The brothers and generals of the Zheng family sat on the left and right sides of Zheng Zhilong. On one side were his blood brothers, and on the other side were his relatives. As the leader, Zheng Zhilong naturally sat in the center. However, the Zheng family had just been defeated not long ago, and their forces had suffered a heavy blow. The air in the meeting hall was filled with frustration and a heavy atmosphere.
After Zheng Zhilong was recruited by the imperial court, his influence and control over Dumbo Port decreased significantly. He also moved the trading station to Zhongzuo Office and planned to build his own nest in Anping (now Anhai Town, Fujian Province).
Outside, there was the defense of Xiamen Island and the large and small Jinmen Island. The completed Anping Town would be an unbreakable fortress. He would use this as a foundation to dominate the maritime trade along the coast of China. However, Li Kuiqi's sudden attack interrupted his plans and turned his life's ideals into bubbles.
Li Kuiqi, who had been afflicted by the plague! Zheng Zhilong cursed in his heart. The defeat had caused the Zheng family to fall apart. In the face of a great disaster, many of his underlings had led the fleet and dispersed. The Zheng family's strength had shrunk a lot. Zheng Zhilong's forces alone were not enough to defeat Li Kuiqi.
What was even more infuriating was that there were already rumors of the Fujian officialdom 'recruiting Li Kuiqi.' Even though Zheng Zhilong knew that this was just groundless news, the government wanted to recruit raiders and pirates. They always had to negotiate with each other. It was impossible to succeed without wasting a few months or even a year.
However, the embarrassing situation made Zheng Zhilong not dare to ignore this rumor. On the surface, he appeared calm in front of his brothers, but in fact, he was sitting on pins and needles, sweating profusely.
Originally, the Dutchman was Zheng Zhilong's strong support. Although the Dutchman was half-hearted, supporting him on one side and Liu Xiang on the other, trying to maintain the balance of power between Guangdong and Fujian, Li Kuiqi's temper and personality were worse than Zheng Zhilong's. The Dutchman could not like Li Kuiqi.
Unfortunately, this path had now become a dead end.
Previously, when he led his troops to exterminate the bandits, the Zheng family's subordinates in Stupid Port sent a letter to replace the Dutchman who was stationed there with a group of pirates who claimed to be Australian.
At first, he took the news seriously and asked his former subordinates to continue reporting information about the Australian people. Regardless of whether the Australian people attacked by surprise or by force, the change of leadership meant that the strength and fighting will of the Kun bandits were not inferior to the Dutch.
However, as the work of suppressing the bandits became more and more arduous, the Kun thief asked people to go to Fujian and Guangdong to recruit homeless and hungry people to go to Taiwan to reclaim the wasteland. They did the hard work of reclamation honestly. He then forgot about this group of strange people who claimed to be descendants of the Chinese Miao people and had a low sense of existence.
It was only now that they had been forced into a corner and had returned to the stupid port where they had organized the reclamation of the land in the past that they had the time to calm down and observe the Aussies in Tainan.
This was a strong competitor, and Zheng Zhilong felt a little uneasy. If the Kun bandits came from the north, how could he resist them?
There were at least 40,000 to 50,000 people in the territory of Stupid Port. According to the specifications of the Ming Dynasty, it was already considered a small county. Would the Aussies ignore this "fertile land"?
The intelligence from the spy intensified his fear. The Kun bandits recruited exiles, trained their troops, and forged cannons. They had already gathered a thousand men, each equipped with a musket and a short knife.
Since ancient times, every special army had its own name and characteristics. The Kun bandits called their army the "Fubo Army", which was probably taken from Ma Yuan, the "Fubo General" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, to show the heroic spirit of the army.
There were also rumors that the leader of the army was not Wang Kaizhi or Li Zhuxi, but a low-key supervisor or Ma Ni. Otherwise, why would the army be named General Ma Yuan or the " Ma Family Army "?
In addition, the Kun bandits also had a foreign army made up of mostly foreigners. It was said that when they attacked the high officials, the foreign soldiers were fearless and roared loudly. With only a thousand people, they took down the high officials 'city like a mountain.
There were also people who said that there were more than 3,000 Kun bandits. Many of them appeared and disappeared unpredictably. They hid during the day and came out at night. They were all fiendish ghosts. They walked at night without a head, had three heads and six arms, and had strange red-haired bodies. They drank raw meat and blood, and killed people like flies...
The later rumors about the Kun Thief were too absurd. Zheng Zhilong did not believe them at all. Since he was a teenager, he had traveled to Macau, Manila, Japan, and other places. He had seen many sailboats and sailors from Western countries. Westerners were not as strange as the rumors said.
Due to long-term dealings with sea trade, Zheng Zhilong quickly learned Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch. He almost did not need to translate when communicating with these foreigners. He even met the retired second generation shogunate Tokugawa Hidetada in Japan and received his hospitality and praise.
Zheng Zhilong also had an elite team of black and Japanese guards with him. There were about 400 people in total, and almost all of them were proficient in firearms. They were the strongest flintlock team among his troops.
Even though he had two to three thousand mobile troops, he was still not confident in dealing with the potential threat of the Kun thieves.
He had no dealings with the Aussies before, but his second brother had saved his life from the bandits. Although he had repaid his life with a generous reward, it did not mean that others would remember this " friendship."
Maybe someone else is sharpening his knife in the assembly hall so that he can take advantage of the Zheng family's decline to come to stupid port to rob them
Even though he was wearing an official's robe and seemed to have become a general of the imperial court, it was nothing. Strength was the foundation of the Zheng family. Without the battleships and soldiers, he, Zheng Zhilong, was like a fish on a chopping board that could be slaughtered at will.
He knew very well that even though the Fujian governor Xiong Wencan seemed to have a whole new level of respect for him and had repeatedly shared his battle achievements with him, reporting his victory to the imperial court, he had long wanted to wait for him, Zheng Zhilong, to kill all of his former 'pirate brothers', before he would use up all of his resources and cook him up.
He knew this very well.
He had been accumulating his strength for the past two years so that one day, he could stand up straight and say no to the government. This was the reality. The government navy was weak and the Lu division was useless. They could only rely on him, a former pirate, to suppress the bandits along the coast.
Australia
Zheng Zhilong narrowed his eyes and chewed on these words repeatedly. Was the Australian a friend or a foe?
The Kun bandits were a force that he had to face. This small group of pirates that used to be insignificant in the south of the island had become a tough nut to crack in just half a year.
Would they join forces with Li Kuiqi to attack him and divide the Fujian Ocean? Would they cooperate with him to fight Li Kuiqi? Or would they play the art of balance like the Dutch?
Between the two sides?
Go find them. Zheng Zhilong made up his mind. His second brother had been saved by them, so he would use this as an opportunity to test the Australian people's thoughts. Were they training their troops and casting cannons to spy on the stupid port, or to guard against pirates and protect their homeland?
Even if they weren't willing to cooperate with the Zheng family, they couldn't turn around and help Li Kuiqi!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。