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

The grain that Zheng Zhilong had previously transported to the capital through sea trade, totaling 1.5 million shi, has been accepted by the court.

Zhang Shikang thought that he would have to consume a lot of grain to suppress the rebellion this time, but in the end, by confiscating the grain stored by local princes, landlords and gentry, Zhang Shikang not only did not have to ask the Ministry of Revenue for grain, but also had a lot of surplus.

It can also be regarded as another form of fighting to support the war.

Of the surplus grain, except for a portion used by the Beijing Army and the Imperial Guards, the rest was transported via the Yangtze River to Qin Liangyu's troops in Shiqian.

After the 1.5 million shi of military rations arrived at the capital, 300,000 shi were immediately taken away by the border towns in the nine frontiers, and the supply had to continue in the future.

But in today's Ming Dynasty, both in the north and in the south of the Yangtze River, it is still in the aftermath of the land distribution. Especially in the south of the Yangtze River, which started late and has not even finished dividing the land.

Even if the factory guards and the Ministry of Revenue work overtime, there will still be a considerable number of areas that will miss the farming season this year and even in the first half of next year.

At the same time, Zhang Shikang has a package plan for next year, which requires a large amount of grain.

Since the country cannot achieve self-sufficiency for the time being, he has to turn his attention overseas.

Alas, the people overseas can only suffer.

Zhang Shikang never thought that one day he would become Yan Maoqing, so proud!

"Marshal, you have come from afar. I have prepared a banquet. Please move over. I will welcome you." Zheng Zhilong stood up and bowed.

He felt that this kind of conversation was not going to work, so in just a short while, not only did he agree to build more than 60 warships for the court, he also agreed to transport another 200,000 shi of grain to the court every month.

If they continued talking, he didn't dare to think about what other requests this young nobleman in front of him would make.

The key is that it is difficult for me to refuse. It's really weird!

When he heard that this guy promised to build twenty main warships for the court, he scolded the fourth brother. Now, he seems to understand Zheng Zhibiao a little.

Zhang Shikang was not in a hurry. He stood up after hearing this and followed Zheng Zhilong to another hall.

Along the way, the two talked about their experiences overseas, and Zhang Shikang learned that Zheng Zhilong was actually proficient in many languages.

Not to mention the Mandarin and Minnan dialect, he can also speak Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch. It is said that he can even speak the languages of many indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia.

Moreover, Zheng Zhilong was very good at talking. If he had not just grasped Zheng Zhilong's weakness, it would have been difficult to take advantage of Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong can be regarded as an example of someone who started from scratch. Although he had a low level of education, he made a name for himself overseas with his spirit of study and was considered a local hero.

When the group arrived at the hall where the banquet was held, they finally got out of their previous state and regained the shrewdness that a big sea merchant should have.

The standard of the Zheng family's banquet this time was quite high. On the boss's table, there were shark fins, bear paws, abalone, and bird's nests, which were all regular dishes.

In addition, there are many things that Zhang Shikang has never seen before. It is said that they are all wild game caught from the deep mountains of Southeast Asia.

In addition, there are many kinds of seafood. Of course, these seafood are not common varieties in the Ming Dynasty waters, but rare seafood shipped from the East Ocean and even the Atlantic Ocean.

Zhang Shikang has always been extremely serious about eating.

He was definitely not like the business banquets of later generations, where there would be a table full of food before the discussion, and after the discussion was over, there would still be few people at the table picking up their chopsticks.

Why should we let down delicious food?

Who says you can’t talk while eating and drinking? He doesn’t think that it would be uncool or have any other negative impact.

All I can say is that when you reach a certain high position, all the red tape will tend to be in your favor.

Of course, it is also possible that others dare not say it.

Anyway, Zhang Shikang ate with great relish. While eating, he listened to Zheng Zhilong personally introducing the dishes.

It must be said that the food here is ten times better than that at the Duke's Mansion, and more than a hundred times better than the food at Brother Chongzhen's.

After eating and drinking, Zheng Zhilong arranged a performance to gather energy.

Zheng Zhilong knew how to enjoy himself. First, there were songs and dances from the East, then there were special performances from Southeast Asia, and then there were performances from India, Europe, and Persia...

What's even more outrageous is that there are black girls dancing. What's even more outrageous is that Zheng Zhilong has no prejudice against people with dark skin and does not discriminate against them just because their skin color is too unusual.

Of all the music from around the world, Zhang Shikang prefers Japanese music the most, because they have the same skin color and appearance, and their culture is relatively similar.

In addition, there are Persian girls. The reason is very simple. Persian girls wear less and are covered with all kinds of gold, silver and jade ornaments. When they do belly dance, they are very graceful.

Zhang Shikang felt that he was able to do it again.

Zheng Zhilong spent the entire afternoon arranging various entertainment programs for Zhang Shikang. Zhang Shikang was still very interested in what was going on overseas at that time, and he enjoyed the performances while chatting.

Zheng Zhilong was of course happy that Zhang Shikang didn't even mention his own package of demands and didn't raise any new demands.

They ate, drank and had fun until the evening, and Zheng Zhilong arranged the best guest room in the mansion for Zhang Shikang.

When Zhang Shikang, who was drunk, entered the bedroom with the help of his maid, two girls were already kneeling beside the super luxurious big soft bed in the bedroom.

One was clearly wearing Oriental clothing, and the other was wearing typical Persian style clothing.

These two girls were Zhang Shikang's favorites when he watched the Zan Jin performance this afternoon.

He couldn't help but sigh, what an amazing guy Old Zheng is!

If he can't accomplish anything, who else can?

Use this to test cadres?

Who can withstand this?

So the next morning, Zhang Shikang vomited out all the bullets he had saved for more than ten days.

The next day, Zheng Zhilong took Zhang Shikang to visit the Zheng family’s navy in Quanzhou.

Since Zheng Zhilong settled down in Quanzhou Prefecture, he has developed Jinjiang as his base, and most of his naval warships are of course here.

But he saw Zheng family's naval warships lined up in rows, from the largest No. 1 Fuchuan and No. 2 Fuchuan, to various main warships such as the Zengchuan. There were also many ships that Zhang Shikang had never seen before, but their hulls were larger than the Zengchuan.

It is said that those were merchant ships and warships that the Zheng family had seized from the French, the Dutch and even the British over the years.

The huge fleet is based on the huge seaport, where tens of thousands of naval soldiers are training and resting, and countless shipbuilders are repairing ships and cleaning cabins.

Busy, but organized...

Putting aside the strength of the Dutch warships, Zhang Shikang was still very impressed by the situation.

When will the Ming Dynasty have such a huge fleet, Zhang Shikang thought to himself.

A long way to go.

"Please look, Marshal. That is the Japanese merchant ship that came to trade with our Ming Dynasty."

Zheng Zhilong pointed to several merchant ships with chamber pots hanging on their masts.

……