In Xiamen at the beginning of the Huai month, the southeast wind is gentle and soothing, and the sun is no longer blazing when it is close to the end of Shen, and it shines obliquely into the room, leaving a golden-red lattice on the blue brick floor.

Zheng Haizhu and Xu Xinsu, with Zhang Yanke, walked into the flower hall behind the official office of Yu Zhigao, the chief soldier of the Naval Division, and saw a middle-aged civil official in a red robe sitting at the top of the head, with a peacock on his chest.

Presumably it is Zhou Zuo, the new governor of Fujian.

There was no one sitting in the hall except for Yu Zhigao, a military general.

Xu Xinsu and Zheng Haizhu were both white-bodied grass people, and they knelt without hesitation.

Xu Xinsu raised his head after kowtowing, staring at the blue brick floor with his eyes down, secretly happy.

All the generals under Yu Zhigao were not there, and none of the civil officials in the Zhangquan Xiajin area were seen.

The fewer people in the room, the more it shows that Shang Zhouzuo wants to ask about key matters, and he is afraid that the presence of local civil officials will make Yu Zhigao look forward and not be able to speak frankly.

It also shows that the people who can come in to discuss the matter are quite favored by the officials.

Of course, while Xu Xinsu was complacent, he also realized that Zheng Haizhu, who was a woman, could become a deliberator like herself, and she was obviously paved with a lot of praise by Yu Zhigao and that Yanke, and was taken care of by Shang Zhouzuo.

This second-grade governor didn't even put a shelf for drinking tea to dry people, waved his hand and said: "Get up and sit down, although you two are not officials, non-officials, non-generals and non-soldiers, you have also made great efforts this time." Especially Miss Zheng, Wang Junmen has your name in the Tang newspaper of the imperial court in April. ”

Zheng Haizhu was busy and blessed, and Xu Xinsu arched her hand at her to congratulate her.

This congratulations is based on the sincerity of the interests involved. Xu Xinsu knows very well the origin of his identity and how to make a name for himself in the court, so he hopes that Zheng Haizhu can get official recognition, and in the future, he will ask her to buy artillery and heavy muskets, or make friends between his children and nephews.

Shang Zhouzuo put the sleeves of his robe on the handle of the chair, leaned forward slightly, and stared at Xu and Zheng: "One of you is a person who is proficient in sea trafficking, and the other is a guest of General Yu's army, don't have any worries, and tell this official why this Hongyi people did everything possible to occupy Penghu Island before this fiasco." Even if it is an old enemy of the Frankes in Guangdong and Luzon and cannot go to trade, isn't there a maritime merchant to trade with the Moon Port of my Ming Dynasty? ”

Xu Xinsu looked at Zheng Haizhu, Zheng Haizhu understood, and took the lead in speaking: "Master of the military gate, the Hongyi people's current force on the sea is especially better than the Frankies, and their ambitions are also as high as firewood. They believed that the pepper and spices of the South Seas, the native cloth of Tianzhu, the silver of the Japanese Kingdom, and the silk porcelain and tea of the Ming Dynasty were the roots of the wealth of the East and the South Seas, and that if their East Indian fleet could control these four transactions in the palm of their hands, they would be able to carry back the rich goods from the East to the South Seas without having to bring silver coins from Europa. Therefore, they soon did not want to honestly go to the Moon Harbor to trade, but wanted to occupy a key point between the East and the South Seas, which was not only a stronghold for their own sailors, but also a place for cardinals to concentrate the merchant ships of various countries to change silver goods. This place is Penghu, or Taiwan. ”

Shang Zhouzuo sneered: "Well, now, these two places, they don't want to get involved." ”

He turned back to his approachable tone and continued to ask: "The Hongyi people do have silver in their hands?" ”

Zheng Haizhu nodded affirmatively: "Yes." Master Junmen, the Ming Dynasty went east for tens of thousands of miles, and on the other side of the sea frontier, the Frankies mined and mined silver in a continent called North and South Ameriga. The Franques of Luzon used the silver dug up there to buy goods in the East and the South Seas. The silver will also be shipped to Europa for exchange there. Therefore, as a country of Europa, the Hongyi people will definitely be able to get silver. We are short of silver, so why not trade with them with silk and porcelain? It is nothing more than that we have to set up our Ming rules for these people, either to come to Yuegang or to Taiwan, and under the watchful eyes of the officers and soldiers of our Ming Dynasty, we will enter and leave Hong Kong, and the silver and goods will be paid; The excise tax and the tax shall be paid according to the truth; If there is another evil act of disturbing the people on the border and robbing the merchant ships, they will not be warned in advance and killed directly. ”

With a "ding" sound, Zhang Yanke, who was sitting next to Zheng Haizhu, tilted the tea cup in his hand, touched the lid, and shook out the tea.

Shang Zhouzuo glanced at the juniors of this family of world friends.

Zhang Yanke confessed in panic: "The subordinates are rude, and they can hear it." ”

I really sighed in my heart, when I saw this little woman making firearms in Songjiang, I also estimated that her way of strengthening the army and resisting thieves was used to cheat money and play fresh, but I didn't expect her to come for real, and just a few years, a grass people, has been able to give advice to the governor to suppress the razor.

Shang Zhouzuo, who was seated, had his mind racing.

This time, he was suddenly transferred to Fujian as a governor, and the first assistant Fang, who was also from Zhejiang, ordered him from Zheti, and Liu Shimin, a close confidant under Wang An's father-in-law, also visited him. There is no suspense, the hints given to him by the two are diametrically opposed.

Fang Congzhe advocated that the merchant ships of the Hongyi people should not appear in the Daming Sea Frontier again.

Liu Shimin's meaning is also very direct, long live the Lord still wants silver, the more the merrier.

Shang Zhouzuo leaned towards Liu Shimin.

Not only because he also knows how short of money Daming is now, but also because Fang Congzhe was accused by the Qingliu because he was suspected of sheltering Concubine Zheng Guifei, and last year he also operated Yao Zongwen, a fellow villager with the same bad reputation, to patrol Songjiang Mansion, which was even more eye-catching.

What if they are all from Zhejiang, Shang Zhouzuo, a Shaoxing person, is shrewd, and he has a lot of self-questioning, and he hates being classified as a "Zhejiang Party", so he doesn't want to be a pawn for Fang Congzhe.

Besides, Liu Shimin's meaning is Wang An's meaning, and Wang Anke is the great man who serves the prince. The courtiers opened and closed their mouths one by one, long live, in fact, they all knew that the emperor was not a few years old.

Shang Zhouzuo's face became more kind, and even with some hint of Corporal Lixian, he looked at Zheng Haizhu and said, "If Miss Zheng has anything else to say, you can tell me." ”

In the past few days, Zheng Haizhu has searched through the main points of the post-war treaty that he has only known, and then added several clauses, such as compensation for the damage caused by the destruction of Ming ships and casualties, the number of tonnage of ships entering the country, and the number of guns that cannot be carried out.

Finally, he added: "Junmen, apart from silver, there are very few goods that Europa can use for my Ming Dynasty, just the same, we can ask the Hongyi people to buy some." When the military gate summons the Hongyi envoy, he can promise to underwrite a few per year, showing the mind of our heavenly kingdom. ”

Shang Zhouzuo was curious: "Oh, what is it?" ”

"Whale oil," Zheng Haizhu said, "the barbarians in the north of Europa, who are good at catching deep-sea fish, are giant whales, extract oil as fuel, or use it as lamps and candles to illuminate the night, which is better than my Ming candles, pine resin, and animal oil." Whale oil is quite expensive in Europa, but the Europa people also regard our property as a treasure, and we exchange it for silk and porcelain. ”

Shang Zhouzuo nodded: "A few barrels of grease are not a big deal. ”

Zheng Haizhu smiled respectfully, and secretly said in his heart, this is not a trivial matter, because whale oil is not only used for lighting.

(End of chapter)