Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

"Master Ying, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Qiu from Hangzhou." Huang Xufu, the shopkeeper of Hangzhou Fushun Bailian, happily introduced Ying Tainong. "Master Qiu's family in the Weaving Bureau is a man with all-hands and eyes. Whatever the Master Ying wants, even if it is something that is forbidden to go to sea by the imperial court, Master Qiu's family can easily get it."

Ying Tainong looked at the so-called Mr. Qiu's family who had an obvious indentation of the official hat on his forehead, and smiled faintly at the corner of his mouth, then he clasped his fists and saluted: "I really don't know, if there is no guidance from the shopkeeper Huang, I will be very sensible I don’t know how to inlay gold and jade, and if it’s impolite, I ask Master Qiu’s family to ask Haihan!”

Ying Tainong arrived in Ryukyu in February last year. When he arrived in Ryukyu, the previous incident of the Japanese Satsuma clan’s wild pursuit of the missing fleet in Ryukyu had come to an end—everyone proved that the Satsuma ship had left Naha. The vast turmoil is uncertain, and no one knows what went wrong. Naturally, other business travelers cannot be blamed. Therefore, after venting their anger and blackmailing the Ryukyu royal family, the matter died down --- with the calm of the situation, he Unobtrusively opened a Taiwan Strait Chamber of Commerce, and used Zheng Kezang's order to cover all intermediary transactions for Ryukyu merchant ships, including the Ryukyu Camp.

Although Ying Tainong had a low-key start, his move to take over Dongning's goods was really high-profile. Soon his Taiwan Strait Chamber of Commerce was regarded as Dongning's semi-official organization in Ryukyu, and because of this, he fought fiercely with Satsuma and Ryukyu. , and many Zhejiang and Fujian businessmen who are interested in such a lucrative industry as smuggling also pounced on them like sharks smelling blood.

In view of the smooth start, Ying Tainong quickly reached an agreement with all parties, including importing copper strips, lump iron and sulfur from Satsuma, importing Songjiang cotton cloth, ironware, and caustic soda from mainland merchants, and obtaining horses from North Korea. Selling high-quality snow sugar, rock sugar, whale oil candles, whale meat, kun skin, deerskin, and shark skin, the business is so booming that Yang Ying feels jealous.

However, the most important task of Ying Tanong is to inquire about the intelligence of other countries through businessmen, among which the intelligence of the Qing court is the most urgent task. For this reason, he did not hesitate to give up part of his profits to win over the businessmen from Zhejiang and Fujian. Various residence newspapers, pond transcripts, and gossip news began to flow into Dongning. There is no shortage of heavyweight information such as Wu Shifan retreating to Kunming and being besieged, Shang Zhixin was sentenced to death, and Geng Jingzhong was imprisoned in Beijing.However, you can't just ask for information blindly when doing intelligence work. No, someone came to the door today, and the purpose was to learn something about Dongning from Ying Tainong.

"It's easy to say, easy to say." Ying Tanong was observing the other party, so Qiudong's family was also observing Ying Tainong. Seeing Ying Tanong standing up like a soldier and posing as a merchant, Qiudong's family also showed a knowing smile . "Actually, it's a chance for Yu to get to know Mr. Ying's family today. Come, let's sit down and have a drink together."

Ying Tainong was also not humble, so he did it with a bang, and the Ryukyu wine girl next to him saw the guests and hosts seated, and sang the local tunes, and they exchanged glasses until their stomachs were almost full. Mr. Qiu gave shopkeeper Huang a wink, and shopkeeper Huang dismissed the restaurant girl knowingly first, and then disappeared in the name of urination.

Seeing this situation, Ying Tainong knew that the other party was coming, so he slowly straightened his body, and heard Qiudong's family say: "Brother Ying, you can guess the identity of my subordinate, no Wrong, the next one is the subordinate of Sun Wencheng, Master Sun of Hangzhou weaving, and he also has a five-rank crown on his head, but I don't know where you are in Dongning, brother Ying?"

"It turned out to be Master Qiu." With the backing of the largest empire in East Asia, Qiu Dong's family can openly reveal their identity, but Ying Tainong, who is afraid that the Ryukyu side will be coerced by the Qing court and expel him, dare not speak out, so he can only avoid it. False. "I'm just a small person in Dongning. This status is not worth mentioning, it's not worth mentioning!"

Regarding Ying Tanong's reaction, Qiu naturally understood the key points. Fortunately, his purpose was to confirm the identity of the other party and he didn't need to find out the whole story, so he just scratched the surface and didn't go into it further: "It's not worth it." It doesn't matter if you mention it or take the lead, as long as brother Ying is from Dongning, Yu will not come in vain this time."

Ying Tainong frowned and asked in a confused manner: "What does Brother Qiu mean?"

"I want to inquire about something with Brother Ying, but of course I don't want Brother Ying to say it in vain. Whether Brother Ying wants money, cloth, silk, iron, or even an official hat in the Qing Dynasty, Yu can do it for Master Sun. Promise." Qiudong's family didn't want to lure Ying Tanong to surrender, but he had too many bargaining chips, so he thought that there was always one thing that could impress Ying Tanong. "Yu is a good person. Whoever helps Yu, Yu always makes him pay back."

"Oh?" Ying Tainong's eyes suddenly flashed a gleam. "Brother Qiu is so generous, and it's not easy for Yu to hide it. In this way, Brother Qiu will talk about what he wants to ask first. As long as Yu can answer, he will naturally know everything he wants to say."

"Brother Ying must know." Qiu raised a finger. "I heard that Your Majesty just passed away?"

"Your Majesty is in Hangzhou, but he is well-informed." Ying Tainong teased. "However, if someone like Brother Qiu is running around for him, it's normal to be well-informed." Speaking of this, Ying Tainong nodded and gave a clear answer to Qiu Proprietor's question. "That's right, on the 28th of last month, the late king passed away in Anping City."

"Brother Ying is honest." This is not an important question. The reason Qiu Dongzhu asked and Ying Tainong gave a detailed answer is just a bridge for each other to inspect the goods, and the real question comes next. "Brother Ying, do you know that Zhu Qin, the heir of your family, has such an attitude towards the Ming Dynasty?"

Ying Tainong closed his eyes and thought for a while, then also raised a finger: "One thousand pieces of Songjiang blue cloth."

"No problem." Qiu Dongzhu immediately ordered someone to bring a pen, ink, paper and inkstone. With a swipe of the pen, a bill of lading was written, and then Qiu Dongzhu took out a seal and printed it on the bill of lading. "With this item, Brother Ying can withdraw [-] bolts of Songjiang blue cloth from any Bailian account."

After receiving the receipt handed over by Qiu Proprietor, Ying Tainong rolled up his sleeves without even looking at it. The two parties may continue to cooperate, so the other party will not do anything at this time: "The grandson has always been loyal. There are also many Gu Fus in the chambers, although they may not return the great government, but they will not easily cut off their hair to enter the throne and become ministers and pay tribute."

Ying Tainong actually said some specious things, but for the secret spies of the Qing court, these are enough. After all, as long as Taiwan continues to respect the Ming Dynasty, then there is no possibility for the Qing and Zheng parties to shake hands and make peace. The last effort of the Han people to resist, sooner or later there will be a big battle between the two sides.

"I heard that Zhu Qin married Chen Yonghua's daughter as his wife, and Chen Yonghua has a long-standing grievance with Feng Xifan, the Tongzhi Dongning chief envoy Feng Xifan." Someone Qiu raised a finger again, and this is the second question. "Now that the king of Xianchao has passed away, will the heir of your vassal, Feng Xifan, who was once in power?"

"Yu can't answer this." Even if he couldn't answer, Ying Tainong would still try to trick him. "Brother Qiu will give another five hundred pieces of white cloth, and I will tell Brother Qiu about the temperament of the grandson." The owner of Qiu nodded with a wry smile, then signed a bill of lading for five hundred pieces of cloth, and put the list back into his sleeves. Ying Tainong picked up some stories about Zheng Kezang in the boy camp and told them to the other party. "Shisun is resolute, but he is born with wisdom and has a lot of scheming. He always does things in secret. From this point of view, even if he wants to move Mr. Feng Xifan, he will not easily announce it. There will be a thunderous blow, so I don't know the world. Whether Sun will attack Lord Feng Xifan, but I think from the perspective of stabilizing Taiwan's political situation, Sun will not attack easily."

"That's it!" Qiu Dongzhu was very satisfied, obviously the five hundred pieces of white cloth were worth the money, so he raised a finger again. "Then I will ask Brother Ying another question. I heard that Zhu Qin had the intention of going south to annex Luzon back then, but was blocked by Feng Xifan and Chen Shengwu. Now that he is inheriting the big position, he has the intention of invading south again."

"I really don't know about this." Ying Tanong took a sip of his remaining wine and shook his head. "However, Brother Qiu, you can go back and tell your superiors. Now that the people of Taiwan have settled down, there will be no talk of using weapons for a while, so your superiors can rest easy."

The flesh on Qiu Dongzhu’s face trembled. Taiwan is temporarily unable to commit crimes in the west, but the Qing government may not let Taiwan go. Raising the wine glass: "Brother Ying said that it is better to be a dog of peace than a troubled world, and no one wants to fight."

"What Qiu Dongzhu said is that after six years of fighting, Dongning is full of mourners. It's time to die down." Ying Tainong said with a sigh, and then clinked glasses with Qiu Dongzhu. "Today is also predestined, maybe in the future I still count on my brother to help guide the way, come, my younger brother borrows flowers to present Buddha, and drinks this cup to the full."

The two drank each with their own ghosts. Looking at the other's empty glass, laughter suddenly rang out. Hearing the laughter of the two, the shopkeeper Huang who had withdrawn before had obviously received the signal, and quickly opened the day. He opened the screen door and returned to the table. As soon as he sat down, he immediately greeted him: "Come on, please come to another table."

"No need." Ying Tanong stood up. "I've had my fill of fun at this point, and I'll have a drink." Then Ying Tainong said pointedly. "Let's save it for the future, there will be times when Brother Qiu and Shopkeeper Huang will be troubled."

The shopkeeper Huang, who sent Ying Tainong out, returned to the house, and saw Qiu Dongzhu twirling the wine glass thoughtfully: "Tell me, how much of what Ying said is true and how much is false?"

"It's hard to say," shopkeeper Huang didn't dare to guarantee it and could only respond ambiguously. "But there should be no need to lie about today's issue. Besides, the surname Ying himself said that he will trouble us in the future, so it is unlikely to lie."

"I hope so," said Dongzhu Qiu and stood up. "Get ready for the boat right away, and I'm going back to Hangzhou."

Shopkeeper Huang asked puzzledly, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Don't be in a hurry, if this news is out of date, you won't know the money."

Shopkeeper Huang will be interested in this. It is true that the three weaving departments are in competition. Besides, Fujian is also collecting information on Taiwan. If it is too late, Kangxi will lose points.

Now that he had figured it out, shopkeeper Huang immediately stood up: "Don't worry, my lord, Yu will make arrangements immediately!"