Zheng Zhilong had Zheng Zhihu salvage the place where Zheng Zhihu sank for three days, but he couldn't get Zheng Zhihu's body out. According to the confessions of the captured pirates, the fishing net that Liu Xiang netted Zheng Zhihu was made of copper wire. Needless to say, people must have sunk to the bottom of the sea.

The depth of the sea here is beyond the reach of manpower. No matter how powerful the water ghost is, it is impossible to fish up the corpse.

"The red-haired ghost retreated, most likely to Java." Zheng Zhilong looked at the waves rushing towards him wave after wave, as if he was talking to the air.

"They only have two warships left, and I believe you can deal with them." Li Xiao took a step back, the clothes on his body were smoked with incense by Tokugawa Chihime, and they smelled very good with a faint fragrance. He didn't want to get caught in the salty smell of the water!

Although he has been a soldier for two lifetimes, now Li Xiao has a little hate the smell of blood. I can no longer find the feeling of smelling blood and burning blood when I first entered the battlefield.

Neither of them spoke, staring straight at the sea. There were no less than 100 warships, large and small, floating on the sea, and these were all warships that Zheng Zhilong had transferred from all over the country. This time, he was going to sea to hunt down the Dutch. Take complete control of the South China Sea in his own hands, and all ships that want to pass through the strait in the future must fly the flag of his Zheng family.

The Zheng family's flag was not planted in vain, and if you want to plant the Zheng family's flag, you have to pay money to the Zheng family. To put it bluntly, it's the protection fee.

"In the future, we will divide the interests of the South China Sea in half." After a long time, Zheng Zhilong spoke. This decision is not easy to make, and he thought about it for a long time before he made up his mind.

"Half points, are you willing to do it? The rest of your family, won't gossip? Li Xiao asked with a smile.

"There are always people who gossip that if you always listen to them, you can't do anything. If you want to do things and get things done, you have to make your own ideas. ”

"You will be said to be stubborn and self-serving, and there are two kinds of people who fail, one is to listen to everyone's words. The other is that they don't listen to anyone. While your own ideas are important, it is even more important to know who to listen to.

Things with too much benefit will not last long, I have thought about this matter, and I will divide the account for three or seven. You are in charge of the specific things, I am only responsible for taking the money. In the face of a strong enemy, I can come to my aid. But for now, there are no people or forces in the South China Sea that you can't deal with. ”

Zheng Zhilong looked at Li Xiao in surprise, but he didn't expect the young man in front of him to see it like this. Twenty percent a year, that's a huge amount enough to make everyone's eyes blush. Not everyone can give up easily!

What's more, this time the battle of Macau. The soldiers of the Li family also shed blood, and even Li Xiao's own brother was almost killed by the scattered Dutch soldiers.

"Buying the 20,000 taels of silver that Chen Sifu sent to the army, half of us are counted."

"How can you let Brother Li spend money, although the Zheng family has some losses this time, they can still take out a mere 20,000 taels of silver."

Two days after Li Xiu disappeared, he successfully bought off Chen Hailong's distant relative, Guangzhou Sailor, to guerrilla Chen Sifu. The more than 100 fireships are Chen Sifu's Guangzhou sailor fireboats.

Since Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, the warships of the Daming Navy Division have developed towards miniaturization. Especially after the ban on the sea was issued, the tonnage of sailors' ships became smaller and smaller, and the scope of activities was naturally limited to the coast.

Although later the Japanese rebelled and built several large ships. But after Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others quelled the Japanese Rebellion, the Daming Water Division once again moved towards miniaturization. At the end of the day, it's all about money. It is too expensive and laborious to build a large ship, so it is better to build some small boats.

The court can't control things on land, and they still expect flowers to come out of the sea?

The direct consequence of the miniaturization of the Daming Sailor was that the sea became a paradise for pirates. Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang and others are excellent representatives.

It was the short-sightedness of the Ming court that caused the chaotic situation in the South China Sea today.

The big ship has the way of playing the big ship, and the small ship has the way of playing the small ship. The fireship is the only way for a small boat to beat a big ship, relying on the speed of the ship. The ram nail at the front of the boat will nail the boat to the big boat, even if it can't. Those strong men will also drive steel nails into the hull of the big ship.

When the two ships are linked and become one, as long as the fire is lit, the big ship can't run if it wants to. The Dutchman's five-masted ship only needed three or four fireboats to burn it all down.

In order to invite Chen Sifu this time, Li Xiao promised to give Chen Sifu 20,000 taels of silver. In addition, after the war, Chen Sifu had to build a hundred new fireships to make up for the deficit of the imperial court.

Now that Zheng Zhilong is willing to take it, it is naturally a good thing. The Zheng family is rich and wealthy, and they don't care too much about these. In the South China Sea alone, the protection fees collected by merchant ships of various countries in a year are as high as one million taels of silver. Not to mention, there are some other benefits in it.

"I want Zheng Sen to go back to the north with me, and stay with me to teach." Li Xiao likes Zheng Sen very much, not everyone can have the courage to face a strong enemy. The people who have left their names in history are not idle people.

"The second child has no children, and I have decided to pass on the child from Tagawa to the second child. Sen'er can learn from you, which can be regarded as his creation. Zheng Zhilong glanced at Li Xiao meaningfully.

In order to protect themselves, most of the personal forces formed an alliance of interests through marriage between relatives and relatives. Accepting apprentices is naturally one of the options for forming an alliance.

Li Xiao and Zheng Zhilong now have so many interests involved, how can they do it without some guarantees. If the imperial court plans to deal with Li Xiao or Zheng Zhilong, one south and one north echo each other, even the Ming court has to weigh it.

"My lord! John came, saying that he was asking to see the adults and Zheng Da and what they wanted to talk about. Ai Husheng slowly approached the two of them.

"Huh! If you can't beat it, let's talk about it, okay! We'll see what kind of tricks this bastard can pop up. When Zheng Zhilong heard that John was coming, he immediately smiled.

John didn't want to come, but he had to come because he didn't want to die young. Bobby hasn't had a good day since he and Kuo turned their faces. When I sailed to the coast of Cochin, I didn't know why I fell into the sea.

Coincidentally, a huge shark passed by. After a large pool of blood rose on the surface of the sea, no one saw Bobby again. John was sent to negotiate with the ship repairer in Cochin, and he knew that without Zheng Zhilong's permission, he would not be able to stay in Java.

Now I don't want to say whether I can cross the Cape of Good Hope, even if I go back after a lot of hardships. I guess I will have to be hanged by the king of the Netherlands!

The only way is to negotiate with Zheng Zhilong to try to keep Java. After all, Java is too far away from the Ming Kingdom, and Zheng Zhilong's hand can't stretch that long. There was not much money to make in that place in Java, and it was definitely a loss-making business for the laborers to go on an expedition to attack.

"John, we're meeting again." Li Xiao looked at John and smiled very happily. This time, he faced John as a victor.

"Master Li, it's a great honor to meet again." A smile full of embarrassment erupted into John's face.

"Since you're here for peace talks, tell me about your conditions." Zheng Zhilong had a cold face, Zheng Zhihu's death, the Dutch had to be counted as a part.

"The conditions are very simple, we want to keep peace with the Ming Empire. Belch......! And Mr. Zheng, keep the peace. The East India Company would maintain trade relations with Mr. Cheng. It is good for you and me to carry on the trade between the East and the West.

Our war this time is actually a struggle for control of the South China Sea. Whoever controls the South China Sea controls the trade between East and West. Everyone understands this truth, and now that we have lost the South China Sea, the control of the South China Sea will be yours. ”

"Since you admit defeat, then we will make the rules in the future, and you have no objection, right?" Li Xiao "hey" "hey" asked with a wicked smile.

"Yes, it's up to us to set the rules in the future." Zheng Zhilong's words were cold.

When they first arrived, Li Xiao and Zheng Zhilong had already discussed how to slaughter the fish on the chopping board of the Dutchman.

"Be ......! Of course! Seeing Zheng Zhilong's cold eyes, John swallowed a big mouthful of saliva with a "grunt". Just now he had heard the news of Zheng Zhihu's death. Zheng Zhilong, who had lost his composure, it was hard to say whether he would slaughter him, the messenger, with a knife.

"We and the Zheng family will jointly set up a ship division in the strait. All ships passing through the strait have to pay taxes to us. Including your ships of the East India Company, and all the ships of other Western countries. ”

"This ......! I......! Seeing Zheng Zhilong staring at his neck, John immediately said, "I agree." ”

Zheng Zhilong's eyes looked like he was looking for a place to go under the knife.

"Good!" Li Xiao nodded, and Zheng Zhilong's white face sang very successfully.

"In the future, warships of Western countries will not be allowed to cross the strait. You can play whatever you want in the southern Indian Ocean, but you are not allowed to cross the strait. As long as a warship comes within range of the artillery in the strait, we will attack. Do you understand? ”

"Ming! …… Got it! John swallowed again, with a big appetite. This is to turn the South China Sea directly into an inland sea for the Zheng family's forces.

Although now the Zheng family, or the people of the country control the land population is not enough to annex the entire South China Sea. But the population of Daming is as large as the stars in the sky, and sooner or later this country will set its sights on the ocean.

At that time, I am afraid that the coastal areas of the South China Sea will not be able to be saved.

"This ......! Forgive me for not being able to promise you, I can only guarantee that the armed ships of the East India Company will not appear in the straits. As for the affairs of other countries, I can't be the master. You know, there are also many countries and many monarchs in the West.

Besides, the empire still has interests in Java. What do you think? You can make a pact with us, and we guarantee that only a few ships will enter Java. After all, we still have to control there! ”

"Humph!" Zheng Zhilong snorted heavily in his nose, and John immediately shut up.

Li Xiao didn't speak, and looked at John with a smile on his face. The scene was extremely embarrassing for a while!

"I ......! I can promise you to give up your rights and interests in Macau. After all, the agreement we signed with your government is still valid, and if you deceive people too much, we will go to the capital to complain and complain to your emperor through our connections. Sweat oozed from John's forehead, and he reluctantly reluctantly gave up his bargaining chips once again.

According to reason, people did rent Daming's place. And pay the rent every year as agreed, so it can be said that Daming has a tenant relationship with them as a landlord.

Now that Li Xiao and Zheng Zhilong have beaten people away, the imperial court not only cannot collect rent, but also bears the infamy of breach of contract. Those old scholars in the court will definitely not give up, especially when Li Xiao still wants Zhao Nanxing's Donglin boss enemy in the court.

"What's the use of us asking for Macau's rights and interests, you see what Macau has been beaten into. How much the fuck will it cost to rebuild Macau. Zheng Zhilong said a word, and John was silent.

"Uh......!" John looked left and right, and saw that there were only a few people around. "As long as you agree to my additional conditions, except for the right to garrison Java, I can agree to all your requests." ”

"Your additional conditions?" Li Xiao and Zheng Zhilong glanced at each other.

"I want to come and work under you, I am familiar with the rules of trade in the West. And I know a lot of Chinese, and I am also familiar with you Ming people. I would very much like to come and work under you, if ......! John hesitated.

"There's something to say, there's a fart!" Zheng Zhilong roared dissatisfiedly.

"If you promise me, I will not only agree to your terms. It can also make you a lot of money, a very big fortune. John said quickly.

"Oh! You're pretty rich? When it came to money, Zheng Zhilong and Li Xiao looked at John with great interest.

"Okay, I promise you. If that money isn't enough to impress me, I'll ...... you! Li Xiao, who sang red-faced, agreed to John's request.

"Uh......! Cough! Hearing Li Xiao's last threat, John coughed lightly and calmed down before saying, "Because the gold and silver content of Eastern and Western currencies is different, we need to recast the gold and silver used for trade." You know, recasting causes some attrition. In your Ming Dynasty, these can be called fire consumption.

It is precisely because of the difference in gold and silver content that there will be some ...... when the fire consumption is converted! Remainder! John glanced up at Li Xiao.

"I understand!" Li Xiao nodded. To put it bluntly, it is to lie to Westerners. It is said that the gold and silver of the Ming Dynasty are not as pure as those of the West, and then they are mixed with other metals in it. Anyway, the profits of ocean trade are huge, and it is impossible for foreigners who will not come to China in Europe for the rest of their lives to study it.

"At first, we would use merchant ships to transport the rest of the gold and silver. But in recent years, the sea has ......! John glanced at Zheng Zhilong.

"The sea is not stable, so ......! So the money didn't have time to be transported. ”

"Where's the money? How many? "The trade volume between the Ming Dynasty and the West is not small, and Li Xiao is keenly aware that this should be a large amount of money.

"You'll have to agree to my strings and conditions."

"We will set up a trade center in the strait, and you can be a comprador there." Listening to Li Xiao's words, John's eyes lit up all of a sudden.