Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

The Guangnan Squadron, whose strength has diminished, is anxiously waiting for the possible revenge of the Dutch, but Batavia has no intention of following up. Of course, this is not because the Dutch have changed their vegetarianism. It is really a military use of forty guns For the Dutch who are thousands of miles away from their home country, Galen is also a treasure at the bottom of the box. Every loss makes them feel distressed. Therefore, after knowing that Zheng Jun has a tenacious will to fight, he feels that he has given a certain amount of money. The Dutch who learned the lesson have no intention of further expanding the war, at least until the [Banten] is repaired, the Dutch will not provoke it easily.

Of course, there is another reason why Batavia stopped temporarily, that is, Ming Zheng's colony in Xiboni was discovered by them.It is also inevitable by accident. The distance between the West Boni Governor's Mansion located in the south of Singkawang and Batavia is too close, not to mention the busy Malacca waterway next to it.

The so-called couch is not allowed to snore. The United East India Company, which felt that Ming Zheng had secretly infiltrated into the core ruling area, naturally had to give priority to pulling out this thorn in the side.For this reason, the Netherlands tried every means to buy the natives. After a period of investigation, the Netherlands found out the general strength of the Zheng army in Xiboni. At the colonial point, the confident Dutch felt that they could capture it with their hands, but the crusade army has been delayed. The only reason is that the Dutch garrison is spread over a wide area and it will take a long time to recover.

However, Tian Chao obviously didn't know the Dutchman's plan. He was enjoying the last peace before the war, and he was comforting Fang Yunchun who was full of complaints: "Where is a man who doesn't have a career, what's the point of guarding your three-acre land all the time?" promising."

Fang Yunchun was full of resentment when he saw Zheng Jun's direct descendants standing and talking without back pain, but the situation was stronger than others, so he had to show a look of trepidation and listen to Tian Chao's nagging in Nanzhili official dialect with a strong Hokkien accent. with.

As if seeing that he was absent-minded, He Zhichao at the side handed over a bowl of wine: "Good brother, if you come here, you can rest easy. When you are free someday, let's take a trip to Batavia together and find a few How about a red-haired vent?"

After all, they are both from the sea. Although they don't understand the other party's Cantonese, Fang Yunchun still took the wine bowl and touched the other party, and drank it down: "What kind of wine is this? It tastes sour. .”

"I don't understand." Tian Chao replied with a smile. "This is the favorite wine of the Thai people."

"Peach wine?" Fang Yunchun shook his head. "It's not as good as the rice wine I brewed myself."

Tian Chao's eyes lit up when he heard that Fang Yunchun could make wine by himself, and then he thought of something and shook his head: "The rice we planted had a good harvest before the rainy season, but who knows if it will be harvested again in the future , so I can’t spoil it for you, but this place is rich in sago, I don’t know if this can be used as food.”

The so-called sago rice is also called sago rice, which is a kind of starch extracted from the pith of sago palm trees and sago palm trees. rice, sand arc rice.Since sago is almost pure starch, it is the best food substitute for immigrants when food is scarce, so Tian Chao subconsciously believes that since it can be eaten as food, it can also be used as one of the raw materials for wine making.

"Sago?" Fang Yunchun, who is from Zhejiang, naturally doesn't know what sago is, but since rice is in the name, it can be used as rice. "I can implement it, but the water and soil here are different from my hometown, so it may not be possible to make good wine."

Tian Chao said with a lot of emotion: "No matter what kind of wine is good or bad, don't we just drink the taste of our hometown."

"Yeah, I don't know when I will be able to return to Zhejiang." Fang Yunchun, who was aroused, sighed, and raised his wine bowl casually. "Come on, Dudu, my lords, I'm new here, let's treat you to a bowl and express your heart."

"According to the latest inspection, there are now a total of 24 households in Taiwan, with 71 males and females, and more than 520 children and girls not included in the population. There are 520 old men and women who are not subject to the requisition, and the above-mentioned people have reclaimed a total of 11 seven and nine acres of land." This is a comprehensive report, and the participants include not only the Yantie Division, The Salt and Iron Division also has the Taxation Division. "Deducting the deduction and exemption, this year can be counted as Spring and Autumn Fu 560, five stones are strange"

"Today, there are 5000 people in Dongning, including the seven towns of the Lu Division, the left-behind division of Anping, and Xun Bing, and about 3000 people, including the three major fleets of the Navy, the two squadrons, the Keelung fleet, the governor's mansions, and the Hailongxiang Division. People, and there are also junior martial arts schools, martial arts schools, and navy schools. The total number should be [-]. If ten people support one soldier, Dongning will add another [-] troops at most."

"But now Dongning's financial resources are already tight," Zhidu Division clearly opposed the military expansion plan just reported by the Military Affairs Division. "Nowadays, even if the cost of armaments is no longer counted, the military pay and the expenditure of hundreds of officials have already exceeded the annual income by a large amount. If there is no income from the fleet under the name of Yantiesi to supplement the silver shortage of the Taipusi treasury, it will hardly be able to support it. If we want to expand the army again, we must I'm still exempting you from the minister's errand."

Hearing what Liu Chongxi said to be the pick, Zheng Kezang interrupted and asked, "If the army is expanded to [-], how much money will it be short of in a year?"

In this regard, Liu Chongxi responded honestly and bluntly: "At least 25 taels of silver will be replenished every year."

25 taels, the amount does not sound like a lot, but it is only the annual expenditure of the military pay, food and fodder should be counted separately. As for the planned allocation of ordnance, although it is not reflected in the accounts, hidden expenditures still exist.

"It seems that in order to expand the army, this fan must first grab a vote." Hearing Zheng Kezang's cold joke, Hong Lei and others present all smiled wryly. Of course, Zheng Kezang was not joking. he asked seriously. "Is it better to rob Luzonyi's silver treasure ship, or to target Satsuma or Sado in Japan?"

"Your Majesty, speak carefully." Wu Shu stopped immediately. The so-called ministers lose their bodies and kings lose their country, even if they really want to attack an enemy, Zheng Kezang can't say it on this occasion.

Lin Weirong on the side also persuaded: "My lord, now that our domain is in harmony with the two countries, there really should be no more quarrels."

Looking at the courtiers who were eager to try, Zheng Kezang had no choice but to admit his mistake in a hurry: "I know, it's just a joke, you don't need to mention it, let's talk about business, and I think it is imperative to expand the army."

It is now [-] in the Western calendar. In June and July next year, the Qing court and Zhungeer will have a big battle related to who belongs to Mobei. At this juncture, Ming Zheng must get involved anyway, otherwise he will sit back and watch the Qing court stabilize. If the rear is left, the next unlucky one is Zheng Kezang himself, and it is necessary to pay some financial price for this.

"As for the lack of financial resources, it's easy to handle. I will allocate it to you from the inner treasury alone." To be honest, Zheng Kezang didn't know how much wealth he had in his inner treasury, but he still had a big killer in his hand, which was used to supplement military expenses. Not enough is more than enough. "The Department of Military Affairs immediately expanded the number of soldiers and horses from the six divisions of the left and right Longwu, the left and right Yiwei, and the left and right Huben according to the established plan. As for the surplus establishment, it will be reserved for the fleets of the Navy."

Seeing Zheng Kezang's firm gaze, Lin Heng leaned over and said, "I would like to obey the Lord's orders."

"Cai Qing." Zheng Kezang shifted his gaze to the officer of the Armament Department. "Although the Qing captives have no power to threaten Dongning for the time being, the Flangjiyi, Hongyi, and Lusongyi are surrounded by the vassal, and they still have the heart to destroy me. Therefore, before June next year, the Dongning shipyard should be the town. The fleet will provide two more large plywood gunboats with [-] materials, and Qing and Zheng Qing must coordinate the lack of iron materials."

Cai Qian hadn't replied yet, but Zheng Yingping, who thought he was fine at first, showed a wry smile. Now, although sulfur and some sponge iron can be obtained by separating pyrite, the amount of refined iron in Dongning did not increase immediately. The number of two large plywood gunboats also needs to ensure the amount of artillery, firecrackers, warts, and chain mails of the six new divisions. Is it possible that Zheng Kezang is planning to keep himself up at night?

But Zheng Kezang had already spoken, and Zheng Yingping had no choice but to go out and respond to Cai Qian in unison: "I obey."

The meeting was over, and the ministers in twos and threes walked out of Anping City with various thoughts. Among them, Hong Lei stopped Hong Gongzhu: "Goro, do you think the Lord really wants to use Japan and Luzon?"

"My lord wants to return to the mainland to get rid of the Tartars, and the Military Academy has already made several plans for this." Hong Gongzhu reported to his clan brothers, but he did not say that these reports were actually Zheng Kezang's arrangements for joining the army in private. He did it so that he, Wu Shu and Lin Sheng all opposed it. "But even though the old Seventh Division fought a few battles in Qiongzhou, how can the recruits truly become an army without seeing blood, so the master has the idea of ​​training instead of fighting, just because he is short of money"

Hong Lei frowned: "That means the master won't give up on one of them?"

"I'm afraid the lord's intention is not only to attack one of them, you must know that the ship that intercepts the treasure needs sailors, and the conquest of Japan only requires land divisions," Hong Gongzhu said worriedly. "If the Lord wants to fight left and right, the consequences will be disastrous."

"No, absolutely not, you must dispel the Lord's thoughts." Hong Lei said decisively. "Come on, let's go to see Madam and mention these things to her. Now Madam is the only one who can restrain the Lord."

Hong Gongzhu knew that Hong Lei was talking about Chen Xianqiao, but he was very hesitant about it: "It's not easy to tell Madam about this."

Hong Lei was taken aback, and Hong Gongzhu explained: "Although the lord is still very affectionate with Madam, he is suspicious of Madam's admonition several times. If we ask Madam to speak out again, the lord will misunderstand that Hong's The story of Wu Pingbo is still in front of us, so we must be cautious.”

Manipulating inside and outside, connecting civil and military, these eight words hit Hong Lei's heart heavily, and immediately made him speechless. Yes, the identities of Hong Gongzhu and Hong Lei are already very dangerous. The feudal lord's wife who is related to him, even a first-class Mingjun would murmur such a combination in his heart, not to mention Zheng Kezang, the master of guessing.

"Fourth brother, this matter can only be slowly resisted by the military academy." Hong Gongzhu comforted Hong Lei who was not in his mind. "Master Wu Shuwu and Master Lin Shenglin support my opinion, so you don't have to worry too much."