Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"Zheng Zhilong is indeed very powerful in the Chinese seas. He defeated the Dutch navy twice, which shows the prestige of the Han people." Zhang Shikang said to everyone in an affirmative tone.

“However, as the military strategists say, hardness cannot last long, and softness cannot be defended.

It will never last long for one family to compete with the navy of a whole country.

Those maritime powers can fail countless times, but the Zheng family only needs to fail once and there will be no chance of recovery. "

The Zheng family now indeed monopolizes the three main trade routes in the South China Sea. The reason why he was able to defeat the Dutch fleet twice was largely due to his geographical advantage.

The Dutch base in the East Indies, Batavia, now Jakarta, was far away, making it difficult to dispatch the fleet.

But now, after two failures, the Dutch have established a permanent base in the southern part of Dongfan Island, and are said to be currently vigorously building defensive facilities.

It includes two highly defensive bastions, one of which the Dutch named "Zelandia", and it is now almost completed.

Zheng Zhilong also sent troops to obstruct, but ultimately failed.

As Zhang Shikang said, if Zheng Zhilong failed once, the Dutch would never give the Zheng family a chance to make a comeback.

Even if they are not Dutch, they may be British or French in the future.

Once the Zheng family is defeated, the Ming Dynasty will lose all its maritime power.

But this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that it is outrageous to rely on the strength of one family for the Ming Dynasty’s coastal defense.

Even without external pressure from the Dutch, the Ming Dynasty would sooner or later have a break with the Zheng family, either by cutting ties or by annexing it.

In short, as long as Zhang Shikang is there, he will never allow such people who only follow orders and not announcements to exist.

"You don't have to worry about these things now. My Great Ming is recruiting soldiers everywhere and preparing for war. One day, we will wipe out the rebellion.

But what my uncle said just now reminded me that maybe I could contact Zheng Zhilong and buy some rice."

The north suffered from disasters year after year, and the people in Huguang and other places were living in misery because of Yang Sichang's wanton grain collection.

Sichuan was once the main grain-producing area of the Ming Dynasty, but is now occupied by several bandit gangs such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

This has led to the current food shortage in the Ming Dynasty. Although the court has obtained a large sum of silver from confiscating Shanxi merchants, this cannot solve the problem.

The price of rice in the northern border towns has soared to four taels of silver per stone, four times the price in normal years.

Even in the south, the rice family's wealth has been rising year by year, and now it has reached a high point of three taels and four or five cents of silver.

The Beijing Camp is expanding its army, the Tianxiong Army is also expanding its army, and in the future the White Spear Army will also expand its army.

The Ministry of Revenue was recruiting a large number of tax collectors, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was recruiting a large number of imperial guards, and the Eastern Investigation Bureau was recruiting a large number of guards.

This requires a huge amount of silver and grain. Zhang Shikang can certainly purchase rice from the south through the canal transport.

However, when food was already in short supply, the court's large-scale purchases would inevitably lead to a surge in food prices.

By then, the people will inevitably complain. In a sense, this is truly competing with the people for profit.

Zhang Shikang had been worried about this before, but Liu Wenbing's words just now gave Zhang Shikang an idea.

Since Zheng Zhilong controls several trade lines, it should not be difficult to buy some food from overseas through trade.

Zhang Shikang made up his mind, and later wrote a letter to Zheng Zhilong in the name of the Grand Marshal of the Army.

After all, Zheng Zhilong had already surrendered to the imperial court. Although only on the surface, Zhang Shikang was nominally the Zheng family's immediate superior.

With this in mind, Zhang Shikang chatted with his relatives about their future plans for a while, which made them so ambitious that they couldn't wait to rush to the ocean and grab the endless wealth.

All the nobles left the Duke of Ying's mansion with excitement, and Zhang Shikang only left behind the two brothers of the Marquis of Xinle.

He knew that except for Liu Wenbing who had a title, the other two brothers were mostly commoners. Zhang Shikang did not beat around the bush and asked them:

"I wonder if you two are willing to serve the country?"

Zhang Shikang admired these two brothers very much. As cousins of Chongzhen's elder brother and top relatives, their loyalty was definitely beyond doubt.

After all, if the Ming Dynasty were to perish, its successor would never let these two people go.

Judging from the words and actions of these two people, they both seem to have the desire to serve their country, but they just have no way to do so.

As soon as Zhang Shikang said this, the two brothers became a little excited. The eldest brother Liu Wenbing was still okay, but Liu Wenyao excitedly slammed the table and stood up and said:

"I have had this intention for a long time, but I have never had the opportunity. If the Zhang brothers can give me a chance, I will die for it!"

As he said this, Liu Wenyao bowed to Zhang Shikang.

Liu Wenyao also stood up and said:

"As long as we can relieve your majesty's worries, my two brothers are willing to serve the country!"

After saying that, he turned around and quietly rebuked his outspoken brother:

"Second brother, you should be careful with your words. You should be fair in public. How can you judge people based on their friendship with aristocratic families?"

"But the Zhang brothers are... Hehe, what the eldest brother said makes sense, but I was rude."

After being glared at by Liu Wenbing, Liu Wenyao immediately changed his attitude.

"Marshal, as long as I can share some of the worries with my cousin who is the emperor, you can even call me godfather!" Liu Wenyao sighed sincerely.

Liu Wenbing's face turned dark when he heard this, and Zhang Shikang was also speechless.

I thought to myself that if you, old man, acknowledge me as your godfather, then according to the seniority, wouldn't Brother Chongzhen be one generation younger than me? This is ridiculous and it messes up the generations.

"The Jinyiwei is currently recruiting soldiers and there are many vacancies. I wonder if you two are interested?"

The two brothers immediately expressed their willingness and answered very straightforwardly.

"This mission is of great importance. Although it can relieve Your Majesty's worries and help the court to rectify the situation, it may damage your reputation.

You two don't have to be so anxious, you might as well think about it again."

Zhang Shikang didn't say it too bluntly, but he thought both of them could understand.

The Jinyiwei Yamen was not a conventional supervisory agency, otherwise it would not have gained such a notorious reputation in the Ming Dynasty officialdom.

Judging from the current tense situation between Emperor Chongzhen and his civil officials, the role that the Jinyiwei will play in the future may not be very glorious.

Liu Wenbing frowned when he heard this, as if he was thinking about it, but after just a moment, he roughly understood what Zhang Shikang wanted him to do, and said firmly:

"How can I live up to everyone's expectations? I just want to have a clear conscience. I eat the emperor's salary and share the worries of my cousin, so why should I care about my reputation?"

Liu Wenyao tilted his head and pondered for a while, seeming not to understand what Zhang Shikang meant.

After pondering over his elder brother's words for a while, he finally understood them. However, he could not think of words as beautiful as his elder brother's to express his determination, so he could only say:

"Same as X!"

Zhang Shikang took a serious look at the two brothers, and after confirming that they really had the ambition to serve the country, he said:

"Okay, I will report this to His Majesty later. Liu Wenbing, you will be the commander of the Jinyiwei and take charge of the Jinyiwei affairs for me.

Liu Wenyao, you are the deputy commander of the Jinyiwei and concurrently the commander of the Northern Pacification Division, in charge of criminal arrests."

The two men bowed down immediately, and Zhang Shikang quickly helped them up.

Liu Wenbing pondered for a moment and said:

"I wonder what the Marshal wants us to do?"

Zhang Shikang picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of tea and said:

"I want you two brothers to find evidence of the crimes of all officials in Beijing."

Although the tone was low and the words were simple, Liu Wenbing was startled.

Liu Wenyao frowned. He also knew that his cousin was in a cold war with the civil officials in the court, and he understood Zhang Shikang's request, but he still said:

"What if we can't find it?"

Liu Wenbing turned his head and glared at his brother again, and Liu Wenyao immediately understood.

"I understand."

……