The conversation between the Zheng brothers was still inconclusive in the end, and Zheng Zhilong was not originally an ambitious person. He has only two goals in life, to become an official and make a fortune and to be famous in his hometown.

Although Chongzhen's Zhao'an strategy disrupted his plans for future maritime trade, Zheng Zhilong did not change his attention to Zhao'an because of this. Because he was reluctant to be the name of the guerrilla general, although it was only a military position, but after all, he was a general from the third grade.

In the history of the Ming pirates, this should be the highest official position given by the Ming court. Although the military attache is despised by civilian officials in China, Zheng Zhilong can go sideways when he is overseas with this identity.

Although the Ming Dynasty has implemented a policy of seclusion and seclusion since Zheng He, Zheng He's powerful fleet of seven trips to the Western Ocean that year really gave these native tribes in Southeast Asia and South Asia a great deterrent. To this day, the countries established by these indigenous tribes still respect the Ming people.

Even when European colonizers such as Spain and the Netherlands invaded the islands of Southeast Asia, these native countries still regarded themselves as overseas vassals of the Ming Dynasty and were unwilling to be loyal to these brutal European colonizers.

With this official robe, Zheng Zhilong will naturally get a lot of convenience when he conducts overseas trade. However, limited to his own vision, what Zheng Zhilong is thinking about now is only to facilitate overseas trade, and has no idea of opening up overseas territories for the Ming Dynasty.

Zheng Zhilong originally planned to establish an independent maritime trade kingdom after Zhao'an, but after being torn apart by Chongzhen's Zhao'an policy, he began to honestly calculate how to develop his own small group after Zhao'an.

The matter of Zhao'an was discussed for three days, and Liu Xiang, who was the most resolute in opposing Zhao'an in the Eighteen Zhi, returned to the island. Liu Xiang, who originally brought people to Xingshi to ask for guilt and disturb the court's recruitment, saw a group of people quietly gathered here to listen to the speeches of the people on the stage under the high platform in the middle of the village, and couldn't help but stop to listen to what the people on the stage were saying, so that this group of pirates who had always been noisy could be so quiet.

This was more than half an hour, and it was not until Zheng Zhilong came out to greet him in person after receiving the news that Liu Xiang reluctantly followed Zheng Zhilong into the mansion.

On the way, Liu Xiang couldn't help but ask: "Is what you said on this stage really the conditions for recruiting security recognized by the imperial court?" You can't be fooling us, right? ”

Zheng Zhilong has always been more vigilant against this powerful Guangdong pirate. didn't want Liu Xiang to benefit from Zhao'an, so that the Cantonese people could become more powerful at sea, so he said to Liu Xiang ambiguously: "These are all things that are not certain, what the imperial court is like, others don't know, Liu Laoxiang, can you still be unclear?" If these conditions can really be implemented, will there still be you and my brother on this sea? I think so, let's take a step, look at a step, don't believe too much in the promise of the imperial court. ”

Zheng Zhilong's seemingly ordinary words made Liu Xiang vigilant. The most powerful people in the Eighteen Zhi are the Fujianese, followed by the Cantonese people, and then the people from other regions. As the only foreign trade port in the Ming Dynasty, it is in Fujian, so the number of Fujian people who eat this bowl of rice at sea is the largest. And because the Cantonese have a Macao, they have also gathered some seafaring talents, but after all, they are not more attractive than Fujian's open maritime trade.

Most of the ships of the Fujian people who went to Southeast Asia to trade had to pass through the coast of Guangdong, so there were only a handful of Fujian maritime merchants who had basically not been plundered by Guangdong pirates. Most of the Fujian pirates in the Eighteen Zhi were part-time maritime merchants. Under such circumstances, it is only natural that the Guangdong pirates in the pirate gang were suppressed by the Fujian pirates.

If it weren't for the double oppression of European colonizers and the Ming court, it would have been unlikely that the pirates in these two regions would have united at all. Even now, Liu Xiang and other Guangdong pirate leaders are still wary of Zheng Zhilong and other Fujian pirate leaders.

For Liu Xiang, Zheng Zhilong, who has always insisted on recruiting and saying good things for the court, suddenly smeared the credit of the court in front of him. This abnormal behavior suddenly made him raise his guard.

"Is this because he didn't negotiate the conditions of Zhao'an, or doesn't he want us Cantonese people to share the benefits after Zhao'an?" Liu Xiang squinted his eyes and glanced at Zheng Zhilong beside him.

"You can't say that, since we want to recruit An, we naturally have to believe in the promise of the imperial court. Otherwise, after everyone recruits peace, they will beware of each other with the imperial court, how will this kind of life continue? Liu Xiang, who has always opposed Zhao'an, explained for the court for the first time.

The conversation between the two leaders exchanging scripts made the cronies and subordinates who were familiar with the past words and deeds of the two fall into the eye.

Looking at Liu Xiang's abnormal performance, Zheng Zhilong suddenly understood that he seemed to have gone too far. He laughed a few times, then changed the topic and asked Liu Xiang about the harvest of this outing.

"I went to Macau and Manila this time to meet Lobo, the Portuguese governor of Macau, and also to meet the emissaries sent by Silva Silva, the governor of the Philippines. Although Lobo was vaguely neutral in the war between us and the imperial court, he did not refuse to sell us artillery and munitions. Silva's emissaries made it clear that they were willing to support us in the war against the Imperial Court, and that they hoped to unite us against the Dutch. I think it's good to work with the Spaniards, and even if we lose the battle with the court, we have a way out. Liu Xiang briefly said the key content of his trip.

Zheng Zhilong listened to Liu Xiang's intention to be friendly with the Spaniards, and couldn't help but sneer: "The Spaniards are not a good thing, wasn't Lin Feng cheated by the Spaniards back then?" And don't you remember the massacre of Chinese by the Spaniards in the Philippines more than 20 years ago? Although the Dutch acted domineering at sea, at least they did not massacre Chinese civilians. Even if I had to cooperate, I wouldn't choose a Spaniard. ”

Zheng Zhilong's words suddenly cut off what Liu Xiang wanted to say. He couldn't help blushing and said, "In the past 20 years ago, Chen Sesame Rotten Valley, what are you doing mentioning it." Didn't the Spaniards later send someone to explain that it was a misunderstanding? Even the imperial court didn't say anything, can you Zheng Yiguan be more majestic than the imperial court? Otherwise, you should take Eighteen Zhi to Manila to seek justice from the Spaniards. ”

Facing Liu Xiang, who was blushing, Zheng Zhilong just snorted, not wanting to argue with him anymore. Regarding the massacre of Chinese in Manila, Zheng Zhilong was only angry, and it was okay to stimulate Liu Xiang, but he would not do it if he brought someone to the door. After all, there are only two main trade routes for Daming's overseas trade, one is to Japan, and the other is to Manila. Isn't making enemies with the Spaniards equivalent to cutting off one's own arm?