"My lord, the guerrilla Zhang Sheng escaped with three ships," the general Yang Chaodong reported to Zheng Cai.
"You dare to be brave," Zheng Cai clenched his fists fiercely. Since escaping to Pinghaiwei, the food has been almost exhausted, the morale of the army has been unstable, and subordinates have been fleeing.
While he was getting angry, Zheng Bin walked in.
"Brother, Zhu Chenggong has sent an envoy."
Zheng Cai sneered and said: "Bring the envoy in."
When the envoy boarded the flagship, Zheng Cai said angrily: "Damu and I have the same roots. Why did you occupy my Xiamen and kill my brother?"
The envoy said: "The Zheng family is weak when divided, but strong when united. The purpose of recruiting the general to occupy Xiamen was to unify the Zheng family, and it was done as a last resort. The killing of Zheng Lian was done by his subordinates, and was not the intention of recruiting the general. Zheng Lian was buried generously. Before I came, he wrote me a personal letter and broke an arrow as an oath. If the Duke leads his troops to surrender, he will be treated kindly. The letter and the broken arrow are both here, please see the Duke."
Zheng Cai took the letter and the broken arrow and took a look.
Zhu Chenggong's letter was written with great emotion. First, he explained the reason why he was "forced" to occupy Xiamen; then he repeatedly explained that it was not his intention to kill Zheng Lian, but a "manslaughter" by his subordinates; and finally, he repeatedly promised that as long as Zheng Cai leads his troops, If you surrender, you will definitely treat yourself as a brother, and you will never be disrespectful at all.
Zheng Cai laughed miserably after reading the letter: "Isn't it enough that Damu framed and killed a brother? Do you want to frame another brother? How can I survive when I return to Xiamen?"
Seeing that Zheng Cai didn't believe it, the messenger took out another letter and gave it to Zheng Cai: "This is a letter written by Mrs. Huang to you. The Marquis of Dingyuan died in the rebellion. After hearing the news, Mrs. Huang was so sad that she refused to eat or drink, so she wrote The letter angrily scolded the general, who apologized many times before he was willing to eat. This is a letter written by Mrs. Tai to you. Please read it."
Mrs. Huang is Zheng Zhilong’s mother and Zhu Chenggong’s grandmother.
This elder of the Zheng family has been fond of the three brothers Zheng Cai, Zheng Lian, and Zheng Bin since he was a child. He has taken care of them in every possible way and treated them more dearly than his own grandchildren.
Upon hearing that it was Mrs. Huang's letter, Zheng Cai hurriedly opened it and read it.
The letter was extremely touching, saying that I am old, and after hearing this unbearable thing, I was so sad that I just wanted to die. But people cannot be resurrected, and I have already lost a grandson (Huang has always regarded Zheng Lian as his own grandson) , I really don’t want to lose another one. Grandson Cai, you and grandson Bin are both back. I guarantee that nothing will happen to you. If Damu dares to embarrass you, I will crash to death in front of Damu.
After reading Mrs. Huang's letter, Zheng Cai burst into tears and asked the messenger with sobs: "How is Mrs. Huang?"
The envoy replied: "After hearing about the incident in Xiamen, Madam Tai was so sad that she cried all day long. She ordered the general to be kind to the Duke. Don't worry, Duke, if you return to Xiamen, you will not be in danger of your life."
Zheng Cai sighed and called the envoy to retreat.
"Brother, you must not be fooled by Da Mu! Da Mu is cruel and has no regard for family ties. If you go to Xiamen, you will definitely die!"
Zheng Bin yelled at Zheng Cai.
Zheng Cai smiled bitterly: "We are running out of food. If we don't go to Xiamen, where will we go? King Lu will kill me, the Qing court will kill me, and Damu will kill me too. There is no place to stand in the vast sea. It is better to return to Xiamen, it will be death." Live, let it be left to God's will. As long as the wife is here, you may not die."
"Brother, why don't you go to jail and imprison King Jing?"
"It's a long way to Guangdong. Our army is almost running out of food. We have no supplies. How can we go to Guangdong to surrender to King Jing?"
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"Ship, there is a ship! Report to the Duke quickly!"
Zheng Caizheng was discussing with Zheng Bin and the generals when they suddenly reported that a warship was approaching.
Zheng Caiji and Zheng Bin went out of the cabin to wait and see, but they saw densely packed warships, more than 200 of them, and more than 10,000 enemies.
You are the king of Lu. In a battle between the king and his ministers, is it necessary to kill them all to no avail?
Zheng Cai was so angry that she hung up the signal flag: "Get ready to fight!"
Generals Yang Chaodong, Wang Sheng, Yang Quan, Cai Xin, etc. all led their respective fleets and lined up to wait.
Coming were Kuang Lu, the Ming Dynasty's Fujian patrol commander, Sun Gui, the admiral of the Ming Dynasty's Guangdong Navy, and his lieutenants Li Changrong and Zhou Jintang. The Guangdong Navy's 15,000 troops were mobilized.
Seeing Zheng Jun in battle formation, Sun Gui smiled and said to Kuang Lu: "Kuang Xun, it's a bit difficult for you to persuade Zheng Cai to surrender this time. You see, the other party is ready to fire."
Kuang Lu also said with a smile: "Zheng Cai was first attacked by Zhu Chenggong in Xiamen, and then attacked at sea by Lu Jianguo. He was already frightened. It's normal to be more wary. It doesn't matter, I only take one boat and hang 'Jing' high. The flag moves forward, and the general holds down the battle for me."
Sun Gui nodded and hung up the command flag: "Get ready to fight!"
Generals Li Changrong and Zhou Jintang each returned to their own formations. The Ming fleet also formed a battle formation and faced Zheng Caibu with murderous intent.
This time, Zhu Hengjia made two preparations to persuade Zheng Cai to surrender. If he could reach an agreement, everyone would be happy; if he could not reach an agreement, he would be directly annihilated.
Zheng Cai's remaining 20,000 naval divisions are currently short of food, clothing, and ammunition, and are at their weakest combat strength. It would be better to annihilate them than let the 20,000 naval divisions fall into the hands of other forces. Over the past few years, the supervision of the country has , Zhu Hengjia acted more and more ruthlessly, as all emperors have done since ancient times.
Zheng Cai has been a pirate with Zheng Zhilong for many years and is a great expert in naval warfare. As soon as he saw the Ming army's fleet arrayed neatly and advancing and retreating in an orderly manner, he knew that the opponent was well-trained and a formidable enemy.
The other side has sufficient supplies, its ships and cannons are fierce, but you are losing battles in succession. You have difficulty supplying, and you don’t even have many shells. How can you fight this battle?
Looking at the densely packed Ming warships, Zheng Cai broke into cold sweat.
"Brother, you see, it doesn't seem to be King Lu's ship. They are flying the flag with the word 'Jing'," Zheng Lian suddenly shouted.
Zheng Cai squinted her eyes, picked up the telescope and took a look. Sure enough, the fleet was hanging with flags with the word "Jing", "Prince Jing's fleet? What are they doing here?"
The Ming army's fleet anchored outside the range of the Zheng army's cannons, and one of the warships sailed directly towards Zheng Cai.
The opponent played a semaphore: "Don't fire!"
Zheng Cai ordered not to fire and let the opponent come over.
The warship slowly approached Zheng Cai's flagship, getting closer and closer, and the view became clearer and clearer.
There is a middle-aged scribe in a white Confucian robe with disheveled hair on the boat. He is playing the piano and singing loudly. What he is singing is because the sea breeze is too strong and I can’t hear clearly. His expression is very carefree and happy.
Zheng Cai took a look and found that this person looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
Suddenly he saw the scribe waving to him: "Mr. Jianguo, are you okay?"
Zheng Cai took a closer look and found out that it was Kuang Lu, the Fujian patrol officer under King Jing. This person came to persuade him to surrender last time, but he did not agree at first. He didn't want to come again now.
Have people put down the planks and let Kuang Lu board the ship.
"We haven't seen you for a long time, but the Duke's style is still the same." As soon as they met, Kuang Lu joked about Zheng Cai.
Zheng Cai smiled bitterly: "I'm at the end of my rope, and it's miserable. But Brother Kuang is so talented and enviable. I just heard my brother playing the piano, and I don't know what song he was playing?"
Kuang Lu laughed: "It's a new song I composed myself, "A Village with Dark Flowers and Bright Willows".
When Zheng Cai heard this, a bright light flashed in his eyes.
"Brother Kuang, please come into the cabin and have a chat."
"My lord, please".
When the two entered the cabin, Zheng Cai ordered someone to serve them tea.
Kuang Lu went straight to the point, "I'm here to persuade the Duke to surrender. The conditions are the same as last time. If the Duke is willing to surrender, he will follow me to Guangdong; if he is unwilling to surrender, please behead my head."
Zheng Cai was stunned: "Brother Kuang and I are in love. Even if we don't want to surrender, there is no need to kill Brother Kuang."
Kuang Lu sighed: "Although we have not known each other for a long time, we are like old friends for many years. To be honest, Prince Jing's 20,000 navy troops are destined to be captured. His Highness has given an order to Admiral Sun. If you If you don't surrender, I will annihilate you at sea. It would be unjust to let your friend die alone. Therefore, if you refuse to surrender, please chop off my head first. I cannot bear to let you die alone!"
After listening to Kuang Lu's words, Zheng Cai was moved by Kuang Lu's loyalty, but also frightened by Zhu Hengjia's ruthlessness.
Sweating profusely, he finally said after a long time: "Thank you, Brother Kuang, for speaking out. I am willing to surrender."
??
After Zheng Cai's surrender, Zhu Hengjia appointed Sun Gui as the admiral of the Fujian Navy. He assigned Zheng Cai's subordinates Zheng Bin, Yang Chaodong, and Wang Sheng to Sun Gui's command, and ordered Sun Gui to lead 30,000 naval troops into Fujian to cooperate with Yan Tianfeng in the battle. He also appointed Chen Qice. As the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Navy, he assigned Yang Quan and Cai Xin, generals under Zheng Cai, to Chen Qice's command.
Zhu Hengjia ordered Zheng Cai to come to Changsha for an audience. He wanted to meet the famous Founding Duke in person.
This chapter has been completed!