiang, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou. It's just that the ministers of the court and the central government have a dispute over other matters, and they can't care about the court's approval of this matter......" Immediately below the middle-aged man, Zheng Zhihu's voice was extremely low.

"Hmph, my Zheng family wants to purchase a new battalion for ordnance training, so I have many prevarications, this time I have the means to follow the path of Zhao Youheng, with rhetoric, to lead the Liangguang business and Nanyang merchants into Fujian and Zhejiang, all because my Zheng family is not in my eyes!" Zheng Hongkui is also full of resentment, since he was put on the side by Huamei in the matter of coercing the big man, his hostility towards Huamei can be said to be increasing day by day.

"Yes, there has been a spy return. So far, Mi Yi has garrisoned thousands of troops in Nanyang and Hong Kong, and the number of warships has also increased. Now Mi Yi is pretending to renew the contract for trade and sea aid in the name of the imperial captivity, and wants to use the hand of the imperial court to force into Fujian and Zhejiang, so he has to guard against it! Zheng Zhibao on the side was also muttering.

Zheng Zhilong didn't express his opinion, but turned his head to a thin middle-aged man at the bottom: "Zheng Cai, you just returned from Luzon, everything is going well?" ”

Zheng Cai, who was the worst face in the scene, was asked by Zheng Zhilong at this time, and his mouth was trembling suddenly. I couldn't say a word for a long time.

"Does the Li family have a letter to reply?" Zheng Zhilong probably guessed the name of the name, and frowned.

"The lower officials are guilty, I didn't see Li Guozhu on this trip to Luzon, and I almost didn't even get into the port." Zheng Cai gritted his teeth, and could only bow his head and answer softly, "Only bring back a copy of the document from the Ministry of Customs and Commerce in Manila, Luzon." Luzon claimed to have established a state, and Li Guozhu was the prime minister of the country, and he was busy with official affairs. There is no time to receive us. It is also said that the foreign merchants of the Ming Dynasty all abide by the laws of Luzon and commerce, and if my Zheng family wants to trade with Luzon, they must report to the sea ships and merchants to make a clear list of goods, and make a register to set taxes. In addition, it must be ......"

"Li Guozhu, the older he gets, the more shameless he becomes. Look for death! Before Zheng Cai finished speaking, Zheng Zhihu slammed the wine glass in his hand to the ground, so frightened that all the courtesans hurriedly retreated.

"Second brother don't be in a hurry first, wait for Zheng Cai to finish speaking!" Zheng Zhilong raised a hand. Stopped his brother's rampage.

"In addition, I must also open Fuzhou and Quanzhou merchants in my Zheng family, and allow Luzon to enter Fujian freely. Go to the Zheng family to pay taxes and ...... the market on an equal footing," Zheng Cai said this, and his voice was already inaudible.

"Haha, just Nanyang bandits and businessmen abandon the people, fake the power of Miyi, according to the overseas inch of land, I really think I am a character." Zheng Zhihu, who had already dropped the cup, laughed instead of being angry at this time, "Big brother, this must be Mi Yi's intention behind the scenes!" It was again borrowed from Zhao Youheng's bullshit governor to write to the court, and it was to instigate Li Guozhu Lion to open his mouth. After so many years, it's really crazy to want to go straight to my Zheng family's territory! ”

Quietly looking at the indignant children of the family in the cabin, Zheng Zhilong's face became more and more solemn.

Since the Spanish withdrew, Luzon's current maritime trade is notoriously lively and generous, not to mention the maritime merchants of Liangguang and Fujian, and even the Yan family of the big members have accounted for a lot of oil. But in the past year, Luzon has been very cold about the Zheng family's willingness to trade.

Now in his arms, he carried a letter sent back from Hong Kong by his son Zheng Sen early: Huamei Hong Kong politely rejected the Zheng family's request to purchase heavy artillery under the banner of the imperial court, the reason is that it has not received feedback from the Ming court on the attitude of the Huamei side to renew the lease in Hong Kong as soon as possible, and hopes that the Zheng family can allow the Oriental Union Group to directly open trade routes to Fujian and Zhejiang.

It is not so much that this is pure trade diplomacy, but rather that the Chinese and American sides have begun to openly strengthen their offensive against Zheng Zhilong's sphere of influence, intentionally or unintentionally. Zheng Zhilong himself also smelled a strong yang conspiracy in the process.

Soon after Zhu Youxiang, the Hongguang Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, ascended the throne, Shen Youlong, the governor of Liangguang, returned to his hometown because of the loss of his mother and filial piety. Although Ma Shiying, the first assistant of the cabinet, had long been interested in wooing Zhao Youheng, who held the real power in Guangdong, Zhao Youheng was very cautious about taking sides in politics. In view of the extremely fierce competition for power inside and outside the imperial court, Ma Shiying still used Ding Chukui of his own faction to quickly fill this gap.

A few months ago, Conrad, the governor of Huamei Hong Kong, formally proposed to Zhao Youheng, the governor of Guangdong, the intention to renew the expiring Hong Kong concession. After thinking about it again and again, Zhao Youheng still gave the ball to Nanjing, and took advantage of the situation to make a "foreign alliance with Xibang, internal real state, and northern thief capture", and hoped that the imperial court would pay attention to this opportunity to establish formal official ties with Huamei.

It's a pity that Zhao Youheng has not participated in any party struggle for a long time, whether it is the Ma Shiying faction or the Donglin Party, they are a little absent-minded about Zhao Youheng's mentions, or no one is willing to jump out first. At this juncture, the power struggle in the Southern Ming Dynasty is at a fever pitch, and whoever agrees will be resolutely opposed by the other side.

Compared with Ma Shiying's faction, which blindly fights against differences, the Donglin Party, which has been entrenched in Jiangnan for a long time, is more vigilant, because their understanding of Huamei is not a smear. Many of the Donglin Party's big families in Jiangnan had a lot of dealings with coastal merchants. It's easy to say simple business, but Song Shuhai's statement has an unrealistic feeling after all, and it's not easy to say that it's not impossible to lure a wolf into the house.

In addition, after Zhu Youxiang ascended the throne, there were three incidents one after another: the "Great Compassion Monk Case", the "Fake Prince Case" and the "Tong Concubine Case", and all parties made waves around Zhu Youxiang's legitimacy on the throne. The Nanjing court was in turmoil, and the two sides of the struggle paid very little attention to the matter, so the messenger sent by Conrad, the governor of Hong Kong, waited in Guangzhou for several months. There have been no official responses to any eyebrows.

Huamei has long seemed to be "not cold" to Zheng Zhilong, or the embankment. Zheng Zhilong also watched Huamei's every move along the coast of Daming with great vigilance.

Since the East China Sea crisis more than ten years ago, Zheng Zhilong has ostensibly accepted the so-called "private suspension", but he still stubbornly guards the trade ports of Fujian, Zhejiang and even the Ryukyus and Japan.

On the whole, in addition to the trade with the big officials, who are also friends and enemies, and have mutual needs, the trade between Fujian, Zhejiang's coastal prefectures and counties and Japan is still a "private territory" that the Zheng family cannot splash on their hands.

Even under the influence of butterfly wings. There was room for more commercial competitors to participate in the border sea trade of the Ming Dynasty, but the Zheng family also earned more than three million taels of silver per year from the above-mentioned monopoly territory, which can be described as a rich country, and also raised an army and navy with a total strength of nearly 100,000 troops.

In the past six months, Zheng Sen has mentioned Zheng Zhilong several times, taking the opportunity of the renewal of the Huamei Hong Kong Concession to connect the imperial court with Huamei officials, so that the imperial court can also form a new town of Jiangfang similar to the Guangdong New Army to resist the possible southward advance of the Manchu Qing.

But Zheng Zhilong's attitude is very peculiar. On the one hand, he strongly agrees with his son's point of view, and on the other hand, he has always been "the emperor is newly established, and the state affairs are particularly complicated, and stability should be the priority." Today, he used foreign vassals to interfere in military affairs. The cost is arduous, and there is also a fear of criticism from the DPRK and China. "Prevarication in the past.

Zheng Zhilong himself also did not choose a side between Ma Shiying and the Donglin Party for the time being, and both sides were holding the fire. just said that the Zheng family could set an example first. There is no need to bother with the military department of the imperial court, and a new army commanded by the Zheng family will be reorganized in Fujian alone.

For example, Zheng Sen remains in Hong Kong as an unofficial representative of the Zheng family, in private contact with Huamei officials. But it's clear. Huamei's strategy was to break the status quo, to ask the Zheng family to give up the monopoly and truly open up the maritime trade between Fujian and Zhejiang, and even to bypass the Zheng family to achieve the goal directly from the Southern Ming court.

……

“…… Well, I got it. Exit yells, and have pen, ink, paper, and inkstone be sent. ”

I don't know how long it took, Zheng Zhilong, who had recovered from his contemplation, waved his hand and retreated from everyone, spread out the pen and paper in the empty painting boat, and began to write letters to the Ma Shiying faction and the Donglin Party in Nanjing, who were eager to win over him.

“…… It is heard that Miyi borrowed the border land of the South Seas by the merchants and soldiers, and there were many acts of plundering the sea and killing the people. He also secretly gathered Haikou and slaughtered the Nanyang Malajia vassals, stole his country, and set up a puppet lord Liu Xiang......"

“…… Ordered by Demiyi, Li Guozhu, a bad merchant in the border sea, attacked and occupied the Luzon Islands, slaughtered all the local people, and claimed to be a country in vain, and there was no heavenly empire. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, he robbed, sold or lured, and the good people of Liangguang, Huguang, Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang broke their homes and went to sea, and the behavior was outrageous, and the people's grievances were boiling......

“…… The first emperor remembered that Mi Yi, the relics of the Song Dynasty, was also a Chinese red people, and he took pity on him, and allowed him to live and do business with the grace of Hong Kong. However, after entering the country for several years, he leisurely sailed on the sea, did not worship or worship, and repeatedly broke his word and abandoned tribute. Today, taking advantage of the crisis of the country, Mi Yi got the favor of the governor of Guangdong, and sought progress with his face, and wanted to use the lease period to revise the contract and control the ...... for a long time."

“…… Although the affairs of the South Seas are light and far-reaching, they are also the important tasks of our Ming Dynasty's internal and external defense. Mi Yi is unpredictable, coveting Fujian, Zhejiang, and Nanzhili's heart is clearly revealed, and he cleverly says that he will aid the captives, but in fact he has other plans. If Miyi can enter Fujian, Zhejiang, and Nanzhili, then the East China Sea will be in danger, and Zhao Youheng, the governor of Guangdong, will also be responsible for not observing. The lesson of the woe is still near, and I hope you will ask the public to investigate it carefully......"

not only named Shen Tingyang, the military commander of Qiongzhou, as the first place in the most heinous crimes, but also described Zhao Youheng, the governor of Guangdong, as a dumb official. It took an hour to write before Zheng Zhilong put down the brush. Pinching his wrist and reading the letter with hundreds of words, Zheng Zhilong's eyes suddenly showed a trace of melancholy.

The East China Sea and the South Seas are all enemies in non-Zheng lands. This is probably the point of view that Zheng Zhilong has adhered to since his debut, and passed it on to his son Zheng Sen. The glory of the four generations of the Zheng family in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties took this strategic thinking as the basic starting point.

Since Huamei wants to infringe on the core interests of the Zheng family, and even has the intention of putting military power on the territory of the Zheng family's lair, then this time using the party struggle in Nanjing to attack the officials and businessmen in Qiongzhou is the card played by Zheng Zhilong after careful consideration.

After thinking about it, Zheng Zhilong spread out the new letter again and began to write a letter to his son Zheng Sen, asking him to continue to negotiate with Huamei, clarifying the Zheng family's position in Fujian and Zhejiang: If Huamei forces the Zheng family to be in a hurry, everyone will not want to do business. (To be continued......)