"You mean, use Zheng Zhilong?" Chongzhen understood.

"Yes, it's a pity to put such a strong team in Fujian to deal with pirates."

"..." Chongzhen pondered and said nothing.

Although Zheng Zhilong was appointed as an official in the court, he was a pirate, and the court, including Chongzhen, was very wary of him. It would be fine if it was transferred to Fujian. If it was transferred to the coast, whether it was placed in Tianjin or Dengzhou, if Zheng Zhilong mutiny, just like Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming back then, the entire capital or Shandong would be in chaos.

Furthermore, Zheng Zhilong has been entrenched in Fujian for a long time, and his soldiers and generals are all from Fujian. When he was transferred to Tianjin or Dengzhou, he was suspected of being transferred from the mountain. With Zheng Zhilong's intelligence, he would not have thought of this. If the court forced him too quickly and forced him to rebel, the coast of Fujian that had finally calmed down would be in chaos again. To be serious, the entire Fujian would probably not be owned by the court.

In his previous life, it was precisely because of these many concerns that the court did not use Zheng Zhilong's soldiers until the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Zhilong was happy and focused on being his own King of Fujian. Even in the 17th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng surrounded Beijing and the Ming Dynasty was in danger. When Chongzhen issued the order to serve the king, Zheng Zhilong did not move.

First, Fujian is too far away, second, he is not very loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Third, the court did not have a clear understanding of Zheng Zhilong's strength. From top to bottom, he did not take Zheng Zhilong too seriously. He did not know that Zheng Zhilong had dominated the Fujian Sea for more than ten years and had accumulated huge wealth that was as rich as a country. Even if those wealth was only given one tenth, it would be enough to alleviate the current financial crisis of the Ming Dynasty.

Zou Yiming's "Mingji Literary News" records that at that time, "sea ships were not allowed to entrust the Zheng family's flag and could not be exchanged. Each ship was invested in two thousand golds, and each year was earned tens of millions. Zhilong used this to enrich the country."

The meaning of vernacular: After defeating other pirates and dominating the Minhai Strait and Yuegang Sea Trade, Zheng Zhilong collected tariffs and protection fees from sea merchants every year, which can be almost 10 million taels of silver a year. Although it may be exaggerated, there should be five million taels a year. The Ming Dynasty's tax silver was only more than four million taels a year, and Zheng Zhilong's annual income was almost the same as that of the Ming Dynasty!

In the late Southern Ming Dynasty, especially after Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong, who had no source of tax revenue, was able to organize a huge fleet and army, and even once fought to the city of Nanjing. What did he rely on? Of course, it was the huge legacy left by Zheng Zhilong.

The Ming Dynasty court did not recognize Zheng Zhilong's huge wealth and amazing income, so it did not give Zheng Zhilong too high status, nor was it interested in Zheng Zhilong's wealth. In his previous life, Zhu Ciyang was puzzled by the short-sightedness and incompetence of Ming Dynasty officials. Such a big "world richest man" was just under his nose, and no one saw it?

After traveling through this life, I realized that due to the long-term "sea ban", in addition to pirates and maritime merchants, the entire Ming Dynasty, from scholars and officials to emperors, had obvious understanding of the huge profits of going to sea trade. Local officials in Fujian may know about one or two, but they should have been bribed by Zheng Zhilong. Therefore, when Chongzhen sighed for hundreds of thousands of silver in the palace and even humbly raised donations from the court officials, in Zheng Zhilong's vault, tens of millions of silver were about to lose.

Later, the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty attached great importance to Zheng Zhilong. Emperor Hongguang appointed him as Nan'anbo and Fujian's general town. Emperor Longwu even appointed him as Nan'an Hou, responsible for all military affairs in the Southern Ming Dynasty.

It’s a pity that the world was determined at that time. A rich and smart person like Zheng Zhilong would not be loyal and upright for the Ming Dynasty.

It is the fifteenth year of Chongzhen. Although the Ming Dynasty has many crises and is getting worse, no one would have thought that the Ming Dynasty had only two years left, so Zheng Zhilong had no intention of surrendering to the Qing Dynasty. After the imperial edict was issued, he would never dare to resist the imperial edict. At most, he could do was to learn from other warlords' styles, try to delay time, and ask the court for huge amounts of food and money. If there was no food and money for a day, he would not leave for a day. Even if there was food and money, he would not send all the main force, but would send a partial army to deal with the court.

"Father, Zheng Zhilong is absolutely available. Not only can it be used, but the court also does not need to send military supplies and food!" Zhu Cilang raised his voice.

"Um?"

Hearing that the court did not need to send military supplies to the court, Chongzhen's eyes lit up, but soon became sad again: "It's really a child's character... without money and food, how can they be willing to do things for me?"

Chongzhen was also tortured by the generals. As soon as the troops were sent, the generals would ask for money. There was no money or food, and no soldiers would move. After a long time, it felt that it was not the army of the court, but like a private mercenary. He would do his job without money, but he would not do anything without money.

Of course, this matter is a loss to the court. If the food and money are paid in normal times, why would the generals be like this?

But it was also difficult for the imperial court. Natural disasters were constant, either drought or flooding. In addition, Jiannu plundered and thieves were rampant, and hungry people were hungry everywhere. The imperial court's taxes were reduced again and again, and more than half of the money and grain were spent in Liaodong. The remaining money and grain were not enough to support the chaos in the country.

"Father, Zheng Zhilong was born as a pirate pirate and plundered merchant ships at sea for many years. The father may not know that those foreign trade merchant ships are very huge. Each cargo and silver carried by the ship is more than hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. In addition, Zheng Zhilong has successively annexed the wealth of two other pirates Li Dan and Yan Siqi. Therefore, before being recruited by the court, Zheng Zhilong had already accumulated huge wealth."

"After being recruited by the imperial court, although Zheng Zhilong no longer robbed merchant ships, because he was a general of the Quanzhou naval army, he monopolized the sea routes to Fujian. In order to protect himself, merchant ships would pay him some silver to him, commonly known as buying water. After buying water, merchant ships would hang up his banner of Zheng Zhilong. With this banner, the pirates of all sizes on the sea did not dare to make any more difficult. Therefore, Zheng Zhilong has earned a lot of silver in the past decade."

"So my son thinks that Zheng Zhilong is not short of money and food. As long as the court is good at winning over money and food, he will definitely not make things difficult for the court."

Finally, Zhu Cilang came to the conclusion.

Chongzhen was a little stunned when he heard this. Before this, he really didn't know that Zheng Zhilong, the general of Quanzhou Navy, was so rich.

After a while, he slowly said, "Brother Chun, where did you hear these?"

Zhu Cilang was prepared for a long time: "I reported to my father, half a month ago, my son-in-law went out of the palace to relax and met a scholar from Fujian. From him, my son-in-law learned some of Zheng Zhilong's past. As for buying water, it was made public on the coast of Fujian. My father just found a maritime merchant and asked him to know it."

"The merchant bought water from Zheng Zhilong, but why didn't he buy water from me? The imperial court's maritime tax was only 40,000 taels last year, but how much did Zheng Zhilong earn? I'm afraid it was hundreds of thousands of taels!"

Chongzhen's face was cold and murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

Maritime tax, which is customs import and export tax.

Poverty restricted Chongzhen's imagination, and Zheng Zhilong made more than a few hundred thousand profits in buying water. Historical records: "Any sea ships cannot travel if they do not have the Zheng family's flag, and each ship is usually worth three thousand gold." A ship is 3,000 taels of silver. How many merchant ships are there to go to sea, Zheng Zhilong has how much gold and silver are there.

"Father, I can't blame Zheng Zhilong for this matter. We will take one for the business tax of thirty. A large ship carrying more than one hundred thousand cargo can only pay a few taels of silver, and the profit of the maritime merchants is at least three times! Instead of letting those maritime merchants take away, it is better to let Zheng Zhilong intercept a part. Over the years, Zheng Zhilong has swept the Fujian Sea, eliminated the pirates, defeated the Red-haired fleet, and established a powerful navy. It was a huge expense, but he did not ask the court for a single tael of silver."

Zhu Cilang had no good impression of Zheng Zhilong, but he had to defend Zheng Zhilong so as not to punish Zheng Zhilong in anger.

In his plan to turn the tide, Zheng Zhilong is a very important part. Before the world is stable, no mistakes can occur.

What's more, Zheng Zhilong also has a good son named Zheng Sen, who is the national hero Zheng Chenggong who recaptured Taiwan.

If Zheng Zhilong is punished, Zheng Chenggong will inevitably be implicated. Zheng Chenggong is born in the fourth year of the Tianqi period. He is exactly eighteen years old this year. He is a good age for a hero to become a young man and to make achievements. Zhu Cilang has already thought of a good position for him.

Chongzhen was silent for a while and sighed quietly: "Well, as long as Zheng Zhilong can keep Fujian safe, I will tolerate him."

"Father, the wise and wise."

"You just said that if you ask Zheng Zhilong to send troops, the court will not pay food and salary?"

"Yes, my father, Zheng Zhilong is not short of money or food. What he lacks is a name. We will give his preferences and ask his father to issue an order to appoint Zheng Zhilong as the general of Fujian, command all the troops and navy in Fujian, appoint his most trusted fourth brother Zheng Hongkui as the admiral of the Dengzhou Navy, and his eldest son Zheng Sen was the guerrilla of the Dengzhou Navy. He ordered the two to lead the troops to Dengzhou to take office..."
Chapter completed!