It was not only Liu Peng who was dissatisfied, Pan Bizheng also looked at Zheng Zhilong, who was wearing a majestic unicorn uniform and kowtowing to Chongzhen with a tangled face.

Several of their Fujian maritime families have been pushing Zheng Zhilong in the front, because they want to shield their family from the wind and rain, not really want to bring out a pirate king, after all, the foundation of their families is in the mainland.

If they had known that the newly enthroned His Majesty Chongzhen was so approachable, how could they possibly let Zheng Zhilong take away all the benefits from His Majesty's reward.

When they supported Zheng Zhilong to gather the pirate gang of Eighteen Zhizhi, the only purpose in their hearts was to break the monopoly of the Fujian gentry on overseas trade.

But after arriving in the capital, Pan Bizheng found that Zheng Zhilong, who was pushed out by them as a shield, actually obtained the greatest benefits from the imperial court in the name of the leader of the Eighteen Zhi Alliance, which made it a bit like lifting a stone to shoot himself in the foot.

However, when the imperial court recruited An, Zheng Zhilong's status had already been decided, and even if they wanted to regret it, it would be impossible not to recognize Zheng Zhilong as the leader of the pirate group.

Pan Bizheng and the others, who were already quite annoyed, saw that when the trip to the north was about to end, Zheng Zhilong was actually given a knighthood again, and at this time, their chagrin suddenly turned into resentment towards Zheng Zhilong.

The pursuit of money and status is the only two goals in the hearts of Ming businessmen. And the latter is more worth giving everything than the former, because this is the mainstream social value of the Ming Dynasty.

To put it mildly, the famous prostitutes in the Jiangnan area squeezed a lot of money from the merchants, but they still looked down on these merchants. On the contrary, he favored those poor literati, and even if he paid money, he had to associate with literati and scholars.

The first-class prostitutes on the Qinhuai River never interacted with merchants as the only way to raise their value.

When these famous prostitutes Lao Zhuhuang wanted to retire, they rarely chose businessmen, and once they married merchants, the prestige she had accumulated before quickly declined.

Whether it is a literati or a dignitary, they will not interact with the businessman on an equal footing.

Now Zheng Zhilong has easily obtained a knighthood and is among the nobles, just like a carp jumping over the dragon gate, every carp hopes that they are the one who jumps over the dragon gate, but they hate at the same time, and the carp that jumped over the dragon gate and has since separated from its companions.

The Zheng family brothers, who were too elated, didn't even notice that the eyes around them were not all blessings, but full of deep malice.

Liu Peng, who was standing in the crowd, finally couldn't hold back his jealousy, and shouted with a red face in his head: "This Taiwan was originally brought down by the leader of Yan Siqi, how did it become the credit of Zheng Yiguan, isn't this a bully?" ”

After Liu Peng shouted, he immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the hall, and the joy of silk and bamboo in conjunction with the canonization ceremony was also interrupted by his sudden voice.

Zheng Zhilong, who was originally happily accepted the canonization, had the feeling that someone had been knocked on the back of the head, and a piece of Venus appeared in front of him.

After Zheng Zhihu heard Liu Peng's shout, he immediately turned around and forgot about it, and when he saw that Liu Peng, who was actually not dealing with him, was making trouble, he suddenly walked back in anger, wanting to settle accounts with this villain who demolished his brother's platform.

Zheng Cai was also blushing at Zheng Zhilong's knighthood, and when Liu Peng came out to stir up the situation, he wanted to watch a good show, but he immediately thought of something, and hurriedly stepped forward to hug Zheng Zhihu's waist, stopped him and said, "Ah Hu, in front of Your Majesty, you are not allowed to be rude." ”

With Zheng Cai making a move, Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin just reacted, and slowly came up to help stop Zheng Zhihu.

Seeing that these pirates were about to turn the canonization ceremony into a farce, Wang Chengen couldn't help but reprimand with a dark face: "You..."

"Peng, Peng..." A series of fierce wooden mallets suddenly quieted down the people in the venue. Everyone's eyes turned to Chongzhen who was sitting above again, waiting for him to come forward to deal with this matter.

Zhu Youzhen didn't want to turn the canonization ceremony into a farce, and he didn't want to seal the wrong person for the first time. After watching the silence in the venue, he said solemnly: "The representative who opposed just now, please come to the front." ”

As Chongzhen's words fell, the people around Liu Peng suddenly widened the distance from him and exposed him.

Liu Peng also reacted at this time, he seemed to be hot-headed just now. But obviously this is not a good time to confess, he can only walk forward, stand next to Zheng Zhilong, and kneel.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Liu Peng, who was kneeling, and asked sternly: "This representative, report your name and explain the reasons why you canonized Zheng Guerrilla Title." ”

For the first time in his life, Liu Peng felt that his mind was so clear, and his words were so organized, of course, this also created a lifelong enmity between the Zheng brothers and the Liu brothers.

After listening to Liu Peng's statement, Zhu Youzhen rubbed his chin and thought for a while before saying, "So does this Yan Siqi have any descendants?" Where are you now? ”

Zheng Zhilong's hands were a little pale, but on the surface, he still seemed to be indifferent, but he already hated Liu Peng in his heart.

After hearing Chongzhen's question, he immediately lowered his head and said respectfully: "Brother Yan has only one concubine behind him, and he is married to Weichen as a concubine. ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately loosened his brows and said with a smile: "Then there is no problem, there is no problem with the credit made by the father-in-law, and there is no problem with the son-in-law receiving it." Wang Chengen, by the way, give Yan a title of wife, the ceremony will go on as usual, Liu Peng, you should also step down. ”

Seeing the silence of the other delegates in the venue, Zhu Youzhen suddenly stood up from his chair and walked to the venue below.

Approaching the front of these maritime representatives, he continued: "You delegates don't need to feel lost, Zheng Guerrilla's title is just beginning, as long as you can make meritorious contributions to the Ming Dynasty, the title of the Ming Dynasty will also fall to you." ”

Pan Bizheng couldn't help but ask, "Dare to ask Your Majesty, the minister wants to know, what kind of meritorious service must be made in order to be canonized?" ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at him, then looked at the representatives around him who were also full of urgency, waiting for his answer, nodded and said.

"This delegate has a good question, so I will tell you what you should do to get the title of Daming.

I have listened to some interesting navigation stories these days, Yongle three years, which is also the Western calendar 1405 years as the Westerners say, and in the next 28 years, Zheng He went to the Western Ocean seven times, and he deserves to be the greatest navigator of my Ming Dynasty.

But unfortunately, after that, I broke off the exploration of the sea at my own expense, but let a group of Westerners open up this route first.

Seeing this, I can't help but sigh for my Ming pioneers, just a little bit, we can be the first to discover the continent they live in before the Westerners.

Therefore, I hereby place a reward, and whoever can continue along Zheng He's course and fulfill Zheng He's wishes, and be the first to arrive at the homeland of those Westerners, either the captain, or the navigator, or the organizer of the fleet, will be awarded the title of baron. ”

Those who begged for a living at sea, whether they were maritime merchants or pirates, had naturally heard of Zheng He's reputation. To this day, the indigenous chiefs in Southeast Asia still admire the Ming Dynasty, which is exactly what Zheng He's fleet has done back then.

The emperor's words immediately freed these delegates from their jealousy of Zheng Zhilong, and they were also thrilled by the feat of the most outstanding eunuch of the Ming Dynasty who made seven trips to the West.

A representative beside Xu Xinsu suddenly asked, "If someone hires a foreign ship to arrive at the homeland of Westerners, is that considered a successful voyage?" ”

Zheng Zhihu suddenly glanced at the representative sideways, and said disdainfully: "How can it be counted? Isn't that too shameful to do that? ”

Seeing that several representatives were about to argue again, Zhu Youzhen suddenly spoke first: "The biggest purpose of opening up a route is to repeat the round trip. From the departure of the Ming Dynasty to the arrival of the Western Ocean Continent, and then from the Western Ocean Continent back to the Ming Dynasty, anyone who thinks that he has completed the voyage must produce detailed charts and logbooks, and under the review and certification of the Navigation Committee, he can obtain the knighthood. ”

Several delegates couldn't help but ask curiously: "What is the Maritime Commission?" ”

Zhu Youzhen clapped his palms and quieted the crowd before saying: "Every captain and navigator who can independently direct a ship to make a safe voyage will receive a navigation certificate and automatically become a member of the Navigation Association."

All members of the Nautical Association are exempt from all forced labor and household silver. The members of the Association may nominate a number of persons to form a Nautical Committee to administer the Nautical Association and technical matters relating to overseas voyages.

As long as the captains verify the correctness of the charts submitted, I will approve of them. ”

Zhu Youzhen's method was very fair, and these pirates and maritime merchants all nodded again and again. However, some people were more discouraged, because continuing westward along Zheng He's route was obviously more beneficial to the pirates of the Eighteen Zhi, who had controlled the waters of the South Seas over the years and were obviously more familiar with the sea conditions of Southeast Asia than the maritime merchants on the mainland.

Zhu Youzhen continued: "In 1492 in the Western calendar, the Westerner Christopher Columbus tried for the first time to prove that the earth we live in is round, and although he did not accomplish this feat, he discovered the American continent between the Ming Dynasty and the Western Continent.

In 1519-1522, the Portuguese Magellan led a fleet and completed his first round-the-world journey.

This year is the Western calendar for many years, but the Ming Dynasty, known as the Heavenly Empire, still no one can complete a round-the-world trip, don't you think this is a shame for all the Ming people?

Let a group of Westerners crisscross the sea to explore the land and sea we live in, while we stand by and watch, who is more like a barbarian between the Ming and these Westerners? ”

Zhu Youzhen's high-spirited speech finally infected these delegates, although some of them didn't even know a word, but the pride and pride of being a Ming person never lost from them.