It was just that without an official position, Zhu Ying's fleet would face significant trouble, even if it wasn't obstructed at every turn.
He couldn't exactly bring up His Majesty the Emperor every time he encountered a problem, could he? That would be far too embarrassing for Zhu Ci.
The main issue was that Zhu Ying's background was not entirely clean, which brought about more corresponding troubles.
Zhu Ci simply gave him the rank of Admiral of the Fleet; this rank had no official grade and was considered a temporary appointment.
Since there was no rank, there was no salary, so it wouldn't waste the imperial treasury's funds.
It was just unexpected that the Admiral of the Fleet would actually engage in naval warfare, he did so with remarkable skill.
One had to realize that his fleet did not possess an especially large number of firearms.
Zhu Ci leaned back against the chair and said, "The ones attacking him might not necessarily be under Zheng Zhilong's command."
It was simply because the intensity of the attack was too low.
With the Zheng family fleet's style of dominating the seas, how could they possibly run away after just a tentative attack?
Besides, what use would it be for Zheng Zhilong to attack Zhu Ying?
How could he not know that most of the Great Ming's combat power was on land, its naval strength was practically non-existent?
Therefore, Zhu Ci judged that this sneak attack was very likely the work of the Prince of Tang, Zhu Yujian. As for why Zhu Yujian did this, or whether Zheng Zhilong knew about it, he was not particularly concerned.
The enemy is already at our doorstep; are we supposed to consider whether they have some kind of grievance?
Zhu Ci was no saint.
Fu also understood Zhu Ci's character very well, simply asked, "What does Your Majesty intend to do?"
Zhu Ci had clearly prepared his thoughts in advance and said, "Appoint Liu Zongmin as the General of the South, leading Tian Jianxiu and Liu Fangliang to reinforce Fuzhou Prefecture; appoint Yuan Zongdi as the General of the West, leading Li Chixin and Gao Bizheng to reinforce Guangxin Prefecture."
After hearing this, Fu understood that this was to split the forces to attack Zhu Yujian and Zhu Yihai.
The few people chosen by the Little Emperor were all former subordinates of Li Zicheng, among them, Liu Zongmin was even the most formidable general under Li Zicheng's command.
This order practically signaled that almost all of Li Zicheng's subordinates were being mobilized; as for those who were not.. he believed the Little Emperor surely had his own ideas.
He lowered his head, thought for a moment, said, "Your Majesty, Zhu Yihai's forces are weak; we can focus our attacks on them."
It just so happened that Zhu Yihai's territory still bordered Great Ming's current territory. Once it was taken, they would effectively have taken the entire Zhejiang, at that time, Yuan Zongdi and Liu Zongmin could be coordinated to attack Fujian.
Zhu Ci nodded, "I think so too."
To be honest, even if Zhu Yujian had suddenly gone mad, his territory was at least quite large, he had the support of the great sea merchant Zheng Zhilong; he had the money and the grain his subordinates required.
In the original book, if Zheng Zhilong had not ignored Zheng Chenggong's advice and insisted on betraying Zhu Yujian to surrender to the Qing, Zhu Yujian might not have suffered such a devastating defeat.
Of course, Zheng Zhilong himself didn't gain much from it either.
One could only say that this person's vision was truly poor.
But it was truly baffling that Zhu Yihai was right there cheering and shouting; just how many people do you have at your disposal, Zhu Yihai, that you dare to be so provocative?
Although Zhu Ci worried every day that his territory was small, his population was low, his resources were insufficient, that was only when compared to the Qing Army.
Compared to Zhu Yihai, the strength in his hands could take on ten Zhu Yihai without even breaking a sweat.
In this situation, if Zhu Yihai still dares to show his face, who else would he strike first if not you?
After reaching an agreement with the Emperor, Fu asked knowingly, "Does Your Majesty have any other plans?"
Zhu Ci rubbed the armrest of the dragon chair and first gave Fu a smile.
As soon as Fu Huaizhang saw that smile on his face, he had a bad premonition. Sure enough, he immediately saw the Little Emperor say quite bashfully, "I intend to personally lead the navy to □□."
Fu took a deep breath, repeatedly warning himself that the person before him was the Emperor and he could not beat him!
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Can you even catch me? Bleeeh~ *Cat quickly jumps onto the ceiling beam. jpg*
Next update at twelve noon~
Chapter 158
I must say, if Zhu Ci were not the Emperor but a junior member of the Fu Family, he would have been beaten by hand.
How could there be such a disobedient child!
Of course, if one thought about it carefully, this assumption also failed to hold up. After all, everyone in the Fu Family had been exiled by Fu himself; where would any juniors come from?
After steadying his mind, Fu asked quite politely, "Why does Your Majesty still intend to send troops to Taiwan?"
Zhu Ci also considered himself to know him; one look at his expression and he knew it was the calm before the storm.
He immediately gave Wu Xia a look, Wu Xia immediately had someone bring up a cup of herbal tea.
Mm, this was a recipe Zhu Ci had collected when he went to Guangdong, it would be perfect for helping Fu cool down.
Zhu Ci said, "No matter what Zheng Zhilong thinks, he can only follow the same path to the end with Zhu Yujian now. His main strength is at sea; they have been at peace until now, but he certainly will not sit idly by and wait for death next. Their land combat strength is inferior to Great Ming's, so they will surely try every possible way to plunder and strike Zhu Ying's fleet. I'm afraid your Fu Family fleet will not benefit from this either."
Fu was about to say something, but Zhu Ci raised his hand to stop him, saying, "In fact, a battle at sea is only a matter of time. As a pirate hub, controlling Taiwan means controlling the command of the seas along the southeastern coast. For the sake of Taiwan, you must have had no shortage of friction with him, right?"
Although the fleet in Fu's hands was massive, it would certainly have to pass by Taiwan during its travels; however, every time it passed Taiwan, it had to pay a hefty "toll," and he did not believe Fu would be willing to pay it.
If Zhu Ci was not mistaken, Fu and Zheng Zhilong must have had conflicts as well, but neither of the two could do anything to the other.
At that time, Zheng Zhilong already showed signs of operating outside the jurisdiction of the imperial court, while Fu was still subject to the control of the Hongguang court.
Moreover, Zheng Zhilong had already reigned supreme at sea for many years; it was already quite surprising that Fu Huaizhang could have managed to take a piece of the pie from him.
And as the contradictions between them and Zhu Yujian deepened, if Zheng Zhilong were not a fool, he would certainly find a way to prioritize eliminating this "money bag" of the Great Ming.
Even if the Great Ming no longer needed Fu's financial support, it wouldn't stop Zheng Zhilong from making such a judgment.
Even if he didn't need this money, could Fu just stand by and watch his business collapse?
Given Zhu Ci's personality, it was certainly better to take the initiative and strike rather than sit idly by and wait for death.
Fu clearly knew what he was thinking and said decisively, "I can suspend the fleet."
Zhu Ci was completely stunned: "Are you crazy?"
Fu thought about how much loss the Fu Family would suffer once the fleet came to a halt.
Trade would not stop; if he stopped, someone would naturally take over his share, which would be equivalent to Zheng Zhilong becoming the sole dominant power at sea.
Fu Huaizhang said seriously, "If this price can secure Zheng Zhilong's surrender, it might be worthwhile."
I do not agree!
Zhu Ci's attitude was extremely firm. Fearing his expression wasn't clear enough, he even leaned forward slightly, his eyes staring intently as he said word by word, "I.. do.. not.. agree!"
At this moment, Wu Xia, who was standing aside, no longer dared to speak; she had never seen the Emperor so angry, she looked toward Jiang Xueyan with a hint of fear.
Jiang Xueyan had already begun frantically gesturing toward Fu: Grand Secretary Fu, Grand Secretary Fu, apologize first, or else His Majesty will deal with you as well!
However, Fu continued to look at Zhu Ci with great seriousness and said, "Your Majesty, if Zheng Zhilong is willing to surrender, maritime supremacy will remain in the hands of Great Ming, Great Ming will suffer no losses."
Zhu Ci was almost moved to laughter by anger: "Fu Huaizhang, do you think you are very great? Since when did I not know that you actually possess such a spirit of self-sacrifice?"
Fu Huaizhang lowered his eyes and remained silent. Was he great? He was certainly not that great; saying everything was for the sake of Great Ming was all empty talk.
Essentially, he simply did not want Zhu Ci to go to sea.
He didn't even want to let the Little Emperor go to land warfare, so how could he agree to let him fight a naval battle?
Conditions at sea change in an instant; he didn't even dare to imagine what would happen if Zhu Ci encountered a storm? What if he encountered other extreme weather?
Even if none of those occur, what if some other accidents happen?
Even if you're at sea, it's difficult to perform even a simple rescue.
Fu's remark about stopping the fleet was indeed an expression born of impulse, but once the words were spoken, he became firm in his conviction.
Zhu Ci saw that he remained silent, so he pointed an index finger at him, said nothing, stood up to leave.
Jiang Xueyan looked at Fu Huaizhang with a hint of helplessness. Why couldn't he just lower his head?
There are not many people who can infuriate His Majesty to the point that he leaves without saying a single word. The last one was Huang Chunyao, can you not see what happened to him now?
Fu rose and followed behind Zhu Ci, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Has Your Majesty forgotten that Sun Tzu's Art of War states that the highest form of warfare is to strike the enemy's strategy, the next is to disrupt their alliances, the next is to attack their army, the lowest is to attack fortified cities.."
Zhu Ci suddenly stopped in his tracks, Fu stopped hurriedly behind him.
He turned to look at Fu, only to find that this man might have been in such a hurry to chase after him that he wasn't wearing a hat or sunglasses; in just these few steps of distance, the skin on Fu's face had already become slightly flushed from the sun.
Zhu Ci said irritably, "Why did you follow me out? Go back and think carefully about whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks or the drawbacks outweigh the benefits."
He had emphasized many times before not to spend too much time in the sun; in this era, there was no sunscreen, being exposed to too much sun made one prone to skin cancer.
Even in later generations, the number of albino patients who died of skin cancer was not small, let alone now.
Fu stood his ground and insisted, "If Your Majesty insists on fighting Zheng Zhilong, I will not change my mind."
Zhu Ci couldn't help but click his tongue.
If anyone else had spoken to him like this, he would have already started beating them up.
However, the one in front of him was Fu; he was worried that if he punched Fu, he would turn around and have to kneel before him to beg him not to die.
Zhu Ci had no choice but to have someone bring his hat and sunglasses. After watching him put them on, he gave a slight nod toward Jiang Xueyan and the others.
Jiang Xueyan and Wu Xia immediately took the hint and stood their ground, then followed from a distance, maintaining a distance that made it absolutely impossible to hear the voices of the two in front.
Even so, Zhu Ci continued walking while saying softly, "Regardless of whether you give up the maritime trade routes or not, I will never accept Zheng Zhilong's surrender."
After he finished speaking, he added another sentence: "If he dies, his son surrendering would be acceptable."
Zheng Chenggong was still more sensible than his father; of course, it couldn't be ruled out that Zheng Zhilong was so used to exercising his power at sea and had always been respected during the Longwu Era, so he felt that surrendering to the Qing Army might yield more benefits.
However, how could the Manchus possibly hand over such an important maritime trade route to you?
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong's ultimate end was not a good one.
Fu Huaizhang knew the moment he heard it that there might be something wrong with Zheng Zhilong, but he still asked cautiously, "No room for negotiation?"
Zhu Ci sneered, "He supported Zhu Yujian and then betrayed him; from beginning to end, he treated Zhu Yujian as nothing more than a tool. When the Tartars made their Southward Advance, he didn't even dare to deploy his troops. His grand ambitions have been worn away by the years."
Zheng Zhilong, who had crushed the Dutch fleet at Luolowan back then, was already old, even though he was only forty-one years old.
Fu remained silent, as Zhu Ci harbored deep hatred for those surrenderers who only served to increase the enemy's strength.