Wang Tom's words made Zheng Zhilong, who had understood a little bit of it, fall into a state of confusion again, he really didn't understand why these overseas visitors, who were said to have lived thousands of miles away and had never dealt with him, would list themselves as opponents before they came to Daming. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

If calculated from the point of view of time, Zheng Zhilong at the end of 1625, that is, the fifth year of the Great Ming Dynasty, set up his own door, began to form the Eighteen Zhi, and in the next two years, taking advantage of the drought in southern Fujian, led his troops to plunder the coast of Fujian, and transported tens of thousands of victims from Quanzhou to the west coast of Taiwan Island to reclaim. The arrival of the Haihan people on Qiongzhou Island was the seventh year of the Apocalypse, when Cai Shanji, the Quanzhou Patrol Sea Governor, tried to appease Zheng Zhilong, and after meeting and discussing in Quanzhou, Zheng Zhilong's two younger brothers, Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Zhibao, thought that the imperial court was not sincere enough, so the brothers gave up this recruitment and returned to Taiwan to continue to be pirates. In the same year, Shibazhi also fought with the Dutch on the island of Taiwan, and also gained the upper hand. And at that time, Zheng Zhilong had never even heard of the name of the Haihan people, let alone had a grudge against him, and this hatred was indeed a bit unclear.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong's expression with a question mark on his face, Wang Tom could naturally think of why he was confused, and even if Wang Tom was willing to explain to him, Zheng Zhilong probably couldn't believe it. After all, Haihan's jealousy of him mostly comes from things that have never happened at all, Zheng Zhilong neither killed Xu Xinsu, nor was he able to clear his name and go ashore to become a general of the Ming army, let alone surrender to the Manchus and become a traitor, Haihan asked him to take responsibility for these things that he had never done at all, isn't it a big joke in his opinion?

Wang Tom said: "The reason for this, you don't need to ask in detail now, in short, we are prepared, the eighteen Zhi will not be destroyed, the war will not end, and today's ending was already doomed a few years ago." ”

Such a confusing answer naturally could not make Zheng Zhilong feel relieved, he had struggled for many years to have a family like Eighteen Zhi, and originally hoped to be able to clear his name after defeating Xu Xinsu, a confidant, and enter the court as an official. However, the emergence of the Haihan people not only blocked the development route he planned, but also supported his opponent Xu Xinsu to ascend to the position, and little by little he wore out the advantages of Shibazhi. As the saying goes, blocking people's financial roads is like killing their parents, this Haihan not only blocked the financial road, but even the official road was also stopped, such a deep hatred, Wang Tom actually took it lightly, even if Zheng Zhilong had already admitted it, he couldn't bear this breath.

Zheng Zhilong asked: "General Wang, you want to compete with Shibazhi for control of the Fujian Strait, and you want to cooperate with the Fujian government in exchange for business opportunities, these purposes can be understood below, but before Chongzhen four years ago, Shibazhi and you did not have any conflict, why did you not even give Shibazhi a chance to negotiate, you must get rid of us quickly?"

Zheng Zhilong's "four years of Chongzhen" refers to the first direct conflict between the two sides in this year, that is, in May 1631, the Haihan mission was assassinated by the Eighteen Zhi organization in Zhangzhou City, and then the mission fleet cooperated with the Fujian official army to break through Nanri Island, an important stronghold of the Eighteen Zhi on the Fujian coastline, and the two sides began to face each other in the real sense at this time. Before that, Haihan had not been in person, and he was only fighting with Eighteen Zhi through the agent of the Fujian Ming Army. Zheng Zhilong thinks that the vague excuses mentioned by Wang Tom are all just excuses. He can face defeat due to lack of strength, but it is difficult for him to accept that his opponent is so perfunctory.

"What we want is not just control of the Fujian Strait and business opportunities, the existence of Shibazhi is a threat to us that must be eliminated. ”

"But we've already ceded territory!" Zheng Zhilong retorted with grief and indignation.

"All you gave up was the Fujian Strait. Tom Wang's tone also became serious: "But we now need the shipping route from Taiwan to the Ryukyus, and for us, Eighteen Zhi is still a stumbling block that must be removed." As for the reason why you must be resolved by force, as I have just said, this is a matter that has been settled from the very beginning, and no matter what you do, it will not change our intentions. ”

Speaking of which, Zheng Zhilong still didn't hear Wang Tom give a reasonable explanation, which made him sad and angry, but also disappointed. Judging from Tom Wang's attitude, Haihan attaches more than enough importance to Eighteen Zhi, but the reason is only because it is regarded as a stumbling block in the process of expanding the territory, and it must be completely eliminated. And for Zheng Zhilong, who has been striving to get ahead all his life, it is undoubtedly a complete denial of his personal value.

"It seems that Zheng's life should not be saved, and there is nothing else to ask for, I only hope that General Wang can read that the dog is young and ignorant, and let him live. Zheng Zhilong knew that he was not lucky, so he immediately got up and begged Tom Wang to let his son go.

Tom Wang replied in a deep voice: "You don't have to be so discouraged, we have no intention of executing you, and we will not harm your family. It's just that you probably won't have personal freedom for a long time to come, and as for your son Zheng Fusong, you can choose a different future path for him. One is to be imprisoned with you until we think you no longer pose any threat before we have a chance to regain our freedom. The second is for us to raise him to grow up, so that he can get rid of the identity of Zheng Zhilong's son and live freely under the sun. ”

Wang Tom's words made Zheng Zhilong's heart feel relieved, and what he was most worried about was that the Haihan people would execute him to prevent future troubles, even his own son. But since Wang Tom expressed this attitude on behalf of Haihan, the lives of his father and son were basically saved. It's just that Zheng Zhilong really can't understand why the Haihan people are so kind to their sons, and even offer to raise them on their behalf, could it be that this Haihan people have other conspiracy?

Zheng Zhilong's most valuable asset is Eighteen Zhi, but this armed force has so far been suppressed by Haihan in a small area of the island, and it has also been determined to surrender to Haihan, so even if the Haihan people control Zheng Fusong, it is difficult to achieve the effect of "coercing the Son of Heaven to order the princes". The only possibility that Zheng Zhilong could think of was that the Haihan people wanted to use this means to control themselves so that they could honestly spend their life as prisoners.

Of course, Zheng Zhilong didn't want his son to be imprisoned with him, but this second choice was really a bit weird, making it difficult for him to make a choice for a while. Zheng Zhilong couldn't have imagined that the reason why the Haihan people would be so tolerant of his son was actually not very related to him, and it was completely because of the special treatment given by the national hero status of "Zheng Chenggong" in the original time and space, and this kind of "feeling" behavior across time and space could not be explained by common sense at all.

Seeing that he was silent, Tom Wang knew that this guy should be calculating the pros and cons, so he immediately said: "You don't have to feel embarrassed, even if you don't agree with our proposal, we won't embarrass your son, but I still want to remind you that if you choose to let him be imprisoned with you, then he probably won't have a chance to be released until you die." ”

Zheng Zhilong clenched his fists, he himself is not yet thirty years old, and after such a long period of imprisonment is over, his son will at least be past the age of his establishment, even if he is released at that time, how can a person who knows nothing and has been cut off from the outside world for many years survive in this world? Even if he leaves him some secret property, how much can he recover after a few decades? Although the long-term imprisonment can leave Zheng Fusong's life, there is no doubt that it will also ruin his future life, and it is also an outcome that Zheng Zhilong does not want to see.

"Then if I entrust the dog to you, will I still have the opportunity to meet with you in the future?" Zheng Zhilong asked with a glimmer of hope.

"There will be an opportunity to meet, but the time will be arranged by us. Tom Wang paused and said, "Probably once a year." ”

Zheng Zhilong took a deep breath, although this arrangement was still unlikely to satisfy him, there was no doubt that it was the most beneficial way to deal with Zheng Fusong so far. Considering Zheng Fusong's future life, Tom Wang's proposal has made him unable to refuse. On the one hand, he was scheming, spending years and countless wealth, just to deal with himself, but on the other hand, he generously let go of his family, and was even willing to raise his son on his behalf. These two completely contradictory approaches of the Haihan people made Zheng Zhilong really feel a little at a loss, and it was even more difficult to figure out the true purpose of the other party.

After some negotiations, Tom Wang and Zheng Zhilong reached a three-point agreement. First, to ensure the safety of Zheng Zhilong and his family; second, to ensure the safety of Zheng Zhilong's subordinates who choose to surrender; and third, Zheng Zhilong must lead his subordinates to unconditionally surrender to Haihan before noon the next day and accept the arrangement.

After the two sides agreed on the place of surrender the next day, Zheng Zhilong got up to take his leave, and Wang Tom did not try to detain him, but sent him out of the camp very politely. However, the official representative of Fujian Province who was responsible for identifying him disagreed with Tom Wang's handling of the situation, believing that he should detain Zheng Zhilong on the spot or even kill him directly, so as not to cause other variables after he was released.

"Zheng Zhilong can't die yet. Tom Wang patiently explained: "In the field of trade with Japan, it is difficult for us to find a more professional consultant than him, and he is still of great use to us, and it is more useful to live than to die." ”

Of course, the Fujian side hopes to eradicate Zheng Zhilong from the grass and eliminate the troubles in his heart, but Haihan does not intend to follow the official opinion of Fujian in the way this matter is handled. If Zheng Zhilong was just a pirate leader like Wang Jialin of the Zhoushan Boat Gang, then he would kill him, and it would not be a big deal. However, Zheng Zhilong was based in Japan in his early years, and his knowledge of maritime trade between China and Japan is a true insider, and he also has many connections in Japan that continue to this day, which are all resources and intelligence that Haihan currently lacks.

Leaving Zheng Zhilong's life is equivalent to having an experienced and highly qualified consultant, who can slowly extract all kinds of information that Haihan needs from him. From the perspective of intelligence, Zheng Zhilong may be more valuable than the thousands of remaining eighteen Zhi personnel on this island combined. Therefore, before the war, the Haihan Security Department had already made a request to the military through the Executive Committee to save Zheng Zhilong's life as much as possible. If it is a battlefield confrontation with no eyes on the knife and gun, then it will be fine, but since Zheng Zhilong has chosen the road of surrender, it is not too difficult to save his life.

Although the official representatives of Fujian were a little dissatisfied with this, the operation was led by Haihan, and the Fujian side did not directly participate in the war, but only sent a military observation team to participate, and it was difficult to interfere with the resolution made by Haihan. At most, he will report the situation to Xu Xinsu after he goes back, and then he will personally come forward to negotiate with Haihan. However, by that time, Zheng Zhilong would probably have already been transported back to Hainan Island and locked up in a secret detention site.

After Zheng Zhilong returned to the Eighteen Zhi station, he informed everyone of the results of his discussion with Wang Tom, but he hid the relevant details of Zheng Fusong and did not mention it. Everyone was naturally relieved that they could save their lives in the current situation of losing the battle and having nowhere to escape, but they still had a lot of anxiety about how the Haihan people would deal with the prisoners, and they all asked Zheng Zhilong questions.

Zheng Zhilong explained: "General Haihan Wang said that their treatment of prisoners of war has always been to impose labor for varying periods of time, ranging from one and a half years to several years. At the end of the servitude, you can regain your freedom. Although it is necessary to suffer some hardships because of this, it is better to think that it is better than to lose your life in vain. ”

"What do the Haihan people plan to do with the big boss?" At this time, there are only a few people who still remember Zheng Zhilong's fate.

"I'll probably be treated a little better than my brothers, and I won't have to do hard labor. Zheng Zhilong smiled self-deprecatingly: "The Haihan people have made it very clear that they will imprison me alone, as for the time limit...... Probably until death. ”

The crowd immediately fell silent, for these pirates who roamed the seas, losing their freedom was not much different from dying, let alone imprisonment for life. Zheng Zhilong accepted such conditions for the reason, and he was afraid that saving his life was secondary, and it was more likely to save the lives of these people.

If Zheng Zhilong hadn't mentioned surrender before, everyone might have fought with the Haihan people to the end, but now that they have seen the hope of life, and let them give up the chance to live to fight to the death with the Haihan people, many people's will to fight would not be so firm. Zheng Zhilong saw that no one present expressed their intention to fight with the Haihan people for him, and he was slightly disappointed at the moment, so he could only smile and say: "Brothers, don't worry, I will complete the handover with Haihan tomorrow according to the agreed time, and act in accordance with their arrangement." Tonight, all the pigs, cattle and sheep on the island will be slaughtered, and the brothers will have a casual meal together!" )