Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 47 The courage of the Pirate King
Although Li Guozhu was dissatisfied with his father's contempt for his ability, he had basically accepted this arrangement before.Deep down in his heart, he himself does not like the life of ups and downs, and feels that his father's approach is thankless.In fact, he had already advised Li Dan to return to Hirado and not go to sea in person.

In fact, the top sea merchants of this era were like this, such as Huang Mingzuo from Zhangzhou, Zhang Jingquan from Nagasaki, Su Minggang from Batavia, and Xu Xinsu from Xiamen.They all rely on some kind of official power and make a living by acting as white gloves for others. They basically don't go to sea very much, and their armed forces are also very limited.

Li Guozhu believed that these people's approach was wise, as they did not have to raise so many brothers and were free from the hard work and danger of traveling at sea.

But Li Dan is a maverick. He is indeed a white glove for the powerful, but he has gathered a large number of pirates under his command and maintains an armed gang of thousands of people. From time to time, he seems to be unworthy of the eyes of the merchants of the sea. Pirates do this without any capital.

Li Dan sneered at the only son's persuasion: "Remember me, we are nothing if we leave the sea! We don't have a few inches of iron in our hands. If someone crushes us, it will be like crushing a pair of bed bugs!"

This may be the life lesson Li Dan learned from the Spaniards, and it is also inseparable from his own green forest temperament.In the early days of his career, Xu Xinsu was in charge of Xiamen affairs, and Li Dan was in charge of maritime routes and Philippine affairs. At that time, he liked to associate with pirates at sea, and he was unique among the sea merchants after the Japanese pirates were completely subdued.

This is why Li Dan spared no effort to open up an independent territory in Dongfan, and why in the last two years of his life, he did not choose his most trusted brother and most beloved only son, but insisted on passing the throne to Yan Siqi.

To put it bluntly, at a time when all the great sea merchants of the time were satisfied with being the King of the Shichibukai, Li Dan was the only one who wanted to be the Pirate King.Based on this alone, his spirit and mind are far superior to those of Huang Mingzuo, Su Minggang, and Zhang Jingquan.

In fact, after Huang Mingzuo was recruited by Zheng Zhilong, the new Fujian governor Xiong Wencan abandoned him like a pair of worn shoes and quickly disappeared.Su Minggang had been a dog for the Dutch all his life. Before he died, he couldn't even think about returning to his roots.And Zhang Jingquan of Nagasaki, after the death of his sworn brother Ou Huayu, simply saw through the mortal world and became a monk.

Xu Xinsu's ending was even worse. After he was killed by Zheng Zhilong, the whole family was imprisoned by the Fujian government. The eldest son Xu Letian escaped among the thieves and disappeared, and the second son Xu Yilong died tragically in the prison.

As for Zheng Zhilong, although he has created a greater career than Li Dan, and his eccentricity may be greater than that of Li Dan, his vision and boldness are much inferior.This person immediately gave up his territory in Dongfan after being recruited. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, he even handed over his head to others, and finally ended up with both his body and his head.

When Xu Xinsu heard Li Guozhu say that his father was killed by Yan Siqi and Zheng Zhilong, he was surprised and said: "My dear nephew, where do you start with these words? Leader Yan passed away half a month ago."

Li Guozhu was surprised: "What's going on?"

Xu Xinsu said: "I heard that he was killed by a wild boar while hunting in Zhuluo Mountain. His entourage said that Chief Yan had his last words. After his death, the brothers of the family listened to Zheng Zhilong's orders and said that this was what your father told him before he was alive."

Li Guoshu realized that he had mistakenly blamed Yan Siqi, and said in astonishment: "Is this okay? Just based on the words of Uncle Yan's entourage, can the brothers obey the man named Zheng?"

Xu Xinsu said: "Of course not, but the two leaders Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng said that your father also told them about this. Even the senior leader Hongmao said at the funeral of Chief Yan that this was indeed your father's arrangement. Hongmao He also said that for the sake of his friend’s last words, if any leader disobeys Zheng Zhilong, he will become their enemy.”

Li Guozhu was completely convinced: "What a Zheng Zhilong. He was so vicious that he even killed his own father-in-law. It was in vain that my father and Uncle Yan cultivated him so much."

A gleam flashed in Xu Xinsu's eyes, and she said solemnly: "My nephew, do you have any evidence for what you said? Could it be that you rushed back to Dongfan from Haojing because you knew about Zheng Zhilong's conspiracy?" Li Guozhu then told the story of his encounter with Lin Hai and his torture. The situation of Huang Cheng and Zheng Zhihu was recounted.

Xu Xinsu murmured: "No wonder, no wonder... I said how could I not even know your father's last words? You obviously went to Haojing, why did something happen near Dongfan again?"

"Brother, you died so unjustly." Xu Xinsu looked up at the void outside the window, tears streaming down her eyes, and gritted her teeth and said, "Zheng Zhilong, Chen Zhongji, Yang Tiansheng... If I, Xu Xinsu, don't kill these three ungrateful people, what will happen to me?" Will I go to see you under the Nine Springs?"

Li Guozhu also said: "There is also Huang Mingzuo. This old thief is usually brother to my father, but in the end he is doing something secretly. If I don't kill this old thief, I will not be called a son of man."

Xu Xinsu said cheerfully: "This old boy is more polite than anyone else on the surface, but secretly he has caused many obstacles for me, Xu, in the officialdom of Fujian. Even if it weren't for this, I, Xu, would not let him go." "

Lin Hai suddenly said: "Don't forget Hong Mao, the senior official. Hong Mao is also involved in this matter. Don't we want to seek revenge from Hong Mao?"

Xu Xinsu nodded and said: "What Nephew Lin Xian said is true. This account must be settled with Hongmao. Without eldest brother and Xu, how can Hongmao stand in the senior ranks? With these white-eyed wolves, Xu certainly can't I’ll let it go.”

Li Guoshu pondered for a moment and then said hesitantly: "The red-haired one... we still need to think about it in the long term. Third uncle, do you think that if we expose Zheng Zhilong's conspiracy, will the leaders turn against him?"

Xu Xinsu shook her head: "It's difficult! It's difficult for us to win over the brothers. They will only think that our uncle and nephew are dissatisfied with the arrangement of the eldest brother and want to plot to seize power."

Li Guozhu asked again: "What if we catch the two old thieves Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng, torture them and make them sign a pledge?"

Xu Xinsu still shook her head: "Who can guarantee that this is not a result of being beaten? Moreover, Liu Xiang, Li Kuiqi, and Zhong Bin are mothers who have breasts. They will definitely not go against Hongmao. Even if they believe it, we will pretend not to believe it. We have some strength. The only ones who can fight for it are the two brothers Yang Liu and Yang Qi."

Li Guozhu was silent when he heard this. After Yan Siqi's death, these were the most powerful people in the gang. There were still a few elders like Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng, but they had long been reduced to idlers. They usually spoke with weight, but in reality, their subordinates Not many people.

Seeing that Li Guozhu was depressed, Xu Xinsu said quickly: "My dear nephew, don't panic. How can we deal with Zheng Zhilong? The mountain man has his own clever plan."

Li Guozhu said happily: "What's your clever plan, third uncle?"

"For the current plan, the only one we can use is the Fujian Navy." Xu Xinsu said, twisting his goatee, "Xu has recently been in contact with Yu Zigao, the commander-in-chief of Fujian. This person is the son of the famous general Yu Dayou. I plan to be generous. Bribe this man and ask him to lead a warship to Dongfan and kill Zheng Zhilong first and then Hongmao."

(End of this chapter)