With Yang Zhen's current status, he took the initiative to recruit a general manager who worked for the Dutch Red Mao Yi Merchant House. No matter from which aspect, the other party had no reason not to agree on the spot.

But after Yang Zhen's words came out, He Tingbin seemed extremely hesitant, as if it was a bit difficult to handle.

After being pulled up from the ground by Yang Zhen, he stood in front of him with his head lowered. He did not refuse, but he also did not agree on the spot.

"Mr. He, when we were on Yingzhou Island, you said you wanted to meet Governor Yang, but today we did. In front of Governor Yang, you said everything you wanted to say.

"

Guo Xiaowu obviously had a lot of respect for this Tang general, He Tingbin, and probably hoped to recruit him to Jinhai Town, so when he saw that he was dumbfounded when faced with Yang Zhen's personal recruitment, he quickly reminded him.

"And I see that Mr. He is not an ordinary person. You have accumulated a lot of knowledge. Do you want to spend your whole life just to be a mere general working for the red-haired Japanese merchant house?"

Logically speaking, Guo Xiaowu was just a thousand-man general. At this time, in front of Yang Zhen, he had no place to interrupt.

But in addition to his status as General Qian, Guo Xiaowu also had experience as a personal soldier of Yang Zhen and as an aide-de-camp to Yang Zhen.

With this experience, other people present could no longer regard him as just a little Chief Qian.

Therefore, what he said to persuade He Tingbin in front of Yang Zhen was not too out of line.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Guo Qian, for taking care of me, and thank you very much for Governor Yang's consideration. To be honest, I have come to visit Governor Yang in the boat. In addition to admiring the Governor's name for a long time and wanting to see his style, there are indeed people who have served under the Governor and made outstanding achievements in the battlefield."

idea."

He Tingbin obviously heard the good intentions in Guo Xiaowu's words. At the same time, he also realized that facing Yang Zhen's recruitment, hesitating for a long time was a very taboo thing.

So as soon as Guo Xiaowu finished speaking, he spoke, first expressing his intention to join Yang Zhen, but then the conversation changed and he revealed the reason for his hesitation.

"It's just that my lower body is bound by some worldly affairs and I have never been able to be free. If not for this, He is also a Chinese nobleman from the descendants of Yan and Huang. How can he serve the Dutch Red Barbarians and let them drive him?"

Having said this, He Tingbin raised his head and looked at Yang Zhen's expression intently, as if he wanted to further confirm Yang Zhen's sincerity in recruiting him.

As for Yang Zhen, when he saw that he had something hidden, he immediately responded.

"Mr. He, do you have any unspeakable secrets? If you can tell me, even if you say it, I will do my best to help you deal with anything that this governor can do, no matter what worldly matters you are involved in!"

"My mother, wife, and children are all in the red-haired city built by the Dutch in Da Yuan. For more than ten years, whether I am with the ship or in Da Yuan, my mother, wife, and children are not allowed to leave the city."

He Tingbin really had something unspeakable. Faced with Yang Zhen's warm solicitation, he, who had already intended to surrender, immediately revealed the true secret behind his hesitation.

"Although the Dutch Red Mao Yi faction did not explicitly say that my wife, children, and children are hostages, in fact they are just like hostages. Although I intend to serve under the governor's account, I cannot help but worry that this will put my mother, wife, and children in danger."

"That's why I am. This matter is not difficult to solve. You, a group of red-haired ghosts and black slaves, have less than a hundred people left in total. Kill them all. After all, who can know your whereabouts, Mr. He?"

"ah?!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"I heard the Governor speak below. He seems to know a lot about the Dutch Red Barbarians. Isn't the Governor afraid of the Dutch Red Barbarians sending troops to retaliate? Is it possible that the Governor is already prepared to go to war with the Dutch East India Company?!"

"Is this so serious? Killing these red-haired barbarians and destroying their bodies and destroying all traces of them. Does anyone know who this governor ordered?"

Of course, Yang Zhen was not ready for war with the Dutch East India Company.

At least for the next three years, Yang Zhen's main goal is not to expel the red-haired barbarians in the East Asian waters.

Of course, one day, when his naval power is strong enough, he will have to do this, but not now.

On the one hand, there were too many more important things waiting for him to do, and he did not have the energy to challenge the Dutch East India Company.

On the other hand, his current naval strength is far from enough. It can be seen from the size of the ships that he may not be able to win if he really wants to go to war.

In other words, even if you win, there is a high probability that you will kill one thousand enemies and suffer eight hundred losses.

This is definitely not the victory Yang Zhen wants, and he will not do such stupid things.

However, he believed that killing a group of red barbarians without anyone noticing would not cause such a big reaction from the Dutch East India Company.

"The Governor killed these red-haired barbarians, and of course the corpses can be destroyed, but what about the plywood ship Nassau? It was the plywood ship dedicated to the Governor by Deacon Cohen of the Dutch Merchant Store in Nagasaki. Does the Governor also want to destroy the bodies and eliminate all traces?

"

As for what Yang Zhen had in mind, He Tingbin was already an old man. He knew that Yang Zhen wanted to kill people and steal money from the Dutch, and then he denied it and turned his back on them.

However, He Tingbin knew very well that doing so would be useless unless Yang Zhen was prepared to destroy the "Nassau" at the same time.

"The Nassau is one of the five largest plywood ships deployed by the Dutch on the Nagasaki route. If everyone in the Nagasaki Merchant House died, the Nassau would inexplicably appear in Japan.

In the hands of the navy of Zhoudao, or under the command of Governor Jin Haizhen, what does the Governor think the Dutch who are entrenched in the big officials will think?"

"Is this——"

Facing several rhetorical questions from He Tingbin, Yang Zhen hesitated for a moment and didn't know what to say.

Those red-haired barbarians will be killed if they can be killed. As for the black-haired Uban slaves, no one will care about their life or death.

Anyway, there is a plague in Nagasaki and other places. It's normal for them to die or disappear. Even the Dutch East India Company probably won't be affected.

But that giant plywood ship, what He Tingbin called the Nassau, was what Yang Zhen wanted very much.

Now that he has obtained it by chance, Yang Zhen will never destroy it or hide it without using it.

However, as long as Yang Zhen uses it, even if he dismantles it and rebuilds more new plywood boats according to the proportions of the "Nassau", the whereabouts of the "Nassau" cannot be covered up.

Because, in this era, the Dutch had numerous large-scale armed merchant ships on the East Asian seas.

The giant Nassau armed merchant ship owned by the Dutch Nagasaki Merchant House is one of the main plywood ships registered by the Dutch East India Company. It cannot be hidden at all.

Therefore, taking their ship and killing their people would probably be self-defeating and invite an unprecedented powerful enemy at sea.

This is not the situation Yang Zhen wants to see.

"So, in Mr. He's opinion, how should this matter be handled?"

As soon as Yang Zhen said these words, He Tingbin, who had just stood up to speak, suddenly lifted his robe and knelt on the ground again.

"I come from a humble background. I have been a merchant who made a living on the sea. I was kidnapped by the Dutch Red Barbarians and worked as a slave in the Red Barbarians' merchant house. I have been engaged in menial labor for many years. If the Governor does not mind me, I

As a humble person, He volunteered to serve under the command of the Governor, beat the red hair, resist foreign aggression, regain the high officials, and protect our sea territory. It’s just——”

"Just what?"

When Yang Zhen saw He Tingbin relenting and agreeing to submit, Yang Zhen felt happy in his heart, but when he heard the last change of subject, he said "just" again, so he quickly asked.

Yang Zhen already vaguely knew what He Tingbin meant when he said "I used to be a maritime merchant."

In fact, it means being a pirate.

In the late Ming Dynasty, only a few people who went to sea to make a living in the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong were actually engaged in maritime trade honestly. Most of those who made a living at sea were sea traders who also worked as pirates, or pirates who also worked as sea traders.

All in all, most people went ashore and returned to their hometowns, that is, returning merchants in fine clothes.

But once they get on the ship and go to sea, they will become lawless and bloodthirsty pirates.

Similarly, Yang Zhen had already reacted to the senior official mentioned by He Tingbin again and again, and knew that the senior official was Xiaoliuqiu as mentioned in official documents in the early Ming Dynasty, and Dongfan as mentioned in official documents since Jiajing.

Of course, this so-called big official refers to the southern part of Taiwan in later generations, specifically Tainan.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, whether it was the Tianqi period or the Chongzhen period, the Ming army fought against the Dutch colonists. Although they won more than they lost, the government never intervened in the management of senior officials.

As a result, after the Dutch retreated from Penghu and Kinmen, they turned back to Dajuan. In more than ten years, they built several red-haired cities along the coastline from south to north. Finally, they drove away the Spanish and monopolized

the entire island of Taiwan.

It was the arrival and rapid expansion of the Dutch colonists that forced Zheng Zhilong and others to retreat and temporarily avoid the limelight. Finally, they crossed the sea and surrendered to Xiong Wencan, accepting the offer of the Ming Dynasty.

Yang Zhen was not entirely clear about the twists and turns of the details.

But the general process and basic trends will be familiar to anyone who knows a little bit about the history of the late Ming Dynasty, and Yang Zhen naturally knows some of it.

Putting all these circumstances together, Yang Zhen already knew generally what He Tingbin did for a living.

For He Tingbin, Yang Zhen is an official, and a hereditary noble official. Now he is the commander-in-chief of the garrison, the governor of the left, the general who conquers the east, and Jin Haibo. He himself was a pirate in the past and is now a red-haired barbarian.

It is normal for the servant to worry that Yang Zhen will despise him and look down on him.

But for Yang Zhen, he didn't care about this at all.

He has many people from humble backgrounds under his command, and it is precisely people like this that he can rely on now.

Real aristocratic people from aristocratic families would not surrender to him wholeheartedly, and he could not recruit them now.

On the contrary, people like He Tingbin who are outside the Ming government, or even outside the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, may be the most useful in the future.

"It's just that my mother, wife, and children are all in Hong Maoyi City, Da Yuan. If I change my family and serve under the governor, my mother, wife, and children may be killed by Hong Mao. Therefore, I also ask the governor to give me a period of time, which can be as long as one year, or as short as one year.

After half a year, I have arranged my family affairs, and I will definitely come and submit to the Governor!"

He Tingbin hesitated for a while and finally made his request to Yang Zhen.

"Therefore, I also ask the Governor to conceal the fact that I am working for the Governor when he meets with the Dutch red-haired barbarians. Only by temporarily living in the dark can He be able to better serve the Governor in trying to find out the information! Please forgive me!"

"I see."

Yang Zhen originally thought that since He Tingbin talked about his mother, wife and children, he would most likely ask him to help him get back or redeem his mother, wife and children.

If this is really the case, then Yang Zhen's side is still a bit difficult to handle.

First of all, he had no dealings or contact with the Dutch.

Secondly, to do such a thing, an exchange of interests is inevitable, but what can Yang Zhen give in exchange for the Dutch right now?

Do you want to seize the Dutch red-haired ghosts and black-skinned slaves who fell into your hands and exchange them for He Tingbin's old mother, wife and children?

However, if this is done, the previous transaction between Yingzhou Island and the Dutch Nagasaki Merchant House will most likely be regarded by the Dutch East India Company as a conspiracy by Jinhaizhen, and Yang Zhen will inexplicably attract a former friend to himself.

All powerful enemies in the future.

This is what he doesn't want to see at the moment.

Fortunately, He Tingbin also felt that it was abrupt and did not make such a request. Instead, he planned to handle it himself. He just hoped that Yang Zhen would give him some time and at the same time conceal the fact that he had changed his family.

Yang Zhen had no reason to disagree with such a request.

Because no matter from which angle you look at it, this matter will not cause any harm to Yang Zhen, nor will it cause any disadvantages or hidden dangers to Yingzhou Island or even Jinhai Town.

At the same time, it is equivalent to laying a hidden stake on Damuan Island or the Dutch side in advance for themselves and Jinhai Town.

"No problem, I promise you. I will now appoint you as the Foreign Relations Consultant of the General Office of Jinhai Town, responsible for investigating the situation of the barbarians in the West. All the generals present today are witnesses. I will officially return in the future. I will serve you again.
Chapter completed!