Smuggling Daming

Zhou Zhong didn't take too many people with him when he came back this time. Shenying's Beijing camp and Qu Lie's and Chang Xiao's navy are still stationed at the port of Malacca. Although people will not come back in a short time, they must guard against the people of Malacca. After all, Zhou Zhong abruptly took the port of Malacca from the Kingdom of Malacca, which made many people in Malacca very unwilling. In addition, the Huang family This kind of toubob, so it is impossible to be careless.

It was also for this reason that when Zhou Zhong left, he only brought ten warships with him. These warships were not to protect his safety, but to transport the spoils of this battle. For example, he found some collectibles on the Portuguese warships. Items and weapons, as well as properties in warehouses in Malacca city, etc., the combined value of these things has exceeded 500 million taels, and Zhou Zhong has not fully figured out the value of these things until now, because many of them are the kings of Malacca. There are calligraphy and paintings as well as antiques. Most of his subordinates are illiterate soldiers. They don’t know anything except gold and silver. Tang Bohu and others are extremely busy, so in the end they can only make a general inventory. After a while, I plan to transport it back to Shuangyu Port for careful inventory.

The ten warships were full of materials and belongings, and the draft was also very deep, so the journey was not fast, and it was already autumn, and it was the windy season at sea, so Zhou Zhong and the others followed the coastline for safety reasons. Let's go, and if something goes wrong, we will anchor at the shore immediately, so we stop and go, and when they return to Shuangyu Port, it will already be October.

Zhou Zhong and the others wanted to keep it secret when they dispatched their troops, so the entire Shuangyu Port did not know when the entire army left.But when they defeated the Portuguese and actually occupied the Port of Malacca, they immediately spread the news in Shuangyu Port. Firstly, it was to publicize the prestige of the Admiral’s Mansion, and secondly, to let all maritime merchants know that Malacca Port is our Daming's, they can rest assured to go to the dock.

Not to mention, when the news of Ming's occupation of Malacca was spread in Shuangyu Port, it immediately caused a huge sensation.Especially those who used to take the Nanyang route, they usually transport the goods to Malacca as far as they can, but they have to pay a heavy tax every time. Now, after Ming Dynasty occupied there, the tax revenue was reduced by one compared with Malacca city. Mostly.There might even be Ming warships patrolling along the way, which made them all very excited, one by one speeding up the preparation of goods for a trip to Malacca, wanting to see the port of Malacca under the rule of Ming with their own eyes.

However, although the news of the occupation of Malacca Port spread in Shuangyu Port, few people in Daming knew about it, although Zhou Zhong had sent a letter to Emperor Zhengde from the very beginning.But this matter was only circulated among the high-level officials of Daming, and ordinary people rarely knew about it.After all, as the suzerain of Ming Dynasty, occupying the capital of a subordinate country is really not a glorious thing.

Regarding Zhou Zhong's unauthorized occupation of the capital city of the subordinate country, a dispute broke out between the Ming's cabinet and Zhengde, because the reason why the cabinet agreed to send Zhou Zhong to send troops was mainly to aid the Kingdom of Malacca and help them repel the Portuguese. Zhou Zhong did not occupy the port of Malacca.But now Zhou Zhong took the initiative to occupy there, which made Li Dongyang and other cabinet ministers impeach Zhou Zhong one after another.But when Zhengde revealed the list of trophies sent by Zhou Zhong and the annual tax revenue of Malacca Port, Li Dongyang and others immediately shut up. After all, Daming is short of money now, and every year they have a headache because of the empty treasury. No end, seeing that a small Malacca can provide so much taxation, they all closed their eyes wisely, and chose to acquiesce to this thing that violated the teachings of the saints.

The acquiescence of the imperial court and the cheers of the sea merchants in Shuangyu Port made Zhou Zhong's reputation even more popular, so when he returned with ten warships, the entire Shuangyu Port was boiling over. He put down his business and ran out of the port in a boat, just to take a look at the legendary Admiral of the Four Seas.

Before approaching the port, Zhou Zhong and the others on the ship were also busy. Under Zhou Zhong's order, everyone on the ship moved the gold and silver treasures hidden in the cabin to the deck, and there were also gold and silver treasures seized from the Portuguese. Cannons and muskets, and even hundreds of Portuguese prisoners of war. These prisoners of war had no special skills, and Zhou Zhong was going to send them to the capital to ask Zhengde for credit.

People in the Central Plains pay attention to concealment, and at the same time they also pay attention to not revealing their wealth. No matter how rich they are, most of them hide their money tightly.But Zhou Zhong did the opposite this time, and moved all the spoils to the deck, because this is the most direct reflection of the military exploits of the army. At the same time, these belongings can also tell everyone how rich Nanyang is, stimulating even more Many people devoted themselves to the maritime trade in Nanyang without hesitation.

Zhou Zhong's method achieved unexpected results. When their battleship was just approaching Shuangyu Port, those who ran out of the port to watch the excitement saw the piles of belongings on the deck of the battleship, all of them stared wide-eyed. Most people have seen things like gold, silver, and precious stones, but who has seen rows of big boxes filled with these things, and ten warships in a row are filled with such big boxes. The battleship is simply the treasure ship of the legendary Sanbao eunuch!

"Boom~" After a brief shock, the welcoming ships on both sides immediately seemed to explode, so some people pointed to the treasures on the ship and talked about it, and even many misers looked jealous and clenched their fists. Gritting his teeth, his eyes were so red that they were about to bleed. If it weren't for the warships of the Daming Navy that transported these belongings, I'm afraid they would really dare to rush up and rob them.

The most important thing for Zhou is this effect. I saw him standing on the bow of the battleship in the front, waving to the ships on both sides as he moved forward. Shuangyu Port is his lair, and many people here are his former acquaintances. A few bold ones even greeted Zhou Zhong loudly, and Zhou Zhong also responded loudly, which also made many people praise the admiral for his lack of airs, and he did not forget his origin.

The battleship passed through the welcoming fleet and soon came to the port to dock. What Zhou Zhong didn't expect was that many officials came to welcome the port, and even Ningbo prefect Yu Wenyuan and fellow prefect Lu Kuo and other officials They were all here, smiling and standing on the port to greet Zhou Zhong. As for the Shibo Secretary who had just been driven back by Nanyang, Yang Tong and others could only stand at the back.

"The admiral has done a lot of hard work. Yu and his colleagues in Ningbo Mansion have been waiting here for a long time!" Zhou Zhong had just stepped off the boat on the gangplank, and Yu Wenyuan immediately stepped forward to congratulate him, and Lu Kuo and others behind him also stepped forward Salute, by the way, congratulations on Zhou's return after a major victory, and Zhou Zhong also returned the salutes one by one, and the atmosphere on the pier was peaceful for a while.

After Zhou Zhong exchanged pleasantries with Yu Wenyuan and the others, he immediately directed his staff to unload the belongings on the ship. Although Yu Wenyuan and the others had received news before that Zhou Zhong had gained a lot of spoils this time, when they saw boxes of gold and silver When the treasures were lifted off the boat, they were all stunned and stunned for a long time.In their hearts, Daming is the richest land in the world, so they couldn't believe that a small overseas country could own so much wealth.

There are so many belongings on the battleship, it is impossible for Zhou Zhong to wait for them to finish unloading the things, he just ordered things to go on, and the rest will naturally be completed by Yang Tong and others of the Shibo Department. After all, the government affairs of Shuangyu Port are all Managed by the Shibo Department, although these properties are military trophies, they will eventually go to the national treasury, and the counting also requires professional hands. It just so happens that Yang Tong and the others are experts in this area.

At this time, Yu Wenyuan and others also woke up from the shock, and now they greeted Zhou Zhong and came to the newly built Shibo Yamen at the port. A group of people asked Zhou Zhong about the details of the war, and by the way, asked about the customs of Malacca Port, In particular, Yu Wenyuan and the others are very interested in the trade situation of Malacca Port.

In fact, Zhou Zhong also knows that Yu Wenyuan and the others don’t really care about the war situation between themselves and the Portuguese. What they really care about is the trade in Malacca Port. He was turning a corner to ask him about the situation of the port, and estimated that after they returned, they would immediately order the fleet under their name to head to Malacca.

After chatting for a while, Yu Wenyuan and the others stood up and said goodbye, and at the same time told Zhou Zhong that they had already booked a banquet at the largest restaurant in the port, which was actually the internal restaurant of Zhou Zhong's Beigang Trading Center, and they would welcome Zhou Zhong in the evening.

In fact, the reception banquet was about to start, but Yu Wenyuan and the others were also well-informed. They knew that Zhou Zhong's wife gave birth to a daughter for him when Zhou Zhong was leading the army. Now he must be eager to go home and visit his wife immediately. and daughter, so Yu Wenyuan and the others will not be that villain, let Zhou Zhong go home for the time being, and it will not be too late to catch the wind at night.

Zhou Zhong was also very grateful for Yu Wenyuan's carefulness. After standing up and thanking everyone, he immediately turned around and ran home. From the moment his feet stepped on the port just now, he wished he could run home and have a look. Unfortunately, Jinxuan and her daughter were entangled by Yu Wenyuan and the others and could not escape.

Zhou Zhong led people into the house like a gust of wind, his face was full of anxiety and excitement, after all, he was a father for the first time in two lives, and now he was going to see his first child soon, This made Zhou Zhong feel a little uneasy.

It's just that what Zhou Zhong never expected was that before he rushed into the inner house, he was stopped by a person who should never have appeared in Shuangyu Port anyway. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)