Chapter 315: The Zhu and the Zheng, Sharing Fujian

The air in the room was as still as death. Zheng Zhilong's eyes flickered, a trace of gloom faintly visible in them. Zhu Cilang, as ever, looked at his wealthiest father-in-law with a smile on his face.

He knew, of course, that Zheng Zhilong had spent over a decade building Anping City and Shijing Town on land that rightly belonged to the Ming court, turning what had been two fishing harbors into the hub of maritime trade in the southeast.

To demand that Zheng Zhilong hand over Anping City and Shijing Town was no different from trying to skin a tiger. It might well drive this great sea bandit straight back to the island of Taiwan.

That was certainly not Zhu Cilang's aim. To the present Ming dynasty, Zheng Zhilong was a force of great importance.

In the suffocating silence, Zhu Cilang laughed aloud.

"Heh heh, is my venerable father-in-law reluctant to part with them?"

"Thousand Years, a million mu of land is no small price. I am a merchant, and naturally I love wealth."

Zheng Zhilong's words were frank enough. But in his heart, he had already run his little calculations back and forth many times.

Zhu Cilang could not possibly dig up his own roots. He had spent so much effort winning over Zheng Sen, had promised to make him Marquis of Dayuan, had agreed to let him deal with Japan in the name of the Ming court, and was even willing to help drive the Dutch off the island of Dayuan — though what method he had in mind, who could say?

But one thing was certain: Thousand Years wanted to win over and make use of the Zheng family.

"Merchants love wealth, and We love wealth just the same!" Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "Venerable father-in-law, it seems the two of us truly are fated for each other — both lovers of wealth!

Since we both love wealth, then let us talk business. The marriage alliance between our two families is, in truth, one great transaction!"

Zheng Zhilong was somewhat surprised. The Crown Prince's manner of speaking was far too casual.

He asked thoughtfully, "May I ask what sort of transaction Thousand Years has in mind?"

"The Zhu and the Zheng, sharing Fujian." Zhu Cilang asked, "What does my venerable father-in-law think?"

Sharing Jiangnan was impossible!

The Zheng family could fight at sea but not on land, and they had no fleet capable of operating on the Yangtze. How could they share Jiangnan?

But Fujian could indeed be brought out for "sharing," because Zhu Cilang's court had very weak control over Fujian province. It could only appoint officials such as governors, prefects, and county magistrates, but could not control Fujian's military — the troops in Fujian now all ate from the Zheng family's table and could no longer be considered the court's armed force.

Yet the Zheng family had not fully mastered Fujian either, because at bottom the Zhengs were a merchant group, not a feudal military group like the Eight Banners. Thus the Zheng family's foothold in Fujian rested not on land and population, but on industrial and commercial towns — places like Anping City and Shijing Town. If Fujian today, like Holland or England, had already entered the early stage of capitalism, and if its urban population were large enough, then the Zheng family might truly have become kings of Fujian.

But the present situation was not like that. The residents of Jinjiang County, the seat of Quanzhou Prefecture, numbered about fifty thousand households; the seat of Fuzhou Prefecture had somewhat more. And the households in the Zheng family's old nests of Anping City and Shijing Town combined came to fewer than twenty thousand, more than half of them sailors.

So the Zheng family's strength on land in Fujian was quite limited, and certainly no match for the 6,400 matchlock musketeers and 3,200 cavalry Zhu Cilang had displayed.

"What is Thousand Years saying?" Knowing that his land forces were too limited to stand against the Ming court, Zheng Zhilong did not dare accept the terms of "sharing Fujian." He quickly said with a smile, "How would I dare share Fujian with the court?"

Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "Then let my venerable father-in-law become Duke of Quan, holding Quanzhou Prefecture as his domain. Zheng Sen shall be enfeoffed as Count of Dayuan, holding the island of Dayuan and the isles of Penghu. Henceforth, the lands of Quanzhou, Penghu, and Dayuan shall be the Zheng family's fief.

Furthermore, We shall appoint my venerable father-in-law as Minister of the Southern Seas, in charge of maritime trade, pirate suppression, naval affairs, and the like in the southern seas. And We shall permit him, in the name of Minister of the Southern Seas, to collect protection fees from the merchant ships of all nations passing through. What does my venerable father-in-law think?"

Zheng Zhilong looked at Zhu Cilang, seemingly unable to make up his mind. Only after a while did he rise and bow, saying, "Thousand Years' great kindness fills me with boundless gratitude, but I have rendered no merit and dare not accept such enfeoffment!"

"If there is no merit, merit can be made!" Zhu Cilang waved a hand, motioning Zheng Zhilong to sit. "We hope the Zheng family will offer up one million mu of military colony farmland under the jurisdiction of Zhenhai Guard, Pinghai Guard, and Zhendong Guard. If that is insufficient, the Zheng family must make up the difference with civilian fields from Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fuzhou Prefecture, and Xinghua Prefecture. This one million mu shall count as Chagu's dowry.

In addition, the Duke of Quan's household shall pay an annual tribute of 500,000 taels of silver, and the office of Minister of the Southern Seas shall pay an annual tribute of another 500,000 taels. Well? The demands are not too high, are they?"

An annual tribute of one million taels of silver was nothing. As long as Zhu Cilang truly gave the Zheng family full control of Quanzhou Prefecture, how could they fail to work up a million taels in tax revenue in a year? Rice prices in Fujian were high; a million taels was only four or five hundred thousand shi of white rice.

With over 1.2 million mu of farmland in Quanzhou Prefecture alone, collecting two dou of rice per mu would yield 250,000 shi a year — five or six hundred thousand taels of silver right there. Add the commercial taxes of cities like Jinjiang and Nan'an and the harbor taxes of Anping Port, and a million taels was about reached. The protection fees the Zheng family collected at sea in the name of Minister of the Southern Seas could all go straight into their own pockets!

But the one million mu of land Zhu Cilang wanted was a bit troublesome. The Zheng family held three or four hundred thousand mu in the territories of Zhenhai Guard, Pinghai Guard, and Zhendong Guard, all of which could be handed over. But the remaining six or seven hundred thousand mu would cost a good deal of money and require considerable effort. Still, the Zheng family had the means; it was no problem.

Another matter that left Zheng Zhilong somewhat undecided was the island of Dayuan. Zhu Cilang had previously said he would enfeoff him as Count of Dayuan; now he was giving him Duke of Quan and would bestow the title Count of Dayuan on Zheng Sen instead.

This was, of course, a good thing. The Zheng family would hold one dukedom and one countship. Though it could not compare to the Wu family's two dukedoms in one house, both this duke and this count were "fief lords" — they held actual enfeoffed lands!

But on the island of Dayuan stood the Dutch forts of Zeelandia and Provintia!

With the Zheng family's land forces, taking Fort Zeelandia would be no easy task. Moreover, the Dutch East India Company's fleet was no weak force either. If it came to a naval battle, Zheng Zhilong had no certainty of victory.

Eleven years earlier, at the great Battle of Liaoluo Bay, Zheng Zhilong had won a great victory — but just before that battle, his fleet had been ambushed by the Dutch fleet at Zhongzuosuo (Xiamen Island) and suffered devastating losses.

"Thousand Years, the annual tribute of a million taels and the million mu of land — I can produce them all." Zheng Zhilong said, "But the title of Count of Dayuan going to Damu..."

"What?" Zhu Cilang smiled. "Does your Zheng family not want the island of Dayuan?"

"It is not that we do not want it," Zheng Zhilong said. "Since I inherited the forces of Li Dan and Yan Siqi, I have every year sent poor folk from Fujian to the island of Dayuan to open up wasteland. We have now established multiple footholds in the north of the island — Bengang, Pingye, Xingangzai, Zhuqian — with tens of thousands of settlers. But the Western red-haired barbarians have built Fort Zeelandia and Fort Provintia in the south of the island and garrisoned two thousand troops there. It is extremely difficult to seize."

"We have already spoken with Zheng Sen," Zhu Cilang said. "The red-haired barbarians on the island of Dayuan — We shall resolve through negotiation. There is no need to start a war."

Zheng Zhilong was puzzled. "How does one negotiate?"

"Naturally, We shall invite the governor of the Dutch East India Company to send an envoy to Nanjing to meet with Us in person!"

Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "The Netherlands lies far away on the continent of Europe, more than ten thousand li from the Ming. Moreover, it is a small country with few people, ringed by powerful enemies on all sides, with no strength to spare for seizing large tracts of land overseas. What it seeks along the Ming coast is nothing more than commercial profit.

The island of Dayuan it occupies is remote, not on the route of merchant ships plying the Eastern and Southern Seas, and it is plagued by miasma and disease, with a scorching climate. The red-haired barbarians settling on Dayuan is at best a last resort. If We open a commercial port at the mouth of the Yangtze in the southeast, permitting merchants of the Western nations — the Dutch, the Folangji, the Portuguese, the English, and others — to reside and do business there, who would still go to the island of Dayuan to trade? With no profit to be made on Dayuan, the red-haired barbarians' trading company will naturally abandon it. When the time comes, we shall pay to buy Fort Zeelandia and Fort Provintia, and then hire all the foreign soldiers, craftsmen, and officials there. Would that not be a happy outcome for all?

Venerable father-in-law, you once served as a pilot for the Dutch. From your understanding of the Dutch, is this plan feasible?"

Feasible? Zheng Zhilong was not entirely sure himself. Opening a commercial port at the mouth of the Yangtze! Could it really work?

(End of Chapter)