Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 105 Bizarre Pirates and Chaotic Foreign Trade (Part 1)

Pirate leader Zheng Zhilong was granted the title of Marquis of Nan'an!

The current emperor himself will bestow titles!

The news caused an uproar throughout the capital.

Since the Hongwu and Yongle reigns of the Ming Dynasty, there have been several earls who were actually granted titles based on military merit, but it seems that there have been no marquises who were actually granted titles based on military merit.

After the Yongle reign, those who were granted the title of marquis were almost all family members of the empress. They were treated as imperial relatives and had nothing to do with military merit. It was extremely difficult to be granted the title of marquis based on military merit.

Even Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, who had made great military achievements during the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli reigns, did not receive the title of Earl. Li Chengliang, who led his army to kill at least 80,000 or 100,000 northern barbarians, was only granted the title of Earl of Ningyuan.

As for Wei Liangdong, the Marquis of Dong'an, and Wei Liangqing, the Duke of Ningguo, during the Tianqi reign, they had never been on the battlefield and were enfeoffed purely because of their relationship with Wei Zhongxian, so they don't count.

In other words, Zheng Zhilong was the highest-ranking noble title conferred upon him for military merit in the more than two hundred years since the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty.

This guy was also a pirate captain.

Why should he?
Normally, the matter of bestowing titles upon commoners shouldn't be a matter for ordinary people to concern themselves with. However, this time, the common people in the capital seem to be discussing it extensively, and they all seem to have reservations about the current emperor personally bestowing a marquisate upon a pirate leader.

This was naturally caused by the secret instigation of the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party, especially the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party.

This is all because Zheng Zhilong not only disobeyed the orders of the Zhejiang merchant magnates, but also wiped out other pirates, wanting to monopolize the Ming Dynasty's overseas trade.

The Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions all wished they could tear this fellow to pieces, yet the current emperor actually personally conferred upon him the title of Marquis of Nan'an!

Can this be tolerated?
This is intolerable! Stealing someone's money is like killing their parents. They are sworn enemies with Zheng Zhilong, so naturally they will do everything they can to get rid of this scoundrel.

The only method they could think of was to first ruin this guy's reputation, make him run to the capital to be despised by everyone, and then secretly provoke him. If they could anger him to the point that he would turn against the court and become a pirate or even rebel, then they could use the court's power to eliminate him.

With the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party secretly stirring things up, the common people in the capital naturally started talking about it, and the discussion was only getting more heated.

At this moment, Wei Zhongxian was ordering his secret guards to stake out and search for spies everywhere. With the common people talking about it so much, Wei Zhongxian naturally found out very quickly.

He also wanted to get closer to Zheng Zhilong, who was very likely to become the emperor's favorite minister, so naturally he couldn't let Zheng Zhilong be despised by everyone.

So, early that morning, around 7 a.m., Zhu Jue had just arrived at the main hall of the Yuxi Palace and hadn't even begun reviewing the memorials when a voice announced, "Wei Zhongxian requests an audience."

Zheng Zhilong was almost at the capital, and he wanted to ask Wei Zhongxian how the preparations were going.

Zhu Jue replied without hesitation, "Send it."

Soon, Wei Zhongxian strode in, respectfully cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Zhongxian, how are the preparations at the Marquis of Nan'an's residence going?"

Without hesitation, Wei Zhongxian replied, "Your Majesty, the Nan'an Marquis's residence will be ready in the next couple of days, and the Nan'an Marquis can move in as soon as he arrives."

Yes, Not Bad.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then carefully instructed, "Zhongxian, you should give your men a proper talking-to. This Marquis of Nan'an is a real marquis, not a fake one. As long as he doesn't secretly leave the capital, your men must not be rude to him."

As you know, the Marquis of Nan'an is a former pirate. It's best to coax him rather than force him. If you force him and anger him, you'll be in big trouble.

According to Xiong Wencan's report, after the Marquis of Nan'an annexed more than ten pirate groups in the southeast, his forces numbered well over 100,000. You mustn't cause me any enormous trouble.

I certainly wouldn't provoke Zheng Zhilong; I actually wanted to get to know him better.

The problem is, someone in the court wants to provoke Zheng Zhilong.

Wei Zhongxian said cautiously, "This servant understands, and this servant will definitely make his subordinates pay attention. However, Your Majesty, this servant has heard that there is a lot of talk about this everywhere. The common people are saying that this pirate leader deserves to be granted a marquis title, that this pirate leader is extremely cruel, and that you have listened to slander."

"I suspect someone is stirring things up in secret. When the Marquis of Nan'an goes to the capital, he'll probably be insulted and even pelted with rotten vegetables and eggs. If the common people are provoked, they'll join in the insults and pelting too." "Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions, you want to ruin my plans, don't you?"

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Ruoyu, write a notice listing all of Nan'an Marquis's military achievements. Nan'an Marquis has eliminated at least 50,000 pirates, captured or recruited at least 100,000 pirates. In addition, Nan'an Marquis is charitable and has provided money and grain for disaster relief, saving hundreds of thousands of disaster victims and arranging livelihoods for them. Write all of these down carefully."

Uh, the Marquis of Nan'an wiped out at least 50,000 pirates, and captured or recruited at least 100,000 pirates.
There don't seem to be that many, do you?
Does this mean you're just bragging?
Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu thought about it carefully, then pulled out a piece of paper and began to write rapidly.

Zhu Jue saw that he had finished writing, picked it up and looked at it, then blew on it and handed it to Wei Zhongxian, carefully instructing him: "Have people make a thousand copies of this and post them all over the streets and alleys of the capital. When posting them, have the Embroidered Uniform Guard issue a warning: anyone who dares to disrespect the Marquis of Nan'an, this great contributor, will be killed without mercy!"

Does someone get killed just because they insult the Marquis of Nan'an?
Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian hurriedly and respectfully accepted the notice with both hands, then cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, are you really going to kill them?"

Since we're going to kill them anyway, it doesn't matter whether we kill them sooner or later.

Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions, I can tolerate you if you don't cause trouble, but if you dare to cause trouble for me, then don't blame me for being impolite.

Zhu Jue nodded without hesitation and said, "Then it is a real killing. Anyone who instigated people to curse the Marquis of Nan'an must be suspicious. From now on, you will order people to investigate secretly. If you find out, throw them into the imperial prison and torture them severely to find out who instigated it. After you find out, drag the instigator and the whole group to the West Market to be beheaded and displayed to the public. Let's see who dares to cause trouble behind the scenes!"

Alright, since you've spoken, then kill!

Wei Zhongxian was quite adept at this. Back in the Tianqi era, he would kill anyone who dared to criticize him, even those who criticized him behind his back. This was his old profession.

This caused another bloodbath in the capital. Many people were inexplicably arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and imprisoned in the imperial prison. Immediately afterwards, the Embroidered Uniform Guard went out in all directions to arrest people. Many of the Donglin Party's confidants and friends, as well as officials in the court, were inexplicably dragged to the West Market and beheaded!

Strangely, neither the Donglin Party nor the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party made a sound this time, as if they had no idea how many people had been killed in the West Market.

After Wei Zhongxian's purge, coupled with the content of the proclamation, the streets finally quieted down.

Zheng Zhilong and Xiong Wencan also arrived in the capital very quickly.

That afternoon, around 3 PM, the Imperial Guards suddenly dispatched their cavalry in all directions, followed by waves of Imperial Guards rushing towards the east side of the inner city and outside Chaoyang Gate, completely blocking both sides of the main streets along the way.

Before long, a massive fleet of hundreds of centipede-shaped boats arrived at the Datong Bridge canal wharf.

Duke Ningguo, Wei Liangqing, personally waited at the dock with his warhorses and carriages. As soon as Zheng Zhilong disembarked, he eagerly went up to him and showered him with praise, as if he were the Duke himself.

Immediately afterwards, he warmly arranged warhorses for the Zheng brothers and carriages for Xiong Wencan and Zheng Zhilong's relatives and friends, and then personally escorted Zheng Zhilong's family to the Nan'an Marquis's residence.

Zheng Zhilong was so flattered by this enthusiastic greeting that he almost floated to the sky.

This is a Duke, and a Duke who holds great power over the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

They even lined up a whole row of Imperial Guards to welcome him.

Who can compare to this honor?
When he arrived at the newly renovated Nan'an Marquis's Mansion, he was even more surprised and delighted. What a huge mansion, what luxurious decorations! The royal glass windows, which were not available in Zhejiang and Fujian, were installed everywhere!

Xiong Wencan accompanied him with a smile the whole way, as if the marquis was more important than him, the governor.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong's immense satisfaction, Wei Liangqing became extremely excited as well, and then shamelessly said, "Brother Zheng, His Majesty said that you should rest at the Marquis's residence first, and then go to the palace at dawn tomorrow to discuss the investiture matters."

"I have other matters to attend to, so I won't bother you any longer. If Brother Zheng needs anything, just give the orders to the Imperial Guards at the outer residence; they know the capital very well."

He's even calling him "elder brother" now; Wei Liangqing has really mastered about 70-80% of Wei Zhongxian's flattery skills.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, okay, thank you very much, Brother Wei. Today, I will settle my family first. You can rely on me from now on. I will definitely not let you call me brother for nothing."

So, are you planning to live in the capital in the future?
Wei Liangqing nodded repeatedly and said, "Alright, we brothers will have a long future ahead of us. I'll take my leave now."

Xiong Wencan also took the opportunity to say, "Zhilong, I don't have a place to stay in the capital yet. I usually stay at my father-in-law's house when I come back to the capital. I should go and say goodbye to my father-in-law. Goodbye."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong hurriedly and attentively escorted the two to the front door.

(End of this chapter)