Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 46 Speculation
Zheng Zhilong picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "It is a great honor for Mr. Zheng to come to the humble house today. This time, His Majesty promoted us, and it is also thanks to Mr. Mr. This glass of wine is for my brothers and sisters. Your Excellency, please!" After finishing speaking, he drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

Zou Weilian slowly picked up his wine glass and said: "I am so grateful to you, I call you an official. The Zheng family's success today depends on your talent as an official. The old man also praised you in the notes to the court before. I hope you will be more loyal to the country in the future, so that you can be worthy of the Holy Majesty's support and support for you!" After speaking, he raised his head and drank the wine in the glass, Zhang Weifeng and Zheng Zhifeng quickly drank it up too.

Zheng Zhilong hurriedly raised his chopsticks and said, "Come here, sir, how about my Zheng family's cooking skills!"

Zou Weilian picked up a piece of snow-white and transparent fish as thin as a cicada's wing, dipped it in the seasoning in the small bowl and put it in his mouth, his face immediately became intoxicated, and he sighed after thinking about it for a while; Also! It melts in the mouth, delicious and smooth, it is really the best of the dishes!"

Zheng Zhilong said with a smile: "This is mullet. Sea fish is the most delicious when eaten raw. Adults, eat more!" Zhang Weifeng also picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, and then he was full of praise.

After eating a few slices, Zou Weilian put down his chopsticks and said with a smile: "The old man is old, and it's not easy to eat too much when it's cold. Come on, the old man will offer you a glass of brother Zheng's. From today onwards, you are all generals of the imperial court. The saint said that as long as you Please do your best to be loyal to Daming, the Holy Majesty will not hesitate to reward you as a duke, this old man hereby wish you an early marriage and victory!"

When the sky completely darkened, the banquet ended with the guests enjoying themselves, Zou Weilian and others were sent to the guest room of Zheng's residence, and Zheng Zhilong and the three came to the study to discuss matters.

Wiping their faces with warm towels, the three of them sipped the hot tea brought by the maid, Zheng Zhibao said excitedly: "Brother, this time, you have become the chief soldier, and the fourth child and I have also become generals. Don't tell me, this emperor is really good to us, shall we try changing into official uniforms now? Hahaha!"

Zheng Zhilong smiled and said: "To be honest, although we didn't care how big an official we were in the past, but when you gave me a coastal defense guerrilla, what kind of boss did you make? I still feel very angry! We have tens of thousands of brothers and more than a thousand pieces of paper. Ship, we are kings on the sea, no matter if it is Japanese, Dutch, Francine, or businessmen from Ming Dynasty, whoever sees us will not be with our grandson? The name is justified, I have already shown the court some color! This time the emperor suddenly became enlightened and gave a general soldier, um, it can be regarded as a glorious ancestor, haha!"

Zheng Zhifeng drank tea and didn't speak, Zheng Zhilong joked: "Zheng Guerzhan, why don't you talk? Could it be that you are not as good as me and the third official, and you are upset?" Zheng Zhibao laughed and winked at Zheng Zhifeng.

Zheng Zhifeng put down his teacup and said, "Brother, third brother, we brothers rely on the power of the sea, and the emperor must be afraid of us, that's why he appointed an official to make a wish. Didn't you hear the meaning behind Zou Weilian's words? The emperor is short of money Well, we can’t be an official for nothing, we have to spend money!”

Zheng Zhilong smiled and said: "Your brother, I have been dealing with all kinds of people since I was a teenager. How can I not see what the emperor and the government mean? Fourth, are we short of money? Every year there are merchant ships on the ocean. Three thousand ships, each ship we charge 3000 taels of silver per year, after all kinds of expenses, how much does our brother lose in a year? The Ming court is not as good as our brother's income, as long as we have knives, guns, manpower, and ships, who will We can't do anything about it, just spend money to buy a safe thing!"

Zheng Zhifeng said: "Brother, this is not a matter of money. Now that there are many civil strife in Ming Dynasty, thieves have become popular. I heard that the Jurchens outside the customs are also very vigorous. I always feel that maybe the change of dynasty is just around the corner. The silver is a bit wronged! If the thief Nuzhen seizes the country, won’t our money be wasted? Then we will be held accountable for giving money to the Ming Dynasty, and that will be a serious crime!"

Zheng Zhilong smiled and said: "I know what you said, the Zhu family's position is indeed unstable, but it doesn't matter, no matter who takes the throne, isn't it just a change of master? We don't want to fight with anyone, we just need to control the sea. , whoever is the emperor can do nothing to us, now the emperor of the Zhu family is sitting in the country, we just listen to him! Didn’t Zou Weilian come to ask for money? Let’s give it, if 10 taels is not enough, 20!"

Zheng Zhibao echoed: "Brother is right, fourth child, you think too much, it doesn't matter who is the emperor, as long as you treat us well and give us a promotion!"

Zheng Zhifeng still wanted to argue, Zheng Zhilong said: "That's it, Zou Weilian will return to Fuzhou tomorrow, and we will give him 20 silver so that he can explain to the emperor. This old man is a good official. How much silver has been given to him in recent years?" It’s worth a thousand taels, and I heard that he bought it as food to help the poor, so we can’t make him suffer, right?”

In an elegant courtyard of the Zheng Mansion, Zou Weilian and Zhang Weifeng were talking, Zhang Weifeng said: "My lord, I have observed the words and demeanor, Zheng Zhilong doesn't seem to be too keen on the promotion, could it be that he has other thoughts?"

Zou Weilian frowned and said: "Zi Ming, the world is in turmoil today, the Ming Dynasty has internal and external troubles, natural disasters and man-made disasters continue, rumors of the country changing hands are rampant, it is impossible for the Zheng family to be ignorant of these. The matter is not very moving, as for other thoughts, there will be no such thing, the current Holy Majesty can be said to be very insightful, do you know how the Holy Majesty commented on Zheng Yiguan in the secret letter to me?" Zhang Weifeng shook his head and remained silent.

"Talent but no ambition! These four words are extremely incisive! I have been dealing with the Zheng family for three years, and I know him very well. The Holy Majesty's judgment is quite accurate!" Zou Weilian sighed.

"The Zheng family is as rich as a country, with thousands of warships under its command, and hundreds of thousands of men who dare to fight, but Zheng Yiguan has no ambitions, so it is not a concern. His words and deeds are no different from the wall! If the court is strong, He will also bow his head and be a petty person. Are there few courtiers who have the same thoughts as Zheng Yiguan? The difference is that courtiers eat the king's salary, but they are not loyal to the emperor! Zheng Yiguan is better than some people! At least He knows how to speculate! He knows how to offer real gold and silver to the court, which is a hundred times better than those beasts who drink the blood of the court and eat the flesh of the common people!" Zou Weilian was so angry that his chest heaved and heaved.

Zhang Weifeng quickly picked up the tea and handed it to him, saying: "My lord, don't be angry. The reason why the students follow you is because you admire your integrity. If all the civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty are holy and considerate for the court and the people like you are, then there will be no thieves." Being a slave is nothing to worry about, alas, what a pity!"

Zou Weilian took a sip of tea, calmed down a little, and said: "Zi Ming, there is a saying in the letter from the Holy Majesty, which I think is very reasonable: you need to be strong yourself to forge iron! If the imperial court can wipe out the thieves and slaves, Zheng Zhilong himself I will bow my head and obey my ears, and be loyal to the court! All I can do is to support the Holy Majesty and the court, and try my best to get more money, food and materials from the Zheng family, so as to use it to suppress the bandits!"

Zhang Weifeng laughed and said, "Just now when the students went back to the room to wash, there were two boxes in the room, each containing 1000 taels of gold and 500 taels of gold, should these be returned?"

Zou Weilian waved his hand and said: "Leave it, give as much as you want, these gold and silver are enough to exchange for the rations of many poor people! Zheng Yiguan is so stingy, the old man is a second-rank official at any rate, and he only gave this little property. Really Damn, the governor is not used as dry food! Haha!" Zhang Weifeng couldn't stop laughing when he heard this.

On the second day, Zheng Zhilong accompanied Zou Weilian to dinner and talked, and agreed to buy 30 shi of rice from Champa, Siam and other places, and transport it by sea to the port of Tianjinwei. Zou Weilian boarded the boat and returned to Fuzhou with satisfaction.

Several captains of Jinyi from the capital stayed in Quanzhou, waiting to escort the food back to the capital with Zheng Zhilong's fleet.

(End of this chapter)