Opposite Penghu, Taiwan is an area with excellent ports. The harbour is surrounded by vast rice and sugar cane fields, and the harbour is a bustling village. The walls of the village were made of whole logs, stripped and sharpened to the ground, and the trees without peel looked far from being wooden walls and more like cracked rocks.

In addition to a long bluestone causeway that plunges into the sea, there are also four wooden piers. This port can dock dozens of ships at peak times, and it is also the greatest wealth that Zheng Zhilong inherited from Yan Siqi.

In 1625, when Yan Siqi and others first arrived in Taiwan, they settled in the north port south of this port, built ten villages around the port, and recruited more than 3,000 people from the mainland. Later, Yan Siqi died, and Zheng Zhilong took over most of the fleet and the base in Taiwan.

In 1626, Zheng Zhilong wanted to accept the recruitment of the Ming Dynasty in Fujian, but because the governor of Fujian wanted to confiscate the ships in the hands of Zheng Zhilong and others, and scattered them into various places to farm, Zheng Zhilong weighed and repeatedly thought that the Ming Dynasty was not sincere, so he went to the sea again to become a thief.

In 1626-1627, when there was a severe drought in southern Fujian, Zheng Zhilong took advantage of this opportunity to lead a fleet to attack Zhangpu in Fujian, plundering Kinmen, Zhongzuosuo (now Xiamen) and Jinghai and Jiazi in Guangdong.

After defeating the main force of the Fujian Naval Division, Zheng Zhilong began to recruit the hungry people of Quanzhou to go to Taiwan to reclaim land, and the hungry people and the unemployed along the coast competed for refuge, with about 30,000 people. Zheng Zhilong rebuilt more than 30 villages in addition to the old village, and his power rose sharply for a while.

When Lu Jiude, Lian Shanxiang, and Zhao Chenfang followed Cai Shanji of Quanzhou Patrol Road to Beigang, Taiwan, they saw a densely populated scene, no less prosperous than the Fujian Zhongzuo Institute.

"I can't imagine that there is such a weather in overseas wild places, and in another decade or two, this will be another small Jiangnan." Cai Shanji touched his beard and exclaimed, the three people behind him had already been dark because of seasickness, and they didn't care what the old man was talking about.

Cai Shanji is over 50 years old, but he looks very healthy. When the new emperor Chongzhen issued a holy decree to pay attention to a pirate who had surrendered and rebelled, the officials of Fujian officialdom were shocked, thinking that the new emperor was dissatisfied with the Fujian officials.

Although Zhu Yifeng, the governor of Fujian, looked down on the eunuchs and factory guards, the cronies and Jinyi guards sent by Chongzhen this time acted very low-key after entering Fujian, which made Zhu Yifeng also cautious, for fear of being caught by these eagle dogs.

However, under Zhu Yifeng's inquiry, he found that what these Jinyi guards were investigating in Fujian was not about some officials, but about all kinds of novel plants that spread from overseas, as well as some information about overseas. The rest is about the pirate attacks on the coast of Fujian, where these pirates are, and where their nests are.

Knowing that Jinyiwei's coming to Fujian was not the purpose of the investigating officials, Zhu Yifeng immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and instructed officials from all over the country to cooperate with these Jinyiwei as much as possible, so that they could complete their tasks as soon as possible and return to the capital as soon as possible.

Regarding Chongzhen's edict to re-recruit Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Yifeng and Yu Zhigao have different opinions. For Zhu Yifeng, although he had just taken office as governor of Fujian, the Fujian gentry had already put pressure on him several times. It is about to enter the trade monsoon period, and now that Zheng Zhilong has blocked the coast of Fujian, these Fujian gentry who are engaged in overseas trade are naturally in a hurry, and they hope that Zhu Yifeng will recruit Zheng Zhilong again.

The chief soldier Yu Zhigao disagreed, he thought that Zheng Zhilong was too gangster, if he didn't defeat him and recruit again, Zheng Zhilong would be allowed to openly recruit troops and horses in the name of the official and become stronger, who would be able to control Zheng Zhilong at that time?

Also behind the commander-in-chief Yu Zhigao, there is a maritime group of Tong'an people in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, who is supported by this maritime group represented by maritime businessman Xu Xinsu, who is the remnant of the Li Dan group that has parted ways with Zheng Zhilong, and they believe that the fleet and Taiwan base stolen by Zheng Zhilong are not legitimate. In order to compete for the fleet and commercial interests left by Li Dan, the two parties did not back down.

And Zheng Zhilong also saw this, he focused on cracking down on the sea ships of Quanzhou merchants such as Fujian sailors and Xu Xinsu, but lightly let go of the private ports and ships of those Fujian gentry. As a result, the Fujian gentry gradually began to target the general soldier Yu Zhigao, as well as Xu Xinsu and other Quanzhou maritime merchants.

Yu Zhigao's father, Yu Dayou, is as famous as Qi Jiguang, but he himself is not as good as his father, just an ordinary general. However, as the commander-in-chief of a province in charge of Fujian's coastal defense, coupled with the Fujian gentry pulling their backs, Yu Zhigao was defeated in successive battles against Zheng Zhilong.

The defeat on the battlefield, coupled with the reproaches of the gentry and the governor, had already made Yu Zhigao's heart haggard. Moreover, after repeated defeats, the pensions of the soldiers who died in the war could not be issued for a long time, which also caused the morale of the officers and soldiers of the Fujian Navy Division to collapse, and it was impossible to re-muster up morale to fight Zheng Zhilong.

Then came the holy decree, saying that they would continue to appease Zheng Zhilong, which made Yu Zhigao, Xu Xinsu and other Fujian sailor generals even more disheartened.

However, as soon as the officials of the Pedestrian Division finished reading the holy decree, the accompanying eunuch Lu Jiude summoned the governor Zhu Yifeng and the chief soldier Yu Zhigao to have a conversation and convey Zhu Youzhen's private orders to them.

The three of them talked secretly in the back hall of the government for a long time, and when the chief soldier Yu Zhigao walked out of the back hall, his face finally looked good. And Zhu Yifeng's face was much more ugly, and he soon ordered Cai Shanji of Quanzhou to patrol the sea, send Lu Jiude and others across the sea to meet Zheng Zhilong, and convey Chongzhen's will.

Cai Shanji took Lu Jiude and others to take a boat just after crossing Penghu, and met Zheng Zhilong's men, and heard that it was the envoy sent by Emperor Chongzhen to see Zheng Zhilong.

Lu Jiude, Lian Shanxiang, and Zhao Chenfang rested for a while after going ashore, and then slowly recovered some of their spirits. Lian Shanxiang held on to the wooden railing on the shore, and after spitting out the bitter water, he complained in a low voice: "Next time you kill me, don't come to the sea, this sea boat and the river boat are completely different things." ”

Cai Shanji stood aside and looked at the three of them and said: "This is mainly because a few people are not used to taking a boat, and when they return home, a few of them will be more comfortable." To be honest, our voyage was smooth sailing, not a bumpy ride, if we encountered wind and waves, then a few people knew what it meant to sail on the sea. ”