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Chapter 524 The east wind seems to be coming too

"Come on, put on this gold watch. It was painstakingly crafted by the Time Workshop in a month. It's the only one in the world. It should be worn on the hand of my Queen!"

At this time, Hong Tao was accompanying his wife in the Cining Palace to try on the imperial robes. Although the clothes were not new, the jewelry was new, including a big shiny gold watch with a gorgeous phoenix pattern inlaid with silver wire on the dial. .

The Time Workshop has been developing for nearly ten years and has produced tens of thousands of clocks, thousands of telescopes, hundreds of sextants, and even highly accurate marine clocks and industrial thermometers. Not much progress has been made on the watch front.

It’s not that the craftsmanship can’t be that fine. The best pocket watches currently on the market are no larger in size and thickness than watches. The most important thing is that their earthquake resistance is not up to par.

The watch needs to be worn on the wrist and followed by people. It is waved up, down, left and right hundreds of times every day. Bumps and bumps are inevitable. The vibrations of seemingly ordinary movements are very large. If you are not careful, a mechanical failure may occur.

According to Hong Tao's idea, instead of having to repair it every three days and ruining the reputation of Time Workshop for no reason, it is better not to produce it for the time being. When the earthquake resistance problem is completely solved and it no longer affects normal wearing, it will not be too late to mass produce it. Anyway, pocket watches and watches There is no functional difference.

But in order to give the Queen a birthday gift, he still asked the Time Workshop to rush to make such a watch. The queen's daily life is taken care of by the palace maids, and even if it breaks down, it can be taken to the workshop for repair at any time.

"Thank you, Your Majesty for your grace..." Queen Guo looked at the exquisite dial and stroked the engraved flying phoenix on the strap. Her eyes were full of little stars.

I thought that the emperor was cold-tempered and didn't care much about others. I didn't expect that the whole country would celebrate his birthday with such a grand ceremony. He even gave him a beautiful gift that no one else had, which he could wear on his wrist every day to show off his uniqueness. Different, there will be no regrets in this life.

"Long live my lord..." Touching the queen's smooth little hand, Hong Tao felt that it would be perfect to say a few sweet words while taking the opportunity. But just as he was about to open his mouth, the voice he least wanted to hear came from behind him.

"What happened?" The person kneeling outside the hall and calling in a low voice was not Wang Chengen, but Zhang Yongling, the head of the Haikou Department in colorful shorts. As the leader of the Katoji team who was secretly transferred to the palace, he was supposed to be patrolling within the palace walls at this time, so it would definitely be up to him to suddenly come to Cining Palace.

"It's the six-hundred-mile expedited battle report from the Navy!" Zhang Yongling did not bring good news, but it was not necessarily bad news.

"Long live the Lord..." At this time, Wang Chengen quickly put down the box containing the watch in his hand, trotted over to receive the battle report, and then trotted back.

"Hey, you really know how to be on time, and you are really good at it! Take it to the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Cabinet. It is estimated that the battle report of Shanhaiguan will be sent tomorrow. Let's make them happy for the night. Queen, there are some things in Liaodong. I’m afraid I’ll have to discuss it with my loyal ministers again overnight. It’s okay, it’s not a big deal. The celebration will continue tomorrow!”

Before opening the paint, Hong Tao really couldn't guess what was written in the battle report. During this period, the navy had no combat missions, and I had not heard of any attempts by the Spanish or Dutch to move north. It was even less likely that the Japanese were invading. Normally, there was no need to report so urgently when trying to suppress a pirate.

But after seeing the content of the battle report, the expression on his face was so exciting. First he widened his eyes and was a little shocked, then immediately frowned in thought, then pinched his chin and thought about it, and finally threw it to Wang Chengen helplessly. , turned around and explained to the queen why she couldn't stay and spend the night together.

What did the battle report say? Two things can also be said to be one thing. Nurhachi proclaimed himself the emperor and founded the country in Hetuala. The country was named Jin and established the Yuan Mandate. At the same time, he complained to heaven and earth with the "Seven Great Hatreds" and openly raised troops to rebel against the Ming Dynasty. There are already signs of massive mobilization of troops to the west. In Hong Tao's memory, the Jurchen regime, later known as the Hou Jin Dynasty, should not have been established so early, and it was several years after the founding of the country to use the Seven Hatreds as a reason to crusade against the Ming Dynasty.

But history was changed by himself, and he easily obtained a large area of ​​land and population in Liaodong, which gave Nurhaci sufficient manpower and material resources to launch a annexation war against the Jurchen tribes at the same time, completing the unification of the Jurchen tribes ahead of schedule.

But reunification is not the result. Now Nurhachi and the Jurchens are standing at the crossroads that determines the fate of individuals and ethnic groups. They have three choices: south, northwest, and southwest.

Going south, they launched a war of aggression against the Koreans and captured the Korean Peninsula in one fell swoop. To the northwest, they fought with the various Mongolian tribes to occupy the grasslands with rich water and grass. To the southwest, attack the capital of the Ming Dynasty through the Liaoxi Corridor, and then move south to occupy the Central Plains.

Of the three options, heading south is relatively easiest. The Korean people are not only poor but also small, and the territory is not very vast and mountainous, which is very consistent with the Jurchens' combat and living habits. But it is also the last option. It is to seize a poor place with lost troops and is surrounded by the sea on three sides, so it is of little use.

To the northwest, compete with the Mongols for the grassland. The difficulty is moderate and the harvest is average. At the combat level, the Jurchens were not afraid of the Mongols' cavalry and shooting. When it comes to horseback riding, the Jurchens have been practicing horseback riding and shooting since they were young; when it comes to logistics, the Jurchens are a hunting tribe and have been fighting all kinds of wild beasts in the mountains since they were young. They are also used to living a life of moving around.

But the problem of poverty still exists. The Mongols are pure nomads, with nothing but sheep and horses. Grab the pasture? What's the use for it? Should the Jurchens be allowed to move out of the mountains and forests and continue to live a nearly hard life of herding? If that really happens, most of the Jurchen nobles will choose to leave. There is no way out if they follow you.

Therefore, the only correct choice is to defeat the Ming Dynasty to the southwest. Although the Ming Dynasty had a large population, rich products, and sharp military armor, its people were the most cowardly and lacked fighting ability. Since you want to rob, of course you have to rob the richest, and try to accomplish the whole thing in one battle.

However, the analysis on paper is analysis. Hong Tao does not think that Nurhaci became arrogant and wanted to swallow up the Ming Dynasty in one breath after he unified the Jurchen tribes. As for the mobilization of troops westward, it is likely to be related to another conspiracy, and the planners and executors of this conspiracy are not in Liaodong, but in the Ming Dynasty.

Nurhachi was just a supporting role in this conspiracy, but he seemed unwilling to be a supporting role, so he hurriedly proclaimed himself emperor and founded a country, hoping to steal some attention.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the troops out of the border to suppress the rebellion!" In the Hall of Yangxin, Wang Xianggan, the Minister of War, rubbed his sleepy old eyes and read the battle report. His beard was trembling with anger, and he painfully told the Jurchens about their traitorous ambitions, and then made a decisive decision. Please fight.

"I thought that I should send a large army to attack decisively, go straight to the nest of my traitors, and then tell the world. After many years of hard work by your majesty, Taicang is now rich, and I am willing to raise military funds for Wang Shangshu to leave the customs!"

Next is Zhao Shiqing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs. He and Wang Xiangqian agreed that they allowed all the forces around the Ming Dynasty to dissatisfy and even fight against each other, but they were determined not to declare themselves kings and emperors and undermine the Ming emperor's orthodoxy.

As for how to fight, whether to fight, and when to fight, those are all trivial matters. As long as the heavenly soldiers carry righteousness and thunder, Xiaoxiao will be shattered to pieces. This is what the sages say.

(End of this chapter)