"Although these pirates are willing to accept appeasement, they have been adrift at sea for a long time, and they are inevitably a little unrestrained. It is certainly a good policy to have the Beijing camp on the side to take care of them, and not to let them harass the residents of the capital.

But since we invited them to Beijing to discuss matters, we can't be too petty. Be generous, don't restrict other people's travel, and feel free to go wherever you want.

Lu Jiude and Lian Shanxiang, the two of you, can you represent me, do your best to the friendship of the landlord, and take them to various scenic spots in the capital to take a look and visit. If they have any needs in life, they can meet them as much as possible.

But there is one thing, you must ensure that these people in Beijing are not allowed to have unknown casualties, and even Shanxiang, you must do a good job in protecting the safety of these people, understand? ”

Lu Jiude and Lian Shanxiang hurriedly saluted and accepted Chongzhen's order. Zhu Youzhen paused, and asked again: "Then where did the Fujian Chief Yu Zhigao and the Navy Division place the Chief Xu Xinsu and others?" ”

"The subordinates placed them in the South Huitong Pavilion in the north of Yuheqiao West Street, Dongjiang Rice Lane." Lu Jiude replied quickly.

"Very well, let them rest for a day today. At two o'clock at the end of tomorrow afternoon, you will take Yu Zhigao and Xu Xinsu to the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies. I'm going to visit the Governor's Mansion tomorrow, and I'm going to meet them. Zhu Youzhen quickly made a decision.

It is inconvenient to summon the generals in the study, and this Xu Xinsu's official position is too small, if he is allowed to enter the palace according to the rules, the procedures will be too cumbersome. Zhu Youzhen decided to meet two people in the Governor's Mansion, which was simpler.

Zhu Youzhen wanted Lu Jiude to inform Yu Zhigao and Xu Xinsu first, and by the way, he would give a banquet to Zheng Zhilong and others on his behalf, so as to appease these pirate leaders who had just arrived in the capital and might not be panicked.

Lu Jiude suddenly saluted again and reported: "Your Majesty, the subordinates still have two things to report. Zhu Youzhen raised his hand weakly and motioned for him to continue.

"In accordance with His Majesty's instructions, the Ministers personally went to the port of Dayuan, which was occupied by the Dutch East India Company, to observe, and these red-haired men were indeed as unscrupulous as His Majesty had guessed, and built the prototype of a castle on the "One Kun", which was not yet completed, but the scale was already majestic. The subordinate had already negotiated with the red-haired Fan, asking them to stop the work of building the city. ”

Lu Jiude was afraid that Chongzhen would not understand what this "one kun fish" was, so he also explained in passing, "There are seven sea sandbanks in the inner sea of the Gangtai River in this big man, and the natives on the island call them seven kun fish, and this "one kun fish" is the largest sandbar among them. ”

Zhu Youzhen knocked on the table and said thoughtfully, "Isn't it finished yet?" These red-haired people are the most cunning, even if they agree verbally, they will definitely regret it in the future. Taiwan is isolated overseas, and it is difficult to supervise, so I will go again next time, I am afraid that these people have already built the castle. ”

Regarding Chongzhen's self-talk, Lu Jiude and Lian Shanxiang didn't dare to answer, and the two looked at the carpet on the floor of the study and were silent.

Zhu Youzhen's eyes rolled, then he changed the topic and said, "Forget it, this matter is beyond the reach of the whip anyway, so let's put it aside for the time being." What's the other thing? ”

Lu Jiude continued: "The local official set up by the red-haired Fan people in Taiwan, called the governor of Taiwan, is now serving as a Fan named Peternat. However, when the subordinate arrived, he was not there, and he said that he had gone to Japan on a business trip.

When the subordinate returned to Beijing, he brought back Bill, the deputy of Peternats. Although this person's personality is rude, his mind is still simple. During the sea voyage back to Beijing, when the minister chatted with Bill, he learned a lot about the affairs of the so-called East India Company. ”

Zhu Youzhen was immediately interested by Lu Jiude's words, and then leaned forward, supported the armrest of the chair with one hand and said, "Tell me, what did this man named Bill say to you?" ”

Seeing that Chongzhen was interested in his words, Lu Jiude was immediately very relieved in his heart, it was in vain that he endured the smell of fox on Fan's body, and he was close to that vulgar Bill for so many days.

These Dutch people levied a 10% tax on the export of goods to Japanese merchants who came to Taiwan to trade, but the Japanese merchants believed that the Dutch people were exempt from Japan and should therefore be treated equally.

After Peternatz became the governor of Taiwan, the taxation was particularly severe, so there were many conflicts with Japanese merchants. Japanese businessmen bought raw silk in Taiwan and had it confiscated because they refused to pay taxes, which led to a rather bad relationship between the two sides.

Last year, a Japanese businessman, Yabei Hamada, went to Taiwan to buy raw silk and wanted to borrow a sailboat from the Dutch to bring back the goods to Fujian, but both requests were rejected by the Dutch.

Hamada Yabei found nothing, so he was resentful. After learning that the natives of the Shinko Society were dissatisfied with the rule of the Dutch, he lured 16 aborigines of the society back to Japan this year, preparing to persuade the Edo shogunate to use this as an excuse to use it as an excuse to use it against Taiwan.

It was for this reason that Peternats rushed to Japan, hoping to prevent the Edo shogunate from taking action against the Dutch East India Company's trade in Japan.

Bill, who patted his chest on the back of his ministers, assured that this Peternats had caused a dispute between Japan and the Dutch East India Company, and greatly damaged the company's interests in Japan, so I am afraid that the post of Taiwan governor would not be long in coming.

And the most promising person to take over this position is himself. Therefore, he assured his ministers that the trade agreement he had signed with the Ming on behalf of the Dutch East India Company was absolutely valid.

And the governor of Batavia, the Dutch East India Company, Jean Peterlsson Kun, was now busy with the establishment of order in the Spice Islands, and would not spend much energy on the affairs of the Taiwanese merchants. ”

Zhu Youzhen asked noncommittally: "What kind of person is this Bill, and what kind of background did he come from before?" ”

Lu Jiude thought for a while, and quickly replied: "This Bill served in the Dutch fleet, he was only a carpenter in Amsterdam before joining the navy, because he lost a lot of money in a good bet, he became a sailor on the ship in order to avoid creditors, he likes money, wine and everything that makes him feel excited." The subordinate thought that as long as he invested enough, this person could still serve His Majesty. ”

"As the old saying goes, if you are not of my race, you must have different hearts. Although this person loves money, he may not be able to deceive me, and when the sky and the sea are big, let me go there to settle accounts with him. You go about it slowly, don't be too enthusiastic about him, but don't be too cold either.

In addition, I tried to get in touch with that Peternats, but I felt that if I could provoke a conflict between these two people, it would be really possible for one of them to really turn to Daming. Zhu Youzhen thought for a long time before he said slowly.

Except for the more detailed information about the relationship between Peternac and the Japanese merchants, Bill did not talk much about other matters related to the Dutch East India Company, and the rest were some so-called overseas anecdotes.

Zhu Youzhen only listened to a few words, and then he understood, but it was just the boring fantasy of some sailors, or their exaggeration of some natural phenomena, which did not have much practical value.

Zhu Youzhen instructed Lu Jiude and Lian Shanxiang to take over the dust for those pirate leaders on his behalf and settle these people so that nothing could happen.

Before leaving, the two of them presented Chongzhen with a bribe of 12,0090 taels when they selected the pirate representative to go to Beijing.

Zhu Youzhen only glanced at these belongings, and said to Wang Chengen: "Take out 4,000 taels, Lu Jiude and Lian Shanxiang will each reward 1,000 taels, and Li Chenfang will reward 500 taels." The remaining 1,500 taels were handed over to Lian Shanxiang, and he asked him to reward his subordinates. And the rest of the gold and silver were sent to the West Treasury under the Temple of Nourishing Hearts. ”

Lu Jiude and Lian Shanxiang suddenly looked happy and thanked Chongzhen. Wang Chengen was a little unhappy, Chongzhen had never rewarded him with such a large amount. These two people only went to the south once, and they were rewarded with so many silver taels, which made him feel a little distressed in his heart.

After watching Lu Jiude and Lian Shanxiang retreat, Wang Chengen couldn't help but whisper to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, these two people are just the last generation, and what they have set up is just the work of the small end. Besides, being able to go out to do things for Your Majesty is already their ancestors' accumulation of virtue, so why should Your Majesty reward them so generously. In the future, the palace attendants will know that in order to win the favor of His Majesty, I am afraid that many incidents will occur. ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head with a smile and said: "If you have merit, you will be rewarded, and if you have a fault, you will be punished." If the other servants in the palace had received so much gold and silver, I am afraid that they would have forgotten about me as the emperor a long time ago. If they can do the same as Lu Jiude and Lian Shanxiang, I will also reward them. ”

Wang Chengen felt a little weak in his heart, he lowered his head and hurriedly defended himself: "The rest of the people in the palace, Weichen doesn't know, but Weichen is loyal to His Majesty..."

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but interrupt Wang Chengen's words with a smile, and said again: "Okay, okay, I know the loyalty of Wang Companion." This reward of gold and silver is just a gift of flowers to the Buddha, not a reward for me.

Wang accompanied the companion for a while to go to the celebrant to pass on my will, and Lu Jiude was able to do things and rewarded the six official positions, and appointed him as the imperial horse supervisor book.

Lian Shanxiang is cautious and careful, and promotes it to a thousand households in brocade clothes. In addition, he ordered him to train the Han generals who guarded the Forbidden Palace, cut out the incompetent and lazy, and replace the loyal and diligent people.

As for Li Chenfang, he is still young, and his official position will not be promoted, so let him enter the general officer training school to study. ”

Regarding Zhu Youzhen's instructions one by one, Wang Chengen tried his best to remember. He was just beaten by Chongzhen, but now he doesn't have the courage to jump out and admonish again.

For the transfer of eunuchs and brocade guards, it is enough to only need the inner court to issue a central decree. After Zhu Youzhen's order was completed, Wang Chengen quietly withdrew from the upper study, and instructed the eunuchs on the left and right not to go in and disturb him if he had nothing else to do, and let His Majesty rest for a while.