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

As the successor of the nine-year compulsory education, Zhang Shikang knew this history from textbooks when he was studying history in middle school.

The Portuguese fleet first landed in Haojing on the pretext of drying the goods, and then bribed the Ming Dynasty officials at the time and simply stayed in Haojing.

Later, the imperial court tried to drive them away many times, but they would not leave.

Even Zhang Shikang had to admit that he was so shameless.

"Reporting to the commander, I know that the French want to use it as their trade distribution center in the East and South Seas.

Now that a gun foundry and a shipyard have been built there, I have never paid much attention to it.

If the Marshal really dislikes them, I will order the navy to drive them away next year." Zheng Zhilong replied.

He even dared to fight the Netherlands. You should know that apart from the Zheng family in Southeast Asia, the strongest country with the most colonies was the Netherlands.

Zheng Zhilong still looked down upon it as a stronghold of the Little France, and he had never taken it too seriously before. He thought that as long as the country paid the protection fee honestly, it would be fine.

Zhang Shikang did originally want to drive this group of people away, but when he heard that the Portuguese had actually built a cannon foundry and a shipyard, he immediately changed his mind.

"That's not necessary. Keep them for now. I have other plans."

He has his eyes on someone else's factory.

At this time, a steward of the Zheng family went to Zheng Zhilong to report the matter. After hearing it, Zheng Zhilong came over with a happy face and said:

"Marshal, good news! My fifth brother Zheng Zhibao has seized ten merchant ships in the waters of Guangzhou.

One hundred and forty-three fleeing Donglin Party members were captured, and all the property stored on those merchant ships was their property.

My fifth brother roughly estimated that it was at least more than 10 million taels, not counting the valuables they brought with them on board!"

Before this, Zhang Shikang had written a letter to Zheng Zhilong, asking him to strictly check all ships sailing from the Ming Dynasty during this period, and not to let go even those that had paid protection fees.

Ten ships full of gold, silver and valuables were a considerable fortune even for the Zheng family.

Zheng Zhilong was actually somewhat frightened by what Zhang Shikang had done in the past year.

Even though he was courageous, he never thought that one day the imperial court would actually dare to take action against the gentry Donglin Party, and do it so decisively and straightforwardly.

They killed them all without hesitation. Within a year, from north to south, the blood of the gentry and Donglin Party members was almost drained.

Zheng Zhilong didn't know how Zhang Shikang convinced the current emperor, but he knew that this was nothing short of a gamble.

But the young guy in front of him actually won the bet.

In fact, he had been paying close attention to the situation in the Ming Dynasty. When he saw that the Southern Army was just beginning to show signs of defeat, he decisively chose to show goodwill to Zhang Shikang.

After all, helping someone when they need it is much more valuable than adding icing on the cake.

After this plowing-like sweep, the current emperor and the general before him were no longer constrained by the Donglin gentry in the entire Ming Dynasty.

"Well done." After Zhang Shikang said this, he called out a subordinate and whispered to him.

The subordinate belonged to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Zhang Shikang ordered him to send people to monitor the ten merchant ships as soon as possible to prevent the Zheng family from embezzling money.

The Zheng family may not need these ten ships of supplies, but whether they steal or not, necessary supervision must be in place.

This is his responsibility. After all, it is one of the results of his hard work for a year and will be of great use in the future.

"Sir, we already have someone following us over there. I will go and double-check it right away." The Jinyiwei first reported the situation, and then took the order decisively and left.

An order is an order, but reassuring the leader is a related matter.

Among the one thousand personal guards following Zhang Shikang, there were not only people from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but also people from the Eastern Jishichang, and there were also files submitted from all over the place every day.

These files recorded the situations in various places in detail, including but not limited to the investigation of land, confiscation of property, arrest of criminals, and even the content and promotion of the Ming Monthly, as well as some criticisms from merchants in the market.

No matter where Zhang Shikang was, information monitoring was never neglected.

After all, Zheng Zhilong was experienced and he immediately guessed what Zhang Shikang was saying.

In fact, before his fifth brother Zheng Zhibao set out, he had specifically instructed him not to do anything about this matter.

The main reason, of course, is that he is wary of the power of the factory guards. The Zheng family is not short of money. They earn more than that every year just by doing compliant business. He will never lose the big picture for the sake of a small one.

His relationship with the court has always been like this. As long as the court does not hinder his maritime trade, everything else is fine. Even if some officials come to him to ask for money, he is very generous.

"Marshal, do you think I should let my fifth brother transport those ten merchant ships here?" Zheng Zhilong asked.

"Your Zheng family should also have a fixed port in Guangzhou, right?" Zhang Shikang did not answer directly, but asked back.

"Reporting to the Marshal, the Guangzhou Wharf is operated by my Zheng family."

"Then just stay there for now. I will go there myself in a few days." Zhang Shikang said after thinking for a while.

The Longjiang Baochuan Factory is gone, and now a cannon foundry and a shipyard in Guangzhou are considered the only remaining industries of the Ming Dynasty.

Although there were cannon-casting workshops in the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Industry and inland areas, they were all imitations of the Franco-Japanese cannon, and many of the technologies were outdated.

But Guangzhou is different. It is close to Southeast Asia, has a lot of trade, many people of different races, and more exchanges in technology and culture.

The cannon foundry there can not only produce the best cannons in the Ming Dynasty, but also the best muskets in the Ming Dynasty.

Since we have come so far, we might as well continue to head south and see if we can make contact with the Dutch and Portuguese.

No matter what, making money from trade is the top priority. As long as they are not enemies now, we can talk.

But when Zhang Shikang said this, Zheng Zhilong seemed to have thought of something and frowned vigilantly.

"Marshal, don't worry about those ten merchant ships. My Zheng family will never touch a single cent of them!" Zheng Zhilong said seriously.

"Of course I am confident that Guerrilla Zheng will do the job," Zhang Shikang said with a smile.

“It’s a long way off, and there’s actually not much to see over there.

If the Marshal needs anything, just tell me, why bother to come here in person?" Zheng Zhilong continued.

"I'm free anyway, so I might as well take a walk." Zhang Shikang said casually.

"Marshal, in a few days, a fleet of mine will arrive here.

There were more than a dozen beauties from Europe bought from Batavia on board the ship, and I had intended to present them to the Marshal.

There are still many places in my mansion that I haven't shown you, you should give me the opportunity to show my hospitality!" Zheng Zhilong advised again.

A foreign horse? Zhang Shikang thought.

"It is said that Europeans have a smell, but I am not interested in them." Zhang Shikang looked disgusted.

"Commander..."

"Alright, alright, I'll go wherever I want to go."

……

PS: I have to go back to my hometown, so there will only be three updates in the next two or three days. I will continue to update for everyone when I come back.