I'm a pirate at the end of Ming Dynasty

In the Xu family's mansion, the accountant was busy making calculations and going in and out, while Zheng Zhipeng crossed his legs and smoked while taking the account book and calculating the numbers.

After a while, the shopkeeper came over with an attentive smile and said: "Back to Fourth Master, the total is 33 taels of silver. I will take the money back to the bank and deposit it. Here is your banknote. You put it away."

Zheng Zhipeng nodded with satisfaction after taking the banknote, and then turned to Xu Bengao in a very embarrassed manner: "Master Xu, let me introduce you formally. This is the shopkeeper of our Zheng family's bank in Songjiang, south of the Yangtze River. Any place along the coast or not too far from the sea, our Zheng family's banknotes can always be used directly. It's not creditworthy. Tell me, if you had deposited the silver and exchanged it for banknotes, Isn’t there nothing to do today? Hey, what’s the sound?”

Zheng Zhipeng heard a soft, strange crunching sound, and after a closer look, he realized that it was actually Xu Bengao scratching the chair. He was so angry that he clenched his fists too tightly, and his nails scratched the armrests of the chair. .

"Master Xu, do you think this is inappropriate? Come on, the money is here. You can take it back at any time. Let me ask you again, does your brother have access to the Japanese?"

Xu Bengao was speechless. He flicked his sleeves and smashed the tea cup to the ground. He stood up and turned around to leave. Zheng Zhipeng said with a smile: "Mr. Xu, I just took the banknote away." ."

"No delivery!"

Zheng Zhipeng smiled and said to Kinuiemon: "It seems that the Xu family doesn't welcome us anymore, so let's leave. There are still a lot of things to do. Oh, by the way, this is evidence of Japanese communication. Your family should take care of it." You still have to pay the water, otherwise if Liu Xiang comes back with revenge, we won’t care about you."

"Humph, then don't bother General Zheng."

Zheng Zhipeng didn't argue with him anymore, and led Kinuiemon away with satisfaction.

Back in Songjiang City, Zheng Zhiyan has almost finished everything he needs to do. This guy has been in Fujian for the past two years, and sometimes helps Zheng Zhilong collect water, so he is quite familiar with this matter. How could I set this price more reasonably? After all, I collected nearly 30 taels, all of which were taken from wealthy households in the city.

Zheng Zhipeng called the shopkeeper of the bank, and then called Zheng Zhiyan, and said with a smile: "You can make a lot of money from this vote. If you add one yuan, it will be nearly 60 taels. Songjiang really deserves to be called Little Suzhou. If you take out 3 taels like this, First, give it to the brothers, with Quan as a partner, then take out 3 taels and divide it among the ordinary people in the city, and then take 4 taels and divide it among the garrison officers and soldiers in Songjiang and the surrounding area of ​​a hundred miles, especially It is under the control of Zhejiang Province, so we can give it more. In the name of Zhang Bingzhen, and on the pretext of resisting the Japanese, I will ask all armies from all over the world to help Songjiang."

Hearing this, Zheng Zhiyan smiled bitterly and said, "Fourth brother, the speed with which you spend your money is really amazing. You haven't even warmed your hands with the money yet, so you spent 10 taels first."

"Money, what is spent is real money. Send another [-] to the Suzhou Weaving Bureau as a filial piety to Master Chongzhen. Let the eunuch in charge go directly to the inner treasury without going through the hands of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Then give [-] to the Suzhou Weaving Bureau. He does favors.”

"Ah? Why did you give it back to the emperor? This is what we deserve."

"You deserve it. The trouble this time is actually a bit big. Jiangnan is no better than our hometown in Fujian and Fujian. It is not only a place of wealth, but also the home base of the Donglin Party. Believe it or not, within three days of going out to participate Our notes will be sent to the emperor to give the emperor some benefits. We don’t ask for his support, but at least he will acquiesce."

"This... I have only heard of bribing officials. Who has ever heard of bribing the emperor? The whole world belongs to the emperor, how can anyone value such a small amount of money?"

"Tsk, who doesn't know that today, the poor are almost urinating blood. To use troops in the northwest, he has to ask the ministers to borrow money. If he borrows a large amount, doesn't he just borrow more than 4 taels? Although Jiangnan is rich, Donglin There are gangs all over the country, but these nobles don’t know how to pay a dime in taxes. He can’t collect it himself. Now I collect it for him, how could he be unhappy?”

After hearing this, Zheng Zhiyan still found it incredible, but Zheng Zhipeng's prestige was getting higher and higher now, so he became more and more trusting, and just listened to those who didn't understand.

Zheng Zhipeng also wrote to the heroes of the so-called Anti-Japanese Alliance in the three mountains and five mountains under his command, asking them to quickly bring all the people and horses to gather in Songjiang. If Liu Xiang's revenge came quickly and he had no time to ask for help from Zheng Zhilong, he would not mind it. Give this guy a try on the shore.

Of course, most of those so-called heroes joined his so-called anti-Japanese alliance just for money, and they may not really have the courage to confront Liu Xiang. But how can there be any good thing in the world that only makes money but does not contribute?Those who don't come this time will not only be kicked out of the league forever, but they will also have to vomit out what they have eaten before.

Zheng Zhipeng then selected two or three elites from each village among the thousands of village warriors and incorporated them into his righteous followers, and then asked Youemon and others to carry a large box of silver to gamble with the Matsue defenders.

After fighting all night, they lost all their money, and Yi Cong gained more than 200 people in his team.

After all this work, Zheng Zhipeng could finally lie down comfortably on the rocking chair, chatting with Zheng Zhiyan while letting the maid feed him the watermelon cut into small pieces one by one.

"Fourth brother, we are beating Liu Xiang today just to protect ourselves. Why bother to go to such great lengths? Liu Xiang is really going to go ashore to take revenge before eldest brother arrives. At worst, we can just run away. He will pretend to be one of our family members again at this time. , who can still believe him? You played such a big game of chess today and spent so much money, but we can't even run away. What on earth were you thinking?"

"What are you thinking, haven't you seen it yet? To tell you the truth, I really hope that Liu Xiang can come now. If he can really come, then I will have the final say in Songjiang Mansion from now on."

Zheng Zhiyan ate the watermelon and her mouth was full of juice, and she said: "Our family lives on the sea, what's the use of Songjiang Mansion? My eldest brother doesn't intend to rebel."

Zheng Zhipeng couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this. He spat out the melon seeds and cursed with a smile: "How many times have I told you, we need to have a longer-term vision and a bigger picture. Our family is no longer a Japanese pirate. My eldest brother is now a prince! You have to use the princes. Think about the problem from the perspective and perspective.”

"Then how should the princes think about the problem."

"Songjiang Prefecture has a developed handicraft industry, especially printed cotton spinning, which accounts for more than [-]% of the country's total. Controlling Songjiang means controlling the entire Ming Dynasty's printed cotton. My eldest brother's opponent is not only Liu Xiang, but also the East India Company. We compete with my eldest brother for business going north to Japan. You must know that more than half of the trade with Japan is printed cotton. If our family can control Songjiang, it will be much easier to compete with the East India Company for business in the future."

Zheng Zhiyan was stunned when she heard this. She never expected that the thinking of the princes was so complicated.

Zheng Zhipeng closed his eyes and thought secretly: "What's more, there are not many days left before the world collapses. If you don't want the Tatars to chase the treasure island like a dog, you have to make arrangements in advance."