That night, under the gallop of horses all the way, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhibao and others finally rushed back to Fuzhou City in a hurry, and saw Zheng Zhilong in the original Nan Amber Mansion, and the three of them were alone in the study, and the atmosphere was so tense and different.

"Fourth brother, didn't Zhibao tell you? The eldest brother has made a decision, our Zheng family is ready to belong to the Great Shun Dynasty, so as to win a lifetime of glory, a splendid future, and continue to dominate the southeast coast. ”

However, without waiting for Zheng Hongkui to reply, Zheng Zhilong seemed to be full of anger and dissatisfaction, looking like he hated iron but not steel, and there was more than enough success and failure, and said angrily: "According to what was said before, you and Zhibao will first meet Tian Jianxiu and Hong Chengchou and others in Xianxia Pass, and the eldest brother will arrive later, and he will prepare to leave tomorrow." It's good to be here first, things have been messed up by you, and I don't know how to explain it to Marshal Tian? ”

Immediately afterwards, after complaining about Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhilong scolded Zheng Zhibao for a while.

"Fifth brother, fifth brother, didn't we discuss it before? Even if your fourth brother is stubborn, even if you make trouble like this, for the sake of the overall situation, for the sake of our Zheng family's future status in the Dashun Dynasty, you should stay in Xianxia Pass and entertain Marshal Tian for the eldest brother? It's good now, Hongkui is messing around like this, and you are also messing around, without a little backbone, and you missed my big thing. ”

"Big Brother ......"

Zheng Hongkui interrupted Zheng Zhilong's speech, and when he looked at Zheng Zhibao's self-reproachful face, he knew in his heart that the big truths along the way were in vain, and if he wanted to convince his eldest brother Zheng Zhilong, he could only rely on himself now.

"What, Hongkui, what else do you have to say?"

After asking this sentence, Zheng Zhilong seemed to think of something, and then added: "Fourth brother, I can tell you, don't say anything, a good general should die on the battlefield and serve the court, loyal ministers don't care about the second master, the eldest brother doesn't like to hear this, and he doesn't want to hear this." In the eldest brother's heart, as long as we can keep the great foundation of our Zheng family. Otherwise, don't say anything else, the eldest brother is determined to eat the scales, and he will never change his mind. ”

Hearing this, Zheng Hongkui's face was sad, and a trace of complexity flashed, but he still slowed down his tone and said seriously: "Big brother, you misunderstood me, Hongkui didn't want to persuade you to be loyal to the Ming Court and die for the country, let alone let you break with the Great Shun Dynasty and be in a hostile state. Instead, I feel that your hasty decision to easily go to meet Tian Jianxiu is too reckless, and there are some risks, completely putting the life and death of the Zheng family in the hands of others, all in the thoughts of others. ”

Although Zheng Zhilong kept saying that he had eaten the scales and had an iron heart, and he must belong to the Great Shun Dynasty, he must have reached Zheng Hongkui's words, especially the four words "life and death", and his heart sank.

Even so, I guessed what Zheng Hongkui probably wanted to say and what the meaning of the expression was, and I understood that the other party was right, but the dead duck was still stiff-mouthed, and he forced out four words: "What do you mean?" ”

As soon as he said these four words, he seemed to feel that he was not confident enough to speak, and then added: "Hongkui, don't forget, the Dashun Dynasty has won the world, which is the trend of the times, and it is definitely not something that our Zheng family can resist." Do you really think that with these tens of thousands of sailors, without evidence and no evidence, you can really divide one side in the southeast? ”

Obviously, after Zheng Zhibao heard these words, he seemed to be stimulated, and the whole thing was like an enlightenment, revealing a sudden expression, and then echoed: "Yes, fourth brother, the Dashun army is menacing, and wherever the soldiers go, they have always been invincible, whether it is the rebel army that revolted together before, or the official army of the Ming court, they have all been cleaned up. ”

The more Zheng Zhibao spoke, the more addicted he became, and the stronger his tone became, becoming more and more talkative and confident.

"At this time, the Dashun army is not only attacking from the north, but also from the west, Liu Zongmin and others have occupied almost the entire territory of Jiangxi, once they advance eastward, and Tian Jianxiu and they form a flanking attack, with the Dashun army's firearms, powerful, and long-range, although our sailors are brave at sea, but people don't go into the water, we can't help it."

Hearing Zheng Zhibao's words, Zheng Hongkui was very disappointed that the Dashun Army was as afraid as a tiger, and automatically chose to ignore it and not respond, but set his eyes on Zheng Zhilong, and said sincerely: "Big brother, you really misunderstood what I meant, this time I came back, not to persuade you to be an enemy of the Dashun Dynasty, but to remind you, don't hand over the life and death of our Zheng family to the other party, we must keep a hand and leave a fire for the Zheng family in case of accidents." ”

This time, whether it was Zheng Zhilong, who was attached to Dashun, or Zheng Zhibao, who blindly followed the trend, he did not refute it again, but chose to acquiesce and listen to Zheng Hongkui's later words.

"Big brother, fifth brother, although the Great Shun Dynasty has the name of benevolence and righteousness, but it is only for the people of Limin, the magnates of the Ming Court and the royal family, who are extremely rich or unkind to the people, there are few people who have a good ending."

"Yes, Li Zicheng ceremoniously buried Emperor Chongzhen and the empress and concubine with imperial gifts, and spared many vassal kings from capital crimes, but don't forget, he also killed many vassal kings, and he was killed after a public trial."

"Also, even those who survived, the princes, the princes, the grandsons and the princesses were deprived of their family property, or re-education through labor for several months, or they had to serve several years in prison, but they all had a common result, the end was not very good, and the real biggest beneficiaries were just those ordinary people, and there were few people like us."

The words have been said to such an extent, Zheng Zhilong still pretended to be stupid, it was really insulting the prestige of his side, and he couldn't help but ask in a deep voice: "Hongkui, what you said is reasonable, the eldest brother didn't think about it, but Li Zicheng made a holy decree, is it possible, will he break his promise in front of the world?" ”

Zheng Hongkui didn't answer immediately, but smiled wryly, shook his head slightly, and then said: "Big brother, if an emperor wants to trouble anyone, don't say it's a holy decree, even if you have a gold medal to avoid death, it's useless." ”

This sentence was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, making Zheng Zhilong no longer feel lucky, and asked helplessly and unwillingly: "Hongkui, don't we have any other choice, or retreat to the sea?" Or is it a confrontation to the end? ”

"Hey... Big brother, you misunderstood me again. ”

Zheng Hongkui shook his head again, interrupted Zheng Zhilong's words, and then said bluntly: "Big brother, I said before, coming back in a hurry this time is not to persuade you not to surrender, but to prepare with both hands and leave a flame for the Zheng family." When you surrender to the Great Shun Army, let Chenggong's nephew revolt, break with us, and retreat to the sea. ”

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhibao's eyes lit up, revealing a light of excitement, and just about to say something, Zheng Hongkui followed up and said: "Moreover, before promoting this matter, and in the future, it is best not to know the internal causes of even the successful nephew, so that he feels that the eldest brother, your father, only thinks about glory and wealth, and only thinks about surrendering to the Dashun army, so that the father and son will break up, and the army will be against the sea, so that it can be seamless and not arouse the suspicion of the Dashun Dynasty!" ”

"Wonderful... It's a brilliant plan..."

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but praise again and again, he didn't need to explain too much, he already knew the specific details of what to do, Lang said: "Okay, fourth brother, this matter will be left to you, as we all know, success is the closest to your point of view, and the relationship is also the best, and it will be more credible for you to do it." ”