With the complete opening of the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban and the prosperity of commerce, some coastal cities have developed faster. They either use the advantage of geographical advantages to collect the fees for ships entering the port, as well as the accompanying business of brothels, Chuguans and taverns, or participate in foreign trade business, so that most of the people in these places can have a brand new way to make money.

In this way, the Chinese civilization, which has always been based on agricultural civilization as its main mode of production, has been impacted, and many local famous juren and gentry have been opposed. Although in the past, these people were the backbone of smuggling, but because of their huge family interests and conservative ideas, they still dragged their pace of progress and eventually lagged behind the hands of emerging overseas traders who dared to take risks. They were naturally dissatisfied with such changes, and many people tried every means to go back to the past.[]

But now the commercial awareness of the coastal cities has risen, so how can they stop it in just a few words? Besides, with the support of the court, local officials dare not be too biased in helping each other, which has led to a change in power between the old forces and emerging forces. Perhaps soon, the distribution of strength will be completely reversed.

In Hainan and Fujian, where the Chinese people used to be regarded as wilderness, mostly guilty people were exiled, the rise of these emerging forces was particularly rapid. The original old forces here cannot be compared with other places because of geographical limitations. Now the development of these places is the least boundless, so the emerging forces in these two places are the strongest. In just a few years, several major maritime merchants have appeared in it.

The most contemptible one is the Zheng family, which was originally just a pirate, but later became the best among maritime merchants through pirate experience. The head of the family Zheng Zhilong was once the leader of the pirate group "Zebazhi" that traveled around the southeast sea, which made various countries feel terrified. He was righteous and brave and had a reputation at sea. When it was in its prime, Japan, Ryukyu and other countries dared not be disrespectful to it, and it was also considered a domineering at sea.

Later, Zheng Zhilong's fleet defeated the Dutch East India Company, which is famous for its maritime reputation, thus completely controlling the sea routes in Fujian. Any country or private fleet had to pay the fee to pass through it, and it was like the king of the sea.

But later as he grew older, Zheng Zhilong finally took over the mountain and became an ordinary Ming people. The court did not blame him much because he knew his name. Instead, he granted him an official position and raised him. Zheng Zhilong happily became this rich man and lived a leisurely life.

With the emergence of the imperial court's policy of opening seas and communicating with the sea, Zheng Zhilong clearly felt that his opportunity had come again. Although he is not young now and can no longer travel around the sea, his vision of maritime trade is still there. He has had such years of experience in smuggling and hegemony at sea, so he naturally has a good development at this time. Moreover, maritime trade is legal now, so they don't have to raise their heads to do such things, and they are very relieved to leave it to the children below.

With Zheng Zhilong's planning and the efforts of several younger brothers and son Zheng Chenggong, the Zheng family's maritime fleet once again reached a huge scale, and the Zheng family has become the leading maritime businessman and wealthy businessman in the Fujian area.

Although everything went so smoothly, Zheng Zhilong, who knew the current overseas and surrounding situations, was still a little worried because he had learned about the news from his children who had returned from sea that the Red Russians who had been defeated by his army had developed again, and also developed through another group of places called Oyster Mirrors that occupied during the Jiajing period. These people are likely to have a significant impact on their future commercial development and the coastline of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, with Zheng Zhilong's understanding at this time, it was impossible to distinguish the difference between the Netherlands and Portugal. In his eyes, the red and red men in the world were the same. However, his judgment was still very strong. Once these foreigners who accumulated primitive capital through bloody means controlled the maritime power, it would inevitably cause great damage to the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty.

After pondering at home for a while, Zheng Zhilong still couldn't make a decision. Should he take his former brothers to use force to punish the Red Raiders, or should he write to the court? He had both of them. The former knew that his current identity was not the original overlord of the sea. If the court learned about his behavior and blamed him, it would not be so easy for him to leave. As for the latter, he still did not trust the court so much. Not to mention the ability of the court's navy, it was hard to say whether they would send troops to deal with the Red Raiders. In Zheng Zhilong's understanding, the court was still very conservative and there was no possibility of lightly speaking about war for a small harbor.

However, Zheng Zhilong's son Zheng Chenggong's idea was different from that of Nai's father. As a young man, he yearned for those heroic deeds in history. He also wanted to serve the country and drive out all the invading enemies. So after learning this news, he repeatedly persuaded his father, hoping that Zheng Zhilong could bring his fleet and troops to drive away the red-haired men.

But Zheng Zhilong was the head of the Zheng family after all. Before he came up with a clear idea, even Zheng Chenggong, the most amazing young people in the family, could not go against his intention of keeping his troops in motion. Zheng Chenggong could only be anxious at home.

The tree wanted to be quiet but the wind did not stop. Just when the Zheng family was undecided and finally planned to say hello to the court, the red and Russians on the sea took action. These white people who came to the East thousands of miles away were not really doing business, because they did not attract the goods of the rich and self-sufficient Ming people, and their demand for wealth was so strong that it was impossible to obtain them by legal means.

It turned out that when the Ming Dynasty was still forbidden from the sea, these Red Raiders had two ways to get wealth. One was to smuggle, buying some specialties from the Ming Dynasty from the smugglers, and the other was to directly rob (robbery). These specialties from the Ming Dynasty such as silk, porcelain and tea were very popular among Western nobles, and they did gain a lot of benefits through doing so. However, with the opening of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Zheng family earlier, the lives of the Red Raiders were not so easy.

After repeated failures and summarizing lessons, they finally realized their shortcomings, that is, there is no place to provide them with supplies and docking. Although the countries in South China are not their opponents, they are still a little far away from the rich Ming Dynasty, and their target is not only them, but the richest Ming Dynasty. But then, these red-Japanese men found helpers, that is, the Portuguese who had long been stolen for many years, the Flangji people mentioned by the Ming Dynasty. As long as they could get their support, the Dutch could prepare everything with a basis and then attack the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

After several negotiations and concessions, the two groups, which belonged to European maritime powers, reached an agreement. The Franchise could allow the Dutch to land and help the Dutch fight along the coast of the Ming Dynasty. After obtaining the spoils, the two sides divided equally. Of course, the main force attacking the Ming Dynasty was still the Dutch, because their attack power at sea was the strongest.

Since they made up their minds, the two and a half-pirates and half-soldiers of Western fleets set off from Oyster Mirror and came straight to the Central Plains. If they were in the direction, the most convenient thing for them was naturally Guangdong, but because the Guangdong front-line court sent a lot of people, after obtaining the information, these robbers turned to Fujian. They had already heard that the wealthy people in Fujian and the Zheng family, who defeated them, were there, so they quickly confirmed that Fujian's first target for their attack and looting.

Five huge sea ships, plus dozens of small boats suitable for combating near the sea, rushed towards the coast of Fujian. At this time, the merchant ships that had already received the news were just returning to the sea. Their head had already issued an order, ordering all the Zheng family ships to return to the port of Fujian before the imperial court gave the order to prevent being injured by the Red Rapunzels.

However, some of them received the order a little late. When they rushed back to sail, they happened to meet the fleets of the two countries coming towards Fujian. As soon as they saw the ships with the Ming flag and deep dripping, the eyes of those Western robbers who had not opened for a while had been exposed to the opening.

Several robbers with the position of governor in their country immediately issued an order to attack. Several large ships drove at full speed, and then they ruddered and crossed in front of five large merchant ships, blocking their way. At the same time, the small boats filled with pirates rushed forward, quickly surrounding the three merchant ships with wolves tactics, so that they could not escape. Then the robbers in tight pirate costumes threw out ropes and put on the masts of the Ming merchant ships. The people also swung onto the ship with these ropes, with muskets, short-handled axes and Western swords inserted between their waists.

Seeing this scene, the crew of the Ming Dynasty knew that a fierce battle was inevitable. Fortunately, most of the crew members on these three ships had followed Zheng Zhilong to fight the world in the Nanyang area. Although they suddenly encountered an attack, they were not in chaos. They quickly took out swords, guns and weapons from the cabin and prepared to defend themselves.

Although these crew members are mostly veterans of war formations, tigers cannot hold up the wolves. Under the impact of waves of pirates, they soon fell to a disadvantage. Moreover, these pirates also had firearms that crew members did not have. With a bang, many people were knocked down. After more than an hour, three merchant ships and nearly a hundred crew members were killed or captured by pirates, and everything on the ship was naturally owned by the red-haired pirates. Only a few of them had the highest martial arts and clever people took advantage of the chaos to seize a small boat and headed towards Fujian. Although the pirates pursued them, they finally let them escape from the tiger's mouth.

However, this did not disturb the pirates' good mood. After unexpectedly getting such a small fortune, it naturally greatly increased their morale. They were also full of confidence in attacking Fujian and looting more property.

"It's outrageous!" Zheng Zhilong thumped heavily on the tea case in front of him and said angrily. The subordinates who were reporting the news of the robbery of the sea ship in front of him were also shocked. They had not seen their elder brother so angry for many days. But it is also conceivable that someone dared to attack the Zheng family's sea ship. Isn't this a blow to Zheng Zhilong in the face?

"These Red Russians are really bold and have the idea of ​​my Zheng family's fleet. Do you really think we dare not deal with them?" The anger was not vented because of that beat. Zheng Zhilong still said angrily. Although he wanted to be safe before and wanted to use the power of the court to deal with these foreign enemies, once the people really bullied themselves, the strong man style of Zongheng overseas was reflected again, which made many brothers dare not persuade them for a while.

"Three brothers, go and give me an order. Let the brothers who are doing business everywhere come back quickly. This time we can't let those red-blooded men bully this way. I must take back this place! They dare to kill our brothers, and I also want those red-blooded men to fall into the sea to feed fish and shrimps!" Zheng Zhilong then said to his third brother Zheng Zhikui next to him.

Zheng Zhikui is a person who only obeys the elder brother's orders. When he heard this, he immediately stood up and walked out. Zheng Chenggong, who had always been the most calm at this time, spoke: "Uncle San, wait!" Then he bowed to his father: "Dad, I don't know if I should say a few words."

"If you have anything to say, just say it." Zheng Zhilong saw that he had been urging his eldest son to speak, and just thought he had any means to deal with those red-blooded men, he nodded and signaled.

"I think we should not fight now." But Zheng Chenggong's words were obviously beyond everyone's expectations. He was not in a hurry to go to war with the Red Russians, but persuaded his father.

"What do you mean?" Zheng Zhilong asked with frosty face. Although he trusted this son whom he valued very much, at this critical moment, Zheng Zhilong was still very unhappy.

"The child thinks that now is not the time to go to war with them, and there are two reasons." Zheng Chenggong did not change his views because of his father and others' bad attitude. Instead, he said more attentively: "Father, you just reported your concern to the court, and immediately gathered our own people to go to war with those red-haired men. What would the court think? Those officials like to pick on the eggs the most. If they catch this and attack you, I am afraid that even if we win, there will be no good results. This is one of them.

"Secondly, our fleet has not done anything about fighting and killing in recent years. Although they are still those people, they may not be the opponents of the Red Army men who have been separated for a long time. Now the brothers have families and careers, and are not as relaxed as before. They are willing to fight to the death. They have many concerns. How can they defeat the Red Army men as many years ago? In addition, I heard that the Red Army men were equipped with very powerful firearms this time, but we do not have enough firearms, and I am afraid that they will suffer a loss at this point. So the child thought that we should just be patient for the time being. After the court has a clear reply, it is not too late to act according to the situation."

His words were reasonable and took care of all aspects, but Zheng Zhilong could not listen to them, because although he was already a maritime businessman, he still had the habit of pirates at the beginning. Pirates, like bandits, pay attention to face. Now that their own people are robbed by the red-haired men, how can Zheng Zhilong bear this tone? Even if his son persuaded him, Zheng Zhilong refused to listen. He waved his hand and said, "These are not important to brothers. They have bullied us. We must not just endure it. Otherwise, who will believe us in the future? What else can we use to seek a way out for survival overseas? Moreover, the families of these brothers who died are watching us, so we cannot let them down!"

The other brothers who were obviously bandit-like in their veterinary spirit also supported Zheng Zhilong and said, "Brother is right. If we don't retaliate this time, the red-haired men will think that we are easy to bully and may come to the door. We can't just let it go, let them know how powerful we are! Kill all these red-haired men who dare to attack us and kill our brothers."

"Yes, this is my brother of Zheng Zhilong!" Zheng Zhilong said and said to Zheng Zhikui again: "Go quickly and call all the brothers who can be called. We will go out to sea to avenge our brothers tomorrow!"

Seeing that everyone had different opinions from him, Zheng Chenggong had no choice but to stop talking after he opened his mouth. He would have agreed to do this before writing to the court, but now it made him a little worried. However, he was still 70% sure about this battle and believed that his troops could win, after all, he had the advantage of geographical advantage, not to mention that the Zheng family's fleet was a good naval battle, which was enough to fight against the Red Russians.

Early the next morning, dozens of sea boats set sail, and thousands of Zheng Zhilong's brothers and subordinates were riding in it. They also prepared various naval weapons on their ships. In this case, they wanted to teach those red-haired men who dared to stroke their tiger's beards a big lesson!
Chapter completed!