Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 175 Disregard
As soon as Zheng Zhilong finished speaking, the three generals on the right, including Shi Fu, all stood up and responded.
Shi Fu and the other two were embarrassed when they saw the people beside them stand up at the same time. They looked at each other and understood.
After the three of them responded, their faces quickly regained their composure and they sat back down.

Why did the three of them all stand up and respond as soon as Zheng Zhilong finished speaking? Because Zheng Zhilong had sent someone to tell them yesterday.
As Zheng Zhilong's generals, they don't need to have their own ideas. Zheng Hongkui can oppose Zheng Zhilong, but they absolutely cannot.

If they dared to question Zheng Zhilong, even if they were supporting Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Hongkui would probably support Zheng Zhilong and drive them out of the Zheng family.
Zheng Zhilong saw the three generals on the right side accepting the order, and a look of satisfaction flashed in his eyes. Shi Fu and others had been following Zheng Zhilong as generals since they were teenagers.

To put it bluntly, in Zheng Zhilong's mind, Shi Fu and other foreign generals are probably more trustworthy than his brother Zheng Hongkui.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong had already asked everyone in the hall, and he no longer hesitated and said

"Surrendering to the Qing Dynasty is a major matter concerning the future of our Zheng family. This matter is of great importance, and I, Zheng, cannot make a unilateral decision."

"Everyone here is my Zheng family's right-hand man. If this is the case, then we will vote on whether my Zheng family will serve the Qing court."

Zheng Zhilong glanced at the people in the field, his face became serious, and he continued to speak.

"The Qing invaders are powerful and have the potential to dominate the Central Plains. It is unwise to use Fujian Province to fight against the whole world. For the sake of the safety and future of my Zheng family, I think we should surrender to the Qing court."

After Zheng Zhilong finished speaking, he raised his hand directly, and Shi Fu, Huang Ting, Yang Geng and the other three below also raised their right hands immediately. Zheng Tai on the left also raised his hand directly to show his agreement.
Several people below raised their hands in agreement. Only Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Cai were left sitting on the chairs, and they did not express their opinions.
Zheng Zhilong ignored Zheng Hongkui on his left and looked directly at Zheng Cai below, with a cold light flashing in his eyes.

At this moment, everyone in the hall was looking at Zheng Cai. Zheng Cai felt everyone's gaze and his expression tightened slightly. He glanced at everyone in the room, suddenly stood up, and spoke in a deep voice.

"Brother asked me to vote, I dare not disobey, but before the vote, I have something I must say."

"The Qing court is a barbarian outside the Great Wall. They are always cunning and untrustworthy. I think the Qing court is absolutely untrustworthy!"

"If it were up to me to choose, I would not want to surrender to the Qing, but since my brother thinks I should serve the Qing court, then I should follow him."

"I don't believe in the Qing court, but I believe in you, brother!"

After Zheng Cai finished speaking, he also raised his right hand
Zheng Zhilong's eyes flashed with coldness when he heard the first half of Zheng Cai's words, but after hearing the second half of Zheng Cai's words, his expression relaxed.

Although Zheng Cai had his objections, he didn't dare to oppose him in the end. In fact, he knew that Zheng Taishifu and others also had these thoughts in their hearts, but they didn't dare to say them in front of him.
The fact that Zheng Cai dared to say it to him face to face made him feel more at ease than others.

Zheng Zhilong looked at Zheng Cai who raised his right hand below, his expression relaxed, and he spoke softly

"I know what you mean, brother. I will handle all the discussions with the Qing court. After all, the Qing court is from outside the Great Wall. It is understandable that you brothers do not trust the Qing court."

"But since I am personally handling this matter, I will not joke with myself. I am confident about this matter, so you don't have to worry too much, brother."

Zheng Zhilong explained softly, and then his expression turned cold as he looked at the only person on the left side of the hall who had not raised his hand.

Zheng Hongkui saw everyone looking at him, his expression darkened, he was silent for a moment, and finally raised his right hand.
At this time, everyone in the room had raised their hands to agree. Whether he objected or not, the matter was a foregone conclusion. If he still insisted on not agreeing, he would be challenging Zheng Zhilong's authority.
He raised his hand at this time not because he was persuaded by Zheng Zhilong to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but because he did not want to lose Zheng Zhilong's prestige in front of outsiders.

Zheng Zhilong was relieved when he saw Zheng Hongkui raised his hand to agree. He then showed a happy expression on his face. Without waiting for anyone to speak, he spoke directly.

"Now that the plan has been made, there should be no other thoughts."

"When you return to the camp later, inform the generals in the camp of this matter and appease the camp. Do not let the soldiers in the army disturb it."

"Three days later, I will set off for Fuzhou to meet with the Qing court's Boluo Beile"

"This trip will take at least ten days or at most half a month. When you return to the camp, you will immediately start to prepare your military equipment. When I return from Fuzhou, I will immediately send troops to capture Guangdong Province!"

The people below were silent, but Zheng Zhilong was full of vigor and vitality. He glanced at the people below and spoke again.

"You all know what kind of person I am, Zheng. As long as I, Zheng Zhilong, am here, I will never mistreat my brothers."

"Since I, Zheng Zhilong, can lead you to be dukes in the Ming court, I can also lead you to be dukes in the Qing court, and do it for a longer time."

"As long as we take over Guangdong Province this time, the land of Fujian and Guangdong will become the family heritage of my brothers and I for generations to come."

Zheng Zhilong's face was full of energy, and he loudly promised everyone in the hall, and everyone had no choice but to stand up and salute in response.
Zheng Zhilong saw that the morale of the crowd seemed to have recovered a little, so he said no more. He gave a few more instructions to let everyone calm down the army, then ended the meeting and turned to leave the hall. The main seat above was empty, but everyone was still sitting in the hall.

Everyone in the hall had a blank expression on their faces. No one spoke, but no one stood up and left. The hall was completely silent.

After a while, there was a sudden bang from above. Zheng Hongkui suddenly slapped the table and stood up with an angry look on his face.

"Brother is really...really..."

Zheng Hongkui said "really" several times, but after glancing at the people in the field, he still didn't say what he wanted to say.
Although today's vote seemed to be unanimously agreed by the Zheng family, everyone present knew that this was a resolution that Zheng Zhilong forced through with his own prestige.

Zheng Hongkui ignored the gazes of the crowd, stood up, glared at Zheng Zhibao below, and left.

Seeing Zheng Hongkui's gaze, Zheng Zhibao gave a wry smile, stood up and chased Zheng Hongkui out of the hall.

Zheng Hongkui had already approached him in advance and asked him to express his refusal to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. However, Zheng Hongkui came to him, and Zheng Zhilong also came to him in advance. He was caught between his two brothers, what could he do?

Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Zhibao left one after another. Zheng Cai glanced at the silent generals in the field, his eyes flickered slightly, and then he stood up and left without any expression.

When Zheng Tai saw the three Zheng family members leave, he sighed, shook his head slightly, stood up, and walked out of the hall.
As the Zheng family members on the left left one after another, only Shi Fu, Huang Ting and three other generals from other families were left in the hall.
Shi Fu glanced at Yin Daqi who was standing at one side of the hall, and suddenly said

"The important affairs of the palace have always been decided by Master Zheng. Master Zheng thinks that we should serve the Qing court at this time, and we should obey him."

"But the people of Fujian Province have always valued their ancestors. I heard that the Qing court required all those who surrendered to shave their heads. If this is implemented in the army, the soldiers may be disturbed."

"For the sake of military morale, even if they have pledged their allegiance to the Qing court, they should be allowed to keep their hair, so as not to damage morale and people's hearts."

"All the soldiers in our army feel the same way. Brother Hua Ming, I wonder what the situation is like in your army."

Shi Fu talked to himself for a while, then looked at Huang Ting who was standing beside him.
Yin Daqi, who was standing at one side, heard Shi Fu suddenly speak, and his expression changed slightly, but then quickly returned to normal. He directed the servants as if nothing had happened, pouring tea and water for the people in the hall, as if he had not heard Shi Fu's words at all.

Huang Ting was also stunned when he saw Shi Fu suddenly speak, but then he quickly reacted, glanced at Yin Daqi next to him, thought for a moment, and then said

"Brother Kunyu is right. The decision on such a major matter as joining the Qing court should be made by Master Zheng, and we, the generals, will follow his orders."

"But the Qing court is after all a people outside the Great Wall, and their customs are very different from those of the people in the Central Plains. Shaving their heads suddenly at this time may make the soldiers uneasy. Many of my soldiers also feel the same way."

"Besides, the people of the Qing court are not of our race after all, so we must be on guard against them. However, I think that Mr. Zheng should think twice about surrendering to the Qing court."

After Huang Ting finished speaking, he also sat in silence and did not speak any more.

When Yang Geng saw the two people talking to themselves, he turned his eyes and said
"The Qing court is now powerful. Mr. Zheng wants to serve the Qing court for our safety. We dare not say anything."

"Although the Ming court was weak, it still had people's support, and it was still unclear which of the two sides was stronger, Ming or Qing."

"Now that the Qing army is approaching, why not submit a petition to the Qing court and ask for surrender first, so that the Qing court will temporarily stop its offensive"

"Emperor Zheng has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but he only occupies Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, which shows his obedience. If the Qing court really wants to pacify him, as long as the surrender is delivered, they will not raise troops to attack."

"In this way, we can sit back and watch the situation in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou. We can attack or defend. Why would Mr. Zheng go to Fuzhou and put himself in danger?"

The three of them talked to themselves, each of them spoke for a while. After Yang Geng finished speaking, the three of them looked at each other, then stood up and left the hall together.
Zheng Zhilong hastily decided to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, leaving them no time to react. Although they did not dare to disobey Zheng Zhilong's wishes and voted in favor of today's vote, this did not mean that they had no opinion on the matter.

The three of them knew that Yin Daqi was Zheng Zhilong's personal guard and spy. After Zheng Zhilong left, he left Yin Daqi in the hall, perhaps with the intention of monitoring everyone's reaction.
The three of them were talking to each other in the hall just now, expressing their opinions to Zheng Zhilong through Yin Daqi.

Shi Fu reminded Zheng Zhilong that the army was very resentful about shaving their heads and that they needed to ask the Qing court for the right to be exempted from shaving their heads.

Huang Tingzai told Zheng Zhilong that the Qing court was a foreign race outside the Great Wall and should not be trusted easily and should be more cautious.
Yang Geng suggested that Zheng Zhilong pretend to submit to the Qing court, but actually wait and see, and not surrender to the Qing court completely when the situation is unclear.

Yin Daqi looked at the figures of Shi Fu and the other two leaving, his eyes flickered slightly, and then he turned around and headed towards the backyard.
(End of this chapter)