Gu Yanwu stared at Zheng Chenggong for a while and asked, "Your father has already followed the order of the crown prince to go north to defend the king. Under what pretext should we go to the capital? If we go to the capital in the name of defending the king, wouldn't that also be responding to the crown prince's call?"
Gu Yanwu didn't know what was happening in the court in Beijing, nor did he understand the purpose of the prince's support for the king.
So he could not respond to the prince's call.
We must not allow others to misunderstand us.
Zheng Chenggong thought the same. He shook his head and said, "Of course we can't go to Beijing in the name of serving the king."
"Then under what name will you enter Beijing?"
"I have a murder case, and you are the presiding officer of the case. Now the court is holding up the case, so you can take me to the capital to close it."
"No," Gu Yanwu shook his head, "I am an official appointed by the court. Now is not the time for an audience, and there is no decree to go to the capital. I cannot go to the capital without permission."
The meaning of the pilgrimage and inspection is to have local officials come to Beijing to report on their work.
The Hajj system originated in the Zhou Dynasty.
At that time, the Zhou emperor required all princes to come to the capital regularly to pay homage and tribute.
In the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, issued an edict ordering officials from all provincial governments, prefectures, states, and counties to come to Beijing to pay homage on time.
In the beginning, I had no experience and only performed the Hajj once a year.
This move not only increased the workload of the Ministry of Personnel and the emperor, but also caused local officials to run around busy and waste money.
While officials are in Beijing, the local areas may be left without anyone to govern them.
Therefore, in the 18th year of Hongwu, the imperial court changed the pilgrimage to once every three years based on past experience.
Seeing that Gu Yanwu was worried, Zheng Chenggong advised: "Only when you go to the capital can you know the truth."
Gu Yanwu hesitated for a while and then asked, "Are we going alone?"
Zheng Chenggong immediately shook his head: "Of course not. A great riot is about to break out. We must take our troops with us."
Gu Yanwu spread his hands and said, "I don't have any soldiers!"
Zheng Chenggong thought for a moment, then stood up, opened the door, and called Zheng Cai in to ask, "How many troops are there in Quanzhou?"
Zheng Cai scratched the back of his head: "Brother, I don't know."
Zheng Chenggong glared at him and asked, "Do you really not know or are you pretending not to know?"
"Brother, please don't, I can't tell you."
"Who should I ask then?"
"Ask General Zheng Hongkui."
"Take me to see him."
"I can take you there, but Mr. Gu cannot go..."
"He must go. I am his prisoner. From now on, the two of us will be inseparable."
Zheng Cai scratched her head again: "But..."
"No buts! If you feel something is wrong, you can leave immediately!"
"That won't work. General Zheng Hongkui ordered me to take you back. I have to complete the mission."
"Then lead the way!"
Zheng Cai had no choice but to take Zheng Chenggong and Gu Yanwu back to the navy base.
After meeting Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Chenggong got straight to the point: "Second Uncle, how many troops do we have left?"
Zheng Hongkui didn't say anything, but looked at Gu Yanwu next to him.
Although Gu Yanwu was an official appointed by the imperial court, he was an outsider to Zheng Hongkui.
He cannot reveal the details of Zheng's army to outsiders.
Gu Yanwu was very tactful and stood still.
He couldn't guarantee that Zheng Chenggong wouldn't run away.
Zheng Hongkui looked helpless: "Master Gu should know that I just don't want to, not that I can't."
What Zheng Hongkui meant was that he was fully capable of taking Zheng Chenggong away from Gu Yanwu.
Gu Yanwu thought about it and felt that it was right.
So he got up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Only Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong were left in the room.
Zheng Hongkui's real name was Zheng Zhifeng. He was the younger brother of Zheng Zhilong and the second uncle of Zheng Chenggong.
Zheng Hongkui asked with a smile: "Why... do you also want to lead troops to defend the king?"
"Not loyal to the king."
"Then why do you ask how many soldiers there are?"
Zheng Chenggong replied: "I will lead my troops north to find out the situation. If Your Majesty is really in danger, I will respond to the call of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and go to Beijing to defend the king."
Zheng Hongkui put away his smile and said seriously: "What if His Majesty is alright?"
Zheng Chenggong replied with equal seriousness: "If Your Majesty is alright, the Crown Prince's so-called support for the king is treason. I will obey the orders of the court and put down the rebellion."
Zheng Hongkui stood up and walked to Zheng Chenggong, calling him by his nickname: "Fusong, I want to ask you a question."
"Excuse me, Uncle."
"My eldest brother has clearly surrendered to the crown prince. If the crown prince really rebels, what will you do? Will you help the crown prince deal with the court? Or will you help the court deal with the crown prince?"
Zheng Hongkui was afraid that Zheng Chenggong would not understand what he meant, so he changed the topic and asked, "Will you turn against my elder brother for the sake of the court?"
Turn against each other...
Zheng Chenggong looked at Zheng Hongkui, his thoughts racing.
Ever since he killed Shi Lang's family, he has been staying in the Quanzhou government office.
From then on, he began to wonder how he would face his father in the future.
Shi Lang helped the Zheng family with smuggling and also collaborated with the enemy at the instigation of the Zheng family.
This is a fact, a fact that cannot be changed.
In order to vent his anger, he killed Shi Lang's family. Not only did he end up with a murder, but his relationship with his father also became strained.
Is it an apology and admitting mistake?
Or stick to your own opinion and fight to the end?
An apology would mean approving of his father's smuggling and colluding with the enemy, which went against the greater good in his heart.
Insisting on his own opinion means standing on the side of the court and going against his father.
It is true that he was an official of the Ming Dynasty, but he was also his father's son.
In the past, he never believed that it was difficult to be both loyal and filial.
Now he believed it completely in his heart.
He lowered his head and looked at his left and right hands.
In his sight, the word "loyalty" was flashing on his left hand, and the word "filial piety" was flashing on his right hand.
Both words were so heavy that he couldn't straighten his back.
Zheng Hongkui did not urge him, but stood by and waited quietly.
He wanted to wait for Zheng Chenggong to make his own choice.
After an unknown amount of time, Zheng Chenggong raised his head.
Zheng Hongkui asked: "Have you thought about it?"
"I've thought about it."
Zheng Hongkui paused, took a deep breath and asked, "Who to help?"
Zheng Chenggong also took a deep breath: "Help the court!"
"Why?"
"have no idea."
"have no idea?"
"Yes, it's intuitive."
Zheng Hongkui opened his mouth and sighed: "I know, you can go home."
Zheng Chenggong took a half step back and said, "I can't go home. I have to go north to the capital to find out what's going on."
"You can go. I can't stop you."
"Then please give me an army, I want to lead them north."
Zheng Hongkui patted Zheng Zhilong on the shoulder and said, "Go home, son. Your father told me before he left that I can't give you any soldiers until he comes back."
"Second Uncle!" Zheng Chenggong's eyes were bright: "I do this not only for myself, but also for the entire Zheng family."
"Hmm?" Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but frowned: "Explain yourself clearly!"
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