Chang Yu is now very famous, and his methods are not what they used to be. When he first debuted, he and the nobles in the capital were going head-to-head with each other, so much so that everyone in the court shouted for beatings.
But then he changed his strategy, calmed down a lot of his anger, made peace with a few old nobles, and even started cooperating secretly. In this way, there were a lot fewer people who scolded him openly and secretly and made mischief, at least in public opinion.
The police are not as sharp and one-sided as before, and now you can hear some voices fighting for him. In addition to those he won with his record and strength, there are also those Dongchang can buy. Of course, there are also some from the same people as him now.
Array of friendly forces.
Although Li Banghua, the chief assistant of the cabinet, has no direct close relationship with Chang Yu, his impression of the young eunuch has changed repeatedly. Although he does not agree with some of his methods and strategies, he admires his strength and ability. In addition, Fan Jingwen and Ni Yuanlu, etc.
Because of Chang Yu's support, the voices in the cabinet scolding Chang Yu were much lessened, and most of the courtiers acted according to the prevailing circumstances. Only some who had inexplicable grudges against Chang Yu or were ordered by people behind the scenes were still spitting.
There are certainly some noble voices among them.
However, some big-name nobles, such as the princes, suddenly shut up in the past month and did not mention anything related to the little eunuch, let alone those who had arranged for him before. This made others feel a little baffled.
Could it be that Dongchang put pressure on them? If so, they would find an excuse to impeach Dongchang. Or maybe it was the emperor who put pressure on them. Then, if they try harder, let the cabinet put pressure on the emperor to issue a self-incriminating edict.
So as soon as the news of Chang Yu's return to Beijing spread, various groups and forces in Beijing began to make moves. Some people were thinking about how to join forces to find trouble and refer to him. Some officials posted posts asking for a meeting, and some people just let him go if it was not convenient for them to show their faces.
The butler gave gifts and said hello, and made an appointment to meet.
Of course, in addition to these people, there are also some people who were brought back to Beijing under orders from the Jin Yiwei. At this time, they are all waiting in line at the Yamen to see Chang Yu.
Unexpectedly, Fan Zi came over and said: "The Governor is a little tired, please go back first."
Chang Yu had so much energy that he could be fine without sleeping for several days, so he was really tired. Instead, he was in the backyard lobby with Wu Mengming, the leader of Jinyiwei, and Zheng Zhilong's eldest son, Zheng Chenggong, who had just changed his name.
During the banquet, Zheng Chenggong behaved very respectfully and cautiously when facing the emperor's two big bosses, remembering his father's instructions before coming to Beijing, to speak less and listen more.
Chang Yu has always been very eloquent, and Wu Mengming knows this best. The little eunuch even fooled him several times, and it took him a long time to realize it afterwards.
But he has never seen Chang Yu praise himself like he did tonight, defending the battle in Taiyuan, stopping the enemy outside the pass, sniping in Baoding, chasing the Tatars in Qingzhou... He said it simply and concisely, but also confident and domineering. In summary, I am very
He's awesome, he's not afraid to fight anyone.
At first, Wu Mengming was puzzled as to why the young eunuch suddenly boasted about his achievements. Did he drink too much? No, he didn't drink... When he saw Zheng Chenggong, who was listening attentively and sometimes excitedly.
He got it!
The little eunuch is not bragging, he is showing off his strength and abilities, and he is not showing it to the young master in front of him, but to his father Zheng Zhilong.
Yes, this was Chang Yu's intention. He wanted Zheng Zhilong to know that he was not a false power, not a false power possessed by a random eunuch who was appointed by the emperor as the governor of Dongchang.
It does not mean that a eunuch who is promoted to be an admiral can fight and win the war.
The reason for doing this is because the most powerful person in the Ming Dynasty at this time was actually Zheng Zhilong. If you think about it carefully, the warlords from all over the country who had strong military support and self-respect were actually nothing compared to Zheng Zhilong.
We need money, we need soldiers, we need food, we need ships, we can attack the land when we advance, and we can defend the sea when we retreat.
Chang Yu showed off his strength not to suppress Zheng Zhilong. It was unnecessary. Zheng Zhilong had no such ambition. Perhaps the pirates had an emotion towards the ocean that outsiders could not understand, and they had no interest in conquering the inland.
The reason for this is just to send a message that we are joining forces. I am not just an admiral of the East Factory with a little power. I also have all kinds of strengths and abilities that you can't imagine.
He doesn't have to worry about whether Zheng Chenggong can understand his intentions, because Zheng Zhilong, an old man, will definitely understand what he means. All he needs is a letter from Zheng Chenggong.
Of course, Chang Yu's initiative to contact Zheng Zhilong was not for the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of potatoes and sweet potatoes. There was a larger cooperation project between them. Zheng Zhilong had the Ming Dynasty's largest overseas trade and navy in his hands.
And Chang Yu has another project that no one can refuse, Daming Bank!
In this era, anyone who does business, no matter whether it is a small business or a large business, especially when some merchants go out to purchase or store in other places, the transportation and delivery of money is the most cumbersome, troublesome and risky.
However, Daming Bank allows you to deposit and withdraw money in different places at any time, and you can also pledge hospitality, and it covers 13 provinces in the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty. I believe no merchant will refuse this convenience!
No one would refuse to invest in this project, including Zheng Zhilong.
In addition, at this moment, the Zheng family has already obtained a big business from Chang Yu, buying potatoes and sweet potatoes on a large scale in Fujian, firstly to stimulate the economy there, and secondly to relieve the famine in Gyeonggi and promote these two crops.
In fact, this business is really not possible for anyone except him, because the Zheng family has many ships and can quickly reach the production area along the coast to purchase, and then quickly reach Gyeonggi by waterway.
And no one knows these two crops better than the Zheng family, who started out as pirates. In fact, many foreign things were brought back by pirates at that time. For example, potatoes are called Dutch potatoes. As the name suggests, at least they were introduced to China from the Netherlands. At that time,
Taiwan is a colony of the Netherlands, and potatoes are only grown in Taiwan and Fujian.
As for sweet potatoes, they were introduced to China earlier and were planted on a large scale in Fujian. In fact, Xu Guangqi also planted them in Shanghai, but they were not widely promoted. It is more appropriate to say that they were experimental fields. They were planted on a small scale in some areas of Jiangsu until the Kangxi period.
Sweet potatoes have just begun to be promoted in Henan, Shandong, and Hebei.
It was not officially promoted until Qianlong, and the emperor personally advocated its cultivation in Zhili. At this time, sweet potatoes began to be planted on a large scale and became one of the four major food crops. In 1733, sweet potatoes were spread to Sichuan, to Yunnan in 1735, and to Yunnan in 1752.
Guizhou. Since then, sweet potatoes have been found all over the southwest.[7]
It can be said that at this time, there was no such thing north of the Yangtze River. The main production area was in Fujian, which is Zheng Zhilong's territory. Is there anyone better suited to do this big business than him?
Zheng Zhilong didn't know the potential of this business, so he threw hundreds of thousands of pounds at the eunuch. The purpose was obviously to get an official cooperation agreement. Invest first and then make money. Besides, government projects have to be given to others.
Some rebates.
Moreover, the imperial court is very poor now. To make this transaction, it is necessary to advance the capital. This is not a small sum. Most merchants can't afford it, but for the Zheng family, it is just drizzle.
So no matter from which point of view, this is a win-win cooperation between powerful forces. This is why Chang Yu pushed away the other guests and dragged Wu Mengming to accompany him to concentrate on delivering information to Zheng Chenggong.
Zheng Chenggong is not stupid either. His father is so shrewd that he must have given many instructions before he came, and he must have come with many purposes, so he easily accepted some of Chang Yu's meanings, not to mention that many of what Chang Yu said were so...
Straightforward.
This also made Zheng Chenggong very excited. After hearing about several projects that Chang Yu was interested in cooperating with, he couldn't sit still: "I will write a letter to my father when I get back from school tonight."