Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 752 Someone from the Palace
Zheng Hongkui had just arrived in the capital half a month ago. He came to the capital this time at the invitation of Xu Xiancheng. Xu Xiancheng had a good friend in Fujian, whom he met when he traveled to the south of the Yangtze River. The two of them had similar personalities and a deep friendship.

After that, Xu Xiancheng passed the imperial examination, became a Jinshi and was promoted step by step after becoming an official. He never lost contact with each other over the years, and they often exchanged letters and got along very well.

This time, Zhu Shenzhui first opened border trade in Shanxi, and then planned to open up the sea in Shandong to break through the situation with maritime trade. In order to ensure the expansion and stability of commercial routes such as Korea and Japan, and to appease Zheng Zhilong, Xu Xiancheng suggested to Zhu Shenzhui that he could win over the other party. If the maritime trade had the help of Zheng Zhilong, then the opening of the sea in Shandong would surely be twice as effective with half the effort.

For this reason, Xu Xiancheng proposed to appease Zheng Zhilong by using Zheng Hongkui. Zheng Hongkui was Zheng Zhilong's brother, but compared with Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Hongkui was more loyal to the court, and Zheng Hongkui was keen on status and position, and was an official fan, which was different from Zheng Zhilong. If Zheng Hongkui could intervene in the maritime trade, Zheng Zhilong would naturally not have any opinion on Shandong's maritime trade because of his brother, and would even help. After all, Zheng Zhilong had a lot of power in Japan, and most of the Japanese routes were originally controlled by him.

After considering this matter, Zhu Shenzhui agreed and asked Xu Xiancheng to write a letter to his friend in Fujian, inviting Zheng Hongkui to go north. If Zheng Hongkui could cooperate, he would not only be able to get a share of Shandong's maritime trade, but also be promoted.

Zheng Hongkui was immediately interested after receiving the letter, and went straight to his brother Zheng Zhilong to tell him about it. Although Zheng Zhilong did not comment on Zhu Shenzhui's previous attempt to win him over, in fact, Zheng Zhilong did not have any opinion about Zhu Shenzhui, but was cautious about him as a pirate who had stood firm for many years and transformed himself from a Ming official.

In Zheng Zhilong's view, although Zhu Shenzhui controlled the government as regent and stabilized the political situation of the Ming Dynasty, he was only one step away from taking over the throne. However, Zheng Zhilong felt that the current situation was still unclear. He did not know about the north, but he knew the attitude of the south towards Zhu Shenzhui. Let's not talk about ordinary people for now. Few of the gentry groups in the south, including officials, really obeyed the orders of the capital. Most of them pretended to obey or were just empty-handed. On the one hand, it was due to the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects. They believed that Zhu Shenzhui's actions were usurping the throne and that he was a traitor.

Secondly, it was also a way of observing and testing whether Zhu Shenzhui could really hold on to the position like Zhu Di did in the past. If they could not wait to surrender to him at this time, not to mention violating ethics, it would not be a good thing for them if Zhu Shenzhui eventually fell.

As a military general who was recruited, Zheng Zhilong's status and position were already somewhat awkward. If he openly surrendered to Zhu Shenzhui at this time, he would inevitably be criticized, and the attitude of officials from all over Fujian towards Zheng Zhilong would also change greatly. Many officials looked down on Zheng Zhilong's background. If he continued to do this, how could he have a foothold in the local area?
It was for these reasons that Zheng Zhilong had not expressed his position, but he did not reject Zhu Shenzhu's repeated solicitations, hoping not to offend either side and wait and see what would happen in the future. This time, Zhu Shenzhu asked Xu Xiancheng to write a letter to Zheng Hongkui through an intermediary, and informed him of the opening of Shandong and the court's intention to reuse him. Zheng Hongkui was moved to discuss with Zheng Zhilong, and Zheng Zhilong was also moved after understanding the situation. He felt that this was a good opportunity, and it was most appropriate for Zheng Hongkui to deal with this matter. Zheng Hongkui was his own brother, and his official position was only a hundred households. His going to the capital and Shandong would not have any impact on him, and even if it was spread, Zheng Zhilong could find a reason to shirk responsibility.

At the same time, he went to the capital through Zheng Hongkui to see the situation and establish connections there. Once Zhu Shenzhui really sat on the throne and became the ruler of the Ming Dynasty in the future, he could use this relationship to immediately defect to the capital, thus killing two birds with one stone.

Another point is that Shandong was opened to the sea. As a big pirate who traveled all over the world, Zheng Zhilong knew too well the huge profits from maritime trade. Moreover, the court's opening of the sea was completely different from private smuggling. The scale of maritime trade and the amount of profits brought by the court's combined strength were far beyond the reach of smuggling.

If this matter can be done well, it will not be a bad thing for the Zheng family. Moreover, they can take this opportunity to extend their tentacles from the South China Sea to the East China Sea. Why not do it?
In this way, with the permission of Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Hongkui set off quickly, took a ship directly to the north and arrived in Shandong soon. Then, after landing in Laizhou, Shandong, he met with Li Xin first. After seeing the preparations for Shandong to open the sea, he rushed to the capital.

When he arrived in the capital, he took the invitation to visit Xu Xiancheng. Xu Xiancheng personally hosted a banquet for Zheng Hongkui and had a good chat with him at the banquet.

After Xu Xiancheng's amiable attitude and frank announcement of Shandong's opening of the sea, Zheng Hongkui completely dispelled any remaining concerns and excitedly expressed his support for the court's opening of the sea. He took out a letter written by Zheng Zhilong before departure and handed it over, saying that Zheng Zhilong was willing to cooperate with the court and send people to communicate with Japan so that the court could quickly open up Japan's maritime trade and business routes after the sea opening.

Not only Xu Xiancheng was happy about this attitude, but even Zhu Shenzhui, who learned the news, was very satisfied. A few days later, the imperial court's decree came down, and Zheng Hongkui was promoted from a centurion to the magistrate of Laizhou, Shandong, which was a fourth-rank official position. You should know that he was originally just a centurion of the sixth rank, and he was directly promoted from a centurion to the magistrate, jumping several levels in a row. This made Zheng Hongkui, who had always been keen on official positions, very happy.

Not only was Zheng Hongkui given the post of pacifying Laizhou, he was also given a job in the Du Yu Si of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and held the official title of Yuanwailang.

Although Yuanwailang was only a fifth-rank official, three levels lower than the fourth-rank official position of Zhenfu, this official position belonged to a civil servant. In the Ming Dynasty, civil officials were valued and military officials were despised. The value of Yuanwailang's official position was much greater than that of Zhenfu, which made Zheng Hongkui smile so hard that he couldn't close his mouth.

As for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is not one of the six ministries of the real court, but directly under the inner court. The positions granted by the inner court are different from those of the outer court and are not recognized by the outer court. But Zheng Hongkui doesn't care about this at all. In his opinion, it doesn't matter whether it is the inner court or the outer court. He doesn't go to court. As long as the official position is real, it's fine. Besides, he will go to Shandong as soon as Shandong opens to the sea, and the capital will have nothing to do with him.

On this day, Zheng Hongkui was inviting Kang Youfu to a banquet and had specially invited a few dancers to accompany him. They were drinking and chatting happily.

Zheng Hongkui was not short of money. His elder brother Zheng Zhilong had been a pirate for so many years. It was no exaggeration to say that the Zheng family was rich enough to rival a country. After arriving in the capital, Zheng Hongkui first bought himself a house. The house was not small and the location was also very good in the capital. It cost him more than 100,000 taels of silver to buy household items and servants.

Although Zheng Hongkui was born in a humble family, he had read a few books, and now his status was different. He was not only a pacifier, but also a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was in a good mood. Kang Youfu was born as a businessman. Although Zheng Hongkui was born as a pirate, the pirates of the Zheng family were different from ordinary pirates. They were also big merchants. So the two had a lot in common in some aspects. In addition, Kang Youfu was the boss of his boss. How could he not please Kang Youfu if he was going to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the future?
Kang Youfu also knew the importance of Zheng Hongkui. As a businessman, he was very good at dealing with people and never put on airs in front of Zheng Hongkui. The two sides had been dating for a while and their relationship was getting better and better. Today, Zheng Hongkui specially invited Kang Youfu to a banquet, and Kang Youfu gladly attended the banquet, giving Zheng Hongkui enough face.

On the table was a feast of the finest food sent from the most famous restaurant in the capital, they were drinking the favorite wine of the literati, and accompanied by graceful and beautiful dancers. Zheng Hongkui and Kang Youfu were laughing and chatting happily.

"Sir Kang, this glass of wine is for you. I hope you will take care of me in the future." Zheng Hongkui picked up the wine pot and filled Kang Youfu's glass, then picked up the wine beside him and said with a smile.

"What are you talking about, Lord Zheng? I need your care in the future. Although I am the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I am far inferior to Lord Zheng. Lord Zheng is now the governor of Laizhou, which is a hereditary position in the garrison. This alone makes him much better than me."

"In addition, this time the regent decided to open the sea in Shandong. I know nothing about opening the sea, so I need Lord Zheng to take care of this matter. I should rely on Lord Zheng's talent."

"Sir Kang's words make me feel ashamed. Sir Kang is my superior, how can I bear it!" Zheng Hongkui said with a smile on his face.

"I can afford it! I can afford it!" Kang Youfu said seriously, "If Lord Zheng can't afford it, who else in the world can afford it? Come on, come on, today I will borrow flowers to offer to Buddha and toast to Lord Zheng!"

"I dare not, I dare not. I should respect you, sir."

"How about this... how about you and I drink together? Since today is a family dinner, there is no need to talk about who is the best and who is not. I am a little older than Brother Zheng, so I will be generous enough to call you my brother. How about that?"

Zheng Hongkui was delighted and nodded repeatedly: "That's great, I won't be polite, sir... No! Brother, I respect you!"

"Let's drink together!"

"Hahaha!"

The two men clinked their wine glasses together, raised their hands and drank together. After they finished the wine in the glass, they showed each other their smiles and burst into laughter at the same time.

They were drinking happily when suddenly Zheng Hongkui's people came to report that someone from the palace had come and wanted to see Zheng Hongkui.

Zheng Hongkui was stunned when he heard this. Kang Youfu, who was standing next to him, reacted first and reminded Zheng Hongkui to ask someone to come in immediately to see what was going on.

Zheng Hongkui immediately followed suit and asked his men to bring someone in. After the person arrived, Kang Youfu recognized who the other person was at a glance. Wasn't he Deng Wenyuan, the younger brother of the new imperial guard, Dingyuan Marquis Deng Wenming?
After Zhu Shenzhui changed the Han generals into imperial guards, many sons of nobles in the capital joined them to serve as imperial guards. Although most of these people were nephews or brothers of nobles, their influence was not small. Moreover, many of them were not from the direct line of the family and could not inherit the title. If they wanted to continue their wealth and honor, they could only rely on themselves to make a name for themselves.

In the past, the most that the Beijing troops could do was to get by, and at best they could end up with a hereditary position as a centurion or a thousand-man garrison commander. But now that there is a career path to becoming an imperial guard, any noble son with a bit of ambition would definitely miss it.

Deng Wenyuan is one of them. He is the illegitimate son of Marquis Dingyuan. After his brother Deng Wenming inherited the title, his position in the Marquis Dingyuan's mansion was very awkward. Fortunately, Deng Wenming was quite good to his illegitimate brother who was ten years younger than him. But as he grew older, no matter how good his brother treated him, he still had to rely on himself. So after the establishment of the Imperial Guard, Deng Wenyuan was moved when he heard about it, and found Deng Wenming to recommend him. Zhu Shenzhui asked someone to check Deng Wenyuan's situation. Compared with other dandies, Deng Wenyuan was quite good. In order to win over the nobles, he agreed to this matter. Now Deng Wenyuan is a second-class guard in the palace and has a formal military position.

(End of this chapter)