Kinmen Island.

The sea breeze blew, and the Jeju Island cut through the sparkling sea, approached a distance of only 100 meters from Kinmen Island, and anchored to a halt. And behind this beautiful and mighty heavy cruise, there was a fleet of more than a dozen large and small sailing ships, stretching for miles, and putting heavy pressure on Kinmen Island.

Zheng Chae had more ships, but none of them could compare to the Jeju Island, and all the ships combined, there were no more heavy artillery than the Jeju Island. Coupled with the fact that Zheng Lian was captured, but was released back, and even the stolen food and wealth were returned, Zheng Cai knew that it was necessary for him to venture to Jeju Island and have a good talk with Li Zhaoji, who had heard about it countless times and had never met.

Zheng Cai boarded the Jeju Island with twenty people, and saw a tall man, he was wearing a tight belt, a gold-handled saber hanging on the right side, and a flintlock pistol on the other side, with a bearskin cloak behind him, and a team standing behind him, and on the top of the mast, weaving a golden green dragon flag hunting.

"Li Zhaoji, Li shopkeeper?" Zheng Cai asked.

Li Zhaoji smiled: "Lord Zheng Caizheng? ”

The two nodded to each other, but did not salute, and entered the makeshift official hall in parallel.

In the cold and windy sea, you can take refuge from the wind, there is a hot stove in the official hall, and the lid of the stove is ringing, and there is no one else.

"Do you want a guard to accompany you?" Li Zhaoji asked.

"Whatever the guest wants." Zheng Cai said.

Li Zhaoji laughed and said to Tang Mu and the others beside him: "Go ahead, we are not enemies of life and death, there will be no problem." ”

Zheng Cai nodded slightly, he had already felt Li Zhaoji's sincerity twice, and the other time was that Li Zhaoji could actually raid the fleet on Kinmen Island with the wind. Before the arrival of the Grand Fleet of the Oriental Trading Company, Zheng Cai's main enemy was Xia Guoxiang on the shore, and in order to avoid Xia Guoxiang's attack, he docked his ships in the open sea of Kinmen Island, which was exactly what the Grand Fleet could attack.

The two sat down in the official hall, and Zheng Cai said, "Shopkeeper Li, are you sent by Shen Youlong to attack me?" ”

From Zheng Cai's point of view, this is the greatest possibility. And Li Zhaoji shook his head slightly: "No, this time I only represent the Oriental Trading Company, and I have nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty or Xia Guoxiang." ”

"yes, it sounds reasonable, so what do you want to do?" Zheng Cai asked.

Li Zhaoji said: "Master Zheng, the Zheng family has repeatedly targeted me in the past, and you have also participated. But now the Zheng family is down, and the former Minhai King family has been scattered. Only I can take my place, but you, I still want to continue the glory of the Zheng family, therefore, we are enemies.

But not all enemies have to fight to the death, do they? But if you and I want to coexist and live, we must each have our own paths. ”

Zheng Cai nodded slightly: "I'll listen to you." ”

Li Zhaoji said: "First of all, you can't belong to the Ming court in Nanjing, Shen Youlong cooperated with me, but he has always been afraid to guard against me, if you vote for Shen Youlong, you will definitely still be my enemy, your Zheng family has been operating on the southeast coast for decades, and there are ways to do both black and white, and it is really easy to trouble me."

I don't want to live in fear, so if you insist on joining the Nanking court, then we can only fight.

I will unite all forces to destroy you, Xia Guoxiang is one of them, I still have the British fleet in my fleet, of course, if necessary, the Dutch will also come to help in the war, but I don't need their help for the time being. ”

"My Zheng family has been attached to the Ming Dynasty for many years, and if you don't allow me to be loyal to the Son of Heaven, won't it cut off my Zheng family's retreat." Zheng Cai said, but he thought about it carefully and said, "You may have other ideas, let's talk about it." You don't want me to surrender to you and join your Oriental Trading Company. ”

"No, you are too big, too big for me to swallow in one gulp, so big that swallowing will affect the unity of the Oriental Trading Company and my authority." Li Zhaoji said with a smile, but there was no trace of banter on his face, he was seriously thinking about Zheng Cai.

"Go on, I'm listening." Zheng Cai said.

Lee said: "I think you should have considered a way out. Fall into the grass and be a pirate? Obviously, this is not a long-term solution, whether it is the Minister of Xia, the Ming Mansion, or all the merchants on the southern coast who want to go abroad to buy and sell, they will want to kill you.

I'm going to be a part of it, don't I?

In addition, there is also the South Seas, you believe in Catholicism, you have a deep relationship with the Dutch East India, Du Company, you can go to Batavia, take refuge in the Dutch.

But I also know very well that the Dutch like your wealth and your influence among the Chinese, but they definitely don't like your more than 100 warships and nearly 10,000 soldiers, of course, most of these people will not be willing to go to the South Seas.

Go to the South Seas, or go to the Dutch, you can only be a rich man in the second half of your life. This seems to be a pain in the ass for a general who has been in power for many years. ”

Zheng Cai nodded slightly, but didn't say anything, but made tea for himself.

Li Zhaoji said: "There is another option, you can go to the Manchu Qing or Dashun. They all need a sailor, but it's not a good choice either, it's November and there are still four months left to reach the southerly season. If you vote for the Manchus, you will be my enemy, I will not allow you to exist, and now that Zheng Zhilong has gone to Liaodong, if you surrender to the Manchus, your fleet and your soldiers, will it still be yours?

If you go to Dashun, it will be interesting, you can become a naval commander, and you will even get a knighthood, but you can no longer do smuggling business, Li Zicheng will not allow you, a Fujianese, to have ties with the south.

You're still an outsider after all, and the best outcome is to be replaced gradually. ”

Zheng Cai tried his best to maintain a flat expression, but Li Zhaoji analyzed his future clearly, and all his choices had been clearly displayed, so that in the end, Zheng Cai's face was already hideous.

His choices are good and bad, the bad choices are those he does not want, and the good choice is to face life and death now.

Li Zhaoji saw that Zheng Cai was already a little too excited, so he said: "So, Lord Zheng, the two of us should cooperate, I will give you a better way out, and you give me what I want." ”

"What retreat?" Zheng Cai asked.

Li Zhaoji smiled and said, "You can go to Japan." You are familiar with it, and the Tokugawa shogunate also knows your reputation.

And the current situation is also very clear to you, because of Sado Treasure Island, the Oriental Trading Company and Japan entered a state of hostility. Japan does not have a decent sailor, and the Dutch cannot provide the help they want, Japan is already building its own sailor, and if you go to the defection and bring a ship of 7,000 people, it will definitely be reused.

Haven't you always been doing business on Oriental routes, and trade can still be carried out?

Not only will you be able to keep everything you have, but you will be able to go further even in Japan, and you will be able to keep the chance of making a comeback, and maybe one day in the future, you will return like lightning, destroy my Oriental Trading Company, and then become the king of the China Sea, won't you? ”

Zheng Cai fell into deep thought, and suddenly he raised his head and asked, "Did Zheng Lian say anything to you?" ”

Li Zhaoji looked at Zheng Cai blankly: "I didn't see him, he kept shouting and scolding." I'm a small-minded person, and if he scolds me, I probably won't give him back to you. ”

Zheng Cai asked this question because this was his backup plan, if the plan of the Hongguang court was not successful, he would go to Japan, and if he was no longer welcomed in Japan, he would go to Batavia, or some safe country in Nanyang, to become a rich man.

"You've shown me the way, what are the benefits you can get?" Zheng Cai stared at Li Zhaoji's face and asked.

Lee said: "Money, I like money. I know that you have a lot of money, you yourself are very rich, and you took advantage of Zheng Zhilong's capture, and also gathered the people and wealth of the Zheng family on Kinmen Island. It belongs to you, I don't want it, I want Zheng Zhilong's family.

Of course, in addition to his money, I also want Zheng Zhilong's wife and son. Of course, I won't hurt them, I'm friends with Zheng Sen, and I hope that he can be reunited with his mother, brother, and wife after losing his father.

He's on his way, maybe in a few days, and I hope he'll be able to see his loved ones when he arrives. ”

Li Zhaoji's last sentence was more of a threat, Zheng Sen is the sister-in-law of the Zheng family, and the heir who was determined early on is much more orthodox than him, Zheng Cai, who took the opportunity to seize power. And Zheng Sen has been recognized by the Hongguang Imperial Court, and he has also been named Yanpingbo, and has been given the national surname.

Not only that, Zheng Sen was also arranged by Shen Youlong in the Beijing camp, and it can be said that Zheng Sen is Shen Youlong's most trusted general.

Zheng Cai has obtained these news, but he has blocked it, and if Zheng Sen brings the will of the imperial court to appease, most of these Zheng family members gathered in Jinmen will defect.

"No wonder you're here with your fleet." Zheng Cai said coldly.

Li Zhaoji did not hide his greed, he said: "Yes, I just found such an opportunity. I hope for a quick solution, I don't want Zheng Sen to arrive, in front of him, I am embarrassed to force his family's wealth, and if Xia Guoxiang comes from the north, he will definitely provoke a war and share the wealth of Kinmen Island with me.

So, Zheng Cai, we should cooperate well, you take the money, and I will eliminate the disaster for you. ”

Zheng Cai gritted his teeth: "Do you know how much money that is?" You dare to open your mouth and swallow it all! ”

Li Zhaoji shook his head slightly: "I don't know, I only know that the fleet under my command gives me the strength to replace the Zheng family, and also gives me the courage to dare to annex everything about him." In fact, you know in your heart that the biggest wealth of the Zheng family belongs to Xia Guoxiang and Zheng Sen. ”

Zheng Zhilong was the leader of the Zheng maritime group, he had a lot of wealth, but most of his wealth, like the scholars of the Ming Dynasty, was converted into land, and in Fujian and Guangdong, there were Zheng family's granges everywhere. Among them, those located in Zhang and Quanzhou will naturally be taken away by Xia Guoxiang, but the rest, Zheng Sen will inherit.

Zheng Cai asked, "How can you guarantee that after I leave, you will not attack my fleet?" I went to Japan to be your enemy, and you will spare your enemy. ”

Li Zhaoji asked with a smile: "How can you guarantee that you will give me all the wealth of Zheng Zhilong's family, instead of pretending to be your own and then take it away?" ”

Li Zhaoji's question made Zheng Cai unable to answer, in fact, neither side can guarantee that the other will meet their needs.

"So what's there to discuss?" Zheng Cai asked, and he stood up directly and was about to leave.

Li Zhaoji laughed: "There is nothing to discuss, because our status is not equal, as long as I want, I can destroy your fleet at any time, but you can only listen to my arrangement." ”

Zheng Cai was furious, he stood up, opened the door of the official hall, and saw the two sides of the tense confrontation outside, the ruthlessness and unwillingness on his face gradually relaxed, he knew that Li Zhaoji's words were true. Zheng Cai stood in place, took a few deep breaths, forced himself to calm down, closed the door, turned his head and said, "Say, what do you want?" ”

Li Zhaoji took out two wooden boxes from under the table, each containing a roll of incense. After he lit it with a flame, he handed Zheng Cai a box and said, "This incense can burn for an hour, an hour, take your people and boats and roll out of Kinmen Island, and go where you should go."

In an hour, I will attack, and when the time comes, you will face a joint attack with Xia Guoxiang, the Dutch, and the British, as well as Zheng Sen's appeasement and division. ”

"You ........" Li Zhaoji's sudden strength made Zheng Cai even more angry.

Li Zhaoji smiled faintly and sat cross-legged on the chair: "The incense is burning, time is passing, and there is not much time left for you." ”

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