Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 76: Shipbuilding and Japanese War

"Edict: The coast is the border of Zhongxia. If you want to protect Zhongxia, you must clear the coast. Today the Japanese pirates are ignorant..."

In the meeting hall of the Duke of Wei's mansion, when Zhu Gaoxu read out the contents of the imperial edict, Xu Huizu and Xu Zengshou's first reaction was that the edict was ghostwritten and that it was not a big deal.

Sure enough, they all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

I originally thought there was something big going on in the north, but it turned out that it was just cleaning up the Japanese pirates along the coast, which wasn't really that big of a deal.

Xu Huizu took the imperial edict from Zhu Gaoxu with both hands. Although he looked solemn, Zhu Gaoxu could feel the lack of attention in his heart, so he couldn't help but remind him:

"Grandpa sent me here just to make it clear to my uncle the key points and locations of the extermination of Japanese pirates."

"You?" Xu Huizu looked at Zhu Gaoxu distrustfully. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also explained his views on the Japanese pirates at sea to Xu Huizu.

Xu Huizu's expression changed. From suspicion at the beginning, to disbelief in the middle, to conviction at the end, he had to admit that what Zhu Gaoxu said made sense.

In the past, the locations where the coastal navy discovered Japanese pirates were basically near the place Zhu Gaoxu mentioned.

Thinking of this, he frowned and expressed his doubts:
"In the past, the naval divisions of all capitals patrolled the place you mentioned, but no Japanese pirates were found."

"It's normal that I didn't find any." Zhu Gaoxu responded without thinking:
"These Japanese pirates have their own intelligence on the shore, so the best way is to mobilize the navy across provinces, use the Yangtze River Navy to encircle and suppress the Zhejiang Japanese pirates, use the Zhejiang Navy to encircle and suppress the Fujian Japanese pirates, and use the Fujian Navy to encircle and suppress the Guangdong and Guangxi Japanese pirates."

"Understood." Xu Huizu nodded, understanding the meaning of Zhu Gaoxu's words.

Although Zhu Gaoxu spoke cryptically, Xu Huizu could guess that those coastal Japanese pirates should all have their own people in the navy of the province entrenched on the island, otherwise they would not be able to hide in advance every time.

"As long as Kuadusi mobilizes the navy to encircle and suppress them, these Japanese pirates will not be able to escape."

Zhu Gaoxu was full of confidence, because the Japanese pirates in the early Ming Dynasty were relatively easy to deal with. There were more real Japanese than fake among them, and as long as they were found, they could determine whether they were Japanese pirates.

On the contrary, most of the Japanese pirates during the Jiajing period were fake and real. Once they wanted to hide, they could instantly disguise themselves as fishermen and merchant ships at sea, making it more difficult to capture and suppress them.

"Your Majesty asked me to do things easily, how much do you think I should do to send troops?"

Xu Huizu held the imperial edict in his hand and felt a sense of absurdity in his heart. He never thought that he would need his nephew's guidance in fighting.

Facing Xu Huizu's question, Zhu Gaoxu already had a plan in mind, so he answered without thinking:
"I have seen the shipbuilding plans of Longjiang Shipyard. Please forgive me for telling the truth..."

Zhu Gaoxu took a deep breath and explained the problem of the navy in the early Ming Dynasty: "Although there are many types of warships in the country and dynasty, and there are more than [-] ships along the coast, Yangtze River, and two rivers, they can really be called warships. There are not many, not even three hundred."

Zhu Gaoxu expressed his opinion, and his opinion made Xu Huizu frown.

There were many types of warships in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the tower ships, mengchong, fighting ships, sea falcons, walking boats, yachts, etc. that had existed in the past dynasties, there were also the [-]-material warships and [-]-material patrol ships that emerged in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. Seat boats, Jiujiang-style sentry boats, rowing boats, etc.

But in Zhu Gaoxu's eyes, these ships were not even considered warships.

"What do you think?" Although Xu Huizu felt that Zhu Gaoxu was arrogant, he still asked patiently. After all, this kid's view of Japanese pirates was indeed more complete than his own.

"How much grain can uncle transfer to build ships?" Zhu Gaoxu did not answer directly, but asked a question.

"About five thousand guan without your Majesty's permission." Xu Huizu said an amount thoughtfully, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing the words: "That's enough."

"To go out to sea to encircle and suppress Japanese pirates, the current ships are absolutely impossible. The number of artillery that a [-]-material warship can carry is not many. If there is no way to encircle and suppress Japanese pirates, it will be difficult to encircle and suppress them next time."

"Five thousand guan of money can build more than thirty warships with one thousand materials." Zhu Gaoxu first told the price, and then continued to talk about equipment issues:

"If each warship is equipped with thirty 150-pound bronze cannons and [-] sailors, then only these thirty ships can eliminate Japanese pirates along the coast."

After saying that, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Xu Huizu, wanting to know what he thought.

Xu Huizu was still thinking about this, but Xu Zengshou next to him already looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Yao Shou..." Xu Zengshou looked at the scene in front of him, and he even wondered if he hadn't woken up yet.He actually saw his naughty nephew teaching his elder brother how to fight, even if it was a water fight, this was enough to make him unbelievable.

It’s just that no one paid attention to Xu Zengshou at this moment. Even Xu Huizu, who felt uncomfortable, didn’t say anything. Instead, after a little calculation, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu and shook his head at the same time:
"According to your words, even thirty warships will need nine hundred bronze cannons, at least thirty thousand."

"The warship and bronze cannon will cost more than [-] guan. We must ask His Majesty for instructions."

Xu Huizu shook his head and spoke, but when Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he changed his tone and said, "How about using an iron cannon instead?"

"It won't work if you switch to iron cannons..." Xu Huizu shook his head: "The cost of making a wrought iron cannon is 18 taels per unit."

"This is difficult..." Zhu Gaoxu frowned. He did not expect that the cost of firearms in the early Ming Dynasty was so expensive. A few cannons could be worth a thousand-material warship.

Thinking about it this way, it's not that Ming Dynasty warships couldn't carry too many artillery pieces, but that the artillery pieces were too expensive to build and couldn't be loaded in large quantities.

After careful consideration, Zhu Gaoxu could only come up with a compromise and suggested to Xu Huizu:

"Ten warships with one thousand rations can be built, equipped with 160 iron cannons, and twenty warships with [-] rations and forty eagle ships can be transferred from the navy of each province, plus [-] sentry ships and [-] cargo ships. .”

"In this way, we should be able to pull out a brave navy to wipe out the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi."

"However, we should not alert the enemy. It is best to prepare more cargo ships. After replenishing goods in Nanjing and going to sea, they will go all the way south along the coast without docking in the middle, and go straight to Shuangyu, Zhangzhou, Qiongzhou, Penghu and other islands."

"Okay!" Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Xu Huizu nodded. Then he didn't know what he thought of, and asked Zhu Gaoxu, "Do you have any naval generals you like?"

"Yang Wen, who supervises shipping, and Yang Qiu from Chongming Institute are good." Zhu Gaoxu mentioned Yang Wen and Yang Zhan's father, Yang Qiu.

The former was an outstanding general who appeared in the late Hongwu period. He could not only fight mountain battles, but also plain battles and naval battles.

In the Battle of Jingnan, the Liaodong Group led by Yang Wen, Pingan, and Wu Gao can be said to have greatly delayed Zhu Di's success in Jingnan.

At present, Yang Wen has not gone to the north, and Zhu Gaoxu hopes to get closer to Yang Wen and let him stay in the south as a naval general.

If that didn't work, he could also ask Yang Zhan's father, Yang Qiu, to take over the navy later and continue to pacify the Japanese, waiting for the right time.

Although Yang Qiu was only a small official of hundreds of households in history, according to the news Zhu Gaoxu heard from Yang Zhan, he was still a qualified naval general.

"Okay, I will make arrangements later. You can take the order and return to the palace."

Xu Huizu knew Yang Wen well. Although he had not gone to the north yet, he had already distinguished himself in the battle of Pingyuelu Timur in the southwest. He was not an unknown person.

On the other hand, although Yang Qiu and Xu Huizu didn't know who they were, they could be remembered by their own nephew, so their skills weren't too bad.

"Why do I need to go back to the palace..." After hearing Xu Huizu's words, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head helplessly:

"Grandpa and I had differences over the issue of peace with Japan. He kicked me out early. I should go to Duke Ying's mansion to study in a while."

After saying that, Zhu Gaoxu also bowed to Xu Huizu and Xu Zengshou: "Two uncles, I will leave first."

"Won't you stay for dinner?" Xu Zengshou finally interjected, but Zhu Gaoxu shook his head to indicate that he still had something to do, and then turned and left at Xu Huizu's nod.

Looking at his leaving figure, Xu Zengshou suddenly felt that Zhu Gaoxu had changed a lot, and couldn't help but look at Xu Huizu beside him.

"Brother, this kid has only learned the art of war for more than half a year, how come he has made such great progress? I don't even dare to recognize him."

"I'm not bad at fighting, how can my son be any worse?" Xu Huizu was also confused, but he still felt that Zhu Gaoxu was Zhu Gaoxu, and the current changes were just the rapid progress of the prodigal son after he turned back.

He turned around and walked towards the side hall, but Xu Zengshou, who was left behind, did not move. Instead, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu's back. Only after he completely disappeared did he say:
"If you say that, then I wonder if dad is hiding something from us..."

As Xu Zengshou spoke, he followed Xu Huizu's footsteps, and Zhu Gaoxu also walked out of the Duke of Wei's Mansion, rushed towards the Duke of Ying's Mansion, and gradually disappeared at the end of the long street.

(End of this chapter)