Chapter 1249 The mastermind behind the scenes!

Nanyang Bar Harbor
As the sun sets, countless workers are loading and unloading goods at the port, and it is a busy scene everywhere. At the same time, a tall and dignified middle-aged man with a square face, dressed in luxurious clothes, and with an intimidating look, is standing on the city wall with his hands behind his back, looking out to the sea.

This person is none other than the guardian of Ba Port who has been active in Southeast Asia for decades, King of the Pure Sea Zhang Dapeng!
At this time, dozens of guards on the city wall were on guard to protect Zhang Dapeng's safety. After a cup of tea, a sturdy, dark-skinned middle-aged man appeared on the city wall in a hurry. Seeing Zhang Dapeng's back, he immediately quickened his speed and walked over.
Seeing this person appear, the guards on guard also made way for him to come to Zhang Dapeng, bowed and saluted:

"Tananchai greets His Majesty. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me for not welcoming you from afar!"

Zhang Dapeng waved his hand and said with a smile:

"I guess you manage this port well, Tanan!"

Facing Zhang Dapeng's praise, Tananchai did not dare to take credit for it and spoke very humbly:

"It all depends on the king's trust!"

After saying this, Tanan guessed that Zhang Dapeng seemed to be very interested in the management of the port, so he took the initiative to introduce it:

“Your Majesty, as of today this month, a total of 131 ships have docked at the port, including 29 large ships and 102 small ships. This is about a 20% decrease compared to the past two months…”

Seeing that Tananchai seemed to be about to start introducing himself endlessly, Zhang Dapeng interrupted him and said in a deep voice:

"I'm here for inspection today, not to listen to you talk about this!"

After hearing this, Tananchai was stunned for a moment, then his black eyes rolled and he seemed to realize what Zhang Dapeng was going to talk to him about next.

At the same time, Zhang Dapeng spoke again:

"What do you think about our negotiations with Da Zhou?"

Seeing that Zhang Dapeng had indeed mentioned this matter, Tanan's eyes flickered a little, but he finally said in a low voice:
"I have no opinion. It's all up to the king!"

After hearing this answer, Zhang Dapeng turned around, looked deeply at Tananchai who lowered his head, and said in a deep voice:
"Since I'm here, I want to hear what's really in your heart. Do you really not want to talk to me?"

Tananchai was also somewhat moved after hearing this. After hesitating for a moment, he raised his head and said sincerely:

"Ye Mingsheng has always been a despicable, shameless, sinister and cunning person. Accepting his offer of amnesty is undoubtedly courting disaster!"

"That Lu Jianchao wanted to negotiate with Ye Mingsheng, but the Fengwu Army suddenly launched a surprise attack without any moral principles, forcing Lu Jianchao to surrender!"

Zhang Dapeng was not surprised at all by Tananchai's words. He nodded slightly and said:
"If you have anything to say, just say it without missing a word!"

Upon hearing this, Tananchai said without hesitation:

“Ye Mingsheng has no sincerity at all. He wants us brothers to risk our lives to protect his Great Zhou’s merchant ships, but he is unwilling to give you even a kingship. He is only willing to give you a small Jinghai Marquis. He is unwilling to give you even a false title…”

"Although he is willing to let you be the governor of Nanyang in the Great Zhou, he wants to send people to the governor's office. This is clearly an attempt to throw sand in our team."

"The most important thing is the profits of the merchant ships. He is only willing to give us 10%. He is basically treating us like beggars!"

"We are collecting 30% of the protection fee now. If we follow his rules, do we have to give back the other 20%?"

"I heard that Ye Mingsheng and his men took Zhang Kaishan to visit their docks, factories, and troops. They are clearly trying to scare us, but we brothers are not the ones who can be frightened!"

"No matter how powerful their Fengwu Army is, it is only powerful on land. We are their ancestors on the sea!"

Zhang Dapeng couldn't help but sigh after listening to Tanancai's words. Tanancai's words basically expressed what was in his heart. He also felt that the Yijing court did not show much sincerity!

Seeing this, Tanan guessed what Zhang Dapeng was thinking. After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively said:

"Your Majesty, considering the current situation, I think we have a better solution than accepting the offer of the Great Zhou!"

Zhang Dapeng became interested and said:

"What can you do?"

"Your Majesty, there is an old saying in the Great Zhou Dynasty that goes, 'Turn hostility into friendship.' I think we can sit down and have a good talk with the Eight Zhe Clan to see if we can turn enemies into friends and work together to plunder the merchant ships of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

“Doesn’t Ye Mingsheng encourage overseas trade? Let’s let him have a taste of our power. By then, if this Ye still wants to maintain the overseas trade of the Great Zhou, let alone make you a king, even if Your Majesty wants to be the emperor of the Great Zhou, he will definitely agree…”

Listening to Tananchai's suggestion that he should negotiate peace with the Bazhe tribe, Zhang Dapeng couldn't help but narrow his eyes and looked at Tananchai with a scrutinizing gaze.

Sensing the change in Zhang Dapeng's expression, Tanancai also realized that he had spoken out of turn, and quickly tried to make amends:

"Your Majesty, this is just a small idea of ​​mine. Besides that, I think we can also buy firearms from some Western merchants!"

Zhang Dapeng nodded slightly and said calmly:
"Manage the port well! I'll come again in the future!" "Yes, sir! The port is always waiting for your arrival!"

After giving the order, Zhang Dapeng turned and left. Looking at Zhang Dapeng's leaving back, Tanan couldn't help but feel annoyed with himself. He knew that he was a little anxious to find him, and he shouldn't have proposed the idea of ​​peace talks with the Bazhe tribe so early.

After leaving the port, Zhang Dapeng got on the return carriage. Sitting in the carriage, Zhang Dapeng closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

He, Zhang Dapeng, and another big pirate group in Nanyang, the Black Dragon King Fang Zhi, became the two heroes of Nanyang. However, unlike Fang Zhi's family who had been pirates for generations, Zhang Dapeng became a pirate only halfway through his career.

The reason why he was able to develop so quickly even though he started late was that he relied on a lot of forces during his rise and united many small and medium-sized pirate gangs and some local ethnic groups.

So if Fang Zhi’s pirate gang is like a top-down vassal state, Fang Zhi has a strong control over this vassal state, and an order can be implemented from top to bottom.

Then Zhang Dapeng’s pirate team is more like an alliance. Although Zhang Dapeng is the leader of this alliance, he does not have such a strong control over the internal affairs························
Zhang Dapeng's team is mainly divided into two factions. One is the Zhou faction headed by Wang Jiancheng and Liu Zhongyi. The members of this faction are people who fled or migrated from the Great Zhou to Nanyang. The other faction is the Nanyang local faction headed by Tananchai, Yao Weichai, and Gong Panuo. The members of this faction are all native tribes in Nanyang.
Among the tens of thousands of pirates under Zhang Dapeng, Tu people account for the majority, about 70%, while Zhou people account for only 30%. Even though they are at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, a considerable number of Zhou people are ruthless characters who committed crimes in the Great Zhou and were forced to flee. They dare to think and act, and their combat effectiveness is very strong. Therefore, in Zhang Dapeng's team, the two sides are still maintaining a balance.

As for the negotiations with the Great Zhou, the attitudes of the Zhou faction and the Nanyang faction were clearly divided. Many people from the Zhou faction supported accepting the amnesty, so that they could be pardoned, become officials of the Great Zhou, and return home in glory.

The Nanyang faction, on the other hand, was very opposed to accepting the leadership of the Yijing court. They believed that Nanyang was their Nanyang and they were the masters of Nanyang, while these Zhou people were outsiders, so they firmly opposed being recruited.

In his heart, Zhang Dapeng was more inclined to accept the amnesty. However, as the leader of this alliance, Zhang Dapeng knew very well that whether to accept the amnesty from the Yijing court was not only a very sensitive issue, but also might be related to their internal unity. Therefore, Zhang Dapeng never made a clear statement and always maintained an ambiguous attitude...
Just three days ago, Zhang Kaishan sent back to Nanyang a phased result of the negotiations. After learning about the price offered by the Yijing court, the reactions of people within Zhang Dapeng were different. Wang Jiancheng and Liu Zhongyi, representatives of the Zhou faction, believed that although the sincerity of the Yijing court was not enough, the two sides could continue to negotiate.

However, Yao Weichai and Gong Pano of the Nanyang faction believed that the Yijing court had no sincerity in negotiations and that the negotiations should be ended immediately and no further contact should be made with the Yijing court.

Although Zhang Dapeng himself was also very angry that Ye Mingsheng was only willing to let him serve as Marquis of Jinghai, and felt that Ye Mingsheng looked down on him, he was also attracted by Ye Mingsheng's idea of ​​agreeing to let him serve as Governor-General of Nanyang, building a firearms factory in Bagang, supporting firearms and sending Fengwu Army instructors!

Zhang Dapeng believes that if Ye Mingsheng's measures can be implemented, the combat effectiveness of the pirate team under his command will be greatly improved, which is very attractive to Zhang Dapeng!

Zhang Dapeng's old nest, Ba Port, is close to the golden waterway of Southeast Asia. Thousands of merchant ships pass through here every year, generating economic benefits of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. It is precisely because of occupying this Feng Shui treasure land that Zhang Dapeng is able to maintain internal balance.

It is also because the geographical location of Ba Harbor is very important. Occupying it can bring good food and drink, so the nearby Bazhe tribe has always been very envious of Ba Harbor, especially the current leader of the Bazhe tribe, Manzano. He even publicly declared that if he does not lead the Bazhe tribe to capture Ba Harbor in this lifetime, he will die with his eyes open and his soul will not be able to ascend to heaven!
Recently, Manzano has been mixed up with a group of Westerners and got a lot of firearms from them, so he is ready to make a move. Zhang Dapeng has received news that the Bazhe tribe is likely to launch an attack on Ba Harbor in late autumn and early winter, so Zhang Dapeng has a sense of crisis in his heart at this time.

Bagang is the foundation of his existence in Nanyang. In Zhang Dapeng’s heart, it is more important than his own eyes. Therefore, in order to resist the attack of the Eight Zhe tribe, improving the combat effectiveness of his side is the top priority in Zhang Dapeng’s mind. To this end, making some compromises in other aspects may be acceptable...

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Lin'an, Plum Blossom House

"General, there was a riot in Huainan, and Gao Zhenji was seriously injured!"

Ye Mingsheng, who was reviewing the memorial from Yi Jing in the study, heard the news from Song Haibo. He immediately stopped writing and looked up at Song Haibo and asked in a deep voice:
"This is how the same thing?"

"Marshal, the news that you issued an arrest warrant for Gao Zhenji leaked out. Ma Jingui made a desperate attempt and ordered his men to start a riot in Huainan in an attempt to kill Gao Zhenji. After the Coordination Office received the news, they went to rescue Gao Zhenji, but it was too late. Gao Zhenji had already been stabbed three times and was unconscious!"

"After the Coordination Office obtained the arrest warrant, they successfully captured Ma Jingui, but failed to control the riot. Currently, the garrison has controlled the situation in Shouchun City, but the riot is spreading to other cities in Huainan!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but sigh. He knew that Ma Jingui, the local tyrant, was not so easy to deal with. Gao Zhenji was too anxious and too confident!

Although Song Haibo used the Spring and Autumn style of writing to gloss over the incident, Ye Mingsheng knew very well that these thugs would loot everywhere, and the poor people of Huainan would face another disaster...

"Let the local garrison militia take action as soon as possible. We must control the riot as quickly as possible, and then return the seized property to the people!"

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's instructions, Song Haibo nodded seriously and said:
"Yes! Marshal!"

"Is Zhu Chen not here yet?"

"I will go and urge them right away!"

"Ok!"

An incense stick later, the current Jiangnan Governor Zhu Chen, accompanied by Song Haibo, walked into Ye Mingsheng's study. Seeing Zhu Chen's respectful and humble face, Ye Mingsheng looked at him with interest and said;
"Can you tell me when you started doing this?"

Zhu Chen was stunned when he heard this and then asked Ye Mingsheng:
"What are you talking about, sir?"

Facing Zhu Chen's question, Ye Mingsheng smiled and shook his head and said:

"Zhu Chen, I must admit that I made a mistake with you. I underestimated you and almost let you get away with it, but unfortunately, the law is long and nothing can escape it!"

When Ye Mingsheng said this, Zhu Chen's eyes flickered a little, but he still said calmly:
"I really don't understand what you are saying, sir. I have always been loyal to you, Marshal. I hope you can understand!"

After saying that, Zhu Chen knelt on the ground. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng admired Zhu Chen's psychological quality. The next second, Ye Mingsheng threw a file on the ground and said:

“Since you won’t give up until you reach the Yellow River, then take a look at this…”

(End of this chapter)