Ming Zuo

Chapter 743 Apprenticeship
In May, the south wind brought warmth, and the fleet to Batavia returned.

The scale is astonishing.

Because in the huge team, there are not only local fleets, but also Dutch merchant ships, as well as Zheng Zhilong.

Xu Erjue stood erect at the bow of the boat, no longer the elegance of the past, but with bronzed skin, he looked very sturdy.

"It is said that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. The ancients never deceived me."

Hugging Zuo Menggeng generously, Xu Erjue became very forthright.

"Did the trip go well?"

Zuo Menggeng is very concerned about this ocean trade.

Xu Erjue pouted.

"The Dutchman is very cunning. They played tricks a lot on the road, just wanting us to get out of trouble. We are not used to him, and we fight when we need to. After all, we have completed this trip."

It turned out that the Dutch people were afraid that Shandong would get acquainted with the route and share the benefits in the future, so they made a lot of troubles on the route.

They even secretly notified Liu Xiang to let the Nanyang pirates come to rob the ship.

The Dutch's own ship, relying on its faster speed, left the battlefield and ran aside to watch the excitement.

Xu Erjue was terrified to death at the time, but the officers of the new army were fearless.

Coupled with the excellent performance of the artillery on the ship, after a big battle, Liu Xiang suffered heavy losses and ran away in disgrace.

Seeing Xu Erjue and others being brave and tough, the Dutch had to accept the reality and finally brought them to Batavia.

The products brought by Xu Erjue and others were very popular here, and they were sold out in just two days.

Not only that, but their presence in Batavia also had a deeper meaning.

The Han people who have lived here for generations, seeing the appearance of their compatriots, or the army, were all inexplicably excited and came to complain to them.

Many of them even accused the Dutch of being hateful.

After hearing this, Xu Erjue immediately submitted a formal protest to the Batavian Parliament.

Severely reprimanded the Dutch East India Company for its crimes, and warned that the Han people here must be treated well from now on, otherwise the trade will change.

What the Dutch want most is to do business with Daming. Now that the situation has finally opened up, how could accidents be allowed.

In the face of real benefits, the Dutch immediately became amiable. While solemnly apologizing to Xu Erjue, they gave the Han people in Batavia the same status as the Dutch.

The booming trade has encouraged the Dutch.

Especially after Xu Erjue and others sold the goods, the money they earned did not stay in their hands, but directly purchased a large amount of cocoa beans, sucrose, furs and other goods in Batavia, which made the Dutch pay more attention to Daming's size. With a deep understanding.

After urgent discussions, Batavia dispatched Anthony Van Diemen as a representative again, leading a larger fleet to accompany him back.

This time the destination of the Dutch is not only Songjiang Mansion, but Shandong.

When the fleet returned to the voyage, it passed the Taiwan Strait, which directly alarmed Zheng Zhilong.

Because this is a huge fleet that has never been seen before, the toll for the Zheng family alone is an astronomical sum.

Zheng Zhilong boarded the ship himself, called on Xu Erjue and Anthony Van Diemen, and after a long conversation, he finally realized that the sea trade seemed to be very good.

Knowing that Zuo Menggeng was the person who made this happen, Zheng Zhilong became more thoughtful, and immediately decided to go north to Shandong to see the situation here.

"Yiguan, you are a rare visitor! Are you willing to leave your lair?"

When meeting Zheng Zhilong, Zuo Menggeng was just teasing.

He also saw Qian Qianyi and Zheng Chenggong standing beside Zheng Zhilong.

Apparently, Zheng Zhilong picked up these two when he passed by Songjiang Mansion.

"I heard that brother Zuo has done great things, and Zheng Mouyuan is also very popular in Fujian. I didn't say anything, I should ask for advice on this trip."

While speaking, Zheng Zhilong's eyes were scanning everything in the port.

What he saw shocked him.

As far as the eye can see, there are at least a dozen docks that are busy starting work, and large ships are gradually taking shape.

And these ships are not the lucky ships of the Ming Dynasty.

He recognized at a glance that these ships were quite similar to the Dutch and Spanish warships.

What shocked him the most was the speed of shipbuilding here.

Although Zheng Zhilong continued to build ships in his hometown, the scale was far smaller than here.

Especially the warships of the Westerners, he doesn't know how to build them at all.

Of course he knows the power of Western warships, but there is nowhere to learn.

Even if you learn to build, there is no talent you can control.

Warship is a highly comprehensive subject, far beyond what a pirate like him can master.

Obviously he is the one who escapes by sea, but he is not as fast as others in building ships.

what does this mean?
Zheng Zhilong thought about the road to the north again.

After crossing Songjiang Mansion and entering the waters of the Yellow Sea, the ships belonging to Shandong on the entire sea have been shuttled non-stop, almost without stopping.

This shows that Shandong already has enough influence at sea.

However, the sea area north of Songjiang Mansion is a place that the Zheng family cannot set foot in.This large blank area is now completely occupied by Shandong.

As a hero, seeing Shandong's energy, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help feeling a sense of crisis.

"Your and my two families are allies, so naturally we should work together to protect China's seas and borders."

Zuo Menggeng casually said nonsense, just to appease Zheng Zhilong.

Now is not the time to turn around.

Zheng Zhilong, the clinker, proposed something that he couldn't think of.

Zheng Zhilong pulled Zheng Chenggong over.

"My child grew up in Fusang since he was a child, so he didn't receive a very good education. Later, he followed Mu Zhaigong and finally learned etiquette and shame. But people like me and others will inevitably walk in the sea in the future. Up. Now that the Westerners are becoming more and more powerful, Brother Zuo is better at dealing with them. Therefore, I have a heartfelt request, can I ask Quanzi to worship you as a teacher, please help me a lot?"

Zuo Menggeng couldn't turn the corner.

It never occurred to him that Zheng Zhilong would let the future Lord Guoxing worship him as his teacher.

Although because of his own existence, it is uncertain whether Zheng Chenggong can recover Taiwan in the future.However, as a national hero whose name went down in history, it made him quite happy to have such an apprentice.

"Little brother has little talent and learning, how dare you mislead me? Since Brother Zheng will not give up, I will do my best."

Seeing that he agreed, Zheng Zhilong was overjoyed, and hurriedly said to Zheng Chenggong: "What are you still doing in a daze? Hurry up and learn from your teacher."

Zheng Chenggong was very obedient, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Zuo Menggeng.

Qian Qianyi flattered at the side.

"The commander's martial arts are unparalleled in the world. If this kid can learn from the commander, he will definitely be able to show off Sun Gu's talents and show off Huo's achievements in the future."

He does not mean that.

Zheng Zhilong's eyes changed quietly.

(End of this chapter)