Dragon Sea Empire

When Yin Feng left Liaodong, he issued an order to the shopkeeper Jin and the intelligence personnel of the Chinese company's business intelligence department stationed in Liaodong, asking them to try their best to mobilize as many people as possible to go to Taiwan, preferably those Liaodong cavalry who could not survive due to unpaid wages.

Although Yin Feng has always believed that infantry is the final force that determines the outcome of the battlefield in the era of black powder, cavalry is also an indispensable mobile force. In the battle on the north bank of the Bashi River, the armor of the heavy cavalry of the cavalry regiment could not block the heavy musket bullets. Although the Germanic mercenaries' strong formation was broken, the casualties were heavy. Instead, the light cavalry used the "semi-rotational" tactic and used muskets to attack the enemy formation in turn, which showed a certain effect.

Yin Feng, who likes heavy cavalry to charge into battle, had no choice but to put away the unrealistic romanticism, and began to expand troops similar to dragoons, and began to train cavalry to use "half-rotation" tactics to deal with the enemy's phalanx. The number of heavy cavalry was still 100 cavalry. Yin Feng still retained this expensive cavalry; in fact, the Chinese army had gradually begun to regard the Ming army as an imaginary enemy during training. The chaotic and backward firearms tactics of the Ming army could not stop the heavy cavalry from charging.

……

Right now, Yin Feng and others are near Tongzhou and saw a team of the three major battalions of the capital training.

At this time, the Ming army did not have any concept of secrecy. In general exercises and training, they would not clear the ground for several miles in advance like the Chinese army did. Therefore, Western missionaries like Matteo Ricci could also have the opportunity to observe the training of the Ming army. .

However, this kind of training is a bit like a joke. It is nothing more than two teams walking towards each other, and then the two teams hit each other with wooden sticks a few times as if singing an opera; After the shooting, there is no further information, no formation change training, and no firearm tactical drills. Whether it is marching or fighting in formation, the soldiers do not have a neat formation. , only a few hundred cavalry, wearing commoner clothes to participate in the training, the horses are short and inferior, it seems that they have not received any equestrian training, basically the cavalry have no tactical actions other than running forward and stopping.

Moreover, among the thousands of people present, except for the gunmen, the rest of the soldiers were holding wooden sticks as weapons for training, and only a very small number of officers were holding real weapons.

In fact, except for the actual battles of the Ming Dynasty, the general soldiers only carried fake weapons during training. The fake weapons were issued to them so that they would not be completely unarmed during the exercise. A group of people at the lowest level swarmed around. There was no queue drill, no live ammunition shooting, and no confrontation exercises. None of the routines Qi Jiguang used to train the southern soldiers back then were maintained.

Outside the training ground of the Ming army, a group of idle people gathered, and the soldiers of the Ming army didn't bother to chase them away. Yin Feng and the others were inconspicuous among this group of idlers.

Yin Feng, Chen Zhongji, Luo Aquan and others watched it and shook their heads secretly; this level of military training could not even reach the level of training of Luzon native soldiers or the half-time Zhuang Ding team. In the scene of real swords and guns, the Ming army's training has at most reached the level of military school boy scouts playing military games.

This is the concentrated expression of the disadvantages of the Ming Dynasty and even traditional Chinese military science. When the gunpowder military revolution was launched in ancient China, it was the time when the integration of soldiers and Confucianism became more and more close. Because Confucianism preferred some metaphysics in terms of overall value orientation Like the distinction between Tao and weapons, those literati who talk about military affairs in their studies only pay attention to the construction of the concept of war, often treat military issues with virtual idealism, emphasize abstract principles, seriously ignore the operability of theory, and ignore the practicality of specific military academic issues. Deepen and expand.

Affected by this, military scientists usually talk about the concept of war with righteousness, the concept of war that the benevolent is invincible, and the philosophical laws of using troops. Such things are often regarded as inferior by military experts. Qi Jiguang's "Records of Military Training" and other works that describe the specific rules of military drills were actually not taken seriously during the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the military system of the Ming Dynasty was no longer able to reform itself. , unable to fully introduce Qi Jiguang's military revolution theory.

……

Yin Feng and others came across this scene by chance on their way from Liaodong to the capital. They disguised themselves as candidates for the Beijing exam, and they also had a guide issued by the Liaodong capital, and then stuffed some money into Shanhaiguan. Soldier, successfully passed the first test in the world. After all, next year is the year of the imperial examination competition. Some candidates went to Beijing to prepare for the exam in advance. This was also a common phenomenon at that time. The officials guarding the gate did not doubt the identity of Yin Feng and his party at all. .

They are relatively low-key along the way, usually by donkey cart or on foot, and the people's livelihood is still declining along the way; in recent years, North China has been hit by disasters year after year, and those farmers are the biggest victims.

For the peasants, the officials in charge of taxation in the imperial court are quite easy to deal with now: because at this time Emperor Wanli has been inactive for more than ten years, and many local officials are vacant, but Wanli just does not approve officials to take office, and even a county has appeared in many places. It is a strange phenomenon that county magistrates need to take care of the affairs of neighboring counties, so there are often vacancies for tax collectors. However, most of the land near Quzhou is controlled by the royal family, nobles, high-ranking officials and gentry, and they are relentless in pursuing land rent.

In Jiliao, Tongzhou and other important places in Beijing that Yin Feng and others passed by, there were unexpectedly county magistrates who were absent. When they arrived in Beijing, they scattered through various city gates and entered the city one after another. I stayed in an inn named "Hanhai", which is in an alley in Xuanwumen, near the newly built Jesuit Catholic Church (commonly known as the South Church) where Matteo Ricci was buried. Opened by a small official, it is actually a secret stronghold of the Zhonghua Company in the capital, which is under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Army's Intelligence Department.

When they arrived at the capital, Yin Feng and the others were quite amazed. After all, the imperial capital was the center of the Ming Dynasty for 200 years. Although it was no longer prosperous, its magnificent scale was still breathtaking.

However, the center of the Ming Empire was also in chaos; Emperor Wanli's inaction "destroyed the rule", so that in the 40th year of Wanli, there was only one Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment left in the six central ministers, Zhao Huan, the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Industry There is no special person in charge. The Metropolitan Procuratorate has no official officials for eight years. According to the regulations, there must be 50 people in the affairs, and 110 censors. As a result, the frontier guards asked for military pay, but no one issued it, and there were no military drills for many years. When locals encountered bandits, they concealed each other. However, they are still divided into various factions, arguing endlessly for everything, but those officials who handle the military salary wantonly corrupt, but no one cares.

In the innermost guest room on the first floor of the Hanhai Inn, Yin Feng looked at the mansion newspaper that had just been delivered, and said with a sneer, "The Mutiny in Liaodong, these censors all blamed Yang Hao, in fact, Liaodong is now frequently happening The source of the mutiny is actually in the capital, just above the court, in the palace, "

Xu Hongji and Zeng Shan were somewhat uncomfortable with his words that directly pointed the finger of criticism at the emperor.

Yin Feng pointed to this mansion newspaper and said: "Look, although Mr. Ye Ge has retired and returned to his hometown, there are still people here who use the topic of maritime bans, saying that he secretly ordered his family to go to sea...By the way, he accused officials from Fujian and Guangdong of covering up The smugglers who went into the sea..."

Xu Hongji looked at it, and said with a sneer: "The censor He Jun who sued Ye Xianggao is a member of the Zhejiang Party. In fact, this is revenge. Ye Ge once demoted an official in the Zhejiang Party when he was in power. ..."

Yin Feng smiled and said: "I can assure you that this censor must be related to Yuyao Xie's family,"

There was a sound of footsteps at the door, and Chen Zhongji, who was out to inquire about the situation, hastily opened the door and came in. He handed a piece of paper to Yin Feng and said, "This is the Guangdong Zongbingtang newspaper copied out today by a military doctor bribed by the Ministry of Military Intelligence."

Yin Feng took the note, did not read it, and asked indifferently: "What's going on?"

"About two months ago, Yuan Jin and Li Zhong led more than 500 troops and ten ships to surrender to Guangdong Xunhai Road,"

Yin Feng's eyes lit up, and anger rose on his face: Yuan Jin and Li Zhong have been missing for more than a year since the Java Island Rebellion, but now they reappeared suddenly, and they surrendered to the court, " It's really lingering, this is the second time they surrendered to the court, did the court accept it like this, "

Zeng Shan stood up and said, "From what I've seen, it may still be related to the sea ban. In the recent mansion newspaper, there are quite a few memorials demanding strict enforcement of the sea ban. Most of them are aimed at our company."

Yin Feng said seriously to Xu Hongji: "I don't know if the company's headquarters knows about this matter, Mr. Xu, please record: Order Lin Xiaozeng to send people to Guangdong to check the situation of Yuan Jin and the others. One fleet of Feizi and ten gunboats are going to Macao, ready to blockade the coast of Guangdong and hunt down Yuan Jin and Li Zhong,"

Xu Hongji is now the clerk, so he hurriedly wrote the record. Yin Feng thought for a while and said, "Let Miss Li find out how Yuan Jin and Li Zhong escaped from Nanyang to Guangdong. Also, after you finish recording, hand it over to Ji Zai. , let him code it up and send it to Taiwan with carrier pigeons,"

A guard dressed as a servant knocked on the door and said softly: "Master, there is a servant coming to the door."

Chen Zhongji stood up and said, "I'll go and have a look..." and walked out.

Not long after, he came back and waved his hands to indicate that nothing was wrong. There was a commotion at the door, and after a while it quieted down. He whispered to Yin Feng: "It's just a few yamen servants coming to ask for extra money. It's nothing serious. The shopkeeper said that this group of people come once a month, most of them are hooligans from the nearby fields, "

Zeng Shan said suddenly: "We still have to be careful. When I was rushing for the exam in the capital, I often heard that Jin Yiwei often hired these people to scout for news everywhere."

Yin Feng frowned: "Jinyiwei, this has been famous for a long time, but I am afraid that even the company's board of directors and Mr. Zeng don't know the details when we come to the capital this time. The only one who knows my general whereabouts is Lin Xiao. There is no way to know our specific itinerary, there should be no mistakes in this, right?"

Zeng Shan was a little worried: he had always opposed Yin Feng's visit to the mainland, and in the end he had no choice but to follow him.