Smuggling Daming

In the next few days, Masanori summoned Zhou Zhong once again, but this time he also called Ashikaga Kazuki and the Japanese missions. After talking with Tayama Shangyoshi, Masanori issued an edict to Ashikaga Yoshiki, Ashikaga Yoshiki was re-designated as the "King of Japan" again, and some property and a seal of the Japanese king representing Ashikaga Yoshiki's identity were also rewarded.

Don't underestimate these rewards from Zhengde. Although they are not worth much, they represent Daming's attitude. As long as Ashikaga Yoshiki has these, his reputation will increase immediately, and he will also be able to win over more powerful daimyos. , which is exactly what Ashikaga Yoshiki needs most.

In addition, what Tayama Shangyoshi and Ashikaga Kazuki did not expect was that after the reward, Emperor Zhengde announced in person that Zhou Zhong would be appointed as the Admiral of the Four Seas of Daming, to be in charge of the maritime affairs of Daming, and would also hand over all matters to assist them. Let Zhou Zhong handle it, that is to say, if they have anything to do in the future, they only need to contact Zhou Zhong.

Although Tayama Shangyoshi and Ashikaga Kazuki were shocked by the news, they quickly realized that they first congratulated Zhou Zhong, and then began to flatter Zhou Zhong. After all, they were not stupid, and they knew that they could What kind of assistance you get depends on Zhou Zhong's face.

After meeting Zhengde, Zhou Zhong took Tianshan Shangyi and the others out of the palace, but the other party insisted on inviting Zhou Zhong to dinner, and during the meal, gave Zhou Zhong another gift, in the spirit of not accepting nothing for nothing. Zhou Zhong accepted the principle of accepting it with a smile. After all, he will use people like Tian Shan Shangyi to disrupt the political situation of the Wa Kingdom in the future, and it is necessary to maintain a good relationship with these people now.

Wait until the afternoon.Zhou Zhong finally got rid of the entanglement of Tian Shan Shangyi and others, and returned to the mansion in a carriage, but as soon as he entered the gate, someone came to report that there was a special visitor to visit him.

Hearing that someone came to visit, Zhou Zhong couldn't help being a little surprised. Not many people knew the news of his coming to Beijing, and the appointment of the Admiral of the Four Seas was only known to a few people, and it was not spread.It seemed a little strange that someone came to visit him at this time.

Next week Zhong came to the living room, and as soon as he entered, he saw a muscular old man with a gray beard sitting in the living room drinking tea. When he saw Zhou Zhong coming in, the old man immediately stood up and smiled, "This must be It must be Admiral Zhou, Mr. Zhou. Old Jingyang Bo Shenying, I have met Mr. Zhou!"

"Shenying?" Zhou Zhong was also surprised when he heard this name. It was the second time he had heard this name. Last time, he suggested that Zhengde pay attention to Liu Liu and Liu Qi's rebellion. As a result, Zhengde changed his words immediately without saying a word. Send the Beijing camp to suppress the rebellion.And the general who led this Beijing camp was this Jingyang Bo Shenying.

"Haha~, it turns out to be the old general of the gods. I heard His Majesty praise the old general for his hard work a few days ago. Zhou has always wanted to visit you. I didn't expect the old general to come to the door in person today. It really makes Zhou feel very honored!" Zhou Zhong He also said very affectionately that the admiral he served as the admiral of the world is a military post, and dealing with the army will be indispensable in the future, so it is also necessary to have a good relationship with this Shenying now.

Seeing Zhou Zhong being so enthusiastic.Shenying also felt flattered, despite his current official position above Zhou Zhong.But in fact, during this period of time, Shenying's life has not been easy.Shenying was unlucky to say the least. At the beginning of this year, someone impeached him that he was too old to serve in the military. However, Shenying was similar to Zhengde and liked to stay in the army. However, his body is very strong, even if he goes into battle to kill the enemy himself, it is no problem, so there is no problem in being a general.

It was also Shenying who didn't want to retire from the army, so he thought of a way, which was to bribe Liu Jin, who had not yet fallen at the time. As a result, he not only kept his official position, but also won the title of Uncle Jingyang, and even later pacified An'an. King Hua rebelled, and Liu Jin also sent him there, and for a while, it could be said that the scene was infinite.

It's a pity that as the saying goes, "Fortune comes, misfortune depends on it", Shenying never expected that Liu Jin, who was originally powerful, would suddenly fall from power, and the former eunuchs were also liquidated one after another.What's even more unlucky is that he was also targeted by the censor, and he was even included in a book, which included him in the eunuch party. As a result, he was worried these days, and even prepared to return to his hometown However, he did not expect that he would be appointed by Zhengde to lead the army to commit crimes and meritorious deeds. This made Shenying ecstatic, and after many inquiries, he knew that it was thanks to Zhou Zhong's suggestion that the suppression of the hegemony's rebellion was the result of this. Shenying was also very grateful. Originally, he had wanted to visit the palace a long time ago, but he had to be busy with the expedition for the past few days, so he managed to squeeze out time today.

Regarding Shenying's intentions, Zhou Zhong probably guessed something, and he also intended to make friends with her, so he was also very enthusiastic about Shenying. Taking this opportunity, I asked Shenying about the situation of the Ming army.

Shenying is also grateful to Zhou Zhong, and naturally knows everything about Zhou Zhong's problems. According to him, the highest military commanding institution in Ming Dynasty is called the Five Armies Dudufu. The Dudu Mansion was too powerful, so the Dudu Mansion was divided into five, namely the front, back, left, right, and middle five Dudu Mansions, which commanded the Beijing camp and the guards in various places.

However, the Dudufu of the Five Armies only has the right to command troops, but not the right to deploy troops, while the Ministry of War has the right to deploy troops but not the right to command troops. , an institution that can only simply execute orders, which also marks the decline of the power of the Great Ming warriors.

Zhou Zhong is most concerned about the combat effectiveness of the Ming army. After all, he is about to lead the troops to sea. Although Shenying is an army general, everything in the army is the same. He must be better than himself.

Regarding Zhou Zhong's question, Shenying showed a wry smile. According to Shenying's knowledge, most of the guards across the country have been corrupted, and only the Beijing camp is left with the real combat effectiveness. And the frontier army in the north, the Beijing camp is divided into three major battalions, namely the Fifth Army Battalion, the Three Thousand Battalion, and the Shenji Battalion. The twelve regiment battalions selected from these three battalions practice frequently and have considerable combat effectiveness. The Beijing camp is stationed in the capital all year round, and there are very few opportunities for actual combat.

Compared with the Beijing camp, the frontier army stationed in the north is the most effective army in the Ming Dynasty. The frontier army does not refer to a specific army, but refers to the general term for the troops stationed in the border areas of Gansu, Liang, Su, Xi, and Ningxia. , These troops have been stationed on the frontier all year round, and almost every year they have wars with the Mongols who go south. It can be said that their actual combat capabilities are extremely strong. Although the capital division also has a certain combat effectiveness, compared with the frontier troops, it looks like nothing. It's just that the frontier army has a heavy responsibility, and they can't leave the frontier lightly, so when something happens in Daming, at most they can only mobilize the Beijing camp to counter the rebellion.

After introducing Lu Ying, Zhou Zhong asked Shenying about the Daming Navy, but Shenying smiled wryly and shook her head and said, "Master Zhou, since the sea ban, I, Da Ming, have never paid much attention to the Navy. I heard that you are from Songjiang, so you must know something about the guards along the coast, the soldiers in the guards along the coast are actually sailors, but I am afraid there are no ships now!"

Hearing Shenying's words, Zhou Zhong also nodded with a wry smile on his face. He also saw the Qingcun Qianhu Office on the other side of the Songjiang River with his own eyes. They don't have much fighting power, at most they block the road with weapons to collect taxes, and the entire Thousand Households don't even have a boat.

"General God, most of the guards along the coast have been corrupted. I also know this, but there are still two relatively complete navies stationed in Guangzhou and Ningbo. Those two navies should still have some Combat power?" Zhou Zhong asked again at this time, Guangzhou and Ningbo are the tribute ports of overseas dependent countries, and the two naval divisions there are also Zhou Zhong's favorites, and he has already planned to use them after taking office. Integrate the two navy divisions as the direct army of himself, the admiral of the world.

However, when Zhou Zhong mentioned the two naval forces in Guangzhou and Ningbo, Shenying still frowned and said: "Master Zhou, although I don't know much about naval forces, wars are all connected. As far as I know Well, although the two naval divisions in Guangzhou and Ningbo have relatively complete organizational systems and have quite a few warships, in the past few decades, my Ming Dynasty has never encountered any enemies from the sea. The best result is the same as the Beijing camp, it’s just a sham, it’s okay to use it in the country to deal with those rioters, but if it’s used to fight against foreign enemies, I’m afraid the situation is not optimistic!”

Hearing Shenying's analysis, Zhou Zhong suddenly felt as if someone had poured cold water on him, and his mind suddenly cleared up.Although Shenying's words are not pleasant, what he said is the truth. The reason why Ming retained the two naval divisions in Guangzhou and Ningbo was not to fight wars, but to show his military strength to the tributary countries. In other words It is said that the two navy divisions are good-looking, and they are far away from the capital. I am afraid that the generals of the two navy divisions are not very interested in training.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong's mood suddenly became heavy. He didn't understand military affairs at first. Apart from introducing some advanced weapons, he also didn't know how to increase the combat effectiveness of the army.Originally, he hoped to take over two naval forces with a certain degree of combat effectiveness. In addition, he knew very well about Portugal’s attack on Malacca. If he chose the right time to attack Malacca, he would definitely be able to defeat the Portuguese. However, he missed one point. However, if the two naval forces do not have much combat effectiveness, I am afraid that even if it is a sneak attack, they may not have much confidence in winning. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)