Chapter 4: The Fall of Fujian (I)

Yuan Chonghuan, who had been recuperating for more than half a month, finally recovered his health. Zhu Yinglong issued an order to grant Yuan Chonghuan the Governor of Ji Liao, and to be the Minister of War, the Prince Taibao, and to take charge of the military and political power of Ji Liao. He immediately went to Liaodong to replace Xiong Tingbi and guard Liaodong. Huang Taiji learned about the news soon, but the two countries had signed a peace agreement. The agreement had been removed from the punishment of Yuan Chonghuan, which could not show that the court had betrayed the agreement. After all, what people were used was their business, so he urgently summoned Fan Wencheng to the palace to discuss this huge personnel change in the Ming court. Yuan Chonghuan did not surrender but rose. Huang Taiji was immediately as if he was in a harsh manner and could not sleep or eat!

Fan Wencheng had already expected that the Ming court would re-activate Yuan Chonghuan. Since the Ming court used the removal of Yuan Chonghuan to confuse his master, he would re-activate Yuan Chonghuan. The young emperor of the Ming court was not a fool. Now that Yuan Chonghuan has recovered from illness, he naturally has to return to Liaodong. He advised Huang Taiji to be content with peace and quell the rebellion of the Ming court now. He would not provoke the war in Liaodong. After listening to Fan Wencheng's analysis, Huang Taiji felt that it made sense, but once he was bitten by a snake, he was afraid of straw ropes for ten years. Although he believed Fan Wencheng's words, he was always a little guarded and kept ordering Fan Wencheng to strengthen his infiltration into the Ming court and sent a large number of scammers to sneak into the Southern Ming Dynasty to collect information on the movements of the Ming court.

On this day, after finishing the note on hand, Zhu Yinglong stretched and remembered Zheng Zhilong's letter. Shadow had already penetrated Nanjing City. With the help of Shen's connections in Jiangnan and the Donglin Party members, unless Wei Zhongxian cruelly cleaned it up, he could only catch one by one in the face of Shadow's infiltration. There was no way to catch it. Now Shadow covers people from all walks of life, and there is only the periphery, not the secret area. They investigated some things clearly, and there is basically no danger. In short, this is a process of mutual penetration, so Zhu Yinglong quickly confirmed his guess. Zheng Zhilong also wrote a letter to Wei Zhongxian in Nanjing. Although the content of the letter was not as capable as seeing, Zhu Yinglong probably was not much different from the place he received.

No! Zhu Yinglong suddenly woke up. This Zheng Zhilong was too cunning. He wanted Fujian instead of Taiwan. Why did I think about why Zheng Zhilong was so different from the Zheng Zhilong in history?

"Xu Yingyuan. Hurry up, invite Mr. Sun Chengzong to me!" Zhu Yinglong had a bad premonition in his heart, and this premonition became stronger and stronger.

Xu Yingyuan didn't know what was going on, but saw the emperor's face full of anxiety and hurriedly lifted his foot and ran out.

If this conjecture is confirmed, Zhu Yinglong really couldn't imagine what the consequence would be. Although Zheng Zhilong had only more than 3,000 people under his command, these more than 3,000 pirates who could fight. There were also sharp firearms, warships, and Fujian had more than 20,000 officers and soldiers, but with the cooperation between the court and Zheng Zhilong over the past few months, Ye Xianggao probably wouldn't be too cautious about Zheng Zhilong. In this way, there were mental calculations but not intentions, and the situation was too dangerous, because the communication was too backward. How great would it be if there were two telegraph machines at this moment!

"What's wrong with the emperor summoning the old minister to the palace?" Sun Chengzong hurriedly walked into the Yangxin Palace to salute Zhu Yinglong.

"Zheng Zhilong wants Fujian!"

"What?" Sun Chengzong was shocked, "Where did the emperor know?"

"Just from the letter he wrote to me!" Zhu Yinglong ordered Xu Yingyuan to pass the letter to Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong took it and browsed it quickly. After reading it, he said in surprise: "Your Majesty, the old minister doesn't understand. Zheng Zhilong obviously has the intention to attract peace. Why does the emperor say he wants Fujian?"

"Old Dean, you don't understand the thoughts of our big pirates. In the long run, Taiwan is a treasure land with rich resources. Of course he wants to take it for himself, but with his current strength, he is not a match for the Dutch, so he must expand his strength and where to come from? Fujian. The court will never allow such a force to expand at will without even asking about it. It is necessary to control the power in his hands, so he wrote to me just a trick to fool me. With the previous cooperation between the court and him, I believe that he is willing to accept the sincerity of the court's reunion, but in fact, he also has another idea, that is, to write a letter with Wei Zhongxian from Nanjing. The content of the letter is similar to the content in the letter. He is looking at the price he said is high, so who will he go with." Zhu Yinglong explained.

In fact, the real reason was not said by Zhu Yinglong. All of this was caused by the two courts in the north and south. If this situation had not occurred, Zheng Zhilong's ambition would not have expanded so much. He would have thought about becoming the dream of the King of Southern Fujian so quickly. Zheng Zhilong is different from Mao Wenlong. Zheng Zhilong can not rely on the supply of mainland Fujian. Even if he loses the bet, he can go to Japan and to surrender to the Dutch. If it really doesn't work, he can go to Southeast Asia because he is a pirate in the famous place of overseas trade.

"The emperor means that Zheng Zhilong might defect to Wei Zhongxian, a native of Nanjing?" Sun Chengzong said in confusion.

Of course, these are also Zhu Yinglong's own subjective guesses. Whether this is the case or not needs to be proved by facts. He nodded and said, "I just doubt it, so I came to discuss it with the old dean."

"The boss of the Taiguo father of Fujian, Mr. Ye, was under 20,000 elite soldiers, and Zheng Zhilong only had more than 3,000 troops. I'm afraid Zheng Zhilong doesn't have the courage?" said Sun Chengzong.

"Twenty thousand soldiers are good, but for well-trained pirates, a mere 20,000 soldiers may not be taken seriously by this Zheng Zhilong." Zhu Yinglong shook his head and said.

"Does the old dean remember that Zheng Zhilong sent his younger brother Zheng Hongkui to Beijing to find out the truth of the court a few months ago?" Zhu Yinglong suddenly remembered and asked.

"Of course I remember that Zheng Hongkui stayed in the capital for several months. A few days ago, I heard that I left, spent money like soil, enthusiastic tycoons, and made friends with many gentry and celebrities. There are still rumors about this person in the capital now!"

"Oh, when did this person leave Beijing?" Zhu Yinglong asked in a shock.

"It's probably fourteen or fifteen days?" Sun Chengzong recalled carefully.

In fact, Shadow had already reported to Zhu Yinglong, but he was too busy and didn't care too much. Now he thought about it because he did not pay enough attention to it, but he was not a god, so why did he predict it before he could not tell?

"Think about it, he should have returned to Fujian at this time, right?" Zhu Yinglong asked.

"If the sea is windy, you should be back to Fujian at this time." Sun Chengzong calculated in his mind and replied.

"Oh, it's too late!" Zhu Yinglong said regretfully.
Chapter completed!