Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

Standing on the top of the hard head mountain, Zheng Kezang overlooked the rippling bay below. He saw several trestles made of cement extending from the embankment to the bay, and all kinds of ships, large and small, were moored directly beside the trestle. , or simply moored on the sea farther away, scattered all over the sea, with a unique charm and beauty.

Looking back at the foot of Mount Hardhead, what Zheng Kezang saw was a naval fortress with more than a dozen fire-proof guns on the shore. With the help of our help, we can vaguely see two similar forts used to seal Liyukou; of course, in addition to the garrisons on Xiangshan Oben Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, there are more small forts at Kap Shui Mun, Ma Wan, Fotang Gate, etc. Forts and beacons exist.

"Xiangshan'ao's garrison envoy governs four fortress regiments, two supply regiments, and twelve garrison regiments of the Fubo Army." Maying, the admiral of the Western Fleet, introduced hastily, as if aware of Zheng Kezang's shift of sight. "There are four large-scale fortifications, one barracks, one military depot, and ten small forts in Xiangshanao and outlying islands."

"In addition, the garrison office of Xiangshanao still has [-] small notification ships with [-] to [-] materials, cruising eastward to Dapeng Bay and westward to Wanshan Islands. Although they cannot go to Dongsha and other foreign countries, at least You can still know the movements around Xiangshan Ao very well." Yang Yi, the guard envoy of Xiangshan Ao who was preempted by Ma Ying, added, not to be outdone. "In addition to the notification boats used for patrolling, the guarding envoy also has four military transport ships with [-] materials, one [-]-year army transport ship, and [-]-year-old army transport ship."

Yang Yi's chattering introduction made Maying and others beside him frown, but the other party was both a colleague and a classmate, so naturally he couldn't say much. Besides, Zheng Kezang also listened with gusto, and Maying had no choice but to be bitter. Stay with me with a straight face.

Zheng Kezang also noticed Maying's unnaturalness.Zheng Kezang is also aware of the open and secret struggle between Maying and Yang Yi.Not to mention Maying, it was Zheng Kezang Jianba who first handed it, and Yang Yi, apart from being the grandson of Zheng Chenggong's Yang Zu and a descendant of Jiangmen, was born in the Jiayin period of Tongziying, like Maying, Gong Tian and others.

It’s just that Yang Yi has been serving in the Lu Division before, and she can reach the highest position as the commander of the first division of the Longwu Army. It is very difficult to stand out from the crowd among his classmates, so he had no choice but to find another way to get out of the town from the field army, so as to achieve the goal of being promoted to the fourth-rank flying cavalry captain.

However, although Yang Yi's goal has been achieved, the road to go upwards is already very narrow, so he, who was born in an aristocratic family, is very jealous of the navy generals such as Maying and Gong Tian, ​​who have already been crowned with the title of third-rank Xiaoqiwei. This time, Yang Yi did not burn a lot of bad things about the navy in the correspondence with Lu Shi's colleagues, and some rumors even reached Zheng Kezang's ears.

It is reasonable to say that some of Yang Yi's practices have crossed the line, and he must give warnings by slandering his colleagues, but Zheng Kezang has never expressed his position on this, which is naturally a certain consideration.Perhaps in Zheng Kezang's eyes, classmates, fellow villagers, and fellow party members are all sources of trouble for the government, so the division into factions within the boy camp is what he would like to see happen.

"Are there still three guardian offices in Qiongshan Port, Qinzhou Bay, and Jinlan Bay in the Western Fleet's defense area?" Zheng Kezang asked suddenly while listening. "How does the defense of these places compare to that of Xiangshan O?"

Yang Yi froze, and at this moment Ma Ying responded: "If you go back to the king, the defense of the three places is not as good as that of Xiangshanao."

Zheng Kezang nodded. This is not surprising. After all, military expenditures are limited, so they must be used wisely. What's more, Xiangshanao is the residence of the Western Fleet Office. Even from the perspective of cosmetics, it is not the only The other three military ports where a small number of ships are stationed can be compared.

So Zheng Kezang asked again: "How many ships are currently berthed in each of the four military ports?"

"Your Majesty, the naval fleet has always been a team of four. Except for the cruiser fleet, which is still not fully equipped, all the teams of the Western Fleet are now fully staffed." Maying responded. "Because the cruise fleet has to guard Guanghui, it has always been stationed in Xiangshanao. In addition, Xiangshanao military port also has a fleet of second-class cruise ships, and a fleet of first-class and second-class notification ships." Ma Ying pointed her fingers. "Most of the military convoys of the Western Fleet are also berthed in Xiangshanao. As for Jinlan and other places, a team of cruise ships and a team of notification ships are stationed all year round."

Zheng Kezang did the math, and immediately discovered the problem: "Let's not count the small notification ships directly under the garrison envoys, isn't there twenty first-class and second-class cruise ships in the Western Fleet? Why is one team missing? As for the notification ships Shouldn’t there be eight teams with 32 boats? Why do you say that there are only four teams?”

"What your majesty said is true. The cruise ships of the Western Fleet are indeed divided into five teams. However, problems such as barnacles and shipworms will appear on the ships after a long time at sea. Therefore, they need to be repaired every six months. The remaining team is The entrance has been repaired." Ma Ying pointed to Kowloon on the other side. "Although Xiangshanao cannot build large boats, it has the ability to repair four [-]-material cruise ships or two [-]-material cruisers at one time." Following Ma Ying's instructions, Zheng Kezang picked up the binoculars and looked at the ships on the other side. field, just listen to Maying continue. "In fact, the ship being repaired is also the last reserve of the Western Fleet."

The fleet that has not entered the berth is actually being repaired. There are still some loopholes in this explanation, but Zheng Kezang believes that no one dares to make such a big move on the number of ships in service, so he still approves Ma Ying’s Explain, but Ma Ying has not explained the issue of the notification ship, so Zheng Kezang did not express his position, but just listened.

Just listen to Maying continue: "As for the notification ships, in fact, except for the special notification fleet, each of the other cruise fleets and notification fleets has two notification ships, so the 32 notification ships that the king knows are actually It cannot be formed into eight teams."

Zheng Kezang suddenly realized that he had made a mistake in saying this. Well, it is indeed so. The five independent notification fleets have a total of [-] ships, and the other [-] ships are assigned to the cruise fleets stationed in each military port. Cruise fleet.

The problem was solved, but Zheng Kezang asked abruptly: "Ma Qing, the sea is vast, and the teams are scattered in various ports. How can we coordinate with each other, and how can we defend the sea area of ​​thousands of miles?"

I have already asked Peng Gaochang the same question before, but the status is different, so the answer is also different: "Your Majesty, it is not the duty of the ministers to guard the port. Excuse me, but in fact, the ministers should travel thousands of miles. At sea, when fighting against strong bandits, as for the responsibility of guarding households, it should be borne by the guardians of the various places."

Zheng Kezang knew that it must be Peng Gaochang who told Maying about his problem, but that was also good, as Maying's answer was exactly what he wanted, so he knocked on him with a smile: "Ma Qing's words are very lonely. Sailors, the dragons of the sea, alone spend tens of thousands of gold and silver to build ships for them, not for you to be confined in the ports of the inland sea. It is also like the old days of the Manchu Qing Dynasty when they moved to the sea to guard their mouths. Fighting over the sea can prevent the enemy from driving straight in."

Maying was still listening to the lesson, but Yang Yi immediately knelt down: "The king taught every word, and I must understand it carefully."

After Yang Yi made such a move, Maying had no choice but to lead all the sailors to kneel on the ground and said in unison: "Minister, wait!"

Looking at the group of military officers who turned over and knelt down with Maying, Zheng Kezang's eyes suddenly brightened, and he didn't know what good or bad things he thought of. There was an intriguing smile on his face, but he said in his mouth: "Get up, don't engage in such formalities in the future, it always depends on the reality"

Ma Ying and others got up, and Zheng Kezang asked again: "Where is the first division of the Longxiang Army divided into towns?"

The nature of the Longxiang Army is completely different from that of the Fubo Army.The guardianship yamen and the Fubo army under its jurisdiction look like a military port base, but in fact they are not under the command of the fleet. In terms of personnel and finance, the guardianship yamen is under the management of the Ministry of War, and in terms of scheduling, it belongs to the Privy Council and the Executive Privy Council. , it should be said that although there is a gap in the rank of chief officer, it is definitely regarded as the same level unit of the fleet.As for the divisions of the Longxiang Army, regardless of the fact that the ranks of the divisions are also the third-rank cavalry captains, they are marine troops completely under the management of the fleet, and the admirals of the foreign fleets have direct command over them.

So Maying can answer directly without thinking about it at all: "My lord, the first division of the Longxiang Army is currently divided into three divisions. The first brigade is stationed in Qiongzhou; the second brigade is now in Lianzhou; the third brigade has been transferred to Jinlan Daduhufu, and only the grenadier regiment is currently stationed in Xiangshanao."

Zheng Kezang frowned, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Why don't you station some forces on the West Boni side?"

Ma Ying was taken aback for a moment, thinking that Zheng Kezang was dissatisfied with the Western Fleet's lack of care for Xibo Ni, so he eagerly explained: "There are more than a thousand Longxiang Army under the Xibo Ni Capital Guard, but the department It is not within the organizational system of the first division of the Longxiang Army. As for the navy, Xiboni also has its own local fleet."

Zheng Kezang sneered: "The Longxiang Army is under the command of the Capital Protectorate, and the fleet is also under the command of the Capital Protectorate. Is it possible that Xiboni has become a self-contained entity, and Jinlan is still the Metropolitan Protectorate? Why do we have to rely on everything?" The help of the Western Fleet."

It was as if a gust of cold wind was blowing on the face, whether it was Ma Ying or Yang Yi present, I just felt a gust of cold air pouring down from the top of my head.Yes, there is only a thin line between self-struggle and self-reliance. If the superiors misunderstood it, it would be a big event that killed tens of thousands of people. Naturally, everyone would not dare to get involved in this cause and effect.

Others can keep silent, but Maying can't, so he hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth and said, "My lord is afraid."

Zheng Kezang waved his hand: "It's not that they can't be allowed to act on their own, it's just that since Qing and others are cruising the Western Ocean, they have the responsibility to supervise the various capital guards. If something goes wrong, they will not escape punishment, and Qing and others will also be implicated. "

"Chen, I understand." Maying kowtowed in response. "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will immediately mobilize capable manpower to station in Xiboni, as a fleet station."

"Very good, get up." After Maying stood up again, Zheng Kezang swept the bay in front of him again. "Gu just heard from Yang Qing that this mountain is called Hard Head Mountain? The name is not pleasant, so Gu gave it the name Taiping, and it will be called Taiping Mountain in the future. I hope you can protect the peace of our domain!"

A group of courtiers knelt down again and chanted: "The ministers should remember the teachings of the king"