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

Chapter 946 Little Ryukyu

Although a decision has been made on how to deal with Xiong Wencan, the issues mentioned in Xiong Wencan's memorial still need to be resolved.

Wen Tiren has sent people to verify it, but even if the verified news has not come yet, Zhu Shenzhui knows in his heart that what Xiong Wencan said cannot be false.

Firstly, Xiong Wencan didn't have the guts to lie, as this was no small matter. Secondly, although other people didn't know about this matter, Zhu Shenzhu knew it very well, and what Xiong Wencan said in his memorial was the truth.

In his memorial, Xiong Wencan informed the court that there were red-haired devils from the West causing trouble on Xiaoliuqiu. They landed on the island and caused trouble, built a city on the island, bullied the people of the Ming Dynasty, and committed many massacres and looting. The islanders could not bear the humiliation and rose up in resistance, but the gap in strength between the two sides was too great, and the islanders were no match for the red-haired devils, and suffered heavy casualties.

Nowadays, many islanders have either fled from the places occupied by the red-haired demons and gone to hide in other places, or have been captured by the red-haired demons and enslaved, helping them build cities and open up wasteland. Some islanders have ventured across the sea and come to Fujian to seek help from the Ming court, hoping that the court will send troops to Xiaoliuqiu to rule for the people on the island, eradicate this trouble, and drive out the red-haired demons.

When Xiong Wencan received the news, he had just resigned from his post in Fujian and was preparing to take up his post in Guangdong and Guangxi. Xiaoliuqiu was not part of the Ming mainland and could be said to be an overseas place, but because most of the people on the island, except for the natives, were Fujianese, it was natural for it to be governed by Fujian according to its distance and convention.

Therefore, the matter of Xiaoliuqiu should have been handled by the Fujian government, but Xiong Wencan was no longer the Left Governor, and the new successor had not yet arrived in Fujian. After receiving the news from Xiaoliuqiu, Xiong Wencan was furious, but could do nothing, so he wrote this memorial, hoping that the court would pay attention to this matter and send troops to Xiaoliuqiu to solve the problem of the red-haired demons on the island.

Xiaoliuqiu is actually Taiwan, and this name has existed since ancient times.

The red-haired devils mentioned in Xiong Wencan’s memorial were none other than the Dutch.

In the second year of the Tianqi reign, the Dutch fought a war with the Ming Dynasty. The Dutch, who occupied Penghu at that time, suddenly attacked Xiamen, Fujian. At that time, the Xiamen defenders resisted stubbornly. The Dutch military operation to occupy Xiamen failed, but it also brought heavy losses to Xiamen. Among them, more than 70 merchant ships that happened to be in Xiamen were sunk by the Dutch, and the defenders also suffered heavy casualties.

Nan Juyi, the then governor of Fujian, wrote to the emperor to inform him of the incident. The Tianqi Emperor ordered Nan Juyi to handle the war in Fujian and rejected the Dutch's shameless peace terms. With the support of the court, Nan Juyi began to prepare for war. He originally planned to launch a surprise attack during the negotiation, but he was full of loopholes and suffered losses instead of success.

Afterwards, Emperor Tianqi severely reprimanded Nan Juyi and asked him to make up for his crime with meritorious service. Nan Juyi learned from his mistakes and reorganized his troops to fight again. It took him a year to finally capture the Penghu Islands. Except for a small number of Dutch who escaped, most of them were captured by the Ming army. Afterwards, these captives were taken to the capital, and Emperor Tianqi ordered that they were all beheaded and their heads were sent to the nine borders to deter the world.

After this battle, the Dutch stayed quiet for a long time. The Dutch, hurt by the blow, withdrew from Xiaoliuqiu and dared not invade. But no one expected that more than ten years later, the Dutch would come back again, not only occupying Penghu again, but also landing on Xiaoliuqiu, building a city on the island in a grand manner, pretending to be here for a long time.

How could the great Ming Dynasty, the Celestial Empire, allow itself to be bullied by the Western bandits? Moreover, the Dutch this time came not only in greater numbers and on a larger scale than before, but also in a more cruel way towards the people of the Ming Dynasty on the island. As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, how could Xiong Wencan, the former Left Governor of Fujian, tolerate this? Even though he had been transferred to Guangdong and Guangxi, he still couldn't hold back his anger, so he wrote to the court, hoping that the court would send troops as soon as possible to destroy these bandits.

"In the second year of the Tianqi reign, the Dutch invaded and were defeated. It has only been more than ten years since then. These Dutch people are so ungrateful that they dare to invade the Ming Dynasty again! Mr. Wen, how do you think this matter should be resolved?" Zhu Shenzhui asked Wen Tiren directly.

Wen Tiren felt that it was difficult to respond to this, because he was not sure about this matter, and this time the Dutch were different from the last time. During the Tianqi period, the Dutch directly attacked the Ming mainland and attacked Xiamen. But this time the Dutch did not do so, and did not actively attack the Ming Dynasty, but only occupied Xiaoliuqiu and built a city on the island.

Although most of the islanders of Xiaoliuqiu, except for the local natives, are from the Ming Dynasty, most of them are immigrants from Fujian. But the problem is that Xiaoliuqiu does not belong to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. Although it is in the coastal sphere of influence of Fujian, the imperial court has never set up a formal government office on the island. Except for the short-term stationing of troops in Penghu, the administrative management of Xiaoliuqiu is basically blank.

It can be seen that Xiaoliuqiu only belongs to Fujian in name, but it is a foreign land. This place can be said to be useless to the Ming Dynasty.

Wen Tiren did not think that Xiaoliuqiu was of much use to the Ming Dynasty, but that did not mean that the Ming Dynasty could allow the Dutch to act so recklessly in Xiaoliuqiu. They not only built a city but also massacred the people of the Ming Dynasty. This was clearly a slap in the face of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Wen Tiren had a deep understanding of Emperor Zhu Shenzhui during his years as the Prime Minister. Although it was much easier to work under Zhu Shenzhui than under Emperor Chongzhen, this ease was also limited. Emperor Chongzhen was moody and irresponsible. He habitually let his subordinates take the blame for any matter, big or small, and never trusted his subjects.

But Zhu Shenzhui is different. Zhu Shenzhui is open-minded and can give his subordinates certain powers. Zhu Shenzhui focuses on the big picture and ignores the small details. He only cares about the results and not the process. As long as his subordinates can do their job well and achieve the goal, he often doesn't care how they do it and what methods they use as long as it does not violate the law and procedures.

Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui had a long-term vision and political means that were not comparable to those of Emperor Chongzhen. Being a minister under him was not only much easier, but also allowed them to better exert their abilities. However, these prerequisites required that the ministers could do things. Once they did a lot of things, or acted in a way that was intended to fool people, Zhu Shenzhui would never show mercy. His treatment of ministers was different from that of Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen would always raise his butcher knife, while Zhu Shenzhui was much more flexible. He rarely killed anyone, but once they were abandoned and suppressed by him, their endings were extremely miserable.

After thinking about it, Wen Tiren guessed that the emperor was inclined to Xiong Wencan, otherwise he would not have treated Xiong Wencan in the same way just now, punishing him in name but rewarding him in private, which clearly explained the reason.

"I think these red-haired barbarians are so bold and reckless that they did not appreciate the emperor's grace after their defeat. Now they are planning to invade the Ming Dynasty, occupy Little Ryukyu, and massacre the people of the Ming Dynasty. How can the great Ming Dynasty allow such clowns to act so recklessly?"

"Since the red-haired barbarians have the guts to provoke our Great Ming, then let them know the consequences of provoking our Great Ming. I suggest that the Fujian Navy be mobilized immediately, with Zheng Zhilong as the commander, to cross the sea and destroy the red-haired barbarians, save the people on the island from danger, enhance our national prestige, and shock the world!"

Wen Tiren's words made Zhu Shenzhui nod slightly. Seeing Zhu Shenzhui's expression, Wen Tiren felt relieved. He felt that he had guessed the emperor's thoughts and was relieved.

"Zheng Zhilong..." Zhu Shenzhu thought to himself. Zheng Zhilong was now the Jinwu General, a rank that was already outstanding in the current Ming army. Except for a very few people, no one could compare to him. Moreover, after Zheng Zhilong was recruited, he was granted the title of coastal defense guerrilla, and then changed from coastal defense guerrilla to the general of the Fujian Navy of the Ming Dynasty. In addition to Zheng Zhilong's power at sea and the warships he had, it could be said that he was the strongest naval force of the Ming Dynasty in the South China Sea.

However, Zhu Shenzui had never approved of Zheng Zhilong. He had tried to recruit Zheng Zhilong before, but because of his short-sightedness, Zheng Zhilong did not refuse the recruitment on the surface, but in fact he still wanted to protect himself and be semi-independent.

Compared with his younger brother Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhilong was capable but his political vision was far behind. As a pirate leader who was recruited, his current status and position were all gifts from the court, but he still held on to his power tightly, fearing that the court would seize his power, and he had been secretly calculating, which made Zhu Shenzhu very dissatisfied.

In order to appease Zheng Zhilong and stabilize the southern waters of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shenzhu not only gave Zheng Zhilong a higher official position, but also many rewards. It stands to reason that Zheng Zhilong should be more loyal to the court, but Zheng Zhilong did not do so. On the contrary, he still guarded his own one-third acre of land and acted as his own "local emperor".

On the contrary, Zheng Hongkui was more trusted by the court than Zheng Zhilong. Although Zheng Hongkui's military rank was not as high as Zheng Zhilong's, he was very different from before in other aspects. Zheng Hongkui was currently the commander-in-chief of the Shandong Navy of the Ming Dynasty. He controlled the most elite navy in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and also assisted the Ministry of Internal Affairs in controlling the sea routes from the Ming Dynasty to Korea and Japan. He was also loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

In order to commend Zheng Hongkui, Zhu Shencui deliberately gave him the same title as Zheng Zhilong. If Zheng Zhilong could be less scheming like Zheng Hongkui and be willing to work for the court, Zhu Shencui would naturally not treat Zheng Zhilong unfairly.

Unfortunately, Zheng Zhilong had too many calculations in his mind. In Zhu Shenzhu's opinion, the reason why the Dutch landed in Xiaoliuqiu and built a city was probably related to Zheng Zhilong's deliberate indulgence. Zheng Zhilong was known as the overlord of the South China Sea, and his warships almost controlled the entire South China Sea area. If any foreign ship wanted to enter the South China Sea, it would not be allowed without Zheng Zhilong's approval. Even if Spanish and Portuguese ships wanted to enter the Ming Dynasty through the South China Sea, they had to get Zheng Zhilong's approval and pay a "toll" to hang Zheng Zhilong's flag on the ship, so that they could pass unimpeded.

If that is the case, then how did the Dutch get around Zheng Zhilong's blockade and get to Xiaoliuqiu, which was so close? Could it be that the Dutch were more powerful than the Spanish and Portuguese? Zheng Zhilong didn't dare to attack the Dutch? How is that possible!

From this, we can conclude that the Dutch were able to do this probably with Zheng Zhilong's tacit approval. Zheng Zhilong's intention was very simple, which was nothing more than nurturing the enemy for his own benefit. As long as the Dutch gained a foothold in Xiaoliuqiu and posed a threat to the inland of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming court would not easily move against Zheng Zhilong, because only with him, Zheng Zhilong, the Dutch would not dare to cross the sea to attack the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng Zhilong could take this opportunity to stay in office and continue to be his local emperor in Fujian.

(End of this chapter)