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

Quanzhou Prefecture, Jinjiang, Zheng Prefecture.

"It's outrageous! It's really outrageous!

Fourth Brother, go to Luzon and bring back all the navy warships there!

"Third Brother, send someone to Japan and tell Zuoemon to attack any red-haired barbarian ship he sees!"

In the Zheng family’s mansion, the furious Zheng Zhilong roared.

His clothes were dirty and his left arm seemed injured.

In the East China Sea battle, the Zheng family navy was ambushed by the Dutch and the French and suffered heavy losses. More than an hour ago, the remaining warships barely returned to their base in Jinjiang.

Along the way, Zheng Zhilong had already cursed the eight generations of ancestors of Schrobao and Bolger.

Zheng Zhilong really had reason to be angry. After being defeated by him twice, the Red Haired Barbarians had signed an agreement with him. And the fact that the little French were able to settle in Haojing was because he showed leniency, right?

Schroepau and Borg put such a treachery on him!

Do you really think that Zheng Zhilong is easy to bully?

In the East China Sea battle, the Zheng family only dispatched one-third of the warships from their base in Jinjiang. However, in Japan, Luzon, and Borneo, the Zheng family's naval warships were several times the number of Jinjiang warships.

If Schrobao and Bolger dare to act in this way, they must be prepared for revenge from the Zheng family.

Close the port, hijack the ship, and kill any merchant ships from these two countries you see in the future!

The wound on his left arm was aching slightly, but Zheng Zhilong still couldn't suppress his anger.

The two brothers who received the order did not leave in a hurry. Although Schroeder and Borg did annoy them, the naval battle a few days ago was not enough to escalate into a war with the Netherlands and the Little France.

If they really did so, the Zheng family might really become enemies with two countries.

Now the relationship between the Zheng family and the imperial court is very delicate. If the Zheng family loses the support of the imperial court, it may not be optimistic for them to fight alone against these two countries that are said to be very powerful in Europe.

But Zheng Zhilong was angry, and the two men looked embarrassed and did not dare to persuade him.

Zheng Sen, the youngest, didn't have so many concerns and spoke directly:

"Father, you are the head of the Zheng family. You should calm down."

Zheng Zhilong frowned when he heard this and was about to scold him, but he heard Zheng Sen say:

"Father, I just heard the news that Qin Yiming, who was stationed in Taizhou, has already broken camp and is currently heading towards Funing Prefecture."

Qin Yiming began to station in Taizhou around March. The reason he gave to the outside world at that time was to guard against overseas Japanese pirates, but everyone with a discerning eye knew that it was actually to guard against his Zheng family.

However, Qin Yiming has been relatively honest in the past few months and has been staying in Taizhou without crossing the line. Although the Zheng family feels as uncomfortable as if they had eaten a fly, there is nothing they can do.

Unexpectedly, a few days ago, they suddenly broke camp and marched towards Fujian. Zheng Sen felt that something was wrong when he first received the news.

As expected, upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong even forgot to scold, his brows furrowed like twists, and Zheng Zhihu said:

"Could it be... that the imperial court is going to take action against my Zheng family?"

Even though he didn't want to think so, Zheng Zhihu had to make such a guess.

Zheng Zhilong snorted coldly upon hearing this:

"Without my Zheng family protecting the imperial court's coastal defenses, the Ming Dynasty's coast would have long been invaded by Japanese pirates. How dare the imperial court do this?"

But Zheng Zhilong's words clearly showed a lack of confidence. It was more like panic than a question.

He admitted that this action was a gamble, a gamble that the court would not dare and would not turn against him because of a few titles.

The reason why he did this was that he wanted to save some face. At Zheng Zhilong's age, he had enough money and power. All he wanted was a reputation.

It was so difficult to bestow a few titles, four titles in one family, how glorious it was.

At that time, Zheng Zhilong held a grand banquet in his old house in Jinjiang. He wanted to invite everyone in the county, and he wanted everyone in the world to know about his contributions.

However, the more glorious one was in the past, the more shameful it became after being stripped of the title.

Zheng Zhilong was so furious that he almost exploded, and this was also partly the reason why he exchanged glances with the Jiannu envoys.

However, the Jiannu were indeed generous, at least much more generous than the Zhu family, and they were given the title of king right from the start.

Originally, Zheng Zhilong was still a little hesitant. Although the title given by the Jianlu was high, he could not even enter Shanhaiguan after all, and the orthodox Ming Dynasty was still the court.

But now, if the court really wants to take action against him, he may not be able to do anything about it.

"It was my father who was disrespectful to the court first, so how can I blame the court for sending troops?" Zheng Sen asked back. Not only was there no fear on his face, but there was even a hint of dissatisfaction.

Bang—Zheng Zhilong slapped him with his backhand, and then cursed:

"You're still wet behind the ears, how can you have the right to speak here? Get out of here!"

"Even if my father beats me to death, I will tell him! They dare not speak, but if I don't tell him, my Zheng family will be destroyed!" Zheng Sen continued without changing his expression.

There were slap marks on his face, but he still stared at his father stubbornly.

"The imperial court is no longer the same as it was this year ago, father, uncles, do you understand?

In just one year, the imperial court cast a total of 300 24-pound copper cannons. The production capacity of muskets will also increase significantly this year, and this is just over a year.

My Zheng family also has a shipyard and a cannon foundry, but compared to the imperial court, what are they?

The imperial court is like a lion, which was previously sleeping but has now awakened. With the Duke of Zhenguo here, we will only be laughed at in the future if we try to play fence-sitting!

Several uncles also said, which is more important, face or survival?

Have we, the Zheng family, forgotten the hardships of starting a business?"

After being slapped, Zheng Sen became more daring to speak. A series of words and questions were thrown at the faces of Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhihu and other fathers.

The Zheng family started from scratch. When Zheng Zhilong and several brothers went to Southeast Asia, they suffered countless contempt and plots, and endured countless betrayals and robberies before they had the wealth they have today.

The hardships involved are beyond the imagination of outsiders, but at that time Zheng Zhilong and his brothers all knew that survival was above all else.

Only those who survive are qualified to talk about face.

But after so many years of wealthy life, it seems that the crisis of survival has been corroded by the bright lights and wine.

"Brother, although Da Mu's words are somewhat rebellious, they are reasonable. If the imperial court really wants to mobilize troops against my Zheng family.

With the imperial court's million-strong army inside and the red-haired barbarians and the French outside, our Zheng family will inevitably be stretched to the limit even if we try to cope with them.

Besides, my Zheng family has been operating in Jinjiang for so many years. Big brother, are you really willing to give up all this and continue to go to sea?

Even if you are willing to do so, even though our Zheng family navy is huge, but brother, do you really think that Schrobao and Borg dared to act like this without the permission of the court?

Don't forget, big brother, the reason the Duke of Zheng was able to build a navy wasn't just because of the Zheng family's support, but also because of the Red Barbarians' ships and the French cannons."

Zheng Zhibiao sighed and said to his elder brother.

The Zheng family also had its own army in Quanzhou Prefecture, and the number was quite large, with 20,000 to 30,000 people in Fujian alone.

But the Zheng family has always been known for its navy, and the army has rarely fought in wars. They can bully bandits and robbers, but Qin Yiming's subordinates are all brave and good at fighting.

More importantly, the imperial court had an endless supply of reserve troops, with no less than one million active troops alone. The imperial court had made a lot of money by cracking down on the gentry in the past two years, so it had no worries about paying military salaries.

Zheng Zhilong suddenly realized that he had made a big mistake. He was blinded by the promise of the title of king from the Jiannu and ignored the many advantages of the imperial court.

The Zheng family navy is strong. No matter whether it is the red-haired barbarians or the French, no one of them can be his match.

But what if the imperial court really cooperated with the red-haired barbarians and the French?

The imperial court can provide them with ports and supplies, so the Zheng family will not have an advantage in either the navy or the army.

For a moment, Zheng Zhilong felt a chill on his back.

At this time, the housekeeper of Zheng Mansion handed over a letter saying:

"Master, there is a letter from the north."

Zheng Zhilong frowned, took it, tore open the envelope and looked at it. The content of the letter seemed very short, but Zheng Zhilong was stunned after reading it.

But the letter reads:

"Your subordinate Zheng San risked his life to report this.

The imperial court and the Qing Dynasty fought for several days at Guanshan, and the Qing Dynasty was defeated...

All the elite troops were lost, no less than 100,000..."

……