Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 202 Brother, you've accepted the imperial amnesty, are you going to follow in the footsteps of Song Jiang from "The Water Margin"?!

The chaos in the southeast not only angered Zhu Youjian, but also caused Zheng Zhilong, the instigator, great distress.

At this time, the port of Wanggang on the southwestern coast of Dongfan was densely packed with warships of all sizes, while many more ships could not squeeze in and could only drift outside the port. Some warships, in order to show their stance, lowered the Ming Dynasty flag and re-hung the various flags from the pirate era.

From the air, this sea area, spanning dozens of miles, was crowded with warships of all sizes. The sheer scale of it was awe-inspiring. This was the Zheng Zhilong pirate group, which had even caused the first generation of the British Empire and the Sea Coachman to suffer a setback.

At the port, armed forces from various families disembarked with their ship owners. Here, in addition to the Han Chinese who made up the majority, one could also see blond-haired and blue-eyed Westerners, red-haired or brown-haired foreigners, Japanese, Koreans, Javanese slaves, and even a considerable number of dark-skinned, fat-lipped Kunlun slaves.

They were equipped with Japanese swords, grappling hooks, flintlock pistols, and even a tiger-squatting cannon that one person could lift and two could carry. Their hands never left the weapons at their waists. Listening to the arguments among the various family leaders inside, they were on high alert, their nerves on edge, just a signal from a smashed cup that could escalate into a full-blown brawl.

"Brother, you've accepted the imperial amnesty, are you going to follow in the footsteps of Song Jiang in 'The Water Margin' and kill all the brothers?!" Zheng Zhihu glared at Zheng Zhilong and questioned him angrily.

"Yes, brother! You said back then how great it was to be granted amnesty, to have an official position, to have everything convenient, to be able to move freely within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, without having to fear being arrested by the government troops. But that damned Yuan Chonghuan treats us like thieves!"

"Once we get ashore, they'll keep a close watch on us. We brothers won't even feel comfortable going to brothels. That Ming emperor made it sound so nice, appointing you as the General of the Eastern Barbarians, but the Eastern Barbarians are our territory to begin with!" Zheng Zhibao said, his face full of resentment.

"Big brother, why didn't you save fourth brother? Big brother, why didn't you save fourth brother?" Zheng Zhiwan kept repeating, tears streaming down her face. Even the brothers who weren't related by blood were moved to tears.

Yes, when Yuan Chonghuan sent the envoy, they had a chance to rescue the fourth prince. Considering the recent argument between the two, it's hard not to suspect that Zheng Zhilong deliberately orchestrated this. If he could even betray and kill his own brothers, what are his brothers from other clans?
Of the eighteen sworn brothers, Li Kuiqi and Liu Xianglao were also dissatisfied with Zheng Zhilong's allegiance to the court and had already defected. Now that another one has died, the oath they swore to become sworn brothers seems especially ironic.

After Yan Laoda's death, everyone agreed that Zheng Zhilong would become the leader of the alliance. However, he became increasingly arrogant and self-willed, making the decision to accept the amnesty on his own without considering the opinions of his brothers.

"Things have already come to this, what do you expect me to do?!" Zheng Zhilong was repeatedly questioned by his brothers, which stirred up his rebellious spirit. He took over his adoptive father Yan Siqi's maritime empire at the young age of twenty-one, and now he is only twenty-five years old. He is in the prime of his life, with his self-esteem extremely inflated, and his temper is naturally not good.

"The fourth brother's death was entirely his own fault, entirely his own fault, okay? Why is everyone saying that I forced him to die? Did I ask him to engage in boarding action with the government navy? No! He was just too arrogant and conceited, and he didn't take the government army seriously! I only asked him to teach the government army a lesson, I didn't ask him to annihilate the government army!"
Why couldn't he have known when to stop? You all knew about the plan to impersonate Liu Xiang and Li Kuiqi, those pirates, to frame them. Second brother, you even said it was a brilliant plan! Now that things have gone wrong, is it all my fault? Aren't you all at fault? Did I say I wouldn't save fourth brother?!

I had already prepared the bribes for Chen Jisheng and Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan refused, but Chen Jisheng did! He said that the Fourth Prince had been taken away by Yuan Chonghuan, but he had promised to help mediate! Fearing that Yuan Chonghuan wouldn't budge, I sent men to infiltrate Fuzhou, planning a prison break to rescue the Fourth Prince. But who knew that just one day after the negotiations, Yuan Chonghuan killed the Fourth Prince! Who would have thought this would happen? My men weren't even in place yet; he didn't give me any time to react. He had no intention of negotiating properly with us at all!”

Zheng Zhilong's attempt to shirk responsibility only added to the disappointment. Zheng Zhihu said in a low voice, "Even if what you said is true, brother, now that Fourth Prince is dead, are you still going to work for the court and transport grain for that tyrannical emperor? Give me a straight answer: are you going to avenge Fourth Prince or not?"

"Report it, of course we must report it! I, Zheng Zhilong, am not someone to be trifled with! But then again, our enemy is not the imperial court, but Yuan Chonghuan! To get revenge, we don't necessarily have to fight the Ming navy to the death, do we?!"

"I've already sent money to Grand Secretary Shi in the cabinet. He'll definitely bring down Yuan Chonghuan. When that happens, the court will execute Yuan Chonghuan, or we'll wait until he falls from power. It'll be a piece of cake for us to take revenge!" Zheng Zhilong explained earnestly.

"In the end, you're still unwilling to give up your official position!" Yang Qi said coldly, arms crossed.

“Since you insist on being an official, and we are thieves, we are not on the same path. You can continue being an official, we are not serving you anymore!” After saying this, Yang Liu pulled his younger brother and made to leave.

"Stop right there!" Zheng Zhilong's eyes turned incredibly vicious. "Do you two want to die?!"

Yang Liu turned around and said coldly, "What, Zheng Zhilong? You killed your brothers, wasn't that enough? Now you want to kill two more of them yourself to show your loyalty to the court? You don't even have a shred of brotherhood left?! Come on, I'm not easily intimidated. Fight me, and you might not be able to escape unscathed!"

Zheng Zhilong's eyes were bloodshot, and his fists were clenched tightly. Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Zhibao grabbed his arms on either side, uttering some nonsense to persuade him not to act impulsively.

He panted for a moment, then forced a smile and said, "We brothers have sworn brotherhood, how could the elder brother bear to harm the younger one? If we kill each other, it will only make us a laughingstock among the Western barbarians."

"You've all misunderstood me! The reason I chose to cooperate with the imperial court is because we share a common enemy. Those barbarian devils are not to be underestimated; they want to seize our territory. If we fight them ourselves, we'll inevitably lose many of our brothers. It's better to make good use of the government troops and have them fight desperately for us."

When the topic of the "red-haired barbarians" came up, everyone's expressions turned rather grim. These Westerners had indeed become increasingly arrogant, not only coming to seize islands from them, but also significantly impacting the businesses of each family. Zheng Zhilong was making a fortune doing business with the imperial court, while the rest of them, unable to plunder, were seeing a substantial decrease in income!

(End of this chapter)