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Section 4 (Part 2)

Since he agreed to give Zheng Jing money, Deng Ming immediately thought about making it back. Without vicious competition with Zheng Jing, Deng Ming asked Zhang Huangyan to increase sales to Japan. "This is the true nature of Admiral Deng." This request was long as Zhang Huangyan expected. Deng Ming was just as righteous as he was. If Deng Ming did not bring the topic back to making money after Lu Liuliang left, Zhang Huangyan would have been surprised.

Zheng Xi did not know much about commerce, only Zheng Chenggong left him some resources for Nanyang merchants when he died; compared with Zheng Xi, Zheng Zanxu had much more channels. His father Zheng Tai was originally a household official of the Fujian army and was the highest in charge of Zheng Chenggong's commerce. Zheng Zanxu said that he had more than 80% of the Fujian army's East Asia trade routes, and knew that all Zheng Chenggong contacted merchants in the mainland and had direct contact with Japanese merchants.

Zheng Jing can use the account book to clarify Zheng Tai's business situation and find out the types, quantity and transaction cycles needed by each trading partner. However, Zheng Zanxu did not need it. After he arrived in Zhoushan, he assured Zhang Huangyan that as long as Zhang Huangyan provided sufficient supply of goods, he could take over all the Zheng family's transactions in Japan. After Zheng Jing understood the general situation, Zhoushan had already completely replaced the previous location of Jin and Xia.

In Zhang Huangyan's opinion, Zheng Zanxu was very motivated, of course, because the hatred of killing his father was irreconcilable, and he vowed many times that Zheng Jing had to go to the soil to dig food and eat.

However, Deng Ming did not intend to do things so well. After listening to Zhang Huangyan's narration, Deng Ming immediately said: "Severing people's wealth and wealth is like killing their parents. Did Zhang Shangshu see the posture of Marquis Jianping (the title inherited by Zheng Zanxu)? If we robbed all the Japanese transactions, then how would Marquis Jianping think of Prince Yanping's Prince of Yanping now? Then Prince Yanping will look at us in the future."

"Are Admiral Deng worried that Prince Yanping would surrender to the Tartars in anger?" Zhang Huangyan asked back. If it weren't for the stable Ming army base in Zhoushan, Zhang Huangyan felt that Zheng Xi, Zheng Zanxu and others would probably go to the Qing Dynasty to vent their anger and revenge.

"I'm not worried about this. Prince Yanping took down Taiwan. Prince Yanping was not without a way out of retreat..." But even if Zheng Jing changed from a war state to a neutral state, the effect on the Qing army would decrease, and Deng Ming tried his best to avoid another armed conflict within the Ming army: "In addition to the need for Prince Yanping to continue to help us restrain the Qing army and Geng Fan and Shang Fan of Fujian and Guangdong, we also need to continue to trade with Nanyang. If we only trade with Japan, the profit would be greatly reduced. And how much does Japan need for porcelain and silk? If it is not sold to Nanyang through Taiwan, it will be profitable in a few years."

On the issue of trade with Japan, giving Zheng Jing a bottom can certainly make Zheng Xi, Zheng Zanxu and others angry, but it will definitely cause Zheng Jing to retaliate. At that time, even if the Ming army in Taiwan does not attack Zhoushan, as long as the waterway is blocked with Penghu as the base, it will make the trilateral trade in China, Japan and South China Sea unable to continue - anyway, the Ming army in Fujian can't get involved and can only farm in Taiwan. Then Dongning (Zheng Chenggong's capital in Taiwan) is likely to be disturbed by the idea that no one can get it, especially Zheng Xi, Zheng Zanxu is still Zheng Jing's enemy.

"I plan to set up a business, just call it a company. As the name suggests, it is not owned by one person. Let everyone supervise and share the profits." Deng Ming proposed to Zhang Huangyan to establish a Nanyang trading company: "For twenty years, the Prince of Yanping has been the pioneer and protector of these three-sided sea trade. Taiwan was also won by Yanping County, so it should be reasonable for the Fujian Army to obtain 40% of the company's profits; and Lao Jianping Hou is the person in charge of Japan, providing ports with Zhoushan and Chongming, so the Zhejiang Army also obtained 40%. I guarantee the supply of goods in the mainland, so 10% of them are mine."

"Admiral Deng only has 10%?" Zhang Huangyan was very surprised.

"Yes, but this is different from the trade of Chongming. What I am talking about is Japan and the sea trade in South China. When porcelain is shipped to Chongming, I have to pay me money. It is not for nothing." In this way, the Zhejiang Army will use the income similar to the Fujian Army, and the military strength growth should be similar, and no one can easily eat anyone. Moreover, Deng Ming hopes to tie the two with common interests. If anyone wants to avenge his personal revenge, he has to weigh his own losses before taking action: "Everyone can check the accounts, this share can be sold, well, I will pay 10% of the shares to the imperial government; as for the Zhejiang Army, I will ignore how Zhang Shangshu and the Hou Jianping and others, and of course the Fujian Army is for the Prince Yanping."

"This is 90%, and there is still 10%?" Zhang Huangyan guessed what special purpose Deng Ming would have.

“It has special purpose.”

Zhang Huangyan nodded secretly. He probably might have something to do with the court. Deng Ming's behavior was much more unscrupulous than Zheng Chenggong and Li Dingguo. Sun Kewang seemed to be less arrogant than Deng Ming before usurping the throne. Since ancient times, there seemed to be few such arrogant Deng Ming as such. He always put the emperor on the scale and weighed the interests of the other side. Even if someone did something similar to Deng Ming, he would not be as unconcealed as him. Even if the usurpers in the throne were to be the best in the end. Even if they weighed the value of the king, they would definitely not advocate this idea, but also teach everyone to be loyal to the emperor and patriotism and contribute everything to the monarch.

If Deng Ming, who had always been profit-oriented and despised the scholars and the court, suddenly proposed to pay tribute to the royal family who was still under house arrest by Burmese people, or to fund the academy opened by the gentry, Zhang Huangyan would not be surprised at all. Deng Ming's attitude towards Lu Liuliang was also very different from before. Zhang Huangyan suspected that Deng Ming had already had the idea of ​​changing his image and began to try to seize the support of the gentry from the emperor. His attitude towards Lu Liuliang was the first step for Deng Ming to take the big plan.

"This is for the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan." Deng Ming looked as if he was taken for granted: "The Tokugawa shogunate strictly prohibits the Taixi people from trading in Japan. The lockdown order only leaves a hole for our Ming army, so the Taixi people want to trade with Japan through us. This is obviously giving us profits, and we should of course make some statements."

"But Tokugawa Shogunate said that this is helping us." 10% of the trade profit was not very large, and Zhang Huangyan and others agreed to the general's request, and after the war, they found some teachers for Japan to help the Tokugawa Shogunate implement culture and education: "They are also saving themselves. If we can't stand it, they will face the threat of the Tartars."

"They have faced the threat from the Tartars. I don't know whether we will fight Japan after the Qing Dynasty destroyed it. I guess there is almost no possibility of fighting, but supporting our army will anger the Qing court and we cannot let the Tokugawa shogunate help for free." Deng Ming believes that letting Japan help for free is a very dangerous move, because since the other party cannot get visible benefits from help, the other party may not have the motivation to insist on helping: "The Tokugawa shogunate is now helping us because they have no good feelings for the Tartars, and feelings are unreliable, and only silver can be relied on."

Zhang Huangyan nodded involuntarily, and almost instantly woke up and shouted in his heart: "What does 'only silver can be reliable'? I have been educated since I was a child, so how could I agree with such shameless words? Before I met Admiral Deng, I would never have thought so, and I would not have it in the blink of an eye."

In recent years, Zhoushan has been rapidly influenced by Deng Ming. The most typical example is that "fighting is to dress up as a Tartar to sneak attack their camps", followed by an economic perspective. In the past, Zhoushan was basically maintained by Zhang Huangyan's personal charm and the passion of the Volunteer Army. Now Zhang Huangyan and the Volunteer Army are still the same, but there is also a large amount of silver that Deng Ming has obtained. After the food, armor, weapons and ships exchanged for the silver, the Zhoushan Army can no longer return to the past. Now the Zhoushan Army attaches great importance to training, equipment, and logistics from top to bottom. This certainly makes them feel like a tiger, but also leads to the natural acceptance of Deng Ming's values ​​from Zhang Huangyan to ordinary soldiers.

However, Deng Ming had not finished speaking: "Fujian, Zhejiang and mine can be sold and transferred, but this is not enough to give to the Tokugawa shogunate. We are just a share of dividends to the Japanese. After all, this is our own company. Prince Yanping, Shangshu Zhang, and Marquis of Jianping are our own people, but General Tokugawa is not. When we expel the Tartars, we don't have to ask the shogunate, we have to reconsider whether we still need to share so much money."

"This is the Admiral Deng I know." Zhang Huangyan realized once again that his thoughts just now were too naive. Deng Ming's kind attitude towards Lu Liuliang should be an abnormal phenomenon. It may be that Deng Ming did not sleep well yesterday, or he had a good lunch and was in a happy mood. Now, this careful calculation, when he talks about silver and transactions, his eyes are shining. Deng Ming, who takes one step at a time, is the one that Zhang Huangyan is familiar with: "He will not pay tribute to the court."

As a result, Deng Ming and Zhang Huangyan decided on their strategy against Zheng Jing. Deng Ming also wrote another letter, specifically promoting the concept of Nanyang Company to Zheng Jing, saying that this was the best strategy to make the Anti-Qing Alliance win more.

"What do you think of Duke Bao?"

Lu Liuliang planned to take his wife to Sichuan the next day. Before leaving, he recommended Zhang Dai to Deng Ming. Before Lu Liuliang set off, Zhang Huangyan asked him about his impression of this young Duke who was notorious among the gentry of Jiangnan.

"In my letter to Mr. Tao'an (Zhang Dai's name), I have already said that the Duke did not deliberately act like a respectful and polite person before, because he treats others sincerely and not hypocritical." Before going to Sichuan, Lu Liuliang wrote a letter to the gentry of King Lu in various places at the request of Zhang Huangyan, describing Deng Ming's character. Zhang Dai, who is already 65 years old today, enjoys a reputation among the gentry of Jiangnan. Zhang Huangyan certainly hopes that he can come to join the Deng Ming Group so as to attract more gentry of the Lu State to go to Chengdu and Xuzhou, laying a solid foundation for the gentry of the Lu State to dominate the Sichuan public opinion circle: "Although I have to see it for one time, I think the Duke of the Nationalities is like Zhou Lang."
Chapter completed!
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