At the mention of the name "Zheng Xian", Zheng Zhilong was extremely sensitive, and rejected Zheng Shisen's proposal to let him "do filial piety before his knees".

Who is Zheng Xian? It turned out that this Zheng Xian, also known as Tagawa Nanazaemon, or "Tagawa Jiro Saemon". Where does "Jiro" come from? Because, he is the second! The boss is the famous King of Haicheng in the Qing Dynasty, Zheng Shisen!

After Zheng Zhilong and Yan Siqi fled Japan, they still often traveled between Taiwan and Nagasaki, Japan, and returned to Japan to visit Tagawa within seven years. So, at the end of the year when Zheng Chenggong returned to China in the third year of Chongzhen (1630), the Tagawa clan once again gave birth to a second son for Zheng Zhilong in Japan, named Zheng Shen. In order to avoid people's eyes, Zheng Zhilong passed his second son Zheng Zhen to his wife's Japanese maiden family Tagawa, who ranked seventh among his peers, so his nickname was "Tagawa Jiro Saemon", and followed the Zheng family, and the big name was "Tagawa Seven Saemon", which followed the Tagawa family.

Until the autumn of the second year of Shunzhi (1645, the first year of the Southern Ming Dynasty), when Nanzaemon was fifteen years old, Zheng Zhilong once again sent someone to pick up Tagawa's mother and son who were stranded in Japan to return to China for reunion, but was obstructed by the Japanese side. But Tagawa weighed the pros and cons, remembering that when her husband and son's careers were still developing, she needed to wait for the morning and dusk, and when she couldn't seek perfection, she put the overall situation first, endured the pain and cut her love, and came to China alone.

"Father, please think twice!" Hearing that, Zheng Zhilong refused without asking. Zheng Shisen, who did not give up, hurriedly pleaded.

"Father, it's not easy for the second brother to ......" Zheng Shizhong, who is ranked second in the "official sequence", also hurriedly persuaded his father to consciously give up the position of the second brother to the "second brother of Japan" who had never met.

"Father, Zheng Zhen is alone, and he has lost his biological mother like a child, and only his father is an adult!" Zheng Shisen was sad and sorrowful, and tears came out of his eyes.

Zheng Zhilong also looked like a relative, and did not speak. Seeing this scene, Zheng Shisen stopped his tears with interest, and then told a story from the past to impress his father.

"Father, the first year of Longwu. The mother set off to return home from the mud [Hongyi himself according to the little Japanese transliteration]. Before leaving. With tears in her eyes, she repeatedly told Jiro, who was going to live alone with our grandfather, 'Woohoo, I'm going to die!' I pity my father and my brother, and I pity my son. At that age, a number of gold were entrusted to merchant ships to send children. Alack. I'm going to die! Though. Don't forget your father and brother, and don't forget the China where your mother is going. If I go, I will die. Don't worry! 'Mother's righteousness, Father! ”

Zheng Shisen's words have two disobedience, one is that as the king of Haicheng in the Great Qing Dynasty, he used the era name of "the first year of Longwu" in the Southern Ming Dynasty, but abandoned the era name of "the second year of Shunzhi in the Great Qing Dynasty"; The second is not to use "biological mother", but to use the word "mother" to call Tagawa! Despite this, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Shizhong turned a deaf ear and did not entangle.

"What is especially commendable about my father and mother is that the timing and purpose of her choice to leave Japan and return to Japan are not because her husband and children are expensive and can enjoy glory and wealth. When my mother was in Japan, she already knew that the Ming court had been overthrown, the Qing Dynasty had set its capital in Beijing, the Qing army had driven south, and the Hongguang dynasty in Nanjing had been destroyed. At this critical juncture, she still resolutely left Hirado's mother's house, ignored the young Jiro, and came to China alone, just to go to the national disaster with her father! ”

"How can a Father forget? At the beginning of my career, I sewed for others to make ends meet. Back then, I saved three dollars and sewed them into the collar of my shirt thinking it was urgent, but I accidentally lost it. He wandered at the intersection for his father, and wept because he couldn't ask for it. Your biological mother Matsuko saw it and asked, and I told her why. But your mother said, 'With your strength, three million is like a mustard, so why is it three dollars?' I thanked her for her encouragement, and then I worked hard to achieve great things! ”

Zheng Zhilong was reminded of an unforgettable past, and a little tear unconsciously turned in his eyes. It's not a polite affair with King An, it's true - Zheng Zhilong won the kind-hearted Japanese girl Tagawa Matsuko, which ended his down-and-out career and became the starting point of his career. In this way, the Tagawa clan has since assisted Zheng Zhilong in establishing the foundation of the Zheng family's maritime merchant family.

Zheng Zhilong, encouraged by the words of the Tagawa clan, "With your strength, three million is like a mustard", he began to make friends with Chinese living in Japan, the most important of which were Li Dan and Yan Siqi. Later, the Zheng maritime merchant family traded between the East and the West, and had the closest relationship with Japan. And the Tagawa family is the key to forming and promoting the intimate relationship between Zheng Il. Tagawa's father, Emperor Weng Yihuang, was a wealthy scholar in Japan at the time, with status and respect. Zheng Zhilong touched the light of his father-in-law and was respected as "the old official of Hirado". For this reason, he "began to pass through the king of Nagasaki", "the king regained his love", and "made Shiryu dominate,...... Come to Fujian and Zhejiang for mutual exchange".

At that time, the Japanese came to China to trade, and they had to rely on Zheng Zhilong's assistance. "Nagasaki Yin Weizhi Zhengzhi and Zhilong are pro-family, so Zhengzhi sent people to trade Zhangzhou, and he must pass through Taiwan on the way." Zheng Zhilong's friendship with Nagasaki Yin created favorable conditions for the development of trade with Japan. According to the Japanese people, Zhilong "Taiwan's merchant ships are old in the country, and when Zheng Chenggong took it for granted". By the time of Zheng Jing, the Dongning ship and the Jinshe ship went to Japan every year, and they were endless at sea. The Zheng merchant ships traded in Japan and were quite popular with people from all walks of life and people in the government and the opposition, which was not possible for Western merchants.

The friendly relationship between the Zheng clan and Japan began with the union of Zheng Zhilong and the Tagawa clan, and the Tagawa clan gave birth to Zheng Chenggong, and the friendly relationship was further strengthened. In order to show friendship, the Japanese shogunate, which was forced to be helpless, finally broke the example of "those who are suitable for China without women", and in October of the first year of Longwu, they sent an envoy to escort Tagawa to Anping, and "the makeup was very prosperous". This incident aroused the attention and gratitude of Emperor Longwu and Zheng Zhilong, and they sent Huang Zhengming to send the letter of state, Zhilong's letters, and rituals to Japan, express friendship, carry out diplomatic relations, and ask the Japanese government to support the anti-Qing Dynasty. Later, due to the surrender of Zhilong, Japan did not reply to this.

After the death of his mother, Jiro was as grief-stricken as his son. He wrote to the Edo shogunate, asking him to return to the country and kill his son, trying to destroy the Qing Dynasty to avenge the blood and revenge. When my father was taken captive to the north, I didn't know anything. After that, Jiro wrote to me many times. asked to return to China to resist the Qing Dynasty, and he also restored his son Dao Shun's surname to Zheng, and he also wanted to return to the country with him to resist the Qing Dynasty! ”

"Zheng Daoshun? Zhen'er also has a son...... Is Shun'er younger than Jin'er [Zheng Jing]? Zheng Zhilong, who was scheming, sleek and sophisticated, suddenly asked about the situation of his Japanese grandson, so as to interrupt the repeated "anti-Qing" remarks of King Haicheng of the Great Qing Dynasty.

"Father, Shun'er is six years younger than Jin'er, and now he is also an eight-year-old boy, so he can serve in the army." Zheng Shisen reluctantly replied, and put down his words for the time being.

"Serving in the army? Shun'er is young. However, at this time, following the boat at sea, you can have more experience. Zheng Zhilong meaningfully denied the idea of his eldest son.

"Sailing on the sea? Father's meaning is ......"

"It's to let him and Xian'er stay in Japan and learn more about the great cause of maritime commerce!" King Tong'an replied with great certainty.

"Father. This ......," Zheng Shisen understood. It turned out that Dad didn't want Zheng Xian's father and son to return to China at all!

"Sen'er, Shicai said for my father that without maritime merchants, you and I, father and son, would be nothing. You can't do anything. DID YOU KNOW? Zheng Zhilong finally got his wish and brought the topic back to his interest.

"But father. No matter how big the maritime business is, I will still be the son of the Han family! Zheng Shisen just didn't fall into the trap and pulled it back.

"Alas! Why don't you understand the painstaking work of being a father? King Tong'an sighed. began to persuade the king of Haicheng in the Qing Dynasty.

"Why did my father have to return to the former Ming court? Have you ever wondered? ”

"Practice righteousness and resist foreign aggression!"

"Not bad. But these are all said to people above the court, just like the people of the zodiac Zhou. I'll tell you the most fundamental words......" Zheng Zhilong took a sip of tea and said earnestly:

"Maritime business is very profitable, and it is true that this matter is true. However, without the full support of the imperial court, how could we take over the trade goods that we brought back to China by sea from Japan and the South Seas? If you can't sell it, a million profits will become turbid, and there will be no profits, right? ”

"This ......"

"You must not forget the past before the opening of the sea in Longwu, and you must remember it vividly. Without the approval of the imperial court, the maritime merchants can only be pirates forever, and they can only make trivial and petty fights. This is also the inevitable outcome of Liu Xiang's generation who don't know the overall situation, are stupid until death, and want to disobey the imperial court! ”

"Son, remember!" The smart Zheng Shizhong couldn't reach an agreement with his eldest brother, so he hurried to make peace first.

"Being a father is different, being the chief military officer of Fujian, in fact, is to carry out maritime trade with great fanfare and fairness, sell all the goods from the north and south to the mainland, and let those official eunuchs obediently give us a lot of silver. Without this, how have you confronted the Qing Dynasty in recent years, and how can you crown the king of Yanping and the king of Haicheng? ”

"Father......" Zheng Shisen had no choice but to admit this reality and called out the official title. King Tong'an didn't correct it this time, and continued to talk to himself.

"It is true that the Dutch are indeed hateful to defend against foreign aggression, and whether it is tolerable or unbearable to prevail and show off their might on our seas? But let me tell you, there's something else behind it! Zheng Zhilong knew that his son Zheng Shisen must understand the mystery, but not to mention it was not enough to wake him up!

"If Japan and the South Seas trade are controlled by the red hair, what is the use of us in maritime commerce? The Japanese shogunate only allowed trade with the Netherlands, but we also traveled unimpeded, didn't our Zheng family bring the Central Plains products to their various generals and daimyos, which were more abundant than the Dutch? ”

"The Dutch is not popular, we are not afraid of him, and there is a steady stream of Spanish and Portuguese arms from Macau behind him! Come to the soft one, we will knock him on a bamboo pole by the way, and obediently use it to buy road money, those road guide tickets, enough for the Dutch to eat and walk! In this way, killing two birds with one stone! The Dutch will never be able to do much on our seas, they will never be rich, but they will not work for nothing, something is better than nothing, and they can only do so. ”

"Father's foresight!" Zheng Shizhong once again reminded his eldest brother with words and eyes at the same time.

"Father is ...... smart" Zheng Shisen had to admit it, and praised in Japanese in his heart: Bagaya Road! The old man is cunning and cunning, and he is cunning in a big drop!

"However, in the past few years for his father's bondage to Jingshi, Sen'er has no teacher, and this one is also good, worthy of the name of 'success'!" Lao Wang still didn't forget to praise Xiao Wang in time.

"With these two items, you need to keep in mind: first, if the maritime merchant wants to sit big, he can never become a tree without roots, and he cannot be separated from the support of the Central Plains. Otherwise, it is like a big tree on the sea, let you reach the sky, ten people hug it, and fall into the sea, you can only go with the flow and have no fixed place, Zuihou only decays and festers a dead end! ”

"Son remembers!" This time, the two sons finally achieved basic lockstep and answered in unison.

"First, we must be good at dealing with people from far away from the West. When we can use it, we don't have to tear our faces, everyone goes back and forth, and everyone benefits equally. When necessary, you can use them as a shield and take them out to clean up. After all, we are still people from the Central Plains, people from China, and Chinese. They're just barbarians! Kill their sharpness, the court will naturally reward them and take a look at them, needless to say, the benefits. But to do this, it is inseparable from the heavy profits of maritime business, after all, Western firearms are very valuable, and they are not something that ordinary people can afford! The truth in this is really a cycle! ”

Zheng Zhilong, a maritime merchant who did not know much about "university questions", expounded the dialectical relationship between maritime trade and armed escort merchants in simple language, but his two sons were greatly admired and convinced.

"Therefore, Juan Er cannot return to China now. It's not that he is unkind to his father, but that Japan can't do without him! ”

Finally, Zheng Zhilong clearly gave his conclusion.

"Father......" Zheng Shisen is always reluctant, but there is no way to refute it.

"Sen'er, for my father, I know how much you two brothers miss. What cannot be done today may not be impossible to do tomorrow. The day when our father and son and your brothers will be reunited is not out of reach. Zheng Zhilong meaningfully gave a vague way forward.

"The son also asks the father to make it clear!" Zheng Shisen, who got a life-saving straw, hurriedly followed up.

"This is what Father has asked you two to counsel tonight!"

"Father, please!"

"Good! Sen'er, have you ever thought about you, my father and son, the two kings, in the same town and one province, what is the way forward? Zheng Zhilong's gaze gradually became deep, so deep that it was unfathomable.

"This ......" just one sentence, but it suddenly pierced the thin layer of window paper that the father and son had tacitly understood for more than half a year, but Zheng Shisen was speechless for a while.

"Sen'er, although you and I are both princes, we are father and son after all. The so-called father-son soldiers, you can speak freely, you don't have to have any scruples! Zheng Zhilong is kind and seductive.

"Yes, Father." After all, the son Wang Ye is much younger, and he can only start the case by himself.

"The son of the untalented thinks that for the sake of today's plan, it is better for the father to sit in Zhangzhou and carry the whole of Fujian, and the son to command the army in Jinxia, so as to respond. In this way, even if the court violates the oath, it will not be able to help my father and son! Zheng Shisen said it was reasonable, but after all, he did not escape the deep scrutiny of Lao Tzu.

"Confused! You still can't let go of your tens of thousands of horses, but you can only kill yourself! ”

Sure enough, Zheng Zhilong, who has always been a kind father, glared at his son King Haicheng viciously, with a look of disappointment and sadness! (To be continued......)