Lu Jiude and others walked into the village under the leadership of Zheng Zhilong, and on the way, Lian Shanxiang noticed that the residents in the village were very enthusiastic about Zheng Zhilong and others, and they did not mean to be afraid at all, but they were a little evasive towards them wearing official uniforms.

Zheng Zhilong was chatting with Cai Shanji enthusiastically, and at the same time, he also introduced Taiwan's customs to Lu Jiude, Lian Shanxiang and others. He seemed to notice that Lian Shanxiang was paying attention to these villagers, so he casually explained: "These villagers are all from Fujian, and they are also my hometown fathers. Last year and this year, the drought in central Fujian was severe, and the villagers had no food and clothing, and the officials did not dare to sit idly by, so they recruited their hometown elders to reclaim Taiwan. Although this place is isolated from overseas, the land is fertile and the products are abundant, which can be described as a paradise. It's a pity that the imperial court is reluctant to relocate the people to this overseas island, otherwise this place will be the south of the Ming Sea. ”

Listening to Zheng Zhilong's words without regret, Lian Shanxiang just smiled and said nothing, but Li Chenfang, who was still young, retorted unconvinced: "How can it be that the imperial court is unwilling to relocate the people here, Your Majesty asked us to come to Taiwan to see with our own eyes whether this place is suitable for the people to live..."

Lian Shanxiang hurriedly coughed a few times and stopped Li Chenfang from continuing. Regarding their mission in Fujian, Zhu Youzhen told him several times, asking them to watch more, listen more, record more, and talk less. After all, Li Chenfang was young, Zheng Zhilong just teased lightly, and told the purpose of their trip.

Although Li Chenfang kept his mouth shut, Zheng Zhilong didn't plan to miss this opportunity to understand the intentions of the Son of Heaven's ministers, he glanced at Zheng Cai on the side. This Luodi Xiucai, who defected to Zheng Zhilong 2 years ago, immediately said with a sneer.

"How will Your Majesty know that Taiwan is there? I think you northerners can't even withstand this little sea storm, so why do you want to coax us with such big words. ”

Lu Jiude, who was watching coldly, said before Li Chenfang spoke: "Your Majesty doesn't know where Taiwan is, Your Majesty told me before leaving Beijing that Taiwan Island and Fujian face each other across the sea, and the place is about one-quarter the size of Fujian. If the Ming Dynasty controls this island, then our southeast coast, there will be no more scourge of the Japanese invaders. If this island is controlled by others, then our southeast coast will be controlled by others. ”

Although Lu Jiude's voice was not high, he was shocked in Zheng Zhilong's ears, he pretended to reprimand Zheng Cai, and said to Lu Jiude with a smile: "We are all rough people here, we don't practice etiquette, and I hope my father-in-law won't be surprised." However, on that day, the governor of the south promised that the Dutch occupied the southern part of Taiwan, and the Spaniards in Manila had settled in the chicken coop in northern Taiwan a few years earlier. ”

Lu Jiude refused to say any more, he just smiled at Zheng Zhilong, changed the topic and said: "I can't imagine that the customs of Taiwan are really peculiar, what is the purpose of building such a high platform in front of this house?" ”

Zheng Zhilong followed Lu Jiude's gaze, and quickly said: "There are many students in Taiwan, and the most brave and ruthless are the ones who are brave and ruthless, this high platform is used to command the strong men to guard the village when the village is attacked, and the number of enemies in the four directions can be seen at a glance when standing on it." ”

After Lu Jiude praised a few words, he followed everyone into the Zheng Mansion mansion. After Zheng Zhilong entered the mansion, he ordered the servants in the mansion to take a group of people to the guest room to wash and change clothes.

Seeing off Cai Shanji, Lu Jiude and others, Zheng Zhilong immediately lowered his face and beckoned his henchmen to enter the conference hall to discuss the matter.

Those who followed Zheng Zhilong into the conference hall were four or five people, including Li Kuiqi, Zhong Bin, Zheng Zhihu, and Zheng Cai.

As soon as everyone sat down, they heard Zheng Zhihu say angrily: "What did you say to appease us and others, but it turned out that you fell in love with our territory." Emperor Daming really doesn't know what is going on, the officers and soldiers in Fujian and Guangdong have been defeated by us, and this trick will not give us benefits, but I think that even the retreat of our waiting will be accepted. Big brother, don't agree to this Lao Shizhi's appeasement, this shows that you don't take our 'Eighteen Zhi' in your eyes. ”

Zheng Zhilong sat on the chair at the top, his left hand supported on the armrest to support his chin, and looked at the henchmen sitting with a straight face, as if waiting for his subordinates to express their opinions.

Although Zheng Zhihu's tone was fierce, and he seemed to have the idea of fighting with the Ming Dynasty again, the other people present did not make a sound of peace, and even Zheng Cai, who had always been good friends with Zheng Zhihu, was silent.

Zheng Zhilong waited for a while, then impatiently called the names of his subordinates and asked them to express their opinions.

The first person to be named was Zheng Cai, although Zheng Cai and Zheng Zhilong have the same surname and are both from Fujian, but in fact, the two are not of the same race.

Since he defected to Zheng Zhilong, he has always followed Zheng Zhilong's footsteps, and in this pirate group where the vast majority of people are illiterate, his talent status has also added a lot of points, and he has become Zheng Zhilong's trusted military advisor.

Although Zheng Cai became a pirate in a fit of anger because of his downfall, as a scholar with a traditional Confucian education, his desire to become a court official was much stronger than that of most pirates, and he was also the most supportive of Zheng Zhilong's acceptance of Zhao'an in Zheng Zhilong's pirate gang.

Emperor Daming personally sent the eunuchs around him to appease their pirate group, which had already made him excited. This Son of Heaven personally issued an edict to recruit An, which was much higher than the previous Zhao'an specifications of the Fujian governor.

Therefore, when Zheng Zhilong named him and asked him to say his opinion, he couldn't help but speak for Emperor Ming: "Your Majesty has just ascended the throne for a few days, and you have specially sent envoys to appease us and others, which shows that Your Majesty still attaches great importance to us." Moreover, since Your Majesty wants to defend Taiwan, he must rely on us and other people who are familiar with Taiwan's geography, so it can be seen that this appeasement must be true. In the past, I kept telling the elders in Fujian that we were all good citizens who were willing to serve the imperial court, and it was only because we were oppressed by corrupt officials that we had to go to the sea to become thieves. Now that His Majesty has personally sent an envoy to appease us and others, if we refuse to ignore them, won't we become two-faced villains? ”

Zheng Cai's words made Zheng Zhilong, who was originally in a bad mood, a little more irritable, although he diligently wanted to be recruited and return to his hometown with honor, but it did not mean that he was loyal to Daming. Zheng Zhilong, who has been engaged in overseas business since he was young, does not have any thoughts of family and country in his heart, but the love of his hometown is very important.

In addition, the years spent overseas have broadened his horizons and thoughts, and unlike those unambitious pirates, Zheng Zhilong, who has served as an interpreter for the Dutch, clearly knows that it is maritime trade that makes these Western merchants so powerful.