Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 225 Following the General, Creating a Great Cause Together!

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Upon learning of the Dutch invasion, Governor Zou Weilian went to Yuegang to command the Ming fleet, holding a rally there and appointing Zheng Zhilong as the vanguard. He personally crossed Haicheng to oversee the battle. On October 17th, the Ming army learned the location and size of the Dutch and pirate fleets and ordered all Ming naval forces in Fujian to attack. On the 18th, the Ming army engaged in a fierce battle with the Dutch-Liu allied forces off the coast of Tongshan, with both sides suffering losses.

Whether it was the attack on Zhongzuo Garrison or the numerous skirmishes, large and small, with the Dutch-Liu allied forces over the past two months, Zheng Zhilong suffered the heaviest losses. His lost men were both his subordinates and bandits; therefore, in addition to the official Ming Dynasty rewards, Zheng Zhilong personally used the Jianghu (江湖, the world of outlaws and bandits) edict. He used his private treasury to issue rewards to his men: two taels of silver for each participant, with an additional five taels if the battle dragged on. For each fire ship carrying 16 men, if a Dutch ship was burned, two hundred taels of silver would be given to the 16 men to divide; and fifty taels of silver would be given for each Dutch head.

At the time, a seventh-rank official in the imperial court received a monthly salary of only about five taels of silver, making this reward exceptionally high. The high reward, coupled with the anger fueled by a sense of chivalry among the common people, greatly boosted the morale of Zheng Zhilong's troops. While the Ming army actively prepared for war, the Dutch also dared not be negligent. They assembled all of Taiyuan's warships and requisitioned several armed merchant ships from Batavia that had come to Taiyuan to deliver goods, standing ready for battle. For a period afterward, both sides' large forces searched for each other, seeking opportunities to engage in combat.

At this critical juncture, a cargo ship carrying 300,000 taels of silver arrived in Bofu, bringing with it a message from Zheng Zhilong, "inviting" the Qiongzhou garrison to the north to assist in the decisive battle. To avoid the trouble of cross-provincial warfare, they also prepared an official document from the Fujian governor's office requesting the Guangdong governor's office to allocate the Qiongzhou garrison to assist in suppressing the "Red Hairs."

With both public and private reasons in place, Liu Ye did not wait for orders from the Guangdong governor's office. Instead, he ordered the Qiongzhou garrison, which had been ready for battle, to set off on a chosen date, thus acting first and reporting later.

He was very confident about this matter, and there would be almost no resistance from the Guangdong authorities: firstly, he had a close personal relationship with Governor Mu Tianyan; secondly, the suppression of the "Red Hairs" was an imperial edict issued by Emperor Chongzhen, so naturally no one would object.

As for the 300,000 taels of silver for the cannons, Liu Ye accepted it without hesitation. The majority of it was allocated to the shipyard and arsenal for the construction of 1,000-ton warships, the expansion of the production capacity of the Wuyi-class warships, and the casting of the corresponding naval cannons. These two locations were currently the most in need of money and the ones consuming the most resources within the entire Qiongzhou Camp system. Before the fleet departed, the temporary staff held its second meeting to formulate the operational plan for the trip.

All plans and deployments revolved around Liu Ye's strategic objectives. Liu Ye put forward clear requirements: First, in the naval battle, the Qiongzhou naval force could only be deployed as a reserve force, not as cannon fodder; second, a feint was used to attack while a covert maneuver was employed. If Zheng Zhilong gained the upper hand, another force would be sent to outflank the Dutch-Liu allied forces, seize the port of Zeelandia, and capture as many pirates and Dutch sailors as possible to expand the navy's strength. Conversely, if Zheng Zhilong was defeated, the force would march directly to Anping, capture members of the Zheng clan, and use them as leverage to coerce the remaining Zheng family forces into surrendering.