Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Hearing that the imperial court wanted to transfer the Fujian navy back, Zheng Hongkui's permission was still needed. A naval admiral, a third-rank official, still needs to listen to a fifth-rank deputy commander, which is not the result of a single meal. It can be seen how difficult Yu Minzhong's life is.

"Who is Zheng Hongkui?"

"Zheng Hongkui was in the first year of Chongzhen, and he and his ministers took the same martial arts examination." Wu Sangui introduced: "However, my ministers took the path of the army, and Zheng Hongkui was born in Fujian and joined the navy in the army. He was assigned to the Denglai Navy as a soldier. Deputy Commander-in-Chief.

Because our Ming Dynasty did not pay attention to the navy, official positions have never been promoted. I don’t know what happened next. "

Zhang Shenyan responded: "In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Kong Youde plundered Shandong and defeated the Denglai Naval Camp. Zhang Dake, the commander-in-chief, set himself on fire, and Zheng Hongkui led a section of the Denglai Navy to go south. First in Yangzhou, he guarded the Yangtze River Estuary for the Ming Dynasty, but because of his His elder brother was a pirate named Zheng Zhilong who belonged to the Ming Dynasty. In fact, he was feared by those who stayed in Nanjing and forced him to go south to Fujian. Although Zheng Hongkui was loyal to the court and did not join the pirates, he still relied on his brother's care and started escorting smuggling in Nanyang. , merchant shipping business, to support his naval brothers. In fact, his Denglai fleet is already his private fleet.

However, he also teamed up with Yu Minzhong's Fujian Navy and his brother Zheng Zhilong, the guerrilla general of the Fifth Army of the Ming Dynasty, to fight to the death with the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch fleets that invaded the Ming Dynasty several times, and then he kept the safety of the Ming Dynasty's maritime areas and Taiwan. Completely occupied by the Netherlands. His loyalty to the Ming Dynasty cannot be doubted. "

"That's right. Sir, how is the status of Zheng Hongkui's fleet?"

"Because he was involved in smuggling and had to be taken care of by his brother, he had many ships and soldiers."

The purpose of Lu Mou's inquiry was to give Yu Minzhong money and food so that he could use force to break away from Zheng Hongkui's shackles and return north.

But after hearing such an introduction, Lu Mou immediately wisely gave up his fantasy. It would be difficult for Yu Minzhong to deal with Zheng Hongkui alone, not to mention the support of Zheng Zhilong, the maritime overlord. If that really happens, Yu Minzhong will be dead.

"Then you think, can we reward Zheng Hongkui generously and sell him back to the Fujian Navy in disguise?"

This idea is extremely strange. The Ming court wanted to bribe its own ministers to buy back the Fujian navy of the Ming Dynasty. Isn't this a bit miserable?

But there is no way. Although the Ming Dynasty's army is invincible, how can you, a landlubber, fight against others?

Therefore, the regent's method can be regarded as a good method.

"This may be possible. Because when I was the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, I tried every means to support Yu Minzhong and take care of Zheng Hongkui. Therefore, I cannot guarantee that Zheng Hongkui will return this time, but if Zheng Hongkui is rewarded generously, Zheng Hongkui may let him go. Yu Minzhong returns to the north."

After understanding the intricate relationship here, Lu Mou became more confident. When facing his brother who was overseeing the country, he said, "There are lonely loyalists overseas. Regardless of whether Zheng Hongkui is willing to obey the court's instructions or not, it should be regarded as a reward. If he doesn't want to come back, then fine." Give him a name to form the Jiangnan Navy, and use Songjiang Prefecture as his barge base to guard the Yangtze River Estuary for us and coordinate the Yangzhou Zhenjiang Nanjing Hukou."

Zhu Cihong was also moved by the deeds of Zheng Hongkui and Yu Minzhong. He nodded immediately and turned to the first and second assistants: "What kind of praise should be given to these two masters?"

Huang Daozhou was familiar with Zheng Hongkui. When Chongzhen left the court and lived in seclusion in the 16th year, he actively contacted Zheng Hongkui to prepare for the funeral of the Ming Dynasty.

So he pondered for a while and said: "The regent's arrangement is the best. He will reward Zheng Hongkui generously. Not only will he stay in the south of the Yangtze River, he will be able to control our foothold on the Yangtze River. We can also rely on favors to limit the pirates' harassment of our Ming Dynasty, and we can fight against the red-haired gangsters." Looking at our Ming Dynasty, it is really difficult to kill three birds with one stone. For this reason, I suggest that because he has defeated foreigners many times and has made great achievements in protecting the Ming Dynasty, he should be granted the title of Zhen Haibo, establish the Jiangnan Navy, and make Zheng Hongkui the admiral of the Jiangnan Navy. The court will pay him an annual salary. One hundred thousand. Confessed Yu Minzhong as Dinghaibo, transferred him to the north, established the Northern Navy, and appointed him as the admiral of the Northern Navy."

Liu Zongzhou also nodded in praise.

In times of trouble, people need their loyalty, but the court really has nothing to attract them, so it can only reward them with honors.

Now in the grassland, the marquises and princes of the Ming Dynasty are flying all over the sky, but they are all empty. Only the rewards within the Ming Dynasty are given in coupons and are genuine. An internal earl is much more valuable than a county king in the prairie.

This will make Zheng Hongkui, a loyal minister and national hero, even more loyal.

"He deserves a count. Let's be kind. Let's do this. From the Ministry of Industry, I will allocate another 300 state-of-the-art steel cannons to reward him. I will reward Zheng Zhilong with 100 more, which will be used as money to buy his way." It is definitely a big deal. Even if Zheng Hongkui is not loyal, he should let it go; Zheng Zhilong will let it go for the sake of the gun. In this way, the future northern navy of the Ming Dynasty will be able to return north smoothly.

In this way, Beizhili had an iron gate bolt on the sea.

Of course, Lu Mou has such a fleet, and he is not just a housekeeper. He has high hopes for this fleet.

Zhang Shenyan nodded: "If the reward is given like this, Zheng Hongkui can let Yu Minzhong come back, and Zheng Zhilong will not stop him."

Zhu Cixiang nodded: "Then according to the two masters' suggestions, I will report to the country and ask my father to issue an order."

Chongzhen agreed and wrote the imperial edict, and Zhang Shenyan disguised himself and sneaked to the south. Went to see Yu Minzhong.

The Fujian Navy is about to return north, so building a home port for the Fujian Navy has become a top priority.

There are many good ports in the north. In fact, there is an old port in Denglai, Shandong.

However, Lu Mou considered that Denglai was too far away from the capital, and it would be inconvenient to command and dispatch the navy. In addition, although the Manchu navy was weak, it was possible to sneak attack the capital through Tianjin. Placing the navy near the capital is the best strategy.

Therefore, he left the recruitment and training of the Jiangnan Group Army to Zhang Huangyan and Li Yan, and went to Tianjin Wei to prepare for the establishment of Tianjin Port.

Tianjin was not yet a seaport at this time, let alone a large city. In fact, the scale is not even as large as Tongzhou. It was just a military camp that originally housed three guards and less than 10,000 people.

During the Chongzhen period, it was conquered by the Manchu Qing Dynasty and was immediately abandoned.

While riding a horse in Tianjin, the streets were narrow and shabby, dirty water flowed across the streets, and the stench was overwhelming. There are almost no shops, not even many citizens, most of them are farmers working nearby.

The original governor of Tianjin was killed by Chongzhen because of the loss of Tianjin. Later, he was directly revoked, and the governor's office has become a den of snakes and rats.

After an inspection, Lu Mou gave up Tianjin Wei because there was no need to spend precious funds to build it here.

In Tanggu, it was Lu Mou's plan to build Tanggu Port and build a new city.

After all, blank land is better for real estate development. It is easy to plan and save on relocation. Is it the favorite choice of developers?

There was a small port in Tanggu that used to communicate with Denglai Navy. With the Ming Dynasty Sea Ban and the destruction of Denglai Navy, this small port naturally declined and became depressed. It has become a haven for fishermen.

There is a dredged Haihe River here, connecting the canal to Tongzhou and a direct water channel to Beijing, which is suitable for building a port.

Lu Mou planned to take advantage of this opportunity to lift the maritime ban and build Tanggu, the new Tianjin, into an international metropolis and become a sister city to Beijing.

An ancient Beijing carries the profound Chinese culture, and an emerging Tianjin shows the enterprising future of the Ming Dynasty. (End of chapter)