Chapter 502

Especially since he knew that Zheng Zhilong had now surrounded the Dutch on Taiwan.

It could be said that in just a few more days, Taiwan would be recovered, and the Dutch would be completely driven out by Great Ming.

……

But the news one week later left Su Qiao slightly surprised.

The Dutch had surrendered!

They still had nearly ten thousand men on the island.

He hadn't expected them to surrender so cleanly, almost without a single shot fired.

When the officials of Great Ming's Quanzhou Prefecture learned of this news, they were all somewhat dumbfounded.

They truly had never seen anyone surrender so cleanly.

Only Su Qiao went from initial surprise to later understanding.

Europeans themselves had very few death warriors to begin with.

Most were mercenaries by nature; those who could serve as sailors were basically pirates or scoundrels.

They weren't proper soldiers of a nation—how could they be willing to charge forward knowing it meant death?

They were in fact hired by the Dutch East India Company.

So a clean and swift surrender was entirely understandable.

Putmans had initially wanted to run.

But when he tried to leave by small boat, he was still spotted by Great Ming's navy men.

And was captured just the same.

The Dutch's terms for surrender were very simple: "They are willing to lay down their arms and surrender, hand over the Great Ming people they had captured, the Great Ming people must not slaughter them, and they will pay a ransom…"

Zheng Zhilong considered the nearly thousand Great Ming captives and decisively agreed.

The Dutch also cleanly threw down their weapons and came out of the fortress to surrender.

It could be said that while the campaign started slowly, it ended quite quickly.

At least by the time Su Qiao received the news, Zheng Zhilong had already recovered Taiwan.

"Not bad, not bad. General Zheng is indeed a tiger of a general—I didn't expect him to deal with the Dutch so quickly."

Su Qiao said from the seat of honor, very pleased.

Li Heyu, however, suggested from the side: "These Dutch red-haired devils are no good. Zheng Zhilong shouldn't have agreed to their surrender. Even for the sake of the captured Great Ming commoners, after rescuing them he could have killed them all!"

No one knew what grudge Li Heyu held against the Dutch, that he would come up with such a rotten idea.

Wang Danian immediately objected upon hearing this: "Inappropriate! Our Great Ming is the Celestial Empire above all, ruling the world with good faith and benevolent governance—how could we commit an act of treachery and faithlessness?"

"They're just a band of pirates—what talk of good faith is there with such filthy scoundrels?"

"Even so, we cannot! Our status, the reputation of Great Ming, and Your Majesty's reputation must not be tarnished!"

……

Seeing the two about to start arguing, Su Qiao quickly cut them both off.

"Enough, enough. Since Zheng Zhilong has already agreed, then we agree—we cannot go back on our word so lightly. Besides, if the Dutch want their freedom, they must pay a hefty ransom. This matter is handed to Li Heyu, with Wang Danian assisting!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Also, the navy soldiers have performed such great merit—they cannot go unrewarded. We need to write down the rewards for them and report them to the court." Su Qiao continued.

He was also referencing the historical bounty order Zheng Zhilong had issued during his naval battles.

Historically, Zheng Zhilong had paid out of his own pocket to boost morale.

He promised that anyone who took part would receive two taels of silver per person; if the battle couldn't be finished at once and dragged on, an extra five taels per person would be added.

Additionally, for burning a Dutch ship, two hundred taels of silver; for a Dutch head, a bounty of fifty taels of silver straight away.

One could say it was roughly on par with the former Manchu Tatar head bounty.

Yet at this time, a seventh-rank official's monthly salary in the court was only a mere five taels of silver.

From this one could imagine how much Zheng Zhilong had paid out in bounties back then! How high the bounty amounts were!

But that was back when the court had no money, unable to reward the soldiers below.

It's different now—now with Su Qiao, Zhu Youjian was not short on money.

Rewarding the navy soldiers was still quite easy.

It could also further win the hearts of the navy soldiers..........

……

The victory report was quickly delivered to the capital.

Zhu Youjian and the Grand Secretaries were all very pleasantly surprised upon receiving the news.

They had expected a great victory, but hadn't expected it to be so clean and satisfying.

The Dutch being completely dealt with also let Zhu Youjian breathe a sigh of relief, as the suppressed thoughts in his heart slowly began to surge up.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Su also specially sent someone with an extra letter—would you like to take a look?"

"Oh? Bring it up!"

Zhu Youjian's eyes flickered, with a vague guess stirring within.

"Yes, sir!"

Wang Chengen handed Su Qiao's letter to Zhu Youjian.

Upon taking it, Zhu Youjian first carefully examined the sealing wax on it, and after finding nothing amiss,

he judged that the letter had not been peeked at by anyone.

Only then did he carefully open it and take out the letter paper.

The reason he was so cautious was also because Su Qiao usually reported very little himself—most things were reported upward by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the like.

Only for matters of utmost importance, such as the remnants of the Bai Lianjiao, the treasure of Emperor Yang of Sui, or other critical issues, would Su Qiao submit a memorial or send a message to Zhu Youjian.

Naturally, Zhu Youjian judged that the message Su Qiao had delivered this time must be of great importance.

Opening the letter, Zhu Youjian began to read.

Eh!

Truly, their hearts were in tune; Su Qiao had happened to think of exactly what he had just been considering.

Now that the Dutch have been dealt with, the Great Ming can finally set sail.

The maritime ban can be officially lifted!

Zhu Youjian still remembered Su Qiao's words: the future of the Great Ming lies upon the seas.

The wealth, the lands, and all else upon the seas were things he longed for.

It seems I must find the Grand Councilors to discuss this!

After finishing the letter, Zhu Youjian thought silently to himself.

"Great Companion! Go summon the Grand Councilors; I have matters to discuss with them!"

Zhu Youjian refolded the letter and placed it back inside the envelope.

Wang Chengen agreed, then immediately broke into a small run to summon them.

……

At this moment, the port and docks of Quanzhou Prefecture were extremely bustling.

For today was the day Zheng Zhilong led the naval forces home in triumph!

Su Qiao and the others waited patiently for the naval soldiers to return.

"Hey? Look over there!"

Just as everyone waited anxiously, black spots appeared on the horizon where sea met sky.

356, returning to court!

Hearing the commotion, Su Qiao and the other officials in Quanzhou turned their attention toward it.

Taking the "Thousand-Li Eye," they could clearly see the Great Ming war flags on the large ships appearing by the shore.

Indeed, the Great Ming naval forces had returned; Zheng Zhilong had returned in triumph!

Even though they had seen them, it would still take some time before they drew completely close to the docks.

Taking advantage of this time, Su Qiao and the group of Gu Nuan sat down at a nearby table to rest, waiting patiently for the naval fleet to dock and return.

Nearly an hour passed.

Zheng Zhilong and the others had finally arrived!

The people on the docks, gazing at the naval warships that blocked out the sky as they approached the shore, were each filled with shock and excitement.