Chapter 288: A Century-old Mystery: The Missing Zheng Family
Now that he has decided to start Southeast Asian trade, the whereabouts of the Zheng family has naturally become a worry for Jia Lan.
In Jialan's original world line, in order to cope with the critical situation of the Yongli court, Zheng Chenggong personally led the main naval force, known as one hundred thousand, and took a warship northward to launch a massive battle on the river.
Zheng Chenggong was high-spirited. He judged that the main force of the Qing army was concentrated in the southwest to pursue the Yongli court. He would be able to regain the southern capital by attacking from the side and expand the southeast anti-Qing base headed by himself.
According to the records of Spanish missionary Li Sheng: "He (Zheng Chenggong) led a fleet of three thousand fully armed warships to capture this city (Jiangning) and occupy the entire province and the adjacent southern provinces.
These places are the most prosperous and prosperous places in China."
However, this attack, which was thought to be a success, encountered a stubborn resistance from the Qing army at the gates of Jiangning City. Even with a weak military strength, the Qing army still dared to secretly leave the city and bypass the Zheng army to launch a sneak attack from behind, resulting in the complete defeat of the Zheng army.
It was precisely because of the failure of the Battle of Dajiang that Zheng Chenggong fully realized the shortcomings of his land war. In order to find a more suitable base, he set his sights on Yizhou across the strait, and after several years of preparation, he crossed the strait eastward to defeat the Dutch.
, capture the entire island.
But in the world of Red Mansions, the whereabouts of the Zheng family is completely a mystery.
Such a huge force has not left any traces except some legends in a few places in Nan Province and Guangnan.
The Zheng family fleet in Nuoda has completely disappeared from history. Even in Nanyang, where the Zheng family is rumored to be present, only its name is heard and no trace is seen.
Seeing Jia Lan suddenly asking about Zheng Chenggong, Jiao Da was startled for a moment. It took him a while to react, and said in a slightly aged voice: "Of course I have heard of the name Zhu Chenggong, but it's a pity that he was born late.
For forty years, I can’t see the true appearance of the heroes of those days.”
[Note] The title "Zheng Chenggong" is actually a scornful name given by the Qing court. Since the Qing court did not recognize the small imperial court of Yizhou, it naturally did not recognize the surname Zhu given to Zheng Chenggong by the Ming Dynasty. Various documents left by the Qing Dynasty recorded that Zheng Chenggong
I have always called myself "Zhu Chenggong", "Guo surname Chenggong" or directly used my real name "Zheng Sen", and my descendants or subordinates respectfully call me "Damugong".
Jia Lan laughed after hearing this: "Uncle Jiao, please stop thinking about these things. If you had been born forty years earlier, you would be a rich man today."
Lao Jiao is over seventy this year. He was over a hundred years old when he was born forty years earlier.
Jiao's eyes widened, and he said unconvinced: "The old man can eat, drink, and defecate, and he can live for another few decades!"
"Okay!" Jia Lan raised his hands in a gesture of surrender: "You can always eat and drink. If you keep it, you will definitely live a long life!"
"That's pretty much it!"
"Here, let me feel your pulse." Jia Lan stretched out his hand. Jiao Da snorted and stretched out his hand.
Although seventy years are rare in life, especially among men on the battlefield.
Generally, men who fight on the battlefield have hidden wounds that have not yet appeared when they were young and middle-aged, but will gradually appear after forty.
But such a rule does not apply to Jiao Da. The old man's body is very strong. Jia Lan discovered a long time ago after he became a minor in medical skills that Jiao Da does not have the kind of hidden wounds that hurt his origin.
It's a pity that this old man often gave Jia Lan a scar at the beginning, telling him how he could kill through enemy formations and bleed through heavy armor, but the result was just skin injuries.
However, just in case, Jia Lan still activated his spiritual sense and used his spiritual power to slightly clear the old man's meridians.
After traveling for a year, although he did not find an opportunity to advance, Jialan's use of spiritual power was obviously much more mellow and proficient than a year ago.
Through continuous exploration, Jia Lan has understood that his spiritual power should be in a gentle direction and not very aggressive. When his spiritual power is integrated into the opponent's aura through the aura, he can not only intuitively understand the opponent's physical condition, but also mobilize
Use spiritual power to clear the other party’s meridians.
When he was traveling before, Jia Lan relied on this skill to pretend to be a child of a traveling medical family and avoided a lot of trouble.
After the meridians were cleared, Jiao Da snorted in comfort and said in surprise: "Lang Geer, your massage technique has become more and more exquisite. I feel ten years younger!"
"Back to business, do you know, Uncle Jiao, about the whereabouts of the descendants of Mr. Guo?"
Jiao Da rolled his eyes and looked at Jia Lan with caring eyes: "As I said just now, the old man wishes he was born forty years earlier to see the heroic figure of Mr. Guo. Since it is forty years too late, what can I know? p>
Old man, my ancestral home is in the North. When I was young, I followed the second generation Ning Guogong. The farthest place I went to was the grassland outside the pass. How could I know what happened a hundred years ago?"
Jia Lan was right after thinking about it. After all, it happened too long ago.
"But..." Jiao Da suddenly changed the topic: "I also heard about the deeds of Mr. Guo from the two previous dukes. It seemed vaguely that Mr. Guo left with sails."
"Leaved?" Jia Lan's eyebrows suddenly stood up and he asked in surprise.
"Yeah, left."
"Then what, it's gone?"
Jiao Da spread his hands: "At that time, I had just entered the palace and served as the attendant of the Duke. How can I remember so many details? That's about it. Anyway, they are all old things. Why are you asking around?
?"
Jia Lan was slightly startled, then sighed and gave up the idea: "Forget it, it's like what you are talking about are old things. What do you want to do with it? Let's talk about sea trade again."
Jiao Daqiang smiled and said: "The old man has never seen the sea in his life. If you, Lange, come to me specifically to discuss this matter, I'm afraid you're not looking for the right person."
Jia Lan looked at Jiao Da and smiled casually: "It's okay, just think of it as me talking to myself. Uncle Jiao, please listen and give me the details."
Feeling Jia Lan's trust, Jiao Da felt warm in his heart and smiled widely.
Nanyang Maritime Trade, on the surface, maintains a fleet of three to five merchant ships, which is enough to sell local products such as porcelain, tea, etc.
What he really wants to get involved in is the Japanese trade, transporting products from China and Southeast Asia to Japan and Japan in exchange for silver.
There's just one problem.
Although the two countries were divided, Japan still followed the past methods in terms of foreign trade. The Western Dynasty opened several ports to trade with Westerners due to religious beliefs, but it still needed to prepare the official seal certificate in advance. The Eastern Dynasty opened a port in Yokohama
, you also need to follow the issued instructions when going to trade.
Jialan has neither of these.
Moreover, in the long run, in order to participate in overseas trade for a long time, it is best for Jia Lan to obtain a survey issued by the court, which Jia Lan does not have.
"Speaking of Kanhe..." Hearing this, Jiao Da suddenly said: "I remember that this thing was in the hands of the Wang family in the early years. The two first princes of the Jia family had it when they were guarding the southern province. Later, because of the ban on the sea, the capital
Well, in the end, the Xue family, the descendants of Ziwei, obtained this contract document from the imperial court by virtue of their status as imperial merchants."
"Oh?" Jia Lan was a little surprised. The Xue family actually had a survey document?