Zheng Zhilong walked towards the militia camp, and the guard captain followed him. The guards automatically formed two lines and prepared to follow Zheng Zhilong out.
Zheng Zhilong suddenly turned around: "You all stay here, Xiao Linzi, you go and pass the order: all the garrison regiment has been lifted from the first level of combat readiness, and officers and soldiers are not allowed to leave the camp."
He took Captain Li alone to the militia camp.
The militia camp has quieted down. Although there are still flashes of people, the heavily armed Chinese militiamen have gathered in their tents according to their original arrangements under the command of their respective leaders. The personnel of the Malacca Garrison Military Supervision Department, who were originally responsible for supervising the militia military discipline, have now At that time, they were all replaced by newly arrived members of the Navy Supervision Department. Behind the militiamen standing guard, there were one or two members of the Supervision Department wearing red belts.
Zheng Zhilong felt that beneath the surface calm, there was a strange tense atmosphere permeating the militia camp.
The supervisory officer of the garrison regiment came to greet Zheng Zhilong and introduced him to an unknown military judge from the headquarters, a major.
Zheng Zhilong discovered that the supervisory officers and marines he saw along the way seemed to be from Taiwan and were directly under the leadership of the President of the Chinese Army, and were not the Taiwanese fleet supervisory officers of Mai Dahai.
The major military judge looked like a man of few words. He simply saluted Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Zhilong and said: "I am acting under the king's orders and did not inform you in advance. Please forgive me," and then did not wait for Zheng Zhilong to say anything. , turned around and led Zheng Zhilong and his guard captain forward, bypassing the Anping Pioneer Regiment camp that was fighting the fire, and arrived at the Kelantan River Beach.
Along the Kelantan River, large torches made the river beach brightly lit. Large glass was used on the camp gate tower to reflect the light of the torches. The primitive searchlights even illuminated the shrubs and thatch along the river.
Nearly 150 people dressed as militiamen abandoned their helmets and armor, and most of them knelt on the river beach dejectedly with their heads in their hands. They were surrounded by sailors and marines in blue uniforms and hats, and they all had their flintlocks with bayonets and bullets loaded. They fired their muskets at the militiamen kneeling in the middle. Some of the unconvinced militiamen straightened their backs and raised their heads and cursed: "Straight-ass pirate marines, we have been besieged for 5 months, you go to Java and be happy." , and now we are having a good time, but you and others are coming to deal with our own people..."
A second lieutenant of the Marine Corps carrying a copper garden bean on his shoulder stepped forward and interrupted the desperate pirate militia with a flying kick. There was a Marine next to him who was also from Quanzhou and persuaded him in Hokkien with a Quanzhou accent. Said: "Just say a few words. You pawns will be fine. We are here under orders. If you didn't resist just now, we wouldn't shoot. We are here to arrest others."
"Who are you talking about?" (Who is the person you are talking about?) When the bold militiaman heard the familiar local accent, his eyes lit up and he quickly asked in authentic Quanzhou dialect.
The second lieutenant of the Marine Corps shouted loudly: "You are not allowed to speak, dear Zhang family. It is a rule to speak in official language in the army."
Zheng Zhilong approached the crowd and asked loudly: "Are the Huang family members of Anping here? Are there any folks from Anping here?"
There was a commotion among the militiamen kneeling there, and someone shouted: "You are from Anping..."
"It's Brother Yiguan, Lord Zheng Shoubei. Help, we are not rebelling,"
"Lieutenant Colonel Zheng must help. We killed people and burned houses just under orders..."
Zheng Zhilong felt a little embarrassed and immediately shouted loudly: "Shut up, everyone. The old camp at the headquarters directly under the ship owner is working now. I have to obey the order. This matter probably has nothing to do with you. Don't do anything anymore. Just stay there." Don’t move,”
The Marines stepped out of the way, and Mai Dahai appeared, followed by Lieutenant Colonel Yu Hua, the military judge at the Supervisory Army Headquarters.
Zheng Zhilong quickly stepped forward to salute. Mai Dahai raised his hand to signal him to stop talking. He turned around and ordered the Marine Corps: "Let these Tangshan fellows go and put them under guard in one place. They are all pawns and this matter has nothing to do with them. "
Mai Dahai used to be the commander of the navy. Although he has been demoted now, he is still the deputy commander. As soon as he gave his order, the Marines immediately executed it. Zheng Zhilong stepped forward and handed over his hand: "Commander Mai, thank you..."
Mai Dahai waved his hand: "Don't talk about these empty words now. Come with me." He then said to the military judge Yu Hua behind him: "This officer and I will have a few private words to express ourselves. Lieutenant Colonel Yu, look……"
Yu Hua's eyes flashed, he looked at Zheng Zhilong, who was acting obediently at the moment, and said with a smile: "Brother Mai, please," then he saluted and walked aside, constantly looking at Zheng Zhilong with keen eyes.
Mai Dahai led Zheng Zhilong to a secluded place by the river. He turned around and looked at Zheng Zhilong: "The Chinese Army is very smart and powerful. My brother, you have probably guessed what the Supervisory Military Department is doing all the way here this time. "
"Did something happen to the Han family and my uncle? However, the war with Siam is coming, so this shouldn't be done now..." Zheng Zhilong straightened up, his eyes showing a hint of melancholy under the distant light, his figure was slimmer. Min Mai Dahai is much taller, but at this moment in front of Mai Dahai, he looks like a wronged little brother.
"You still want to go to war with Siam," Mai Dahai asked in a gentle tone.
"The Siamese army has moved south and has merged with the rest of Pattani. If our army wants to completely quell the war in the Malay Peninsula, it must fight the Siamese Kingdom."
Mai Dahai snorted: "Humph, you don't seem to care about what happened to your uncle. Do you know what he did?"
Zheng Zhilong nodded honestly: "In the letter my father gave me, he mentioned that my uncle's accounts were unclear and he embezzled the money he handled. If there are other matters, I don't know. Why didn't he report it to the ship owner? That's really A son does not tell his father's faults, but the elders' faults, we and the younger generation can only admonish. I am not in my hometown all year round, so I can't do anything about this matter. Now, how is my uncle?"
"That's all you know. The Han family was involved in the imperial court's purchase of cannons for the new army. The whole family has been placed under house arrest in Taiwan. As for your uncle, don't worry, Director Huang is still the company's major shareholder and he is still in Anping." Mai Dahai He nodded, reached out and took out a letter from his arms, and handed it to Zheng Zhilong: "This is a personal letter from the ship owner to you. He also gave me a copy of the letter, asking me to inform your uncle in private that something is wrong, and then..." Mai Dahai There was a smile on his dark face, but Zheng Zhilong didn't see it clearly and asked nervously: "What did the king say?"
"He wrote to me and told me: If you immediately intercede for your uncle, I will ask you to immediately hand over your post as the general manager of the Nanyang March Road, and then return to Malacca to defend the city. I will direct the war here. If you don't care, ask to continue If you want to fight, then things will remain as before. You will still have full command of the war here, including my fleet."
Zheng Zhilong let out a long sigh, raised his hands and bowed to the east: "You cannot abandon public service for personal reasons. Disciples dare not forget the teachings of the Shipowner King." He hesitated for a moment, and humbly asked: "Brother Mai, you are close to the Shipowner King, can you do it for me?" I would like to ask him to be accommodating to my uncle. When he is old, let him go back to his hometown in Anping and live in peace."
Mai Dahai looked at Zheng Zhilong for a while, but didn't see anything suspicious. He sneered and asked: "You really don't know what else Director Huang has done. Look at it, you really don't know. A servant of Brother Huang Liaise with the government and arrange the purchase of cannons for Fujian Commander-in-Chief Shen Yourong..."
Zheng Zhilong's face turned pale, but under the flickering torch light in the distance, others could not see his face clearly, "This, this, this is true,"
"The servant of the Huang family has confessed his crime to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Military Supervision. Shen Yourong has even paid him a sum of money...Okay, now do you still want to intercede for your uncle?"
Zheng Zhilong sighed: "Now I only think about how to defeat the Siamese army."
Mai Dahai nodded and reached out again to take out a letter: "This is the letter your father brought to you yesterday from the Military Supervision Department."
Zheng Zhilong returned to the camp and opened the two letters in his hands by the light from the watchtower. Looking quickly, Mai Dahai approached Yu Hua, who was gathering the military judge overseeing the military department, and nodded to him.
Yu Hua also nodded and smiled: "This is the best, I thought there would be trouble." He intentionally or unintentionally looked at several patrol boats on the river, and the dozen special battalion soldiers completed the task of seizing the door. Finally, we have returned to the ship and are on standby.
Mai Dahai smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, when I saw Zheng Yiguan coming with only one guard, I knew that this matter had nothing to do with him."
Yu Hua disagreed in his heart, but he still nodded respectfully when facing Mai Dahai: "Commander Mai knows people well and I am convinced, so what should these militiamen do?"
"Let Zheng Yiguan handle it," Mai Dahai said.
…
In the letter written to him by Zheng Zhilong's father, he told him to obey the orders of the shipowner King. The hope for the prosperity of the Zheng family and the prosperity of the family business rested entirely on the two brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhihu. Therefore, they must follow Yin Feng wholeheartedly.
This was the first time he received a handwritten letter from Yin Feng. Not many people in the Chinese army could receive such treatment. The reason was that Yin Feng felt that his handwriting was poor, so except for writing love letters to Li Lihua, he rarely wrote to Li Lihua. A person writes a letter in his own hand.
Fortunately, Zheng Zhilong himself didn't like reading when he was a child, and he didn't need to practice calligraphy when he was in the Chinese Military Academy, so his own writing skills were also terrible. Therefore, when he saw Yin Feng's handwritten calligraphy, he felt a sense of intimacy.
Yin Feng wrote this letter in vernacular, explaining the events involved in Huang Zhi one by one, and asked him as a division commander, Zheng Zhilong, on behalf of the Zheng family in Anping, to persuade Huang Zhi to withdraw from the board of directors of China United Company. Transferring part of the shares to the Zheng family will ensure that his family will have a worry-free life in the future and the business will continue as usual.
This is actually an attempt to win over the hearts of the Zheng family, and at the same time let the Zheng family act as evildoers. Zheng Zhilong smiled bitterly, thinking that with Yin Feng's usual style, he rarely used this method, this must be the idea of the counselors around the ship owner. , After all, the Shipowner King is already the overlord of a party and has the qualifications to conquer the world. He will no longer tolerate any of his subordinates to continue to be half-hearted.
At dawn the next day, the remnants of the Anping Pioneer Regiment and the remnants of the revoked Quanzhou Pioneer Regiment's Third Sentinel were merged, leaving a total of more than 160 people. Some of the original militia leaders had been killed, and some were The Han family or the Huang family, regardless of whether they were involved in the case or not, were all arrested by the Ministry of Supervision and Military Supervision.
While preparing to fight the Kingdom of Siam, Zheng Zhilong took this pioneering group without a backstage boss under his father's name, supported it with the Zheng family's assets, and invited several retired Chinese Army veterans to be leaders through the garrison. ,