Chapter 966 Zheng Zhilong’s Entanglement

(0966)

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When Zhang Zhun entered the capital, Zheng Zhilong was leading his fleet to hurry north.

After receiving the message of help from Zheng Shouyuan, Zheng Zhilong's first reaction was that the rotten wood could not be carved. Zheng Chenggong suffered a great loss last time at the hands of the Hu Ben Navy, which caused a sharp drop in the Zheng family fleet's impression of him, and Zheng Zhilong himself was under great pressure.

Although Zheng Zhilong is the head of the Zheng family fleet, his name is usually mentioned by the outside world. However, those who know the inside story know that in the Zheng family fleet, others, such as Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao and others, also have certain power. On some particularly important issues, they all have separate voting rights.

Although Zheng Chenggong is the best man in the Zheng family fleet, most people have no objection to this, but if his performance is too bad, others will still gossip. After all, including Zheng Zhilong himself, they do not want the future leader of the Zheng family fleet to be too poor and unpopular.

Finally, Zheng Zhilong won the opportunity to make a meritorious service for Zheng Chenggong, hoping that Zheng Chenggong could restore his image through this action. Unexpectedly, he messed up the matter again. Moreover, this time, the consequences seemed to be worse than last time. Last time, after all, some warships were brought back, and it cannot be said that they had no results at all. But this time, from Zheng Shouyuan's tone, he was afraid that the entire army would be wiped out.

To be honest, if Zheng Chenggong was not his eldest son, Zheng Zhilong really wanted to let go. Even if such an idiot son was rescued, he would be a waste in the future. He would not be able to give him a chance to cleanse his image again, and others would not allow him to do so. No matter how strong the Zheng family fleet is, he would not be able to withstand such troubles. If it weren't for the fact that a family affection was still there, Zheng Zhilong really wanted to pretend that he didn't know this at all and let Zheng Chenggong die on his own.

In addition, Zheng Zhilong was a little confused. How could the plan to attack Nanjing have become like this? Not only did the purpose not be achieved, but the warships of the Fifth Fleet of the Zheng family fleet were completely lost. The entire operation looked like a perfect trap, a trap specifically waiting for Zheng Chenggong to be arrested.

However, Zheng Zhilong firmly believed that this action was planned by himself and was definitely not a trap. He could not have sent his eldest son and the Fifth Fleet into the enemy's trap in vain. Zheng Zhilong thought about it but still didn't understand what was wrong with it.

Although the Fifth Fleet is the weakest among the Zheng family fleet, if the Fifth Fleet is really wiped out, the strength of the Zheng family fleet will still be affected to a certain extent. By this time, the Zheng family fleet could no longer withstand such a huge loss.

Was the Hu Ben Army Navy appearing in the Yangtze River? Was it a coincidence or intentional? Is it a spy inside itself that leaked the information about Zheng Chenggong going north? Or is the intelligence department of the Hu Ben Army really so magical that it inferred the actions of the Zheng family fleet? The series of problems made Zheng Zhilong very distressed.

Zheng Zhilong was also quite troubled about whether to dispatch a fleet to the north to reinforce. At present, the use of the troops of the Zheng family fleet is still very nervous and cannot be drawn easily. To put it bluntly, almost every warship is in the process of carrying out a mission. It is indeed very difficult to draw a powerful fleet to rescue Zheng Chenggong.

The Zheng family fleet originally had only five fleets. Now that Zheng Chenggong is surrounded, at least two fleets must be dispatched to rescue Zheng Chenggong successfully. The use of the oil-adding tactic of dispatching one fleet is of no use. In this way, it will have a great impact on the normal operation of the Zheng family fleet.

The Dutch are not fools, maybe they will notice something. If the main force of the Zheng family fleet goes north and the Dutch takes the opportunity to attack, the Zheng family fleet's base may be seriously hit. If the powers in the South China Sea also notice this, the business of the Zheng family fleet in the South China Sea will be even worse.

However, Zheng Chenggong is his eldest son after all. The concept of the eldest son is very different from other sons. His eldest son is now threatened by the Hu Ben Army. If he is a father, he will not care about it, he will also be gossiped behind him. Even if the tiger poison is not eaten, let alone a human being?

Besides, if Zheng Chenggong was captured or killed by the Hu Ben Army, it would be a major blow to Zheng Zhilong's reputation and the overall impression of the Zheng family fleet. As the future heir of the Zheng family fleet, Zheng Chenggong would be eliminated so easily, and others' impression of the Zheng family fleet would be greatly reduced. The majesty of the Zheng family fleet would no longer exist. This is very deadly for the current Zheng family fleet.

In the past, the Zheng family fleet was on the coast of Fujian. Who would dare to say no? Even the Ming court had to be respectful to Zheng Zhilong and dare not disobey at all. Except for Xiong Wencan, Zheng Zhilong was not sold. However, since Zhang Zhun appeared and since the emergence of the Hu Ben Navy, the majesty of the Zheng family fleet had been seriously challenged.

In the past few years, the Zheng family fleet has sent fleets to the north to try to extinguish Zhang Zhun's maritime power, but they were defeated by the Hu Ben Navy. In the end, even Yang Tiansheng and Zheng Chenggong failed in the hands of Zhang Zhun. These two failures were indeed very heavy to the Zheng family fleet.

From then on, people began to know that in the ocean, Zheng Yiguan is not the most awesome. There are people in the world who are more awesome than you. This person is Zhang Zhun. After Zhang Zhun completely annihilated the Tartars, the power of the Hu Ben Army was at its peak. Even in the ocean, more and more people believed that the future ocean would be the world of the Hu Ben Army Navy, not the world of the Zheng Fleet.

Once such a view is formed, the blow to Zheng Zhilong will definitely be fatal. First, the wealthy businessmen and wealthy families in Jiangnan will no longer dare to cooperate with Zheng Zhilong, for fear of causing the death of the Tiger Army. Secondly, the Japanese began to look down on Zheng Zhilong. Thirdly, there were people inside the Zheng family fleet who began to question Zheng Zhilong's ability.

In fact, as long as you have a discerning eye, you can see that the Zheng family fleet is on a downward trend. In the south, the Zheng family fleet is suppressed by the Dutch fleet, and its business is shrinking. In the north, it is suppressed by the Hu Ben Navy, and the sea area controlled is getting smaller and smaller. If no miracle happens, the Zheng family fleet, which is being attacked from both sides, will slowly die.

What Zheng Zhilong couldn't stand the most was that even the Japanese looked down on him. For this period of time, envoys from the Japanese shogunate had been asking Zheng Zhilong to send a fleet to Japan to directly confront the Hu Ben Navy. Before, the Japanese envoys still begged in a low voice. However, now, they seem to be a little despised by the Zheng family fleet.

Although he started his business in Japan, without Japanese markets and ports, he would not be like Zheng Zhilong today. However, deep in Zheng Zhilong's heart, he looked down on the Japanese. If he is not my race, his heart will be different. Zheng Zhilong also has this idea in his heart. The Japanese used to crawl in front of him and begged him, but Zheng Zhilong could still accept it. However, once the Japanese turned against each other, they felt that the Zheng family fleet was no longer able to do, and Zheng Zhilong would be angry.

After thinking for a long time, Zheng Zhilong finally decided to go north. He will lead the two most powerful squadrons to go north. According to Zheng Zhilong's estimate, while Zheng Shouyuan issued a reinforcement request, the Hu Ben Navy should also issue a reinforcement request. The Hu Ben Navy's reinforcement should also come quickly to the Yangtze River Estuary.

In other words, what he had to face when he went north this time was definitely not a single Hu Ben Navy fleet, but very likely two. Even the three Hu Ben Navy fleets all drove to the estuary of the Yangtze River. If that was true, the two sides might have a super-large naval battle on the sea near the estuary of the Yangtze River.

Zheng Zhilong's initial consideration was to rescue Zheng Chenggong, and it would be fine. Fighting hard with the Hu Ben Navy is not in line with the interests of the Zheng family fleet. The interests of the Zheng family fleet are still in Japan and Nanyang. The situation has developed to the present, fighting hard with the Hu Ben Navy is no longer something that the Zheng family fleet can do. It is not that Zheng Zhilong doesn't want to fight, but he can't afford it.

According to intelligence, the shipbuilding speed of the Hu Ben Navy is really a little terrifying. In September, the Hu Ben Navy had nearly 100 large warships launched. What is the concept of a hundred large warships? If you fight hard, the Zheng family fleet will fight all the battle with the other side. In the near future, the Hu Ben Navy will have more warships.

The biggest trouble for the Zheng family fleet at present is that it cannot sell a large amount of wood from other places, especially shipbuilding wood. To build more new warships, there must be enough shipbuilding wood. The Zheng family fleet's shipbuilding wood was mainly from tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia, where there were towering trees. Just cut down a forest and dozens of large warships could be built.

However, now, most parts of Southeast Asia are controlled by Western powers such as the Dutch. The wood for shipbuilding is under their close supervision. The Zheng family fleet would definitely not be able to hide it from the Dutch if it wanted to obtain a large amount of wood from the Southeast Asian country. The Dutch's shipbuilding industry was extremely developed and its own demand for wood was also very large. How could they give it to Zheng Zhilong? Moreover, the wood needed for shipbuilding is not a small amount, but it is very large and cannot be hidden from anyone.
Chapter completed!