The Great Bandit in Kangxi Year

Chapter 199 The Dutchman's Temptation
It was late January 1675 when Chen Yonghua arrived in Jiangning.

When Jiang Tao heard that Zheng Jing was about to surrender, he immediately met Chen Yonghua in the lobby of the palace: "There is no need to be polite, come here, and give me a seat!"

"Thank you, my lord. Here, one is to accept the surrender, and the other is to make an apology. I also ask the lord to be considerate of the common people in the world!" Chen Yonghua stood straight in the lobby without any sadness or joy on his face.

"Please get up quickly!" Jiang Tao glanced at the surrender table, secretly admiring that Zheng Jing actually asked to go to the throne, and handed over military power and tens of millions of taels of silver. Ministers, do not plunder the people, and treat them the same as the people in the mainland.

If he was absolutely not so decisive, it would be tantamount to putting life and death in his own hands. Jiang Tao sighed secretly in his heart, and said seriously: "Old Prince Zheng is a national hero among my Han people. This king admires him very much. Please rest assured. The magistrate of the Taiwan government is still in charge of Mr. Chen. If Zheng Jing can distinguish between black and white, he will be a duke, and he can move to his hometown in Fujian to live. The rest of the generals and officers will still be reused by the king. By the way, where is Liu Guoxuan, the commander of the navy? Order him to come and see him immediately My king."

"This!" Chen Yonghua's expression changed immediately, and then he returned to his usual expression in an instant: "This minister takes orders!"

"Also, um, the four northern provinces and the government of Taiwan are exempt from agricultural tax for three years." Jiang Tao was slightly suspicious, but it was inconvenient to ask further questions. Except for the war at sea in the past few months, the rest of the world has been stable, and the finances have become looser. The year is only several million taels of silver, and it will come out after a little saving.

Gu Yanwu and Huang Zongyi were overjoyed when they heard the words, Huang Zongyi stroked his beard and smiled and said, "My lord, why don't we treat them equally so that the southern provinces won't be unbalanced."

Jiang Tao didn't even think about it, he smiled and said, "Sure!"

"My lord is holy!" Chen Yonghua could feel the harmony in this, and praised him with spirit.

"Okay, the sooner this matter happens, the better, and we can't fight each other again."

Knowing King Huaxing's worries, Chen Yonghua left in a hurry, accompanied by the 11th Division of the Sharpshooter and a part of the Black Dragon Fleet.

Jiang Tao was discussing with his ministers about building a large naval base in Taiwan, and he didn't want Shi Lang to ask for a meeting, apparently because Jiang Tao didn't let him go to Taiwan, and he had some thoughts in his mind.

In this battle, Jiang Tao had already promoted him to the rank of general, and knowing what he meant, he took a step closer to Shi Lang and said word by word: "You can go if you want, some of Zheng Chenggong's subordinates have kindness to you, and some have enmity with you. The grievances are connected and the situation is complicated. They are willing to surrender at this time, they can only repay their kindness, not revenge!"

Shi Lang gasped, paused, and said, "The general understands—you can only repay favors, not revenge—the general should put the great cause of national unification as the most important thing, and never seek personal revenge!"

"Okay! This is the real husband, Minister of Sheji! A good man should make his home all over the world. Now this king has exempted more than ten provinces from taxes. Where did the money come from?"

Shi Lang felt uncomfortable and excited at the same time, looked at King Huaxing suspiciously, and was speechless for a while.

Jiang Tao laughed out loud, and then said solemnly: "It depends on your navy. Have you ever been to Mexico?"

"The last general has never been there, what does the prince mean?"

"It doesn't matter, this time you will be the chief commander. The king will organize a fleet to transport the goods to Mexico and other places to sell at a high price. The navy will draw out [-] seal-class cruisers to escort and [-] marines. This time it is only Familiar with the route, bring more supply ships, and establish a stronghold on this continent, do you have the guts to take on this task?" Jiang Tao pointed at the map and said aggressively, now Western countries are establishing colonies in North America and South America, especially Spain , obtained countless gold and silver in places such as Mexico and Peru, but the Black Dragon Fleet is not even familiar with the route.

The benefits are great, and it is also his dream to cross the sea, Shi Lang said firmly: "The last general will die."

Looking at the incomplete map, he had a clue in his mind. The place that King Huaxing pointed out was in the area of ​​Manila, and there were Chinese maritime merchants who had been there, but he didn't say it directly. If he said it, the credit would not be so great, and he was not As a confidant of King Huaxing, if he wants to gain King Huaxing's trust, he must make up for it with extraordinary abilities and great contributions.

"Okay, I will give you a month. This is the order of the golden tiger. If the subordinates are not convinced, you can kill them first and then play!"

Even though Shi Lang's heart was as hard as iron, he was also extremely grateful. He knew the weight of the Golden Tiger Order. With this order, all the soldiers would never disobey the order. Their confidence in the voyage was greatly increased. He knelt on the ground and said with tears all over his face: " Your lord! Finally, the general is willing to do the work of a dog and a horse!"

"Haha, old general, we don't care about this kind of thing, please hurry up, the king is looking forward to it!"

When Shi Lang left gratefully, Cheng Zhang and others were puzzled. Cheng Zhang had no scruples, and asked directly: "My lord, why should I use this person for this long voyage? Where to find it?"

"Hehe, it doesn't matter. This is the only person in the navy who has decades of experience in naval warfare. Besides, there are more than 1 people on this trip. They will weigh the pros and cons. None of the general's soldiers are fools." Jiang Tao said casually. Dao, in fact, he knew in his heart that the family members of the soldiers are all in the mainland, and it is impossible for all of them to rebel, and there are civilian guards interspersed among them. At critical moments, they can act cheaply, and there are other intentions.

Everyone nodded, and didn't go into it any further. As they talked, they talked about the change of the dynasty. Now the ministers and generals are all playing, asking Jiang Tao to wear a yellow robe. The people only know King Huaxing, but not Emperor Ming.

Jiang Tao felt very helpless, and shirked, "We'll wait until the Tartars are wiped out and the entire south is pacified."

Cheng Zhang shook his head and sighed, wanted to say more, but was stopped by Huang Zongyi: "My lord, the enthronement can be postponed, but now we have to fight Wu Sangui first, and then the Tartars."

"Why is that so?" Jiang Tao didn't understand. According to his personality, he must first concentrate on killing the Tartars, and never give the Tartars a chance.

In recent months, Han Yong led the 4th and 9th Divisions of the Sharpshooter to repel the Tartar cavalry who entered North Korea to plunder many times. Obviously, Kangxi is still accumulating strength and trying to counterattack.

"My lord, Wu Sangui's violent expropriation has caused the people in Hunan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi to live in poverty. The lord only needs to mobilize 20 elite soldiers to defeat Wu Sangui and save the people from the fire."

Hearing Huang Zongyi's opinion, Jiang Tao knew it was the truth, but he never dared to underestimate Kangxi, and was about to refute, but Huang Zongyi said again: "Nowadays, most of the soldiers of the First Army are from the south, and they are not used to the severe cold in the north. There are many soldiers who are sick, and they are more than enough to defend, but not enough to attack. Moreover, if the prince uses troops in Liaodong at this time, the Mongolian tribes will be terrified and will definitely unite against our army. Moreover, the prairie is vast. If our army does not have enough cavalry, it will be extremely difficult. Quan Sheng, Kangxi's children are in a hurry, maybe they will give up Shengjing again and retreat to the prairie."

"But if I act like I don't care, the Mongolian tribes are very likely to disagree, and the Manchu Qing Tartars and the Mongolian tribes are very likely to fight. At that time, I will have an opportunity to take advantage of it!"

Jiang Tao thought about it for a while, and felt that what Huang Zongyi said was not unreasonable. It was beyond his expectation that Kangxi retreated outside the customs. He was able to win praise from later generations, which obviously had his own uniqueness. Jiang Tao knew that he was forbearing, but he was not Obai.After this lesson, Kangxi will definitely gain something. Jiang Tao is really not sure that the Qing Dynasty will stick to Shengjing. The army under his command is good at attacking and defending, but he can't catch up with the cavalry. This is helpless.

"Alright, let's attack Wu Sangui first. The cavalry army should be well planned and the cabinet should be built. We should strive to build an establishment of [-] tiger and leopard cavalry, [-] light cavalry, and [-] spear cavalry. As for the north, let Wang Lao (Wang Fuzhi) go to the town. Wei Donglai Come back immediately and preside over the extermination of the traitor Wu Sangui!"

"The 7th and 8th Divine Spear Divisions were incorporated into Jiang Bao's army, and the third army was formed. With Wei Donglai as the main general and Jiang Bao as the assistant, they attacked Guangxi. The 10th and 12th Divine Spear Divisions were incorporated into Wang Dashan's command. Form the Fourth Army, and after capturing Jiangxi, enter Hunan, and the cabinet must prepare ammunition, food and grass without any mistakes."

The cabinet ministers heard Jiang Tao's order and hurriedly prepared. The new year will be another year of war.

Before Jiang Tao was free for a few days, the long-lost Major General Joseph came again.

After he presented some European specialties, he went straight to the topic: "Now the Dutch East India Company is shipping back a large amount of porcelain, tea, and silk to Europe, so that the prices of these goods have plummeted. In view of this, William III asked the king to reduce the goods. prices and reduce tariffs!"

Jiang Tao shook his head again and again, who would believe these nonsense, Ming's specialty products are not only in demand in Europe, it seems that the Dutch are here to find trouble, now that the Anglo-Dutch war is over, presumably they are not satisfied with monopolizing trade, they want to get more Interests, but I am not a vegetarian, staring and said: "If your country does not want fair trade, forget it. I think the British and Spaniards will be interested."

"King, you have to think about the consequences. William III is increasing the strength of the Far East Fleet." Joseph shrugged and said with a relaxed smile.

Jiang Tao only felt furious. If he hadn't thought of the thousands of soldiers, craftsmen and scholars sent to the Netherlands, he would have almost pulled out his sword and chopped up his grandson. He didn't expect them to be so greedy. He probably felt threatened by seeing the strength of his navy soar.

Jiang Tao's expression was very ugly, he stared at Joseph, and said word by word: "So, the contract is about to be broken? You guys! Very good!"

Joseph's eyes dodged, and he laughed and said, "No, no, no, King William III is very happy to hear that the prince drove away the Portuguese in Macau, and recently the king has exterminated the rampant Zheng's pirates. , as long as the prince cooperates with the Dutch Far East Fleet to attack the Spanish Filipino Fleet, then everything will be business as usual."

Jiang Tao is really angry, monopolizing Ming's trade, the profits are huge, but the Dutch are still looking for trouble, they really don't know how to flatter, as long as they hand over this monopoly trade to the UK, the UK will definitely continue to war with the Netherlands , Eh, no, just after the Black Dragon Fleet under his command defeated Zheng Jing's fleet, the Dutch special envoy came, apparently with other intentions.

Join forces to attack the Philippine fleet?
Jiang Tao has been envious of the Philippines for a long time, but he didn't show it. He said perfunctorily: "Hehe, I'm sorry. In fact, most of the fleet under my king's command has been lost. I can't fight any more in a short time. Besides, my king has said long ago that I will not interfere in the affairs of Southeast Asia. .”

Joseph obviously breathed a sigh of relief, and bewitched: "It's okay, as long as the king has the strength, he can attack the Spaniards. This is everyone's common enemy. As long as the king takes down Manila, the Dutch Indian Company is willing to buy it at a high price!"

If it is defeated, this king will not leave.

Jiang Tao's heart moved, he understood the plan of the Dutch side, he laughed and said: "Definitely, definitely!"

Sending away Joseph with ulterior motives, Jiang Tao scolded the Dutch for being shameless. Obviously, he defeated the Zheng fleet, which aroused the alert of the Dutch. In the fight for the Philippines, it is best to fight for both sides, and then the Netherlands will reap the benefits of the fisherman, and it will also hit the Spaniards, weakening the strength of the Black Dragon Fleet, while the Dutch will sit firmly on the Diaoyutai.

Jiang Tao estimated the time, and the craftsmen sent to the Netherlands would take two years to come back. This is like a fishbone stuck in the throat. It would be a great loss to the empire.

"Come on, hurry up and recruit Dai Zi!"

Now making enemies on all sides is really tied, Jiang Tao raised his spirits again. The reason why he summoned Dai Zi was to ask him to put aside the development of steam engines for the time being, and improve firearms first, to see if he could create advanced breech-loading muskets and clear muskets Although it is powerful, it always has more or less shortcomings.

In fact, the steam engine has already been built, and it was named Vulcan No. 1 by Jiang Tao.

However, the Vulcan 1 steam engine is quite cumbersome and consumes a lot of coal, so it cannot be used to drive the battleship for the time being.

However, it can be used to pump water out of mines.

With the drive of Vulcan-[-], the hydraulic press can finally run.Only at this time did the craftsmen discover the great effect of the hydraulic press, which cannot be compared with manpower.

Based on this great discovery, the scientific research center successively created precision machine tools driven by steam engines and steam looms, etc., but the time was short and the earth-shaking advantages had not yet occurred.

However, Jiang Tao believes that with the further maturity of steam engine technology, the potential of the empire will become greater and greater.

(End of this chapter)