Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 246 Sitting on the ground and traveling [-] miles a day, surveying the sky and watching a thousand rivers from a distance
Regarding the strategic concept put forward by His Majesty the Emperor, Shi Lang was completely at a loss.When he left Fujian and went south, he had many doubts in his mind.

In Shi Lang's view, the best strategic plan for the imperial court to regain Dongfan Island is to use Xiamen and Kinmen Island as bases, take down the Penghu Islands, and then fight Zheng Sen to occupy the northern part of Dongfan Island.

Then fully operate the Navy, forming a complete blockade chain with Kinmen Island, Penghu Islands, and Jilongyu Island, and gradually advance to the southern area of ​​​​Dongfan Island, bit by bit eating away at the territory occupied by the Dutch.

However, the emperor wanted to look far away, and planned to attack Haojingao, and then outflank Dongfan Island from the south.

Most likely, the emperor wanted to attack from the north and the south, but the situation in Dongfan Island was complicated at this time. If we followed this line of thinking, we would have to fight with Zheng Sen's fleet and the Dutch fleet at the same time, and we were in a situation of fighting on two fronts.

In his heart, Shi Lang was extremely disapproving of this strategic conception, but he had just returned to the Ming Dynasty, and felt that he was soft-spoken, so he didn't dare to rashly persuade the emperor.

But now he heard the emperor say that he wanted to fight the Portuguese and use them as a helper to recover Dongfan Island, Shi Lang was completely stunned, and felt that his brain was not enough for the first time.

Li Cunming looked at Shi Lang's confused look and couldn't help but laugh: "Why, can't you understand? Come, sit down and drink tea, and listen to me slowly explain to you. I am attacking Haojing'ao to make you the commander. Official, so it is necessary to speak clearly."

After Shi Lang sat down and took a sip of tea, Li Cunming continued: "General Shi, let me tell you about the current world structure. You have been living at sea all year round, so you should know that there are many countries in the world. This is easy for you to understand."

"Nowadays, Western countries are becoming increasingly powerful. They rely on their powerful navigation technology and advanced firearms to have the ambition to dominate the world."

"The rise of Western countries is only a matter of 200 years. Of course, Western countries are also strong and weak, and they do not rise at the same time. They have different levels of development and military strength, and they are competing with each other. status."

"Take the Netherlands as an example. Since the establishment of the Dutch East India Company, its sphere of influence has continued to advance eastward, breaking Portugal's control and monopoly on Eastern trade, and robbing many of Portugal's strongholds in the East."

"The general situation is like this, can you understand?"

Shi Lang was dumbfounded and said in extreme surprise: "Your Majesty, have you ever been out to sea?"

"I have never been out at sea. To tell you the truth, that night I took advantage of the moonlight to cruise the sea on a big blessing boat. It was the first time I went to sea."

"But... but why does Your Majesty know this world so well?"

"Sit on the ground and travel [-] miles a day, survey the sky and see a thousand rivers in the distance. I have my own skills, you don't have to ask the bottom line, just tell me, if I'm right, can you understand?"

Shi Lang stood up, saluted solemnly and said, "Your Majesty is truly a heavenly man, and I admire you so much!"

"Ding, get Shi Lang's positive emotion value of 10000"

Shi Lang straightened up and sighed with emotion: "What your majesty said is completely in line with the truth. When I was working in the Zheng Group, I have heard a lot about Western countries, which is exactly the same as what your majesty said. It is true. It used to be The Portuguese swaggered in the East, and now it's the Dutch..."

Speaking of this, Shi Lang suddenly opened his mouth wide, and he suddenly realized: "Oh, I understand, the Portuguese and the Dutch have an insoluble hatred, and they are enemies when they fight openly and secretly. Your Majesty is trying to win over the Portuguese to fight against the Dutch." , Drive away wolves and tigers, what a clever plan!"

"General Shi is really a smart man!" Li Cunming smiled, and further explained, "If you look at the whole world, the world structure at this time is similar to that of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. There are still many problems that have not been resolved in our Ming Dynasty, especially the tartars. Incapable of competing with Western countries for hegemony in the oceans."

"What I want to do is to follow the example of Su Qin and Zhang Yi and adopt a strategy of combining vertical and horizontal, so that Western countries will fight each other. We will sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight while growing silently, so that we will finally have a chance to make a name for ourselves overseas."

"Your Majesty is so talented and general, and I admire you so much. But specifically, we want to attack Haojingao, meet the Portuguese with swordsmen, and win them over. How should we do it?"

"One slap gives two candies, that's all. I will give Du Chen candy, but whether the candy is sweet or not depends on how hard the slap is. The harder the slap, the more candy you give precious."

"I'm going back to Xin'an County to prepare the army for war. Please don't worry, Your Majesty. If I slap you, Du Chen and his subordinates will definitely slap their teeth!" Shi Lang assured, patting his chest.

"Go, launch the attack on time in five days." Li Cunming said.

……

Ho Keng O, the Palace of the Governor General of Portugal.

The Portuguese have lived in Haojingao for nearly 100 years.After the construction of successive governors, when the governor's mansion was handed down to Du Chen, it had already become a resplendent and grand mansion.

Needless to say about the decoration in the mansion, just the various marble statues placed in the corridors and the various paintings hanging on the walls are dazzling and overwhelming.

Li Leisi and several officials from the Guangzhou Prefecture walked along the corridor and couldn't help but secretly admire the luxurious furnishings.

When they reached the end of the corridor, the guards stopped them, and after going in to report, they were received by Du Chen after a while.

"Old friend, we meet again!" Du Chen walked over with a smile and hugged Li Leisi.

Then he looked at the officials of the Ming Dynasty, greeted him, and said, "Everyone has come from afar, what are you doing?"

Li Leisi told the truth about Chongzhen's execution of the two villains, and relayed the conditions proposed by Chongzhen word for word.An official of the Ming Dynasty took out the document and said: "This is a note from our court. Please ask Governor Du Chen to read it."

Du Chen didn't take the paperwork, his face was stained with pot ashes, and he began to curse.

"Governor Du Chen is angry." Li Leisi said concisely.

The Ming Dynasty official said: "Then what choice will he make?"

He also heard Du Chen slapping the table and growling, like beans falling from a bamboo tube, talking on the phone, spit flying all over the place.

"Mr. Lilesi, please translate the truth. We need to understand what Du Chen said so that we can reply to His Majesty." The Ming Dynasty official said.

Li Leisi spoke very slowly: "Governor Du Chen said that since 1535, the Ming Dynasty government has allowed the Portuguese to trade on the sea near Haojing'ao. In 1553, the Ming Dynasty's deputy maritime envoy Wang Bai approved the Portuguese's request to land. From then on, the Portuguese came to live in Haojing'ao and obtained the right to live in Haojing'ao. The Portuguese have always paid land rent to the Ming Dynasty government without interruption. Why are they making unreasonable demands now? Why are they killing the Portuguese without authorization?"

These officials of the Ming Dynasty were all local officials of Guangzhou Prefecture, and they were familiar with the history of the Portuguese occupation of Haojingao.

Someone immediately refuted: "Wang Bai, the former deputy envoy of Haidao, accepted bribes from the Portuguese and lost power and humiliated the country. The court has never recognized his actions. The Portuguese have always been talking about themselves when they occupied Haojing'ao. The emperor has not issued any relevant imperial decrees until today, please Governor Du Chen not to deceive himself!"

“In addition, the Portuguese started to pay land rent to our court only in the sixth year of Longqing. More than 20 years have passed since the Portuguese occupied Haojingao. There is only 500 taels of silver a year, plus 15 taels of silver for fire consumption. With such a low price, what is the difference between occupying such a large area of ​​land and robbers?"

“At the same time, the Portuguese built a city and wall in the settlement village of Haojing’ao, expanded the residential area without authorization, and implemented the Portuguese political and legal system in the place of residence, completely ignoring the laws of our country and turning Haojing’ao into a national The Kingdom of China. Turning against a guest and occupying the magpie's nest for the master dove. How can this be true throughout the world since ancient times?"

Some refutation left Du Chen speechless.

After a long while, Du Chen blushed and shouted, "What if the governor doesn't act according to the emperor's request?"

"Then let's go to war!" Ming Dynasty officials said goodbye collectively.

"Damn it, it's so abominable!" Du Chen picked up a tea cup and smashed it on the marble floor, making the beard at the corner of his mouth tremble in anger.

Li Leisi persuaded: "Your Excellency, I think that the officials of the Ming Dynasty are well-founded, and Emperor Chongzhen's request is not too much. You should agree."

Du Chen groaned strangely: "It's fine for those who kill us, and we have to pay 1 taels of silver every year. Counting from the Zhengde period, that's a million taels of silver. You pay for this sum of money for me." Lisi, you are a missionary, in the eyes of the Chinese people there is no difference with us, why do you speak for the Ming Dynasty?"

"Missionaries are different from you, we are messengers sent by God..."

"Come on, without the escort of us warriors, what can you believers do?"

Du Chen took out a bottle of wine from the closet, poured it into a glass, drank a couple of sips, still bursting into anger, as if a wild animal was pacing around the room.

"Master Governor, do you really want to go to war with the Ming Dynasty?" Li Leisi asked.

Du Chen stopped walking and said with a sneer: "We Portuguese have been here in Haojingao for so many years and have fought many battles with the Ming Dynasty. Why did they take back Haojingao? Huh, there are so many strong fortresses on the island , and the artillery and muskets in the Bugarao Cannon Foundry, I don't believe that Chongzhen can break through our defense line."

Liles frowned and warned kindly: "My lord, I have met with Chongzhen, and I have had private conversations with officials in Guangzhou over the past year, and I have come to a conclusion that Chongzhen is not a simple person. Don't you still Adhering to the inherent impression of the past, be careful to suffer losses."

Du Chen walked to the window, looked down at the street, and said with disdain: "The ancient country in the east is getting more and more decayed. How could it be my opponent in the west? I just stood in the governor's mansion, watching Chongzhen's army come to die with a smile!"

(End of this chapter)