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

On the sea more than 20 miles away from the Zheng family navy, Governor Shi Luobao put down the monocular telescope in his hand.

Behind him was almost all of the French Empire's maritime forces in East Asia, including more than forty large galleons.

The flagship of this fleet was even larger than a galleon. It was a double-deck warship equipped with twelve more guns than a galleon.

This is the shipbuilding technology that the small French country mastered only last year, breaking the Dutch monopoly on double-deck warships in one fell swoop.

Schrobao had reason to be proud, because in the entire Little France, apart from the two ships owned by the Batavia headquarters, he was the only one approved for his great achievements in the trenches.

As for the great achievement, of course it was the 300 heavy artillery pieces and numerous merchant ships ordered by the Ming Dynasty court.

This order may be ordinary for the huge empire of the Ming Dynasty, but for the small country of France, it is almost equivalent to one-third of the total colonial income last year.

More than a month ago, his close ally, the Grand Marshal of the Ming Empire, Shikang Zhang, wrote to him, asking him to provide all possible assistance within a specific time to deal with Zheng Zhilong, who might rebel.

Zheng Zhilong had many disputes with the Kingdom of France in Southeast Asia. He and his fleet had brutally robbed the king's merchant ships of the Kingdom of France many times.

However, before this, Zheng Zhilong had a huge influence in Southeast Asia and had the support of the Ming Empire. In addition, the small French country had been competing with the Netherlands for colonies in recent years.

Although Shi Luobao had always been hostile to Zheng Zhilong, he never actually took action against him.

But now, his close friend, Shi Kangzhang, the man in charge of the military power of the Ming Empire, invites him to work together to deal with their enemies.

Making friends with such a huge empire was what the small French country longed for.

Not only that, his close friend also told him that the Ming Empire had also informed the Dutch Governor-General of Fort Zeelandia in Taiwan, Borg, of this action.

This made Schrobao very uncomfortable because the Borg were the kingdom's enemies. They monopolized Japan's trade and occupied many of the kingdom's colonial islands.

But the invitation from the Ming Empire was still too valuable for him. It was said that after the Ming Empire placed that huge order with him two years ago, it also ordered a total of thirty large galleons from Borg.

What a huge financial resource this requires!

In the face of possible interests, there are no eternal enemies, so Schrobao accepted the result of fighting alongside Bolger.

And he was convinced that Bolger must have the same idea.

As long as Zheng Zhilong dared to rebel against the Ming Empire, as long as they defeated Zheng Zhilong's fleet, the Ming Empire would keep half of all Zheng Zhilong's overseas assets, and he and Borg would divide the remaining half according to their actual contributions.

In addition, the Ming Empire's trade share with Europe was also allocated to him and Borg according to their actual contributions.

These were the exact words of his close friend Shikang Zhang. Although it was only ten years, it was a monopoly!

For this purpose, Schrobao also met with Bolger specifically. They were old acquaintances. Although many of their subordinates died at the hands of each other, the same thing still applied.

In the face of interests, everything can be put aside temporarily.

The only problem they encountered was what if Zheng Zhilong didn't rebel?

This was a very embarrassing question, because they had sent people to investigate, and it seemed that Zheng Zhilong had an unpleasant conflict with the Ming Empire because of the issue of title.

Although they thought it was foolish for the Ming Empire to hand over maritime affairs to a group of pirates, it had to be said that given this small problem, they believed that Zheng Zhilong was unlikely to rebel.

The two of them discussed until midnight, and finally reached an agreement when it was almost dawn.

For the sake of future interests and their common friend, Zheng Zhilong must rebel.

"Where is Bolger?" Schrobao asked his first mate.

The first mate immediately replied:

"Your Excellency, Governor, Bolger and his fleet are in the northeast. They have arrived at the designated sea area."

"Send him a flag signal immediately and launch the attack in half an hour." Shi Luobao said after a moment of hesitation.

The first mate quickly sent someone to deliver the message, and Shi Luobao ordered again:

"Tell all captains to sail towards Zheng Zhilong at full rudder. Once they are within range, open fire immediately."

The first mate was a little confused when he heard this:

"But Your Excellency, Governor, we are much closer to Zheng Zhilong. If we keep the rudder at full speed, it will only take 25 minutes to be within range. By then, Your Excellency Bolger may not have arrived yet."

"We must achieve more victories." Shi Luobao glared at the first mate.

"Your Excellency, the Zheng family's fleet is enormous, at least eight times larger than ours. If we don't wait for the Dutch warships, we may suffer losses."

"What do you know? Compared to the profits we'll share in the future, these losses are nothing.

Although Zheng Zhilong had many ships, most of them were small fishing boats with only a few guns. Their old-fashioned Fujian ships were already out of date.

Our warships sail faster, and our artillery has a longer range and greater power.

Tell all captains that this battle was personally ordered by Batavia Headquarters, but those who have made contributions will be promoted and rewarded by the headquarters." Shi Luobao said firmly.

Upon hearing that the order came from Batavia headquarters, the first mate no longer dared to hesitate.

The fleet immediately began to sail at full speed, and two quarters of an hour later Zheng Zhilong's fleet finally appeared in front of them.

The Zheng family had not had a military conflict with the small French country for a long time, so Zheng Zhilong even sent two bird boats to ask Shi Luobao why he suddenly brought a fleet to his territory.

However, as soon as the two bird-shaped boats approached the Shiluobao fleet, they were met with several rows of muskets.

Almost without any warning, dozens of Schrobao's galleons opened fire.

Zheng Zhilong, oh Zheng Zhilong, you actually dared to make an enemy of your close friend of the little France. You will have to rebel today, Shi Luobao thought viciously as he looked at the Zheng family flag in the distance.

As soon as the firing started, everything was decided. He was the royal army invited by the Ming Empire to quell the rebellion, and Zheng Zhilong was the rebel.

Zheng Zhilong was confused. He thought for a long time but couldn't figure out where the little French got the courage to not only send their fleet to his territory but also to fire at him.

Several silk ships were hit by artillery fire, and two wave-carving ships were directly sunk.

The Europeans’ artillery is becoming more and more powerful, but no matter what, this sea area belongs to the Zheng family.

Zheng Zhilong was immediately furious and ordered the fleet to fire at the enemy.

In the sea only eight or nine miles away from the battlefield, the Dutch Governor-General in Taiwan, Borg, who heard the sound of artillery fire, was also very angry:

"Shameless Frenchman, Schrobao, you have no moral principles!"

……