Historically, the battle between Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang took place in December of the fifth year of Chongzhen, which means that there is still more than a year before now. The Battle of Kinmen with the Dutch took place in the sixth year of Chongzhen, two years before now.

However, Qin Shuhuai is worried that the history of this time and space may not be completely according to the original. For example, if Zheng Zhilong is transferred to Zhejiang to serve as the assistant minister of the General Administration of Customs, will Liu Xiang and the Dutch do it in advance?

Therefore, after asking Zheng Zhilong to arrange the handover, he and Zheng Zhilong had a long talk behind closed doors.

Zheng Zhilong naturally knew the current situation well, and explained the movements of Liu Xiang and the Dutch in detail.

In general, Liu Xiang has continued to be his big pirate since he broke with Zheng Zhilong, and his power has been expanding in the past two years, and the demand for control of sea areas and shipping routes is also increasing, so he has been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of Zheng Zhilong.

As for the Dutch, it was mainly because of the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy, which made it unable to conduct normal trade with the most important economies in the Far East, so it urgently needed a big war to force the Ming to submit and open the ports along the coast.

But now, the imperial court has opened the sea ban along the coast of Zhejiang, which can alleviate the anxiety of the Dutch to some extent. However, the Dutch still wanted to get rid of Zheng Zhilong's sailors, on the one hand, because Zheng Zhilong had too deep a grudge with them before, and on the other hand, because they also wanted to dominate the Far East, or at least the oceans of southern Fujian and Southeast Asia.

Based on the above, Zheng Zhilong judged that if he left, Liu Xiang and the Dutch would most likely join forces to attack ports such as Penghu, Xiamen, and even Anhai, forcing his sailors to rush to a decisive battle with them.

From the perspective of the strength of the warships, although Zheng Zhilong had more than 800 warships, most of them were fast ships equipped with only two to three guns, or fireships, and large warships, such as 30 heavy warships equipped with 16, 20 to 36 guns.

In contrast, the Dutch owned more than 50 large warships in the Far East, while Liu Xiang also owned more than 20 large warships, and the rest of the clippers, small and medium-sized ships, both sides added up to the same.

In other words, Zheng Zhilong suffered from not enough large warships, and the number was only half of that of the other party.

That's why he has been very low-key in recent years, unwilling to clash with Liu Xiang and the Dutch. Even, he is now deliberately currying favor with the Dutch, such as promising to give the Dutch more smuggling convenience (because southern Fujian was previously controlled by Zheng Zhilong, so the imperial court has not yet opened the sea ban), and even ceding the port of Manila to the Dutch, etc., just to ease the conflict and buy time.

But everyone knows that a sea battle is inevitable in the future.

After synthesizing this information, Qin Shuhuai came to his own judgment.

His judgment was slightly different from Zheng Zhilong's.

Because he came from the afterlife, he knew too well that what the Dutch wanted at this stage was freedom of trade, which in fact coincided with his thoughts, and this demand could be met by the Dutch. As long as Zheng Zhilong's warship is obtained, the imperial court can also fully open the sea ban in southern Fujian, which is believed to be enough to appease the Dutch for the time being.

Historically, when the imperial court was under strict sea bans, the war between Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch only broke out two years later, so now that the sea ban is fully opened, the Dutch, whose fundamental needs have been greatly satisfied, have no reason to start a war in advance.

Of course, the Dutch's East India Company in the Far East was not so simple as normal free trade, their appetite was as big as occupying the Far East for colonization, from controlling the Far East to collect protection fees, and from smuggling goods to obtain the highest profits, and each of these things touched Qin Shuhuai's bottom line - since the Far East was going to give birth to a strong Ming Dynasty, then the hands of Westerners should not be stretched so long. Not to mention anything else, at least the entire Far East must have the final say, otherwise it is still a chicken feather "surrendering to the four provinces and coming to the court from all directions"?

Therefore, the Dutch can be pacified and temporarily delayed, but a big battle with the Dutch is inevitable and needs to be prepared in advance.

And Liu Xiang, a big pirate, is naturally better to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Then the problem is simple.

If he could hold off the Dutch, then Liu Xiang would not take the initiative to fight Zheng Zhilong's sailors no matter how bold he was. Therefore, if you want to get rid of Liu Xiang, you must take the initiative to attack.

Liu Xiang's base camp is in Taiwan, that is, if you want to get rid of Liu Xiang, in addition to naval battles, you also have to land operations.

In order to carry out landing operations, it is necessary to destroy the coastal defenses of several ports of Liu Xiang in Taiwan.

To destroy the coastal defense, large-caliber artillery is needed.

What is the strongest artillery of the Ming Dynasty at the moment?

Red Cannon!

An upgraded version of the Franco cannon!

The idea came out like that.

First, upgrade the artillery of Zheng Zhilong's warship and equip it with all red-coated cannons. Not only does the redcoat cannon have a longer range (about 1 km of effective range), but it also has a larger caliber, and it is enough to fire solid shells to penetrate the ship, and it is also more powerful to fire scattered bullets and chain bullets.

Second, Zheng Zhilong's warship was controlled by a reliable person, who had to be extremely loyal to the imperial court and well versed in the way of power.

The redcoat cannon can now be mass-produced, it is nothing more than a question of money, and the problem of money is not a problem now. The Redcoat Cannon could even be further improved to make it more powerful. The person who can improve the red-clothed cannon is also ready-made, and it is said that Xu Guangqi, this old guy, is still alive now.

So who is in charge of these 800 warships, as well as two large docks, and more than a dozen important ports?

Obviously, Hua Shen only understands intelligence and is not suitable. Needless to say, Li Jingting is even more unsuitable.

After thinking about it, Qin Shuhuai thought of a candidate.

Li Daliang.

This guy may not be able to command the battle, but in terms of the art of power and strategy, I am afraid that he is second only to Cao Huachun - you must know that he and Chen Changting and others, but in just three years, he has created a Jianghe gang whose strength should not be underestimated, and has attracted a large number of people, who believes that he does not know the art of power and strategy?

As for his loyalty to the imperial court, there is no need to doubt it.

As long as he can control the warship in the hands of the imperial court, as for the affairs of the sea, it is not a problem at all to have old pirates such as Zheng Cai and Chen Hui to help him.

In other words, the next action can be summed up in one sentence: take control of the warship, then explode the red-coated cannons, and if there is time to explode another wave of large warships, wait for a decisive battle with Liu Xiang and the Dutch in half a year or a year.

In the evening, Qin Shuhuai had a long talk with Chen Hui, Zheng Cai, Li Kuiqi, Zhong Bin and other Zheng Zhilong's subordinates, and verbally promoted their official positions, only to wait for the holy decree to be issued.

Most of these people are people from southern Fujian, and they are also subordinates to Zheng Zhilong, and they are also sold to the imperial court, and now that they are truly obedient to the imperial court, they will no longer have to worry about being surrounded and suppressed by the imperial court in the future, and they can be officials in their homeland in a serious manner, so they are naturally happy.

Qin Shuhuai believes that as long as their brains are not broken, they will not rebel - if they do not rebel, they can be prosperous and rich, and if they rebel, they will not only be hunted down and killed by the imperial court, but also by Liu Xiang and the Dutch, who will not be able to calculate this account?

That's it.

Early the next morning, Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhibao, and Zheng Zhihu set off for the capital to face the saint according to the plan, with the whole family, the old and the young, the gold and silver, and the "escort" of Qin Shuhuai and the two thousand martial arts coalition troops.

When he came out of Zheng's mansion, a boy about eight or nine years old suddenly walked up to Qin Shuhuai and looked at him carefully.

Qin Shuhuai stopped and smiled at him.

The child asked, "You are Qin Shuhuai?"

Zheng Zhilong immediately reprimanded, "Sen'er, don't be presumptuous, this is the grandfather of the dynasty!"

The child didn't care, and asked, "Are you Qin Shuhuai?"

Qin Shuhuai smiled slightly, squatted down and said to him, "Your name is Zheng Sen?"

The child nodded.

Qin Shuhuai said in his heart, hello Zheng Chenggong.

The child asked again, "Are you really fighting four against a thousand in Luo Wenyu?"

Qin Shuhuai nodded.

The child immediately said, "When I grow up, I want to be a hero like you." ”

Qin Shuhuai smiled and touched his head, "Great! ”

As he spoke, he touched his arms, but there was nothing but silver tickets.

remembered that there was still a jade pendant given by Chongzhen on his waist, so he took it off and handed it to Zheng Sen's hand.

"Take it, it's for you. When you see it, you have to think of what you said today. Do you know what it takes to be a big hero, though?"

Zheng Sen unceremoniously took the jade pendant and said, "I know." The great man of chivalry, for the country and the people, the hero should be like this. That's what you said, right?"

Qin Shuhuai said, "That's right, it's good!"

Historically, after Zheng Chenggong learned that his father Zheng Zhilong had descended to the Qing Dynasty, he resolutely went to the Confucian Temple to burn his clothes to show that he had broken off with Zheng Zhilong, and took some soldiers to Taiwan to continue the great cause of resisting the Qing Dynasty.

Qin Shuhuai was not surprised that he could say this.

However, Zheng Zhilong's face changed drastically, because he saw that this jade pendant was a big thing.

Busy said to Zheng Sen, "Sen'er, don't be rude. Hurry up and return this jade pendant to Grandpa Guo, is this something you can want?"

Qin Shuhuai got up and chuckled at Zheng Zhilong, "Lord Zheng, I like your son-in-law very much, and this jade pendant should be regarded as a gift from me to him." Don't shirk. ”

Ordinary people don't dare to transfer the things given by the emperor to others, but Qin Shuhuai doesn't dare to do anything here.

Seeing that Qin Shuhuai was so resolute, Zheng Zhilong had no choice but to make a big gift and said, "Your Excellency Xie Guo will reward you!"

He was thrilled inside.

In his opinion, this is Qin Shuhuai's performance of enveloping himself.

Explain that you are still useful to him, and it is of great use!

And Qin Shuhuai is a person who is destined to ascend the throne and reign over the world!

This means that he will savor it for many days!