Chapter 162: Trading with Pirates
But this time, Chongzhen waved his hand and directly allocated 200,000 taels of silver from the treasury to let Sun Chuanting go to Shaanxi to build a new army.

He even said generously that the soldiers should not be treated unfairly and that they should be polite if they didn't have money.

This made Sun Chuanting excited but also a little disgusted, because all this money was obtained by the damn Wei Zhongxian...

After Sun Chuanting left, Wang Chengen handed over Yuan Chonghuan's request to transfer Man Gui to take over as the general of Datong, and came forward to discuss the alliance with Ligdan Khan.

The memorial enumerated the benefits of having Man Gui intervene in the matter, and even mentioned that Man Gui himself had Mongolian ancestry and could get along well with the Tartars.

Chongzhen found it funny, but at the same time he also realized that Yuan Chonghuan did not have the demeanor of a great general as he had imagined. It seemed that he was still unwilling to reconcile with Man Gui!
Chongzhen sighed, and readily approved the decision. He immediately issued an order to dismiss Qu Jiazhen and replace him with Man Gui.

Since Yuan Chonghuan and Man Gui could not reconcile after all, insisting on keeping Man Gui in Liaodong would actually hinder border affairs.

After the imperial edict was issued, Wang Chengen came again to report: Zheng Zhilong, the new Fujian coastal defense guerrilla, had arrived in Beijing and was now seeking an audience outside the Meridian Gate.

Chongzhen was slightly surprised. He didn't expect Xiong Wencan to be so efficient. In just a few days, he had persuaded Zheng Zhilong to come to Beijing for an audience.

Chongzhen immediately asked Wang Chengen to bring the person in, and soon after.

Zheng Zhilong wore the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty and kowtowed to Chongzhen obediently. He showed no trace of the arrogance he had shown when facing Xiong Wencan.

"I, your humble servant, Zheng Zhilong, kowtow to Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

Because he had already learned from Wang An about this man's later actions and character, Chongzhen did not play any tricks of respecting the wise man and just said coldly, "Stand up."

Zheng Zhilong stood up upon hearing this, but did not dare to look up at the emperor's face. He just kept on telling about his difficulties, saying that he was not really a pirate and that it was all a misunderstanding by outsiders.

Chongzhen listened patiently, and then said something polite, "The past is over. Now that you have surrendered to the court, you should take it as your responsibility to serve the country."

Zheng Zhilong agreed immediately and even promised in a long-winded way that he would be loyal to the court until his death.

Chongzhen didn't have the patience to listen, so he interrupted directly, "Why did I summon you to the capital? I believe Xiong Wencan should have revealed something, right?"

Zheng Zhilong said carefully: "The governor just said that your majesty has a business to discuss with me."

After that, he began to express his loyalty, saying, "Your Majesty is the king, and Zhilong is just a subject. I should just ask your majesty for anything. How dare I talk about business? This is really embarrassing for me!"

Chongzhen watched Zheng Zhilong's performance coldly. He did not believe a word said by a man who ignored the advice of his own children and wanted to join a foreign race.

But he still had to do some superficial work, so he listened patiently. After Zheng Zhilong finished speaking, Chongzhen encouraged him casually for a few words before saying, "I heard that you often travel to various countries overseas and are quite familiar with the customs of various places?"

Zheng Zhilong immediately replied: "I dare not say that I know everything, but I have been traveling with my uncle to Malacca, the Taiwan Strait, Japan and other places since I was a child, doing some small business to make a living."

Chongzhen chuckled and said, "More than a thousand ships and tens of thousands of men, if it can be considered a small business, then I don't mind doing it." Zheng Zhilong tensed up when he heard that, fearing that Chongzhen would suddenly turn against him and kill someone.

After all, it was just as Chongzhen said, with more than a thousand ships and tens of thousands of subordinates. Although the East India Company had already been established at that time, there was no business of this scale in the Ming Dynasty.

If Zheng Zhilong can only be called a businessman, then all businessmen in the Ming Dynasty will die of shame.

Fortunately, the next moment Chongzhen said calmly: "It is your ability to accumulate such a large fortune. I like to use capable people the most. If they are incompetent, I will use them."

Zheng Zhilong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and didn't dare to say anything.

Chongzhen continued, "Xiong Wencan is not talking nonsense. I really want to talk to you about a business deal."

Seeing that Zheng Zhilong was about to say something polite again, Chongzhen interrupted him directly and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I will definitely give you as much benefit as you can do. The Ming Dynasty did not start by being stingy."

Zheng Zhilong was secretly complaining in his heart, I heard that Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was very stingy?
Chongzhen naturally didn't know what Zheng Zhilong was thinking, so he just continued to talk: "In recent years, my Ming Dynasty has suffered from floods in the south and drought in the north, and the production has greatly decreased, so I intend to reopen sea transportation and purchase rice, beans and grain from various countries overseas."

"I call it...transferring grain from the south to the north."

Zheng Zhilong did not dare to look up the whole time until Chongzhen said the words "Transfer grain from the South to the North". Then he raised his head in shock and looked at the legendary young emperor in front of him for the first time.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang has banned maritime trade through legislation such as the "Ming Code", "Imperial Ming Ancestor's Instructions", "Ming Hui Dian" and "Criminal Regulations". The only legal trade was tribute trade.

Although during the Longqing period, the imperial court established Yuegang in Zhangzhou, Fujian, allowing private merchants to travel to the East and West Oceans, Yuegang was the only port where maritime trade could be legally conducted, and the imperial court still implemented a maritime ban at the national level.

And what is Chongzhen saying now?
Zheng Zhilong was actually asked to travel across the ocean to purchase grain for the Ming Dynasty and transport it to all parts of the country by sea?

Am I crazy or is Chongzhen crazy?

By openly violating Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral system, was Chongzhen asking for trouble?
Did he think that the corrupt scholars in the court couldn't control him, so he came out to seek excitement or something?
Although the Ming Dynasty implemented a maritime ban, smuggling by private individuals through sea transportation was not a new thing, and all the dignitaries were well aware of it. However, Chongzhen, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, publicly recruited a pirate leader just to do maritime trade (buying food from abroad is of course also maritime trade). That was different. It was a blatant challenge to the ancestral teachings!
And they even use ships to transport it to all parts of the country. What's the difference between this and killing someone and then walking around the government office with the murder weapon?
Although you are the emperor, you can't go too far!

Zheng Zhilong’s first reaction was shock; his second reaction was that he had become rich; his third reaction was that if you’re going to die, don’t take me with you!

If the government and the public start to criticize him, Chongzhen could just revoke his decision and quit, but could Zheng Zhilong get away?

As the specific executor, he would definitely be criticized by everyone and might even become Chongzhen's scapegoat.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong's expression, Chongzhen naturally thought of Zheng Zhilong's thoughts and said with disdain, "The ministers said that you were a pirate leader and a big bandit who roamed overseas. Now it seems that the ministers deceived me."

"With your guts, you wouldn't even dare to earn money even if a large sum of money was given to you!"

(End of this chapter)