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

Although Zheng Zhilong had been the undisputed helmsman of the Zheng Group since the internal strife among the Eighteen Zhis, his betrayal of the Ming Dynasty and his closeness to the Qing Dynasty concerned the lives and property of hundreds of people in the Zheng family.

Zheng Zhilong was not angry after hearing what the old housekeeper said. Instead, he gave the task of gathering the backbone members of the family to the old housekeeper.

From what Chen San said, the war between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was imminent, and Zheng Zhilong was well aware that adding icing on the cake was far inferior to providing timely assistance.

Therefore, he only gave the butler three days to notify the brothers who were far away, such as those in Japan and Southeast Asia, most of them could not come.

Zheng Zhilong read Huang Taiji's handwritten letter again. It was full of praise and he felt very comfortable reading it.

He took out the imperial edict written to him by Zhu Youjian. It was the exact opposite of Huang Taiji's. The dissatisfaction and contempt for him were clearly evident on the paper, which was very uncomfortable to read.

Zheng Zhilong had already made up his mind.

Three days later, the second son Zheng Zhihu, the fourth son Zheng Zhibiao, the fifth son Zheng Zhibao, as well as Zheng Zhilong's nephew Zheng Cai and eldest son Zheng Sen all arrived.

Zheng Zhihu has a strong body and muscular body, giving people the image of a warrior at first glance. Zheng Zhibao is the opposite of the second brother. He has a tall and thin body, and his handsome appearance gives people a feminine beauty.

Zheng Cai is older than Zheng Sen. He has been following Zheng Zhilong on the sea since he was a child. He has a defiant look on his face, but his eyes are gloomy and his brows are even more gloomy.

Several brothers, including the nephew Zheng Cai, had fought on the sea for many years and eliminated countless enemies for Zheng Zhilong. The Zheng family was not a scholarly family, and coupled with their many years of experience as pirates, their sitting posture seemed very casual.

On the contrary, Zheng Sen, wearing a decent long gown, sat upright at the last seat. He had a fair complexion and a bookish look on his face, but his sword-like eyebrows revealed a hint of heroism.

The people present were all the backbone of the Zheng family, and they were all puzzled by the sudden recall of the head of the family.

After Zheng Zhilong arrived, without too much courtesy, he took Zhu Youjian's edict and Huang Taiji's handwritten letter and asked his brothers and two adult sons to circulate them among each other.

The second and fifth brothers had calm expressions after reading it, but the fourth brother Zheng Zhibiao frowned. Zheng Cai's eyes stayed on the last line of Huang Taiji's handwritten letter, and it was obvious that he cared a lot about the word "kingship".

On the contrary, Zheng Sen, who just turned 18 this year and began to follow his fourth uncle to familiarize himself with the family navy, only glanced at Huang Taiji's letter and his face immediately showed an angry expression.

“Did father summon the uncles here just for this matter?

Who are the Jiannu? They are the barbarians from the Northeast!

I thought…"

"Shut up! You have no right to speak here."

Zheng Sen wanted to continue speaking, but Zheng Zhilong directly scolded him.

This was the first time that Zheng Sen formally participated in family meetings. As Zheng Zhilong's designated successor, before this, he was occasionally called to sit in on family meetings, but he was only an observer.

Zheng Zhilong did not allow Zheng Sen to express his opinion, believing that young people had not experienced the ups and downs of life and had no idea of the general trend of the world.

Even so, Zheng Zhilong still had high expectations for his eldest son. The reason why he allowed Zheng Sen to become familiar with the family navy at the age of 18 was simply because Zheng Zhilong was conferred the title of Earl the previous year.

This ended Zheng Sen's path to the imperial examination. Yes, it was true. Zheng Zhilong had spent a lot of money over the years and invited many famous scholars to help Zheng Sen, hoping that Zheng Sen could pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi.

Zheng Zhilong had little education, but he was not short of money. As the saying goes, people pursue fame and fortune, and what the Zheng family lacked was fame.

However, since he was granted the title of Earl and had a reputation, it was decided that Zheng Sen should give up the imperial examination and instead enter the navy for training.

But he didn't expect that this rebellious son wanted to go against him as soon as he came, which really made him very uncomfortable.

Zheng Sen was scolded by his father. Although he did not dare to disobey, he frowned and had a stern face, which showed that he was not convinced.

The second oldest, Zheng Zhihu, looked at his eldest nephew and shook his head imperceptibly. Young people are really hot-tempered!

"Tell me what you three think." Zheng Zhilong said to his three brothers.

The second son, Zheng Zhihu, spoke first:

"Brother, we have worked hard for the court over the years and have done nothing wrong to the court. For example, the year before last, the court was short of food, and I, your seventh brother, worked hard in Southeast Asia for more than a year. I lost millions of taels of silver in business, and I went all over Southeast Asia to raise food for the court.

The Duke of Zhenguo requested naval support, so the fourth brother went out personally and asked for ships. The eldest brother gave him a navy.

How have we let down the Ming court, how have we let down the Duke of Zhenguo?

How dare the emperor treat my Zheng family like this?"

Zheng Zhihu was obviously quite resentful of the imperial edict. The implication of his words was self-evident. He believed that the imperial court was deliberately suppressing the Zheng family and might take action against them one day.

Zheng Zhihu didn't say anything more, but instead signaled the fourth brother Zheng Zhibiao to speak. Before Zheng Zhibiao could open his mouth, Zheng Zhibao couldn't help but said:

"Second brother is right. I think the emperor of the Qing Dynasty is more amiable than our emperor. He even made my eldest brother a king!"

After listening to the speeches of the second and fifth brothers, Zheng Zhilong felt more identified with them, but he still did not express his opinion. Instead, he looked at Zheng Zhibiao and said:

"What does the fourth one think?"

Zheng Zhibiao still frowned. His title was also stripped away, but he did not feel too much resentment.

He has been studying military books hard these years and originally wanted to take part in the Ming Dynasty's military examination, but he had to give up because of the title he was granted last year.

The title is naturally more honorable than the military examination, but it doesn't matter if he loses it. After all, the title was not earned by his own military achievements. He had originally planned to continue to take the military examination.

But judging from what my eldest brother said, he seems to be tempted by Huang Taiji's attempt to recruit him.

"Brother, although being crowned a king is a great reward, I think Huang Taiji is desperate and is trying any possible means.

Big brother, you should understand that the Ming Dynasty is no longer the Ming Dynasty of a few years ago. The imperial court is now strong in both military and military power, and the Qing Dynasty has suffered successive setbacks inside and outside the Great Wall. How can it be a match for the imperial court?

Although the Duke of Zhenguo is targeting us openly and secretly, but brother, I guess that the Duke of Zhenguo is a smart man. We have been doing business for many years, and you should be able to guess it.

Brother, the Duke of Zhenguo has eaten everything since he entered the court, but he has never suffered any loss. This can be seen from his military achievements in the past few years.

Therefore, I think that you should take a long-term view and think carefully. "

Zheng Zhibiao did not say it too bluntly, but the implication is not difficult to understand. The Qing Dynasty had only been established for a few years. No matter how high the title of a small country was, how much value did it have?

The Ming Dynasty is now strong in military power and the situation is no longer the same as it was before. It would be unwise to surrender to the Qing Dynasty at this time.

And with the Duke Zhenguo around, how could he give Huang Taiji a chance to counterattack?

"Uncle, what you said is wrong." Zheng Cai took over the conversation.

“Although the Qing Dynasty was established only a few years ago, its predecessor, the Later Jin Dynasty, had already existed for decades.

Moreover, the Jurchens lived in the Baishan and Heishui regions. They started out as an army with only a few thousand people and continued to grow stronger over the decades. They not only unified the Jurchen tribes, but also fought back and forth with the Ming Dynasty court.

The battles of Sarhu and Hunhe made the imperial court lose all its weapons and weapons. The imperial court invaded several times and plundered countless wealth.

Although the Duke of Zhenguo has some abilities, how can he resist the fate of the country by himself?

Our emperor is suspicious by nature. Although he trusts that kid now, who knows if he will suddenly deprive him of his military power one day?

Although the Qing Dynasty is now at a disadvantage, how can adding icing on the cake be compared to providing timely assistance?

The Qing Dynasty is a martial nation, and its national fortune is flourishing. All it lacks is an opportunity, and perhaps my Zheng family can provide that opportunity."

Zheng Cai said confidently that although the Qing Dynasty could not break through the imperial border wall, the Zheng family could easily help the Qing Dynasty break through the border wall with its huge navy.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong looking at him with admiration, Zheng Cai added:

“There are certainly risks, but our Zheng family started out on the sea.

There is an old proverb on the sea, I think all of you uncles have heard it. "

Zheng Cai paused, looked around at his elders and said:

“The louder the waves, the more expensive the fish.”

……