Liu Zeqing and Gao Jie are not at the same level at all, Zhou Shixian put down a cold face, and this old fritter who was already so empty that he didn't have a little courage admitted it, which made Zhou Shixian have no pleasure of victory at all. However, it is a matter of principle that the dirty silver that the other party should spit out, and that point must not be missing.

After dealing with these two unlucky thorns, Zhou Shixian immediately began his parade in Nanzhili, and successfully received more than 400,000 taels of silver in Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo, more than 10,000 stones of grain, as well as a lot of jewelry and silk, young and strong and women, just those so-called rich businessmen's daughters, there are five, all of which are specially dedicated to Zhou Shixian by Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo.

Zhou Shixian naturally knew that these were not all the stolen money, nor all the young men and women, there were some things that could be forced, but when the time came, it couldn't really be pushed too hard, since Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing were already bleeding, then he had to cooperate and put on a good show.

However, all this, Zhou Shixian did in the name of Emperor Chongzhen, the so-called rectification of the four towns, also in the name of Emperor Chongzhen, and even sent people to spread the news in Nanjing, saying that Emperor Chongzhen liked to hear the content, and then from the east of the dynasty to the ears of Emperor Chongzhen.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen's indecisive character was reflected again, not to mention, Zhou Shixian was still his son-in-law, and the rumors came. He loosened up again, and he had a lot of trust in Zhou Shixian.

Zhou Shixian took Zheng Chenggong to collect a circle of protection money, and after letting these military leaders see what a real army is, they returned to Yangzhou. After all, he let Zheng Chenggong see what it means to collect protection money, and Zheng Chenggong also had to let him see what "acting" is.

On the fifth day after Zhou Shixian and Zheng Chenggong returned to Nanjing, they secretly went to Zhenjiang Mansion, and Zheng Chenggong sent his men to board the ship on the evening of the first day.

In the water city northeast of Zhenjiang City, more than 100 sea ships are quietly docked in it, with the undulating sea waves swaying slightly, most of the sea ships are sea smuggling armed fortune ships, and there are also many Yangzhou and Changzhou ships from the Cao Transport Ship gathered here.

To the north of Zhenjiang is a small island in the river, where the originally gentle waters of the Yangtze River are diverted to Nanjing, where most of the ships that take shelter from the wind and waves, carry goods, and replenish fresh water and food, and even some ships from Japan.

Zheng Chenggong stood at the bow of the Fu boat, looked at the prosperous and lively Zhenjiang Wharf on the shore, and said respectfully to Zhou Shixian beside him: "Donkey, those officials who have not been demoted have already sent people to wait at the Nanjing Wharf. ”

Zhou Shixian smiled, and now the matter is still in his control: "When the time comes, it will be successful, in addition to getting the silver of those degraded officials, these frightened birds, with a little knock, it is estimated that there will be more than forty or fifty thousand taels, and one thousand five hundred sets of scale armor, and there will be." ”

When Zheng Chenggong heard this, his brows furrowed slightly, Zhou Shixian had told him about the general plan before, but how to operate it was only said that he had his own clever plan, and now he told him to knock more, which made him confused.

"Donkey, so what should the lower officials do to get more benefits."

Zheng Chenggong actually had an idea in his heart, but in front of Zhou Shixian, he was not good at acting directly, after all, during his trip to Jiangbei these days, he also knew that the other party was also a conspirator, and what he needed was not a strategist, but a cadre.

After understanding this, Zheng Chenggong naturally knew that if he showed too much, it would not be a good thing, and in front of a genius like Zhou Shixian, the most important thing was to be obedient and capable.

"What do you say?"

Zhou Shixian was confident, but he wanted to see what Zheng Chenggong thought. After all, in history, Zheng Chenggong was very yin, but Zhou Shixian really didn't know how yin it was.

Zheng Chenggong listened and knew that Zhou Shixian was testing him, since it was requested by the other party, then he could rest assured: "The lower officials think that they can lie that the money and goods of those officials who are still in office have encountered a storm, and the rest of the money and goods will be the officials who are in danger, so that things will be handled easily, and we don't have to deal with the pressure." Those who come looking for trouble, naturally someone will come against them. ”

Zheng Chenggong is actually worried that this conspiracy with Zhou Shixian will affect the reputation of the Zheng family, so he must handle it properly, take the Zheng family out, and let those officials fight on their own.

You must know that although some officials have been dismissed from their posts and have been caught at such a time, it is basically impossible to make a comeback, but whether the other party has the same year and friends is the key to the problem.

Zhou Shixian smiled and nodded, this is exactly what he thought, if he wants to swallow this money smoothly, he has to involve all the officials who are still in the court, so that they think that they have shared the spoils, and they will naturally help the Zheng family block the troubles of the families and friends of the other officials who have lost their money.

"If this matter is handled properly, those officials will be successful in the future, and if this point is successfully grasped, it can also give Ling Zun an explanation."

Zhou Shixian continued to smile, and said: "No matter how long you stay in Nanjing, you are just a staff minister, that is, you have passed the imperial examination, won the top prize, and it is not easy to enter the cabinet.

Zheng Chenggong listened to Zhou Shixian, who was three or four years younger than him, say that he was too young, and he had some strange feelings in his heart, but the other party's words and the truth in his words were clear, if he wanted to take the road of civil officials, even if he had the support of the court, with his age, it would be difficult for him to enter the decision-making level without more than ten or twenty years.

Moreover, Zheng Chenggong didn't want to be a civilian official, especially after seeing the strong army under Zhou Shixian, his idea of leading troops to fight became stronger: "The meaning of the horse is ......"

"In today's situation, perhaps leading the troops is the right way, and it would be too wasteful for the Zheng family's soldiers and horses to stay in Fujian. If you succeed, you can lead an army to the north, cross the Huai River and the Yangtze River, protect the Ming Dynasty, and pay homage to the prime minister, why not? Zhou Shixian did not hide it at all, and got straight to the point.

. On the second day, five ships sailed into an inconspicuous wharf on the outskirts of Nanjing, and then stopped at the wharf, each with only about 20 sailors, and the hulls of these ships were rotten in several places, and the front sails of several ships were already in tatters, and the poles of the sails were only half small, and there were even no rear sails.

Those who had been waiting here all looked at the ship with surprise on their faces, looking at each other, at a loss, a dozen ships had gone out, and now less than half of them had returned, and they didn't have to think about it to know that something was wrong. They are all just housekeepers, and if they can't get the money back, they can't account for it at all.

After a while, Zheng Chenggong stepped off the springboard and walked quickly towards the housekeepers of these officials. Before he could get closer, the housekeepers all hugged him, looked at Zheng Chenggong anxiously, and asked:

"Zheng Gongzi, this, what's wrong? Boat..... Ship ......"

"Zheng Gongzi, why are you here? Why ......"

"Our adult's goods, the goods are all right......"

Fortunately, the officials who had an accident, the whole family has been temporarily arrested, not to mention the housekeeper, and there is no chauffeur to come, otherwise Zheng Chenggong may have to face twice as many people.

Zheng Chenggong was silent, and after a while, he seemed to be relieved, and said to the anxious housekeepers in front of him: "Everyone, it's inconvenient to talk here, let's go to the house over there to talk." ”

A group of people followed Zheng Chenggong and soon walked into a large house nearby, where the Zheng family also arranged for a family to guard, and outsiders were generally not allowed to approach.

This wharf is the place where the Zheng family chose to smuggle money for those officials of the DPRK and China in exchange for the support and protection of the DPRK and China, although there are other ships docking, but the wharf is basically managed by the Zheng family's agents, and if you do a little more inside and outside, you can avoid many unnecessary troubles.

As soon as he entered the room, Zheng Chenggong suddenly arched his hand towards several housekeepers, and said in a choked voice:

"Gentlemen, my Zheng family has the trust of all the adults, the fleet encountered a strong wind on the way back this time, more than a dozen ships, only these five can come back, many adults' goods, as well as my Zheng family's ship, more than a hundred sailors and crew, were blown away by the wind and waves, and overturned in the sea."

When the housekeepers heard this, they all opened their mouths in surprise, and for a moment the room was strangely quiet.

Now that the situation in the court is turbulent, there are still rogues and Tartars in the north, many officials are thinking of saving money, and there is a way out when they are in danger, or even keep their official positions, up and down, and take advantage of the last fat shortage, which is a lot of silver, but they were actually knocked over in the sea.

"That, that, that......" These housekeepers surrounded Zheng Chenggong, wanting to say something, but they couldn't say it, they couldn't imagine how they would explain to their adults when they went back.

But Zheng Chenggong didn't wait for them to say anything questioning, and immediately said: "But don't worry, gentlemen, no matter what, my Zheng family will not sit idly by, although my Zheng family has also lost several ships, more than 100 sailors, and hundreds of thousands of goods, but your lords' money and goods, my Zheng family will definitely find a way to make it up and return it to you."

However, as soon as Zheng Chenggong's voice fell, another housekeeper asked, "Zheng Gongzi, aren't there still five ships?" Whose goods are they? ”

These housekeepers are all human beings, and they naturally don't believe what Zheng Chenggong said, everyone will say good things, and when the so-called compensation will be cashed out is another matter.

When the others heard this, they couldn't care about anything, and at the same time hurriedly asked Zheng Chenggong: "Zheng Gongzi, something big happened in the court, and some of the money and goods on the ship will not be collected, you quickly distribute the silver to us, let's deal with this matter, and we don't need your Zheng family to pay this money." ”