Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 175 Zheng Group
After thinking about this, Zhang Shili hurriedly kowtowed to Zhang Guoji and thanked him: "Thank you very much for your support and recommendation. From now on, my life belongs to you. I am willing to go through fire and water for you, even if I die!"

Zhang Guoji shook his head and said with a serious face: "Zhang Shili, you must always remember one thing, that is, you will be loyal to the emperor from now on and run errands for the court, not for yourself!"

Zhang Shili naturally understood the meaning of Zhang Guoji's words, and immediately kowtowed: "Yes, yes, remember it, little one. From now on, I will go up mountains of swords and seas of fire for the sake of the emperor and the court..."

Zhang Guoji couldn't help but smile and raised his hand to interrupt him, "Okay, don't be poor. I'm not here to listen to your swearing. As long as you work hard in the future, you will naturally have a bright future. Of course, if you dare to do something If something illegal is done, you should know the consequences."

Zhang Shili nodded hurriedly: "I'll remember it, little one!"

How could he not know the consequences?The subordinates who were following Zhang Shili at that time were all "fanzi". Even the big men in the court were very afraid of these fanciers, let alone him!

Now that everything that needed to be said was said, Zhang Guoji stopped talking nonsense to Zhang Shili, asked him to stand up, and started talking to him about the business directly.

"You have just arrived now, with no skills and no hat on your head. It is naturally difficult for the emperor to summon you, so you don't have to be impatient. You should make some achievements first. Then you will naturally rise to the top and reach the sky in one step! "

Zhang Shili nodded quickly and saluted, "I understand, little one!"

Naturally, he didn't dare to hope that he could really meet the Holy Majesty. Zhang Guoji could recommend him to the Emperor and let him get such an opportunity to work for the Emperor. For him, it was something he could not even dream of.

Zhang Guoji nodded and continued: "You are a smart man, and I don't think you need too many reminders from me, so let's get down to business. Are you familiar with the sea route from Guangdong and Guangxi to the capital?"

"Yes, of course!" Zhang Shili replied immediately, but after answering, he suddenly looked embarrassed again: "But if you want to take the sea route from Guangdong and Guangxi to the capital, you have to go through Dongfan. That place is not peaceful now."

"Oh?" Zhang Guoji asked in surprise, "Why is it so unfair?"

Zhang Shili did not directly answer Zhang Guoji's question. Instead, he asked Zhang Guoji: "Do you know Zheng Yiguan?"

"Zheng Yiguan?" Zhang Guoji thought for a moment and nodded: "I remember, is the Zheng Yiguan you are talking about Zheng Zhilong who works for Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan?"

Zhang Shili nodded quickly: "Exactly, exactly!"

Seeing him nodding, Zhang Guoji immediately became more disapproving and said with a smile: "I heard that this Zheng Zhilong used to be a pirate, but now that he has joined the imperial court, you and him are colleagues, so what should you be afraid of?"

Zhang Shili was speechless after hearing what Zhang Guoji said. He didn't know how to explain it to Zhang Guoji. Only then did he realize that the court really didn't know anything about the situation at sea!
Zhang Guoji saw that his mouth was half open and he was not speaking. It seemed that there were some words that were difficult to say, so he directly raised his hand to him: "If you have anything to say, just say it. There is no need to hide anything!"

"The little one dare not hide from the master, but he just said some small things, so don't blame the master!" Zhang Shili said cautiously, until he saw Zhang Guoji nodding, then continued: "Then Zheng Yiguan is not an ordinary person. Little pirate, that's one of the biggest figures in the East China Sea and South China Sea!

Although he has been recruited by the imperial court, his power is still strong. Compared with other pirates, he no longer harms our Ming Dynasty waters and the people. However, this sea area is still named Zheng. If you want to pass through here, how can you Why don't you spend some money and buy a flag with the word 'Zheng'? "

"Is this happening?!" Zhang Guoji suddenly looked shocked. If Zhang Shili said it according to what Zhang Shili said, wouldn't this Zheng Zhilong be more majestic than the navy of the imperial court? He is as if he is the "Emperor" of the sea!

Zhang Shili nodded slowly: "That's not all. Zheng Yiguan is very powerful. He has thousands of large and small warships and more than [-] troops. Even Franji and Helan red-haired ghosts are afraid of him. It’s divided!”

Zhang Guoji couldn't help but take a breath of air. This was the first time he heard what Zhang Shili said. It simply refreshed his understanding of pirates. In his understanding, pirates are just rogue pirates who can't get on the stage. Well, in fact, it was not just Zhang Guoji, most officials in the court thought so. This was directly related to the lack of attention to maritime affairs in the late Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Guoji secretly memorized Zhang Shili's words, and planned to report the situation of Zheng Zhilong to the emperor the next time he went to see the emperor. Zheng Zhilong was so powerful that Xiong Wencan would not be able to control him. If something happened in the future, On the contrary, it is a big trouble!
But at the moment, Zhang Guoji still pretended to be calm on the surface and continued to say to Zhang Shili: "Although Zheng Zhilong has some abilities, after all, he is now an official of the imperial court. Compared with the ships of the imperial court, he still dare not make mistakes. You don't have to be too Worry!"

Zhang Shili still looked embarrassed and said: "This is because you don't know something, sir. Now there is not only Zheng Yiguan in the South China Sea, but also Liu Xiang!"

"Is this Liu Xiang guy also a big pirate?" Zhang Guoji asked with a surprised look on his face. He didn't expect that Zheng Zhilong was enough to cause a headache. Now Liu Xiang guy appeared, and Zhang Guoji couldn't bear it. He asked further: "Besides Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xianglao, how many groups of pirates are there in this area?"

Zhang Shili hurriedly replied: "Except for Zheng Yiguan and Liu Xianglao, there is nothing to worry about. It's just that now Zheng Yiguan and Liu Xianglao have turned against each other, and the two sides are fighting fiercely. Small businessmen like us can't do it at all. I don’t dare approach this area of ​​water!”

"Oh? What do you mean by this, Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xianglao were in the same group before?" Zhang Guoji asked.

Zhang Shili nodded and explained: "Zheng Yiguan and Liu Xianglao were brothers at first. Later Zheng Yiguan returned to the court, but Liu Xianglao refused. It was because of this that the two sides turned against each other. From then on, Zheng Yiguan As soon as he became an official, he became an official of the court, and he also did business with the Helan people, while Liu Xianglao got mixed up with the Franji people, and the two sides were even more incompatible.

In the past, before they broke up, this area was relatively peaceful. We small sea merchants just had to pay some money regularly and we could travel unimpeded. But now it is no longer possible. If you buy Liu Xianglao's flag, you will have to be beaten by Zheng Yiguan's men. If you buy Zheng Yiguan's flag, you will have to be beaten by Liu Xianglao's men. If you don't buy the flag of both companies, both families will be beaten. There is simply no way to survive! "When Zhang Guoji heard this, he felt that this matter was indeed difficult to handle, "If you go by your statement, before the two families can decide the winner, the waters around Fuguang will be a dead end! "

Although Zhang Shili looked embarrassed, he still nodded: "To tell you what, for little people like us, this is indeed the case!"

Zhang Guoji was also worried. According to what Zhang Shili said, Zheng Zhilong might be able to give some face to the imperial ship, but Liu Xianglao might not be able to do so. Transporting money, grain and property to the imperial court would be impossible to make even the slightest mistake, so he didn't dare to go adventure.

Zhang Guoji neither understood shipping nor the situation at sea, so naturally he couldn't think of any good solutions. He had to write down all these things first and wait for the emperor's ruling.

Zhang Guoji turned to ask: "The situation in the sea area in Fuguang is like this. What about the situation in the eastern coastal sea area from Zhejiang Chief Envoy to Shandong Chief Envoy?"

Zhang Shili thought for a while and then replied: "This is a small sea area that few people go to, but if it is just the sea area along the coast, it should be relatively peaceful. No matter how powerful a person is, he would not dare to go to the court." Trouble!"

Zhang Guoji nodded, but he could also hear that the second half of Zhang Shili's sentence was just a flattery to flatter him. If the power of the big pirates was really as powerful as Zhang Shili said, they would still be afraid. The royal navy?
But at least for now, it seems that the eastern coastal area should still be very peaceful. Although the court does not pay attention to maritime affairs, it still attaches great importance to coastal defense, and no one dares to visit the offshore area.

In other words, there is no problem if we go from Yingtian Prefecture to Shuntian Prefecture by sea, and we can achieve the emperor's expectation of replacing the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal water transportation with sea transportation.

After thinking about this, Zhang Guoji felt a little better. He told Zhang Shili: "You can stay in my house now. I will ask the housekeeper to arrange a place for you later. I will give you a place today." The above mentioned situations have all been reported to the Emperor, let’s wait for the Emperor’s decision!”

Zhang Shili is very grateful, he has nothing to worry about, anyway, it is already a certainty that he will become a success, so he happily lives in Zhang Guoji's house, waiting patiently for news, and secretly I went out to buy some food and wine and came back, drank some wine by myself and celebrated.

Zhang Guoji wrote a memorial about what Zhang Shili said, and then took the memorial into the palace to see Zhu Tianqi.

Zhu Tianqi actually knows what Zhang Guoji wrote in this memorandum. Since he wants to engage in sailing, he must not be able to bypass the Zheng Group. Now the Zheng Group has not yet reached its peak. When he defeats the Liu Xianglao really dominates the Southeast China Sea and runs rampant in the Southeast Ocean!
So for Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Tianqi has always been struggling with whether to suppress or appease him!

If he wants to destroy Zheng Zhilong, it is not difficult for Zhu Tianqi, who holds the Krypton Life Store, to do it. However, doing so may not necessarily be a good result for himself and Daming.

Because after defeating Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhilong lost control of his power in Japan and Dongfan, which would be detrimental to the future occupation of Japan and the recovery of Dongfan.

On the contrary, if you can recruit Zheng Zhilong and truly make Zheng Zhilong loyal to you, you can make use of Zheng Zhilong's existing power and foundation, which will be more conducive to conquering the Japanese country and regaining Dongfan.

However, no matter whether it is suppression or appeasement, it is necessary to show strength enough to rival Zheng Zhilong, otherwise everything is empty talk, so it is still too early to talk about dealing with Zheng Zhilong before Li Banghua builds the warship.

Zhu Tianqi thought for a moment and then said to Zhang Guoji: "The time is not yet ripe to solve the South China Sea issue, so you should first take this Zhang Shili to form a shipping fleet and take over all the water transportation work for the imperial court. Wait for the sea transportation After it is enough to replace the water transportation, I can start to rectify the water transportation!"

After Zhang Guoji heard this, he immediately understood that the emperor's first attack was intended to strike at the head of the water transport, and that the matters at sea would be dealt with later, and he suddenly became enlightened.

At the same time, Zhang Guoji suddenly realized that he seemed to be a little too impatient. The imperial court had implemented a "sea ban" for many years, and the construction of maritime affairs was already weak. If he wanted to deal with behemoths like the Zheng Group, it would not be possible to do it overnight. , it is indeed necessary to take a long-term approach and proceed step by step.

On the other hand, the emperor is young and mature, step by step, and methodically advancing the Ming Dynasty maritime construction plan.

Now that the emperor had spoken, Zhang Guoji naturally did not dare to delay. After he returned, he immediately ordered Zhang Shili to mobilize all his ships to Songjiang Mansion to stand by.

In order to promote sea transportation, Zhu Tianqi deliberately did not let Zhang Guoji transport the grain he received during the autumn tax last year back to the capital by water transport. Instead, he temporarily stored it in Yingtian Mansion. Now it is Zhang Guoji and Zhang Shili who transport this batch by sea. When the grain was transported back to the capital, it was time to show the officials that sea transportation was superior to water transportation!
In order to make it easier for Zhang Guoji to do things, Zhu Tianqi decreed to give him the title of "Governor of Shipping". Although this title was newly created and no one had heard of it, it was not difficult for everyone to guess it when they heard the name. This is a position corresponding to the Governor of Water Transport, who is in charge of maritime transport affairs.

After hearing about this incident, all the officials were immediately furious. Everyone was keenly aware of Zhu Tianqi's intention, and they all guessed that this time the emperor was going to ruin the job of Caoyun!

Water transportation in the late Ming Dynasty was extremely corrupt. After all, in this era, there were no roads and railways, and water transportation was the lifeblood of Ming Dynasty transportation. Water transportation, which was never short of oil and water, was naturally full of corrupt officials, and even formed a A complete corrupt group.

In this corrupt group, there are not only tens of thousands of officials in the water transport system, but also hundreds of thousands of water transport employees, as well as ministers of the DPRK and China, and relatives of distinguished officials and relatives.

Therefore, if you want to completely rectify water transportation, you will definitely face great resistance. But even if there are thousands of difficulties, Zhu Tianqi can only face them and cannot let this "cancer" continue to suck the blood of the imperial court!

Today's water transportation is inefficient and officials are corrupt and bend the law, which has become an obstacle to the country's progress and development. For Zhu Tianqi, who has not yet been able to build railways and develop railway transportation, ensuring smooth canal and waterway traffic and improving transportation efficiency are the most important. Very important!
(End of this chapter)