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Zheng Zhilong was a heroic figure of his generation. He had no justice or integrity in his heart, only his own interests. When his army was defeated, Zheng Zhilong immediately changed his face and surrendered to Tang Qi. He knew that since his son was a general under Tang Qi, Tang Qi relied on him deeply and could not do anything to him, Zheng Zhilong, no matter what.
In fact, Tang Yu really didn't know what to do with Zheng Zhilong, unless he killed Zheng Zhilong's son Zheng Chenggong at the same time, otherwise it would cause trouble for himself in the future. Zheng Zhilong was also very thick-skinned. When Zheng Chenggong persuaded him, he didn't take Tang Yu seriously at all. Now that he was about to be destroyed, he sent people to beg Zheng Chenggong. Dayuer gave Tang Yu an idea, to give Zheng Zhilong an island of dozens of square kilometers as a fiefdom, so that Zheng Zhilong would not be allowed to leave the island for the rest of his life. Tang Yu did not fully implement this idea.
Tang Qi granted Zheng Zhilong an area of over a thousand square kilometers in Siberia as a hereditary territory for the Zheng family, and also granted Zheng Zhilong the title of first-class earl. After the war, Tang Qi confiscated the property of several other big businessmen, and all the male members of those big businessmen's families were given to Zheng Zhilong as slaves, to live out the rest of their lives in Siberia. In this way, he punished Zheng Zhilong and gave face to Zheng Chenggong.
Zheng Chenggong had nothing to say about Tang Yi's treatment of him. After all, all the other people who were with Zheng Zhilong were severely punished. Not only was the Zheng family's property not confiscated, but Tang Yi also granted Zheng Zhilong land and titles, which was already worthy of Zheng Chenggong. However, as a result, those big businessmen who rebelled with Zheng Zhilong were extremely resentful of Zheng Zhilong. People don't worry about having nothing, but about inequality. This has been human nature since ancient times. Zheng Zhilong became a slave of those big businessmen, and those people became slaves of Zheng Zhilong. It would be strange if they could balance this in their hearts. Even if Zheng Zhilong could treat those big businessmen who had become slaves well, those big businessmen would not feel grateful to Zheng Zhilong.
What's more, people like Zheng Zhilong have always only thought about himself. Those big businessmen have no use to him at all. If he doesn't squeeze these people dry, it would not be his style. Zheng Zhilong also knows in his heart that Tang Qi gave him a cold and bitter land like Siberia in name only for his benefit, but in fact this place was just an unattended prison, and he, Zheng Zhilong, was just the warden of a prison.
After those merchant colonial armies were reorganized by Tang Qi, the territory of the Ming Dynasty also began to basically become regular. The horse bandit groups that were rampant some time ago gradually disappeared at this time. To be honest, these horse bandit groups were all instigated by Tang Qi in order to attack the armed forces of those landlords and plunder their property. The regime established by Tang Qi could not carry out the situation of fighting for land and dividing the property, but most of the land was concentrated in the hands of those landlords. If Tang Qi wanted to stabilize the regime in the future, he had to distribute the property to the people.
Therefore, Tang Li adopted the form of horse bandits to cleanse those local bandits. This method was certainly bloody, but it not only benefited Tang Li's future rule, but also the cleansing of those local bandits also allowed Tang Li to obtain a large amount of money and food, so that Tang Li had enough funds and food to support the future national construction. On the other hand, the elimination of these local bandits also made those local armed forces disappear, which was also very important for the stability of a country.
With the disappearance of those landowners and those merchants and colonial troops, the last trouble left for Tang Lu was the Guanning Iron Cavalry in Shanhaiguan. The olive branch that Tang Lu extended to Hong Chengchou made Hong Chengchou hesitate for a long time. Seeing that the world had gradually settled, Hong Chengchou also intended to surrender to Tang Lu. However, if he wanted to surrender to Tang Lu and be valued by Tang Lu, Hong Chengchou thought that the best way was to make some contribution to Tang Lu. Hong Chengchou still had a little conscience. He did not think of taking the army to capture Emperor Chongzhen and present him to Tang Lu, but only wanted to take the Guanning Iron Cavalry to present him to Tang Lu.
Hong Chengchou wanted to surrender the entire Guanning Iron Cavalry to Tang Qi, so he naturally had to discuss it with his trusted subordinates. Most of these trusted subordinates of Hong Chengchou had already understood that the Ming Dynasty was going to be destroyed, so they naturally agreed to surrender to Tang Qi. However, there was one exception among them, and that person was General Zhou Fenglin.
Speaking of Zhou Fenglin, Hong Chengchou was very kind to him. He promoted him from a local armed militia and eventually made him a general, a high-ranking second-rank military officer. After Zhou Fenglin's surprise attack on Tang Qi with his army failed last time, Hong Chengchou still trusted him. Emperor Chongzhen threw Zhou Fenglin into the Sky Prison, and it was Hong Chengchou who rescued him and let Zhou Fenglin continue to serve as his general. However, Hong Chengchou never dreamed that this confidant whom he promoted would eventually betray him and almost ruin his glorious days.
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