1644, Li Zicheng invaded the capital, and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in Jingshan Park, and the Ming Dynasty perished. Wu Sangui, the company commander of Shanhaiguan, surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and led the Qing army into the customs.

1645 In May, Prince Yu of the Qing Dynasty led many troops south, defeated Yangzhou and captured Nanjing. Shi Kefa, minister of the Ministry of War, and others were martyred. Hong Guang, the widow of the Ming Dynasty, was killed by the Qing army, and the regime of Hong Guang in Nanming was destroyed.

1645 In July, Zheng Chenggong's father, Zheng Zhilong, established Emperor Longwu in Fuzhou, which enabled the Nanming regime to continue.

The Nanming regime was in turmoil, the emperor was displaced from place to place, and half of the country was occupied by the Qing Dynasty. Most of the pillars of the imperial court either surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, such as Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui, or died in battle, such as Sun Chuanting and Shi Kefa, where the stars fell and talents withered.

What Emperor Longwu needs most now is talents loyal to Nanming. When he saw the son of the young hero Zheng Chenggong and the powerful minister Zheng Zhilong, he would naturally try his best to fight for it and use it for himself. When Zheng Zhilong saw all this, he knew it well and was willing to let his son get the appreciation of the emperor.

However, Zheng Zhilong was worried that his character was honest and frank, and his wet behind the ears son was used by the dragon emperor, because he knew very well that the ship Nanming was riddled with holes and would sink at any time. Zheng Zhilong can't let Zheng Jiatong be dragged into the water with him. He can only wait for an opportunity to find another way out.

Soon the opportunity will appear.

In February (AD 1646), the Qing army marched south, and the soldiers pointed directly at Zheng Zhilong's sphere of influence in Fujian. At the same time, the Qing Dynasty sent Hong Chengchou to woo Zheng Zhilong.

Hong Chengchou and Zheng Zhilong were fellow villagers in Fujian and senior generals in the Ming Dynasty. They served as ministers of the Ministry of War and governors of Hebei and Liaoning in Chongzhen Dynasty, and were the old superiors of Zheng Zhilong. Later, he was defeated and captured and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

Hong Chengchou came to Fuzhou with the imperial edict of the emperor shunzhi in Qing Dynasty, and had a close talk with Zheng Zhilong in Company commanders mansion for one night. The emperor shunzhi named Zheng Zhilong as the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, a government official in charge of the southeast coast. If Zheng Zhilong accepts Zhaofu, he needs to go to Beijing to give thanks.

In this situation, Zheng Zhilong seems to have returned to 18 years ago, the first year of Chongzhen (AD 1628). He accepted the appeal of the Ming Dynasty and changed from a pirate leader to a senior military general of the Ming Dynasty.

Zheng Zhilong wandered the Jianghu at the age of eighteen, wandering in Macau, Japan and the Philippines. After more than ten years of experience, he established a huge maritime armed smuggling group, controlled almost all of China's international maritime trade, and had close trade relations with Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries.

At that time, merchant ships trading in the southeast coast had to fly the flag of Zheng Group to get in and out. Every merchant ship has to pay a tax of 2,000 taels of gold to Zheng Group, and the annual income of this alone amounts to tens of millions of taels of silver.

With 400,000 troops and thousands of warships, Zheng Group was the most powerful naval force in China at that time. Zheng Zhilong dominated this unprecedented maritime empire and monopolized the maritime trade in the Far East, making it extremely rich.

The choice Zheng Zhilong has to make now is not only about him personally, but also about the fate of the whole Zheng family and the Nanming regime.

Late at night, it was raining heavily outside the window. In the flickering candlelight in Company commanders mansion, Hong Chengchou saw Zheng Zhilong's hesitation. He is older than Zheng Zhilong 1 1 year. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Guanhai rose and fell for decades. He said to Zheng Zhilong as his brother. In my humble opinion, there are three strategies for you to consider:

1. defend the southeast and stand on your own feet.

Abolish Emperor Longwu, take Fujian and Zhejiang as the foundation, open up air routes, hoard military supplies and pay, first defend the territory, develop power, and then stand on its own feet as king. But it's better than Li Zicheng, Zhang and other gangsters being beaten out of the water by the Qing army. My good brother worked hard in a corner, killing the king and usurping the throne at the wrong time, which was unpopular. This is the worst decision.

2. Against the Qing army, the larger the foe.

Defending the Nanming regime to the death and resisting the attack of the Qing army won the title of loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty. However, when the war broke out in Fujian, both sides were inevitably killed, and the Zheng family could not be saved. This is also an intermediate policy.

3. Rely on Emperor Qianlong and submit to the Qing Dynasty.

It's no exaggeration to hold Emperor Longwu hostage and surrender to the Qing Dynasty, take Emperor Nanming as the warlord, make a good brother the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and seal a town to Nanwang. Coastal people can also avoid war, and their merits are boundless. You are the first hero of the Qing Dynasty, which is the best policy.

Hong Chengchou's words are very reasonable, which makes it difficult for Zheng Zhilong to refute. But Zheng Zhilong is also an old fox who has lived in officialdom for decades. He knew there was one more important thing that Hong Chengchou didn't say. If Zheng Zhilong holds Emperor Wu of the Dragon hostage and submits to the Qing Dynasty, once the Qing Dynasty unifies the whole country, Zheng Zhilong will have no use value, and his hundreds of thousands of military forces will become a hidden danger to the court. Zheng Zhilong certainly understood that the rabbit died and the dog was boiled.

How should Zheng Zhilong choose?

Fight to the death with the Qing army, the family will be ruined, and the maritime business group established with lifelong efforts will also be lost.

Surrender to the Qing dynasty, but unwilling to hand over hundreds of thousands of horses and huge wealth.

After a night of deliberation, Zheng Zhilong finally came up with the countermeasures. In order to take this road well, he decided to stage a drama of a father-son break.

Zheng Chenggong was born in Hirado, Kyushu, Japan. His mother was a Japanese woman named Lany. It was not until he was seven years old that his father Zheng Zhilong took him back to Fujian from Japan. Born in such a big family of pirate warlords, he was educated by traditional Confucianism since childhood and liked reading Chunqiu Zuozhuan and Sun Tzu's Art of War.

He once said? Floating dust is about heroes in ancient times, not what you want to be in the world. Zheng Chenggong is brilliant, both civil and military. His tactics were influenced by his father, and his courage and perseverance were inherited by his mother.

Zheng Zhilong also spent a lot of time training this son as a successor to his career. Zheng Chenggong lived up to his father's expectations. He has always been the pride of his father and family.

But Zheng Zhilong knew that his son was strong-willed, but inflexible, and impulsive. He certainly won't agree with his father's choice to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and Zheng Zhilong just needs his son Zheng Chenggong's determination to resist the Qing army to complete the play.

The next day, a drama of a father-son break was officially staged.

Zheng Chenggong heard that his father was going to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. He went to his father's room and said to Zheng Zhilong. My son thinks that Fujian and Zhejiang are different from the north, and the terrain is easy to defend but difficult to attack, so the Qing cavalry has no advantage. As long as the sea lanes are wide open, food is sufficient, and military forces are trained, they can fight against the Qing army. ?

Zheng Zhilong had expected that his son would say such a thing. He pretended to be strict and said to his son, What do you know at a young age? Do you really have to work for the emperor? Because he gave you the name of your country? Now that Yangzhou and Nanjing have fallen, if Fuzhou falls again, where can we retreat? ?

Zheng Chenggong said tit for tat:? Father always tells his son to serve his country faithfully, and no father makes his son treason? .

Zheng Zhilong said with emphasis:? Senna, he who knows the times is a hero. Now the Qing army is in full swing, and the officers and men of the Ming Dynasty surrendered to the wind. Even your teacher's money surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. I also consider the overall situation. Let's not talk about this anymore. ?

Zheng Chenggong hurriedly knelt on the ground, holding his father's skirts and crying:

Father, the tiger can't get out of the mountain, and the fish can't get out of the deep. I hope my father will think twice. If anything happens to my father, only Dai Xiao will avenge you! ?

Zheng Zhilong didn't answer. He turned and left. Zheng Chenggong knelt at the door and watched his father's back slowly drown in the heavy rain with tears in his eyes. I didn't expect this to be the last time he saw his father.

This is the way out for Zheng Zhilong to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and go to Beijing as a hostage. Let his son continue to be loyal to Nanming and persist in the war of resistance in Fujian. As long as Zheng Chenggong persisted in resisting the Qing Dynasty in the southeast, Zheng Zhilong's life in Beijing would not be in danger, because the Qing Dynasty also wanted to use Zheng Zhilong to contain and surrender Zheng Chenggong.

If Zheng Zhilong was killed, then Zheng Chenggong put all his eggs in one basket and launched his hundreds of thousands of troops to the Northern Expedition, which was difficult for the Qing Dynasty to cope with. The Qing dynasty fought a big fight, hoping to attract the forces of the Zheng family at the least cost and unify the whole country.

In this way, a stable triangular relationship was formed between Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Chenggong and Qing Dynasty. Zheng Zhilong, a businessman, is proficient in this interest game. He turned himself into a traitor and his son into a loyal minister. At the same time, his son took over the power of the Zheng family and retained the capital of the game with the Qing Dynasty. Father loves mountains. Zheng Zhilong's move is far-sighted and well-intentioned.