Kangxi, your Qing Dynasty is dead

Chapter 420 The revenge of killing my father is nothing to worry about! (Please vote for me, please subscribe)
Zheng Xi is now the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and of course he knows a lot of things between foreigners, including the Franco-Dutch War - this is a big event, the Dutch almost became French!
Now he heard Spearman jumping and scolding Louis XIV, and he took it for granted that King Louis XIV of France must have torn up the Treaty of Nijmegen and launched a surprise attack on Dutch Consul William III. How old is the Netherlands? ?Give Louis XIV a surprise attack and maybe it will be gone!
This kind of thing has happened too many times in Chinese history. Didn't Han Gao Emperor Liu Bang do this to Xiang Yu?First, let's make a "Chasm Agreement" to the person named Xiang, and use the Chasm Canal built by the Wei State during the Warring States Period as the boundary to divide the world.As a result, before the ink on the Chasm Agreement was dry, Liu Bang, who was famous for his benevolence and righteousness, launched a sneak attack against the alliance. Taking advantage of Xiang Yu's retreat to the east, he launched a five-pronged army to encircle and suppress Xiang Yu, and finally succeeded in killing Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu. died.

And this trick is not only practiced by Chinese people, but also by Westerners.

There was a Spanish scumbag named Pizarro who was even better at this than Liu Bang. He first made the Hongmen Treaty and tricked the emperor of the Inca Empire into negotiating with him. He then tried to capture the thief and capture the king first. After that, he came again. He holds the emperor and orders the princes.After using the name of the Inca emperor to collect a large amount of gold, he killed the Inca emperor, leaving the Inca country without a leader. When Li Zhongshan was in Macau to deal with Portugal, he even reported this to Kangxi. .

For this reason, Kangxi also sent letters to Shang Kexi, King of Pingnan, and Geng Jingzhong, King of Jingnan, who had the opportunity to contact foreigners, and asked them to be careful when meeting foreigners and not to be caught and taken as prisoners. This would harm the Celestial Empire. Decent.

Later, when Empress Yang presided over the founding of the country and approved the Dutch East India Company to open a commercial store in Beijing, some ministers used this matter as an excuse to object.Yang Xiaomi issued a special edict to prohibit foreigners from bringing weapons into Beijing, and asked Zhang Yong, the admiral of the Nine Gates, and Cao Yin, the minister of management of the Niangan Department, to strictly monitor foreign merchants.
Zheng Xi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, also made small reports on the Dutch. He wrote down all the things they did in the East Indies and Malacca and gave them to Queen Yang to read one by one.

So, Lao Zheng felt like a mirror in his heart about how bad this foreigner was.

However, when a bad guy's family suffers a disaster, he, a good guy who is the bad guy's friend, has to go and comfort them.

Thinking of this, Zheng Xi stepped into the room, and then asked with concern: "Second Master Si (Second Spearman), what's wrong with you? Could it be that the Fourteenth Master, the Sun King of France, betrayed the alliance?" , sneak attack on your Dutch mainland?"

Spielmann was furious and smashing things just now. When he heard Zheng Xi yelling in Dutch mixed with Fujian dialect, his whole body felt as if he had been under a restraining spell. He could not move even while standing there, and he was still holding a hand. The white porcelain wine glass was held high, but it couldn't be smashed down. The expression on his face froze, and only the corners of his mouth were still trembling.

He was originally furious because he had just received an urgent letter from Nanyang by a clipper sent by the Batavia Council.

The letter told Spearman that the East India Company's most precious assets, the spice-rich islands of Ternate, Tidore and Banda Islands, had been despicably and shamelessly attacked between December 12 and 8 last year. A surprise attack by the French Navy!

Moreover, France also used brutal Japanese mercenaries in these three attacks!Because the Japanese mercenaries were so destructive, almost all the administrators and mercenaries of the East India Company on Ternate, Tidore and Banda Islands were killed or captured. The sultans of the two sultanates of Dore were also taken away.Only a handful of clever administrators or mercenaries escaped by hiding in the mountains. It was they who took the indigenous boats and sent out the news that the island was being raided by the French navy and Japanese mercenaries.

But the speed of those indigenous boats was too slow. When they arrived at Java Island, the French fleet had already sailed through the Strait of Malacca and entered the Indian Ocean. Except for the almighty nature, there was no force that could stop the cargo of stolen spices and The fleets of purchased porcelain, sugar, tea, and silk sailed to distant Europe.

The Japanese mercenaries who participated in the attack were probably 3000 mercenaries hired by the French at high prices from the Satsuma, Choshu, and Tosa domains. Spearman watched them board the ship and leave Nagasaki with his own eyes!
At that time, he never thought that there would be pirates from the Wang family on the side of the mighty French Sun King. That was the tall, big and superior French Sun King! Isn't it true that only the English can do such despicable and dirty things as "Royal Pirates"?
So Spearman didn't take it to heart at all at the time, and without even notifying the Batavia Council to step up its vigilance, he and Carlos, the governor of the Spanish Philippines, boarded the East India Company merchant ship bound for Tianjin Wei.

It turned out to be a big mistake!
Because his negligence and the despicability of the French had caused irreparable losses to the company and caused a disaster to his career, Spielman was almost stunned. Apart from throwing things to vent, he did not think of anything at all. other.It wasn't until Zheng Xi, who suddenly arrived, reminded him that a more terrifying thought came to his mind - Louis XIV had probably torn up the Treaty of Nijmegen and launched a surprise attack on the Dutch mainland!
This is simply horrible!

Just now he was cursing France and King Louis of France. But at this moment, his beloved Dutch motherland is probably gone!And he, Spearman, is also a damn French guy in theory!And the great Sun King, His Majesty Louis XIV, is the monarch to whom he must be loyal!

Seeing Spielman standing there blankly, Zheng Xi could only say something to comfort him: "Second Master Si, don't worry, there is no obstacle that you can't overcome. Even if Louis XIV has invaded Amsterdam, you can still join Louis XIV." Er Chen.

Besides, we are tens of thousands of miles away from the European continent, and with news coming and going, things will inevitably go wrong. Maybe the situation is not that bad?Maybe there will be good news in a few days?

By the way, the Queen's decree has arrived. The Emperor has paid tribute and returned to the court. He will be able to return to Beijing in a few days. He will summon you in the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City. Both the Emperor and the Queen know that you are a talented person! "

Zheng Xi did not forget to work for the country, no, he should be recruiting talents for the Queen!
After being persuaded like this, Spearman regained his composure.

His trap was too big. If the French surprise attack on the Netherlands had not happened in Europe, the East India Company, which had suffered heavy losses, would definitely use him as a scapegoat, so he had to find a new home as soon as possible!
If he had become a Frenchman, Louis XIV would definitely not reuse him. He still had to find a new employer, and the Qing Dynasty seemed to be a good one!

Thinking of this, he handed the cup that had not been smashed out to a servant of Javanese descent, and then said to Zheng Xi: "Vice Minister Zheng, please tell the emperor and empress that Ming Dynasty and France are the two countries we share. enemy, the East India Company is willing to make every effort to help the Qing Dynasty defeat this dangerous enemy of the Ming Dynasty!"

"That's great!" Zheng Xi was overjoyed when he heard this!
He had been discussing with Spielman for a long time the possibility of jointly fighting the Ming Dynasty, but the Dutch profiteer kept putting forward conditions. Now it has become straightforward!
Regardless of the reason, he, as the Western Minister of the Lifan Yuan, must have done a great job!
Great Zhou, Chang'an City.

Just when Kangxi and Queen Yang came to Beijing together, Wu Guogui had already arrived in Chang'an City, the capital of the Great Zhou Kingdom.

Compared with Nanjing's "vibrant vitality and all things competing" and Beijing's apparent recovery, Chang'an, the imperial capital of the old Wu family, remains as depressed as ever.

"Tongxi Region" obviously did not bring many merchants to Chang'an. Compared with the trade route from Chang'an to the west, merchants obviously preferred the route of naturalization out of Beijing and then west to north.

This is not because the naturalization route from Beijing is shorter and easier, but because this route can cover Monan Mongolia, Mobei Mongolia, Mongolia Mongolia and the Kipchak grassland, and can also radiate to Siberia and Northeast China.

The so-called reopening of trade routes in the Western Regions is simply a fool's errand. The Western Regions and the Hezhong area have been "huohuo" for the descendants of Genghis Khan for hundreds of years. There is no commercial soil for a long time, and there is nothing there that can be exchanged with the Ming Dynasty - Hezhong Li Zhongshan wanted the good horse, but neither Kangxi nor Wu Shicong planned to sell it, so the others were probably gone.

But the prairie horses on the prairie can be sold casually!
In addition, Siberia and the Northeast, as well as the northwest of Khalkha and Mongolia, all produce furs. The Northeast also produces traditional Chinese medicine and pearls. These things have markets in the Ming Dynasty and can be exchanged with the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the naturalization-Beijing area has developed well in the past three or four years and has slowed down a bit.

The Guanzhong Plain did not get better just because Emperor Wu came out.

Especially after losing the prosperous areas of Hunan and Hubei, the population of the whole country in Dazhou has been less than 900 million, and nearly 300 million of them are under the control of various Zhechong governments. They are not taxpayers, but military households!

The burden of the entire country lies on the remaining population of less than 600 million or one million households.

And most of the taxes paid by these less than one million taxpayers were used for military expenses and real expenses for relocating military households to the Western Regions. In the hands of the Zhou court, it was naturally extremely poor. Salaries are often in arrears.Fortunately, there was no shortage of land in the Zhou Dynasty. Wu Yingqi, who was in power, implemented a job-land system and divided the land among officials so that they could make their own livelihoods.

But the problem is that there are few people in the Zhou Dynasty and a lot of land, and the land rent is very low. Unless the officials who are allocated the land cultivate it themselves, it will be difficult to maintain their expenses by collecting rent.Of course, local officials always have ways to solve difficulties. The ones who really endure hardship are the Beijing officials who serve in Chang'an, and nobles like Shang Shuying who have no actual duties except for the empty title of princess.When Wu Sangui, Wu Yingxiong, and Sun Yanling were still there, Shang Shuying, the empty-headed princess, was quite nourished. Not only could she live a good life, but she could also take care of some younger siblings who came to Wu Zhou. Shang Kexi had too many children and wanted to It’s still a bit difficult to catch them all in one go.Besides, those members of the Shang family who want to call Shang Shuying "sister" are all ranked in the "several dozen", and they don't have much sin, so why do they have to line up to do bad things?The older brothers and sisters at the top have not yet taken their turn, and the younger brothers and sisters at the bottom can only wait.

A large number of these brothers and sisters died when Guangzhou was conquered by Li Zhongshan and Li Fuchen, but some still ran away. Now most of them have joined Shang Shuying's sect, and there are always more than a dozen.

But as Wu Sangui, Wu Yingxiong, and Sun Yanling died one after another, Shang Shuying's family fell into neglect.And she was a woman who was not very good at saving money. She was born in the prestigious Pingnan Palace, and married into the Xushun Palace, which guarded one side, and became the mistress.Even though Prince Pingnan's Mansion and Duke Xushun's Mansion collapsed one after another, she had never been short of money, so she never thought about saving a large amount.When money was easy to come by, I wasn't too greedy. Later, when money got a little tight, I was quite generous and took care of my younger siblings as much as possible. But in the end, I was left with nothing.

By the fifth year of Honghua's reign in the Great Zhou Dynasty, Shang Shuying's princess mansion was almost on the verge of collapse. If it weren't for the fact that the mansion in the inner city of Chang'an could not be sold casually, it would probably have been sold to her long ago.

As for her Tang Mutian, she also gave it to the landlord outside the city. It was not enough to repay the debt.
However, no matter how destitute Shang Shuying was, she was still the princess of Zhou Dynasty. She always had a friend who could take care of her, and this friend was Kong Sizhen.

Kong Sizhen was actually poor. She had the same problem as Shang Shuying: she was too arrogant and didn't know how to hide money.

When I followed Li Fuchen, I never thought about how much money I would collect from Li Fuchen - Li Fuchen had many concubines, but the one who really didn't care about money was probably Kong Sizhen.

As a result, as soon as Kong Sizhen left Li Fuchen, he was left with nothing.However, her situation is better than that of Shang Shuying, and her burden is not that heavy. She is the only one in the Kong family.Moreover, her son Sun Jiqing has more or less an army and is currently stationed in Guizhou. He is also a warlord.Her old subordinate Fu Honglie also served as Minister of War in Wu Shifan's court, so he could also take care of her.

Of course, the Minister of War under Wu Shifan had no soldiers to manage, so it was a completely empty position.Prime Minister Wu of the Great Zhou Dynasty had opened a "Bafu", which meant that he had emptied the court and turned all the courtiers into decorations.

So Kong Sizhen didn't have much money to support his good girl, but he could use his status as a warlord's mother to fend off her creditors.
Today she defended Shang Shuying from a debt collector again. It was a Shaanxi businessman who was infatuated with Wu Yingqi. This old boy was quite thoughtful. He actually took a liking to Shang Shuying and wanted her to sleep with him to pay off his debt.

When Kong Sizhen came after hearing the news, Shang Shuying was actually bargaining with that polite businessman who seemed to be very amiable and good at making money. Kong Sizhen went crazy at that time and almost stabbed him with a knife.

Shang Shuying also stopped her and let the businessman who wanted the debt run away.

Kong Sizhen was not in a good mood, and took this opportunity to scold Shang Shuying: "Shuying, that person named Bai is not a good person. Everyone looks very polite, and his name is polite. Why do you do such a thing of taking advantage of others? You That’s outrageous! How could you agree to him? Who are you? Princess of Zhou, how could you do something like that for a few dollars?"

"Sister Sizhen, how much is that? That's several hundred taels of silver." Shang Shuying looked at the lobby where she and Kong Sizhen were. There were no furnishings in it, just a few broken chairs and coffee tables. The tea bowls on display are all chipped.

This debt can indeed be repaid!
"We won't pay you back if you haven't already!" Kong Sizhen raised his eyebrows, "What's the matter?"

"There's no need to kill people if they don't pay back," Shang Shuying smiled bitterly, "I always have good things to say when I ask people to borrow money."

"He didn't lend it to you out of kindness." Kong Sizhen gritted her teeth. "You too, you can't even take care of yourself. What do you want to pay for your sister's dowry when she gets married? You still have seven or eight younger brothers and sisters. !Can you take care of it?"

Shang Shuying sighed and said with a wry smile: "I can't have children either. As for these younger brothers and sisters, they shouldn't be allowed to repay the evil done by my father, right? I feel sorry for them. They didn't live a good life for long. I will suffer the consequences all the time. As a sister, I am a princess after all, so I can take care of everyone else!"

"Can you take care of it? Where do you still have money?"

Shang Shuying smiled and puffed up her chest, "Sister Sizhen, don't worry. I am born with talents that will be useful, and I will come back again if I lose all my money!"

Kong Sizhen looked at her and saw that she was indeed "talented". Although she was already in her 30s, she had never given birth to a child. She also practiced martial arts since she was a child and exercised regularly. In addition, she had good congenital conditions and good maintenance. It’s quite eye-catching to look at.However, it is still wrong to go astray based on this little "talent".

Just when Kong Sizhen wanted to persuade Shang Shuying, another voice came from outside: "Is this Princess Pingnan's mansion? Is Princess Pingnan at home? Why is there no one?"

"Who is it?" Kong Sizhen stood up suddenly and rushed out with a long stride. As soon as he arrived in the yard, he saw a large group of people surrounding a strong man wearing the uniform of the Prince of Zhou. It was Wu Guogui.

Kong Sizhen was stunned and asked: "Chu, King Chu? Why are you here?"

"Princess Dingnan?" Wu Guogui was also stunned, "Did I make a mistake? This is."

"King Chu, you are not mistaken, come in quickly!" Shang Shuying also came out at this time, gave Wu Guogui a blessing ceremony, and respectfully invited him into the lobby, "This humble house is so simple, I am making you laugh. .”

Wu Guogui walked into the lobby, looked around, and laughed: "Princess Pingnan, you are really humble. I have a good job for you, but it's a job that pays quickly! "

Shang Shuying turned around and looked at Kong Sizhen: "Sister Sizhen, am I right? I'll come back after all my money is gone!"

"What's going on?" Kong Sizhen glared, "His errand must be related to the great general of the Ming Dynasty, who is your father-killing enemy!"

Wu Guogui nodded and asked Shang Shuying: "Princess Pingnan, will you avenge your father's murder?"

Shang Shuying shook her head and said: "What's the point of mentioning the mere revenge of killing my father? Moreover, my father's death was really his own fault. It was all the retribution he deserved!"

(End of this chapter)