Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 371 Strait of Malacca (Special thanks to the book friend Han Fengxue Ye Gui Ren Lai for his 2 monthly tickets!)

All the large ocean-going civilian businesses of the Great Zhou purchased large merchant ships produced by the "Royal Dockyard" in Shanghai. Although they were not as powerful as the Royal Navy's sailing battleships with more than eighty large crossbow ports on each ship, they still had thirty to fifty crossbow ports, and the overall ship power was leading among merchant ships of various countries.

After several days of fighting near the strait, both sides suffered losses. Seeing that the Angkor Kingdom's navy warships had received reinforcements, the Great Zhou merchant fleet withdrew to the port of Annan.

Chai Zongxun then read the reply from Crown Prince Chai Jiyu to the memorial, which was to ask the private merchant ships of the Great Zhou to temporarily stop taking the Angkor route and to conduct trade with nearby countries in the South China Sea.

Chai Zongxun knew that this unnamed strait should be the Strait of Malacca in the previous life, which was the only way from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and to the Arab area.

Chai Zongxun asked Tang Qi, the chief eunuch standing beside him,

"Manager Tang, what did Yu'er think at the time? Did he discuss it with you?"

Tang Qi saluted and said:
“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince once asked me about the details of the Angkor Dynasty.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that His Majesty had instructed that the top priority for the country at the moment was to make every effort to ensure victory in the war against the Star Religion nation.

It was not necessary for private maritime traders to open up new routes to the west, and the Angkor Dynasty was already the overlord of the southeast, so there was no point in going to war with it at this time.

Therefore, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has approved that civilian merchant ships should not go to the Angkor Dynasty area for the time being."

Chai Zongxun nodded and said:
"Yu'er's decision is prudent. It is indeed difficult to start a war with a strong enemy besides fighting against the Star Sect countries.

We have to wait at least a few years until the tax revenues in Liao, Central Asia, Korea and other places increase significantly and the national treasury is full before we can take action against the Angkor Dynasty."

The next day, on the morning of October 30th, the 28th year of Kaixi, Chai Zongxun praised the crown prince and the ministers, and then specifically brought up the issue of the Angkor Dynasty blocking the merchant ships of the Great Zhou in the strait for discussion.

Chai Zongxun said:

“My dear ministers, the Angkor Dynasty is a small and barbaric country, and it does not know the might of our Great Zhou.

He is sitting on the Southeast Peninsula and looking at the world from a well, thinking of himself as the local overlord, and even dares to attack our Great Zhou merchant ships.

There are also many merchant ships from India, India and other places that come to our Great Zhou for trade. How do they pass through the strait controlled by the Angkor Kingdom?"

Zhang Yong, the commander of the Dragon Guards and the "Duke of Wusheng", came out of the class and said:

“Your Majesty, according to the news sent back by the Longxiang Guard stationed in Annan, the Angkor Dynasty deployed warships in the strait to rob passing ships and extort a large amount of money for customs clearance based on the value of the goods.

Therefore, the goods sold by the sea merchants coming to our Great Zhou from the areas of Daqin and Tianzhu are quite expensive. "

Chai Zongxun said:

"I see.

The Angkor Dynasty occupied the main sea routes, which was very detrimental to the trade between our Great Zhou Empire and overseas countries! Hateful!"

Prime Minister Zhang Qixian came out of class and said:

“Your Majesty is wise.

Ever since Your Majesty encouraged private maritime trade, the tax revenue brought in by our Great Zhou's maritime trade has exceeded 2 million taels of silver.

Today, my country's maritime trade with Fuso and the South China Sea has gradually reached saturation, and the future growth potential lies in the countries in the Western region.

The Angkor Dynasty dared to challenge the might of the Great Zhou, and it was courting its own destruction! With the strength of the Great Zhou Royal Navy, it would be easy to attack and destroy the Angkor Dynasty's navy!
But right now, our Great Zhou is concentrating all its efforts on fighting the Star Sect countries. Whether to go to war with the Angkor Dynasty is up to your Majesty to decide!"

At present, the army that Da Zhou has transferred to Central Asia to fight against the coalition forces of the Star Sect has reached 900,000 people in the ten corps of the Longxiang Army.

The garrison of a country with an area of ​​30 million square kilometers would require at least eight corps. If the Royal Navy was sent to the Strait of Malacca to destroy the Angkor navy, it would be a good thing that Angkor surrendered, but it was more likely to trigger a full-scale war between the two sides.

If a full-scale war breaks out in Dali and Annan, which border the Angkor Dynasty, they must send troops.

When Chai Zongxun was hesitating, the deputy assistant Li Hang came out and said:

"Your Majesty, for the sake of the overall situation, it is not appropriate for our Great Zhou to engage in a full-scale war with Angkor at this time.

However, since the civilian sea trade merchant ships are able to compete with the Angkor navy, it is better to let them attack. This will be of great benefit to the future of our Great Zhou civilian sea trade and overseas foreign countries."

Chai Zongxun knew Li Hang's intention was to let civilian sea trade ships train with the weak navy of Angkor. It should be understood that when they go overseas, these domestic sea trade ships will ultimately need to rely on their own military strength to ensure their safety.

No matter how powerful the Great Zhou Royal Navy is, it is impossible to protect its own civilian merchant ships at sea at all times.

Chai Zongxun said:

“What you two dear ministers said are both good ideas.

It is indeed not appropriate to engage in an all-out war with the Angkor Dynasty at the moment, but it is a good strategy to allow civilian merchant ships to train their forces using Angkor's weak navy.

However, at present, the civilian maritime trade ships of our Great Zhou do not have a great combat power advantage. I will discuss this matter after I summon Dean Yan to discuss it."

When Chai Zongxun woke up from his nap that day and walked to Yanfu Hall, Yan Su, the president of the Royal Academy of Sciences, was already waiting there.

After asking a few questions about the daily situation of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Chai Zongxun said:

"President Yan, the Angkor barbarians dared to kill our sea trade merchants, we must teach them a lesson!
I wanted to order civilian merchant ships to attack the Angkor navy, but I was afraid that they were not sure of victory.

Now that my dear minister has invented the Yansu cannon, I want to replace the giant crossbows on the Royal Navy's sailing battleships and civilian merchant ships with cannons. Wouldn't that greatly increase our combat power and make us unrivaled in the world?
My dear Lord Yan, do you think this is feasible?"

Yan Su was surprised at the intelligence of Emperor Chai Zongxun. After pondering for a moment, he said:
“Your Majesty, it is feasible to replace the crossbow with a cannon, but the location of the muzzle and the hull materials on the warships and merchant ships must be redesigned.

As for warships, the Imperial Dockyard's Director Yu is a great talent in this area, and I need to discuss this with him before I can fulfill the order of His Majesty."

Chai Zongxun was overjoyed and said:
"Okay! In that case, Dean Yan will arrange the work of the Royal Academy of Sciences in the next few days, and then set off for Shanghai to work with Chief Steward Yu to replace the crossbows on warships and merchant ships with cannons as soon as possible."

After receiving the order, Yan Su made preparations and set off for Shanghai on November 5.

On November 16, the 4th and 8th Corps of the Longxiang Army, which had been stationed in Central Asia for nearly five years and fought a bloody battle with the ten-fold Xingxing Cult coalition force in the city of Bekara, returned to Bianjing after more than seven months of trekking.

Chai Zongxun personally went to the Altar of State and Grain to reward the three armies.

After seeing the ceremony, Chai Zongxun said:

"My dear ministers, your courage is commendable. You have stopped the Star Cult's coalition army, which is ten times stronger than the enemy, with the strength of a single city. This has kept all of Central Asia safe and sound. You have all made great contributions to the country!"

After the whole army expressed their gratitude, the Imperial Eunuch Tang Qi immediately read out the imperial edict:
The fief of Cao Bin, the Duke of Gan, was increased by 5,000 households, bringing the total to 15,000 households.

Yang Ye was promoted to "Duke of Lan" and his fief was increased to 13,000 households.

All soldiers were rewarded with fifty taels of silver and promoted three levels.

Each soldier who died in battle was given a pension of at least 300 taels of silver, and his tablet was placed in the "Martyrs' Shrine".

(End of this chapter)