Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 178: Walking Alone
Zheng's study room, it was already midnight, the lights in the study room were brightly lit
Yin Daqi stood in the room, reporting to Zheng Zhilong about the situation of Shi Fu and others. After Zheng Zhilong heard what Yin Daqi said, his face suddenly darkened, and he suddenly spoke angrily

"I shouldn't have listened to the third brother and established the King of Tang."

"If we had driven the Tang King away and surrendered to the Qing court, there wouldn't be so many problems now."

Zheng Zhilong had an angry look on his face. Although his power had greatly increased after he welcomed Longwu to the throne, he would face a backlash if he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

After welcoming Longwu, not only did Zheng Zhilong suddenly change from a local general to a duke, but also the generals under his command were promoted and rewarded one by one.
Shi Fu, the Earl of Wuyi, Huang Ting, the Earl of Yong'an, Yang Geng, the Commander-in-Chief of the Front Army, and even ordinary generals like Zhou Hezhi and Xin Yigen were all promoted to titled generals.
These generals had obtained official titles from the Ming court and had a legitimate background. Although they still did not dare to disobey him, they were obviously inclined to the Ming court and were unwilling to follow him in surrendering to the Qing court.

Shi Fu said he didn't want to shave his head, Huang Ting said the Qing court couldn't be trusted, Yang Geng asked him to falsely surrender and wait and see the situation

Aren't these three people still saying that they don't want to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and hope to surrender to the Ming Dynasty again when they have the chance?
He just didn't understand what was so special about the Ming court. The Longwu Emperor fled all the way to the south and was able to ascend the throne only with the support of Zheng Zhilong, but after ascending the throne, the Longwu Emperor was wary of him like a thief.

The group of civil officials were also arrogant. On the surface, they respected him as a duke, but in private, they looked down on him, a Duke of Ping who came from a pirate family. A few pedantic civil officials dared to compete with him for seats, and the Emperor Longwu even favored those civil officials.

Since everyone in the Ming court looked down on him as a pirate and a bandit, why should Zheng Zhilong flatter the officials of Longwu? If he is not wanted here, he will find other places to go. Zheng Zhilong has plenty of places to go!
In fact, his decision to surrender to the Qing Dynasty was the result of careful consideration. Although he had hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command, his own family knew their own affairs.
The people under his command came from all kinds of backgrounds. Some of them were former pirates on the sea, and they came here in groups.

The so-called hundreds of thousands of people, in addition to the young and strong men who can fight, actually include a large number of women and children in the families of the young and strong men. This is the true quality of Zheng's hundreds of thousands of troops.
The land division of Shi Fu, Yang Geng and others is okay, most of them are young and strong, but the navy is full of water.
Many people along the coast of Fujian Province live on boats. The so-called warships under his command are often occupied by soldiers and their families, young and old. All these people together make up the hundreds of thousands of troops that his Zheng family claims to have.

Moreover, the people under his command are all very good at naval warfare, but they know nothing about land warfare.

All the generals in his army were from the navy. Even Shi Fu, who was leading the land army, was also from the navy. These people did not understand the training methods of the land army at all.

The army under Zheng's command is probably not even as good as the army in the south of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention the Qing Dynasty that wiped out the elite Ming Dynasty border troops.

However, once the Zheng family went to war with the Qing Dynasty, they had to rely on the land forces to fight.
Once Zheng was defeated in Fujian, Zheng Zhilong would have to abandon his business in Fujian for decades and flee back to the sea to become a pirate without a fixed place to stay. This was something Zheng Zhilong could never accept.
He surrendered to the Qing at this time, in fact, he was also seeking a way out for Zheng's people. If he didn't take advantage of the more than 100,000 people under Zheng's command to scare the Qing court and quickly surrender for a good price, once the Qing army saw through his true strength in the future, he would probably not even have the chance to surrender.

When Zheng Zhilong thought of this, he no longer hesitated. As long as he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in Fuzhou and made the matter a foregone conclusion, Shi Fu and others would have no choice but to follow him no matter how reluctant they were.
Zheng's money and grain were all in his hands. With him on top, he didn't believe that Shi Fu and others would dare to rebel.
Zheng Zhilong let out a long breath, and then stopped thinking about Shi Fu and the others. He glanced at Yin Daqi who was standing silently below, and spoke again.

"Besides Shi Fu and others, what else is going on in the mansion?"

Yin Daqi heard this and spoke softly

"After today's meeting, the Third Master and the Young Master discussed for a while in the room. After the Young Master left the Third Master's courtyard, he left a letter in the room, then hid in a caravan and secretly left the city."

"I sent someone to follow them all the way and found that the caravan was just hiding. After the young master left the city, he quietly returned to the city and is now hiding in a small courtyard in the east of the city."

After Yin Daqi finished speaking, he placed envelopes on the table. Zheng Zhilong took the envelopes on the table, tore them open, took out the letter paper, and scanned the contents of the letter in a few seconds.
After Zheng Zhilong read the contents of the letter, he was furious and shouted
"Okay, it's really a good plan. This rebellious son didn't use his plan to deal with outsiders, but used it on his own father."

Zheng Zhilong slammed the letter on the table. In the letter, Zheng Chenggong said that the Qing invaders were approaching and the situation was getting more critical, so he was going to Kinmen to prepare for war.
However, considering Zheng Chenggong's subsequent actions, Zheng Zhilong could see that Zheng Chenggong was afraid of being forcibly taken to Fuzhou by him, so he quietly went out and sneaked back into the city. If Zheng Zhilong really followed what was said in the letter, he would probably not find any trace of Zheng Chenggong even if he searched Kinmen.

"The treasonous son, the treasonous son"

"And that third brother, does he really think I dare not touch him?"

Zheng Zhilong roared again and again, and Yin Daqi looked at the furious Zheng Zhilong and spoke in a deep voice

"I have sent someone to secretly monitor the courtyard where the young master is. Do you need me to invite the young master back?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong was about to ask Yin Daqi to capture Zheng Chenggong, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly stopped.

Zheng Zhilong sat at the desk with a gloomy face, his expression uncertain. After a long while, he snorted coldly and said:
"Don't worry about him!"

"Since this rebellious son wants to leave, let him go. It would be best if he never comes back. I want to see how long he can stay gone."

Zheng Zhilong had a gloomy look on his face. Although his subordinates all said that the Qing invaders could not be trusted, he was not shaken at all.

The reason why he decided to surrender to the Qing Dynasty was not because he felt that the Qing court was trustworthy. In fact, he never trusted anyone.
The reason why he decided to go to Fuzhou in person was because the Qing court had no navy at all. As long as the Qing court still wanted to maintain stability in the seas of Fujian and Guangdong provinces, it could only persuade Zheng Zhilong to surrender.
This is the real reason why Zheng Zhilong dared to go to Fuzhou. Compared with the so-called trustworthiness and untrustworthiness, these practical considerations of interests are the most trustworthy.

Although he did not think there would be any danger in going to Fuzhou, the fact that Zheng Zhilong went there in person showed his sincerity, so there was no need to bring Zheng Chenggong, the rebellious son, with him.
Zheng Zhilong thought of Zheng Chenggong and became furious again. After he got the seal of the Governor of Fujian and Guangdong from the Qing court and conquered Guangdong Province, he would see what the third brother and the rebellious son would say.

Zheng Zhilong snorted coldly when he thought of this, and stopped thinking about Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Zhilong looked at Yin Daqi below and spoke in a cold voice

"After you go down, find 500 elite soldiers in the army and follow me to Fuzhou."

"The people in the Qing court attach great importance to shaving one's head, so all these 500 people have to shave their heads before they set out."

"Remember, the five hundred people I choose must not only be loyal and reliable, but also smart. Don't shave your hair and cause trouble for me."

Zheng Zhilong snorted coldly, and Yin Daqi also responded respectfully.
Seeing that Zheng Zhilong had no more instructions, Yin Daqi bowed, left the room, and went to prepare for the trip to Fuzhou.

As the news of Zheng Zhilong's surrender to the Qing Dynasty spread, there was an uproar in Anping City, but this did not have any impact on Zheng Zhilong at all. On the morning of November 10th, under the gaze of all parties in the city, Zheng Zhilong left Anping City with 500 cavalrymen and rushed towards Fuzhou.
(End of this chapter)