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

It was no wonder that everyone was surprised. Bi Maokang and others understood the importance of Zhang Shikang to the General Administration of Manufacturing and even the entire Ming Dynasty.

Otherwise, His Majesty would not have been so angry at the court two days ago because of Zhang Shikang's behavior of giving up his responsibility.

He had encountered so many assassination attempts in the Ming Dynasty. If he really went to Southeast Asia, not to mention how dangerous those remote areas were, just crossing the ocean would be a huge challenge.

The reason why ocean trade is profitable is naturally because of the exchange of resources, but the more important reason is because of the risks at sea.

A big storm can overturn an entire fleet. It is not uncommon for fleets to capsize on the vast ocean. Moreover, these days, if a ship capsizes, there is almost no chance of survival.

The first thing that Bi Maokang and others thought of was the risk, and the second was, does His Majesty know about this?

However, Zhang Shikang said indifferently:

"Yes, look at you all making such a fuss. Two hundred years ago, our Ming Dynasty even went to the Western Ocean. I have put so much effort into establishing the Heliansheng Chamber of Commerce, so of course I can't miss the first ocean voyage of the new Ming Dynasty."

The Heliansheng Chamber of Commerce has been established for more than a year. The armed merchant ships ordered from the Little Franji Kingdom have already arrived. Taining Hou and his men have also prepared everything and are just waiting to go out to sea for trade.

Zhang Shikang had been tossing around in the Ming Dynasty in recent years and had long wanted to go out to sea to play around, so he didn't hesitate to anger his brother Chongzhen for this.

In short, he now has a year-long vacation.

He has made up his mind to go to Nanyang, and even Jesus can't stop him, he said.

"But Your Highness, does His Majesty... know?" Song Yingxing asked weakly.

Zhang Shikang gets angry when he mentions his brother Chongzhen:

"Old Song, I have worked hard for the Ming Dynasty for several years, so can't I just enjoy myself?

This is my private matter, no one else has any right to interfere."

Although he went to Southeast Asia mainly to experience the customs and practices overseas, the imperial court and Chongzhen both had shares in the Liansheng business.

To put it bluntly, even if he was on vacation, he was still creating revenue for the court.

Brother Chongzhen should encourage such a dedicated worker like him.

Song Yingxing and Bi Maokang exchanged a glance, and immediately came up with an idea. They quickly changed their expressions and said like coaxing a child:

"I'm worried about your safety, Your Highness. The ocean is rough and dangerous!"

Zhang Shikang finally calmed down a lot:

"You all care so much about my safety, it's as if I'm courting death. I care about my life too!"

After saying that, he said goodbye to Song Yingxing and others, and left the Manufacturing Bureau with a large group of guards.

For the next three or two days, Zhang Shikang didn't have to deal with military affairs, and his life was extremely comfortable.

Sleep until you wake up naturally, eat bear paws and shark fins until you are tired of them, take the kids for a walk during the day, make babies at night, go fishing with dad carrying a bucket, and have in-depth communication with his wives and concubines.

From time to time, this uncle would invite him to have a meal, and that uncle would ask him to visit some exciting shows.

It was not until the fourth day of August that Liu Wenbing, the traitor, brought a letter from the southeast.

The letter was naturally written by Zheng Zhilong. This was the fourth letter Zhang Shikang had received in the past month.

The content of the letter was nothing more than indirect hints, trying to find out Zhang Shikang's attitude towards the Zheng family.

Since the Battle of Guanshan, the Jiannu army has never recovered. Zheng Zhilong not only made a 180-degree turn in his attitude, but also wrote longer and longer letters.

So much so that Zhang Shikang became a little impatient to read it.

In fact, it is not Zheng Zhilong's fault that he was anxious, because Zhang Shikang's main approach to those letters was to read them but not reply.

The more Zhang Shikang refused to respond, the more uncertain Zheng Zhilong became.

The Qing Empire could no longer be relied upon. After the Battle of Guanshan, the status of the Qing Empire in Zheng Zhilong's heart plummeted, and the Qing Empire became the Small Qing Empire. In the letter, the Qing Empire was directly referred to as the Jiannu.

The implication is that he is willing to sincerely submit to the Ming Dynasty.

However, at this time, Zhang Shikang was no longer satisfied with the Zheng family's obedience.

If the Ming Dynasty wins the Battle of Guanshan, you, Old Zheng, will surrender. But what if you lose? What kind of person is this?

I placed a wrong bet and then got an apology afterwards. How could that be such a good thing?

Zhang Shikang threw the letter into the brazier and burned it, then asked Liu Wenbing:

"In the southeast, has Zheng Zhilong mobilized any troops?"

"Your Highness, Zheng Zhilong had been frequently deploying troops in Quanzhou Prefecture, but he quietly withdrew them all more than half a month ago, leaving only a few thousand soldiers guarding Jinjiang, where his residence is located.

Don't worry, sir. With General Qin guarding the southeast, the Zheng family will never dare to act rashly."

Liu Wenbing responded very honestly.

Because he had just been a traitor, he was now very careful when speaking to Zhang Shikang, fearing that if he did something wrong, Zhang Shikang would take the opportunity to retaliate.

"Hmph, Old Zheng does have some self-awareness, but it's too late." Zhang Shikang said disdainfully.

The total strength of the Zheng family's army is indeed not small, but most of them are scattered overseas after all, and the combat effectiveness of the Zheng family's army has long been clearly understood by the Jinyiwei.

An inappropriate metaphor is that if the Zheng family's navy is Laozi, then the Zheng family's army is equivalent to the coal ash in Laozi's alchemy furnace.

The so-called land forces of the Zheng family were scattered all over Southeast Asia and had never fought with the regular army. They were called the Zheng family's army, but it would be more appropriate to call them security guards.

Because when it was first established, it was to ensure the safety of the Zheng family's overseas strongholds to prevent them from being bullied by local forces. Its combat effectiveness is at best slightly stronger than that of the Ming Dynasty's garrison troops.

Qin Yiming's garrison in Taizhou has reached 20,000 troops. If Zheng Zhilong really wants to accomplish something big, Qin Yiming will be a thorn in his side that he can never get around.

But now it seems that Comrade Lao Zheng has a rare self-awareness of his own army and has simply become cowardly.

Hearing that Zhang Shikang intended to get rid of the Zheng family, Liu Wenbing immediately said:

"Your Highness, General Qin sent a letter saying that if Your Highness gives the order, he is confident that he can eradicate the Zheng family's influence in the Ming Dynasty within ten days."

Zhang Shikang glanced at Liu Wenbing and said lightly:

"Xinle Hou, are you teaching me how to do things?"

Liu Wenbing was frightened and immediately knelt on one knee and said:

"I dare not! Your Highness, please punish me!"

After all, Liu Wenbing was a marquis of the current dynasty and a cousin of Emperor Chongzhen. No matter what, this was not a big deal.

But he still knelt.

Zhang Shikang snorted lightly and said:

"Go to the Northern Pacification Office and receive ten military sticks and a three-month salary fine. If you dare to speak nonsense again, I will dismiss you from your post."

"Yes, I obey your orders. Thank you for the punishment, Your Highness. I will take my leave!"

Liu Wenbing didn't hesitate at all, and even wanted to laugh, but he held it back.

He actually knew what was going on. The prince warned him against talking nonsense, of course not because of what had just happened, but because of his previous act of informing his cousin.

He was given the ten military sticks and a three-month salary, but received no further punishment, which showed that His Highness had spared him.

As long as he is not eliminated from the Ming Dynasty, the Ten Military Sticks are meaningless.

Liu Wenbing was so happy that he was about to run away. Just after taking a few steps, he heard Zhang Shikang's order:

"Tell Qin Yiming to maintain the current situation and not to act rashly. I will personally go to the southeast to deal with the Zheng family in the near future."

……

In the Qianqing Palace.

On both sides of the long table sat the Imperial Guards represented by Sun Weifan and Huang Degong, and the Tiger Guards represented by Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting.

Of course, Li Banghua, the Minister of War and the head of the Yongning Army, was also involved.

Emperor Chongzhen sat at one end of the long table, his expression looking a little serious.

This was the first time that Emperor Chongzhen had handled military affairs after the reorganization of the military system since he had handed over all military affairs to Zhang Shikang. Accustomed to being a hands-off boss, he could not help but feel a little uncomfortable.

But Zhang Shikang didn't care. As the emperor, he naturally had to personally take care of the military affairs of the three armies. He didn't want the military power he had worked so hard to get to fall into others' hands again.

Although he felt a little unfamiliar with the matter and didn't even know where to start, Emperor Chongzhen still resisted the urge to summon the boy.

"Cough-cough-"

Emperor Chongzhen cleared his throat, glanced at Sun Weifan and others, and continued:

"First, tell me about the current situation of each army. Duke Huai, let's start with you."

……