On December 8, 1628, the first day of the winter month of the first year of Chongzhen in the Ming Empire.

The chaotic wind in the strait in winter was much quieter on this day, and a rare thick fog quietly filled the area around Anpingbao on Taiwan Island, and the coastline was blurred in the fog.

In the fog, a small Daming hard sailing ship was cautiously approaching the coastline more than 30 kilometers south of Anpingbao at a speed of less than 2 knots per hour.

After narrowly bypassing a reef, the schooner quietly entered the later "Zuoying Port", which is still a deserted cove. The sailboat lowered its sails again, slowed down again to prevent accidents, and finally anchored a few dozen meters from the shore.

A middle-aged man on the boat lit a torch and shook it desperately into the depths of the fog where it was unseen. Not long after, several small sampans quietly appeared in the fog dozens of meters away, and there were also people shaking torches on the sampans at the head.

"I'm finally back!" The man on the sampan jumped onto the sailboat, and his originally haggard face showed a hint of joy.

"It's hard...... Only one day out of Chaozhou, I met the patrol clipper of the Jin Penghai waterproof division, if it wasn't for the quick reaction of the big guy, turned around and walked in the direction of Guangzhou, and handed some silver to these patrol dogs, it is estimated that it would be exposed! The man on the sailboat smiled bitterly and waved his hand again and again, "No, it's been delayed for another day." ”

"It's good to be back!" The man who greeted him smiled and glanced in the direction of the cabin, "How much food did you buy this time?" ”

"Less than two hundred stones. Zheng Zhilong also has a lot of eyes and ears in Chaozhou, and now he can't report the ticket number for grain trading, and he can't get on the ship at all, but thanks to the previous few wives, he paid three taels and five dollars of silver for a stone of rice. Zheng Zhilong, the dog, wants to starve us to death! ”

"Hey, third. Why did you hang the lottery? After saying the whole thing, the sailing man suddenly reached out and pulled his companion's shoulder, and the result was that this excessive movement made the other party show a painful expression.

"Don't mention it, Lin Laoqi, the guy who eats inside and out, pulled some people and went out of the castle!" The sampan man lowered his head and looked at the sea, with a gloomy expression on his face, "A few days ago, more than 100 people betrayed again. The big boss killed a few. But it can't stop ......."

Speaking of which, the sailors on the sailboat and the sampan all showed complicated expressions, it seems that the Yan family has begun to show signs of instability even with their old foundation, and if it continues like this, it may not be Zheng Zhilong's turn to launch a general attack, and this Anping Fort will collapse by itself.

"Cheer up, brethren, quickly. Move the grain down! ”

Putting aside the distractions, after the sampan man let out a shout, several sampans leaned over one after another. At present, we will not talk about anything, but we will first solve the problem of eating in Anpingbao.

Bags of heavy grain were moved to the sampan by the ragged sailors. It was impossible to carry it all in one trip, so the small sampan laden with grain quietly disappeared into the thick fog and headed towards the shore......

……

After nearly a year of blockade, the grain reserves of Fort Anping and Fort Tamsui have bottomed out. Including the subordinates of the Yan family soldiers and the displaced people, nearly 30,000 people on the island fell into a desperate situation in an instant. At the beginning, Yan Sihai could still rely on force to suppress all kinds of careful thoughts. But with the advent of the food crisis, not only the ordinary people on the island suffered, but also many subordinates who were recruited in the middle and late stages also had problems.

Since the large-scale rebellion set off by Guo Huaiyi and Yang Liu at the beginning of the year, almost every month, desperate people have stolen ships to flee from Anping or Tamsui Fort. This will inevitably lead to successive internal armed conflicts, which will continue to deplete the already deprived of food, men, and ordnance.

Almost all the surrounding forces were controlled by Zheng Zhilong, and in order to survive, Yan Sihai had to let the henchmen of the Yan family take extremely high risks to travel back and forth to Chaozhou, smuggling all kinds of materials, especially food. According to Yan Sihai's tone, the entire senior must persist until the second year of Chongzhen before it is possible to get external help.

This statement can only appease the old team of the Yan family, but now there is a split among even the henchmen of the old foundation, and for those new subordinates who are already panicking, there is no point in even quenching the thirst of Wangmei. Internal and external troubles, desperate, probably a true portrayal of today's Yan family.

Whether the seventh uncle can reach Huamei in Shun, and whether the Yan family can persuade that Mr. Yan to ask for help, what the future really is, even Yan Sihai himself can't be sure, and the people below are even more at a loss.

……

Dozens of nautical miles northwest of Anping Fort, on the Penghu Islands guarding the strait, several patrol and defense fast ships of the "Jin Penghai Waterproof Division" are raising their sails and going out to sea, and nearly 100 warships of all sizes are moored in the harbor, and two large flags are hung on a newly built military fort in the Magong Port area in later generations, one of which has a big "Zheng" character rusted on it, and about two or three thousand Ming troops are unhurriedly training or resting inside and outside the military fort.

A group of Ming officers was slowly walking in a training camp outside the military fort, and at the head was a white-faced young general wearing armor, who was not yet thirty years old, but a small whisker deliberately growing on his chin made this person look precocious and old.

In the sound of cheering, groups of young people with thin bodies who had not yet put on the familiar mandarin duck jackets of the Ming Dynasty were boxing, and a number of fierce small military schools were constantly kicking and beating in the crowd.

"Big brother, Lord Xiong, the governor of Fujian, has come to the document again, asking when we will send troops to Anping Fort."

Behind the young general, followed by a young man with a big waist and a round tiger's back, he asked softly and respectfully. But no matter how you look at it, I don't think this person should be younger than the young general. This young man is Zheng Zhilong's eldest brother, Zheng Zhihu, who is much more imposing than his brother Zheng Zhilong, he is only 22 years old this year, but now he has officially worshiped Jin Penghai Waterproofing Master.

"Someone replied to a letter to the governor, now that it is winter, the weather is disordered, the wind is high and the waves are urgent, and it is not easy for the ships to cross the sea and fight. It is only necessary to strictly guard the sea lane, trap Yan Sihai, and wait for the training of the soldiers after the beginning of spring, and then march to discuss. ”

Zheng Zhilong waved his hand nonchalantly, and several newly recruited staff members behind him suddenly showed joy, all of them wanted to compete for the writing of this Jin Peng coastal defense staff general who was now red and purple in Fujian.

As he was explaining, he suddenly saw a thin young man dressed as a businessman hurrying in front of him, and Zheng Zhilong's eyes couldn't help but narrow. The person who came was Zheng Cai, a fellow villager who defected to him a few years ago, and the "external housekeeper" of the Zheng family today.

"General Qiyu, someone has defected to Kinmen......"

Zheng Cai, who was as thin as a hemp stick, bowed respectfully, and then muttered in Zheng Zhilong's ear.

"From Dongfan Island again?" A strong sea breeze blew. Zheng Zhilong protected his helmet and asked casually, "It's still the same thing, settle down with you first." ”

"It's not a subordinate of the Yan family, it's Liu Xiang's ......" Zheng Cai's voice was lowered a lot, and he secretly looked at a number of staff generals behind Zheng Zhilong.

"Oh? Liu Xiang...... Go back to the fort and talk about it! Zheng Zhilong was also stunned, but quickly recovered his demeanor, and after saying hello to Zheng Zhihu and the others who were following closely beside him, he walked towards the military fort accompanied by Zheng Cai.

……

"Liu Xiang was exterminated by Huamei? Can you verify this information?! "In the inner hall. Zheng Zhilong stood up and walked back and forth in the hall, with a subtle sneer on his face, "Although Liu Xiang is a bully and afraid of evil, he is also a big thorn in the face that is difficult to provoke, and Taixi Fanyi is still afraid of him......"

"They are all from Nanyang Wuxia Island, and there is my family in Liu Xiang's department to explore, there will be no falsehood! This time, more than 100 remnants of the army took refuge in the general, and all the people said it. They have no courage to spread the word. Recently, there are similar rumors among the Fujian and Guangdong maritime merchants who have returned from Manchuria. Zheng Cai's words were convincing, and there was a hint of worry in his eyes, "However." Hearing that the Chinese and American soldiers claimed to crusade against the Dutch in Nanyang this time, there was not a single mention of Dongfan Island in their words. ”

"What a beautiful country in the West Sea, as soon as it came, it destroyed Liu Xiang and cut off the trade routes of the Netherlands?! Such fanfare came and stopped in the South Seas. Is it really going for the Dutch Fanyi? Zheng Zhilong frowned slightly, returned to the bookcase, and carefully looked at a "abstract" chart on the table.

This is a Western-style nautical chart taken from the Portuguese. Zheng Zhilong replaced a number of place names with brush characters, and I saw that in the depths of the South China Sea, a small island with an unclear outline was written with the words Wuxiyu Island. The rough and rough ratio measured the lower scale, and the distance from Penghu is at least 6,000 miles or more.

In addition to the curious literati, from the traditional perspective of the Ming Dynasty, things at this distance are basically things that you never have to think about. The great sin of non-death, "flowing for three thousand miles" is already an unacceptable remote place, not to mention the Nanyang that is thousands of miles away from the cliff?

But for people like Zheng Zhilong, who has been on the open sea for many years, this distance is just a month's voyage of a sea ship. Zheng Zhilong had already planned for a long time, and when the affairs of the Daming East China Sea came to an end, he would further cooperate with the Dutch, gradually infiltrate Luzon and the South Seas, and finally hold the entire Daming coast in his own hands. And Liu Xiang is the first target to be operated on in Nanyang in the future, but now he has killed Liu Xiang halfway and biting the gold.

"After investigation, the Dutch merchant has not seen the north for more than a month, and I am afraid that there are really variables in the South Seas. General, there are still hundreds of displaced people left in Kinmen, and if this Dutch ship does not come, what should be done with it? The boss was looking at the map and pondering, and Zheng Cai couldn't help but muttered softly on the side.

"Let's press this matter for the time being, and we will decide after the reason is clarified." Touching the map, he didn't pay attention to Zheng Cai's question, but Zheng Zhilong suddenly remembered another old thing, "I remember that a few years ago, there was a secret agent who sent a message, and some of the Yan family's henchmen and family members went to sea, but now there is a following?" ”

"At the beginning, there were also internal agents who followed, but there has been no reply from the secret letter for several years, and the news is unknown......" Zheng Cai remembered the secret agent he had ordered to be placed in Macau and Dayuan Anping Fort, and hurriedly replied.

"Well, you should return to Kinmen as soon as possible, settle these people properly, and put them into the fleet for the time being. Others were sent to try to go to Macao and Nanyang as soon as possible to investigate, so as not to be alarmed. Zheng Zhilong thought for a while, and pressed some doubts in his heart, so that Zheng Cai could only continue to collect clearer information.

Zheng Cai left, the inner hall was quiet, only Zheng Zhilong was still sitting behind the bookcase and pondering.

The three holes of the cunning rabbit, Zheng Zhilong felt that he had actually done a lot. Now several wives and concubines are scattered with their children in Nagasaki, Ryukyu and other parts of the mainland, and even their younger brother Zheng Zhihu may not know the specific location, in order to prevent accidents one day.

The Yan family is a typical example, and now Yan Siqi, the "deputy general of the big man" who once crossed the East China Sea, not only lost his life, but his subordinates also comically became "Dongfan Island Yikou", and was abandoned by the entire Ming court. However, thinking that Yan Siqi had done the same thing silently a few years ago, Zheng Zhilong still secretly admired.

In fact, Zheng Zhilong thought that he did not kill the Yan family, and even played the game of "catching seven and letting go of three" very "cooperatively". Dayuan Island is short of food and medicine under the blockade on the surface, but there will always be a few ships that smuggle materials at some point and still "leak" out.

Zheng Zhilong has already grasped the key point of Penghu, but he is not like the Yan family at this time, "ignorant of good and bad" to occupy Dayuan Island at the same time, so that the imperial court and a large number of Fujian and Zhejiang maritime merchants with a background are like a fish in the throat, but he also covets this excellent overseas land that was initially developed by Yan Siqi.

If you don't do it for three months, you can do it for a If it doesn't work for two years, the Yan family will finally be separated in a trapped and immortal situation, and they have to completely bow down and become their pawns, and the Ming court will not dare to unload the grinding and kill the donkey, which is the best result in Zheng Zhilong's heart.

Slowly getting up, he walked to the bookshelf, and took a crystal clear glass wine vessel, and the streamer rippled over the young general's face. Looking at the other direction of the bookshelf, there were a variety of exquisite and gorgeous seafood in front of him, and Zheng Zhilong felt a little uneasy in his heart.

“…… Fujian Jin Penghai waterproof division staff general Zheng Zhilong worshipped. Remembering the years of ...... under the guidance of his mentor"

After thinking for nearly half an hour, Zheng Zhilong finally spread out his pen and paper and began to write a letter to his "mentor", Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan. The main point of the letter is that he hopes that Xiong Wencan will be able to communicate with the military department and allocate to himself the warships of the Xiamen Beishui Battalion, which belongs to the general of the Quanzhou South Road in Fujian, so as to strengthen the military superiority over the Yan family in the coming year.

The hundred-year sea ban has caused the Ming Empire to lose a lot of maritime military strength, but the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and after the 16th century. Due to the harassment of the Japanese pirates, the construction of the Ming Empire's maritime power underwent another small rebound. The Daming Naval Division, which is now deployed on the coast of Fujian and Zhejiang, in addition to the rotten officers and soldiers, still has a bit of momentum in its hardware level.

Although several Western-style sailing boats of the Dutch were imitated one after another. But now the Zheng family's maritime power is still dominated by small and medium-sized hard-sail warships, so if you really want to fight to the death with the big ships of the Yan family equipped with gorgeous heavy artillery, it may not be able to please you. It was Zheng Zhilong's idea to obtain the batch of thousand-material large warships of the Xiamen Beishui Battalion, which had basically lost their combat effectiveness.

Originally, Zheng Zhilong planned to live in a few more years. Wait for the Xiamen Beishui Camp to be completely infiltrated by himself before starting, but now, it seems that there is some crisis that prompts him to bite the bullet and find Xiong Wencan directly.

Look at the fresh ink. Zheng Zhilong, who put down the pen, sighed softly.

……

After Zheng Zhilong joined the Ming court, it was naturally a whitewashing image, but the ambition was not only in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong still retained most of the "overseas industries", acting as a private signboard for the Zheng family to control the border sea trade of the Ming Dynasty, and was specifically responsible for the maritime smuggling trade of the Zheng family's "integration of merchants and bandits".

In the Zheng family group, which has a strong atmosphere of clan and neighborhood, Zheng Cai, who also has a surname Zheng, is not Zheng Zhilong's kinship, but with his delicate mind, sleek image and style of daring to fight at critical moments, Zheng Cai took over the heavy responsibility given by Zheng Zhilong within a few years.

For the Zheng family group to continue to operate in the civil and underworld, control the Ming maritime business, and manage the Zheng family's coastal ear and eye intelligence network, which is the identity role assigned by Zheng Zhilong for Zheng Cai.

Especially in the past year, the Yan family has fallen, and the power of the maritime merchants on the border of the Ming Dynasty has fluctuated, and Zheng Cai relied on the strong military support of the Zheng Zhilong sea waterproof division behind him, and quickly squeezed out and occupied the maritime trade hegemony that originally belonged to the Yan family. Zheng Cai even whimsically "issued" a unique kind of merchant ship "ticket flag" in the coastal area from Fujian to Zhejiang, and the maritime merchants who did not have this kind of ticket flag were not only difficult to buy and sell, but also blocked and interrogated by the Fujian Jin Penghai waterproof division, and even attacked by pirates who Zheng Cai privately controlled.

All of a sudden, the shipping lanes from the coast of the Ming Dynasty, Fujian and Zhejiang to Ryukyu and Japan were almost completely monopolized by the Zheng family. Not to mention that a large amount of trade between the Ming Dynasty and Japan was privately monopolized by the Zheng family's fleet, and in the past year, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver have been collected from maritime merchants just by selling "ticket flags".

As for the Ming Dynasty, basically the eyes of these mainland officials stopped when they reached the coastline, and the world beyond the coastline was not what they cared about at all. People who can think of certain levels are not capable of interfering with these. Therefore, Zheng Zhilong's black-and-white behavior is basically unrestrained.

There were literary and artistic young people such as Fujian Inspector Yushi who wrote to Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty and launched an impeachment against Zheng Zhilong, the reason being that "coastal defense, preparation and Japanese armies use flags to award ships for private purposes, and those without flags are either detained or plundered, and the merchants and people are like this, which is the wonder of the Fujian Sea in the past hundred years." ”

However, Xiong Wencan, the governor of Fujian who personally appeased Zheng Zhilong, gave a reply to the court bigwigs and Emperor Chongzhen with a more weighty recital: "The Japanese and Dongfan Island thieves mingled in the border sea, plundered and disturbed the trade routes, and sold private and adulterous people. During the period of heavy duty to suppress the bandits, those who traveled to and from the sea route without a coastal defense flag were all suspected of collaborating and detained for investigation in order to prohibit the thieves. This must not be taken as a solution, and it can only be done when the situation is calmed down. ”

When the Donglin Party had not completely occupied the imperial court and did not regard Xiong Wencan as an enemy, Xiong Wencan was still quite talented in the eyes of Chongzhen, and this explanation was reasonable. (To be continued......)