Riot (continued)

  "In December, Zheng Jing sent Lin Sheng, the Right Wuwei General, to lead a naval force northward."

  At that time, Governor Yao Qisheng and Governor Wu Xingzuo assembled a fleet to attack Xiamen. Jing then ordered the mobilization of naval vessels and foreign ships with troops to head north, appointing Lin Sheng as the new governor, Jiang Sheng and Zhu Tianguang as deputy governors, to lead the army in defense; before departing, he hosted a farewell banquet for them.

  "Min Hai Ji Yao Juan"

  "Well done," Zheng Kezang said, looking at the kneeling officers of the whaling team in front of him with a hint of satisfaction on his face. Of course, this was also related to Ma Ying and others retrieving tens of thousands of taels worth of silver, Sichuan pepper, tin ingots, peppercorns, banana leaves, and sugar cane.

  "I've always told you that you are a team," Zheng Kezang said. "What is a team? What is camaraderie? Sharing honor and shame is what it means to be a team, sharing life and death is what it means to be comrades. As an officer, one must have the courage to stand up for their brothers who have been humiliated."

  Zheng Kezang's words made the young officers present extremely happy.

  "However," Zheng Kezang's tone suddenly changed. "In the end, this was a private fight and not a premeditated attack. A general should be brave in public battles but cautious in private fights, and using public resources for personal gain is a major taboo."

  When Zheng Kezang's loud rebuke came, Ma Ying, who was from a fishing family and had little experience in official struggles, was quite startled. Not daring to be slow, he led the way by knocking his head on the ground, then brought his subordinates again to apologize to Zheng Kezang: "This matter is entirely due to the recklessness of my subordinates, please, General, severely punish us."

  "There's no mistake that punishment is necessary, but for those below the rank of Storming Officer, there's no need to punish them, after all they are also following orders from their superiors." Zheng Kezang casually said a sentence, and limited the target of punishment to Ma Ying and four others. "Ma Ying, originally I was planning to promote you to the position of Ta Nong Ji after the new year, but now it's delayed again."

  Ma Ying's face was as white as paper, he had not expected the punishment to be so severe, that the title of First Deputy Camp Officer in the Boy Scouts, which he had been thinking about day and night, would slip through his fingers again. However, Ma Ying clearly did not know that this was actually Zheng Kezang's excuse, saying that Zheng Kezang would not have been the first to promote him anyway.

  "As for Chen Yi, Chu Jin and Xie Bao," Zheng Kezang continued. "You will also not be promoted within the next two years."

  Four people hung their heads in shame, but Zheng Kezang was the crown prince, so scolding and punishment were all considered favors. Therefore, after being punished, they still had to thank him for his kindness. Zheng Kezang smiled and listened to their thanks, then paused for a while before letting them stand up: "Get up, the punishment is over, now let's talk about rewards."

  The people present were stunned, but Ma Ying had a conversation with Carl when he stopped distributing the spoils of war, and she couldn't help but think about this aspect in her heart. This is natural, after all, those who have been frustrated in their careers can't help but have some thoughts on economics.

  "Why should I reward you? It's not because you've brought back so much wealth, but because you've helped me fill in the gaps and pointed out the loopholes in our military discipline." Zheng Kezang's words initially crushed Ma Ying's illusions. "Regarding spoils of war, the Child Battalion has never had a clear set of rules, which is an oversight on my part. Fortunately, you've reminded me. Come, take note: from now on, all spoils must be handed over and not kept privately by soldiers; anyone who disobeys will be considered insubordinate."

  On the battlefield, disobedience can be beheaded directly. Such military discipline can no longer be described as strict, and it can be said to be harsh. However, most of the young officers in the Water Troop are not from a family of generals, so they do not know much about the current military rules. Therefore, no one dares to confront Zheng Kezang's authority directly, even if there are very few dissatisfied ones, they were also dispelled by Zheng Kezang with just one sentence.

  "All the surrendered goods, military equipment and prisoners of war are calculated together, and then divided into two halves. The remaining half is divided into three parts: one part for the soldiers, one part for the officials at all levels, and one part for the commander-in-chief. Another quarter of this share will be taken out to allocate to all the wounded." Zheng Kezang gave an example. "For example, this time, after calculation, there should be a profit of 30,000 taels. I will take 15,000 taels, Ma Ying can take 5,000 taels, and the battalion commanders, vanguard officers, and several instructors can share 5,000 taels. As for the soldiers below, they can also get their share from the remaining 5,000 taels. If there are casualties, I will allocate 3,750 taels from my share to them as consolation. So, have you all understood?"

  "I understand, we all understand." As soon as they heard that they could really get some money, several young military officers cheered and jumped for joy. If it weren't for the fact that they still knew Zhu Jin existed, these young whippersnappers would have almost directly shouted "Long live" to Zheng Kezang's mountain.

  "But!" Zheng Kezang came up with another twist. "This time's harvest doesn't count." The crowd let out a sigh of disappointment, and some people's faces didn't even have time to change before they lost their voices. In response, Zheng Kezang explained, "Why doesn't it count? Because previously there was no military regulation, if I reward you all, what will the others in the Tongzi Camp think?" Zheng Kezang gave a few people some time to ponder, and only then concluded, "So we can only start from next time."

  Watching the direct descendants being lifted from the trough to the crest and then thrown back into the trough, Zheng Kezang smiled lightly. He wasn't playing with them. The "Book of Wei - Biography of Lü Bu" had a very vivid metaphor for this: "Like raising hawks, when hungry they are used, when full they are discarded." Zheng Kezang didn't want to feed these young officers to the point of being full and losing their drive to move forward.

  "However, due to your contributions in making up for the shortcomings, you will receive eleven times the reward. Ma Ying will get 500 taels, you will get 25 taels each, and the soldiers who participated in the battle will get 4 taels each. Go and collect your rewards!" The uncontrollable cheers erupted again, Zheng Kezang burst out laughing and pointed at Ma Ying. "Ma Ying is going to have a prosperous year this year, why don't you let him treat everyone to wine?"

  ??”

  After the group of young soldiers from the Tongzijun Water Battalion left with envy, Zheng Kecang immediately summoned Ying Taonong: "I've heard about the whale hunting team. After running to Qiongzhou again after the New Year, let the Qionghai team change to the Ryukyu route and find a few more people to set up a business in that place. From now on, all contacts with the mainland will be handled by you."

  Ying Tai Nong was shocked, and Zheng Kezang's intention was already very clear, which was to use the window of "that Ba" to open up trade with the mainland and break through the blockade order between Fujian and Guangdong: "This matter is of great importance, I have never done it before, and Shisun may consider another candidate to avoid mistakes."

  "No one is born knowing how to do things." Zheng Kezang urgently needed someone to balance out Ma Ying in the Water Troops Camp, but Ying Taifeng was not the best candidate for this task. He could only reluctantly hand over some of the secret warline's work to him to preside over. "Don't worry, it doesn't have to be done very clearly at first, take your time, I can wait." Since Zheng Kezang had already made up his mind, Ying Taifeng could only agree. "Right, the Tartars have been blockading the seas for many years, and our province's maritime tax in the North Ocean has long since disappeared. When you're in charge of that merchant hall, you must do your homework well, figure out the bottom line of the trading parties, and if there's an opportunity, develop the Nagasaki side as well. Once our province gets over this difficult period, we'll have to settle accounts with them for all these years!"

  "Ah!" replied General Ta Nong again, then raised his head to look at Zheng Kezang. "Your Majesty, I just heard that you heavily rewarded Ma Ling and others. I'm not speaking out of jealousy, but if we reward them like this, won't the Whaling Fleet recklessly plunder merchant ships from all sides for money? Wouldn't that completely destroy our kingdom's reputation?"

  "What reputation?" Zheng Kezang's gaze swept across Ying Tianong's face. "After eating Zhu's food for a few years, you've actually forgotten your roots! The Zheng family is the largest pirate in the Ming Dynasty. If not, how would the Ming emperor have recruited the Zheng family and relied on them like the Great Wall?" Zheng Kezang sneered coldly. "Can reputation be eaten as rice?"

  Ying Tianong didn't dare to retort, so he lowered his head and stood still.

  "I know you are loyal," Zheng Kezang said, "but do you know what the Red Barbarians, Lu Song Barbarians, English Barbarians, and French Barbarians relied on when they first came to the Ming Dynasty from afar? It was plundering! They plundered everything they saw at sea, as long as it wasn't their own people. They relied on the profits from this plunder to support themselves step by step until today."

  Zheng Kezang walked up to Ying Tianong and patted his chest with his hand.

  "Now that the situation is dire, my father's many years of conquests are irreversible. What can we do? With just Taiwan, it's impossible to resist the vast territory of China without plundering, robbing, or killing people. This is one thing I must learn from the four barbarians!"

  Zheng Kezang slowed down his tone: "Of course, Yu will not let them indulge in slaughter and plunder. The purpose of the whaling team is to make them experience the wind and waves of the great sea and master the ship's skills so that they can conquer all directions. So, once you and Qionghai Team take over the Ryukyu and Nagasaki routes, they will be transferred to Nanyang. At that time, even if they want to plunder, it will be to plunder from the Red Barbarians and the Luzon Barbarians!"

  Ying Taifeng nodded and murmured in agreement, Zheng Kezang looked at him and sighed, letting him withdraw. However, before he had even left the door, Zheng Kezang suddenly said heavily: "When barbarians enter China, they become Chinese; when Chinese enter the land of the barbarians, they become barbarians!"

  Ying Tianong's body suddenly paused, and then he rushed to Zheng Kechang and made a deep bow. He immediately pushed the door out and looked at his back, Zheng Kechang nodded, if he still couldn't understand, the power in Ying Tianong's hands might not be kept for long.

  ??

  Zheng Kezang, who had calmed down by now, thought that although he had spent over 2,000 taels of silver, Ma Ying's gains were truly substantial. If he didn't quickly turn them into actual power, it would be ungrateful to the generous Japanese. Therefore, he soon issued an order: "Someone come and tell Ma Yuan and the others that after the New Year, let the English craftsmen help build another 3,000-liang (180-ton) double-masted schooner. They should also try to build a 1,000-liang-sized double-masted lug sailboat. Additionally, ask Su Daxiang to manufacture four 2,000-liang Fushun ships for reserve use."

  The guards took their orders and left, but Zheng Kezang sat down and scribbled on a piece of paper for half a day. He then clapped his hands and paced around the room, but after circling around several times, he still couldn't make up his mind. It turned out that Zheng Kezang was planning to abolish the original naval system of Ming Zheng and establish a new leadership mechanism centered on the ship's captain in the water army, but with Zhu Jin still around, such a large-scale change would inevitably cause Zhu Jin's unease.

  "Don't be rash," Zheng Kezang warned himself for the last time. "Haste makes waste, there's still time and opportunity." With that in mind, Zheng Kezang walked out of his signing room at the naval barracks. "Prepare my horse, return to Anping!"