Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 176 Private Plan
In the side courtyard of the Zheng Mansion, Zheng Hongkui pushed open the door and walked into the study. When Zheng Chenggong saw Zheng Hongkui walking in, he immediately stood up and walked forward, speaking in a hurry.

"Uncle San, what's going on?"

Zheng Hongkui looked at Zheng Chenggong who looked anxious, but he sighed softly and shook his head slightly.
"Your father has already decided to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and before the meeting, your father contacted the generals in the army in advance. During the meeting today, everyone raised their hands in agreement."

"Your father will leave for Fuzhou in three days to meet the Qing court prince."

Zheng Chenggong was stunned for a long while when he heard this, and then he stamped his feet fiercely, his face full of anger, and said in a hateful voice:
"He gave up being the Duke of the Ming Dynasty and insisted on being a dog for those Tartars. What on earth was he thinking? What kind of drug did those Tartars feed him?"

"No, I'm going to persuade him again."

"My Zheng family has been greatly favored by the imperial court. Now, our family is full of nobles. Is there any family in the world that is more noble than our Zheng family? If our Zheng family surrenders to the Tartars like this, won't we become a laughing stock in the world?"

Zheng Chenggong was about to walk out of the room, but before he could move, Zheng Hongkui stopped him.

"It's useless. I've already told your father everything I need to say. You don't know your father's temper. Once he makes a decision, he won't allow anyone to disobey him."

"The more you persuade him, the more he thinks you have ulterior motives. Now your father even suspects me."

Zheng Hongkui sat down on the chair with a lonely look on his face. When Zheng Chenggong saw Zheng Hongkui's appearance and recalled his persuasion in the room that day, he also felt discouraged and sat down on the chair.
Zheng Hongkui looked at Zheng Chenggong who was silent opposite him and sighed.

"Your father has taken some kind of magic drug, but he has been obsessed with the position of Governor of Fujian and Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty."

"But he didn't think about it. He had hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command, all of whom were Han Chinese. How could those Tartars allow him to control two provinces alone?"

"Besides, your father controls the navy, which the Qing court lacks the most. If your father wants to rebel in the future, the Qing court will not even have a way to check and balance your father."

"Throughout the dynasties, any court that wanted to unify the world would never be willing to hand over such a lifeline to others, and which court could accommodate a country within a country like your father?"

"It would be fine if your father didn't go to Fuzhou, but once he went, he would be controlled by others. The Qing court would definitely hold your father hostage and divide up the army and navy of my Zheng family."

"Once the Qing government takes away your father's soldiers, where will he go to fulfill his dream of becoming the governor of Fujian and Guangdong?"

After Zheng Hongkui finished speaking, the two people in the room fell silent. They had already told Zheng Zhilong all these things, but Zheng Zhilong just wouldn't listen.
Zheng Zhilong always used the time when he surrendered to the Ming court as a pirate to justify his actions. He believed that the Qing court was the same as the Ming court. As long as they did not want to cause chaos in the sea, they would not dare to touch him. Therefore, he would not listen to others' advice and insisted on going to Fuzhou to surrender to the Qing court.
Can these two things be the same thing? Not to mention that most of the Zheng family's power has now been transferred to land. Even the navy members and their families have settled in Fujian Province. It is far from the state of using ships as homes and traveling around the world.

Just talking about surrender, why was it okay for Zheng Zhilong to surrender to the Ming court as a pirate?

Because at that time, all the people in the Fujian government had been bribed by the Zheng family. Before Zheng Zhilong went there, he already knew that the Ming court was indeed willing to appease the Ming court, so he went there happily.
But now they were completely in the dark about the Qing court. Apart from knowing that there was a Boluo Beile in charge in Fuzhou, they knew nothing about the rest of the situation.

Under such circumstances, Zheng Zhilong actually believed that the Qing court was indeed willing to surrender, just by relying on the words of a few surrendered gentry. He decided to go to Fuzhou to surrender in person, which was simply a joke with his own life.
Of course, these are just the opinions of Zheng Hongkui and others. No one can predict what the Qing court’s attitude is now. What if the Qing court really gave Fujian and Guangdong to Zheng Zhilong in order to pacify the southern provinces as soon as possible?
This is something that no one can say for sure, and it is precisely because of this that they cannot persuade Zheng Zhilong at all.
The two were silent for a while. Zheng Hongkui glanced at Zheng Chenggong opposite him and suddenly said

"Your father really said that day that he would take you to Fuzhou"

"Even if I die, I will never do anything Tartar with him."

Zheng Chenggong heard this and his face was filled with anger. He said angrily:
Zheng Hongkui looked at Zheng Chenggong opposite him, his expression darkened, and he said again
"If the Qing court really appoints your father as the Governor of Fujian and Guangdong, what will you do?"

"Then let him be the governor of Fujian and Guangdong. The late emperor personally gave me my surname and showed endless favor to my Zheng family. He may have forgotten it, but I haven't. Anyway, I will never be a Tartar," Zheng Chenggong said firmly. At this time, Zheng Chenggong was only 22 years old, far from the self-serving Guoxingye who would show respect to Yongli and exercise his power more than a decade later.

In the 11th year of Chongzhen, Zheng Chenggong passed the Nan'an County Examination and became a student of Nan'an County. After that, Zheng Zhilong spent a lot of money to make him a disciple of Qian Qianyi.

Qian Qianyi was a world-renowned scholar at the time, and Zheng Chenggong followed the orthodox path of a scholar in his early years.
According to records from Zheng Chenggong's classmates, when he was a student, he traveled to Fujian Province. Whenever he arrived at a place, he would call his friends to discuss essays and compose poems. They would stay together in bed, rain or shine, without a break.

It is obvious that the Zheng family was planning to let Zheng Chenggong take the path of civil official examination and enter the officialdom, and Zheng Chenggong himself was also happy with it.
In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, four years ago, Zheng Chenggong was eighteen years old and went to Fuzhou to take part in the provincial examination.
At that time, Zheng Zhilong was already a governor, and the Zheng family's maritime trade business was thriving, earning more than a fortune every day. The Zheng family was as rich as a prince, making friends with the nobles far away and intimidating the locals. They were very popular and had no equal in Fujian Province.

When Zheng Chenggong entered Fuzhou from Quanzhou to take the provincial examination, the postal and communication offices were all prepared by the officials. When he entered the examination room, the supervisor sent a clerk to the examination room to greet him and ask the students in the same room to draft the examination documents for him.
Even in the examination room, Zheng Chenggong was fed with rare fruits and delicacies. He only ate and drank all day, and left the examination room when he missed a chance. He was called back to his residence. His prestige was so great.
However, Zheng Chenggong's behavior ultimately displeased the examiner at the time, and he failed to pass the provincial examination.

But it can also be seen from this that before Zheng Chenggong escaped from the shadow of Zheng Zhilong, he was completely a nobleman.

At this time, Zheng Chenggong was an extremely orthodox scholar. Since Jiashen, all the scholars in the world were indignant at the time and they all shouted and called for the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, the expulsion of the Eastern Tartars, and the restoration of the Central Plains.
Zheng Chenggong's teachers and friends all took it as their responsibility to restore the orthodoxy of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Chenggong was naturally influenced by his teachers and friends and was extremely disgusted with surrendering to the Qing Dynasty.

By the time Zheng Chenggong burned his Confucian robes and went to sea, he began to take over the power of the Zheng family, began to taste the taste of power, and later became the self-serving Guo Xing Ye. That was after Zheng Zhilong was captured by the Qing court and taken to the capital.
Zheng Hongkui saw that Zheng Chenggong's expression did not seem to be false. He was silent for a moment, and suddenly spoke

"In my opinion, if your father goes to Fuzhou, he will definitely be captured by the Qing government. After the Qing government captures your father, they will definitely use your father as a threat to split up my Zheng family's army."

"My Zheng family has fought hard for more than ten years, and countless people have sacrificed their lives to achieve today's prosperity. We cannot let the Qing government destroy us like this."

"Whether the Qing court is sincere in trying to appease your father, no one knows. If the Qing court really appoints your father as the Governor of Fujian and Guangdong, we will eventually have to shave our heads and keep our braids, which is unworthy of the late emperor's kindness, but this result is not bad for our Zheng family."

"But we should be prepared for the worst. You are the eldest son of the Zheng family. I'm sure all the generals in the army will obey you."

"If your father is really captured by the Qing invaders, then you must stand up and take over the Zheng family's banner. You must not let my Zheng family disband."

Zheng Chenggong looked at Zheng Hongkui, who looked serious, with a look of astonishment on his face.
He originally thought that Zheng Hongkui would encourage him by offering loyalty to the emperor as he had done before, but he never expected that Zheng Hongkui would say these words.

After hearing what Zheng Hongkui said, Zheng Chenggong suddenly felt that his uncle seemed a little strange.
He vaguely felt that his uncle, who was a military scholar, was not what he had thought.
However, Zheng Hongkui did not notice his nephew's expression at this time. He looked thoughtful and continued to speak.

"Your father has always been a dictator. Since he said he wants you to go to Fuzhou, I'm afraid he will really take you away by force. You have to be on guard."

"You can't stay in the mansion any longer. I will arrange for you to leave the city secretly. Your father is in a hurry to go to Fuzhou to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. If he can't find you in the next few days, he will have to go to Fuzhou by himself."

"Oh, did you hear that?"

Seeing his nephew in a daze, Zheng Hongkui reminded him softly that Zheng Chenggong's name was Da Mu.

"My nephew knows."

Zheng Chenggong came to his senses after hearing what Zheng Hongkui said, and responded in a muffled voice:

Zheng Hongkui had no idea why his nephew suddenly looked so downcast. He thought he was still disappointed about Zheng Zhilong's surrender to the Qing Dynasty.

Zheng Hongkui looked at Zheng Chenggong, who looked depressed, but did not think much about it. After finishing his instructions, he left in a hurry and arranged for someone to escort Zheng Chenggong out of the city.
(End of this chapter)