Han’s Son is Not a Slave

Can you reach Manila in more than 20 days?

Zhou Shixiang was very surprised, because he estimated in advance that a sailboat driven by sails alone would not be able to reach the Philippine prison from the coast of Fujian so quickly. He thought it was at least three months.

Liu Guoxuan then explained that it is usually impossible for sea ships to reach Luzon so quickly, but in March every spring, there will be trade winds, so the speed of the ship is very fast, and it takes more than 20 days to reach Luzon. Normally, it does take two or three months.

Seeing that Zhou Shixiang cared so much about Lu Song, Gan Hui couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Highness want to crusade the Spaniards in Luzon?"

Zheng Xi was startled, shook his head and said, "King Qi, the eldest brother also wanted to attack Lu Song back then, but the reason for the failure was of course that the eldest brother wanted to prepare for the northern expedition to the southern capital, but the other reason was that the expedition to Lu Song was very expensive. If you have a foothold in the local area, you will waste money and food and return without success.”

Zheng Xi's implication was naturally that he was not optimistic about the expedition to Luzon, and he subconsciously thought that if Zhou Shixiang really wanted to go to Luzon, his subordinates would likely be recruited, which would undoubtedly weaken his power as a prince of Fujian. Although he had already expressed his surrender to Zhou Shixiang, Zheng Xi never thought of going to Nandu to be the Prince of Anle. He just wanted to stay in Jinsha like his eldest brother.

Huang Zhao frowned and said, "The north is still in the hands of the Tartars. King Qi doesn't want to expedition to the north, but wants to go overseas. Is there any difference in importance?"

Just like those officials back then, in Huang Zhao's eyes, overseas Chinese are just pariahs, not worth recruiting. If Zhou Shixiang disregarded the uncertainty of the north and Wu Sangui, who killed the monarch, used the power of the whole country to conquer Lu Song, it would be very unfavorable for the restoration of the Ming Dynasty.

The foundation of China lies in the two capitals and 18 provinces. No matter how much profit is made overseas, it is not the foundation. To give up and ignore it at all, this is to shake the good situation that has been achieved with great difficulty. If because of the expedition to Luzon, the Ming army's strength was consumed, and the Manchu Qing got a respite and swept the south again, then Zhou Shixiang was a sinner through the ages.

Liu Guoxuan and others also had doubts in this regard, and looked at Zhou Shixiang nervously.

Zhou Shixiang sighed inwardly, the massacre of the Chinese by the Spaniards really made him indignant, but what Zheng Xi and Huang Zhao said was true. Zhejiang and Fujian have just recovered, but Zhejiang has recovered, and the damage is not serious. Fujian is a rotten beach, especially the loss of population is not less than that of Guangdong and Guangxi, which can be known from what he saw and heard on his way south.

The sharp decrease in population not only destroyed the local human living and production environment, but also greatly restricted the development of the Taiping Army, and also restricted some of Zhou Shixiang's deployments.

Someone has everything. If there are people, there will be production, and if there is production, there will be money and grain to harvest, and with money and grain, the army will be built and national strength will be developed. No matter how advanced and desirable Zhou Shi was in relation to the future design of the Ming Dynasty, without the most basic human link, all his ideas would be castles in the air and unrealistic.

In Fujian, in order to reflect the word "Guangfu" and let the people who have left their braids for more than ten years in Fujian feel the goodness of Daming again, and the goodness of His Royal Highness King Qi and the generals of the Taiping Army, Zhou Shixiang needs to do more than just ask the people Instead of braiding and growing his hair, he has to restore production and increase the population through various measures. For this reason, he needs to provide a lot of things to the Fujian people who have survived the disaster. Dividing fields and land, dividing houses, providing seeds and grains, providing cattle, the most basic medical system, the establishment of the education system, etc., involve many aspects, and there is no need for money or investment. A lot of wealth from Jiangnan gentry and former Ming Dynasty nobles and nobles, and the whole city flowed away from Zhou Shixiang's hands like water. "Flows faster.

Today's Daming is like a giant who has lost too much blood and is in urgent need of blood. The population is obviously blood, and food is the main body that produces blood. Restoring the population and increasing food supply are national policies that must be resolved and valued by the Dingwu court led by Zhou Shixiang at present and for a long time to come. In this way, when the Manchu Qing and Wu Sangui in the north were still in existence, and under the premise that the provinces were dilapidated, they did not want to restore the old capital from the Northern Expedition and pacify the war, but thought about expeditions overseas. This is indeed what Huang Zhao said, putting the cart before the horse. , regardless of priority.

At the beginning, Zhou Shixiang decided to expedition to Annan, because Annan was on the edge of Daming, and its country had a lot of rice that could be plundered, which could alleviate the food shortage in Guangdong and Guangxi. In addition, the Guangdong naval division of the Taiping Army can suppress and destroy the naval divisions with few Annan people, and they do not need too many troops stationed in their country. More importantly, there are a large number of Han people in Annan, and these Han people can be used for the Taiping army's expedition. The army provided manpower and material resources to enable the expeditionary force to settle in Annan. In addition, there are several parties in Annan who are hostile to each other, which allows the Taiping army to win over one party against the other through vertical and horizontal means, and dilute Annan's hatred for the invasion of the "Wu people".

Under various means, Zhao Ziqiang, the governor of the expeditionary army, was able to become the Supreme Emperor in Annan. Without these favorable conditions for the expeditionary army, perhaps the current Zhao Ziqiang would have to face the situation that the Ming army encountered in the Yongle Dynasty. Annan withdrew from the quagmire.

The expedition to Luzon obviously does not have these conditions. The number of Chinese in Luzon and other places was too small for the expeditionary force to gain a foothold there. Moreover, the Spaniards were not from Annan, and he did not have several governors attacking each other, so the Taiping army could not take advantage of the fishermen. At the same time, the naval power of the Spaniards should not be underestimated. They have been colonizing and operating in Luzon and other places for nearly a hundred years. The result of the rash expedition is likely to take a long time, or even a war with no return.

The economic benefits of occupying Luzon and controlling Southeast Asia are indeed great, but Zhou Shixiang was able to withstand the consumption of a lot of manpower, material resources, money and food, and even a large number of immigrants from the country, so that the number of Han Chinese in some key places was enough to suppress the local natives. But no matter what to do, the expedition to Luzon is now worth the loss. Winning this war, driving out the Westerners, controlling the sea lanes in Southeast Asia, and gaining a head start for China's future development is certainly a good thing, but this is not something that can be done in a year or two, at least ten or twenty years. , even thirty or forty years can do it.

The more the Taiping forces occupy in Southeast Asia, the more troops they will need to garrison. The greater the victory, the longer the battle line will be. When the time comes, we must set up forts and send troops everywhere, and we must guard against management everywhere. The end must be like a high-rise building that suddenly rises from the ground, but the foundation is unstable. The upper floor is also cracked everywhere. Air leakage. If we want to solve this problem, we must first solve the problem of restoring and increasing the population in China, so that we can continue to move new immigrants overseas in the future, and use time to make overseas China truly become the land of China.

Under various considerations, Zhou Shixiang dismissed the idea of ​​expedition to Luzon. This idea sounded good, and it was possible to force it with his own personal prestige, but the risk and cost were too great. If you really want to do this, at least you have to solve Man Qing and Wu Sangui before you can start.

Zhou Shixiang didn't know how long he could live. He was 32 years old this year, and the average life expectancy in this era was less than 30 years old.

Maybe he may die as young and young as Zheng Sen in a few years, maybe he will live to be 50, 60, or even 80 years old. But how long will it live, who knows. Just like before he came to this era, how could he have thought that there would be such a time and space adventure in his future.

It's going to rain, and my mother wants to get married, so let him go.

People can't be too ambitious, they have to be down-to-earth. Take one step at a time, and take this step in front of you in a down-to-earth way, which is the most sensible choice.

Zhou Shixiang chose to solve the domestic problem first, and then plotted overseas. For this reason, he had to hold back his anger and impulse, but the massacre of the Chinese by the Spaniards made him unable to swallow this breath. If he doesn't do anything, his heart seems empty and uncomfortable.

But do something about it?

Zhou Shixiang fell into deep thought. Zheng Xi and Huang Zhao found that the king of Qi was suddenly silent, and they were a little confused. They didn't understand what the young king was thinking.

Gan Hui also had no way of guessing that some of Zheng Jun's civil and military officials even wondered if the words of the feudal lord and Huang Zhao made King Qi unhappy.

"King Qi, Siming has a priest named Li Keluo, who is in contact with the Spanish governor of Luzon. If King Qi wants to discuss for the people of Luzon, he can make this priest submit his credentials to the Spaniards. , condemned the crime of killing and plundering the people of our country, and strictly ordered him to correct his wrongdoing and return to the right, and bow his head and pay tribute."

It was Liu Guoxuan who spoke. Hearing this, Zhou Shixiang was moved in his heart. Since he could not solve the matter at the military level, he could only settle for the next best thing and put pressure on the Spaniards at the diplomatic level. But if this is done, will things be the same as in the Wanli period, when the Spaniards once again spread their anger on the Chinese to carry out the fourth massacre?

Diplomacy is a gesture, a means of declaring one's attitude to the other party, but this means cannot determine whether the other party is willing to listen. If you want the other party to know the consequences, feel the real threat, and thus compromise, it is also a display of military power. Demonstrated the strength to come across the sea and seek for the dead Chinese.

The expedition to Luzon cannot be done, but it is possible to kill chickens to warn monkeys.

The monkey is naturally Spanish, the chicken is, of course, the Dutch across the strait.

Zheng Sen in his previous life was able to capture Taiwan and drive out the Dutch after his defeat in Nandu. Why can't I do it?

Even if he didn't mean to kill the chickens to warn the monkeys, Zhou Shixiang was determined to retake Taiwan, because the Dutch really couldn't figure out the real situation of China's inland.

Zhou Shixiang did not understand how the Manchu Qing got on the line with the Dutch. The Man Qing in his impression was not an opponent who was so good at dealing with the "world". But this way, the Manchu Dynasty or the Dutch, is the enemy he wants to solve. Now that the two enemies are hooked up, that's just to clean up.

Zhou Shixiang did not tell Zheng Xi and others about the idea of ​​sending troops to retake Taiwan ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ because Zheng Jing had not yet resolved it. He took Liu Guoxuan's suggestion and sent someone to find the Western priest named Li Keluo, and through him he handed the Credentials to the Spaniards. At the same time, he ordered the Ministry of Intelligence to send people to Luzon to get in touch with the local Chinese, to scout the Spanish military strength and the situation in the port. When necessary, the Chinese clan leaders in Luzon and other places can be given official positions in the Ming Dynasty, and firearms can be secretly delivered to them to help the Chinese in Southeast Asia build up military forces, so that they can have the power to protect themselves in the face of white oppression and massacres again.

In addition, Zhou Shixiang communicated with the Chinese in Southeast Asia in the name of Emperor Dingwu. The Daming court never regarded them as pariahs. The overseas Chinese were all Daming subjects and were protected by the Daming court. The imperial examinations of Daming were also open to them. This means that from now on, all overseas Chinese can return to China to participate in the imperial examinations of Daming, and they can become officials of Daming after the Central Examinations. This measure is more effective than any other means, and it can make the overseas Chinese have a pure heart for Daming, and it can also make them feel that they are the people of Daming, not the overseas pariah.

After resolving Zheng Jing and recovering Taiwan, although Zhou Shixiang could not form an expeditionary army to attack Luzon, he indicated that Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong could provide military **** and armed forces for the maritime merchants. In other words, before the court could not reach out to Southeast Asia, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty could play the role of pioneers.

The "Sue Zheng Jing Shu" was delivered to Siming Zheng Jing by Gan Hui himself.