Chapter 642: Zheng Zhilong

Song Xiang looked at Zhang Yu, and the expression on her face suddenly relaxed. Then she smiled gently and said, "No wonder His Majesty thinks so highly of you. I hope you can achieve the ideals in your heart and realize your ambitions."

Zhang Yu turned to look at Song Xiang and said with a smile, "You've had a part in this too. I believe you will leave your name in the annals of history."

Song Xiang did not continue. Although deep down she did harbor the desire to leave her name behind, and hoped she could become one of those legendary women who proved they were a match for any man, Song Xiang knew very well that the chances were far too slim.

Given the current situation, even though the environment had become more tolerant and the four classes of people were now equal, the status of women still had not been raised.

After shaking her head to cast that thought aside, Song Xiang's expression suddenly turned serious, and she said with some gravity, "Let's not talk about that for now. Do you know who the Staff Office sent over this time?"

Zhang Yu gave a slight smile and asked in return, "If you don't know, how could I possibly know?"

Letting out a helpless sigh, Song Xiang said with some confusion, "That's what I didn't expect either. I don't know who the Staff Office sent, but judging from the current situation, this person's identity must be kept secret."

"That's for certain." Zhang Yu nodded and said with a reassuring smile, "Forget it, let's not talk about it. Once the person arrives, we'll naturally know who it is. How are things on your end? Is everything going smoothly?"

Song Xiang said, "Everything is going very smoothly. There's no problem on Queen Inmok's side either. Zhao Changsheng also said that as long as the medicine is used and she rests and recuperates for a period of time, Queen Inmok's health will recover. If we want to treat her more quickly, using some better medicine is no problem either. How long we want her to take to recover depends on what we decide."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu nodded with satisfaction and said, "Good, keep things as they are for now. Don't let her recover for the time being. The current situation is the most favorable for us. Once Queen Inmok recovers, the situation might change, and that would not be a good thing."

"Alright, I understand." Song Xiang nodded and said, "I'll go instruct Zhao Changsheng right away and not let him do anything rash. We'll drag this out for as long as possible."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu said with a smile, "Then let's just keep putting on the show."

At the same time, out on the vast ocean, a fleet was cutting through the waves as it pressed forward.

Standing at the bow of the ship, Qi Yuanbi wore a grim expression, his face extremely stern.

Lowering the telescope in his hand, Qi Yuanbi turned to Yu Zigao and asked, "Are they still following us?"

Yu Zigao nodded with a grave expression and said, "They're still following us."

"Close in on them." Without any hesitation, Qi Yuanbi said directly, "Get rid of them. If they keep following us, we'll just annihilate them outright."

Upon hearing this, Yu Zigao nodded and said, "Very well."

Out on the sea, the massive fleet sprang into motion in an instant.

Signal flags waved rapidly, and the dull sound of war horns rang out at that very moment. The entire fleet began to accelerate, splitting a path through the water as it surged boldly forward. Layer upon layer of ocean swells carried silver-white spray rolling back behind them, stirring up ten thousand ripples of glistening light.

Not far away, on another fleet, a man's face was equally dark and gloomy.

Lowering the telescope in his hand, he carefully tucked it back into its case, then placed it cautiously against his chest.

Compared to the casual manner of the Great Ming's Imperial Navy, he was far more careful.

This telescope had cost him a fortune and tremendous effort to acquire — he absolutely could not let it get damaged.

One had to understand that the Great Ming's secrecy laws were very strict now. The fact that he had managed to obtain a telescope at all had taken every ounce of his strength. He couldn't afford to be careless.

He was a middle-aged man with a somewhat swarthy complexion. Because he spent his days on ships year-round, his skin was rather rough.

At this moment, he sat at the bow of the ship wearing wooden clogs, his expression rather unpleasant.

This man was Zheng Zhilong, currently the single largest overseas power in the entire Great Ming.

Because the Great Ming had been opening up overseas trade in recent years, Zhu Youxiao had turned a blind eye to these matters. Moreover, the Imperial Household Department had begun organizing sources of goods on a large scale over the past few years, so foreign trade had always been well developed. Although tax revenue was not much, Zhu Youxiao's money had not decreased by a single cent.

Especially the Imperial Household Department — over the past two years it could be said to have been making money continuously. Riding on this favorable wind, overseas maritime merchants had also made plenty of money thanks to this opportunity, and among them were naturally people like Li Dan.

Under such circumstances, their power had gradually swelled.

When facing these people, even the Dutch had no fighting power at all and were nearly squeezed out. If the Dutch wanted to do business between the Great Ming and Japan, they had to pay protection money to Li Dan and the others.

Originally everyone got along fine, with no trouble between them. It was only with Li Dan's death that the contradictions gradually came to the surface.

Back then, Li Dan had a very close sworn brother named Xu Xinsu. Such sworn brotherhoods were bound not only by emotion but more by mutual interest.

Li Dan established a base in Japan, built up his team, developed the Taiwan base, and expanded his armed forces.

Xu Xinsu, in Quanzhou of Fujian, connected with merchants and organized goods on a large scale to supply Li Dan, letting him sell them abroad.

To put it plainly, during this period Xu Xinsu was the biggest smuggler in the Quanzhou region. He had the channels to consolidate all the goods and ship them out. The two cooperated very happily, and it could be said they both made a fortune together.

But a few years ago, Li Dan died. He had no sons or daughters, and he left his entire enterprise to Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong could be said to have soared to the heavens. He continuously gathered refugees from Fujian and other places and sent them to Taiwan to reclaim and cultivate land. He also expanded his industrial base in Japan, continuously building up his strength through trade, until his fleets covered the entire shipping route.

Up to the present, Zheng Zhilong already possessed over a thousand warships and cargo vessels, with formidable strength. He had also established his base in Japan, centered on Hirado Island.

Although he had begun transferring on a large scale to Taiwan in recent years, he still maintained considerable strength in Japan. Most critically, this was the source of his raw materials.

Zheng Zhilong also conducted much of his trade here, and he could recruit samurai here to serve his purposes.

Here, Zheng Zhilong had also built good relations with numerous powerful figures and political elites. He even had connections within the shogunate, and had married the daughter of a Japanese noble, using marriage alliances to achieve his goals.

Originally all of this had been proceeding very smoothly, until he and Xu Xinsu fell out with each other.

Speaking of it, Xu Xinsu was also an ambitious man. Previously he had been Li Dan's sworn brother, and the two had cooperated very well together, without any major problems arising in that regard.

After Zheng Zhilong took over the position, Xu Xinsu became very dissatisfied. He felt that after Li Dan's death, this position should have been his. Who did Zheng Zhilong think he was? Was he even worthy?

Under such circumstances, the contradictions between the two sides grew deeper and deeper.

Xu Xinsu also wanted to raise his own fleet, so he colluded with the Dutch.

Because the Dutch urgently needed to trade with China, as well as to obtain the Japan route and the raw silk and other goods their head company desperately needed, Xu Xinsu repeatedly received the treatment of advance payments from the Dutch for purchasing goods, with amounts reaching as high as tens of thousands of taels.

These funds not only demonstrated the Dutch trust in Xu Xinsu, but also showed the scale of Xu Xinsu's business and his position in the Taiwan Strait trade of that time.

Xu Xinsu did not disappoint the Dutch either. He actively utilized his commercial network on the mainland, and after receiving the Dutch advance payment, he once shipped two hundred and fifty piculs of raw silk to the Dutch in a single delivery.

Xu Xinsu requested that the Dutch help him clear the pirates from the route between Zhangzhou and Tayouan, while also giving him some weapons and personnel for self-defense, but the results were not very good.

After falling out with Zheng Zhilong, the conflict between Xu Xinsu and Zheng Zhilong had already escalated, and Xu Xinsu was greatly affected.

Under such circumstances, Xu Xinsu was also very decisive, choosing to throw in his lot with the Great Ming government.

No one knew what role Xu Xinsu played in the Imperial Household Department, but in any case, he was now the Deputy Director of Maritime Trade for the Imperial Household Department.

Although Zheng Zhilong was furious to the point of death and wished he could charge into Quanzhou and kill Xu Xinsu, there was nothing he could do. The man now held high position and great power, and Zheng Zhilong could not afford to offend him. If he wanted to buy goods from the Great Ming court, he could only endure.

Xu Xinsu had also retaliated against Zheng Zhilong more than a few times, and the conflict between the two sides grew ever more intense.

This time, when the Great Ming's Imperial Navy set out, although Zheng Zhilong had used many methods and spent a great deal of money trying to ferret out information, none of it worked — he couldn't find out anything at all.

On the contrary, from his subordinates' reports, he heard that during this period Xu Xinsu could be said to be strutting around with his nose in the air, as if he were indulging in nightly revelry back in Quanzhou. Word had it he was living very well.

Moreover, word had once spread that Xu Xinsu had said his good days were about to arrive, which made Zheng Zhilong very wary.

When the opponent is happy, he himself might be in for trouble.

Zheng Zhilong understood this principle very well.

This time, after hauling goods out of the Great Ming, he led his fleet northward and soon encountered the Great Ming's Imperial Navy, then simply fell in behind them.

But what he hadn't expected was that the Imperial Navy's reaction seemed somewhat intense.

When the war horns sounded, Zheng Zhilong's expression turned somewhat grim.

Why did it feel like they were about to attack him?

Sure enough, just as he had anticipated, the Great Ming's Imperial Navy truly made its move.

The warships began to accelerate, closing in at full speed.

As for this Imperial Navy, Zheng Zhilong had no confidence in his heart either.

It was said that this was a fleet built by the Great Ming's Emperor at enormous expense, using the most advanced warships and cannons in the Great Ming. On this point, Zheng Zhilong didn't quite believe it either—in his view, his own ships and cannons were the most formidable.

Besides, his side had more ships and more men; there was no reason to be afraid.

Zheng Zhilong didn't move, waiting for the other side to close in.

If the other side wanted to ask questions, that would be a good chance to talk. Perhaps he might even be able to establish a connection with the people of the Imperial Navy.

If that happened, then he wouldn't have to fear Xu Xinsu anymore.

As for surrendering to the court and finding the court as his backing, Zheng Zhilong felt no pressure about that in his heart.