Hearing Zheng Zhilong say this, for fear that Lu Jiude would be displeased and mess up Cai Shanji, who was being appeased, he said with some displeasure: "Yiguan, this is yours." Your Majesty is so gracious, how can you still bargain, this is not the courtesy of a human minister, do you really want to be a pirate on this desert island for a lifetime? ”

Zheng Zhilong hurriedly distinguished: "Minzhong was originally a narrow and densely populated place, and I couldn't survive in my hometown at the beginning, so I went to sea to fight. If Your Majesty wants us to go ashore, how can we have so many fields for us to cultivate? If the brothers are scattered and resettled, and one of them causes trouble, can I and the rest of the places still farm in peace?

At that time, His Majesty's kindness will become a disaster for the fathers and elders in Fujian, and won't it become a sin for us? Besides, the brothers have been adrift at sea all year round and have become accustomed to life at sea, and they rely on it to support their families. You can't let my brothers starve for the wealth of a few of our leaders, right? ”

Lu Jiude quietly observed the expressions of the pirate leaders in the hall, and he found that except for Zheng Zhilong's two brothers, who sincerely echoed his brother, although the other pirate leaders shouted loudly, their emotions were not excited at all. In particular, the pirate leader who was dressed as a scholar was even more eager to pay attention to the expressions of several of them.

Lu Jiude gently blew the hot tea in his hand, but his mind was nervously thinking about how to correctly convey Chongzhen's meaning to these pirates.

After taking a sip of hot tea, Lu Jiude finally spoke: "Lord Cai doesn't have to be angry, when I left Beijing, His Majesty once instructed me that the imperial court adopted the strategy of recruiting peace in order to secure the people and protect the territory. Instead of rebelling again after Zhao'an because of a misunderstanding between the two sides, it is better to explain the problem clearly in front of everyone in advance. You can put forward any requests before Zhao'an, and I will give you an affirmative answer on behalf of Your Majesty.

Before you talk about the conditions, I would like to tell you your Majesty's attitude towards the matter of recruitment. Your Majesty's intention, the strategy of recruiting peace is not for you, but for all the people who are at sea in my Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the conditions for the imperial court to recruit you today are the conditions for recruiting other people at sea in the future.

Moreover, the terms of recruiting you will be announced to the world in the future, so you don't have to worry that I will talk about it here, but don't expect me to agree to any unrealistic demands. ”

Lu Jiude said as he paid attention to the expressions of the various pirate leaders in the hall. What Lu Jiude said was really not in line with the habits of the Ming court, although the people often said that the emperor was a golden mouth.

But as long as it is a pirate of the Ming Dynasty, the one who does not have doubts about the promise of the Ming court, the overlord of the sea back then, the Wufeng shipowner, is credulous to believe the promise of the Ming court and went ashore, but the Wufeng shipowner who called for wind and rain on the sea was caught by several catchers after going ashore, and then it was the end of the head in a different place.

When the officials of the Ming Dynasty recruited pirates, what they didn't like the most was to make a promise of substance, and they generally used false words to coax the pirates ashore, and then collect the ships and disperse these pirate gangs, as for whether they would go to sea again because they felt deceived in the future, these officials did not care.

Anyway, for these officials, the merit of quelling the pirates has been brushed, and if the pirates go to sea again, they will be appeased again, and they can continue to brush their merits. Therefore, the pirates on the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty often rebelled and defected, and there was a momentum of wildfires burning inexhaustibly and the spring breeze blowing again.

For Zheng Zhilong, what he wanted was to put on an official name to facilitate his fleet to trade overseas. Therefore, what he needs is the irresponsible recruitment of Ming officials, as long as he is given an official title, and then the Ming court does not interfere with what he does.

As for the conditions for recruiting other pirates, Zheng Zhilong did not consider it again. In his opinion, as long as he was recruited, those pirates were his enemies in the sea trade, and they had to be cleaned up. And the officials and gentry on the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty will definitely be optimistic. After all, the trade smuggling ships in the names of these people are often lost to these pirates.

Unlike Zheng Zhilong, who was a little breathless after listening to Lu Jiude's words, the minds of several of his subordinates really began to come alive. At this time, although Zheng Zhilong was nominally the head of the pirates, in fact, the only people who could completely obey his orders now were the ships controlled by his two younger brothers and relatives.

Even Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin, who were regarded by others as his cronies, without the nod of the two of them, Zheng Zhilong would not want to cross them and directly command the ships under the two.

The first reason why Zheng Zhilong, who is not strong, will be elected as the chief leader of the "Eighteen Zhi" is that he is not strong enough, let him be the chief leader, and other pirate leaders do not have to worry about their forces being swallowed up by him. Of course, the current pirate leaders, no one expected that when Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, relying on the huge profits of overseas trade, he really became the king of the Ming Sea.

And the second reason is the Ming court's policy towards pirates, if you are just a general nameless pirate, or a little famous but not well-known, the Ming sailors are basically to deal with the pursuit of errands a few times. But if someone unites the group of thieves on the Daming Sea, then this person will basically become a thorn in the side of the Daming Sailor, and if he does not chase and kill, the Daming Sailor will not stop.

This is the truth that the Daming pirates comprehended from the ending of many pirate leaders such as the king to Lin Feng. Of course, what they didn't expect was that the Great Ming Sailor who once deterred the Japanese invaders had actually declined, and even a temporary patchwork pirate gang could not defeat it.

Because of the glory of the Ming Dynasty sailors, no one among the pirate leaders wanted to be the leader of the group of thieves, for fear of being targeted by the Ming court. And the past exploits of the Daming Navy Master also forced these pirate leaders to unite around the talented Zheng Zhilong and obey the orders he said.

And Zheng Zhilong also relied on the huge pressure of the Daming Sailor to slowly penetrate his power into every ship, wanting to become a veritable pirate leader.

But the Ming court, which has always been known for its toughness and pedantry, actually produced an Emperor Chongzhen who said that he wanted to be honest, which made these pirate leaders who were originally worried about whether it would be a scam to appease them, and they suddenly settled down.

There is no emperor who will regret not counting after announcing the Zhao'an proclamation to the world. Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin immediately began to think about how to put forward conditions so as not to exceed the bottom line acceptable to the imperial court, resulting in the failure of the appeasement.