King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 770 Where is our fleet?
When the night is deep, with a beauty in your arms, you won’t feel lonely.

Zhu Jinghong thought that he would pretend to be a gentleman first and then gradually enter the land of gentleness, but this time he overestimated himself.

The two of them sat opposite each other. Tanchun laid out the scriptures and had been explaining for less than two minutes when they were already making love to each other.

A young girl in her twenties finally blossomed tonight, and she blossomed in front of the Crown Prince Zhu Jinghong, which was not a humiliation for Tanchun.

Besides, this was something she asked for.

The next day, Zhu Jinghong set out for Tongzhou again, but he was accompanied by a little nun. Only the eunuchs and guards who served him closely knew about this.

Zhu Jinghong was rushing to Tongzhou, and he studied Buddhist scriptures a lot along the way. Only two days later, some news was transmitted back to Yingtian Palace.

"You mean, he found a nun in Nanjing Temple?"

In the palace garden, Baochai was fiddling with the flowers and was very surprised to hear Ying'er's report.

Ying'er replied softly, "That's right, everyone who serves His Highness knows it!"

The eunuchs in charge knew the situation, so this matter could not be hidden from Baochai, and Zhu Jinghong did not intend to hide it from her. After all, Baochai would have to deal with some matters in the future.

"A nun seduces the prince, how audacious she is!" Baochai was furious.

She was not a stingy person, and she was even planning to select Zhu Jinghong for a talent show, but she had always hated women of unknown origin.

Not knowing his background and character is secondary. The key point is that if this person has a disease and ruins Zhu Jinghong's health, that would be a serious matter.

"Find out where this person came from and report to me as soon as possible!"

Ying'er did not retreat, but replied: "This person is a nun from Nanjing Temple. Her Buddhist name is Huixin and her secular name is... Tanchun!"

"Who? Who are you saying?" Baochai was even more surprised.

"Tan...Tanchun, Miss Tanchun from the Jia family!"

For a moment, Baochai was speechless. She really didn't expect that even a girl who had become a nun could be dragged back to bed by that guy.

Was he going there to inspect the navy, or was he going there to find a woman under the pretext of doing so? Baochai was now suspicious of Zhu Jinghong's motives.

"Never mind, leave him alone... Since he doesn't want anyone to know about this, he must keep it a secret!"

"Yes!"

After sending Ying'er away, Baochai couldn't help but murmur. She didn't understand what the point of hiding things was after they had already happened.

Now that he has become the crown prince, no one can shake his position. Marrying the daughter of a convicted official is no big deal at all.

Zhu Jinghong was not even afraid of having his reputation damaged, because the father and son of the Zhu family had long lost their good reputation in the eyes of the literati.

"Sneaky, maybe you like this tune!"

Baochai was just making a random guess, but in fact she was right. This is the feeling that some people love.

As for Zhu Jinghong, five days after his departure, he arrived in Tongzhou.

We have already made preparations for the reception and the troops of the four major naval forces have already arrived for the review.

To express their respect for the prince, several naval admirals went out thirty miles to meet Zhu Jinghong early, and then escorted him all the way to Tongzhou Port.

Tongzhou has several docks, the largest of which is a military port, with docks stretching for several miles and the accompanying military camps covering a huge area.

When Zhu Jinghong entered the military camp, more generals were waiting for him inside, and then the ceremonial review began according to the established arrangements.

The so-called ceremonial review means that the sailors come ashore to be reviewed. Each of the four major naval divisions has sent out a team, which have already lined up neatly on the parade ground.

Surrounded by a large number of generals, Zhu Jinghong came to the parade ground where his reviewing stand had been set up.

The Ming Dynasty's navy has developed rapidly in recent years, and Zhu Jinghong has played a huge role in promoting it, so almost all the upper-level generals in the navy are his people.

So as I walked from the military camp gate to the reviewing stand, "old friends" came to greet me along the way, and their earnest words revealed a strong sense of personal dependence.

In the past, Zhu Jinghong had to avoid suspicion, but now that he has gradually taken over the military power, he no longer has those taboos.

While chatting and laughing, Zhu Jinghong came to the reviewing stand and rode on the warhorse that had been prepared in advance. He was accompanied by only four naval admirals.

Everyone rode their horses and arrived in front of the army formation. At this moment, the soldiers were lined up in an orderly manner, holding muskets in front of them, looking forward with solemn expressions.

Zhu Jinghong and his party stopped at the southern part of the team, where the leading general was.

The leader was a commander, who stepped out of the square formation with a knife in hand, and shouted, "Your Highness, the navy square formation is complete, please review it!"

"Jinling Navy, Seventh Fleet Commander Gao Mingjun!"

Zhu Jinghong nodded, then pulled the reins and walked slowly forward along the square formation.

Today he was wearing a red dragon robe, which was much more formal than usual. He personally paid great attention to his image in the minds of the lower-level soldiers.

The crown prince's daily attire is not much different from that of the prince, except for the different postures of the dragons on the clothes. The most obvious difference is the winged crown on his head.

The hats were all made of black gauze, and the two corner edges of the prince's hat were inlaid with gold thread, making it more luxurious than the prince's.

If the emperor became the emperor, double dragons playing with a pearl would be added as decoration.

"May His Royal Highness the Crown Prince live a thousand years and a thousand thousand years!"

"May His Royal Highness the Crown Prince live a thousand years and a thousand thousand years!"

"May His Royal Highness the Crown Prince live a thousand years and a thousand thousand years!"

The uniform sound like a tsunami or a landslide hit Zhu Jinghong on horseback, but his heart was calm. Such scenes were common to him.

This time, the "slogan" is very different from the previous ones, which also reflects the change in his identity.

The military camp was not far from Tongzhou City, and merchants and travelers passing by could easily hear the noise here, and they were all surprised at what was happening.

"Don't you know? Our new Crown Prince is reviewing the troops at the Navy Camp!"

"The new crown prince? That is... the former Prince Xiang?"

"You don't know, do you? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been in Jinling for more than a month!"

“Who doesn’t know this?”

While the review here caused discussion among outsiders, Zhu Jinghong had already finished looking at all the formations and stepped onto the reviewing stand.

When it comes to a military parade, of course, one must watch the “parade”.

Wang Long, the admiral of the Jinling Navy, gave the order for the troops to march, and then the sound of orderly and powerful footsteps was heard on the parade ground.

The army began to march, shouting slogans to the beat of drums, and Zhu Jinghong waved from time to time.

The process was over quickly, and then the army was led away in an orderly manner, followed by a welcoming lunch.

"What I saw today is just for show. I have to check all the warships one by one. After that, there will be warship drills and fleet exercises!"

"Don't think you can get rid of me just like this today!"

"How dare we? The soldiers of the army have been preparing for battle for several years, and we are all looking forward to your visit!"

"That's right. We have spent so much money from the imperial court. We are afraid that we will not be able to live up to the emperor's grace. How dare we cheat!"

Several admirals expressed their views one after another, and the message they conveyed was very clear: they were not afraid of Zhu Jinghong's inspection, but were looking forward to his inspection.

The navy had just been built, and these generals were very ambitious and wanted to make further progress. In addition, the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were keeping a close eye on them, so not many people were willing to do anything tricky.

Zhu Jinghong was in a good mood and drank a few more cups at the lunch banquet. The relationship between the monarch and his subjects was extremely harmonious. In the afternoon, he mainly inspected the military camp and checked the soldiers' accommodation in the camp. The results made him quite satisfied.

But even after a busy day, Zhu Jinghong still took out an hour to have an in-depth exchange on Buddhism with Tanchun.

After that, Zhu Jinghong went to bed, and Tanchun left the bedroom and called for hot water to wash herself.

Now that she is with Zhu Jinghong, Tanchun is of course very happy, but the situation she will face next is very difficult.

What troubled her most was how to meet her sisters, especially Baochai, the legitimate Crown Princess.

The reason is that her means of getting ahead are not worthy of being shown in public, and these seductive methods are most despised and hated by the legitimate wives.

Sighing, Tanchun shook her head helplessly.

Now that she has embarked on this path, she can only overcome all difficulties and move forward. Anyway, she doesn't want to go back to Nanjing Temple, and even more so, she doesn't want to go back to the corrupt Jia family.

The next morning, Zhu Jinghong had a vegetarian meal, with only Tanchun accompanying him.

"You look depressed, is there something on your mind?"

One can hide one's worries for a while, but it is difficult to conceal them all the time. It is normal for Tanchun's abnormality to be discovered.

"I grew up with my second sister, and we have been close since childhood. We have a deep friendship... I haven't seen her for a long time and suddenly thought of her, so I missed her!"

Zhu Jinghong smiled. He knew clearly how much truth there was in these words.

But he didn't intend to point it out. As long as Tanchun was willing to go to Beijing on her own initiative, his conscience would not be condemned.

"You will see him!" Zhu Jinghong said calmly.

Tanchun was a smart person. She knew that Zhu Jinghong knew her intentions. She did not try to hide her intentions, but answered frankly, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

After breakfast, Zhu Jinghong had to get busy again as his schedule had been very full these days.

Five days passed in a blink of an eye, and it was November 18th, and the military parade to test the fleet's coordination and cooperation capabilities began.

According to his previous life experience, Zhu Jinghong set up the enemy situation without prior notice and conducted detection in the most intuitive way.

Military camps attacked, docks attacked, warships attacked, fleets responded quickly, fleets engaged in close combat...

Zhu Jinghong set up more than ten subjects of varying sizes, which made all the participating naval forces exhausted, and some problems were indeed exposed.

Of course, the emergence of these problems is not the fault of the generals. After all, expanding the navy is like crossing a river by feeling the stones, and only by making mistakes can one make improvements and improvements.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, after ten days of military inspection, Zhu Jinghong gave the soldiers three days off so that they could have a good rest.

The soldiers and middle and lower-level officers will naturally relax and take a rest, while the commanders and generals above the rank will each write a report based on their performance in the parade.

In other words, let's make a summary.

Therefore, during the three-day holiday of the generals, almost no one rested, even the four admirals were working late into the night to write.

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the military meeting of the Ming navy began, and Zhu Jinghong listened to reports from several admirals.

To be honest, the atmosphere was very heavy. Everyone had serious expressions and lowered their heads like eggplants hit by frost.

After several admirals finished their statements, Zhu Jinghong said, "Everyone, don't be dejected. I didn't say I would punish you!"

"The navy has only been expanding for a few years, so it's normal for there to be problems of one kind or another. This time I'm here... to find out the problems!"

"My mission is now complete... From now on, it's up to you. How to improve it depends on you!"

Standing up from behind the desk, Zhu Jinghong slowly walked down to the hall. The generals standing in line bent their waists, looking respectful and not daring to look directly at Zhu Jinghong.

"When I first came here more than 20 days ago, you were all full of confidence, thinking that you had trained strong soldiers..."

At that time, the confident and ostentatious atmosphere of the generals made Zhu Jinghong feel uneasy, and sure enough, there were many problems as soon as he took the test.

Standing in the middle of the lobby, Zhu Jinghong looked around at everyone and said, "I knew something was going to happen at the time, and now it seems that my prediction was correct!"

"You are all veterans, don't you understand that arrogant soldiers will be defeated?"

"These will have to be changed later. Let's discuss how to change them today while everyone is here!"

Afterwards, Zhu Jinghong divided all the generals into two groups for discussion. After an hour, he convened a meeting for a concentrated meeting, and after another hour, he came up with a preliminary plan.

Since it is a preliminary plan, it will have to be improved later, but that is after the implementation of rectification. Only by continuously discovering problems can we improve them.

After a military meeting, it was almost lunch time. Just as everyone was about to eat together, an urgent military intelligence was delivered to the barracks.

At this moment, the crowd had not yet dispersed, and Wang Long, the admiral of the Jinling Navy, read out the military situation in public.

"Pingyuan City garrison troops urgently report that on November 16, fishermen who went out to sea reported that the Western Yi navy was discovered in the Pingkou Sea area. There are more than 130 warships belonging to Portugal and England!"

The so-called Pingyuan City is the "Kota Kinabalu" city conquered by Zhu Jinghong, and the so-called "Bingkou Sea Area" refers to the area east of Malacca.

The Malacca region is still occupied by Western barbarians. Portugal, England and Spain all have garrisons there, but at present the military forces of the former two countries are the main ones.

Originally, there were only more than 60 warships stationed by the three countries, but now the number has suddenly increased to more than 130, which makes people doubt their intentions.

As everyone was discussing, Zhu Jinghong asked in a deep voice: "Where is our fleet?"

"Your Highness..."

Wang Long was about to answer, but Zhu Jinghong ordered, "Go to the War Hall!"

"Yes!"

The so-called war room is not far from the meeting room.

Four admirals and deputy generals accompanied Zhu Jinghong to the operations hall, while the other generals dispersed.

The reason why we have to go to the War Hall is because there are various maps and a huge sand table with troop deployment clearly marked on it.

Coming to the sand table, Zhu Jinghong looked at the various models on it with a serious expression that made the senior generals dare not move rashly.

Wang Long, the admiral of the Jinling Navy, pointed at the sand table with a long pole and said, "Your Highness, the 7th Fleet of the Jinling Navy has a total of 21 warships stationed at Pingyuan Port, and the 11th Fleet has 25 warships, which are currently stationed at Changqing Port west of Luzon, which is right here!"

Currently, the Ming Dynasty has four major navies, under the jurisdiction of thirty fleets. Among them, the first to sixth fleets belong to the Liaodong Navy, the seventh to fourteenth belong to the Jinling Navy, the fifteenth to twenty-second fleets belong to the Zhejiang Navy, and the twenty-third to thirtieth belong to the Guangdong Navy.

Although the framework has been set up, it will take time to be fully completed, so these thirty fleets are not fully staffed, and many of them even only have a number.

Wang Long then introduced: "The 16th Fleet of the Zhejiang Navy has a total of 24 warships, stationed in Quezon Port east of Luzon, and the 22nd Fleet has a total of 18 warships stationed in Palu Port!"

The warship models on the sand table show the positions of various fleets, which are generally scattered.

"What do you think?" Zhu Jinghong asked.

Xu Minglin, the admiral of the Zhejiang Navy, reported: "Your Highness, I think we should prepare in advance to avoid being attacked by these people!"

Wang Longze said: "Your Highness, you can first dispatch the Palu fleet to the north. They are the farthest away, so the other fleets can remain stationary for the time being!"

"What do you two think?"

The two people he named were Zhao Chengwu from the Liaodong Navy and Wang Rongxian from the Guangdong Navy.

The two men stated their opinions separately, but they still relied on what Wang and Xu said. After all, Nanjing and Zhejiang Navy had more relevant information, and the judgments they gave were undoubtedly more authoritative.

Sitting back in his chair, Zhu Jinghong gave the order: "Then first transfer the Palu fleet to the north, then order the stationed fleets to prepare for battle, and send an envoy to inquire about the reason!"

(End of this chapter)