First Prince of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 244 Naval Warship
At this time, Japan’s handicraft industry was underdeveloped, and many daily necessities such as silk, cloth, pots, needles and medicinal materials were supplied by China. Once Chinese goods were in short supply, the price rose sharply, such as silk was worth five or six taels of silver per hundred catties, while The price in Japan is more than ten or twenty times that in China, so such huge profits are naturally tempting.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng and other southern remnants and coastal smugglers cooperated with Japanese pirates, based on some Japanese islands, and continued to invade the coasts of China and North Korea. This was also one of the reasons that stimulated the maritime ban in the early Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, he also sent envoys to Japan successively to restore the relationship between the two countries, and wanted the Japanese king to restrain his troops. However, because Japan was in a state of division and confrontation, not only did the envoys send several times to no avail, but the Japanese invaders became more and more complicated.

The frequent harassment by Japanese pirates prompted Ming Dynasty to strengthen the construction of sea power. Four counties along the coast of Fujian built 45 cities and 59 more inspection departments, resulting in more than [-] soldiers. Coastal defenses were reorganized in the counties of eastern and western Zhejiang, and [-] cities were built. , divided into guards.

Zhu Biao also learned from Jinghai Hou that the Japanese pirates invaded Shandong, Suzhou, Huai'an and other places on a large scale in the second year of Hongwu.

Last year, Japanese pirates invaded the coast of Shandong, and then moved to Ming, Tai, and Wenzhou prefectures in Zhejiang, and then invaded coastal counties and counties in Fujian. Fortunately, they were repelled by Tang He's army.

Now it’s a new year, and the Ming army’s scouts have learned that Japanese pirates wandering around the Ryukyu Islands are preparing to loot again. The Ming army has carefully deployed defenses according to Tang He’s order.

After a group of people wandered around the navy camp, Zhu Biao sent Li Cunyi back. Tomorrow he will board the ship and head north. He will be accompanied by Marquis Jinghai along the way, so there is no need for him to get in the way.

At noon, Zhu Biao had lunch in the camp. When he arrived at the navy camp, he ate seafood. Zhu Biao didn't like seafood, but he didn't pick it. He had a good chat with Wu Zhen during the meal. chat.

This person is well-deserved of his reputation, he is very thoughtful about naval warfare, and he also has revenge for destroying Japanese pirates. However, Zhu Biao saw that he respected Li Cunyi just now, and remembered the list he mentioned when he talked with Li Shanchang. This person seems to be on good terms with Hu Weiyong .

If this is the case, I am afraid that it will be involved in the future. Zhu Biao listened to Wu Zhen's thoughts on the surface, but he kept thinking about whether to give this person a hand. After all, compared with army generals, there are fewer talents in naval warfare.

Jinghai Hou Wuzhen and his elder brother Changjiang Yinhou Wu Liang were Huaixi dignitaries who followed Zhu Yuanzhang in the early years. From the titles of these two people, it can be seen that these two brothers are naval talents, and Zhu Biao knows their achievements well. I've long wanted to see you too.

Just like Wu Zhen was worshiped as the deputy general of Zhengnan as early as the first year of Wu. He followed Tanghe to conquer Fang Guozhen. He once entered the Cao'e River along the tide, destroyed the enemy's dam, opened up the water channel, and reached the barn by surprise.

Fang Guozhen was forced to flee to the sea, and Wu Zhen went into the sea to pursue him. He fought with Fang Guozhen in Panyu, fought from Shenshi to Xushi, captured all his warships, soldiers, and luggage, and forced Fang Guozhen to surrender.Later, Wu Zhen entered Fuzhou by sea again, besieging the three city gates of Xi, Nan and Shuibu, and finally broke the city in one battle.

Such a talent is really rare, but let's take a look at his performance along the way. If possible, he will be transferred to the East Palace, and then let him stay away from Hu Weiyong in the future.

Wu Zhen had just taken over the position of the chief officer of the Anti-Japanese War, and he had a lot of business. After dinner, Zhu Biao asked him to go down to deal with official duties, and he himself was led to the beach to see the more than a hundred warships of the navy. Boat.

Compared with the large steel ships he had seen in later generations, these wooden warships were indeed small, but they were more than enough to guard one side in this era.

In addition to the Lou Chuan, Mengchong, Dou Jian, Sea Falcon, Going Ge and other ships in the previous generation, the Ming Dynasty also had many innovative ships, such as ultra-small net shuttle boats, shaped like shuttles, with bamboo masts and wooden sails, The draft is seven or eight inches, there are 2-4 people inside, equipped with two or three shotguns, and two or three hundred ships are surrounded by bees and ants in wartime.

There are also self-explosive truck-type mother ships. The mother ship has firewood, fierce oil, gunpowder and fire wire. During wartime, the mother ship quickly approaches the enemy ship and is nailed together.

The trap-shaped fire dragon boat has a blunderbuss eye, a knife plate and a nail plate in the middle. The soldiers who lie down are defeated by the enemy first, lure the enemy to board the ship, and activate the mechanism to make the enemy fall into the knife plate and nail plate in the middle from the upper layer.

There are many other ships with their own characteristics, and they are all combat-oriented, such as the Cangshan ship, the wheel boat, the Haicang ship, and the centipede ship. If you face the enemy head-on, it can be said that the Daming navy is the most powerful in the world. There is absolutely no one in this world who can match it.

Zhu Biao did not return to the camp until it was dark. He went up to see most of the ships in person, and asked the accompanying navy generals to explain them in detail. What he had learned before was the art of warfare on land, and he was good at naval warfare. Say nothing.

It is Zhu Biao's habit to have a rare opportunity to study hard, not to seek refinement but to understand. After returning to the camp, Wu Zhen came to see him, and he could not neglect His Highness the Crown Prince anyway.

Zhu Biao didn't see him, and there will be plenty of time to get along in the future, not to mention getting close too early is not a good thing, so Liu Jin went to bed early after making meals.

Early the next morning, we boarded a boat and went north to Qingquankuang, which is the future Weihaiwei. At this time, it was still named after the Yuan Dynasty. It was bordered by the Yellow Sea on the north, south and south, facing the Liaodong Peninsula in the north, and the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago in the east and southeast. Facing each other across the sea, it has always been an important place for Japanese pirates to invade.

But Zhu Biao went first because he wanted to receive news from Jiang Side and Monk Daoyan. This was also agreed before they set off. At this time, it is estimated that the plan has been carried out smoothly.

Zhu Biao's ship is a large ship, and it was also used by Zhu Yuanzhang when he was King Wu. It is quite luxurious, and there are many fleets guarding it along the way. Japanese pirates will be scared to flee back to the Japanese sea after seeing it.

I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get on the most famous lucky boat in Ming Dynasty, but there was nothing I could do about it. The lucky boat used in naval battles was as tall as a city, and could not be driven by manpower.

However, it is impossible for Zhu Biao to go north without waiting for a favorable wind. Fortunately, the building boat is tall, and it is also quite stable along the coast. Served as the main force in water warfare in inland rivers and coastal areas.

After Zhu Biao boarded the ship, he also received several letters from Beijing. The situation in the court was tense, Hu Weiyong suddenly exerted force, and Zhu Yuanzhang watched from the sidelines again. , I hope His Royal Highness Prince Nian will give him a hand for his past achievements.

Zhu Biao shook his head helplessly. In fact, the reason why Yang Xian has not fallen is that Hu Weiyong is waiting for the crown prince's statement. After all, Yang Xian is a subject of the Eastern Palace. If the crown prince exerts force, the situation will be much more complicated. I have to express my opinion.

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(End of this chapter)