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The city wall of Fuzhou is shaped like a "convex" character, narrow in the north and wide in the south. To the north is Pingshan Mountain, and on the left and right ends of the south are Wushan Mountain and Yushan Mountain respectively. The three mountains form a tripod shape.
The circumference of the city wall is 20 li, and there are more than 80 squares in the city. The original palace of Emperor Longwu is located slightly east of the center of the sky. After Huang Daozhou led the shoulder-pole army to break into the palace, a series of dramatic changes took place, and the former Longwu Dynasty disappeared.
Longwu fell off his horse while fleeing and suffered a serious head injury. His life and death has always been a mystery. The Fu Palace has been heavily guarded by Zheng Zhilong. Although Zheng Zhilong announced to the outside world that Emperor Longwu was still alive, he wanted to use this to stabilize the officials in Fujian.
But since his fall from his horse, Longwu has never made any public appearance. Among the various rumors circulating in Fuzhou City, the one that Longwu has passed away was the most widely accepted.
Zheng Zhilong was also desperate and decided not to explain. Even if he did, it wouldn't make sense anyway.
After conquering Taiwan, he was busy relocating people to Taiwan, and the first to be relocated were naturally the families of the more than 100,000 Zheng family soldiers under his command.
Fujian has many mountains and little land, so many people can only rely on the sea for their livelihood. They leave their homes and travel across the ocean to make a living. In the whole of China, the people with the largest number of people migrating overseas are definitely Fujianese.
But this is only relative. Fujianese, who are also influenced by Confucian culture, are also attached to their hometown and have the same homesickness complex.
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong's immigration to Taiwan did not go smoothly. Many soldiers and their families of Zheng's army were unwilling to leave Fujian, and the most reluctant ones were the middle and lower-level generals.
Over the years, Zheng's army has monopolized the trade routes in Southeast Asia, and the generals in the army have made a fortune to varying degrees.
As the saying goes, if you don't return to your hometown when you are rich, it is like traveling at night in fine clothes. After getting rich, everyone built a big house in their hometown, bought property, and their family lived a rich and stable life.
Now we suddenly have to move to that deserted island in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where we have nothing. Naturally, everyone is unwilling to do so. After working hard for half a lifetime, who would be willing to give up the property they have finally built up unless the knife is at their throat
There were many people who resisted, and even many people came to Zheng's house to cry and make trouble every day. This matter gave Zheng Zhilong a headache, but he couldn't think of any solution. He even wanted to let the Qin army enter Fujian to force his men.
But this is just a thought. In this case, once the Qin army enters Fujian, many people will surrender to the Qin army in order to keep their wealth.
What gave him even more headaches was his eldest son Zheng Sen, and a group of young generals such as Shi Lang and Tong Haifeng who were united around Zheng Sen. These were the new generation of elites in Zheng's army, but they happened to be against him.
Thinking of this, Zheng Zhilong, who was already irritable, could not help but get angry. He threw the lotus white jade cup in his hand violently, and it hit the agarwood carved four seasons auspicious screen opposite with a snap. The lotus white jade cup that ordinary people could not afford in their lifetime broke into several pieces.
"Come on, bring that rebellious son up to me." Zheng Zhilong shouted to the guards outside the door. He was going to talk to his eldest son again. Now the situation in Qin was becoming more and more stable, which meant that it was becoming more and more unfavorable to the Zheng family.
I heard that even Guizhou and Yunnan were conquered by the Qin army. Zheng Zhilong thought that after Qin Mu recovered, he would be the next target.
As soon as he finished shouting, Xian Lao San, known as the Black Whirlwind, rushed in in a panic and said, "Duke, it's bad. Emperor Longwu is dead..."
"Dead? When did he die?" Zheng Zhilong asked in shock.
Emperor Longwu was seriously injured in the head, and he had people trying their best to treat him. Although Emperor Longwu was just a puppet, with this puppet, Fujian could still be stabilized.
Otherwise, he would be charged with regicide. The common people didn't care whether Longwu was a puppet or not, they just recognized this emperor. After being charged with regicide, his reputation would become even worse.
"The Duke of Huiguo just died."
"You go and block the news. Don't let the news of Longwu's death spread quickly."
"Yes, Duke."
Zheng Zhilong became more and more irritated. He paced alone in the hall with his hands behind his back. His steps were fast and chaotic, making him look like an ant on a hot pan.
He was just about to go see Longwu in person when he saw Zheng Cai walk in quickly, saying with a happy face, "Brother, good news, good news."
"What good news can there be?" Zheng Zhilong said unhappily.
"Brother, news came from Ningbo that Qin Mu has arrived in Ningbo. He went to Shuangyu Port and then to Tianyi Pavilion of the Ningbo Fan family..."
"Tianyi Pavilion? How is this good news?"
"Brother, please listen to what I have to say first."
"It is said that Qin Mu went to Tianyi Pavilion because he wanted to emulate the Yongle Emperor and revise the book on a large scale. Brother, haven't you heard that the book is revised in a prosperous era? Qin Mu wanted to revise the book on a large scale to show that his reign was a prosperous era. This was not enough. It is said that he asked the Ningbo prefect to organize dozens of cargo ships to prepare to accompany the diplomatic mission to Japan, hoping that Japan would recognize Qin as its suzerain state to further increase his own reputation."
"What? Qin Mu is sending an envoy to Japan?"
"Brother, this is correct. I heard that Qin Mu is going to send his fleet to protect the delegation. And I have another piece of news. I heard that the King of Korea also secretly sent his son Li Jun to Ningbo to ask for an audience with Qin Mu. I suspect that Qin Mu wants to communicate with Korea, Japan and other countries..."
"Then how is this good news?" Zheng Zhilong was furious when he heard this. Qin Mu wanted to befriend Korea and Japan, especially if Japan recognized Qin as its suzerain state, it would cause great damage to the interests of the Zheng family.
Now that Japan has implemented a policy of seclusion, other merchants cannot go there. The Zheng family has a special relationship with the Japanese shogunate and almost monopolizes trade with Japan. This alone brings the Zheng family tens of millions of dollars in income every year. If Qin Mu sends an envoy and a merchant group to Japan to establish diplomatic relations and the two sides establish trade channels, the situation faced by the Zheng family will become increasingly unfavorable.
Zheng Cai said, "Brother, why are you so anxious? I told you that in addition to the diplomatic mission, Qin Mu also plans to organize a large caravan to accompany him. He is organizing the goods now, and it will take some time to go. Brother, think about it, if we send warships north, we can wipe out Qin Mu's caravan and diplomatic mission in the vast ocean. Wouldn't we make a fortune and prevent Qin Mu from colluding with Japan?"
"Hiss... Not bad, not bad." Zheng Zhilong's frown finally relaxed. Qin Mu wrote letters and sent envoys abroad, hoping to improve his reputation through these measures. But he forgot that the sea was the territory of the Zheng family. You couldn't just come and go as you please.
Zheng Zhilong didn't care whether Emperor Longwu was dead or alive for the time being. He immediately asked Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Jie, Zheng Tai and others to come and discuss the matter.
After listening to Zheng Cai's retelling, Zheng Hongkui immediately said, "Brother, beware of fraud. I think Qin Mu's sudden visit to Ningbo is most likely aimed at our Zheng family. Besides, Japan is now adopting a policy of isolation. Qin Mu should know about it. If he wants to send someone, he should send an envoy first. Why would he bring such a large merchant group with him?"
Zheng Cai finally got this good news, but Zheng Hongkui denied it right away. He said unhappily, "What's so strange about this? I think it's because Qin Mu knew that Japan was now closed to the outside world that he organized such a large merchant group to go there, give Japan some benefits, and use Japan's scarce goods to knock on Japan's door."
Zheng Tai, who had always been in charge of the Zheng family's purse, immediately agreed, "I agree. Bringing some scarce goods will indeed make it easier to knock on Japan's door. Besides, isn't the Korean prince Li Jun here too? I think Qin Mu is playing a big chess game. He may be trying to win over Korea to deal with the Jurchens, and he may be trying to win over Japan to target our Zheng family. It is also possible that he knows that his navy is not good, so he wants to get Korea and Japan to deal with our Zheng family together."
Zheng Cai added, "Even if Qin Mu is up to something, what can he do to our Zheng family at sea? As for Zheng Sanmazi's navy, which was only established two months ago, do we need to be afraid of his conspiracy? In my opinion, it's just right for us to go north and destroy his East China Sea Fleet, so as to prevent it from threatening our Zheng family in the future."
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.(To be continued..)
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