Author: tx Cheng Zhi

Chapter 246

If it were October in Liaodong, the cold wind would be whistling and the breath would turn into ice. However, in the Java Sea, even in October, it still feels very muggy. If it hadn’t been for heavy rains from time to time, the howling sea wind would have brought

There was a slight chill, and Cheng Shijie didn't know how to endure it.

On board the Zhili, a giant shark-class battleship of the Ning Navy's main fleet, Cheng Shijie looked at the lunch in front of him, which was luncheon meat, canned yellow peaches, plus canned braised mutton, canned beef, pickled radish strips, and several kinds of seafood.

No matter how delicious the food is, there is a time when you get tired of it. Cheng Shijie was preparing to have lunch when Li Zhixiang reported to Cheng Shijie: "The Dutch are coming!"

"I'm afraid I'm just here for negotiation!"

Li Zhixiang smiled and said: "It seems that Li Weiluan has established a foothold in Batavia!"

"Who knows!"

Cheng Shijie put down his chopsticks and said, "It's really disappointing. I can't even make a living even after eating!"

"Maybe the Dutch are trying to make peace!"

"Probably not. The Dutch will never give me what I want!"

"If the Dutch plan to form an alliance with us to deal with the Zheng family together, the commander-in-chief might as well give in and borrow their strength, and then settle the accounts with them after the Zheng family is eliminated!"

"No! If we want to deal with the Zheng family, I, Ning Haijun, are more than capable. We don't need their help! If they dare to interfere, I will kill them!"

"Commander, this is just a temporary measure..."

"I don't care! This is my bottom line. Anyone who dares to cross the line will be punished by me!"

Deal with the Dutch first, then deal with Zheng Zhilong. Cheng Shijie wants to recruit the Zheng family to surrender. Deal with Zheng Zhilong first. Ning Haijun will definitely suffer a lot of losses and avoid Zheng Zhilong's death. Even if Zheng Zhilong only has a few hundred warships left, as long as he escapes and follows him on the sea

Cheng Shijie played maritime guerrilla warfare, or raid warfare.

Then this battle will be endless, but it will give the Dutch a chance. You must know that the Netherlands truly became independent in 1648, which was also the second year of Yongli in the Southern Ming Dynasty. The key battle that laid the foundation for the rise of the Netherlands was the Battle of Downs.

, that is, the twelfth year of Chongzhen.

Now the imperial court has asked Cheng Shijie to return to the capital many times. Cheng Shijie has been in Nanyang for too long. He cannot stay like this forever.

Cheng Shijie also knew the real reason why Emperor Chongzhen asked Cheng Shijie to return to the capital. The imperial court appointed Chen Qiyu as Minister of War, governor of Shanshan, Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Sichuan. Together with Lu Xiangsheng, governor of Yunyang, they advanced by land and water to surround and attack the rebel army on all sides.

At first, Chen Qiyu tried his best to tell about the serious situation of famine and the rise of peasant soldiers thousands of miles from Yan'an to Yansui Town (Yulin). At this time, there were silver transported by Cheng Shijie and Gao Qiqian, and money transported by Liaodong.

Three million stones of grain gave Emperor Chongzhen the confidence to issue an edict exempting the Yan'an and Qingyang areas from the imperial land tax.

The people of Shanxi, who were nearly breathless under the heavy taxes of the imperial court, finally took a breath of relief. Since Emperor Chongzhen sent people to directly read out the imperial edict this time, almost all the people knew about the tax exemption. Since then, Shanxi refugees have been running away from the peasant army.

.

The battle to encircle and suppress the peasant army went very smoothly. Yu Wangjiacha beheaded Wang Chenggong's troops, and deputy commander Lu Wenshan annihilated and beheaded the rebel leaders Jie Shanhu, Liu Daozhi, Jin Yipeng and others.

Soon, Chen Qiyu sent guerrilla Chang Huaide to kill Xue Rengui, the leader of the rebel army; Dai Junen, who participated in politics, killed a dragon, a diamond, a mountain harrier, a black evil god, a tiger among men, and five kings of hell, and flew immediately; the captain of the capital, He Sixian, killed the king Deng Huai; and inspected Luo Shengchu.

Killing horses and red wolves, they flew all over the sky; Zhang Bojing, who participated in politics, killed many geese and captured Huang Canyao, flying across the ditch.

Guard Yan Shiheng and kill Zhang Cong, Fan Dengke, Fan Jirong, a piece of iron, a green-backed wolf, a pangolin, an old general, a second general, a sky full of stars, and a mountain tiger; guard Bai Shixiang and kill the sweeping tiger; guard Guo Jincheng and kill the sweeping tiger and Kuotian

Fly; guard Guo Tai kills the leaping tiger, the new general, roll on the spot, little yellow warbler, Fangri rabbit; guerrilla Luo Shixun kills Manager Jia, forces him to the sky, little red flag.

The other generals beheaded Caoshang Fei, One Tiger, One Wing Fei, Yunli Shou, Four Heavenly Kings, One-tailed Wolf, and the leaders of the peasant armies were basically wiped out.

Under Chen Qiyu's tactics of encirclement and suppression, Chen Qiyu led his deputy generals Yang Hualin, Liu Guozhen and others to station themselves in Yangxian County to prevent the rebels from escaping eastward. He also sent a message to Lian Guoshi, Lu Xiangsheng, and Xuanmo, asking them to guard key areas respectively.

, intercept the enemy and prevent them from escaping.

It can be said that even if the peasant army is not completely wiped out, it will be severely damaged. In history, it was precisely because Jian Nu attacked Datong and broke through the border that the Chongzhen Emperor was frightened, which made Chen Qiyu fail.

It's just a pity that even if there are no slaves to cause trouble, Chen Qiyu still wants to be greedy for great achievements and recruits and surrenders Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others. Since then, he has become a famous general of the Ming Dynasty ZTE.

Well, in fact, Chen Qiyu's greed for merit was also forced out by Cheng Shijie. Because Cheng Shijie's contribution was too great, the civil servants were overpowered by Cheng Shijie, and the Xungui Group, which had been suppressed by the civil servants for a long time, also faintly reared its head.

Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Chengguo, granted him the title of Crown Prince and Tutor, commanded the Governor's Office of the Left Army and the Prime Minister's Camp in Beijing. Chen Qiyu was pushed out by the civil service group to replace Lu Xiangsheng, and was prepared to be packaged as a Confucian general.

As a result, the joke got big. Just when the imperial court was preparing to celebrate and kill the peasant army, Gao Yingxiang broke out from Baoji and entered dozens of prefectures and counties in Guanzhong, Gongchang, Pingliang, Lintao, Fengxiang, and defeated He Renlong.

Zhang Tianli's army killed Lu Menglong of Guyuan Road, and the entire Guanzhong and northwest collapsed instantly.

Emperor Chongzhen issued three imperial edicts in succession, allowing Cheng Shijie to return to the capital.

Under this situation, Cheng Shijie actually didn't have much time. Although he could keep Li Zhixiang to continue fighting, the problem was that it involved foreign-related diplomatic work. Cheng Shijie had no way to fake this aspect with others. Xie Jinglin was more than capable of maneuvering, but

Lack of overall perspective.

Forget about his subordinates, there is nothing that can be done by others, and there is no great talent who can stand alone.

At this time, the warships on guard had already driven over with a small boat flying the Dutch flag. Since the bridge was too small, there was no way to build a trestle, so we had to climb the rope ladder to board the boat.

As the negotiator this time, it was Sidney, the former director of the Batavia Port Authority. He and Xie Jinglin came to the North Zhili together.

As soon as he boarded the ship, he praised the astonishing size and spacious deck of the North Zhili. This is not a compliment. The Netherlands is an old maritime power with a very developed shipbuilding industry and advanced technology. Whether a warship is good or bad depends on it.

They can tell at a glance.

Obviously, the design of the Beizhili is very advanced and its construction technology is so superb that even the guys from the established maritime powers are impressed by it.

"My lord, please pay homage to the commander-in-chief!"

“It’s been a hard journey!”

Sidney looked at Cheng Shijie. Cheng Shijie was wearing a purple official robe. However, this official robe looked a little out of place on Cheng Shijie. Sidney had traveled to Quanzhou with a caravan and met officials of the Ming Dynasty. Cheng Shijie

They were not as serious as the Ming Dynasty officials Sidney had seen, let alone the solemnity of those Ming Dynasty officials.

Cheng Shijie and Xie Jinglin were chatting about home affairs, seemingly carelessly. In a diplomatic situation, this was somewhat rude. Several members of the Dutch diplomatic corps who followed Sidney had unnatural expressions on their faces. It should not be said that they were unnatural.

It should be said that each of their faces is uglier than the other.

Only then did Sidney realize that the Duke's entourage actually numbered dozens of people! Moreover, these people were all in neat military uniforms and walking nimblely, and they looked like a small army!

Unlike the Dutch army, Cheng Shijie's personal troops did not actually use firearms, but armor and cold weapons. To be different, they each had four defensive grenades hanging on their waists, two of which were smoke grenades.

.

In addition to grenades, each person is equipped with a shield and a revolver, but this pistol is larger than an ordinary revolver.

Sidney bowed to Cheng Shijie and said, "Duke, I'm so happy to see you!"

West Germany continued in an exaggerated tone: "With respect, Your Majesty the Duke, I must admit that your craftsmen have built you an extremely powerful battleship! If you can own a hundred such battleships, you will become the overlord of the ocean!"

"I am working hard in this direction...so far I only have six warships of this level, and there are still ninety-four to go!"

Cheng Shijie said rudely: "You have worked so hard to come here, don't you just want to see my warships? Say what you have to say, and say it quickly. I have to go to war, and I don't have time to waste time!

"

Sidney was not used to Cheng Shijie's straight-to-the-point way of talking. According to the way Europeans talk, Cheng Shijie should follow their lead and brag about his warships, and talk to them about the development status and future of the world's shipbuilding industry.

direction, talk to them about today's weather, drink a few cups of tea, and then get to the point without leaving any trace, so that it looks elegant...

Cheng Shijie was good, he got straight to the point in less than three sentences!

Sidney forced a smile and said: "Dear Duke, as you expected, we have been ordered to come here to discuss important matters."

"Okay! Say it!"

"We come with sincerity for peace!"

"Where is your sincerity?"

"That pirate Zheng Zhilong has been running rampant in the South China Sea for more than ten years. The maritime merchants and coastal residents of Guangdong and Fujian who took this route have been tortured. Even those of us who have worked hard to come to Asia to do business cannot be punished.

They looted and killed, and we all hated him..."

"If you talk like this again, I will throw you into the sea. Let's get to the point!"

Sidney said: "To be honest with you, Your Excellency, although our warships are not large in number, they are fast and have fierce firepower. One ship can defeat ten of Zheng's ships, and one of our soldiers can defeat ten of them. We can attack from both sides."

Come on, even if the Zheng family has extraordinary abilities, they won’t be able to last long!”

"The debt you owe has not been repaid. It is impossible to cooperate with you!"

Xie Jinglin tried to smooth things over by saying, "Commander, it's easy to make enemies but not easy to make them..."

Cheng Shijie said calmly: "I am a peace-loving man. If the Dutch hadn't massacred the Chinese in Nanyang and seized the Chengfeng, I would never have sent troops!"

Not only did Sidney not believe this, but in fact, even Xie Jinglin and Li Zhixiang did not believe it. The Luzon incident was actually not a big problem. It was just that the five Spanish soldiers were not paid for food and even beat up the hotel clerk.

If this matter were dealt with in any country, it would not cause a war. At best, it would only punish the parties involved. As the saying goes, the forest is big and there are all kinds of birds. Even any king cannot guarantee that his subjects are all highly qualified talents.

But the problem is that Cheng Shi sent out troops, and when faced with problems that could be solved through negotiation, he sent troops directly. Although it was claimed that Cheng Shi acted recklessly, the problem is that in everyone's eyes, Cheng Shi received direct instructions from Cheng Shijie.

The same is true of the problem in Batavia now... It's just that Cheng Shijie's sincerity in the negotiation was not enough at the beginning, and the conditions he proposed were a bit excessive in Xie Jinglin's opinion.

Of course, Cheng Shijie could not admit it. He smiled faintly and said: "I will review it again. Although our Ming Dynasty has a population of 20 million, none of the subjects of our Ming Empire is redundant. Our Ming Dynasty has always loved peace. You have also seen it.

, We, the Ming Empire, have never taken the initiative to attack you. However, the problem is that you, the Dutch, are entrenched in the East Indies and rely on squeezing the East Indies to maintain your domestic luxury life. You wantonly massacre our Ming people and pressurize our ships. If the Dutch

It doesn't matter if a person's national power is strong, haha, please forgive me for being presumptuous, the world now is the law of the jungle, only with strength can you have a matching status!"

When Sidney faced Cheng Shijie's words, he didn't know how to answer.

Everyone understands the law of the jungle, but no one brings it to the table to openly discuss it. Cheng Shijie has torn through the warm veil of international law. The colonial system and the Three Emperors Alliance are all naked interests.
To be continued...