Emperor Chongzhen was very happy to learn that Shen Tingyang and others had returned safely from overseas, especially when he heard that Shen Tingyang and others had successfully arrived in Batavia, and had met and connected with Weis, the governor of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, and was already very satisfied with the results of their trip.

At this time, I suddenly heard these unexpected things, and I felt a little inexplicable, and I couldn't figure out what kind of connection there was during this period for a while.

But he understands that in this world, if there is something that compels a person to do something, then in the final analysis, there are only two, one for benefit and the other for fear.

These are the only two things that can motivate a person to do something, even something he doesn't like to do.

Naturally, it was for one of these two reasons that envoys from Korea, the Ryukyus, the Karaqin and the Kulun sent envoys to attend the annual Zhengdan Grand Gathering of the suzerain.

And for what reason did the Dutch, Portuguese, and Annam Moh's envoys come?

If it's for profit, what kind of benefit do they want?

If it's out of fear, it's strange, and what are they afraid of?

After Shen Tingyang and Zhang Xiang knelt down to plead guilty, Emperor Chongzhen stroked the fluffy beard on his chin with his hand and muttered silently, making everyone in the study feel uneasy.

As the Emperor's silence lengthened, so did the tension in the study.

However, this tense atmosphere quickly dissipated with the emperor's words.

Emperor Chongzhen saw Shen Tingyang and Zhang Xiang kneeling on the ground and kowtowing, so he said, "It's not a big deal! Bring it, bring it! As the saying goes, all the people who come are guests! ”

After the emperor said this, Shen Tingyang and the others immediately breathed a sigh of relief, kowtowed again to thank him, and the mood that had been entangled all the way suddenly became lighter.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen asked again: "Where are these people now?" They came to me to ask for a meeting, so why did they come? ”

When Shen Tingyang heard this, he immediately replied, "Your Majesty! The Dutch Yi, the Portuguese Yi and the Mohs envoys of Annam took the Weichen ship all the way to Tianjin. Now accompanied by the Jesuit priest Van der Rei, they are still on standby on the ship outside the mouth of Dagu, and without His Majesty's will, the ministers cannot let them step into the land of Gyeonggi in the Ming Dynasty!

"As for why the envoys of these states came, the ministers did not understand the language, and although there was an interpreter, they did not delve into it! The Dutch, Portuguese, and Annan envoys were also vague and unwilling to talk deeply.

"From the perspective of the ministers, such people come from afar, I am afraid it is not for trade and trade!"

After hearing Shen Tingyang's words, Emperor Chongzhen nodded, looked at the two of them and said: "Shen Tingyang, Zhang Xiang, your two of them have been on this trip for more than half a year, they have gone through the turmoil at sea, and they have worked hard all the way, you are tired!" ”

When Shen Tingyang and Zhang Xiang heard this, they were moved in their hearts, and kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty drove the expedition in person, and defeated Jianjiao outside Juyong Pass, this is hard work!" Weichen and others are blessed by God, the journey is smooth, fortunately not disgraced, it is the duty of Weichen and others! Your Majesty has a good reputation! ”

At the end of this conversation, even if the audience was over, when Fang Zhenghua led Shen Tingyang, Zhang Xiang and others to prepare to retire, Emperor Chongzhen said:

"Shen Tingyang, Zhang Xiang! These envoys of Fanbang are coming with you, and you two will also participate in the next court meeting!

"In addition, Shen Tingyang, go back to the Li Fan Yuan, find Wu Weiying and Jiang Yueguang, bring these envoys to the Beijing Division, and make the handover with the Li Fan Yuan clear. Let's just say that this is what I said, although they are uninvited, I have to treat them politely! ”

After Shen Tingyang, Zhang Xiang and others docked at the port of Dagukou in Tianjin, they rode their horses all the way and rushed to Beijing in order to be able to settle this matter as soon as possible.

Because if you miss the opportunity of the Zhengdan court, like this kind of envoy who has not paid tribute for many years or has never paid tribute, wants to go to the Beijing Dynasty to meet the Ming Emperor, then I don't know that I have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the month of the horse.

Although Shen Tingyang did not figure out the reason why these envoys insisted on following them to meet with the Ming Dynasty, he also knew that these people came to Beijing for the Zhengdan Great Court Meeting of the Ming Dynasty, and knew that there must be a major reason behind this, or at least there was a major and sufficient reason for the people represented by these envoys.

As for the Dutch envoy Biednow (Peter Nuyth), who represented the Dutch governor in Batavia, Shen Tingyang knew more or less about the reason for coming to the Ming Dynasty.

One is to represent the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, with a fleet, in the area of the Penghu Islands, to trade with the Ming Royal Nanyang Company.

The ocean-going transport ship Galion, which was subordinate to the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, as well as the equipment and personnel such as artillery, sailors, boatmen, and technicians on board, were handed over to the side of the Ming court represented by Shen Tingyang, and then loaded with mountains of Ming goods worth 100,000 Chongzhen silver yuan that the Nanyang Company used to exchange.

Another, the representative of the Dutch East India Company, Biednor, also took advantage of the truce between the Dutch and the Zheng clan in Orange City, the last stronghold of the southern tip of Dongfan Island, and led a fleet to send much-needed supplies to Hans Putmans, the so-called governor of Formosa by the Dutch, who had been holding on to Orange City for several months.

This was also one of the conditions for the Ming court to purchase the ocean-going plywood ship Galien from the Dutch East India Company.

Such a condition, no one in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong can agree to it.

If it was left behind, Shen Tingyang would not dare to agree.

However, this time, in order to get the ocean-going plywood ship Gallion, which was decommissioned ahead of schedule and sold to Daming, from the Dutch, Shen Tingyang was out of the way.

Of course, Shen Tingyang is not a reckless person, and the reason why he did this is also because he knows Emperor Chongzhen's thoughts.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen hoped to completely incorporate Dongfan Island into the southeastern territory of the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible, but he did not want to see the Zheng family's power expand without limit.

In other words, at least to leave the Zheng family a different force on Dongfan Island, lest the Zheng family's maritime power have no worries, and then continue to expand to the north.

It was precisely because Shen Tingyang had been by the emperor's side for a long time and understood the emperor's subtle thoughts that he finally agreed to Weis, the governor of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, as an envoy of the Ming court, and agreed that on the basis of the truce between the two sides, the Dutch East India Company would transport a batch of foster care materials to Orange Castle.

However, even so, Shen Tingyang still offended Zheng Zhilong and the many generals under his command who led the army to besiege Orange Castle.

At this time, the population of the Dutch resident at Orange Castle at the southern tip of Dongfan Island was very small, and the mercenaries of the Dutch East India Company with guns and ammunition were only about 500 people, which was completely small compared to the thousands of troops under the command of Zheng Zhilong.

However, although the Dutch were few in number, they were musketeers and gunners who were good at using firearms, and the island of Orange Castle, surrounded by the sea, was difficult to defend and difficult to attack.

The castle is boxy and small, but it is built on the hill, and there are four bastions in the four corners of the city, each with five heavy cannons.

Although the castle of Orange is close to the land, it is separated from the land by a narrow bay.

At this time in the late Ming Dynasty, the bay between the main island of Dongfan Island and the southern tip of the island has not been silted up and filled, and it is not connected with the main island.

Therefore, although Zheng Zhilong's command has a large number of people, they can only be transported across the sea by ship in batches.

The bay leading from the main island to the island was covered by the fire of Orange Castle.

Therefore, since Zheng Zhilong increased his troops on Dongfan Island, uprooting the Dutch settlements and trading points in the southern tip of Dongfan Island, he launched one battle after another against Orange Castle, the last stronghold of the Dutch.

But each time they were either repelled by the artillery fire from the castle of Orange, or they attacked the island of Orange Castle at the cost of death and wounds, only to be repelled by the muskets at the head of the castle and stop at the fortified city of Orange Castle.

In this case, Zheng Zhilong could only adopt a long-term siege to force the Dutch red-haired ghosts in Orange Castle to surrender.

At this time, Shen Tingyang, in the name of the envoys of the Ming court, agreed that the fleet of the Dutch East India Company would transport a batch of supplies to dock at Yikun Island through the blockade of the Zheng family's fleet, so that their long-term siege would fall short, which would of course cause serious dissatisfaction among Zheng Zhilong and his generals.

So, what made Zheng Zhilong agree to lift the lockdown?

That's what the Dutch proposed.

In addition to the emperor's dictation, the writings of the Fujian and Zhejiang governors' palaces, and Shen Tingyang's letters, the representative of the Batavia headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, Biedno, also made a suggestion to Zheng Zhilong.

That is the cooperation of the two to deal with the third force on the island.

Because at this time, in addition to the Dutch in the south, there were Spaniards in the north, and the Spaniards were more ambitious, more numerous, and the pace of development was faster.

Zheng Zhilong could ignore the writing of the Governor's Office of Fujian and Zhejiang, Shen Tingyang's letters, and even the dictation of Emperor Chongzhen, but the proposal put forward by Biedno, on behalf of the Governor of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, to cooperate with the Spaniards opened up another idea for Zheng Zhilong.

So, everything went well for Bideno and his party.

And Shen Tingyang, the envoy on behalf of the imperial court, although he was very hateful in the eyes of the generals and soldiers of the Zheng family, he finally completed the first transaction between the Ming Royal Nanyang Company and the Dutch East India Company in Penghu safely and smoothly, and took the ships that he had bought with great difficulty, passed through the Minhai Strait, and went all the way north to Beijing.