Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 231 Misunderstanding

One month later, in late October of the [-]st year of Chongzhen, the first purely handmade steam engine on earth was finally built. It was not only expensive, but the heat conversion efficiency was not as high as that of later generations.

If you want to count the cost, it is estimated that no one can afford the price of this steam engine. Even if the imperial court came to do it, if no time-travelers knew clearly how promising the steam engine would be, they would probably give up.

Now that the first steam engine has been built, the entire experience of building a steam engine has been created. The cost of the next steam engine will be reduced.

The several steam engines built previously were all used for military purposes and served as the source of power for the War and War Bureau to manufacture ordnance. Cannons and flintlocks were made much faster.

Every flintlock rifle will be rifled, but what is the best rifling? There is a special group at the Military War Bureau who is still experimenting to see what kind of rifling shape is the best.

No matter what, the mass production of artillery and flintlock muskets is a certainty. Emperor Chongzhen then began to recruit elites from various ministries, who were actually skilled gunmen who had been on the battlefield and had seen blood, to reorganize the Shenji Battalion.

When the New Year was about to come, Emperor Chongzhen was still busy with ordnance manufacturing and tool improvement, but in the end, an express delivery bothered him.

Zheng Zhilong, the Marquis of Pinghai in Fujian, made a quick report, saying that after the Fujian Navy was reorganized and three divisions were transferred, the senior Dutch began to rebel. Not only did they no longer pay the protection fee, but they also demanded the protection of Ming Dynasty ships. fee. Moreover, the Dutch threatened that they already knew that there was a war going on in the north of the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng Zhilong's ships were transferred to the north. If they don't get what they want, they will consider helping the enemies of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, Zheng Zhilong also reported that five warships came over from Batavia, bringing the number of warships on the official's side to fifteen, running rampant along the southeast coast, allowing Zheng Zhilong to buy food from other countries or Problems were encountered in collecting grain from large officials.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this memorial, of course he would not be indifferent to the Dutch, and immediately sent an order for Zheng Zhibao's navy to rush to Tianjin Wei Port to stand by.

Subsequently, all the newly produced artillery and flintlock guns were shipped to Tianjin Guards to refit Zheng Zhibao's navy.

For now, warships are still not as fast as Xiyi's sail warships when the wind is favorable; but the range of artillery is definitely longer than that of Xiyi, and the accuracy is higher.

The Ming Dynasty had nothing but a large number of people and sufficient supplies; once the troops began to explode, don't say it was a local battle, even if it wasn't, the scale of the troops would definitely not be bad.

The newly formed Shenji Battalion, with a total of only [-] men, was led by Jin Zhensun, who had been promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief. It was also sent to the south to recover the majority and drive the Dutch away, leaving them with no place to stay.

Apart from this, there were basically no unexpected events in the remaining twenty-one years of Chongzhen.

Du Yinxi reported that Dongwu had been captured, and the remnants of the Toungoo dynasty fled to the Arakan dynasty next door. As a result, the Arakan dynasty was forced by the power of the Ming army and directly kidnapped them and gave them to the Ming army. They were afraid of the Ming army. After chasing him, Arakan was also killed.

Salian on the Dongwu side is a very important port and a very old port. The Portuguese had occupied it before and were then driven away. Now needless to say, it has naturally become the station of the Ming Dynasty Navy in the West.

The migration of the population is still going on, and it will take about a year. At the same time, the population and fields need to be re-registered, etc.

Therefore, at the end of the year, Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict to change Dongwu to Anyang and establish Anyang Province to suppress Western thoughts. Shalian Port was also renamed Zhennan Port.

In addition to the two capitals and thirteen provinces, the Ming Dynasty added one more province, becoming two capitals and fourteen provinces.

When a new province is established, a lot of official posts will be created, which everyone in the imperial court is happy to see. Although it is remote, the emperor attaches great importance to it. As long as he can make achievements there, the emperor will definitely see it.

Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel has no worries about selecting officials from Anyang Province.

In terms of other personnel matters, the chief minister Fan Jingwen left Yunnan and returned to the capital; the cabinet minister Fang Yuegong was sent to Jiangnan to be responsible for the construction of water conservancy facilities in the Yangtze River basin. The main reason is that the Yangtze River floods every year, and now that there is cement, it will be more convenient for the cabinet ministers to take the lead and all the states and governments along the Yangtze River to work together.

The original water conservancy expert Zhang Guowei mainly focused on managing the Yellow River Basin, which could not be achieved in one or two years, and he had to continue.

In March of the [-]nd year of Chongzhen, Zheng Zhibao's navy returned to Quanzhou, Fujian. Zheng Zhilong heard the news and welcomed him out with joy. He said to Zheng Zhibao: "Fifth brother, you really don't know. In the past six months, those Hongyi have really Arrogant, brother, I have never been so aggrieved, now I can finally find my place!"

It's not like he hasn't been aggrieved before, but he is always the winner in the end.

Now that he had the imperial court as his backer, although there were fewer people under his command, the emperor's memorial to him had already explained the situation, so Zheng Zhibao and his navy had long been expected to return to Fujian.

He actually didn't particularly care about the small number of people under his command. Because there are many people, it means that the cost of raising people is also high. Now that all of his subordinates are members of the imperial army, he doesn't have to support them. He made so much money before, but he still likes this situation where he doesn't have much responsibility and can provide for himself in old age.

When Zheng Zhibao heard what his elder brother said, he immediately patted his chest and said, "Brother, watch out, I will beat those Hongyi into submission this time!"

Hongyi is their contemptuous name for the Dutch. In the previous naval battle of Liaoluowan, Zheng Zhilong established his position as the maritime hegemon in the south of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop. However, the Dutch were not convinced because they felt that Zheng Zhilong was able to win solely because he fought locally. There are many people on board.

In addition, Zheng Zhilong was also skillful. After winning the naval battle of Liaoluo Bay, he immediately appeased the Dutch with both force and softness, so that the Dutch had to hold their noses and admit his dominance and pay protection fees.

However, how could the Dutch be willing to pay thousands of gold for a ship? They traveled thousands of miles to colonize just for the money. How could they give money to others?

In the original history, after the Dutch were expelled from the top posts by Zheng Chenggong, they later united with the Manchus and the Zheng family to fight against the top posts, and eventually returned to the top posts.

At this time, after Zheng Zhibao finished speaking, he quickly introduced the general behind him: "Brother, you know Marshal Jin. He is now commanding the newly established Shenji Battalion and assisting us in attacking Hongyi!"

Jin Zhensun had accompanied the emperor to Quanzhou before, so Zheng Zhilong naturally knew him. He is a good person and will not put on airs just because he has a title and Jin Zhensun does not have a title. He knew that as a trusted general of the emperor, Jin Zhensun would be knighted sooner or later.

No, he immediately greeted Jin Zhensun warmly.

Jin Zhensun also knew that Zheng Zhilong was relied upon by the emperor, so he was very polite.

Just like that, after the two navies merged, Zheng Zhilong came up with a plan to deal with the Dutch that he had already considered.

It's actually not complicated to say. Since the Dutch sailing warships can run fast at sea, Zheng Zhilong's countermeasure was to block the Dutch warships in the port and fight them. At this time, the Dutch did not expect that Zheng Zhilong would break up with them to the point of starting a war, because in their view, Zheng Zhilong was not strong enough, and he was also very tactful. Unless there was really nothing to talk about, Zheng Zhilong would not start a fight.

Therefore, whether it is on Damuan Island or inside the Dutch Castle, there are actually people from Zheng Zhilong.

When the news came, Zheng Zhilong seized the opportunity, assembled two naval divisions with a total of more than [-] warships, and directly attacked the officers. Just like in the original history, it entered the inland sea from the Luer Gate on the first or fifteenth day of the lunar month, blocking the city of Relanja built by the Dutch inside and outside.

As for the city of Geranje, Antony, the Dutch governor of Batavia, is here. The reason why he came here was to negotiate with Zheng Zhilong.

The benefits on the sea here are definitely enough for him to come here personally.

Because he knew that there were too few Dutchmen and Zheng Zhilong was fighting locally. It was unrealistic to defeat Zheng Zhilong. What he expected was to negotiate with Zheng Zhilong to gain benefits on this route.

"Your Majesty the Governor, the deadline for Zheng Zhilong is coming soon. I believe he will send someone over soon to subdue him. Otherwise, if we send a fleet to the north, we will definitely scare the Ming Dynasty court!"

Anthony listened to his men's words and nodded in agreement.

Previously, Zheng Zhilong asked the Dutch fleet not to embarrass him so that he could think about it and agreed on a time limit for a reply. Therefore, Antony parked the fleet in the city of Geranje to wait for the result.

What he never expected was that Zheng Zhilong came, but he came with the navy.

No, as soon as Anthony heard his subordinates come over to report that more than a thousand Ming warships were found on the sea, he immediately became gloomy and hurried to the top of the city to see the situation.

Zheng Zhilong has brought so many fleets here, so he definitely doesn't want to agree to his conditions and wants to bargain!

When these Eastern people do business, it is troublesome. Unlike when they do business, success or failure is just a matter of words. If you don't agree, just start robbing!

By the time Anthony got to the top of the city of Relanje, he could no longer see without a telescope that the sea was full of Ming Dynasty blessing ships. There were so many of them, it was as if a forest was floating on the sea.

"Your Majesty the Governor, should our fleet leave the port immediately to fight?"

After hearing the request, Anthony thought for a moment and finally shook his head and said: "Look at Zheng Zhilong's posture. If our warships leave the port, they will definitely be besieged. And the current wind direction is not conducive to us, but the Ming Dynasty's lucky ships are It can be opened regardless of the wind direction.”

Having said this, he paused and then said: "And once our fleets go to war, there will be no need to talk. He brought so many warships here just to bargain for more advantages! Ignore him for now , see what he says!”

Anthony made a decision and went back to wait for Zheng Zhilong's envoy. His men heard this and didn't care, because their views were actually the same as those of their Batavia governor.

Back in the hall of Relanja City, Anthony was thinking about whether to lower his bottom line when he heard his men hurriedly enter to report that Zheng Zhilong's fleet had blocked the seaport, and some ships had docked. The troops landed.

When Anthony heard this, he frowned and thought for a moment and said: "He wants to give us a showdown before negotiating terms with us! Haha, just wait for him to come. The city of Relanja is easy to defend but difficult to attack. We have our fleet in the bay and can also protect the city of Relanja. I want to see how powerful this Zheng Zhilong is!"

If he doesn't do it right, his show of force will turn into a joke, and the subsequent negotiations will actually be beneficial to him.

About half an hour later, it was already noon, and Anthony started to have lunch by himself. Unexpectedly, as soon as he picked up the knife and fork, his men came in in panic and reported the matter.

"Your Majesty the Governor, it's bad, Zheng Zhilong's fleet has entered the inland sea!"

When Anthony heard this, he stood up in shock and asked in disbelief: "How is it possible? What is the fort in the city of Relanja used for? By the way, I didn't hear the sound of the cannon!"

The entrance to the inland sea is covered by the artillery fire of Relanje City. It is impossible for ships from outside to enter the inland sea without the consent of Relanje City!

"No, they entered the inland sea from a ditch in the distance and took advantage of the high tide."

Anthony was a little surprised by what he heard, and hurried up to the top of the city to see what was going on.

Sure enough, he saw that at least fifty warships of various sizes in Zheng Zhilong's fleet had entered the inland sea. However, these ships at this time were not attacking, but in a defensive posture. They should be covering the subsequent entry of more warships.

Anthony hurriedly asked for a monocular to check the situation, but found that he still had a knife and fork in his hand. He was so anxious that he threw it away, and then took the monocular to check.

After looking at it for a while, he said a little surprised: "Hey, why didn't the ship Zheng Zhilong enter the inland sea have an arson ship?"

The reason why the Battle of Liaoluo Bay failed was that the Dutch fleet docked at Liaoluo Bay and was attacked by Zheng Zhilong's fleet and set on fire.

In Anthony's mind, these Eastern monkeys only had this one trick. Otherwise, should we rely on the speed of the ship or the power of the artillery?

Not seeing the arson boat, he concluded that Zheng Zhilong was bluffing and did not dare to fight him. After all, the strength of the Dutch fleet is also here. Not to mention these Eastern monkeys, Spain and Portugal also circled the Dutch fleet in the Far East.

With these thoughts in mind, Anthony felt a little more relieved, and then turned the telescope to look at the enemies on land.

He found that about two thousand of Zheng Zhilong's men had landed ashore and were seizing the commanding heights.

In response, Anthony sneered.

When building the city of Relanja, it was naturally calculated that even the Dutch's own red barbarian cannons could not reach the commanding heights of the shooting range. What use would these oriental monkeys have if they snatched it away?

With this thought in his mind, he ordered: "Come on, I want to have lunch here and watch what these oriental monkeys do!"

(End of this chapter)