Zheng Zhilong had people fish out the place where Zheng Zhihu sank for three days, but they could not fish out Zheng Zhihu's body. According to the confessions of the captured pirates, the fishing net Liu Xiang used to trap Zheng Zhihu was made of twisted copper wire. Needless to say, it goes without saying.

, the person must have sunk to the bottom of the sea.

The depth of the water here is beyond human reach. No matter how powerful the water ghost is, it is impossible to fish out the body.

"The red-haired ghost retreated, probably to Java." Zheng Zhilong looked at the waves coming one after another, as if he was talking to the air.

"They only have two warships left. I believe you can deal with them." Li Xiao took a step back. The clothes on his body were smoked by Tokugawa Senhime with incense. They had a light fragrance and smelled great. He

I don’t want to be exposed to the salty smell of Shanghai sea water!

Although he has been a soldier for his whole life, Li Xiao now hates the smell of blood. He can no longer feel the same feeling as when he first went to the battlefield when he smelled blood and the blood was burning.

The two of them were silent and looked straight at the sea. There were no less than a hundred warships of various sizes floating on the sea. These were warships that Zheng Zhilong had transferred from various places. This time, he was going to sea to hunt down the Dutch.

He has completely controlled the South China Sea in his own hands. From now on, all ships that want to pass through the strait must fly the flag of his Zheng family.

The flag of the Zheng family is not planted for free. If you want to plant the flag of the Zheng family, you have to pay money to the Zheng family. To put it bluntly, it is protection fee.

"From now on, we will share the interests of the South China Sea half and half." After a long time, Zheng Zhilong spoke. It was not easy to make this decision, and he thought for a long time before making this decision.

"Have you given it half or half? Do you think other people in your family won't gossip?" Li Xiao asked with a smile.

"There will always be people gossiping. If you always listen to them, nothing will be done. If you want to do things and get things done, you have to make your own decisions."

"You will be said to be stubborn. There are two types of losers. One is that they listen to everyone. The other is that they don't listen to anyone. Of course, your own ideas are important, but more importantly, you know who to listen to.

admonishment.

Nothing of great benefit will last long. I have thought about this matter and divided the account into 30-70. You can take care of the specific matters. I am only responsible for getting the money. If I encounter a powerful enemy, I can provide assistance. But now

Look, there are no people or forces in the South China Sea that you can't deal with."

Zheng Zhilong looked at Li Xiao in surprise. He didn't expect the young man in front of him to be so open-minded. 20% of the share every year was a huge figure that could make everyone jealous. Not everyone can give it up easily!

What's more, this time in the Battle of Macau, the Li family's soldiers also shed blood. Even Li Xiao's own brother was almost killed by the defeated Dutch soldiers.

"The 20,000 taels of silver used to bribe Chen Sifu to send troops will be counted as half for each of us."

"How can you let Brother Li spend money? Although the Zheng family has suffered some losses this time, they can still come up with a mere 20,000 taels of silver."

Two days after Li Xiu disappeared, he successfully bribed Chen Hailong's distant relative Guangzhou Navy guerrilla Chen Sifu. The more than one hundred fireships were Chen Sifu's Guangzhou Navy fireships.

Since Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas, the warships of the Ming Navy have been developing in a smaller size. Especially after the sea ban was issued, the tonnage of the navy's ships has become smaller and smaller, and the scope of activities has naturally been limited to the coast.

Although the Japanese pirates later rebelled, several large ships were built. However, after Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others put down the Japanese pirate rebellion, the Ming Dynasty Navy once again went downsizing. In the final analysis, it was still a matter of money. Building large ships was too expensive and labor-intensive, so it was better to build a few

boat.

The imperial court can't control things on land, so why do you expect flowers to bloom in the sea?

The direct result of the miniaturization of the Ming Dynasty's navy was that the sea became a paradise for pirates. Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang and others are outstanding representatives of them.

It was the short-sightedness of the Ming Dynasty that caused the current chaotic situation in the South China Sea.

The bigger the ship, the bigger the boat. The smaller the boat, the smaller the boat. The fire boat is the only way for a small boat to hit a big ship. It depends on the speed of the impact. The ramming nail in the front part of the small boat will nail the small boat to the big ship, even if it cannot be nailed.

Above. Those strong men will also drive steel nails into the hull of the big ship.

When the two ships are linked into one, the big ship can't escape even if it lights a fire. A five-masted ship like the Dutch only needs three or four fire ships to burn it completely.

In order to invite Chen Sifu this time, Li Xiao promised to give Chen Sifu personally 20,000 taels of silver. In addition, after the war, he had to build a hundred new fireships for Chen Sifu to make up for the court's deficit.

Now that Zheng Zhilong is willing to take over, it is naturally a good thing. The Zheng family is rich and does not care too much about this. The protection fees collected by merchant ships from various countries in the South China Sea alone are as high as one million taels of silver a year. Not to mention some other things in it.

benefits.

"I want Zheng Sen to go back to the north with me. You can stay with me so that I can teach you." Li Xiao likes this kid Zheng Sen very much. Not everyone has the courage to face powerful enemies. People who have left their names in history are not easy to take lightly.

generation.

"The second child has no children. I have decided to adopt the child from Tian Chuan to the second child. It is his good fortune that Sen'er can learn from you." Zheng Zhilong glanced at Li Xiao thoughtfully.

In order to protect themselves these days, individuals often form interest alliances through marriage and marriage. Accepting disciples is naturally one of the options for forming alliances.

Li Xiao and Zheng Zhilong now have so many interests involved, what can they do without some protection? If the court intends to deal with Li Xiao or Zheng Zhilong, and they respond from the south to the north, even the Ming court will have to weigh it.

"Sir! John is here, asking to see the master and Master Zheng saying that he wants peace talks." Ai Husheng slowly approached the two people.

"Haha! Let's talk if you can't fight, okay! We'll see what tricks this bastard can pull off then." Zheng Zhilong laughed immediately when he heard that John was coming.

John didn't want to come, but he had to come because he didn't want to die young. Bobby had never had a good day since he fell out with Kui. When he sailed to the coast of Cochin, he fell off the boat for some reason.

Into the sea.

As luck would have it, a huge shark happened to pass by. After a large amount of blood appeared on the sea, no one saw Bobby again. Kuiyi, who was repairing the ship in Jiaozhi, sent John to negotiate. He knew that without Zheng Zhilong's permission,

He couldn't stay in Java.

Let alone whether you can cross the Cape of Good Hope in this condition, even if you go through all kinds of hardships, you will probably be hanged by the King of the Netherlands!

The only way is to negotiate with Zheng Zhilong and try to keep Java. After all, Java is too far away from the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng Zhilong can't stretch his hand that far. There is not much money to be made in Java, so it is definitely a loss-making business to go on an expedition to attack it.

"John, we meet again." Li Xiao looked at John and smiled happily. This time, he faced John with a victor's attitude.

"Mr. Li, it's a great honor to meet again." John forced an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Since you are here for peace talks, tell me your conditions." Zheng Zhilong said with a cold face. The Dutch had to bear a share in Zheng Zhihu's death.

"The conditions are very simple. We hope to maintain peace with the Ming Empire. Uh...! And Mr. Zheng, keep the peace. The East India Company will maintain trade relations with Mr. Zheng. Continue the trade between the East and the West, which will be good for you

I have benefits.

Our war this time is actually about fighting for control of the South China Sea. Whoever controls the South China Sea controls the trade between the East and the West. Everyone understands this truth. Now that we have defeated the South China Sea, the control of the South China Sea becomes yours."

"Since you admit defeat, then we will make the rules in the future, and you won't object, right?" Li Xiao asked with a "hey" and "hey" smirk.

"Yes, we will determine the rules from now on." Zheng Zhilong said with a cold tone.

When they first arrived, Li Xiao and Zheng Zhilong had already discussed how to butcher the Dutch fish on the chopping board.

"Dang...! Of course!" Seeing Zheng Zhilong's cold eyes, John swallowed a big mouthful of saliva. He had just heard the news of Zheng Zhihu's death. Zheng Zhilong had lost his calmness. It was hard to say whether he would

He, the messenger, was killed with one blow.

"We and the Zheng family will jointly set up a shipping department in the strait. All ships passing through the strait must pay taxes to us. This includes the ships of your East India Company and all other Western countries' ships."

"This...! I...!" Seeing Zheng Zhilong staring at his neck, John immediately said: "I agree."

Zheng Zhilong's eyes looked like he was looking for a place to strike.

"Very good!" Li Xiao nodded, and Zheng Zhilong's white-faced singing was very successful.

"From now on, warships from Western countries are not allowed to cross the strait. You can do whatever you want in the southern Indian Ocean, but you are not allowed to cross the strait. As long as a warship comes within the range of the artillery in the strait, we will attack. Do you understand?"

"Ming!...Understood!" John swallowed again, he had a huge appetite. This is to turn the South China Sea directly into the inland sea of ​​the Zheng family's power.

Although the land and population controlled by the Zheng family or the Chinese people are not enough to annex the entire South China Sea, the population of the Ming Dynasty is as large as the stars in the sky. Sooner or later, this country will set its sights on the ocean.

By that time, the places along the South China Sea may not be able to be saved.

"This...! Please forgive me for not being able to promise you. I can only guarantee that the armed ships of the East India Company will not appear in the strait. As for the affairs of other countries, I cannot decide. As you know, there are many countries and many countries in the West.

monarch.

Besides, the empire still has interests in Java. What do you think? You can make a covenant with us, and we guarantee that only a few ships will enter Java. After all, we still have control there!"

"Hmph!" Zheng Zhilong snorted heavily from his nose, and John immediately shut up.

Li Xiao said nothing and looked at John with a smile on his face. The scene was extremely embarrassing for a moment!

"I...! I can promise you to give up my rights and interests in Macau. After all, the agreement we signed with your government is still valid. If you bully others too much, we will go to the capital to file a complaint through our relationship and go to your emperor.

Complain." Sweat broke out on John's forehead, and he reluctantly gave up the bargaining chip he was preparing for.

Logically speaking, they did rent Daming's place. And they paid the rent every year as agreed. It can be said that Daming and them were landlords and tenants.

Now that Li Xiao and Zheng Zhilong have beaten them away, the court not only cannot collect the rent, but also has to bear the infamy of breach of contract. Those old scholars in the court will definitely not give up, especially when Li Xiao wants something like Zhao Nanxing in the court.

In the case of Boss Lin’s enemies.

"What's the point of asking for the rights and interests of Macau? Look at how Macau has been beaten. How much money will it cost to rebuild Macau?" Zheng Zhilong said, and John was speechless.

"Uh...!" John looked around and saw that there were only Ai Husheng and a few people around. He was heartbroken: "As long as you agree to my additional conditions, except for the right to garrison troops in Java, I can agree to all your requests."

"What are your additional conditions?" Li Xiao and Zheng Zhilong looked at each other.

"I hope to work for you. I am familiar with Western trade rules. I can speak multiple languages, and I am also familiar with you Ming people. I really want to work for you, if...!" John hesitated.

"Whatever you say comes out of nowhere!" Zheng Zhilong roared dissatisfied.

"If you agree to me, not only can I agree to your terms, but I can also make you a big fortune, a very big fortune." John said quickly.

"Oh! Are you quite rich?" When it came to money, Zheng Zhilong and Li Xiao looked at John with interest.

"Okay, I promise you. If the money is not enough to impress me, I will give you...!" The red-faced Li Xiao agreed to John's request.

"Uh...! Cough!" John coughed slightly after hearing Li Xiao's last threat, and calmed down before saying: "Because the gold and silver content of Eastern and Western currencies are different, we need to use the gold and silver used for trade

Carry out recasting. As you know, recasting will cause some losses. In your Ming Dynasty, these can be called fire losses.

It is precisely because of the difference in gold and silver content that when the fire consumption is converted, there will be some...! Remaining!" John raised his head and glanced at Li Xiao.

"I understand!" Li Xiao nodded. To put it bluntly, he just lied to Westerners. He said that the gold and silver of the Ming Dynasty were not as pure as those of the West, and then mixed them with other metals. Anyway, the profits of ocean trade are huge, and he will never come to Europe in his lifetime.

It is impossible for Chinese foreigners to delve into it.

"At first we would use merchant ships to transport the remaining gold and silver away. But in recent years, at sea...!" John glanced at Zheng Zhilong.

"The sea is not stable, so...! So the money didn't have time to be transported away."

"Where is the money? How much is it?" The trade volume between the Ming Dynasty and the West was not small, and Li Xiao was keenly aware that the amount of money should be very large.

"You have to agree to my additional conditions."
Chapter completed!