As a member of the Zheng Group, Zheng Cai is aware of the strength of the Zheng family's navy.
There are more than 50,000 sailors and more than 3,000 large and small ships!
There is no rival to dominate the southeastern coast.
It basically monopolized the trade channels with Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries, and made tens of millions of taels of profits every year. It can be said that it is as rich as any other country.
There are people, ships, money, guns and cannons. The Zheng Group is so powerful that Zheng Cai is extremely proud and arrogant.
But the Zheng family navy will never be Xujiazhuang's opponent!
Once the two sides fight, the Zheng family navy will definitely be defeated, and there is no possibility of victory!
The reason is very simple.
Compared with money, Xujiazhuang has more money, ten times that of Zheng Group.
Compared with humans, the people of Xujiazhuang are stronger and more organized. They can easily pull out an army of 100,000 people, and their combat effectiveness is even more terrifying.
Compared with ships, Xujiazhuang is currently at a disadvantage in this regard. There are not many ships in Xujiazhuang in the harbor of Harbor City, only a hundred or so fishing boats, and not a single warship can be seen.
But in terms of weapons, the fast guns and cannons equipped by Xu Jiajun not only have extremely fast firing rates, but are also very powerful. With the advantages of these weapons alone, the Zheng family navy will only come back defeated when they come to attack!
It is impossible to pose a major threat to Harbor City.
Moreover, if Xu Jiazhuang is angered and causes Xu Jiazhuang to increase its investment in naval construction, and with the advantages of Xu Jiazhuang's large number of people, money and high construction efficiency, a powerful fleet can be built within two or three years.
The group is completely ruined.
"If the Zheng family's fleet comes to attack Harbor City, it is just asking for death. This must be stopped!"
Zheng Cai said anxiously.
only……
His current status is just that of a prisoner of war who has lost his personal freedom. There is no room for him to intervene, and what qualifications do he have to stop this matter?
But he still said to Manager Cai: "I would like to send you a letter, hoping that Xujiazhuang will send someone to Quanzhou as soon as possible to dissuade the Zheng family fleet from sending troops and put an end to this war!"
At this moment, Zheng Caizhen had no thoughts for himself. He knew that if the ransom was not paid, he would go to Shandong to mine for the rest of his life. But he would rather do that than have the Zheng Group and Xujiazhuang become enemies and end up with the Zheng Group being wiped out.
.
"Hmm~"
Zheng Cai's attitude made Manager Cai nod his head and said: "Since you have this intention, Xujiazhuang will give you a chance. Come over here and I will take you to meet someone."
"yes!"
Zheng Cai nodded and followed Manager Cai out of the prisoner-of-war camp, got on an electric tricycle, and drove to Harbor City - this electric tricycle has a maximum range of 150 kilometers (depending on the load, the actual mileage is 80
~120), Xujiazhuang currently has 1,500 vehicles. Only a few Xujiazhuang executives and some important departments are eligible to receive one. Therefore, it has become a status symbol. Everyone is eager to get one. Some
If a company does not have an electric three-wheeler, it will be difficult for them to speak and cannot hold their heads up outside. Employees in the company will feel that there is no future, and their hearts will be unstable.
As a prisoner, Zheng Cai was lucky enough to get a chance to ride an electric three-wheeler. Although it was a little shaky, it was much better than riding a horse on a boat. It made less noise and could drive at a speed of fifty or sixty yards. It was very fast all the way.
, it only took five minutes to enter the Harbor City.
After getting out of the car and stepping on the solid ground, Zheng Cai still felt like she still had something to say.
"Quick, it's really fast. Those roads extending in all directions are even more powerful weapons for marching. There is no problem in gathering a hundred thousand troops within three days."
Zheng Cai thought to himself that he also saw the military value of the electric three-wheeled road.
Afterwards, he followed Manager Cai into a solemn-looking building, and walked around for quite a while before entering a secluded office.
I saw a man sitting behind a desk, wearing a gray Chinese tunic suit and a pair of black-framed myopia glasses. He looked about thirty years old and had a gloomy and unsmiling face. He exuded a depressing atmosphere and was an average person with good psychological quality.
Being in the same room with him, I couldn't help but shed cold sweat. If I were stared at by his cold, snake-like eyes again, my weak psychological defense would collapse on the spot.
After delivering the person, Manager Cai exited the office, closed the door and left.
Zheng Cai had to stand aside for half an hour, waiting for the mysterious man behind the desk to read the documents in his hand.
"Find yourself a chair and sit down."
He finally said: "Zheng Cai, courtesy name Yu Gong, is from Nan'an, Fujian. His father is Zheng An and his mother is Li. In the fifth year of Tianqi, he went to sea with Zheng Zhilong to do business..."
This person put the material aside and spoke fluently, telling a lot of information about himself. There were very few flaws and all corresponded to the real situation. He even told several anecdotes from his childhood clearly.
Recite fluently.
Cold sweat.
Even though Zheng Cai had a strong psychological quality, she couldn't help but break into a cold sweat and had to stand up. Her face was full of vigilance and defense, and deep in her eyes were fear and fear.
Show off your power.
He understood that this person was trying to give him a blow, trying to make him fearful and fearful, but his goal was successfully achieved. Now Zheng Cai felt that he had become a transparent person with no secrets in front of this mysterious big man.
After telling all about Zheng Cai’s family background, personal experiences, and personality traits, this mysterious man introduced himself: “My surname is Zhang, and my name is Zhang Guoyan. As for what I do, you should have guessed it.
The purpose of calling you here is not to press for the ransom of 10,000 taels, but the village owner told me that the value you can bring to Xujiazhuang may be more than 10,000 taels of gold. I wonder what you think?"
Hear this.
How could Zheng Cai not hear the implication? Xujiazhuang seemed to want to recruit him, which made him half happy and half resisted. What he was happy about was that he could be valued by a powerful force like Xujiazhuang, which was undoubtedly a worthwhile thing.
The good thing is that he can't betray the Zheng Group.
He cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your favor, sir. However, my parents, wife, friends, and clan members are all in Fujian. It is impossible for me to seek refuge in Xujiazhuang, become enemies of the Zheng family, and put my parents and relatives in danger. I would rather die than do something impossible."
Loyal, unfilial, and unjust person!" He expressed his position generously and calmly.
"Hahaha!"
Zhang Guoyan laughed and said: "I like your backbone. If you are a capricious villain who is greedy for life and afraid of death, I will have no interest in recruiting you. You have passed this first level."
"Sir, I said I would not betray the Zheng family."
Zheng Cai frowned, couldn't Mr. Zhang understand what he said.
"I'm not asking you to betray the Zheng family, but I hope that there will be a smart, knowledgeable person who understands the general trend and will lead the Zheng family navy in the right direction. Stop destroying yourself and becoming the enemy of Xujiazhuang. On the contrary, we must establish a stable
Cooperation to jointly develop maritime interests and bring more wealth and resources to both parties, instead of causing internal friction and losing the sailors and ships that have been cultivated with great difficulty."
Zhang Guoyan revealed his true purpose, which was also the purpose of Xu Yuan, the owner of the village behind him.
The Fujian Zheng Group is actually nothing to worry about!
As long as Xujiazhuang invests more resources in the sea, the Zheng Group can be completely reduced to history in three or four years at most.
But this approach is unwise and will do more harm than good.
Because the navy is no better than the army, the construction period is obviously much longer.
A large ship takes at least a year to build.
A qualified and excellent sailor needs to be trained for at least three to five years. It is not just a matter of pulling a group of people from land to a ship.
Xujiazhuang's maritime strategy has been implemented in the past two years. The biggest achievement is the establishment of more than 100 fishing boats with only more than 2,000 qualified sailors. As for the navy, there is not even a shadow of it.
Even if we increase investment and vigorously develop maritime strategies from now on, if we want to have 3,000 large and small ships and more than 50,000 sailors, the same size as the Zheng Zhilong Zheng family fleet in Fujian, it will not be possible in more than five years.
!
Even if Xu Yuan frantically helps cheat, it won't be enough to shorten this cycle significantly.
However... if various means and methods can be adopted, the Zheng family fleet in Fujian can gradually be controlled by Xujiazhuang, and this ready-made maritime force can be swallowed up!
That was undoubtedly a shortcut, and he immediately had a powerful navy, which was much better than starting from scratch.
It's just that the Zheng family's fleet is so powerful, why should it be controlled by Xujiazhuang?
Zheng Zhilong's younger brother Zheng Zhihu died under the bastion of Manor No. 72 and was shot in the head. Such a blood feud was the reason why Zheng Zhilong went crazy for revenge. As for Zheng Cai, he was just a nephew and died.
He is dead. This blood feud must be avenged anyway. Xujiazhuang Harbor City and the Zheng family fleet will come to destroy it!
Zheng Cai fell silent and fell into deep thought.
He knew that with the strength of Xujiazhuang, as long as the Zheng Group established a cooperative relationship with it, it would definitely bring huge benefits, and the benefits would far outweigh the disadvantages.
And if he can get the secret support of Xujiazhuang and use it as external support, after he returns to the Zheng family fleet, he will first gather his old troops and then win over others, and at the same time cooperate with Xujiazhuang internally and externally. Over time, the position of commander of the Zheng family fleet may...
…
Thinking of this, the light in Zheng Cai's eyes flickered, and something called ambition grew in her heart. After all, as long as there is the possibility and opportunity to occupy a high position, who would want a man to live in depression for a long time?
My heart is moved.
At this moment, he was really moved by Zhang Guoyan's proposal, and it was like a small ignited flame. After touching the fuel of ambition, it burned out of control.
As for what supports the ambition in his chest, it is naturally the strength of Xujiazhuang, and everything he has seen with his own eyes in Xujiazhuang, he knows that this is an invincible force.
But he immediately said with a wry smile: "Master Zhang, it's not that I don't want to cooperate, but it's impossible to do it. First, Zheng Zhihu is the biological brother of Zheng Zhilong's mother. The relationship between the two is very good. It is impossible not to be brothers."
To take revenge, I just went back to Fujian. It would be good if I didn’t get punished for failing to protect the general. It’s impossible to persuade my uncle.”
"Secondly, after the last defeat, the Zheng family's firearms army was almost wiped out. I have no one under my command. There are not many old troops in Fujian. I can only control three or five small boats. The Zheng family's fleet has three thousand.
If I want to take full control of the ship, it is no more than a fantasy or a daydream. No matter how much Xujiazhuang supports me, I can't do it."
Zheng Cai gave two reasons to prove that even if he was willing to act as Xujiazhuang's secret chess, he would not be able to play a big role.
Because the ocean is vast and the waves are unpredictable, individuals are very powerless to face such an environment. Without a large number of sailors and large ships, all conspiracies and tricks will not work. This is a competition place that only focuses on hard power and hardware configuration.
"Who said it was empty?"
Zhang Guoyan said: "After the Zheng family's firearms army collapsed, we gathered more than 1,300 prisoners. These people were not placed in prisoner of war camps. They all went on fishing boats to help with fishing. Their lives now are much better than ordinary prisoners of war."
, and these people can be considered your old subordinates for the time being, and can be driven by you in the future."
"In addition, Xujiazhuang Shipyard's first new 5,000-ton steam cargo ship (1,000-ton class) will be launched in the next two days. We will take you to visit the ship. After viewing the ship, will you
If you are willing to cooperate with Xujiazhuang, please tell me."
I heard people and there was a boat!
Zheng Cai's eyes lit up, and she suddenly became extremely excited.