Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 581 Secret Order

When Meng Jun heard this, he burst out laughing. These people thought that territory could be purchased with money. If he agreed, his reputation in the future would be ruined.

Thinking of this, Meng Jun couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. The last time Louis came here, he wanted to bribe him with money so that he could join them in besieging the Zheng family. Now he came to him again and asked him to sell the Zheng family's Manila for a little money. Do these barbarians really want to ruin their reputation?

Therefore, Meng Jun said calmly: "Throughout the dynasties, there has never been a case of exchanging territory for vulgar goods. This matter cannot be discussed any more."

Louis was a little disappointed when he heard this. He knew that there was no room for negotiation, so he made a second-best request, hoping that Meng Jun could curb the Zheng family and stop them from coveting their city of Batavia.

Meng Jun laughed and said, "The Celestial Empire has always ruled the world with benevolence and justice, and its benevolence has spread far and wide. Today, the territory is vast and the nine provinces are all in submission. This is because the barbarians from all directions admire our great virtues and are willing to assimilate and voluntarily submit to us. The Celestial Empire has never bullied the weak or taken advantage of others. Zheng's affairs have their own rules, and you should not make any comments."

When Louis heard this, he felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. He had heard about all the bullshit about governing the world with benevolence. In the far north, these Oriental people were waging a small-scale war with the Romanov dynasty.

In the south, they controlled Myanmar. The Dutch trade in Myanmar was affected. There is definite news proving that the Qian Dynasty controlled Myanmar's military and politics. The current King of Myanmar is just a puppet. Even so, they still dare to call it benevolence!

So, Louis couldn't help but retort: "I heard that the Emperor's army is at war with the Romanov Kingdom's army. Is this also an act of mercy?"

Meng Jun nodded and said, "Of course it is so. Those Luosha people wantonly killed innocent people. It is against the will of heaven. Our dynasty responded to the requests of the Jurchen tribes and sent troops to help. This is a benevolent and righteous act. If the envoy does not believe it, there are letters from the Jurchen tribes asking for help stored in our palace library. If you still don't believe it, the envoy can go to the north in person and meet the tribal leaders who wrote the letters."

Meng Jun's retort made Louis speechless. After a while, Louis mentioned the matter of Burma again. Meng Jun's face had become much thicker now. He nodded seriously and said, "Our dynasty is the leader of all nations. The Burmese king, Mang Bai, killed his brother and established himself as the emperor. This is intolerable. Our dynasty sent troops to comfort the people and punish the criminals in accordance with the will of the people. These documents can be found in the palace library. If the envoy is interested, he can also take a look."

Louis had no interest in this. He came all the way here, and not only did he gain nothing, but his core purpose of restricting the Zheng family also failed.

After Louis left, the Ministry of Rites submitted a list of return gifts. After reading it, Meng Jun cut most of the large silks, gold and silver, and instead added Confucian classics and some Qian Dynasty clothing. However, in terms of value, it was not inferior to the tribute from the Western Barbarians.

As for the emperor's instructions, the officials of the Ministry of Rites secretly criticized him, saying that the emperor was too stingy and lost the grace of the Celestial Empire.

Shortly after Louis and others left Beijing, Chen Yonghua, a subordinate of Zheng Chenggong, also came to the capital. Zheng Chenggong sent him to investigate the court's attitude towards the barbarians.

As soon as Chen Yonghua entered the capital, he secretly gathered information about the foreigners entering the capital. It didn't take long. Chen Yonghua spent some money and learned from the vendors setting up stalls outside the palace that the foreigners looked unhappy when they left the palace.

Later, Chen Yonghua learned that the emperor had reduced the generous gifts from the Ministry of Rites. Upon hearing the news, Chen Yonghua felt relieved. The Zheng family was now afraid that the court would ask them to withdraw from Luzon. If so, the Zheng family would probably be in big trouble.

Because there are a lot of troubles in the Zheng family now, mainly because Zheng Zhilong is not dead and has returned to his hometown in Fujian, which has caused Zheng Chenggong a lot of trouble.

The relationship between the father and son is now extremely complicated. At the beginning, Zheng Chenggong urged Zheng Zhilong not to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but Zheng Zhilong did not believe him. As a result, he was abducted by Bolo to the north. If Zheng Chenggong had not saved the Zheng family's business, the Zheng family, which once dominated the sea, might have disappeared.

But from Zheng Zhilong's point of view, it was somewhat different. In his opinion, the Zheng family business was all earned by him, and he was deceived by the Qing court. But his own son could ask the Qing court to kill him so that he could take revenge. Therefore, there has always been a thorn in Zheng Zhilong's heart.

However, the current Zheng family is no longer under the control of Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Chenggong is the only prince in the Qian Dynasty, but Zheng Zhilong's titles of duke in the Ming Dynasty and marquis in the Qing Dynasty are not recognized by the Qian Dynasty.

Although Zheng Zhilong was very famous, he was now an awkward commoner. Zheng Chenggong naturally couldn't really do anything to his father, so he could only settle him in his hometown with good food and drink.

Zheng Zhilong is old now, but Ke Xin is not completely old yet. She has repeatedly tried to interfere in the internal affairs of the Zheng family, which Zheng Chenggong cannot tolerate. Therefore, the relationship between the father and son has been a little tense during this period. Chen Yonghua is afraid that there will be internal unrest and something will go wrong outside.

…………

The night was as dark as ink. The capital city, which was bustling and noisy during the day, had now fallen into silence. Only the occasional sound of the night watchman beating the watch could be heard from the streets and alleys, echoing in the silent night.

Chen Yonghua was sitting in the study room of his mansion, thinking by candlelight. Although he had roughly figured out that the barbarians should have returned in failure, Chen Yonghua could not be sure at this time. Therefore, he decided to seek an audience with important officials of the court in the next day or two to obtain some solid evidence.

At this moment, there was a slight knock on the door. Chen Yonghua became wary and asked calmly, "Who is it?"

"Mr. Chen, open the door!"

"Haha, you got the wrong person. My last name is not Chen."

"We, the Qingluan Guard, never recognize the wrong person!"

Chen Yonghua was shocked. He was of course familiar with the reputation of the Qingluan Guard. He sighed inwardly, then stood up and opened the door.

I saw a middle-aged man in casual clothes, with an upright posture. When he saw Chen Yonghua, he bowed slightly, a smile appeared on his face, and said kindly: "Mr. Chen, I am sorry to bother you so late at night. I really have something important to discuss with you. I hope you can move to Qingluan Guard."

Chen Yonghua's eyes narrowed when he heard this. The Qingluan Guards wanted to invite him? Would they torture him? And now he was afraid that he could not escape.

Meng Bian seemed to understand what Chen Yonghua was thinking. He laughed and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Chen. It's really an important matter. If not, why would I, Meng Bian, come here in person to invite you?"

Chen Yonghua was stunned. It turned out that the emperor's confidant came in person. This must be an extraordinary matter. Without thinking too much, he nodded slightly and went out with Meng Bian. The two of them got on the carriage together and traveled quickly under the protection of a team of Qingluan Guards. Soon they arrived at the Qingluan Guard Yamen.