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

Zheng Cai’s meaning was very clear. The Ming Dynasty court was already corrupt. Even if Zhang Shikang had some ability, he could not compete with him alone.

Although the Qing Dynasty is currently facing difficulties, its national fortunes are flourishing. Only by joining at this time can the Zheng family share a bigger share of the cake in the future.

Risk is often proportional to the return.

Among the brothers, the second and fifth brothers were obviously inclined towards the Qing Dynasty, while the fourth brother, Zheng Zhibiao, felt more strongly about belonging to the Ming court.

After all, this guy has always been obsessed with the Ming Dynasty's martial arts examination. In his heart, the Ming Dynasty is the orthodox one in the world.

Zheng Cai obviously had the same idea as the second and fifth brothers, but in fact, he was thinking more about the thoughts of his clan uncle Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Cai knew very well that no matter whether the Zheng family followed the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, his clan father had the final say in the Zheng family. No matter how much power he wanted to control in the Zheng family, it would all be a matter of his clan father's words.

In the absence of other core members of the Zheng family, including Zheng Zhilong, among the five people, only Zheng Zhibiao held an opposing opinion. It was obvious that the opinion of tending to surrender to the Qing Dynasty prevailed.

Zheng Zhilong has been extremely disappointed with the Ming court ever since he received the imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen depriving him of his title.

After the failure of his attempt to stab Zhang Shikang in the back, Zheng Zhilong also offended Zhang Shikang, the most powerful man in the Ming Dynasty. According to Zheng Zhilong's judgment, if the Zheng family continued to stay in the Ming Dynasty, the outcome would be imaginable.

But no matter what, the Jurchens of the Qing Dynasty were a foreign race. As a Han Chinese, he defected to a foreign race. If his brothers and soldiers learned of this news, some of them would be dissatisfied.

Therefore, he had to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but he could not make the decision alone. At least the core members of the family had to support him.

After understanding what his brothers meant, Zheng Zhilong was about to make a summary speech, but Zheng Sen, who was sitting at the end, could no longer hold back.

He stood up, bowed to his father and several uncles, and said:

“Father, I don’t agree with what my second and fifth uncles said.

Da Mu has heard that those who are not of our kind must have different hearts.

My teacher Mr. Mu Zhai once said that if the Jiannu broke through the border wall and destroyed our country, the descendants of the Han family would be in danger.

The Jiannu committed all kinds of atrocities, including burning, killing, looting and so on, both inside and outside the Great Wall, and were despised by people all over the world.

My family is Han Chinese, with Han blood flowing in our veins. What the two uncles are saying now is to bring in foreigners to kill our compatriots. Do you want my Zheng family to be listed on the pillar of shame in the history books?"

When Zheng Sen said these words, he suppressed the resentment in his heart, and his face was full of righteousness, as if he would never surrender to the Jianlu no matter what.

Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Zhibao were both a little surprised when they heard this. This nephew usually had a good temper, and they were happy to teach him some skills.

But today, Zheng Sen and Zheng Damu suddenly dared to contradict them. In addition, the eldest nephew stood on the moral high ground, using national justice and family reputation as a shield, which made the two uncles feel embarrassed.

"You little brat, what do you know about the general situation in the world? Get out of here!" Zheng Zhilong frowned and scolded.

"Father, I'm eighteen years old!" Zheng Sen rarely dared to talk back to his father.

The other uncles were not around, and if he did not stand up, perhaps this simple family meeting would bring the Zheng family into a dangerous situation. Even though he knew he might face blame and punishment from his father, Zheng Sen was still very determined.

"I'm afraid that Damu has been corrupted by those corrupt scholars. Don't forget that our Zheng family started out as maritime merchants, and we talk business. The recent operations of the Ming Dynasty are trying to dig up the roots of our Zheng family's maritime trade!" Zheng Cai interrupted.

He is the nephew of Zheng Zhilong. Although he and Zheng Sen are cousins, he is nearly twenty years older than Zheng Sen.

Zheng Cai wanted to remind Zheng Sen that the Zheng family had not received any favors from the Ming Dynasty and that their family business was built by their own hard work. Now that the Ming Dynasty wanted to cut off the Zheng family's financial resources, it would become the enemy of the Zheng family.

You talk about national justice for no reason, which sounds good, but do you know how much money the Zheng family spends every year to support so many people?

As for your teacher, he is a person who only seeks fame and reputation and is afraid of death.

After studying Confucianism for a few days, you want to devote yourself to the country. Has your brain been corrupted?

“What my brother said is really short-sighted!

Although the imperial court has criticized our Zheng family a lot recently, it has not carried out any substantial suppression on our Zheng family. As for the issue of maritime trade, Da Mu believes that it should be discussed with the imperial court.

"The Jianlu have evil intentions. If we join them, it would be like seeking the skin of a tiger. It is an unwise move!" Zheng Sen retorted.

Although he was the youngest, he was indeed the most stubborn at this time, with a stubborn face, and he just refused to join the foreign race.

Zheng Zhibiao looked at his nephew with interest. It was the first time he saw Zheng Sen being so tough. Although Zheng Zhibiao did not agree to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, he still asked Zheng Sen with a puzzled look:

"I remember that Da Mu had a lot of complaints about Zhang Shikang, why is he so siding with the court today?"

Although Zheng Zhibiao did not agree to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, his words were gentle after all, and if his elder brother Zheng Zhilong finally made the decision, he would definitely obey.

But the eldest nephew's words were much more intense, and he looked as if he would never obey.

"That's right, Damu, don't forget that Zhang Shikang killed your teacher," Zheng Cai added.

"The Duke of Zhenguo and I have a personal grudge. How can personal grudges be compared with national justice?" Zheng Sen answered without hesitation.

The teacher's death made Zheng Sen sad for a long time.

Among the many gentlemen that Zheng Zhilong spent huge amounts of money to invite for Zheng Sen, the one Zheng Sen respected the most was Mr. Mu Zhai.

Mr. Mu Zhai’s real name is Qian Qianyi.

Yes, that's right. Qian Qianyi claimed to be patriotic and believed that if he encountered danger, he would destroy his family property without hesitation to help the people, but he did not do so.

But his students did it.

If we go back more than two hundred years, there was another pair of teacher and student whose situation was exactly the same as Qian Qianyi and Zheng Sen.

The teacher and student pair more than two hundred years later were called Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao.

"Youth is full of vigor! How much is national justice worth?

If the Zheng family loses its source of income, go ask those 200,000 soldiers if they are willing to give up their salaries for the sake of what you call national justice?"

Zheng Zhilong was furious. He felt that finding a great scholar to be his son's teacher was the worst decision he had ever made in his life.

My son has been taught badly!

Zheng Zhilong was talking about a practical problem, but Zheng Sen did not buy it. Instead, he glared at his father and said:

"Father, are you so sure that if the Qing Dynasty enters the country, they will give up maritime trade and let my Zheng family enjoy it alone?

The Duke of Zhenguo must have known the huge profits from maritime trade, which is why he wanted to get a piece of the pie.

If the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was really smart, how could he give up this lucrative cake? "

Zheng Zhilong's casual words finally made everyone present, including Zheng Zhilong, frown and think deeply.

They may not really care about national justice, but they have to care about matters concerning their interests.

After all, the fundamental reason why they were dissatisfied with the Ming court was that the court wanted to divide up the profits from their maritime trade.

Yes, if the Qing Dynasty really took over the world, would it really give up maritime trade?

Why?

Just because the Zheng family once helped the Qing Dynasty?

Everyone present was a veteran of battle, so they were naturally not so naive. They all understood the principle of not allowing others to sleep soundly next to their bed.

Zheng Sen was young after all, and he thought that he could convince his elders to give up their fantasies by talking to them about national justice and moral principles.

But I didn't expect that what finally broke down the elders was the issue of money.

As a result, the meeting came to a rare standstill.

The living room fell silent.

……