With 100,000 elite soldiers at the start, what should you call me?

……

On the city tower, Shi Lang received the letter and said with a serious expression.

"Watch your words in the future. We are soldiers of the Shanhe Navy, not anyone's retainers. We are the people's army. There are no young masters here."

Upon hearing this, the messenger's expression changed, and he immediately changed his tune: "Yes, it was Zheng Sen from Quanzhou who sent the letter."

Shi Lang opened the letter, glanced at it, and couldn't help but sigh.

These days he has been frequently exchanging letters with Zheng Chenggong, obviously to discuss something.

That was the matter of surrendering to the new army.

Shi Lang didn't feel much pressure about surrendering to the New Army. He was always pragmatic, and the New Army was powerful enough that he was capable of betraying the Zheng family and joining them.

He once followed Zheng Zhilong to surrender to the Qing government, then fled from the Qing government to join Zheng Chenggong, and finally came to the New Army.

It started as a belief, then as a responsibility, and finally as a means of survival.

This experience of surrendering gave him a much clearer understanding of the world.

It also provides a better understanding of the current global landscape.

Although the Qing Dynasty is the most powerful force in the world today, holding most of the country and commanding a million soldiers, it also has the fierce and brutal Manchu army.

However, the Qing Dynasty also had many problems. The officials who took office in various places were simply inhuman. Once they took office, all they knew was to exploit and extort, acting like local tyrants.

As a result, many impoverished people, overwhelmed by their burdens, rose up in rebellion, killing officials and rebelling. Whenever there was a righteous army, they all responded to the call.

At the same time, internal ethnic conflicts were extremely serious. The Qing army carried out massacres, which terrified the people. However, everyone remembered this debt and would definitely take revenge on the Manchus, as well as the Manchu, Mongol, and Han Eight Banners, once they had the chance.

Most importantly, the Qing army did not have a powerful navy.

At present, the Qing navy can only play in the inland rivers. Once they come to the sea, they are like shrimps and are easily crushed by sea ships.

Otherwise, why would Lu Jianguo, Huang Binqing of Zhoushan, and the Zheng family have been able to dominate overseas and even have the opportunity to launch a counterattack on the mainland?

Given the Qing Dynasty's domineering and aggressive style, once it had a capable navy, it would surely have gone to sea and swept across overseas.

Needless to say, the Ming court was a bunch of useless people. Whenever something happened, they would clamor for a northern expedition and war. Everyone claimed to be concerned about the country and its people, but they only liked to talk the talk. In reality, all they cared about was factional strife and personal gain.

Even after the country was destroyed and their homes were destroyed, they still coveted their own property. Back when the Qing army marched south and reached Jiangnan, those famous figures organized the people to resist the Qing, displaying righteousness and leaving their names in history.

As a result, you only give people sixty coins a day. People risk their lives to defend the city, but you are still calculating money in private. You say that everyone has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation, and that taking too much money is not conducive to fighting. You are unwilling to give the people a single penny.

They only offered more money when the Qing army was about to breach the city, but it was too late; all the property had fallen to the Qing army.

As for the New Army, after studying there, Shi Lang realized that it was a formidable force.

It possesses the spirit to oppose the scholars, officials, and powerful gentry of the world, and to dare to change the world.

They had the same domineering spirit as Li Zicheng in fighting local tyrants and distributing land, but the new army did it more forcefully and thoroughly.

Those local tyrants who refused to hand over their land or even dared to cause destruction were killed without hesitation, and their entire families were wiped out.

And that's not all; they also established schools so that people could learn knowledge.

Encouraging the people to learn knowledge was in line with the ancestral instructions of the Ming Taizu Emperor. Schools were established in various prefectures and counties so that children could learn to read and write, which led to the later cultural prosperity of the Ming Dynasty.

But the new army was different. They not only knew how to read, but they were also changing people's perceptions. They dared to discuss the emperor, the princes and nobles, and class!

Shi Lang couldn't imagine what these students, once they entered society, would become.

It will surely bring about earth-shaking changes to this land of China.

Regardless of these soft power tactics, the new army's hard power is also incredibly formidable.

The firearms and artillery were unlike anything they had ever seen before, and the assembly line forging workshops in Jianning Prefecture and Jianyang City were beyond anyone's comprehension.

Advanced firearms made the new army invincible, and the assembly line forging workshops seemed to be changing the world's production model.

All of this made Shi Lang see the enormous potential of the new army in the future.

However, the new army has a significant weakness: its territory is too small, and it is currently confined to one place.

However, he believes that the new army will completely get rid of this situation in the future.

Therefore, he was trying his best to persuade Zheng Chenggong to submit to the new army.

Shi Lang returned to his residence, picked up his brush and ink, and wrote again: "The New Army cannot tolerate any injustice. In the future, the entire province of Fujian will be occupied by the New Army. The New Army is not a foreign tribe. The New Army will not slaughter the people. Although the New Government is ruthless to the powerful families, it is gentle to the common people. The people's hearts are with the New Army. The world may well belong to the New Army... Moreover, the New Army is developing its navy. Brother Damu, think it over carefully. It is better to surrender now than to surrender in the future..."

After writing the letter, Shi Lang ordered someone to send it to Quanzhou Prefecture.

"I hope Zheng Sen can understand the global situation."

However, Zheng Chenggong was very upset and annoyed after receiving the letter.

We asked you to pretend to join the new army, but are you really going to do it?

But after putting aside his emotions, he had to seriously consider the information Shi Lang revealed in these letters.

"The New Army was so powerful that the Qing army could not resist it."

"Moreover, not only are they powerful, but they also govern the local areas without relying on the gentry or even the officials of the previous dynasty. The new army has its own set of personnel."

Zheng Chenggong paced back and forth, his mind drifting back to the shocking news that the new army had recently defeated 100,000 with only 5,000 men.

The strength of the new army was simply beyond the Zheng family's ability to withstand.

The new army is currently stationed within Quanzhou Prefecture and can arrive at the prefectural city at any time.

"Should they flee overseas to seek opportunities, or simply surrender?"

Zheng Chenggong was very unwilling.

"The new army will also develop a navy... If they complete their navy, am I supposed to flee to the western lands?"

"Why!"

Making choices is the hardest thing, and Zheng Chenggong hated having to choose between two options more than anything else in his life.

"Others may submit, but I, Zheng Chenggong, cannot. The late emperor bestowed upon me the surname Chenggong; how can I surrender?"

"But the Ming Dynasty is already a dead body... Sigh, I should discuss this with my family."

He wasn't the only one in charge of the Zheng family; there were also the two brothers, Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian.

Last time, he wanted to take the opportunity to kill Zheng Lian, but Li Chengdong was going to attack Li Tian, ​​so he had to stop the plan.

All the core members of the Zheng family are currently gathered in Quanzhou Prefecture, and even Zheng Cai, who just suffered a major defeat, has returned to the Zheng family.

Inside the Zheng family's ancestral home, all the members of the Zheng family gathered together to discuss one thing: whether or not to surrender to the new army.