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

Chapter 204 Hospitable Shandong Welcomes You!
On the morning of August 15th, the second year of the Chongzhen reign (1643), Zheng Cai led a fleet transporting 400,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain, sailing along the eastern section of the Beiyang River. Each ship carried 1,000 shi with a crew of 100, and Zheng Cai's fleet comprised 400 ships and over 10,000 personnel. The fleet, vast and imposing, cut through the blue waves towards the rising sun.

Of course, not all of these ships and men were under Zheng Zhilong's command. Many of them were simply maritime merchants from Fujian and Zhejiang who, realizing the profitability of transporting grain, joined in. However, they were required to pay a substantial protection fee to Zheng's fleet.

These ships flew the "Zheng" flag, which protected them from being plundered at sea; otherwise, they would surely not return. A single voyage cost 100 taels for large ships and 50 taels for small ships; annual memberships were also available, costing 3,000 taels for large ships and over 1,000 taels for small ships.

This idea came from Zheng Zhibao, who managed logistics for the Zheng family pirate group. In a year, they collected over a million taels of silver in protection fees, making as much profit as kidnapping. Moreover, kidnapping was a miserable business, and there was no guarantee of collecting the money, while the protection fees mostly ended up in Zheng Zhilong's hands.

Zheng Zhilong wasn't out of his mind to become a lackey of the imperial court; it was simply that the court was offering him too much. As the court purchased grain without limit on the frequency or quantity, the value of this maritime grain route increased exponentially.

Shandong also suffered from a mild drought this year. Although millet, wheat, and rice seedlings did not die from the drought, the lack of water during the grain-filling stage inevitably led to a reduction in grain production. Zheng Cai's shipment of grain needed to be unloaded at Dengzhou, totaling 100,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), and they also needed to resupply at Dengzhou Port.

Although they could resupply at their final destination, Dagu Port in Tianjin, Dengzhou Port, being the naval port of the Dengzhou-Laizhou Navy, had more abundant and cheaper supplies, and they could even pay directly with grain. Zheng Cai disembarked as usual; after a long voyage at sea, his feet felt dizzy on solid ground.

"Oh, Brother Zheng Cai, you've come! It's been so long, I've missed you terribly!" Liu Zeqing greeted him, grabbing Zheng Cai's shoulder as he spoke.

Zheng Cai was only assigned a minor position as a centurion, yet he could be on friendly terms with the deputy commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty. This feeling was quite peculiar to him, greatly satisfying his vanity. He enjoyed it immensely and would go ashore to take a look every time he came to Dengzhou Port.

However, although Liu Zeqing had always been friendly to him, he was unusually enthusiastic today. Was it because it was the Mid-Autumn Festival?

"Come, come, I have some newly brewed sweet potato wine and imperial-bestowed malt sugar mooncakes here. You can't miss them!" Liu Zeqing said, putting his arm around Zheng Cai's neck.

They were, after all, people of status, and Liu Zeqing's intimate actions made Zheng Cai feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Mooncakes bestowed by the Emperor?!" Zheng Cai said with some surprise and envy. "It seems General Liu is highly regarded by the Emperor!"

"No, no, I am only a deputy commander-in-chief, not even worthy of the emperor's attention. These mooncakes are a gift from the emperor to our Dengzhou-Laizhou navy, and everyone gets a share."

However, the origin of this mooncake is not simple. It is said that the Empress of the West Palace rolled out the dough and the Empress of the East Palace kneaded the maltose.

Starting in June, the steamers inside the imperial palace began steaming. Within a month, the entire palace was shrouded in smoke, like a fairyland. The aroma of wheat and rice wafted for miles, making the stomachs of the people in the capital rumble with anticipation.

Unfortunately, they weren't soldiers and missed out on this delicious treat, so they could only try to imitate it themselves. Nowadays, besides mooncakes with candied red and green strips, and those with jujube paste or nut fillings, maltose fillings are all the rage.

But how could they possibly learn the palace's secret recipe? Our mooncakes are soft and fluffy, while theirs are like flying locusts used by the White-Spear Soldiers!

"The emperor is so good to you," Zheng Cai said with a hint of envy.

Compared to those leaders who were calling for war against the imperial court, Zheng Cai was pro-court. It wasn't that he particularly agreed with the court, but rather that he had noticed a change in the government troops during his interactions with them.

The government troops, who used to be starving and poorly equipped, looking like beggars compared to the soldiers, have now seen a dramatic improvement. The most obvious change is that the troops can now eat their fill, and I've heard that their pay is rarely delayed anymore; their lives are becoming more and more hopeful.

Zheng Cai realized that the Ming Dynasty had changed, and the government army would become stronger and stronger, while they had not made much progress. They were busy scheming against each other and making money in business, and only a small part of the money they earned was used to build ships and recruit subordinates.

After they made peace with the imperial court, many of the brothers took the money they had saved over the years and went ashore to buy land, houses, get married, and have children.

Being a pirate wasn't so great. The seas were rough, and you never knew when you'd drown, or get your head blown off by a shotgun during a raid. Things are much better now. Everyone's become law-abiding citizens, business goes on as usual, and there's no longer the constant fear.

Although Yuan Chonghuan couldn't tolerate them, they could settle in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, or Southern Zhili. Besides, Yuan Chonghuan wasn't necessarily going to do anything to them; at least he hadn't made the first move. Given this shift in power dynamics, Zheng Cai felt that even if their fleet temporarily surpassed the government navy, they would eventually be overtaken. He saw no possibility of them defeating the behemoth that was the Ming Dynasty.

They either return to their life of wandering at sea, or they should take advantage of their current value and actively integrate into the Ming Dynasty to gain more benefits.

He vaguely knew the gist of Zheng Laosi's affair, and he was speechless about it. But at that time, their fleet had already set sail, Zheng Zhilong had not stopped them, and the imperial court had not said anything about punishing them, so the business continued in a muddle.

Liu Zeqing pulled Zheng Cai up to a lookout tower in the harbor. The three-story tower offered an excellent view. Below, thousands of laborers were busily unloading grain from the ships and piling it into the harbor's granaries, or loading it onto flatcars for transport to more distant locations. Meanwhile, fresh fruits and vegetables, along with large quantities of clean water, were being transported from various parts of the harbor to the ships.

With sufficient manpower, and given that Dengzhou Port is a large port and congestion isn't too severe, unloading 100,000 shi of grain would take at least ten days to half a month. Liu Zeqing decided that during this time, Zheng Cai should experience the warmth and hospitality of the Shandong people.

Liu Zeqing poured Zheng Cai a cup of pale amber wine and coaxed, "Now you are also a general of our Great Ming Dynasty. Why not join the Eastern Barbarian General and fight the Jurchens with our Dengzhou-Laizhou Navy? If you come, I can certainly secure you a position as a guerrilla general."

Zheng Cai picked up his wine glass, about to drink, but upon hearing this, his arm froze, and he awkwardly put down the glass.

The aroma of this liquor is very strong, with a hint of sweet potato. He just doesn't know why it's called "sweet potato liquor." This stuff looks much better than the rum on the red-haired devil's ship. His stomach is already rumbling with cravings, but now he can only swallow his saliva hard.

He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and said with a serious expression, "My elder brother has treated me well, and I cannot betray him. Besides, as you said yourself, we are now all soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, inseparable, so why should we care about affiliation?!"

Liu Zeqing was somewhat disappointed, but he also knew that it was unrealistic to persuade one of Zheng Zhilong's top generals to defect with just a few words.

"Hey brother, you've got me wrong! What betrayal? I'm just upset about what you've been through and I want to help you out! What kind of person do you take me for? Come on, let's not talk about this today, let's drink!"

After saying that, Liu Zeqing downed his glass and showed the bottom to Zheng Cai. Although Zheng Cai sensed the provocative intent in Liu Zeqing's words, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief; at least Liu Zeqing hadn't used force against them.

He only had twenty ships that could be considered warships and less than five hundred soldiers. If he were to fight the Ming army here, he would have no chance of victory, and he might not even be able to leave this building.

Vice General Liu drank it all; it would be impolite for him not to. Zheng Cai had been holding back for a long time, so he picked up the large silver wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Zheng Cai choked so hard that tears came to her eyes.

The brewing process for sweet potato liquor isn't very good; drinking too much of this liquor can cause poisoning.

To hide her embarrassment, Zheng Cai could only shout through her tears, "Good wine!"

"Haha, brother, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. You really are a straightforward person!" Liu Zeqing exclaimed excitedly, then poured Zheng Cai another full glass.

Logically speaking, Zheng Cai should be on high alert now that there is a disagreement between the two sides. However, when he thought that the other party could easily take him down and that struggling would be useless, he simply lay down, munching on mooncakes and side dishes, and drinking one cup after another.

When he woke up again, the moon was already high in the sky! Zheng Cai groggily got up, a robe slipping off his body. It looked familiar. He tried hard to remember, his head throbbing, and finally he remembered that it was clearly the clothes Liu Zeqing had worn when he was drinking, which the other man had taken off and covered him with.

Zheng Cai blinked hard, his nose stinging. He could only repeatedly warn himself: Don't fall for the government troops' tricks. Their methods of winning them over are too crude!

(End of this chapter)