Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 313
Liu Kongzhao's staff did not fully agree with him suing the emperor, and most of them even disagreed.

In particular, Liu Cong, a staff member of the same clan, was particularly opposed.

Liu Cong is a descendant of the Liu Kongzhao family. He has the fame of Juren, but he did not become an official. After all, Juren can only be a county magistrate. Regardless of his status, he has always been Liu Kongzhao's number one staff member.

Ever since Yang Chao's robbery of the warship happened, Liu Kongzhao couldn't bear it. He wanted to sue the emperor immediately. Liu Cong tried hard to persuade him. The loss of those boats was really weird, and it was too unreasonable for someone to snatch the boat without any damage.

So Liu Cong has always suggested that Liu Kongzhao should conceal this matter, and then reconcile with Yang Chao privately. Concessions, such as returning part of the shipping to Yang Chao.

But Liu Kongzhao didn't listen, it was all because he couldn't save the Earl's face, he insisted on arguing this, and he insisted on going to Beijing to sue.

As soon as this decision was made, Liu Cong knew that Uncle Liu might have nothing good to do.

Sure enough, after the new year came the news that the emperor sent Wang Chengen to the south. When Wang Chengen arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, he went to Yang Chao's barracks immediately. It was already obvious that the emperor was on Yang Chao's side.

But then Wang Chengen came to Caishi Xindi. Liu Kongzhao may not be here at ordinary times, but he must be here at this time.

As a result, Wang Chengen did not look at Yang Chao's drills, but pointed out that he wanted to watch the quarrying drills. After a lot of work, especially after receiving thousands of taels of filial piety from Uncle Liu, Wang Chengen praised the elite quarrying soldiers.

Then in private, Wang Chengen told Liu Kongzhao directly that the emperor intended to help Liu Kongzhao get back the warship, and then ordered Liu Kongzhao to go to Huguang to stop Zhang Xianzhong's troops who might advance eastward.

Liu Kongzhao was immediately stunned, and suddenly felt that those warships had become a hot potato. If he wanted to get his hands, he would go to war. Fuck it, he is an earl, and he was born to enjoy it. He wants to do the drudgery of war.

So Liu Kongzhao was very sensible not to urge Wang Chengen, and never mentioned the matter of those boats, as if he had forgotten about it.

Wang Chengen's scheme succeeded, so he was naturally proud. This was not the emperor's idea. The emperor just asked him to come to the south of the Yangtze River to appease him. This was his idea. The emperor would not know the thoughts of these nobles. , sending them to war is the best way to shut them up.

As long as Liu Kongzhao is not urging, Wang Chengen is happy to turn a blind eye and turn a blind eye, let those warships go to hell, treat it as a mess and no one mentions it, isn't that good?
Although Liu Kongzhao was frightened, there was no real punishment. This was explained by the emperor, because Yang Chao had a conflict with Liu Kongzhao, and then the emperor punished Liu Kongzhao. The impression of being partial to the military officer will definitely create an uproar. It’s not impossible for these nobles to do things like get a group of old nobles to go to the Taizu’s imperial mausoleum to cry. Although there is no real threat to the emperor, they really don’t look good , To lose the reputation of being a mean hero, this is unacceptable to Chongzhen.

Therefore, this time, Liu Kongzhao will not be dealt with at all. He just needs to encourage Liu Kongzhao to hurry up and train his troops, because the naval army under his rule is really bad. This kind of nobleness cannot be the material for leading troops. It is pure nonsense to ask them to train soldiers. He knew that the emperor's words were too naive and impossible to realize, so fortunately he didn't say anything.

After leaving Liu Kongzhao's place, Wang Chengen walked around the city of Nanjing, in the name of the emperor comforting his subjects, but his own purse bulged up little by little, eating, drinking, and living a happy life every day.

Yang Chao has been extremely busy during this time. It is not that simple to prepare for the expedition. It is not that simple for a five thousand army to go to the expedition. It will not be ready for a while.

Although Yang Chao's military supplies are enough for the time being, [-] long spears, [-] iron armors and [-] bird guns are not enough for Yang Chao's soldiers, but Yang Chao intends to take them all away. The consumption in the war is huge. It's terrible. Thousands of spears were broken under Yang Chao's men in Haizhou, and the number of hand-to-hand encounters with captive soldiers in Haizhou was limited.

This time to suppress the bandits, although the combat power of the Baitou army is not comparable to that of the captive soldiers, the number of people is too much. It has grown to 10 people. Maybe this batch of long guns is not enough.

As for the gunners, Li Wuliu chose to train 1000 people, but during the crazy training, he had already lost [-] rods. In fact, there were only [-] rods left, and he took them all away for emergencies.

The iron armor is not even enough. The newly recruited more than 4000 people, after each person receives one, only a thousand or so iron armors are left. Fortunately, the iron armor is not easy to wear and tear in battle. Even if a few armor leaves are damaged, it will not hinder the use. , so taking it all away should be manageable.

The rest is military rations. Yang Chao established the military system last year in order to take precautions, requiring the warehouse to store enough rations for one year at any time. One year is enough for Yang Chao to wipe out the white-headed army. In fact, Yang Chao's plan At most one month, one month was spent on the journey, and two months later, I just left for Beijing.

The key is the problem of the boat and the communication with the government along the way. We have agreed with Shi Kefa to let the government along the way provide help, but Yang Chao can't trust the government. Who knows how he will make things difficult. provide help.

Although they haven't communicated well yet, Yang Chao still sent Zhang Dawei to dispatch ten ships to load military supplies first, unload the ships at Zhenjiang first, and then wait for the Wang family's ships to transport them from the canal to the Wang family's hometown Hangzhou, and then enter Jinjiang by water. Washington.

In addition to preparing the army for the expedition, Yang Chao still needed to operate in the city. Wang Chengen came to Nanjing. If he didn't make good use of it, he wouldn't be Yang Chao.

Eunuchs are bolder than civil servants in asking for money, and thicker than civil officials in asking for money. They dare to accept any money, and are willing to accept it. Rich businessmen who also have business in Beijing are also willing to make friends with Wang Chengen. After meeting Wang Chengen and making him enough extra money, he took him to meet Zheng Hongkui.

On the tenth day when Wang Chengen came to Nanjing, Yang Chao and Wang Chengen hosted a banquet for Zheng Hongkui.

Satisfied with wine and food, Wang Chengen left satisfied with the rich filial piety of the Zheng family. Yang Chao and Zheng Hongkui sent him to the gate of Jinchai Tower.

Wang Chengen left a sentence: "Master Yang, you talk about business with Mr. Zheng, and our family will leave first."

Wang Chengen was very knowledgeable, Yang Chao told him that he wanted to discuss business with Zheng Shi, and asked him to come forward to help him. He had already said a lot during the banquet, and from time to time secretly expressed his hope that Zheng Shi would cooperate with Yang Chao.

After sending Wang Chengen away, Yang Chao found a chance to have a good talk with Zheng Hongkui.

"What's the matter, Fourth Master Zheng!"

Finding a private room, Yang Chao immediately asked Zheng Hongkui.

Zheng Hongkui is a smart person, so Yang Chao asked at this moment, which made him think too much.

"Dare to ask, is there a role for the prince in this business?"

Zheng Hongkui asked, Yang Chao brought Wang Chengen to a banquet with Zheng Hongkui, Wang Chengen's performance at the banquet, especially the last sentence before leaving, let Yang Chao have a good talk, all made him quite suspicious.

Yang Chao smiled mysteriously, and pointed to the sky with his finger.

"It's the people above Wang Gonggong, who has a share in it."

Zheng Hongkui was stunned immediately, the people above Wang Chengen?Wang Chengen is already a eunuch with a pen, who else can be above him besides the emperor?
The emperor participated in smuggling to open the sea. This situation makes it hard for Zheng Hongkui to imagine that anyone in the world can access the sea. The local wealthy and local officials can do it. up.

But seeing Yang Chao's swearing, Zheng Hongkui asked again in a low voice: "Is it true at this time?"

Yang Chao smiled and said: "Of course it is true. The Zheng family can find out, but there are no more than one person in the world who knows about it. I know you know it, Shi Kefa knows it, the emperor knows it, Wang Chengen knows it, and there is probably no one else. I know, so whether you can find out or not depends on the ability of the Zheng family."

Yang Chao said very firmly, he was not afraid of betraying the emperor at all, anyway, even if outsiders found out about this matter, they would only target Yang Chao, no one dared to say that the emperor knew about Japanese, and Yang Chao did not tell the Zheng family It was the emperor, and only said it was the one above, and Zheng Hongkui guessed the rest.

Zheng Hongkui looked into Yang Chao's eyes, trying to find a flaw, but Yang Chao's eyes were calm.

Zheng Hongkui couldn't help believing it. There was no need for Yang Chao to lie to them about this matter. Anyway, as long as Yang Chao had the strength, the Zheng family could only find him to cooperate. Now that Wang Chengen has come forward, it has been confirmed that in the struggle with Liu Kongzhao, Yang Chao If he won, Zheng's cooperation with him was confirmed, so Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but believe it a little more.

Thinking of Yang Chao's aggressiveness all the time, his attitude of not paying attention to the powerful families in the south of the Yangtze River and the government of the Yanjiang Weisuo, and the aura of being convinced by their Zheng family, it is easy to explain, because Yang Chao is behind the scenes. It's 'that person', so Yang Chao's attitude is more domineering, which is completely normal.

Thinking of this, Zheng Hongkui believed it a little more, feeling that the matter was at least [-]% true.

"Fourth Master Zheng still has any doubts. Now you can do business with me with peace of mind. The cooperation last time was very pleasant, but I believe that the Zheng family's appetite is not just something that can be satisfied with the goods. "

Zheng Hongkui was still thinking about the 'above' thing, and when Yang Chao asked, he nodded hurriedly: "That's right."

It was only at this time that he woke up, whoever was above him, anyway, this business must be done.

Taking a deep breath quietly, the mood recovered, and then the formal talk began.

"To be honest, Mr. Yang knows that my Zheng family has purchased around 100 million taels in Jiangnan in the past years. It's not that the Zheng family can't afford more goods. It's just that they can't get enough goods. Even the wealthy Jiangnan family dare not buy blatantly. .Since Master Yang should not have these concerns, then I will make the decision, and I am ordering 300 million goods with Master Yang. How about getting ready before April?"

Yang Chao said with a smile: "Of course there is no problem. Then the previous price will still be used?"

The quadrupling that was agreed with the Zheng family last time has already been carried out once. Yang Chao’s money has been spent on the docks and other construction funds. After repaying the loan, there are still more than 20 yuan left, but who knows how much more he will spend when he goes out to fight this time? Money, so be prepared, Yang Chao has to seize the time to do a business.

It's just that Yang Chao thought of monopolizing the Yangtze River in the past. He walked hundreds of miles downstream from Nanjing, along the river guards and water camps. Yang Chao's eight large ships could not take care of them at all, and they could not stop others from crossing the sea.

Therefore, the Zheng family did not cut off the voice of other people. After all, the price was more reasonable, and Yang Chao did not show the power of the ruling level, so there was no need for the Zheng family to rush to cooperate with Yang Chao.

So after that time, the transaction between the two parties stopped temporarily. This is why Yang Chao wanted to use Wang Chengen to suppress Zheng Hongkui. He had to let Zheng Hongkui see his potential and let him understand that it was only a matter of time before he ruled the Yangtze River. , Let them stop waiting and watching, at least they are doing a big business.

Moreover, Yang Chao didn't want the price to change, as the price last time was very reasonable.

But when Zheng Hongkui heard this, he hesitated a little. They gave Yang Chao four times the price, which really gave Yang Chao a big advantage, but the Zheng family would not suffer either.

Zheng's ships to Japan for trade have been about ten in recent years. The most important thing is that they can't handle enough goods. At its peak, Zheng's ships to Japan were more than 90 ships a year and nearly [-] ships.

Although it is unlikely to expand tenfold in the short term, if Yang Chao comes forward, it is still very promising to double this year.

If the Zheng family's ship arrives in Japan, it will be ten times more profitable. If it is three times larger to Yang Chao, it will only be one-third. What he earned last year was [-]% more.

But Mrs. Zheng didn't think that there was someone above Yang Chao. At this moment when Yang Chao asked the price, Zheng Hongkui suddenly felt that if he was doing business with the person above, Mrs. Zheng should give in a bit more. It would be beneficial to have a good relationship with that person, right? .

It has to be said that the emperor still holds a very special position in the hearts of the people at this time. Even a pirate group like the Zheng family is beating drums when they hear that the emperor is doing business with them.

Thinking of this, Zheng Hongkui said cautiously: "Master Yang, please forgive me. The Zheng family can still raise the price, but it can't be too high. Please explain to the person above."

Yang Chao was taken aback. He originally planned to make a fortune at four times the price, but he didn't expect the Zheng family to take the initiative to raise the price. Of course, they didn't raise the price because of Yang Chao, but for the face of the person above. This is a surprise Harvested.

In fact, from Yang Chao's point of view, one should pay attention to integrity when doing business, but the Zheng family wants to raise the price, and Yang Chao really can't refuse. He is giving the emperor face, not Yang Chao. If Yang Chao refuses, it will be a mess. If it's not good, they will suspect that he is a fox pretending to be a tiger, and he is simply using the emperor's guise to deceive others.

Yang Chao couldn't open his mouth, so he simply asked, "How much does Fourth Master Zheng think?"

Zheng Hongkui stretched out a hand, and said cautiously: "Five times, no more. Master Yang must know that my Zheng family actually earns ten times the profit. If I give it five times, everyone will get five or five points. It's not the Zheng family." I am stingy, but I want to support a large family. Once this person goes to sea, his life will be handed over to the Mazu Empress. It is hard to say whether he will live or die. Many people who did not die that time went out in exchange for their lives. Yes, so the five times that fell into the hands of the Zheng family is actually not much left."

It's possible from what Zheng Hongkui said, but Yang Chao also knows that going to sea in this era is risking one's life, and only the most hopeless people will take risks, but Yang Chao doesn't believe that Zheng will give all the money to those sailors, but the five times Li, the Zheng family really split up with him, which made Yang Chao feel a little unkind.

Of course, at this time Yang Chao had completely come up with the idea of ​​withholding the money for military expenses. If he really did things for the emperor, the money would all go to the emperor, and he would not have any worries at all.

The so-called guilt of being a thief, Yang Chao laughed loudly: "Don't worry, Mr. Zheng, the man above has a kind heart. I understand the difficulties of the Zheng family. If Mr. Zheng can pay five times the payment, it is already doing my best. I will report to the above. I believe that report will give the Zheng family a reward."

When Zheng Hongkui heard this, he was overjoyed and said, "I thank Mr. Yang for that."

To be honest, the Zheng family's financial and human resources are very strong, and the Dutch can only bow their heads in front of them, but their strength is not easy to use in the Ming Dynasty, and they are not recognized at all. Those who made friends with the Zheng family Civil servants are usually Fujianese, or those who are officials in Fujian, and other places simply don't buy into the Zheng family's account, because they don't look down on pirates at all.

Now the one above actually does business with the Zheng family, which is simply a great face.

So although Zheng Hongkui was brutally slaughtered by Yang Chao and cut off half of the sea trade cake they worked so hard to make, they not only didn't complain at all, but were still grateful.

Yang Chaoqiang pretended to be calm, and accepted Zheng Hongkui's thanks in a down-to-earth manner.

Then he smiled and said: "Then it's settled, 300 million, but this deposit?"

They have given up so much, and Yang Chao feels a little embarrassed to raise the deposit.

But Zheng Hongkui agreed straight away: "No problem, 100% deposit, [-] million can be given to Master Yang at any time."

The Zheng family is bullish, relying on 1000 million profits every year, they really don't take money as money.

Of course, they monopolize the trade of the Ming Dynasty and do not have to pay taxes. They also took advantage of the Ming Dynasty. Only a foolish court like the Ming Dynasty can do such a stupid thing.

Yang Chao said again: "But you may not know that the emperor asked the prince to come from Beijing, and gave me a letter of decree, asking me to go to Dongyang to suppress the bandits. So I may be leaving soon, Mr. Zheng The money will be handed over at Jinchai Building, and the handling of the goods will be handed over to Kang Xiaobao."

Zheng Hongkui immediately agreed without any hesitation.

When he walked out of the Jinchai Building, Zheng Hongkui was still emotional, this Lord Yang is really honored by the Emperor Long's kindness!

(End of this chapter)