Lord of Ming Dynasty

Those who are interested will find that the ships he brought are not just ordinary ships that come and go, but those are warships and merchant ships that transport troops.

More than 90 small blessing boats, ten large blessing boats, and two large Clark ships from the Portuguese.

Hundreds of large ships headed for Fuzhou mightily.

The prow of a large lucky boat with Zheng Chenggong's name on it.

A hale and hearty old man with bulging temples and a burly body said to Zheng Sen: "My lord, did Zhang Qiang ever agree to annex Zheng Cai's power?"

Zheng Chenggong nodded slightly, "He acquiesced. I originally wanted to deal with Zheng Cai later, but I didn't expect that Zheng Cai met him and was dealt with by him. This guy is not easy. He First of all, he intentionally showed weakness and allowed Zheng Cai to get so many benefits. He was greedy to get more benefits, and took most of the ships to attack him, but he sent Zheng Cai to hell with one move. It is very difficult for Zheng Cai to turn around now. gone."

Zheng Tai sighed, "Miscalculation, we have been planning for so long, and we all made wedding dresses for others. When I came from Xiamen, I saw that the whole Xiamen was in chaos. Many people drove away with boats, leaving The people below are also panic-stricken, so I hurriedly wrote to you."

Zheng Chenggong said: "That's fine. With my father's prestige and my status as the eldest son, we can take over there immediately. Be quick, and we must arrive before the people led by Wei Wuji."

Zheng Tai said again: "My lord, why don't we join them and kill them by surprise on the way. In terms of naval battles and boat maneuvering, those people are as big as adults and children like us. We only need to pay a very small price, and we will be able to get them back." If we can defeat them and get most of the ships they got from Zheng Cai and the Portuguese or the Dutch, as long as we get these ships, our strength will be comparable to that of Zheng Hongkui."

Zheng Chenggong stretched out his hand to stop him from continuing, looked left and right, "You can't do that, no matter what, he is the governor of the imperial court and the mainstay of resisting the Manchu Tartars. If the imperial court does not have them, they will be attacked immediately." This is not a good thing for the court or for us."

Zheng Tai sighed, "Those more than 200 good ships, as long as we get those ships, our strength will be comparable to that of the Portuguese and Zheng Hongkui. Although we still can't compare with your father's heyday, it is almost the same. Those ships are all big ships, and there are also good warships from the Portuguese and the Dutch, so it’s a pity to keep them in their hands.”

Zheng Chenggong put his hands behind his back, looked at the seabirds flying on the sea, and said in a deep voice: "In the future, maybe those ships will also belong to us. We are fighting for supremacy on the mainland." He turned to the side of the strait, looking at the place where the paddy fields meet, "so, we are all targeting Treasure Island, competing with the Dutch for Treasure Island, and that is where our Zheng family lives and lives."

Zheng Tai said in surprise: "Your Majesty, this is not something you should think about. Our roots are all along the coast of Fujian. Although Nanming is cowardly, he has not reached the point where he must perish. We still have a chance, not to mention the Dutch are not easy to mess with. Even if we can impress those thousands of people in Taiwan, they still have Batavia, where there are dozens of warships, and each warship is enough to defeat hundreds of our warships."

Zheng Chenggong put his hands behind his back and said melancholy: "The family has to be taken care of, and the country has to be taken care of. We can't think about ourselves and leave the country behind."

"My lord, we have reached the sea off Fuzhou." A pirate climbed from the deck to the bow and said to Zheng Chenggong.

"Uncle Tai, I'm going to meet Mr. Wei, and you will follow with the fleet." Zheng Chenggong said to Zheng Tai.

"Yes, son, I will arrange for people to go back and let my people move. In two days, the inside should be combined with the outside," Zheng Tai said to Zheng Chenggong.

"Row."

Two days later, Zheng Chenggong stood on Wei Wuji's ship. It was a large Galenic ship with three masts and six hundred materials, which was actually equivalent to a fifth-class armed sailing ship in the West. Cannons, but for Zheng Chenggong and others, this is already the best warship that is enviable. Daming has never owned so many cannons, such a big warship.

"What a battleship." Zheng Chenggong sighed.

Wei Wuji stood at the bow of the boat with a cold face. He was puzzled by Zhang Qiang who suddenly sent such a person to attack Zheng Cai's lair with him. It was obviously something he got, but he wanted to push it out and let others share it. I can deal with those pirates by myself.

In the past six months, Zhang Qiang led other people to fight in the north and south, and left him alone in Jinhua Mansion. The others had made great military achievements, but he relied on his seniority and the credit he had for supporting Zhang Qiang at the beginning. Living on his laurels, although Emperor Longwu also gave him an admiral in the end, this is not what he wants, he wants credit, his own credit.

This time Zhang Qiang finally gave him such an opportunity to go out to lead troops, but this guy came out to share his credit, and according to this guy, he only needed to go for a walk on the basis of his father's prestige. Pirates who used to be his father's subordinates would be obedient, and that would take him for nothing.

"No matter how good the warship is, it's not yours. We paid the entire navy to capture it. It's impossible for us to give it to you." Wei Wuji suddenly choked out such a sentence to Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Chenggong was obviously more experienced than Wei Wuji, who was born as a servant, and immediately understood Wei Wuji's thoughts, smiled slightly, with an embarrassed expression on his face, and stopped talking too much.

So embarrassingly, the two of them led the mighty fleet to the sea off Xiamen to join the fleet led by Zheng Tai.

Chapter 144 The End of Zheng Cai [-]

Wei Wuji led more than 100 warships and more than 100 merchant fleets, Zheng Chenggong led more than 300 warships, plus Zheng Tai's strength on Xiamen Island, more than 200 warships, and more than [-] large and small ships. Zheng Cai's remnant forces in Xiamen are much stronger, and the Portuguese and the Dutch have long since fled.

After Zheng Chenggong sent someone to communicate, it was true that most of Zheng Cai's ships had landed, and only some loyalists still tried to resist. However, in the siege of so many warships, those loyal ships were quickly crushed and sank. into the sea.

Hundreds of warships gathered in the sea near Xiamen and Jinmen, and soon Zheng Cai's forces fell apart, and Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Qiang's Jinhua Rebel Army won the victory.

Seeing the victory, Wei Wuji stood at the bow of the boat and shouted: "Soldiers, go to the island, empty the island for me, don't let go of every single thread and thread."

"Oh——" the Jinhua Rebel Army sailors roared in unison, put down their sampans and boats, and rushed to the island with a full load of soldiers.

Wei Wuji turned around and said to Zhang Ying: "The governor ordered that all the cannons on Zheng Cai's warship, select high-quality and qualified ones, and move them to our ship. The pirates and fishermen who are willing to join us, the crimes are not very serious, and the worth is innocent. .”

"Yes, my lord." Zhang Ying was ecstatic. This trip was not in vain. Although he couldn't occupy the territory, he could loot things at will and expand his navy. He was so happy.

Wei Wuji looked at Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Chenggong smiled as if nothing had happened.

Zheng Chenggong watched many sailors and soldiers climb down from the warship, turned to Wei Wuji and said, "Master Admiral, if there is nothing else, I will go back to my warship."

Wei Wuji was very satisfied, made Zheng Chenggong look bad, and avenged this person for taking his credit, but Zhang Qiang still wanted to live in peace with Zheng Chenggong, and he couldn't disobey Zhang Qiang's order, so he cupped his hands and said: "Thank you for being loyal and filial uncle. Once the seized materials are loaded onto the ship, you can take over Xiamen."

Zheng Chenggong clasped his fists together, "Thank you Master Wei, I'll let the boys wait for a while, do you want me to send someone to help the rebels?"

Wei Wuji waved his hand, and said decisively: "No, thank you Uncle Zhongxiao."

Zheng Chenggong handed over again, then turned back to his warship with his guards.

The navy of the Jinhua Rebel Army was moving things, and Zheng Chenggong's navy was watching. Seeing that the things on the two big islands of Xiamen and Jinmen were continuously moved to the merchant ships of the Jinhua Rebel Army, and finally the merchant ships could not be put down. The boats were piled full, and the waterline dropped again and again, almost making the whole boat submerged in the water.

Zheng Tai looked at Zheng Chenggong, "Brother, is this really good? It will damage the morale of my men."

Zheng Chenggong didn't say a word.

A young general said angrily: "My lord, are you just watching these barbarians evacuate Xiamen? How can I say that Zheng Cai is also old Linggong's brother, a general, and his property should be inherited by you, my lord. If it is not your son's Prestige, Zheng Cai's subordinates will not surrender, with these barbarians, can they defeat Zheng Cai's subordinates?"

Zheng Chenggong turned to look at him, and roared, "Hugh's nonsense, what do you know?"

Zheng Tai also said to the young general: "Shi Lang, don't be arrogant, the Jinhua Rebel Army is our ally now. It's okay to give some small money to the ally. If you don't understand, go down."

Shi Lang bowed his head to admit his mistake, but his eyes were full of disappointment.

Speaking of Shi Lang, but Zheng Tai himself felt a little uncomfortable. Zheng Cai was a member of Zheng Zhilong's group in their hearts, but now his property was taken away by an outsider. Feeling sad, after Zheng Zhilong left, Zheng's Shibazhi maritime empire, the maritime kingdom that once made the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spaniards have to bow their heads, completely collapsed. His only hope is that Zheng Chenggong will inherit his father's legacy. Albert, recast the glory of Zheng's Group.

"It's okay, it will get better slowly, annexed Zheng Cai's power, although it is only one out of ten, our strength is still strong, isn't it? When Japan's business recovers, plus we are on the business road After receiving the 'toll fee', we will be able to rise again within a year." Zheng Chenggong said confidently to Zheng Tai.

Zheng Tai did some calculations, and with the inclusion of Zheng Cai's remnants, Zheng Chenggong will own 45 large lucky boats, three Portuguese Clark ships, more than 70 medium-sized lucky boats, and more than 20 smaller sand boats and bird boats, etc. There are about [-] or [-] small warships, which have reached [-]% to [-]% of his own strength in one fell swoop, and those big ships are far more than his own. In this way, his strength is almost the same as his own.

If he accepted the dozens of seriously injured Zheng Cai and captured armed merchant ships that Zhang Qiang promised to give him in the future, Zheng Chenggong's strength would far exceed his own, and the combined strength of the two would be comparable to that of Zheng Hongkui.

The forces along the coast of the Ming Dynasty were reshuffled. Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong were almost tied for the first place, while the Jinhua Rebel Army was second, followed by the Daqingshui Division, and then there were some other small pirate forces that did not take refuge in any one force.

Of course, in terms of maritime strength, their opponents are actually the Dutch. The Dutch are first, the Spaniards are second, Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Chenggong are tied for third, and the Portuguese are fourth. Compare.

Zheng Tai cast his eyes on the shore, Wei Wuji on the shore was instructing the staff to hoist some precious large-diameter camphor wood and oak used for shipbuilding to the merchant ship by pulley block, Zheng Tai's heart was suddenly stung.

Those are the most precious ship wood. To build a sailing ship, some trees with large diameters need to be cut down from deep mountains and old forests, transported to land with great pains, and then dried for one to four years before they can be used. to build.

Otherwise, the ship will have cracks due to humidity and sun exposure. On the sea, if the ship has such problems, it is tantamount to suicide.

In some big storms, it will disintegrate immediately, so it needs to be air-dried as much as possible to make the wood fiber dense and compact, so that a good boat can be built, and there will be no major problems after ten or twenty years.

Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer of these good boat woods. All the powers have exhausted their efforts to collect these precious woods, and each power has very little of these precious woods in stock. They can only use some low-quality, not very thick ones for ten years or a few years. The pieces of wood are pieced together, and the boats that are pieced together in this way will fall apart in a storm and are not strong, and the life of the fleet is very short, about three or four years.

Wei Wuji's search took a day and a night, until every ship had a deep draft and could no longer hold it, then bid farewell to Zheng Chenggong and Zheng Tai, set sail and sailed to the coast of Taizhou.

Zheng Chenggong immediately led people to take over the ships left by Zheng Cai, the entire Xiamen territory, and the Jinmen Island territory.