The only decent house on the island is a Mazu temple, the statue of Mazu is enshrined excellently, and there is a temple blessing, I don't know if it really promotes Mazu, or just to escape from the world.

Behind the temple, there is a row of houses, which are inhabited by merchants of all sizes, but because the water in the bay where the temple is located is relatively shallow, it is not suitable for foreign ships to moor, so Fries and other red hairs did not live here.

Now, Fries and his party were brought into the Mazu Temple to meet the eldest son of the legendary official Nikolai, and all of Fries's men were stopped outside, and even gifts were not allowed to be brought in, only Fries and the commercial officer Albert were brought in.

However, the temple was empty, except for two tables and four sets of chairs in front of the statue of Mazu, which seemed to be a place for negotiation, but no one was in the main hall.

Seeing that the soldiers of the Zheng family who brought them in were about to close the gate, Albert, who was fluent in Chinese, stopped the soldiers: "Hey, why is the door closed, the eldest son of His Royal Highness Yiguan, why didn't he show up?" ”

The soldier didn't want to pay attention to him at all, but where would Fries allow them to close the door, and directly pinched the soldier's arm, making him unable to move.

The soldier stared at Fries viciously and said, "My son-in-law is resting after a long journey, and he will see you naturally." ”

"He said that the eldest son of Yiguan is sleeping and will not see us until he wakes up." Albert said to Fries in his native language.

Fries was furious: "Then why don't you wait for that person to wake up before letting us come." ”

Albert asked Fries's question, and the soldier's face was full of reason: "If you are not here after the child's rest, will you not delay our son's precious time?" ”

"Arrogant yellow-skinned monkey." Fries figured out the Zheng family's arrangement, and his face was full of anger.

The soldier, not knowing what he was talking about, saw him let go and turned away, but did not take the door with him. There was just a group of soldiers guarding the door, and the two were not allowed to enter or leave.

Albert asked, "Isn't there even a cup of tea?" ”

The soldiers outside responded, "No, because you will ask for relief after drinking water, I can't give you water." ”

"Damn!" Fries figured out the soldier's answer, grabbed the empty teacup on the table, and was about to smash it at the Mazu statue, Albert quickly grabbed him: "Your Excellency Fries, you can't do this, this is the god of the Ming sailors, if you hurt this Mazu statue, maybe we will have more trouble." ”

Fries sat down in his chair, and when he saw the melon and fruit enshrined in front of the statue of Mazu, he stepped forward and grabbed a melon and took a vicious bite.

Fries was a skilled expedition captain and a prominent commander, but had no interest in negotiation or politics, which was why the governor of Batavia had Albert on the team.

Albert advised: "This is the negotiating skill of the Ming people, as was often the case with Nicholas, who liked to identify himself as the Admiral of the Ming Navy, lest we look down on him because of his pirate past and his experience in our company."

In fact, even with a thousand ships and a vast ocean, Nikolai was not even a baron.

This is a trick of the lowly, Captain Freese, and you shouldn't be angry about it. ”

Fries raised his head and looked at Albert: "We came here, everything is normal, all people and things are going according to plan, and now the Zheng family's fleet has suddenly arrived and taken hostile measures against us, I doubt it, is it the right hand of your officer, what happened to that General Zheng Cai?"

Did you make him angry, or did you unite and do something that made Nicholas angry? ”

Albert shook his head repeatedly, indicating no.

Fries's eyes widened suddenly, and he said, "Could it be that you are looking for a route to the Tatar Kingdom and recruiting a guide to let the first official know?" ”

Albert thought for a while: "No, I just asked Zheng Cai to help me find a guide who is familiar with going to the Beiyang Seas, and I didn't say that I would go to the Tatar Kingdom." ”

Fries said helplessly: "Maybe the first official knew the news and guessed your purpose." ”

Albert said: "Even if Nikolai had known, he would not have done anything to us." Although the Tatar king fought a war with the Ming Emperor Peach Blossom, Nicholas did not care about any of this, I heard from those merchants that the first officer had never contributed even a single infantry company to the Peach Blossom Emperor, and it was said that he was only willing to give the Emperor Peach Blossom some backward Turkish muskets.

And some businessmen said that if an official does not take the opportunity to betray or expand his territory, he is the greatest loyalty to the Taohuashi Emperor. ”

Fries nodded: "I've also heard that it is said that Yiguan is willing to sell his soul to the devil for gold. ”

"This assessment should not be ....... said." Albert motioned for him to shut up, but couldn't help but comment: "Although it is out of place, I think what I said still makes a lot of sense." ”

"Well, let's hope his eldest son is a good guy to deal with." Fries said.

Albert thought for a moment: "It should be a rude and direct person, maybe you will be very speculative." I heard that the son of the Zheng family participated in the war against the English last year, and may have been just a brave general. ”

"If that's the case, that's great. Mr. Albert, I am tired of dealing with these Oriental magnates, who speak a completely different language and habits from ours. I will send you first to the land of the Tatars, and then to my Treasure Island. Fries sat in his chair, bored, and the two fell silent for a long time.

One of the two of them accidentally remembered something or a detail, and after the other person answered it, there was no more topic.

A brave explorer and a resourceful businessman, the two really have nothing to do with each other.

If it weren't for the common suffering, every time the two spent too much time together, it would end in a quarrel.

When the two of them couldn't bear it anymore, Zheng Sen brought people to come slowly, but he didn't come to negotiate, but just asked why the Dutch fleet arrived in Dongchu without reporting to the Zheng family in advance, and did not enter Zhangzhou Bay according to the rules, Albert had already thought of a rhetoric, and everything was blamed on Zheng Cai, that is, Fries, as the commander of the fleet, served in the East India and Du areas all the year round, and did not know the rules of the Zheng family, and he had just arrived.

After Zheng Sen asked, he did not express his position, only said that he would question Zheng Cai, and wait to find out the reason, and then make a decision.

As for what Fries said about leaving in a hurry and the like, Zheng Sen didn't care at all.

After the Dutch left, Guo Xu walked out from behind the statue of Mazu, and from the beginning he hid behind the statue of Mazu and eavesdropped on the two of them.

"How, what did those two red-haired men say?" Zheng Sen asked.

Guo Xu clenched his fists and said, "I mostly said something disrespectful to Lord Zheng and the eldest prince. ”

"Didn't you hear something useful?" What Guo Xu said was not the answer Zheng Sen wanted.

Guo Xu was obviously a little hesitant, because he did hear the two Fries talk about Treasure Island and secretly going to the Tatar Kingdom, but Guo Xu hesitated to tell Zheng Sen about these important news. If Li Zhaoji was here, he would definitely have to inform Li Zhaoji first.

After thinking about it for a while, Guo Xu felt that he should avoid the important and tell Zheng Sen some truths and hide important secrets.

Because he felt that the secrets and responsibilities that Fries held were very important to the Oriental Trading Company, and he had to keep them first through Zheng Sen.

It's just that although Guo Xu is smart, in the end his knowledge and status limit his thinking, in his opinion, Treasure Island, the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Tatars, the two things, Treasure Island is more important, after all, he doesn't know what the Tatars are, the Manchurian invasion is a big deal for the Ming Dynasty, but for the people living overseas, it is illusory.

What's more, what Fries said was also a little ambiguous, making Guo Xu think that Fries knew where Treasure Island was.

After sorting out his language a little, Guo Xu said: "I also heard Fries and Albert talk about the Tatars. ”

"Tatars, what do they say?" When Zheng Hongkui heard this, he was also interested.

Guo Xu said: "I listen to the meaning of the Friesian language, Albert has a mission, which is to go to the Kingdom of Tatar and represent the Netherlands to deal with it. It seems that they don't want Lord Zheng to know about these things. ”

"Tatars, it's Jiannu!" Zheng Sen was clear about some of the red hair's speech habits, and he said immediately.

And Zheng Hongkui keenly felt that this matter had changed, Zheng Sen's temperament he knew very well, if he decided that the red hair cooperated with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he would definitely not let go of the red hair in front of him, and he would make things bigger, which was contrary to Zheng Zhilong's strategy of lifting it high and gently putting it down.

"Not necessarily, the Red Fur also called the Mongols Tatars, maybe they wanted to go to the North Sea, or something." Zheng Hongkui hurriedly and diluted the mud.

Zheng Sen smiled: "Yes, yes, it's me who thinks too much, I heard that a few years ago, Hongmao asked the fleet to explore the north of Japan, and many people died, but they didn't find Treasure Island." Isn't it also the territory of the Jurchens, and the Jurchens are also Tatars. ”

Zheng Hongkui nodded and said, "In this case, what should we do next?" ”

"Please tell my father, dispose of Zheng Cai, only my father will do it." Zheng Sen said.

Zheng Hongkui smiled: "It's okay, it's harder here, let's stay for a few days." ”

After Zheng Hongkui left, Zheng Cai grabbed Guo Xu and said, "What else do you hear about Hongmao going to the Manchu Dynasty." ”

"You don't mean ......." Guo Xu was surprised, obviously Zheng Sen didn't care about this matter just now, but after thinking about it, Guo Xu understood that Zheng Sen had deceived Zheng Hongkui by getting off the donkey just now, so as not to hold Zheng Hongkui hostage.

Guo Xu said honestly: "The two also said something, saying that the Tatar king was the enemy of the Great Tomorrow, and that your father did not support the imperial court, but only sent some backward muskets ....... ”

Zheng Sen's face was gloomy, and he had indeed determined that the so-called Tatar Kingdom was the Manchu Qing Dynasty.