Steam Daming: Stop calling me to supervise the country

Chapter 118 Daming One Piece

The warship crossed the river, and when he woke up early in the morning, Zhu Zhanchang looked out the window. The land on both sides was disappearing, and they were about to enter the sea.

Because no one called him on the boat, and it was another day when he slept until the sun was up.

"Your Highness, you're awake." Chu Er waited for Zhu Zhanchang to put on clothes on the boat, and he wore ordinary clothes, coarse cotton padded clothes, which were good enough to keep out the cold, but they were ugly.

Walking on the deck and looking forward, you can see the boundless sea. The weather is good today, and you are in a good mood when you look at it from a distance.

"His Royal Highness, this is the first time I have seen the sea." Chu'er was seasick yesterday and is much better today.

Going to a place with a good view of the bow, of course, the wind is also very strong.

"His Royal Highness, it's going into the sea soon, the wind is strong, you should go back to the cabin to rest first."

"How far is it from where the Japanese pirates are?"

Zheng He pointed to the map and said, "If you don't encounter wind and waves, you won't need a day. Just searching for the island is estimated to take some time."

Zhu Zhanchang looked at a few warships. If it weren't for the three steamships waiting for the warships behind, the time would be shorter, but the first battle did not dare to let the steamships take risks alone.

"Lord Zheng He, when you went to the Western Ocean, how was the national naval battle you encountered?"

"The countries along the way of the Western Ocean, their ships and their weapons are very poor, they are almost powerless in the face of Ming's warships, and some intruders are almost wiped out. Some of these countries pay tribute to us, but theirs There are often rebellions on the land, and once our troops go ashore and are unfamiliar with the local terrain, the advantage will be lost."

Every time he went to the Western Belt, there were many people, but he was also afraid of losing the number of people. Once he went to war on land, the losses would be very large. Therefore, Zheng He would try to avoid landing battles as much as possible.

Fortunately, the vast majority of coastal countries are still honest, and they rarely dare to provoke in the face of the Ming Dynasty.

"Lord Zheng He, which countries are there along the way to the west?"

Zheng He took out a more detailed maritime map with the route map of Zheng He's voyages to the West.

"His Royal Highness, when I first went to the West, I first went to Champaign (now Vietnam's Champaign), took a short detour to Siam (Thailand), and then arrived at the old port of Sanfoqi (now Indonesia's Palembang)."

When talking about the old port, Zheng He started and said: "I summoned the local pirate Chen Zuyi, who swindled to surrender and plotted to attack the fleet. I led the army to defeat him, killed more than [-] enemies, burned ten enemy ships, and captured the enemy. Seven ships, Chen Zuyi and the other three were captured alive, and then a new owner of the old port was appointed, and now the old port is still ruled by his country, paying tribute to our country."

"But our army also lost more than 7 people and damaged [-] ships. Later, after passing Kechi and Guri (India), we could only return."

Listening to Zheng He's voyage to the West, several people listened with great interest.

"The second voyage to the West, the route is similar, we canonized the King of Guli in Guli, and returned all the envoys who visited Daming, as well as the gifts that His Majesty gave them. The state envoys have all brought back a lot of gifts."

"The third time was the same as the previous route. In Ceylon (Sri Lanka), I heard that the king of Mount Ceylon, Yale Kunel, was reckless and murdered the sailor. "In order to avoid unnecessary fighting, we avoided Ceylon, went to Guri and then visited to inquire, and confirmed the route to go further west."

Zheng He pointed to the place on the map that indicated the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula: "This is the farthest place I went that time, Hurummus (Iranian Gulf of Hormuz)."

"When we were returning, we encountered the king of the Ceylon Mountains, Yale Kunel, who tricked me into the country and sent [-] troops to besiege the fleet. I took advantage of the fact that the enemy army was out of the nest and the country was empty. Raided the city of Yalie Kunai'er, broke into the city, captured Yalie Kunai'er and his family alive."

Zheng He said this is just a paragraph, but it is conceivable how urgent the situation was at that time. Ceylon Mountain Country wanted Zheng He's treasure ship and property, and Zheng He finally relied on his excellent military command ability to win this battle. In battle, although it is a small country, after all, the enemy has the upper hand in military strength.

We have better fleets, better soldiers, better equipment, better command.

But Zheng He won the battle not by looting the opponent's country, but by appointing a king who obeyed the Ming Dynasty. After all, he could use this as a foothold to continue the ocean.

The fourth voyage to the West was the most recent one, and it started from Yongle in ten years.

"On the fourth voyage to the Western Ocean, Su Ganla of Sumendala had just murdered the monarch and usurped the throne. The Ming Dynasty thought he was a "pseudo-king". Still lost to our army, and a new king was established."

"We went to Khurmus again. We wanted to go further west, but we couldn't find the way. Finally, we brought back the strange beast "Kirin"."

Zhu Zhanchang looked at this map. Zheng He went to the Persian Gulf and searched all over the Arabian Peninsula, but he could not find a way to continue. In fact, if he landed on the Red Sea and headed northwest, he would be the Mediterranean Sea, otherwise he would have to go west. across the vast African continent.

It's just that they don't have a world map.

Unlike staunch materialists like Zhu Zhanchang and Yao Guangxiao, Zheng He was a staunch supporter of theism.

Zheng He is a Hui nationality, and he believes in Buddhism. He is a disciple of Bodhisattva Precepts. He is blessed with a Dharma name. He believes that there are gods in this world.

People at sea believed in Tian Fei (Mazu), and he also brought this belief to all parts of the world with his fleet.

Those who want to see God see themselves first.

Traveling thousands of miles, he has not seen his holy city, nor his god.

Such very adventurous people are very few in history.

Zhu Zhan looked at Zheng He, who was always familiar with maritime affairs. If Zheng He was given more time and more voyages, what would it be like.

"Lord Zheng He, look at Zhancheng. Every time you go overseas, the first stop is to go there. It is located in the south of Jiaozhi. Now that the Li Dynasty is revolting, it is in the south. There has to be a fight first.”

"Your Highness, rest assured, if this is the case, I will be able to suppress the rebellion from both sides of the sea and the land army. I have dealt with the Jiaozhi people a lot, and their combat effectiveness is not strong, and their court ability is also weak."

Zhu Zhanchang shook his head: "Since I made Cochin, there has been very little time for stability over the years. I can't go to fight once, I have to find a way to get it done at one time, and never have future troubles."

Zheng He shook his head: "Even without us, there have been rebellions year after year in Jiaozhi. It is a fertile place. Rice can be grown more than once a year in the Central Plains, but the people there are difficult to educate."

"Lord Zheng He, let's say, what I'm talking about is that we set up a new steam shipyard in Canton Prefecture and train the navy. At the current speed of development of steam ships, as long as there are enough steam ships and troops, no matter how rebellion is in Cochin, Our army has the ability to intervene in pacification at any time, do you think so?"

Zheng He thought carefully about Zhu Zhanchang's assumption, and then Han Mao stood upside down and stared at Zhu Zhanchang with wide eyes.

He wanted to understand the meaning behind Zhu Zhanchang's words. As long as there is a rebellion in Kouzhi, I will send troops, and send troops until they dare not rebel. With the development speed of steam ships, in the future, if the sailing time from Guangzhou to Koozhi is shortened to three or five days , the rebellion of Jiaozhi seems to be very simple to solve, after all, their army is not an opponent of our army at all.

You can even send heavy troops to guard it.

Zhu Zhanchang smiled slightly and said, "It's just an assumption. The land in Jiaozhi is fertile. If grains are planted and transported north by steamships, our granary will be abundant every year."

Looking at the innocent face of the Fifth Prince, who smiled innocently, Zheng He couldn't help remembering what the Prince had occasionally mentioned before, that Zhu Zhanchang wanted the fief to be near Guangzhou House.

There was only one question left in his mind: when did His Royal Highness consider his assumption, and it was premeditated just now.

"He wants to never be that land, but make it a stable granary."

The plan is far-reaching and unimaginable.

The steamer sailed on the sea, and Zheng He did not sail far from the mainland, and he could still see the shore in the distance.

When he saw a fishing boat appearing in front of the steamboat, Zheng He glanced at the map: "Your Highness, we are about to reach the area of ​​Zhoushan Island."

"According to the confession, the next step is to search for nearby islands, first to dock at Zhoushan Island, and ask the fishermen if there are any traces of Japanese pirates around."

"can."

The coastal defense of the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the mainland. This small island near Zhoushan, which was easy to attack and difficult to defend, often became a gathering place for Japanese pirates. The lack of defense force caused the residents of the island to bow to the Japanese pirates.

Zheng He docked at Zhoushan for a little rectification.

In fact, islands like Zhoushan were the maritime gateways of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the era of navigation, and this strategic position must not be lost.

Once Zhoushan Island is occupied by Japanese pirates, there is a resting place very close to the land, and they can endlessly invade the coast.

Before the advent of steamships, the Ming Dynasty focused on land guards, but after the advent of steamships, there will be a big change in this direction, from land to sea, from defense to offense.

Landing on Zhoushan Island in the evening.

There is a Thousand Households Station on Zhoushan Island. Seeing these warships dock with the flag of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Baiyue, a Thousand Household Station, greeted them.

Zheng He often walked by water, so Chen Baiyue recognized him.

"Lord Zheng He, why are you here?" Chen Baiyue did not receive any news that Zheng He was coming.

Zheng He simply said, "The fleet needs to dock and rest for one night."

"You are a rare visitor, please here, please here."

"No need, all the boats will stay overnight. Chen Qianhu invites you to come aboard." Zheng He rejected the other party's invitation.

Chen Baiyue looked puzzled, hesitated for a while and took a few people on a steamship that she had never seen before.

Zheng He didn't hesitate: "Chen Qianhu, Japanese pirates have been seen on the edge of Zhoushan Island recently."

　Ask for a monthly pass, ask for a recommendation ticket

　　
　
(End of this chapter)