"This is our last chance. You must be careful. If we fail to succeed this time, it means that all our previous efforts have been wasted!"
Shanghai is a city that never sleeps, with lights everywhere. Ever since electricity was brought here, the city has almost entered a state of perpetual daylight.
Looking at the pearl-like street lamp in front of him, Zheng Sen pursed his slightly thin lips tightly.
Under a huge parasol on the beach, there was a round table. More than ten of them were sitting around the round table. Most of these people were the subordinates that Zheng Sen had gathered over the years, and some were former people who had contacted him after a long period of testing. Ming Yi Lao.
Around them, there were people staying far away at a few scattered tables. Their role was to monitor the surroundings and not let anyone rely on them. Zheng Sen was worried that the wall had ears, so he chose the place for the secret meeting on the beach in Shanghai next to the Shenjiang River. Shanghai has developed rapidly in recent years, and its nightlife has become richer. This beach has also been opened up, and lights are turned on at night and a pergola is erected for people to enjoy the night view of Shanghai.
¡°Thirteen years
Zheng Sen has been away from China for thirteen years. After he and Yu Guozhen rescued Chongzhen, they went to the Japanese country. Using the Japanese country as a base, they recruited Zheng's old tribe and the frustrated warriors of the Japanese country to form a team. Then he started a new adventure. Taking advantage of Yu Guozhen's war with the Dutch and Spanish and the interruption of East-West trade, he began armed smuggling to the Americas. He even seized a port in the narrow territory of China and the United States and built the city of Yanping. .
As long as he did not return to China, Yu Guozhen turned a blind eye to his development in the Americas, and in exchange for some resources that China needed, Yu Guozhen still condoned his smuggling behavior to a certain extent.
At that time, Zheng Sen also thought that he would forget his father-killing feud with Yu Guozhen, go away to a foreign country, and become a figure similar to a bearded guest.
But the news that Yu Guozhen proclaimed himself emperor for Ming Dynasty reached Yanping City. At this time, Zheng Sen suddenly felt a fire in his heart.
How dare Yu Guozhen do such a thing!
At that time, Zheng Sen secretly swore that one day he would march west and revive the Ming Dynasty. He even imitated the Japanese Shikakasuke in the mountains and swore an oath to endure all kinds of hardships.
For this reason, he has endured it in Yanping Port to this day.
¡°I want to know who our self-target is, why is it not Yu Guozhen himself?¡± a voice rang.
"Originally, we came here to target Yu Guozhen himself. We were thinkingYu Guozhen was planning to usurp the throne. He has been monopolizing power in recent years and has lost his heart as a scholar. As long as he is removed, the people of the world will naturally return to the Ming Dynasty. But these days After wandering around, we found that this was impossible, the people's hearts were already attached to them, and Yu Guozhen's methods were really great. In just eight years, he had stabilized the hearts of the world"
The person next to him sighed and said, this person is Feng Chengshi, who was Zhu Yousong's successor. He has been unhappy since then, and finally chose to join his fellow villager Zheng Sen. He has an alert temperament and has been one of Zheng Sen's main advisers in recent years.
Zheng Sen nodded slightly and returned to China for the first time in eight years. He found that China was no longer the same as before. The world was completely new. Moreover, Yu Guozhen's propaganda work was extremely thorough. Even if the people were still living a hard life, I have never complained about the new dynasty - I can't blame it. After all, except for the corvee work that is beneficial to everyone, such as building roads and embankments, the Chinese dynasty completely exempted the people from land tax. This alone made farmers all over the world return. .
The people of China really don¡¯t have high demands. The imperial court no longer pays taxes. Even if they do corvee service, they still do it in their own hometown. The government still has to pay for food. Who would start a rebellion under such circumstances? Previous dynasty? That Ming Dynasty where taxes were levied decades later? It's long overdue!
After all, China is an agricultural country. Even if Yu Guozhen vigorously promotes industrialization, in the past ten years, only about 15% of China's population has become a purely industrial population. Yu Guozhen's plan is to increase the industrial population by 1% every year, so that in thirty years, China will completely complete industrialization. But at least for now, as long as the farmers are still stable, the world will be peaceful, and Yu Guozhen will have sufficient sources of troops.
When Feng Chengshi said this, he sighed with some emotion, and then continued: "Furthermore, Yu Guozhen values ????the system the most. The political operation and national management of the Hua Xia Dynasty have already formed a system. Even if Yu Guozhen died, in a short time No one in the country dares to challenge this system, and even if someone other than Yu is changed to sit in the world, it will still not change. If there is anyone in this world who can bring about the collapse of the Chinese dynasty system, there is no doubt that it is Yu Guozhen himself!"
After saying this, someone laughed: "Yu Guozhen built this system by himself, how could he collapse it by himself?"
"Exactly, exactly!"
"Quiet!" Feng Chengshi snorted, and everyone fell silent. He continued: "Under normal circumstances, Yu Guozhen would not be like this.But what about abnormal circumstances? Did you read the newspaper from yesterday? "
"What?"
"Ma Shiying and Huang Zongxi returned from Europe. China organized an anti-British alliance in Europe and has reached an agreement to dismember Britain." Feng Chengshi said this and sneered: "Thanks to Yu Guozhen, now we are very jealous of the European countries. Familiar!¡±
In addition to general news, newspapers reported conditions reached by China and France, Spain, Portugal, and Sweden. After dismembering England, China exchanged Ireland for the Portuguese port of Ceuta, and built a military port in this northernmost port in Africa at the exit of the Mediterranean Sea, so that the Chinese West Sea Fleet would not have to anchor in Lisbon. At the same time, England, under the future Lord Protector, ceded Oxford, west of London, to China as compensation for destroying the Confucius Academy and killing Chinese scholars. At the same time, Chinese warships had the right of free passage of the Thawes River, and there were no forts in London. Maritime security is protected by the Chinese West Sea Fleet and the Royal Fleet of England.
"So what does this news mean? It just increases Yu Guozhen's reputation." Someone sighed: "Yu Guozhen expanded his territory and gained a greater reputation. It is even more impossible to shake his rule"
"At the beginning, some people intended to place their hopes on the next generation. Now Yu Guozhen has confirmed that his son Yu Xiang is the prince. In two days, it will be the time of Yu Xiang's wedding. When Yu Xiang has another heir, the three generations of inheritance will become ¡¡±
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? together off the ground and the crowd started to talk, Feng Chengshi raised his eyebrows slightly, patted the table lightly: "Everyone, listen to me!"
It only then occurred to everyone that they were not here to praise Yu Guozhen, but to learn how to deal with Yu Guozhen.
"Yu Guozhen has high hopes for Yu Xiang and has always trained Yu Xiang according to his successor. Everyone knows that Yu Xiang stayed in the army for four full years. Due to his military exploits against the Rakshasa people, he was promoted to the position of regimental commander. Then he retired and entered the Jinzhou Shipyard, where he served as an assistant for three years, and then transferred to the Qingdao Kou Municipal Administration, where he served as the Planning Secretary of the Municipal Administration. After serving for three years, he was now transferred to Zhejiang Province and served as Provincial Secretary. Consultant of the Engineering Bureau of the Governor's Mansion"
Yu Xiang¡¯s experience should be considered rich. In fact, not only Yu Xiang, but also most of Yu Guozhen¡¯s children have relatively rich employment experience, and as long as they are healthy men, they must serve in the army. This fact makes Zheng Sen admire him very much. He now has two children, but he is not willing to let his children suffer such hardship.
"If anything happens to Yu Xiang, then Yu Guozhen will definitely get angry and irritate him. This is our only chance to make him do the opposite."
"That will only make Yu Guozhen retaliate against us a hundred times!" Someone said angrily: "That will not do any good to us, we might as well continue to wait!"
"The assassins are not us, they are Europas, to be precise, the French and English. Are the English seeking revenge on the French? They want to prevent Yu Guozhen from reaching out to Europa." Feng Chengshi said calmly: "Don't worry, everyone, the ones who came forward are People are not our people.¡±
As soon as these words came out, everyone was surprised.
Zheng Sen ignored everyone¡¯s surprise and just turned his gaze to the river. The lights on the opposite side were so bright that it made the night very unreal.
Zheng Sen doesn¡¯t know if his efforts will be effective, but he must realize his wish before he dies due to the hatred of his country and his family.
Yu Guozhen was angry with England and Europe because of Yu Xiang's death, and he would definitely have to go on an expedition. In addition, the ongoing tug-of-war with the Rakshasa people and the confrontation with the Persians, just like the three great expeditions of Wanli, would consume the national power of the Chinese Dynasty. , At that time, Yu Guozhen could not have so much materials and money to please the people. He could only cancel the current preferential treatment for the people, and even increase the recruitment of the people. It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. As much as the people who are used to living a good life love Yu Guozhen now, they will hate Yu Guozhen at that time!
Such a conspiracy is inevitable in any era, but it has nothing to do with Niu Rui and Lai Buchen. They don't know that such a conspiracy lurks in this dazzling city. They just like every newcomer who arrives. Like the Europeans in Shanghai, they ran around every place in Shanghai in amazement and watched everything here.
Not only them, but also Huang Zongxi, who has not returned to China for too long, is also wandering around Shanghai.
Today¡¯s Shanghai is a large city with a population of 800,000. Its population is close to that of Jinling and not inferior to that of Yangzhou. Due to proper planning, the entire city was not crowded in one place. Instead, the two sides of the Huangpu River were the central area and extended outwards to five subsidiary cities. The central area is mainly a residential and commercial area, and all industries are arranged in five affiliated cities, making the environment of the central area pretty good. Two slow-speed narrow-gauge railways connect the central area with the affiliated cities. From the central area to any of the affiliated cities, it takesThe time will not exceed one hour.
After two days of running around, Huang Zongxi took a ship to Jinling to pay homage to his deceased Qian Qianyi and other old friends, while Niu Dun was left behind in Shanghai. He was assigned to the Oriental Academy in Shanghai, which is open to foreign scholars. The huge library here and the vast amount of Chinese classics in it made Niu Rui even forget to go shopping. He spent every day between the dormitory and the library. Wandering back and forth.
Until Isabella appeared in front of him.
Zheng Sen built Yanping Port City in the United States. Not only the wandering warriors of the Japanese country joined him, but also a large number of Europeans who succumbed to his strong methods and were willing to serve for him. Isabella was one of them. The purpose of her appearance here is to get close to Niu Du and Lai's ministers.
Because based on Feng Chengshi¡¯s understanding of Yu Xiang, it is very likely that Yu Xiang will meet these two Europeans who have traveled thousands of miles to come here.
In Feng Chengshi's view, there would be absolutely no problem for Isabella to seduce the hot-blooded Niu Bu. As long as they could get close to Yu Xiang through Niu Bu's relationship, they would not only be able to realize their plan, but also take advantage of it. Put the blame on those so-called New Confucians.
Zheng Sen felt that his layout should be foolproof. (To be continued)