Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zheng Zhihu led his fleet north to perform Hajj in the capital.

At the end of November last year, the imperial court decided to recruit Zheng Zhilong and other pirate gangs. It was late December when the edict reached Fujian.

Zhu Yifeng, the governor of Fujian, had the idea of ​​​​recruiting Zheng Zhilong. After receiving the edict, he immediately implemented it and sent people to pacify Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong had already accepted the idea of ​​recruiting troops, and even kept some leeway during the robbery.

So he was overjoyed when he saw the imperial edict. Out of some worries, he sent his younger brother Zheng Zhihu to the capital to inquire about information in the name of Hajj.

Zheng Zhihu rushed all the way and finally arrived outside Tianjin in the middle of the first lunar month.

After receiving the news, the newly formed security officers and soldiers of the Tianjin Navy Yamen hurriedly informed the Navy Admiral Yu Zigao for instructions on how to deal with it.

Yu Zigao had long decided to get out of the quagmire in Fujian, and had no intention of preventing Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhihu and others from being recruited. He even wanted them to take the boat north to help him make contributions.

So after hearing the news of Zheng Zhihu's arrival, Yu Zigao put aside his airs as a naval admiral and went to greet him in person, saying to Zheng Zhihu:

"Brother Zheng, we are meeting an old friend in a foreign country!"

"From now on, when we are both ministers in the imperial court, we must take care of each other."

He was extremely polite to Zheng Zhihu and treated him as a friend from the same hometown.

Zheng Zhihu, who had come all the way, really didn't expect Yu Zigao to say these words, and was at a loss for a moment.

He really didn't understand why Yu Zigao, his old enemy, was so polite to him.
In a daze, he was welcomed into the Navy Yamen by Yu Zigao. In the eyes of the uninformed, he was really a "fellow friend from the same hometown."

As a straight man, Zheng Zhihu was brave in battle and had excellent martial arts skills, but Yu Zigao's officialdom methods were irresistible.

Seeing that the two of them were about to become brothers, Zheng Cai, who came with him, finally couldn't bear it anymore and reminded Zheng Zhihu to be careful and not to be deceived.

At this time, Zheng Zhihu felt a little sober and thought about the past fight with Yu Zigao in Fujian. To Yu Zigao's invitation to join the Navy Yamen, he did not agree and shied away:
"After I have been recruited, I will be at the disposal of the imperial court."

"Where you will serve in the future depends on the arrangements of the court."

Yu Zigao was a little disappointed that he did not trick Zheng Zhihu into fighting for him.

But after pondering Zheng Zhihu's excuses, I still feel that this person is a bit immature.

With his connections in the imperial court, is it difficult to transfer someone to the Navy Yamen? As long as Shangshu requests, Zheng Zhihu will probably transfer him.

Therefore, there was no trace of disappointment on his face, and he seemed to say to Zheng Zhihu sincerely:
"Brother! Although we had some conflicts before, we never got to know each other without fighting."

"I know what you're capable of. It's no problem to be a general."

"As long as you are willing to come, it's hard to say whether the general can be given actual training. It's absolutely fine for you to be a guerrilla general and lead a battalion alone."

He patted his chest and promised to Zheng Zhihu that he would be allowed to lead a battalion alone, at least be taught a guerrilla role, and even become a general.

This official position was something that Zheng Zhihu and even Zheng Zhilong couldn't even imagine. The reason why he went north this time was that Zheng Zhilong felt that the court's recruitment conditions were too generous, and he was worried that local officials had deceived him into landing, so he asked Zheng Zhihu to come to Beijing to confirm——

He believed that the emperor in the capital would not destroy his reputation for a pirate like him. Unlike local officials, who have no regard for credibility and dare to kill people just after recruiting them.

Now, after hearing that Yu Zigao, a naval admiral, dared to propose this condition, Zheng Zhihu already believed a little bit about the imperial court's recruitment conditions. So he was delighted and said:
"Brother Yu, I understand what I mean."

"No matter how the imperial court appoints me, after I return to Fujian, I will send 500 sailors to help Brother Yu."

"When these people come to the north, they ask Brother Yu to take care of them."

It is planned to draw 500 people from under his command and send them to the Navy Yamen.

This small number of ship soldiers is of no importance to them, who have 20,000 to 30,000 people. Instead, they can keep an eye on Yu Zigao's movements and make friends with him.

Even Zheng Cai didn’t remind her again this time. I think sending these people out is a good deal for them.

When Yu Zigao faced this condition, it didn't matter whether he agreed or not -

It's good that he lacks people under his command, but a mere five hundred people can't solve any problems for him.

Even the number of people sent to serve as cannon fodder was a bit small. Even because of the relationship between the Zheng brothers, we have to pay more attention to these people.

So in his heart, he was on guard again against the rough and arrogant Zheng Zhihu. He knew that this pirate, who had been dealing with him for several years in Fujian, was not so easy to deceive.

But the more this happened, the more he wanted to transfer Zheng Zhihu over. I think this person is brave and careful, and is a good candidate for a general. Staying in the navy in the future will help you build a career.

Nowadays, Yu Zigao can be said to be obsessed with meritorious service and a title. He has put aside his previous grudges with the Zheng brothers and wants to recruit them.

So after sending Zheng Zhihu and his party away, he immediately wrote a memorial, reporting the incident and requesting that Zheng Zhihu be transferred over.

When Zhu Youjian received this memorial, he immediately understood that Zheng Zhihu was sent by Zheng Zhilong to negotiate terms.

He was quite interested in this matter.

As an emperor, he is not afraid of Zheng Zhilong negotiating terms with him. No matter the official title, he is now willing to seal it out.

And the more Zheng Zhilong wants, the more he will pay. In this process, he will strengthen his influence on Zheng Zhilong Group.

Therefore, with nothing to do during the Chinese New Year, Zhu Youjian decided to use the terms of overseas martial law to personally intervene in this matter. Order Jin Yiwei to find out Zheng Zhihu's plan to come to Beijing and then respond.

After receiving this order, Jin Yiwei immediately set up a dragnet. After Zheng Zhihu entered the city, he followed his tracks.

At this time, after Zhu Youjian dispatched a thousand patrol battalion officers and soldiers to enrich the urban guard office, the Jinyiwei's control over the capital reached a new height.

This operation against Zheng Zhihu was a test.

Ignorant of this, Zheng Zhihu was surprised by everything he saw after arriving in the capital.

What impressed him most was the cleanliness of Beijing. The crowds coming and going did not mess up the city at all.

"It is worthy of being the most virtuous place at the feet of the Emperor."

"So many people are still so clean."

"There are not so many people in Yuegang, but it is much dirtier than this."

Zheng Zhihu is young, only 23 years old this year, but he has traveled extensively and visited many cities.

Whether it is Macau in the south or Nagasaki in Japan, he has been there before.

In his opinion, none of these cities can compare with Quanzhou, especially Yuegang, which opened as a port.

Even Tianjin, although quite prosperous, in Zheng Zhihu's opinion, is at most on par with Yuegang. In terms of the number of merchants and the types of goods, Yuegang is even better.

Therefore, in his opinion, Yuegang is the first-class city in the world.

Now that I came to the capital, I realized that Yuegang was nothing at all. The prosperity of the capital city of Ming Dynasty is far better than that of Yuegang.

What particularly caught his attention was that the capital was very clean. Unlike the port of Yuegang, goods are piled up haphazardly.

This question will soon be answered.

As if hearing his emotion, a local from the capital made a sound and said from the side:

"It wasn't this clean before. This is not the time for the new emperor to ascend to the top. Of course, there must be a new atmosphere."

"Years ago, a thousand Jinyi guards were sent to clean the capital." "These thousand people also called on tens of thousands of people to clean the whole capital."

"You think if things go like this, the capital won't be clean!"

Zheng Zhihu was surprised when he heard this. He really didn't expect that Jin Yiwei, who was feared in other places, would do such a job in the capital, and asked:
"Would Jin Yiwei do such a thing?"

"And it's been more than ten days since the beginning of the year. How come it's still so clean?"

"Are they cleaning every day and not doing anything else?"

It was common for emperors to splash water to clean the streets when traveling, and even many officials did this when traveling. But it didn't last, so what happens next will be the same.

But here in the capital, things are obviously different. From Zheng Zhihu's point of view, it seemed like he was cleaning every day.

As he spoke, he seemed to have discovered something, and pointed to a man in red, holding a broom and a bucket made of rattan, who was sweeping the floor:

"Who is that sweeper?"

"Is it Jin Yiwei?"

The man from the capital took one look at it and was already used to it. With three parts disdain and two parts envy, he said:

"What kind of royal guard is he?"

"He works with Jin Yiwei and is now sent to the health team."

"They say they are from the Guards Office, but they are actually street sweepers, not serious officials."

He seems to be quite disdainful of this job, but there is a hint of envy hidden in it. Because although these people work hard, they are officially established in the Guards Office and are paid. Even if he wanted to get in, he couldn't find a way.

For this job, Jinyiwei gave priority to recruiting the families of martyrs and those who responded positively during the cleaning years ago. He was not a martyr, nor did he respond during the year-round cleaning, so of course he would not be recruited.

Therefore, after missing this opportunity, he contemptuously called these people "street sweepers", which seemed to be quite contemptuous.

In fact, deep down, he was a little envious of these people. I know that these people have found jobs with royal wages, which are far more stable than themselves.

Especially when he thought about the shop where he worked and had to pay sanitation fees for them, he felt even more angry. He was not in the mood to talk to Zheng Zhihu anymore and was about to leave.

Seeing this, Zheng Zhihu hurriedly stopped him. The man was frightened by the tall and tall Zheng Zhihu, and he said with a serious expression:

"What? Still want to do something?"

"Don't even think about where this place is?"

"Although that red vest is a sweeper, he is also from the Guards Department."

"Wait until he calls the patrol, and you will walk around without food!"

Treating the street sweeper as a life-saving straw, he would call for someone when he opened his mouth.

Zheng Zhihu didn't understand what he was hearing, but Zheng Cai reacted quickly, stuffed a piece of silver into the man's face, and said with a smile:
"Brother, don't get excited, we are just asking."

"What is the red vest you are talking about? What is the Guard's Office?"

"And who is this patrolman?"

Force the money over to show that you have no ill intentions.

The man took the money and saw that they had no intention of taking action. He weighed it and said:
"Red vests are those who wear red clothes. The double-breasted hoods they wear were worn on horses in the past, so they are called vests."

"Everyone in the Guards Department wears this now."

"The people wearing red vests and sweeping the floor with brooms and garbage buckets are the people from the sanitation team."

"The ones holding axes and buckets are from the fire brigade."

"The ones holding batons and armbands on their arms are from the patrol team."

"These people are the most powerful. They will beat anyone who dares to cause trouble on the street."

He seemed to be quite afraid of the patrol police, and he warned Zheng Zhihu and others:

"You foreigners, please be more honest when you enter Beijing."

"The patrol officers in the Guards Department are all from the patrol camp, and the officers are also the Jin Yiwei."

"They have arrested many bandits in the capital, so don't even think about causing trouble."

Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Cai looked at each other with caution. Although they did not want to cause trouble in the capital, nor did they want to imitate Li Kui and come to Tokyo to cause trouble on Yuan night, they were worried that their subordinates would misbehave and cause trouble in the capital.

Therefore, the two of them decided to restrain their subordinates and prevent them from acting recklessly.

After getting useful information, Zheng Cai stuffed another piece of silver and asked the other party's name, intending to talk with him in detail. At least you should know clearly what the Guards Department and Patrol Police are, so as not to violate any taboos.

For the sake of money, this man gave Wang Liu a fake name, took them to a teahouse, and explained in detail:
"The Yamen of the Guard's Office was newly built last year."

"Above it is the Weiwei Temple of the imperial court."

"This Weiwei Temple is actually the Jinyi Weixi Sifu, who is responsible for catching thieves."

"The current emperor was King Xin before, and he knew that there were many bandits in the capital. So after he ascended to the throne, he merged the patrol camp with the Jinyi Weixi Sifu to establish the Weiwei Temple."

"So the duty of Weiwei Temple is actually to catch thieves. That's what the patrol officers of Weiwei Temple do."

After some words, the origin of the Weiwei Office and its responsibilities were clarified. Zheng Zhihu wondered:
"Then why is it still sweeping the streets?"

"I've never seen Jin Yiwei do this!"

Wang Liu chuckled and said:

"I've never seen it before, but isn't this the new emperor's new look?"

"The emperor asked them to sweep the floor, but they still dare not to sweep it?"

"And there is money to be made by sweeping the floors. Anyone who throws away garbage must pay them."

As he spoke, he pointed to the documents posted on the wall inside the store and said to Zheng Zhihu and others:

"Did you see the three-guarantee agreement in front of the door?"

"All stores and residents facing the street must ensure hygiene, greening, and order."

"The ground should be cleaned, no debris should be piled up, flowers, plants and trees should be taken care of, and anyone making trouble should be reported."

"Anyway, if something happens in front of the store, it's the store owner's responsibility. The person responsible is clearly stated in the agreement."

Nodding secretly to this, Zheng Zhihu felt that he understood why the capital was so clean. With the Three Guarantees Agreement in place, shops and residents facing the street naturally have to maintain hygiene in front of their doors. After the capital is cleaned once, it will be clean for many days.

Zheng Cai went into business with the Zheng brothers and was more sensitive to money. She asked:
"Then what do you mean by collecting money?"

"Do I have to give them money even if I have to pay for hygiene?" (End of Chapter)