"Muzhou used to be the governor of the four prefectures of Wen, Chu, Ning and Taizhou, but now he is the governor of the four prefectures of Zhang, Quan, Chao and Hui. It seems that my official position is low. I hope that the two superiors will give me more support in the future."

"Fu Zhai's words are wrong. My business has long since faded away, and I can't count on it. To say that I have great power, I can't count on it. If you seek an official position, you should know where to go and don't come to my door to make noises."

"Gentlemen, you are making fun of me."

Lu Ruoteng and Shen Quanqi were both disciples of the famous Fujian scholar Chen Hu, and they had always been close to each other. They had also known each other for many years, and they were both life and death friends in the same Zhongzuo Institute. There was no point in joking about it at this moment.

No scruples.

When he first landed on the island, he heard that Zheng Chenggong had just returned from Quanzhou and was resting in his mansion. Chen Kai was still a little worried. However, the banter between Lu Ruoteng and Shen Quanqi made all these things go away, and he felt much calmer.

.For the things that need to be faced next, there is indeed an extra sense of calmness about whether it is successful or not.

"Wine, after I meet Guo Xing, we have plenty of time to drink, but we are not in a hurry. There is an important matter, and I plan to discuss it with the two gentlemen."

"Yes, it turns out that this time I came to the island to get married. It really doesn't take more than half an hour."

The two laughed, held hands, and left. Chen Kai got on the carriage and closed his eyes to rest. When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived at Zheng Chenggong's mansion.

Entering from the gate, Zheng Chenggong had stepped down to greet him. This seemed a bit strange at first, but at first glance, the fatigue on his face was not covered at all, and Chen Kai couldn't help but sigh.

"It turns out that when we meet you, you sigh, but you don't want to see me?"

"What's the matter? If I don't come to see Da Mu, my marriage will continue to be delayed."

They could still joke, which meant that the matter was not too difficult. After smiling at each other, the two went into the study to talk in detail. Chen Kai originally thought he was directly mentioning the governor, but Zheng Chenggong took the lead in mentioning another matter.

"The imperial court is still increasing troops for Jin Li. It seems that Jin Li can penetrate the Zhangquan Prefecture."

Last year, the Ming army retained the fruits of victory, but the strength of the Qing government was still too strong. This year, it was still sending more troops to Fujian, with no intention of giving up. In this way, Zheng Chenggong had to be worried about this, and even Chen Kai frowned when he heard this.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Damu, the situation in Guangdong has calmed down. If it doesn't work, we will move back a few towns to fight against the enemy."

Southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong are part of the same family, and even the death of lips and teeth is not enough to describe the degree of their community of destiny. After hearing this, there was only this that Chen Kai could do, but he did not hesitate to mention it. But Zheng Chenggong was not convinced

But he shook his head, and had no intention of mobilizing troops from Guangdong to join the war. He just mentioned the matter, that's all.

"Next year, southern Fujian will still strive to defend the Zhangzhou and Quanzhou prefectures. Guangdong's military strength is already small and cannot be reduced. However, Hong Kong's trade has opened up a new source of income. Do you have any other plans?"

With Chen Kai in Guangdong and Zheng Chenggong focusing on the battlefield in Fujian, there will be no problem of focusing on one at the expense of the other. This is the best situation. Zheng Chenggong will undoubtedly change, and not only that, Zheng Chenggong also hopes to be able to make some more achievements from Guangdong.

The results come.

This is Chen Kai's high expectation. Chen Kai also said that he had some plans, such as taking advantage of the empty strength of the Qing army in Huizhou Prefecture to seize Pinghai Qianhusuo and Dapeng Qianhusuo and build fortresses.

, thus connecting the Ming army’s control areas in Chaozhou and southeastern Huizhou with Hong Kong by sea.

"Just like Dongjiang Town back then, it controlled a series of islands along the coast of Liaodong, and continuously launched attacks from various points to harass the Tatar-controlled areas..."

In its heyday, Dongjiang Town used Pidao, Tieshan, Yiju and other places with the ocean and Yalu River as shields to confront the Qing army, occupy coastal islands, and control Kuandian, Lushun and other places that were easy to defend but difficult to attack. Now we see

The situation is somewhat similar to that of the Ming army in Guangdong.

"Chaozhou and the northeastern part of Huizhou Prefecture are Pidao, Tieshan, Yizhou and other places. The Lianhua Mountains and the Lufeng Twin Fortresses are the Liaohai and Yalu Rivers, and Hong Kong Island is the Lushun. Now Pinghai Qianhusuo and Da

It looks even more like what Peng Qianhu took it down."

Pointing to the map of the Liaohai Sea in Zheng Chenggong's study, the two of them talked about it, and in their minds they had already strung the string of pearls from the central to the eastern part of the Guangdong Sea into a necklace. However, when he mentioned this, Chen Kai smiled bitterly.

He shook his head: "It seems quite similar, but the problem is that it's not cost-effective at all."

"oh?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Zheng Chenggong immediately understood what Chen Kai was referring to.

The situation in Dongjiang Town at that time was unavoidable. With its own strength in the field, it was difficult to compete with the Eight Banners' heavily armed group, so it could only occupy places that were difficult to control by the Eight Banners Army, farm there, train troops, and restore its strength bit by bit.

From an economic analysis, the area controlled by Dongjiang Town is very cold, and the income from farming is not high. It is difficult to feed the army. Even relying on supplements and aid from the Ming court is far from enough. If you want to feed the Liao people and the army, you can then counterattack.

In Liaodong, one is to send troops to harass and feed the enemy, and the other is to control the Liaohai trade.

Not to mention the former, the latter's historical route analysis is nothing more than the Grand Canal, Tianjin, Lushun, and then along the island chain to North Korea, and then realize trade with North Korea and Japan, while the other one is from Dengzhou, Shandong to the Miaodao Islands.

, arrived in Lushun, and continued on the second half of a route to North Korea and Japan.

The island chain is connected by trade routes and is the basis for survival. But on the Guangdong side, the importance of Hong Kong is undoubted. The discord between the Ming army in western Guangdong and Guangdong is still second. The key is Pinghai Qian

Neither Husuo nor Dapeng Qianhusuo are islands, they are just coastal areas.

Building forts, hoarding warehouses, and stationing soldiers are only used to consolidate the already very safe trade routes, which is very uneconomical. And Chen Kai is not like Mao Wenlong who has to feed hundreds of thousands of Liao people, Chaozhou people and

The people of Guangzhou are all on the ground in Chaozhou. There is a large area of ​​arable land there, with two crops a year and an output of two to three stones per mu. It is by no means comparable to that of Liaodong, and with his prestige, he can temporarily suppress both parties.

The dissatisfaction really does not deserve this.

After analyzing all this in his mind, Zheng Chenggong couldn't help but shook his head. At worst, Dongjiang Town had the assistance of the Ming court, and could "bully" North Korea in paying tribute, but they could only count carefully and spend every penny.

Only by using them to the extreme can we withstand the Qing court's successive attacks and recover more occupied areas.

"Then, is there anything else?"

"Yes, there is, but there are also problems."

"what is the problem?"

"First, there are insufficient troops; second, the initial investment is relatively large; third, we need to be thick-skinned."

Chen Kai stretched out his fingers, index finger, middle finger, and ring finger, and Zheng Chenggong's eyes were focused on them. At first, it was okay, Chen Kai spoke righteously, and Zheng Chenggong listened carefully. Troops, resources

Investment, these are the main factors that limit development and exploration. Even if it is not clear, Zheng Chenggong believes in Chen Kai's judgment and nods. However, when he heard the last part, Zheng Chenggong's expression suddenly became weird, and he said

The sentence "It turned out to be when you captured Chaozhou and went to Guangzhou" had just formed in his mind, and even before the second half of the sentence flashed across his mind, he immediately realized what Chen Kai was referring to.

"Jingcheng, you mean you need me to be thick-skinned?"

"Yes."

Chen Kai nodded, as if he didn't care at all about the word "ye", and it was even possible that the word "ye" was exactly what he meant.

"Well, it's almost like the last time I deceived Du Yong and the one hundred thousand taels of silver."

"oh."

When he mentioned this, Zheng Chenggong seemed to be able to accept it. After all, to him, Du Yonghe's affairs were just a lawsuit. He didn't even meet him, and he just asked one of his subordinates to send Du Yonghe away.

Account's subordinates are nothing to worry about.

"The intensity of the opposition may be higher."

"Where's the profit?"

"One hundred thousand taels is just a drop in the bucket..."

"Then do it!"

In a few words, the two people settled on the last of the three issues without even weighing the first two. In the final analysis, everything is nothing more than profit. Just like what a later thinker described

That way: once there is an appropriate profit, the capitalist will become bold. If there is 50% profit, it will take risks; for 100% profit, it will dare to trample on all human laws; if there is 3% profit, it will take risks.

With hundreds of profits, it dares to commit any crime, even risking being hanged.

"How many troops are needed?"

"At least two thousand soldiers are needed, and I will also dispatch some troops from Chaozhou."

"I will give you three thousand. The soldiers recruited from Quanzhou last year have been trained for nearly half a year. In addition, you are now the governor. The Daobiao Battalion has been expanded to Fubiao, with two battalions and one thousand soldiers.

Let Lin Dezhong take control."

Zheng Chenggong waved his hand, and there were 3,500 soldiers and seven battalions. At this point, he then asked Chen Kai: "Jiang Mei'ao, are you still obedient?"

Jiang Mei'ao was Zheng Cai's general. More importantly, Jiang Mei'ao was one of the three generals who had followed Zheng Cai for the longest time. The other two - Cai Xing and Zhang Yunfei - are now the pillars of the Qing Army's Fujian Navy.

They led their subordinates to harass the Ming fleet. Although it was just harassment and there was no need to think about it face to face, it really made the Ming army quite disgusted.

Of the three people, two have surrendered, and the remaining one will naturally be worried. This is inevitable. Especially because Zheng Chenggong did not use it much in Chen Kai's two reports on the defense of Lufeng Bastion.

Jiang Mei'ao's troops also made Zheng Chenggong wonder if Chen Kai had the same worries.

There were seven words in total. When Chen Kai heard it, he could imagine what Zheng Chenggong was thinking. Without thinking, Chen Kai answered Zheng Chenggong.

"When it comes to Jiang Mei'ao, this is what I was about to tell Da Mu. I plan to change Jiang Mei'ao's troops into naval forces. Last year, I asked Lin Dezhong and Jiang Mei'ao to practice the same phalanx that Chang Lin Temple Yiyong once practiced.

, Lin Dezhong’s battalion leader practiced very well, but Jiang Mei’ao, probably used to being at sea, has not given me a rock-solid look after practicing for more than half a year. It just so happens that this time we need to increase the navy, I thought

It’s better to let him return to his old profession.”

"Then I will dispatch some warships to you." Chen Kai said this, and Zheng Chenggong naturally understood what he meant. The matter was settled here, and he immediately said: "You don't have to worry about the money. The income from sea trade last year is enough."

There are more than 1.8 million taels of silver, not counting the annual income of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. Raising troops will cost more than half of it. In addition, continuing trade, building forts, forging weapons and other

A series of expenditures, indeed there is not much left. However, some money can still be squeezed out."

The battlefield in Guangdong is under great pressure, and Chaozhou's taxes are basically used for its own use. What it can provide to the center and left is nothing more than food and maritime trade supplies, which is already a great supplement.

Zheng Chenggong had full confidence in Chen Kai, so he naturally asked him to relax and do things. For this reason, Zheng Chenggong concentrated on Fujian, and Chen Kai's pattern of running Guangdong continued. Neither Chen Kai nor Zheng Chenggong had any intention of doing anything.

Breaking this division of labor model that has been fruitful since its formation. All this has not changed because of Chen Kai's position as governor of the four prefectures. This is the greatest tacit understanding between the two. There is no need to say anything more, even Chen Kai had done it before

All those worries were gone now.

Next, the two finalized Chen Kai's official position. The original status of Weiyuan Marquis who recruited generals to join the army was officially cancelled. Zheng Chenggong really couldn't let a powerful right minister of the Ministry of War serve as his adviser, so he had to give him
To be continued...