Di Ming

Chapter 82 Digging a hole
Zhu Yin took out several gold ingots and gently placed them on the table.

"Please pack it in a fine sandalwood box, so it will be easy to give as a gift."

Hao Zheng took the gold ingot, turned it over, and saw the three characters "Jinyunfang" on the bottom.

It turns out he was the son of Zheng Yuankui, the owner of Jinyunfang and a wealthy merchant from Huizhou!
Did Zheng Yuankui also want to cooperate with Westerners?
This kid says he's giving a gift to the Portuguese, but is it to Isisbaria (Spain) or to Borduva (Portugal)?
Hmph, nowadays officials and common people are very ignorant, calling both Isisbaria and Borduva "Franki", and even the imperial court often confuses them.

This young man from the Zheng family probably doesn't know the difference either, so asking him is pointless.

He certainly wouldn't doubt Zhu Yin.

In his view, the Embroidered Uniform Guards were all muddle-headed incompetent fools. He didn't believe that anyone could suspect him when the two men in prison refused to confess.

If the government had such means, would it still be led by the nose by Japanese pirates, foreigners, and Tatars? Would it be constantly struggling to cope?

If the corrupt and incompetent court had such methods, the Japanese pirates wouldn't have been so rampant back then, and the government troops wouldn't have abandoned the people and fled, causing his whole family to be killed.

It was a foreign missionary who saved his life.

He could never forget that in the thirty-eighth year of the Jiajing reign, nearly ten thousand Ming soldiers, cowardly and afraid of death, dared not fight against more than a thousand Japanese pirates and watched them burn, kill, and plunder.

Those civil officials who were usually upright and virtuous—the prefects, magistrates, and military commissioners—actually withdrew their troops and fled, leaving the unarmed people to be treated like pigs and sheep.

From that moment on, even as a boy, he knew clearly that this was a damned dynasty!

He hates the Ming Dynasty!

I hate that the Ming Dynasty is incompetent, cowardly, and incompetent!
Why doesn't such a court collapse?

But he never seemed to realize that the Japanese pirates were his greatest enemies, and that his parents and family were directly killed by them.

But he never thought of taking revenge on the Japanese pirates.

He only wanted to take revenge on the Ming Dynasty.

From that time on, he converted to Islam and became a devout follower. He learned the language of Isisparia and became a secret believer.

Having witnessed the foreigners' firearms, warships, and strength, he felt a deep-seated awe and admiration for them.

He later told the Jesuits in China that the Ming Dynasty couldn't even deal with the Japanese pirates, let alone Isisbaria.

If His Majesty the King were to send out a fleet, he could utterly defeat the incompetent Ming Dynasty, forcing it to kneel and beg for mercy.

Then His Majesty the King would have a larger and richer colony than Luzon, and more slaves.

He became an enemy of the Ming Dynasty.

Even after he amassed wealth with the help of the Jesuits, he colluded with human traffickers to sell hundreds of Ming Dynasty women to foreigners, turning them into slaves in foreign military camps to "comfort" the foreign soldiers who were far from home.

The foreign soldiers didn't like the indigenous women of Southeast Asia because they were too dark-skinned. They preferred women from the Ming Dynasty.

He couldn't do anything to the officials, but he could turn his knife on the weak to make himself feel better.

In addition, he also helped foreigners collect rare books, antiques, and technologies from the Ming Dynasty and sold them to them at low prices.

He smuggled out many pre-Qin bronze artifacts, rare books, and even palace records.

With the support of the Jesuits, he used his identity as a man to secretly develop his followers and bribe officials.

The Jesuits are too rich.

With the financial support of the Jesuits, many things became much easier.

After twenty years of missionary work, he had secretly baptized hundreds of loyal and devoted believers in Southern Zhili.

There were peddlers, merchants, gentry, civil and military officials, palace eunuchs...

Although he was not the leader of this secret society, and there was a foreign boss above him, he was still the most trusted person of the foreign boss.

Zhu Yin interrupted Hao Zheng's thoughts and said with a smile, "Sir, please keep this matter of giving gifts a secret..."

Hao Zheng chuckled, his expression refined. "Young friend, rest assured, I would never speak carelessly. I will keep my mouth shut and never mention it again."

Zhu Yin cupped his hands in farewell and said, "Then I shall take my leave."

At that moment, Hao Zheng took out an exquisite antique porcelain and wooden box, packed it up, and handed it to Zhu Yin. After handing it to Zhu Yin, he subconsciously made the sign of the cross.

But he realized what he was doing after only making a horizontal line, and turned it into a gesture of adjusting his clothes, and it was done so subtly and naturally.

If it were anyone else, they would have been fooled.

Unfortunately, the person standing in front of him was a spy from the future.

Zhu Yin immediately and accurately captured his gesture of making the sign of the cross. Western merchants who are Christians make the sign of the cross after completing a transaction, meaning they thank God for allowing them to make a profit.

This is a habit.

Zhu Yin immediately realized that this person was a Jesuit spy!

Historically, the Jesuits, active from the Jiajing era to the early Qing dynasty, were a far-reaching spy organization.

It was not merely a spy agency; in a sense, it was a subversive force. Its aim was to transform the Ming Dynasty into a Christian state.

It was not only aimed at the Ming Dynasty, but at the entire East Asia (including Southeast Asia).

There is a wealth of original historical material to support this (including relevant historical materials from Italy, Spain, Luzon, Japan, and Vietnam).

Many Western scholars do not shy away from this. The British were the first to admit that the Jesuits were a spy organization.

However, a small number of Chinese people in later generations have been brainwashed, and they speak of pseudo-history and their own agendas at every turn.

Such people cannot prove that their history is fabricated or that they have personal agendas, yet they are like cats whose tails have been stepped on.

However, Zhu Yin did not know how powerful the Jesuits were now.

He needs a breakthrough.

The key to this breakthrough is Hao Zheng. He's someone you should know quite a bit about.

In addition to dealing with Hao Zheng, we can also use a double-edged sword to eliminate that scoundrel Zheng Qianhu as well.

He wasn't afraid that Hao Zheng would see through him, because Hao Zheng couldn't possibly be a highly professional spy.

This time, he's going to dig a huge pit and bury many people in it.

As for the benefits, we must also get them.

Let these people become the first stepping stones!

Zhu Yin left Tianqing Pavilion, got into a carriage, and headed straight for Jinyunfang.

Sure enough, Hao Zheng didn't even go out to follow him. He immediately believed that Zhu Yin was one of Zheng Qianhu's sons.

Over the years, he has never gotten into trouble and has long held the government in utter contempt.

He would never have imagined that this twelve-year-old boy was a spy testing him.

Hao Zheng suddenly realized that Commander Zheng was a useful asset.

The fact that he took the initiative to give gifts to the foreign gentleman is enough to show that he admires the foreign gentleman's wealth and ability.

Could it be that he hopes the foreign patron will help him with sales channels in the maritime trade?
Although Zheng Yuankui was not from Nanjing, he was one of the leaders of the Nanjing Silk Guild, a wealthy and powerful Huizhou merchant, and also held the hereditary title of Fifth-Rank Thousand-Household Officer.

This person is a government official and merchant, and he is probably quite familiar with the eunuchs in charge of the Nanjing Arsenal, the Nanjing Textile and Dyeing Bureau, and the Nanjing Shenbo Hall.

If we can get him to convert to Christianity and serve the Jesuits, we will have the opportunity to acquire the most secret silk weaving techniques of the Ming Dynasty and sell a group of highly skilled imperial weavers overseas!
By then, Luzon will be able to produce its own finest silks and satins.

A great achievement!
If Zheng Yuankui wants to earn more money, he should cooperate.

Hao Zheng couldn't help but get excited when he thought about this.

"Master." A voice interrupted his thoughts; it was his personal servant.

"Reporting to the Master, a letter has arrived from the foreign gentleman."

The servant handed over a letter.

Hao Zheng opened it and saw that it was the familiar Isisbarian script (Spanish).

"The gentleman said that before Christmas this year, three hundred women from the Ming Dynasty should be prepared, aged between ten and eighteen. They should have fair skin, be free from disease, and not have bound feet."

He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"Fair skin and no bound feet, that's truly remarkable. The foreign gentleman is good in every way, but his taste is rather ordinary. How can one appreciate a woman with large feet?"

"Alright, since you say so, sir, then let's do it properly, the old way. There are still a few months until Christmas, so we must ensure both quality and quantity."

"Christmas is coming, and the foreign soldiers and officers are even more homesick. We can't let them be too lonely."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)