Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 108 Jinghaihou (Third update, please vote for me)

After the ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang sat high on the throne. He glanced at all the courtiers below, then picked up a memorial from the imperial case in front of him, shook it slightly and said, "This memorial was submitted by Lan Qing. The King of Yan and his consort have little experience in leading an army in actual combat, so they do not agree with the King of Yan and his consort leading an army to fight against Japanese pirates."

When Lan Yu heard this, she immediately clasped her fists and bowed to wait.At this time, he felt a little uneasy. He didn't know what the emperor's final decision would be.

He was not afraid of anything else. He was afraid that the emperor would protect his son.

At this time, even if Lan Yu's character was very self-centered, she still did not have the confidence to make great achievements in the future when facing Zhu Yuanzhang.

But after Hu Weiyong heard this, he was happy in his heart. He thought that the emperor would deal with it coldly, but he didn't expect to talk about it at this time. That's the beginning of a good show!

No matter how Zhu Yuanzhang handles it, there are his son and son-in-law on one side, and his eldest son's wife-in-law and uncle on the other side. In short, it's all a good show!
If he doesn't agree with Lan Yu's suggestion and still protects his son, then the emperor's prestige in the military will definitely be affected.Hu Weiyong was very happy to see this;
If Lan Yu plays it accurately, then there will be no result in the vassal king leading the troops, and the royal family's strength will not be enhanced. This is also the result that Hu Weiyong wants very much.Just like before, he induced Ye Boju to introduce the vassal system, because he did not want the royal power to become too powerful.

On the other hand, Taishi Li Shanchang actually liked this.It can even be said that the reason why there is Lan Yu's memorial is that, in the final analysis, he is still the instigator.

If he hadn't elevated the status of the captain's son-in-law so high, perhaps this matter would not have happened.

Therefore, at this time, Li Shanchang automatically entered the state of watching a show.

While everyone was thinking about it, they saw Zhu Yuanzhang throw the blue jade memorial back on the imperial case, and then said to his ministers: "The King of Yan is not convinced by Lan Qing's memorial, and is willing to work with the consort to fight with Lan Qing." Lan Qing competed on his ability to lead troops to fight, in order to prove to King Yan that he could lead troops to fight..."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but be stunned and turned to look at King Yan.Even Lan Yu himself is no exception.

Their ideas are actually the same.

Although Lan Yu was not granted the title of duke due to his military merit, he was appointed as a minister of the Governor's Mansion based on his military merit.He has fought countless battles and killed countless enemies.

On the other hand, King Yan only trained his troops in Zhongdu.Ordinary military training and battlefield battles are completely different situations.In addition, King Yan is only 16 years old, so he doesn’t have enough experience!
At this point, King Yan actually proposed to compete with Lan Yu on his ability to lead troops in war. How crazy was it that he thought of this?
As for the Prince Consort Zhang Yifan, although Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned it, no one considered him at all.

At this time, Zhu Di saw them all looking at him. He was not timid at all. Instead, he held his head high and his chest high, and he was full of momentum.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw all their reactions, and still said unhurriedly: "...I have considered that age is not the key to ambition. If King Yan has this idea, I also want to encourage him. Therefore, I agree with what he said. "

Having said this, he looked at Lan Yu again and asked, "Lan Qing, do you dare to accept the challenge?"

When Lan Yu heard this, she immediately became angry. How much did she underestimate him to ask such a question.

Thanks to Zhu Yuanzhang being the emperor, Lan Yu suppressed her anger and immediately replied loudly: "If the last general wants to fight, he will go all out, and he will not play tricks every now and then!"

When Zhu Di heard this, he immediately became angry and immediately responded loudly: "You're a coward if you don't go all out!"

Zhang Yifan was speechless. Even before the competition was decided, the two sides were already full of excitement.

After hearing their conversation, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Okay, that's how soldiers should be. What's the point of cheating! I'll just see if the newborn calf is stronger, or the veteran on the battlefield is more powerful!"

"According to the order!" When Zhu Di and Lan Yu heard this, they immediately stepped forward to accept the order with fists clasped in their hands without hesitation.

Zhang Yifan was slow for a moment, and after seeing them receiving the order, he remembered that he seemed to be on the competition list, so he followed him out of the queue and stood behind Zhu Di. He also clasped his fists and responded: "I obey the order!"

His reaction was slow and not decisive at all, which made Li Shanchang and others feel even more contemptuous.Just like this, how can there be any military aura?
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't mind. After all, this son-in-law was an orphan from Liujiacun. He had never been in contact with the army, so how could he act as resolutely as someone who had led soldiers?

At this time, he looked at the ministers below and said again: "The enemy leading the battle this time is the Japanese pirates, so I summoned Wu Qing, who will explain the news about the Japanese pirates to both sides of the competition. Both sides can understand and ask questions. . Three months later, the two sides will compete with Japanese pirates as their enemies. How about me and the generals in the army watching the battle?"

Lan Yu thinks that even if he is sent to fight the Japanese pirates now, there will be no problem.However, since the emperor said that he would first listen to the news about the Japanese pirates and then wait three months for the competition, he didn't care.

Anyway, he didn't believe it anymore. Even if King Yan and the Prince Consort were given three months, would they still be able to fly into the sky and defeat him?
Therefore, neither King Yan nor Lan Yu had any objections.So Wu Zhen, Marquis of Jinghai, went out to tell King Yan, the Prince Consort and Lan Yu about the characteristics of the Japanese pirates he had encountered in front of the emperor and the important ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

"The Japanese pirates are not very powerful. Most of them have brave people who take the lead in charging, and the rest follow up. If they win, their morale will be boosted. If those brave people are killed, the rest will mostly be scattered by birds and beasts..."

Hearing this, Lan Yu's face showed a hint of disdain.What is this? This is just a mob!

But this was in front of the emperor, and it was Jinghaihou who was explaining, no matter what, he was not qualified to laugh at this time, so he could only continue to listen patiently.

"The weapons of the Japanese pirates mostly consisted of Japanese knives, Japanese bows, and spears. As for the Japanese knives, especially those used by the brave people, the blade is five feet, the handle is one foot and five inches, and the total length is six feet and five inches. It weighs two pounds and eighty taels, and is extremely sharp. In one battle, three of my sergeants stabbed the Japanese pirates with their spears. The Japanese pirates swung their swords, and all three spears were cut off together..."

When Lan Yu and Zhu Di heard this, they couldn't help showing a look of love on their faces.Obviously, for soldiers, sharp weapons are one of their favorites.

This can also be proven by Zhang Yifan.He listened as if the old god was there, without the expressions of Zhu Di or Lan Yu who liked the sharpness of Japanese swords.

"The Japanese bow is also very distinctive. It is eight feet long. You can step on the end of the bow with your feet and stand it up to shoot. The arrows use sea reeds as branches. The arrowheads are made of iron, two inches wide, with a swallow tail, weighing three or two liang, and close to Launched later, the hit rate is extremely high."

"The Japanese spear is ten feet long, which is slightly longer than our spear. It is also the most commonly used weapon by the Japanese pirates." After saying this, Wu Zhen paused and saw that King Yan and Lan Yu were listening carefully. Then he continued to explain: "The above is the armament situation of the Japanese pirates."

After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment and found that neither King Yan nor Lan Yu asked questions, so he continued.

"Japanese pirates came across the sea and landed mostly along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, especially in Zhejiang, Fujian and other places. Therefore, the battlefields were mostly on the seaside, in mountains and forests, in fields, with many ditches and rivers and other terrain, which was not conducive to cavalry maneuvers and charges."

"In addition, Japanese pirates are cunning and know how to set up ambushes. They like to fight at close quarters." When Wu Zhen said this, he frowned slightly and said, "The terrain is unfamiliar, the terrain is changeable, and they are suddenly ambushed, and the Japanese pirates are led by brave people. , breaking into our army's formation will easily cause a large number of casualties to our army."

Lan Yu frowned slightly after hearing this.This method of warfare is indeed the one that can best unleash the combat power of this ragtag group of people.

But immediately, his brows relaxed again.Because he has this self-confidence, as long as he leads the army to fight against the Japanese pirates, he will definitely not be ambushed.

On Zhu Di's side, his expression didn't change from the beginning to the end, and he was listening carefully all the time.For him, all these news are very valuable, and he dare not omit anything.

As for Zhang Yifan, it’s okay not to talk about it.

When Wu Zhen said this, he glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, and then continued: "Among the Japanese pirates, there are often some remnants of Zhang and Fang's troops. As for the tactics and weapons of these thieves, I must..."

He originally wanted to say that everyone must be familiar with it, so he didn't say it.

However, Wu Zhen came to his senses immediately, and King Yan probably didn't understand it very well, so he immediately changed his mind and introduced the weapons and equipment and customary tactics of Zhang Shicheng and the remnants of Fang Guozhen's troops.

After saying this, Wu Zhen himself concluded: "One of the great advantages our army has against the Japanese pirates is that the Japanese pirates do not have firearms. If our army can use firearms to kill and injure the brave Japanese pirates, the outcome of the battle will be decided!"

In the 21th year of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty issued a regulation: one hundred households for every army, ten blunderbusses.When Mu Ying conquered the chieftain of Yunnan in the [-]st year of Hongwu, he also used the three-stage shooting method.

However, on the side of the Wa Kingdom, it lasted until the Warring States period of the Wa Kingdom and the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. In the year when the great pirate Wang Zhi landed in the Wa Kingdom, he brought three Portuguese businessmen from Siam to Tanegashima in the south of the Wa Kingdom.

It was through Wang Zhi's recommendation, introduction and translation that the island owner Shi Yao purchased and introduced new muskets from these three Portuguese and mastered the manufacturing technology of ammunition. This event was called " Iron cannons were introduced."The firearms of the Japanese country also only appeared from this time.

After Wu Zhen finished speaking, he introduced the sea battle: "The warships of the Japanese pirates are not big. Fighting at sea is mainly done by jumping off the boat. Just like the battle on land, our army uses firearms to attack and destroy the Japanese pirates. The brave ones can win!"

Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered something, glanced at King Yan specifically, and then reminded: "However, it is rainy and humid in the south, and firearms have a great impact. This matter must be unknown and guarded against!"

Obviously, Lan Yu must have known about it. He was afraid that King Yan wouldn't care, so he said it specifically.

(End of this chapter)