Southern Ming Rebel Army

In Suzhou city, in the back hall of the Governor's Office.

Outside the delivery room, Zhou was anxiously waiting for the birth of a new life, her hands clenched tightly, her heart full of anticipation, hoping that Zhao Yuner would have a safe and normal delivery. The other maids and servants also gathered together, looking at the door of the delivery room from time to time, their faces full of anxiety.

Time passed minute by minute, and finally, a clear cry of a baby came from the delivery room. Zhou immediately smiled, and the other maids cheered. Then, a tired midwife came out and announced the good news to Zhou: "Congratulations, old lady, it's a daughter!"

The old lady showed a hint of disappointment, but she still told the servants to take good care of Zhao Yuner, and then asked the housekeeper, "Where's Juner? Why hasn't he come back yet? Didn't we send someone to notify him early in the morning?"

The housekeeper hurriedly bent down and replied, "In reply to the old lady, the Grand Admiral has not been in Suzhou City these days, but I have sent an urgent letter to inform the Grand Admiral."

The old lady nodded when she heard this. Meng Jun had been at home very few days since he came back from the expedition, and she hadn't seen him for nearly a month. But he was going to have a baby, and he knew it was almost time, but he didn't care at all. The old lady was a little angry, but now that Meng Jun had a child, he hadn't even married yet. This was really outrageous. The scholarly family might look down on her family. Thinking of this, the old lady sighed helplessly.

Zhou waited for a while, and after the delivery room was cleaned up, she walked in, sat beside Zhao Yuner's bed, touched Zhao Yuner's forehead, and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"To answer mother, it wasn't hard, it's just that I failed to give birth to a boy for the Meng family." Zhao Yuner had a bitter expression on her face.

"It's okay, it's okay. It's not like you can't have another child. For a woman, giving birth to her first child is like going through the gates of hell. It will be easy for her to have subsequent children," the old lady said to Zhao Yuner comfortingly.

"Yeah," Zhao Yuner nodded obediently.

"Alas, you gave birth to a child, and Meng Jun was not by your side. You are really wronged."

"Don't feel wronged. My husband has a heavy responsibility and should focus on important matters. Besides, men can't help much when a woman is giving birth," Zhao Yuner said with a chuckle.

…………

Although Meng Jun knew that Zhao Yuner was about to give birth, he was busy with other affairs and was still in Ningbo discussing the issue of opening up the sea with a group of merchants and gentry. After receiving the urgent letter from home, although he was happy, he still suppressed the urge to go home to visit. The issue of opening up the sea for trade was urgent. Now that the Meng army had occupied the core area of southeastern China, a large amount of goods such as silk, porcelain, etc. urgently needed a place to sell them. If the trade was successful, on the one hand, the tax revenue could increase the military expenditure of the Meng army, and on the other hand it would be of great benefit to the development of the navy.

At the meeting, many merchants sat together and enthusiastically discussed ways to open up the sea for trade. Some believed that more ports should be opened and taxes should not be set too high. Some said that official contacts with Japan and Korea should be strengthened to get them to open their ports. Some merchants even advocated the establishment of a special trade agency to manage and help merchants doing overseas trade. Others stressed the need to strengthen maritime security, send more naval patrols, fight against Japanese pirates, and protect trade ships.

After listening to many opinions, Meng Jun finally made a decision. He decided to take a series of measures, including opening more ports, forming an escort navy to strengthen trade security, and setting up a customs office in the open ports to specialize in taxation and trade management.

After the news of Meng Jun and some merchants discussing the intention to open the sea came out, the gentry Cao family requested to meet Meng Jun. When Meng Jun met with Cao Yin, the head of the Cao family, Cao Yin said bluntly: "If the Grand Commander is short of military pay, the Cao family can help the Grand Commander, but I hope the Grand Commander will not think about opening the sea."

Meng Jun asked calmly: "The Cao family makes a living from maritime trade. Wouldn't opening the sea be more beneficial to trade?"

Cao Yin shook his head and said, "The Grand Commander doesn't know. If everyone can go out to sea without restrictions, the profits of maritime trade will become thinner. The more merchants go out to sea, the greater the probability of attracting Japanese pirates. I am thinking about the Grand Commander. The Qing army is in the front, but if the Japanese pirates harass us from behind, I am afraid it will be more trouble than gain."

This tone seemed threatening. Meng Jun said coldly, "Mr. Cao said that if we open the sea, there will be Japanese pirates."

Cao Yin bowed his head and said, "Grand Commander, if we open the sea, the Cao family cannot guarantee that there will be Japanese pirates, but if we do not open the sea, my Cao family is willing to offer one million taels of silver to the Grand Commander."

As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Jun was stunned. This number was beyond his expectation. Meng Jun picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and calmed down before asking, "How can the Cao family be so rich? It's amazing that they can easily come up with one million taels of silver!"

After hearing this, Cao Yin lowered his head slightly and replied softly, "Grand Commander, you are too kind. In fact, this is not just the effort of my Cao family, but it is raised by dozens of families to support the needs of the Grand Commander."

"If dozens of families raise funds together, they can come up with one million taels of silver. If such money and grain were gathered by the former government troops, the Jiannu would have been defeated long ago, and would not have reached the situation today," Meng Jun said with some emotion.

Cao Yin chuckled and said, "Grand Commander, you are joking. That is the court's business. We are just businessmen. How can we confuse business with business?"

"What a good saying, let's talk business. Today, I will talk to you as a businessman. One million taels are not enough. I want five million taels. As long as you give me five million taels, I will not open the sea," Meng Jun said with a loud voice.

Cao Yin was stunned for a moment, then said: "Grand Commander, five million taels is too much, I can't make the decision"

"Then let's go back and discuss it. Once you can make a decision, talk to me again," Meng Jun said impatiently. Without waiting for Cao Yin to say anything, he ordered Yu An to send the guest away.

…………

After Cao Yin left, Meng Jun said to Yu An: "Anzi, these sea merchants are really rich. It seems that my plan to open the sea has threatened them."

Yu An asked in confusion: "Grand Commander, why don't you collect the money first and decide whether to do it later?"

Meng Jun smiled and said, "Hahaha, let's leave the money with them for safekeeping. Let's go back and see our daughter."

Although Meng Jun looked calm on the surface, he could not help but feel a little irritated in his heart. He knew that these sea merchants would do anything to achieve their monopoly on maritime trade. Although he had a large army in his hands and was not afraid of these profit-seeking merchants, if he really pushed them to the limit, he was afraid that they would be desperate and even take risks. Moreover, the Qing army was nearby, and if the rear was not at peace at this time, it would only add to his troubles.