Chapter 61: Mr. Qian

After being captured, Qian Taichong stayed in Lingao for more than two years. He came from a poor family. Although he had accumulated some money by being a tutor and a wandering advisor and had married and had children in his hometown, he had not even reached the level of a well-off family. Therefore, no one redeemed him after he was captured. Seeing that the officials and advisors in the camp were all being redeemed and returning to their hometowns one by one, while he could only stay in the prisoner of war camp and work every day, he was filled with resentment.

Chang Qingyun, who was captured with him, was used to a comfortable life and could not do the hard and tiring work in the prisoner of war camp. He “almost died.” Qian Taichong, because he had more contact with him on weekdays, and saw that he was a knowledgeable scholar, took care of him in many ways. He often helped him with the hard and tiring work. This made Chang Qingyun so grateful that he shed tears and repeatedly said that as soon as he was released, he would become his sworn brother and they would be close friends in the future.

Later, Chang Qingyun’s family redeemed him. Chang Qingyun swore that as soon as he returned, he would raise money to redeem him as well.

Qian Taichong waited eagerly in the prisoner of war camp for Chang Qingyun to redeem him.

Unexpectedly, Chang Qingyun went and never came back. In the end, he had to earn enough points by working to gain his freedom. By then, it was already the spring of 1632.

After gaining his freedom, Qian Taichong refused the offer of the civil affairs cadres in the prisoner of war camp to settle down and work locally, and decided to return to the mainland. In the past few years, he had seen too many things about the Australians on the construction sites of the prisoner of war camp, and he increasingly felt that the Australians would sooner or later be a great threat to the court. He had endured hardships in the short-hair thieves’ camp for several years, and it was time to go back and serve the court.

Qian Taichong took the small amount of travel money given to him by the prisoner of war camp and the little luggage he had left when he was a prisoner. He first took a public carriage from Lingao to Qiongzhou to find his former employer, Shi Bangyao, the Guangdong Left Political Commissioner and Hainan Dao Administrator.

After the great defeat at Chengmai, Shi Bangyao had been living in seclusion in the sub-prefectural yamen in Qiongshan County. He did not go to the yamen or receive guests every day. He “made himself a prisoner of Chu” as a form of “non-violent non-cooperation” with the Australians. He received this former advisor out of old friendship and said that he was now in an uncertain situation and could not employ him. However, Shi Bangyao had served as the prefect of Zhangzhou in Fujian and had dealings with Zheng Zhilong. He wrote a letter of recommendation for Qian Taichong and gave him twenty taels of silver, telling him to go to Fujian to seek refuge with Zheng Zhilong and at least make a living.

“The short-hair thieves have already gained momentum in Qiongzhou,” Shi Bangyao instructed him before he left. “It’s a pity that the court is now trapped by bandits and the Eastern captives and can’t take care of it, letting this beast grow. Sir, you have been trapped by the short-hair thieves for a long time and have now escaped from the cage. You will surely have a great future.”

With this encouragement in his heart, Qian Taichong went to Anping with a warm heart. Unexpectedly, Zheng Zhilong didn’t even see him. Zheng Zhilong was now a hot commodity, and all kinds of big shots recommended people to come and eat for free. Qian Taichong was just a scholar and had no fame. Zheng Zhilong already had forty or fifty advisors around him, so he recommended him to Zheng Zhipeng.

Zheng Zhipeng didn’t take Qian Taichong seriously either. He just made him an assistant clerk. The work was simple, and the salary was naturally not high. It was purely to give him a meal out of respect for Shi Bangyao.

Qian Taichong was not as surprised as others by the fall of the Zheng family this time. In his opinion, it was not surprising that the short-hair thieves, who had already gained momentum in Qiongzhou, could destroy a sea lord like Zheng Zhilong, who was a motley crew. Qian Taichong had been an advisor to Zheng Zhipeng for several months and had observed coldly. He knew that the Zheng clan was just a sea merchant group, and everything was for profit, with little political foresight. Compared to the short-hair thieves, they were like clouds and mud. Once they went to war with the short-hair thieves, defeat was inevitable.

This contrast, on the contrary, strengthened Qian Taichong’s determination to oppose the short-hair thieves. Like ordinary Chinese scholars, he had a great ambition to do great things. Under the old social system, it was difficult for a small, poor scholar like him to achieve anything. Now that the Zheng family had been severely damaged, and the family was divided, and the legitimate son, Zheng Sen, had no support, it was a great opportunity for him to step forward and turn the tide.

As long as he could help Zheng Sen to the position of the head of the Zheng family, and then slowly plan, Qian Taichong had the idea of ​​becoming the “Grand Tutor” of the Zheng family. Maybe he could create a new world in this southeastern sea!

The people gathered around the young master of the Zheng family now were all low-level figures of the Zheng clan. Matos and Tong Tailang were certainly loyal, but they knew little about the officialdom, and they were simple-minded and easy to use. It would be much more convenient for him to manipulate them.

At this time, seeing that the Japanese had already come to his door, he smiled mysteriously and took out the article that he had been thinking about over and over again in his stomach these days.

“Mr. Tong! It’s rare that you are so loyal,” Qian Taichong nodded repeatedly. “Your desire to support the young master to ascend the throne is commendable. But running around like this is completely useless.”

Although he had not been an advisor to Zheng Zhipeng for a long time, he had a clear understanding of the situation of the Zheng clan. Therefore, he was not surprised by the division of the Zheng clan’s generals after Zheng Zhilong’s death.

“…Young Master Sen is young, and the general was in his prime. He did not prepare a teacher and subordinates for him. So the only thing Young Master Zheng Sen has is the identity of the general’s legitimate son,” Qian Taichong said. “He has no power of his own, which is insignificant to the generals of the Zheng family, so no one cares about his identity as the legitimate son. Young Master Sen’s mother is Japanese, which is even more ‘not of our kind’ in the eyes of many generals, and he has no support from his mother’s family.”

“What should we do then?” Tong Tailang was a little anxious.

“Hehe, don’t worry. There is still one person who cares about Young Master Sen. It’s just that he doesn’t know about Young Master Sen’s predicament yet. Otherwise, I guarantee he will definitely give Young Master Sen his full support.”

“Who is it?!”

“Zou Weilian, the governor of Fujian.”

Tong Tailang had heard of Zou Weilian’s name. Not only had he heard of him, he had also accompanied Zheng Zhilong to see him. He knew that this person was the governor of the entire province of Fujian, a very powerful “daimyo.” But he knew that Zheng Zhilong and this Governor Zou had always been at odds and were not as harmonious as the former “Governor Xiong.”

“Governor Zou and the general have always been at odds…”

“Times have changed,” Qian Taichong felt it was a bit difficult to explain to a Japanese person. “Before, the master was alive. Now that the master is gone, and the Zheng family is in a state of chaos, he has other considerations.”

When Zheng Zhilong was alive, the Zheng family as a whole was a huge threat to him as the governor of Fujian. Now that Zheng Zhilong was gone, and the Zheng family was divided, although the threat was eliminated, the situation of heroes competing for supremacy was not what he wanted to see. A divided Zheng family would inevitably fall into infighting, and the coast of Fujian would be affected. The originally rough but stable situation on the southeastern coast would also deteriorate again, and then it would be difficult for Zou Weilian to explain to the court.

A large but weak Zheng family was the situation that Zou Weilian hoped to see. If he put himself in his shoes, as the governor of a province in Fujian, he would most want to see a Zheng clan that was unified on the surface but divided internally. In this way, the various forces within the group would all try to please and win over the government, and he, Zou Weilian, would have room to maneuver. It would be good for both the court and himself.

For Zou Weilian, it was not easy for him to win over other people in the Zheng family. The leaders of the Zheng clan all had their own power bases. If Zou Weilian wanted to win them over, he would have to pay a great price. Once he supported them, it was unknown whether they would become another Zheng Zhilong. It was far better to let a child with no desires ascend the throne than to let an adult with an insatiable greed succeed him.

Moreover, Qian Taichong thought with a cold smile, the Zheng family members who were now fighting for power in Zhangzhou Bay had not thought of it: Zheng Zhilong’s success today was greatly related to his official status. Zheng Sen was not only Zheng Zhilong’s legitimate son, but also the heir to Zheng Zhilong’s hereditary military post. Now, the young Zheng Sen was a court official, and the other generals of the Zheng family were just “commoners.”

Zou Weilian, in his capacity as the governor of Fujian, came forward to support the “succeeding” Zheng Sen. Not only did he have an official excuse, but from a private point of view, he was defending the legitimate rights and interests of “orphans and widows.” It was upright and aboveboard. It also gave Zou Weilian a legitimate excuse and opportunity to interfere with the Zheng clan.

Zou Weilian’s support for Zheng Sen cost him little, but his restraint on the Zheng clan was great.

With Zou Weilian’s intelligence, he should not have failed to think of this. Qian Taichong was very confident in his deduction. And he knew that the governor of Fujian had sent people to inquire about the whereabouts of Tagawa and Zheng Sen. Obviously, this governor still attached great importance to this mother and son.

Tong Tailang was deeply impressed by his analysis and immediately expressed his willingness to listen to “Mr. Qian” in everything, as long as he could help Fusang ascend to the position of the head of the family.

“Now we don’t have to be anxious,” Qian Taichong said with confidence, having already gone over the next step of the plan several times in his mind. “The people who have gathered in this county school and refuse to leave are all loyal subjects of the young master. We should not ignore them. The money, rice, and silver sent from various places should be distributed to them in the name of the young master.”

“But we don’t have much money and rice…”

“The general was as rich as a country when he was alive. Would his legitimate son care about this little thing?” Qian Taichong smiled slightly. “We need to win over the hearts of the people.”

“Your insight is brilliant, sir!”

“There are a few scholars outside who have some knowledge and can share weal and woe with the young master. We need to win them over and use them for the young master. Tonight, you send someone to quietly invite these people over.” Qian Taichong said, giving him a slip of paper.

There was not a single person with the surname Zheng on the slip of paper. Qian Taichong believed that it was not appropriate to let the Zheng clan members get involved at this time, lest someone try to use their bloodline to seize leadership. In this place of southern Fujian, the concepts of hometown friendship and clan were very strong. He was not only an outsider but also from another place, so he had to be even more careful.

After the matter was settled, he would then consider absorbing the members of the Zheng clan.

“I will do as you say, sir.”