"Brother, wait a minute!" Zheng Hongkui spoke up to stop Zheng Zhilong.
"If, I say if..." Zheng Hongkui said cautiously, "If we have a falling out with the imperial court one day, these three million taels of silver will become a handle for the imperial court!"
"What handle?" Zheng Zhilong asked.
"You said that three million taels is the entire estate of the Zheng family, but the actual estate is several times or even dozens of times more than three million! You and I are both officials in the court, and the court can investigate us thoroughly on the charge of embezzlement! At that time, only three million taels will be left, and all the extra silver will be confiscated. We can only watch helplessly and suffer in silence!"
"This reason is too far-fetched!" Zheng Zhilong was a little unconvinced. "If the imperial court wanted to deal with us, they wouldn't come up with such a despicable excuse!"
"Brother, don't be careless," Zheng Hongkui said seriously, "This is a fact, an indisputable fact! Once those scholars seize on this dirt and make a fuss about it, and His Majesty is bewitched and starts to attack, our Zheng family will be in danger."
Zheng Zhilong folded his hands across his chest and began to think about this problem seriously.
He had no intention of being an enemy of the imperial court, he just wanted to be a good official and make a lot of money.
Now the court asked him to exchange the silver for Ming Yuanbao, and as an official appointed by the court, he had to support it.
But the reality is that blind support will harm his interests.
That's why he came up with the idea of hiding his family property.
With the idea comes the problem.
What Zheng Hongkui said makes sense, he must take the worst-case scenario into consideration.
"You..." Zheng Zhilong's eyes swept across everyone's faces one by one, "Is there a way to have the best of both worlds?"
"Yes!" Zheng Zhipeng, who rarely spoke after entering the house, spoke up, "We can hide the silver that we don't need. Even if someone uses this excuse to attack us, they won't have any evidence."
Hide?
Several people looked at each other.
Zheng Zhibao was about to ask a question when he suddenly realized that Zheng Zhilong didn't let him speak, so he spread his hands and looked puzzled.
Zheng Hongkui immediately explained: "Third brother, where can I hide?"
"Zhongzuosuo (now Xiamen)!" Zheng Zhipeng answered without hesitation.
In the 20th year of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty set up a garrison in Yongning.
Yongning Guard had jurisdiction over five thousand-household garrisons, namely Zhongzuo, Chongwu, Jinmen, Fuquan and Gaopu, and three inspection offices, commanding a total of 200,000 people. It was one of the three largest garrisons in the country at that time.
The station of Zhongzuo was originally called Jiahe Island. In the 27th year of Hongwu, Zhongzuo built a city on Jiahe Island. Since then, Zhongzuo has become a synonym for Jiahe Island.
Zheng Zhipeng continued, "Zhongzuo is isolated on the sea and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The defenders are all our people, so it is most appropriate to store the silver there! Moreover, if we fall out with the court one day, we can retreat to Zhongzuo to protect ourselves even if we are defeated."
Zheng Zhilong thought for a moment and said, "I think this is a good idea. What about you?"
"That's really good, I agree!" everyone responded.
"Then let's do it!" Zheng Zhilong decided: "Each family should first collect three million taels of silver and give it to Zhang Kentang, the governor of Fujian, to exchange for Ming Yuanbao. The remaining silver that is not needed for the time being should all be moved out and transported to Zhongzuo. Remember, you must move it quietly."
"Yes!" everyone responded seriously.
"There is one more thing!" Zheng Zhilong took out the imperial edict for Zheng Chenggong to go north to suppress the bandits. "The Jiannu imitated the Japanese pirates of the past and burned, killed and looted along the coast of Zhejiang and Nanzhili. The court ordered Chenggong to go north to suppress them. I am a little worried!"
"Brother, what are you worried about?" Zheng Hongkui laughed. "The strength of the Jiannu navy is far behind that of the imperial navy, and the strength of the imperial navy is far behind ours, otherwise they would not have issued an edict of peace back then!"
"If you succeed, you will succeed immediately!"
Seeing that Zheng Zhilong was still a little worried, Zheng Hongkui patted his chest and said, "Brother, I have nothing to do recently, and I am willing to go with Chenggong!"
"That's the best!" Zheng Zhilong walked to Zheng Hongkui with a smile and patted him on the shoulder.
Everyone chatted for a while and then left one after another.
Not long after they left, Zheng Zhibao came back.
There were two other people who came with him, namely Shi Fu and Shi Lang.
Shi Fu was Shi Lang's uncle.
When Shi Fu was eighteen years old, he took up arms and joined Zheng Zhilong's team.
At that time, Zheng Zhilong had already surrendered to the imperial court, but there were still many other pirate forces along the southeast coast.
They were enemies of the imperial court and posed a huge threat to it.
So the court ordered Zheng Zhilong to send troops to suppress it.
Shi Fu proposes that those who are inclined to change should be subdued, and those who are rising up to be strong should be destroyed.
With the help of this policy, Zheng Zhilong accepted a large number of surrendered troops, and the remaining pirates were also wiped out.
Since then.
The Zheng Group, which is just a stone's throw away from Yuegang, has completely monopolized maritime trade.
Because Shi Fu was literate, daring and resourceful, he soon became Zheng Zhilong's confidant.
With Shi Fu's recommendation, Shi Lang also joined Zheng Zhilong's team and became Shi Fu's deputy, and gradually became Zheng Zhilong's confidant.
Shi Fu and Shi Lang followed Zheng Zhibao to Zheng Zhilong's study.
"Greetings, General!" Shi Fu and Shi Lang saluted at the same time.
"Sit down!" Zheng Zhilong said, pointing to a few chairs next to him.
After they sat down, Zheng Zhilong took out the secret letter and placed it in front of the three people: "Everyone, take a look."
Zheng Zhibao had already read the contents of the letter, so he handed the letter directly to Shi Fu and his nephew.
After they finished reading the letter, Zheng Zhilong continued, "The court is going to open a new port in Shanghai Port, Songjiang Prefecture, Nanzhili. Business in Yuegang will become increasingly difficult in the future."
Shi Fu rolled his eyes and asked, "What does the general want us to do?"
Zheng Zhilong smiled very experiencedly: "It's not what I want you to do, but what you can do for me."
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