After hearing his son Zheng Sen's reminder, Zheng Zhilong just sneered, looked at his son and said: "Damu, you don't want Wu Sangui to die? If he is gone, who else among the Wu family's bumpkins can do it? Wu Sanfu can do it.

?Can Wu Guoyong do it? Can Wu Yingxiong do it?"

Zheng Sen shook his head and said: "Of course the three of them cannot compare with Wu Sangui, nor can they compare with the child and the second brother. But don't forget the queen, and don't forget the prince!"

Zheng Zhilong sneered and said: "How long can the queen be favored when she is old and beautiful? As for the prince, the prince's surname is Zhu! Moreover, cousin marriages are prohibited in this dynasty. The prince cannot marry a daughter of the Wu family as his concubine, but I have great hopes for my granddaughters!"

"

Zheng Zhilong has a large number of sons, and of course there are many granddaughters. Besides, except for Zheng Jiangong, who became a princess, all of Zheng Zhilong's sons married daughters of famous Jiangnan families. Therefore, among Zheng Zhilong's granddaughters, the proportion of academic masters is very high.

!

Zheng Zhilong smiled: "I have already seen the results of the preliminary examination of Jinling Women's University. Among the top 100 talented girls, 11 are our girls. Not counting the daughters born to the second child and the princess, there are 18 more.

Those who are related to my family account for almost 30%! Of the old Wu family, only one Wu Ake was selected, ranked 93rd, which is worse than my 11 granddaughters."

Listening to the old man's words, Zheng Sen was a little dumbfounded. Did the old man really regard choosing a concubine for the prince as the number one scholar?

However, the old Wu family did fall behind in the competition. Wu Sangui, Wu Sanfu, Wu Sanfeng, Wu Guogui, Wu Guozheng, Wu Guoyong and others also had many daughters, but the one who ranked within 100 in the preliminary examination was Wu Ake. If it is relaxed to 300

In terms of reputation, there is Wu Ahuan, the daughter of Wu Guogui. After 300, theoretically you are not eligible to take the re-examination. Even if you reluctantly take part, it is just a foil and you will never be able to enter the Women's University. After all, the first phase of Jinling Women's University only accepts

100 people.

"Abba," Zheng Sen frowned, "both the court and the central government know that my family and the Wu family are not on good terms, but now that we are facing a powerful enemy, you must not say these words in front of outsiders. That is, in front of your own people.

You can’t say that even in front of me!”

"I know, I know your father is not an old fool yet!" Zheng Zhilong waved his hand and said, "Damu, it's getting late now. It's time for you and I to go to the palace to meet His Majesty and your sister Tea Girl. I guess His Majesty will meet with you

You discussed the matter of moving the town to Dongning, have you decided how to answer it?"

"I've thought about it," Zheng Sen said, "it would be best if we could withdraw from the vassal. My family already has a lot of people in the navy, and the official business is getting more and more prosperous. We also have a situation in the United States of Xinzhou, so there is no need to occupy a vassal town. Dongdong

Ningzhen is not a strength to my family, but a burden."

Dongning Town of the Zheng family is divided into two parts, one is Quanzhou Prefecture, and the other is Taiwan Dusi. Quanzhou Prefecture is of course a profitable prefecture, with abundant financial resources, and is the "cash cow" of Dongning Town. But Taiwan Dusi is a bottomless pit, Zheng

Sen puts hundreds of thousands of dollars into it every year, and has been doing so for 20 years, but not much has been developed.

Because the commercial value of Taiwan was really not high, Zheng Sen could only use the method of setting up garrison posts to carry out armed colonization. He set up the Taiwan Metropolitan Command Department, and under the capital department, he established four garrison stations: Taichung, Taitung, Tainan, and Taipei.

There were five thousand-household offices under Gewei, and a hundred-household office below.

In addition, the Zheng family's residence in Taiwan, which was originally the Dutch city of Rejelan, established Dongning City as the central city of Taiwan Island.

After 20 years of immigration and reclamation, the total number of Han military households (actually armed farmers) on the island of Taiwan now reaches nearly 36,000, with a population of more than 200,000. This number may seem small, but it is the result of Zheng Sen’s years of hard work.

It took millions of taels of capital to get it started!

There are four main reasons why it is so difficult.

One is because tropical diseases on the island of Taiwan are so severe.

The second reason is that Taiwan is not a trade transit station. These days, merchant ships from various countries passing through the Taiwan Strait all dock at Anping Port or Xiamen Port in Quanzhou Prefecture. No one goes to Dongning Port in Taiwan.

The third reason is that there are no treasures on the treasure island of Taiwan, there are very few plains, and the specialty is deerskin.

The fourth reason is because there are so many places to go!

If you are not afraid of dying from dysentery, it would be good to go to Ca Mau Army, Siam Kingdom, Western Army, the Twelve Principalities of Malacca and Temasek Island. Why go to Taiwan?

If you can't stand the heat and dysentery, you can go to Liaoyang, Heilongjiang Town, Andong Town, or the United States of New Zealand, especially the United States of New Zealand. The climate is comfortable, the land is fertile, and there are two coveted good things, mink fur and gold.

!

Therefore, the operation of Taiwan depends entirely on the Zheng family's money and Emperor Zhu's continuous sending of prisoners to the island.

Zheng Zhilong heard that his son wanted to get rid of the burden, so he smiled and shook his head and said: "Since Taiwan is a burden, my family has to carry it! Quanzhou Prefecture does not need it, but Taiwan Dusi has to continue to hold it in its hands and continue to invest money in development!"

"That year I have to pay hundreds of thousands, this money"

"My family will pay for it!" Zheng Zhilong said, "You have to pay for your own money so that you can break a copper plate in half and pay for it! If my family didn't pay for it, instead the court would pay for it, and if the compensation continued to be 10 million taels, Taiwan wouldn't be what it is now.

situation!"

Of course!

Can compensating the country's money be the same as compensating one's own money?

Moreover, in the entire Ming Dynasty, when it comes to the ability to lose money, Zheng Sen is definitely at the top. The only ones who are better than him are Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Cihong, and Shen Tingyang.

"Then let's continue to carry Taiwan on our backs." Zheng Sen sighed, "Let Zheng Jing take charge of Dongning Town and continue to lose money!"

"We still need a piece of land." Zheng Zhilong said, "Every time I come in and out, it seems that the court is not taking advantage of my family."

"Where?" Zheng Sen asked.

"We want Ryukyu!" Zheng Zhilong said, "After the Shang family left, Ryukyu has no owner. The court just doesn't know how to take over Ryukyu. Dongning is just about to get Ryukyu and build another Ryukyu mansion."

"Can Ryukyu Mansion make money?" Zheng Sen asked.

"I can't make any money," Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said with a smile, "But I can't lose either."

"Senior Brother, do you really want Ryukyu? This is a useless place, how can it compare to Quanzhou?"

In the East Lake Palace, in the Wanghai Hall where Concubine Zheng lived, Zhu Cixiang, who was talking to the Zheng family and his son, was really overjoyed when he heard that Zheng Sen wanted to trade Ryukyu for Quanzhou.

Of course he knows that Quanzhou Prefecture is Dongning's source of wealth, while Ryukyu is just a useless place and cannot be compared at all.

Zheng Sen's proposal is actually to bear the burden himself and give the benefits to Emperor Zhu. This is a loyal minister!

Zheng Sen smiled and said: "Ryukyu and Taiwan belong to one body. With Ryukyu, the value of Taiwan has doubled. Moreover, Ryukyu is a mature land, so it is much easier to develop than Taiwan. Dongning will lose money in the short term by using Quanzhou to trade Ryukyu.

, but the long-term benefits are not small.”

Emperor Zhu nodded and said: "How to fill the short-term hole? How much subsidy does Dongning Town need from the court?"

"There is no need for any subsidies from the court," Zheng Sen said with a smile. "Taiwan already has some income. If we save a little, we can meet various expenses. It won't be much short. Ryukyu should have a small surplus, which will just make up for Taiwan's deficit."

"Then what's the reason for Taiwan Dusi's deficit over the years?" Zhu Cixiang asked again.

"Those are all the costs of immigration," Zheng Sen said.

“Won’t you immigrate to Taiwan in the future?”

"Return to immigration!" Zheng Sen said, "But we don't need Dongning Town's money to handle the immigration process. My family will pay for it."

"Then your family didn't suffer a loss?" Zhu Cixiang broke the casserole and asked the final question!

Zheng Sen still smiled and said: "It's true that we made arrangements when we immigrated before. Instead of concentrating around Dongning City, we spread a net to distribute thousands of households and hundreds of forts in the coastal areas of Taiwan. In the plains
Chapter completed!