Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Xiong Guikang was a little short-sighted and couldn't see the face of the person coming, but he could clearly distinguish the color of the military officer's robe, so he reported back: "It should be Mr. Ma Qian, the Shence Army who has just boarded the ship, but he should be in [yunzi [-]] 】On the number."

Wei Qian explained for the other party: "When Mr. Ma Qian boarded the ship, His Highness was still bedridden. He probably just heard that His Highness is well enough to go on the deck to get some wind, so he rushed over from the ship [Yunzi [-]] to meet him."

"Shence Army?" Zheng Anxi also had the rank of second-class lieutenant, so when he heard that the other party was the Chief Qian of the Shence Army attached to him, he immediately regained his energy and ordered in a hurry. "Master Ma, please come and meet me."

A moment later, the ferocious military officer with beard and beard saluted Zheng Anxi in a startlingly flattering manner: "Your Majesty Ma Wenlong, Chief Qian of the Shence Army [Pingshunhai] Regiment, has seen Lord Qiantui."

Zheng Anxi couldn't help but shudder when he saw this man's groveling appearance, but he is a child of the royal family, and his superficial skills are still very good, so he took the other person's hand and said kindly: "I'm also a martial arts student. According to the rules in the army, you still have to call your lord a senior, and in the future, you still need to rely on your lord for protection, so you don't have to do this."

Ma Wenlong was supported by Zheng Anxi, and his bones seemed to be shattered: "The lowly position is now transferred under the command of the father-in-law, and is the father-in-law's subordinate. How can he show his seniority in the army? It's a matter of high and low, and the humble position still understands."

Zheng Anxi clearly saw Xiong and Wei's expression of wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh, but he was so depressed that he couldn't let Mr. Qian who posted this post immediately step down. After all, in the future for quite a long time , Zheng Anxi, who started his foundation in the abbot mainland, cannot do without the protection of the [Pingshunhai] regiment, so he can only turn a blind eye to Mr. Ma Qian's attitude, deliberately find out the topic and ask: "Master Ma, the [Pingshunhai] regiment How many people are there now?"

"Our regiment consists of 650 people, divided into five sentries, one sentry sentry, one artillery team, and one regiment commander." When it comes to official business, Mr. Ma Qian suddenly changed from a dirty official who can only sycophant to a real professional. Let Zheng Anxi and the other three, who had a bad impression of it, take a high look. "Each outpost has a team of musketeers and two teams of white soldiers. The supply post is unarmed, so the regiment has a total of 150 muskets and three four-point guns." But these are just figures on paper. "During the battle in Laos, our regiment had a total of 15 killed and [-] wounded."

Hearing that almost half of the people were wounded and killed in battle, Zheng Anxi couldn't help opening his mouth. It's true that he was born in martial arts, but after all, he has never experienced war, so he was a little shaken for a while. At this time, Mr. Ma Qian continued: "After the war, after rest and reorganization, 130 and 37 of the wounded and sick have returned to the team, and 17 Laotian soldiers, 44 Annan soldiers, 18 Siamese soldiers, and 31 Chenla soldiers have been supplemented on the spot. People were newly infected, so the actual number of the regiment was 660, including 86 injured and sick. In addition, the regiment also temporarily hired 67 Vietnamese civilian husbands and [-] military camp prostitutes”[

Zheng Anxi frowned: "Are the temporary Vietnamese civilian husbands and camp prostitutes willing to go to the abbot to colonize with Gu?".

After finishing his official business, Ma Wenlong changed his face again and responded: "Why do they want to, as long as the father-in-law says a word, we can directly tie him to the boat. The sea is vast, and I am afraid that they will not be able to escape."

Xiong Guikang was obviously not optimistic about Ma Wenlong's kidnapping behavior: "I'm afraid the Vietnamese side will find out, and it would be bad to make noise about it."

Ma Wenlong curled his lips disapprovingly: "There are only a few civilians, and the Ruan family will blame the court when they are full."

Zheng Anxi thought for a while, and felt that what Ma Wenlong said made sense: "I have heard about the chaos in Laos, and many colonized people died in Vietnam, and I can't count them clearly for a while. There is really no effect if there are too many people. Do these peasants have families? I’m afraid it would be a crime to take them away and affect the lives of their families.”

"My lord is kind, but there is no need to worry about it." Ma Wenlong replied with a grin. "Vietnam has only fought wars in these young years. There are so many men who died a few years ago. Are those orphans and widows alive again? Vietnam and Laos have a tradition of women being the heads of the household. , starve them to death."

Zheng Anxi groaned, and suddenly thought of something: "So Annan and Vietnam have more women than men."

Wei Qian immediately understood what Zheng Anxi was thinking. Yes, although Zheng Anxi had several thousand immigrants, the ratio of male to female was too disparate, which was not conducive to the stability of the immigrants. Therefore, for the purpose of sharing the worries of the Lord, Ma Wenlong decided to After a clear answer, Wei Qian asked Ying to say: "I am willing to go to Annan and Vietnam to buy a group of women for my father-in-law."

Zheng Anxi shook his head: "Although purchasing women is a major event, it takes a lot of time to go back and forth. I'm afraid it will delay the schedule."

However, Wei Qian said: "My lord, just go first. After I buy the woman, I will go south with the next boat. In this way, there will be no delays, and I won't be able to find the way."

Zheng Anxi was moved, but after pondering for a while, he still rejected Wei Qian's proposal: "It's fine to buy someone, and it's also fine to go south with the next boat group, but after arriving at the abbot, there are many things to think about, and you can't do without Master Wei even for a moment. Better get someone else to do it for you.”

Xiong Guikang saw Zheng Anxi's childish win-win methods, and laughed secretly in his heart, but he is an assistant official sent by the Chinese court to Zheng Anxi, and he will return the court sooner or later, so he is not jealous of Zheng Anxi's real confidant, instead he drummed and said: "My lord is right. The abbot's colonization is a major matter, and we must rely on Mr. Wei's great talents. As for the purchase of women, let the people below handle it."

Both Zheng Anxi and Xiong Guikang said so, and Wei Qian couldn't object. He just proposed to send people to deal with it as soon as possible, lest the feudal vassals later understand and try to rob Zheng Anxi of people, resulting in price hikes and reduced supply.

Zheng Anxi naturally summoned someone to explain this matter, taking advantage of the government guards to call someone, Zheng Anxi asked Ma Wenlong again: "How long will it take for those wounded and sick soldiers to heal and return to the camp?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to return to the camp to fight even if I recover from my injury." Ma Wenlong then asked. "Excuse me for my humble position, but the Shence Army fought with the court for the sake of the land. Although the wounded and sick soldiers will be placed by the court, it doesn't matter where they are placed. It's better to ask the father-in-law to grant the land directly after he arrives at the abbot." [

Zheng Anxi laughed: "This matter is easy to handle. Gu's side is short of manpower and cannot join the army. It is always possible to supervise the slaves."

Speaking of this, Zheng Anxi couldn't help asking: "Master Ma, in this way, isn't there a shortage in the [Pingshunhai] regiment?".

Ma Wenlong replied: "It is possible to recruit along the way, but the Nanyang natives are relatively weak in combat power. It is better to wait for the imperial court to recruit rogues from the Japanese kingdom. Fortunately, the abbot has a large number of natives and beasts, and more than 500 people are enough for now."

"That's true." Although the [Pingshunhai] regiment was dispatched by Zheng Anxi, maintenance costs, gunpowder and other material expenses also fell on Zheng Anxi's head. It is always good to reduce some of the expenses. "Then trouble Master Ma to submit a letter to the Ministry of War." Just as he was speaking, the government counselor who was about to be sent to Vietnam to buy women came over, and Zheng Anxi intentionally shooed away the descendants of Sichuan Changing Face. "Master Ma, Gu Jiu has just recovered from his illness, and the wind blowing has already made him feel a little uncomfortable."

Ma Wenlong replied knowingly: "My father-in-law's health is important, and I have a humble job, so I will resign."

When Zheng Anxi, Zheng Anche, Zheng Anfeng and other princes and Zheng Anxuan, Zheng Anqi and other Zheng family members were floating on the ocean, sailing to their future homeland with worries about gain and loss, the battle report of the Battle of Lake Malawi and Su The news of the Lu people seeking peace spread to Wuchang one after another.What made Sulu work hard was that the Luzon camp did not dare to hide the news of the failure, so the Sulu people expanded the news of the war while seeking peace, which made the Chinese court extremely angry.

"We must not let this clown get away with it." Ma Ying, the envoy of the Southern Privy Council who was in charge of the navy and the military affairs of the southern capitals, was the initiator and person in charge of the Sulu war. At this time, his anger was mostly based on the shame of failure. , and therefore gritted their teeth. "The key to the Battle of Sulu was that there were too few soldiers. As long as the imperial court sends another 3 to [-] people, it will definitely wipe out the country and wipe out all the natives."

"But Sulu has already sued for peace." Lu Weijun, who planned the Sulu war at the same time, also returned to Wuchang, but in his view, the question now is not only whether to completely destroy Sulu, but whether the destruction of Sulu will make everyone The lips of all the foreign feudal vassals in Nanyang are dead and their teeth are cold. "It's aggressive, I'm afraid it will shake the loyalty of the foreign domain to the imperial court."

"Could it be that the imperial court just let Su Lu's provocation go unchecked?" Ma Ying dared not hear it, and immediately retorted when she felt that Lu Weijun wanted to get rid of the relationship. "In this way, the imperial court has prestige in the eyes of the foreign vassals? The foreign vassals are loyal to the imperial court? Master Lu, this dynasty is not the former Ming and Song Dynasties, and they have to spend money to buy peace from foreign countries."

"Money? The war requires money. This year's budget has already been spent, and next year's budget has already been prepared and cannot be changed." Cai Tong, the minister of the Duzhi Yamen Association, asked his old comrade. "Without money, what can I use to mobilize [-] to [-] soldiers and horses?"

Ma Ying turned her head to look at Chen Dunwen, Minister of the Ministry of War: "Master Chen, where is the war expense reserved by the Ministry of War?"

In Maying's view, the Ministry of War has earned tens of millions of coins in the process of selling the Taiping Iron Works, and spending 200 million on the Sulu war is simply a drop in the bucket, but Chen Dunwen, Minister of the Ministry of War, does not think so. In his opinion The navy has allocated nearly 2000 million yuan to build new ships and set up town guards in Yizhou, Fangzhang and other places. If he wants to get money, he will not be able to balance the dissatisfaction of the land division.

Therefore, Chen Dunwen categorically refused: "The pre-stored war expenses cannot be used in the direction of Sulu."

Of course, blindly refusing would not convince the public, so Chen Dunwen found an excuse: "The new Haixi County King Luo Buzangdanjin is quite opposed. Qinghai is not stable, and a war may happen in the northwest at any time, so a penny cannot be transferred."

Compared with Sulu, which is far away overseas, the Qinghai issue is related to the safety of the three northwestern provinces of China, and it can cause chain reactions in Tibet, Zhungeer and other places, so it is normal for the Ministry of War to make some choices.

"Besides, the imperial court has not completely ceased fighting between the north and Oros, and food, fodder and military expenditures must be reserved." Seeing Maying's dissatisfied face, Chen Dunwen led the army in turn. "The left side needs money, and the right side also needs money. No matter how much the Ministry of War has accumulated, it's not enough to fill in the holes. Why don't we use next year's navy funds first?"

How could Maying agree? At the time of reluctance, a Hanlin direct scholar came to the cabinet following Zheng Kezang's oral order: "I know about Sulu, and the management of the south should be based on Boni, Luzon, The five capitals of Yizhou are guarded by the abbot and the vassal, and the small country of Sulu is just a clown, let's introduce it for a few days."

With Zheng Kezang's oral instructions, Ma Ying had no choice but to let the cabinet send people to the south to discuss peace.