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

Chinese people are like this, when it comes to many tacitly understood things, they believe in seeing through them but not speaking them out loud.

But there is a prerequisite, that is, both parties are people of integrity. Can Zhang Shikang be a person of integrity?

He could publicly humiliate the shamelessness of Donglin officials in the court, he could also lift the fig leaf of the descendants of Kong family in front of Confucius, and of course he could also criticize the Zheng family for not following orders in front of Da Biaozi.

Zhang Shikang’s meaning was very clear. This was wrong. No matter how powerful your Zheng family was, it had no basis in etiquette and law.

You'd better be honest. If you dare to defraud me of the money that I got with great effort from confiscating the property, you will be in trouble.

After hitting Zheng Zhibiao with the necessary words, Zhang Shikang didn't mention it again when he saw Zheng Zhibiao's face full of embarrassment.

He walked to the deck of the flagship and looked towards Dantu Pier.

The entire Dantu Wharf had almost become a ruin, with dozens of temporary defensive artillery pieces blown to pieces.

The large and small ships docked at the pier were scattered all over the place, the river was filled with floating wooden planks, some canal boats were sinking, more were burning, and occasionally there were explosions caused by the burning of the gunpowder room in the cabin.

There were also some sailors who fell into the water and ship repairmen on the river, but not many.

They either struggled while holding onto wooden boards or crawled toward the shore wailing. The soldiers of the Zheng family navy were doing the final cleanup with muskets, rockets, and bows and crossbows.

In less than half an hour, all of Xu Hongji's 300-plus modified canal boats were destroyed.

Oh, it should be said that the entire ship sank. Not far from the dock, Xu Hongji's sailors were hiding behind the house, their faces full of fear.

In fact, most of these sailors were not real sailors. Most of them were sailors transporting grain and fishermen recruited along the river.

"How long will it take for the Zheng family's troop transport ship to reach Yingtian?" Zhang Shikang asked.

"It will probably take ten days. Marshal, don't worry. Without the navy, those rebels are nothing but lambs to be slaughtered." Zheng Zhibiao comforted.

This small fleet arrived in a hurry and was not equipped with troop transport ships for landing operations.

Although warships can also be used to transport troops, firstly, the efficiency of transporting troops is too low. Secondly, the Yangtze River is turbulent and the efficiency of transporting troops is low. If they dock, they are easily fired upon by the enemy, which is not worth the cost.

As Zheng Zhibiao said, as long as the warships are destroyed and the right to control the water is obtained, the rebels will be really helpless against them in a short period of time, and there is no need to rush and take risks to try to cross the river.

"Let's return to Yangzhou and wait." Zhang Shikang ordered.

At present, the Jiangbei area of Southern Zhili was stepping up the purge of corrupt officials and land reform. After temporarily solving the food problem through the Zheng family, Zhang Shikang did not plan to make a quick victory this time when he went south.

Since you are plowing the land, of course you should plow one piece first before plowing the next one.

The Imperial Household Department only has so many staff, and it is said that several officials from the Qinglisi of the Ministry of Revenue and various provinces have collapsed from exhaustion and are in no hurry to come.

Zheng Zhibiao immediately gave orders to the first mate of the flagship and made a sharp gesture to the flag bearer at the highest point of the flagship. The flag bearer waved the flag, and the entire fleet began to turn and return.

"My Lord, regarding the hiring of the fleet and the building of the silk ships, I may have to go back to Quanzhou to discuss this with my brother.

Our Zheng family's transport fleet is led by their respective leaders, all of whom are very skilled in sea transportation. Even if I am not here, there should be no problem."

When they were about to arrive in Yangzhou, Zheng Zhibiao found Zhang Shikang.

Although Zheng Zhibiao prided himself on being steady, he was secretly excited at the thought that he would be granted a title soon.

The four brothers were conferred titles together, and the eldest brother Zheng Zhilong inherited the title without succession. With four titles in one family, he brought honor to the family!

He wished he could fly back immediately and tell his brothers the news.

"Then go back, but this fleet has to stay. The commission will be paid for three months first, and there is also the cost of building the fleet. It's not too much to pay a deposit of one million taels in advance, right?

I will make it up to you when I get some more silver."

The proceeds from the house searches in Shandong, Henan and other places had all been transported to the capital. The gentry, bureaucrats and Donglin Party members in the Nanzhili and Jiangbei areas had already fled to the south of the Yangtze River if they could, so the proceeds from the house searches were not much.

The total cost of twenty fully armed silk ships would be 3.8 million taels.

In addition to the deposit of one million taels, the three-month hiring cost for this fleet of 115 warships of various types is 600,000 taels.

If this had happened more than a year ago, when the Ming Dynasty's treasury was in turmoil, Zhang Shikang would not even have dared to imagine it.

Even though the Ming Dynasty is not short of money now, it would cost so much to build only twenty large warships to form combat effectiveness.

Zhang Shikang could only sigh that the navy was really burning money!

I originally thought that cavalry was expensive enough, and heavy cavalry was even more expensive. However, compared with the navy, it is not even a younger brother.

Zheng Zhibiao curled his lips when he heard that. He was not allowed to take even one ship with him. It would be very difficult for him to return to Quanzhou.

But he knew that Zhang Shikang seemed very dissatisfied with the price, and he did not dare to continue to provoke Zhang Shikang, for fear that if Zhang Shikang was unhappy, the Zheng family would lose a title.

After spending a few days together, he had a general understanding of the temper of this most powerful man in the Ming Dynasty.

To describe his current mood in one sentence, he is both excited and worried. This general may seem out of place, but he is actually not simple!

Is this a good thing or a bad thing for the Zheng family?

……

Yingtian Prefecture, Nanjing City.

Important figures of the rebel group, including Xu Hongji, Zhang Shenyan, and Qian Qianyi, gathered together. A naval battle in the morning destroyed all their advantages on the river.

Before, they were fearless because Zhang Shikang could not cross the river. But now that their advantage was gone, they all frowned like ants on a hot pan, and the faces of the timid ones turned pale with fear.

Everyone understands that once they succeed in what they have done, they will have a bright future.

But if they fail, it would be a clear-cut rebellion. It is not certain whether the nine clans will be exterminated, but the extermination of three clans is the most basic.

Without their navy, can they really succeed?

Rely on the Jiangbei soldiers led by Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo and Liu Zeqing?

Or rely on the hundreds of thousands of garrison soldiers?

This is something that everyone is thinking about and has to consider.

"Master Zhang, didn't you already inform the pirate leader of the Zheng family? Why did Zheng Zhilong dare to go back on his word?"

Duke of Wei Xu Hongji asked Nanjing Minister of Personnel Zhang Shenyan with an unhappy look on his face.

The reason why they gave up the banks of the Huai River and defended the Yangtze River was because they knew that the imperial court had no ability to engage in naval warfare.

Except for the pirate leader of the Zheng family, the ships they control are enough to dominate the river.

Therefore, as early as several months ago, they began to contact the Zheng family. If they could persuade them to join them, that would be the best. If not, they would try their best to keep the Zheng family neutral.

After all, although the pirate leader had accepted the imperial court's amnesty, he had always been in a state of obeying orders but not decrees, and they knew this very well.

Zhang Shenyan has always been in charge of this matter, and as early as three months ago, Zhang Shenyan brought back the news that the Zheng family would remain neutral.

Although the fleet today did not fly the Zheng family’s flag, they are not stupid, and they are definitely members of the Zheng family.

As soon as Xu Hongji opened his mouth, everyone looked at Zhang Shenyan. Yes, if it weren’t for you, Zhang Shenyan, who got things done, how could we be in this predicament now?

Zhang Shenyan couldn't help feeling angry when he saw that everyone was looking at him with something wrong in their eyes.

"The pirate leader only said that he had no intention of getting involved in this matter. I told you all that at the beginning. Do you want to put all the responsibility on me now?"

Seeing Zhang Shenyan so angry, Xu Hongji realized that he had spoken out of turn because of his impatience, so he quickly tried to make amends:

"Master Zhang, please don't be angry. We don't mean to blame anyone, but the current situation is like this, so we have to find a solution, right?

I heard that Lord Zhang later went to visit the pirate leader in person, could it be that... the gift money was not enough?"

"I brought over one million taels of silver notes alone! This does not include some jewelry, calligraphy and paintings that I paid for out of my own pocket." Zhang Shenyan said in a muffled voice.

Everyone's expressions froze when they heard this. Even though everyone present had considerable wealth, one million taels of silver, plus jewelry and jade, would be a generous gift even if it was given to the current emperor to celebrate his birthday.

Even if many people empty their family savings, they only have this much money.

Of course, Zhang Shenyan would not be generous with his own money. The money for gifts was naturally donated collectively by everyone.

"This is really not a small amount of money, but since the Zheng family has received so much money, why do they go back on their word?" Xu Hongji frowned.

A man without integrity cannot stand. Since ancient times, those who do not keep their promises will be despised by everyone.

After hearing this, Zhang Shenyan showed a strange expression on his face, and said with some embarrassment:

"Then Zheng Zhilong...he confiscated it."

……