Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 473
Apart from Nan'an in Quanzhou, Zheng Zhilong's second force is in Fuzhou. After all, this is where the chief envoy's yamen is located, and Zheng Zhilong has to guard the safety of this place.

In Fuzhou, Zheng Zhilong's troops are mainly in Changle and Fuqing counties. Changle County is the gateway to the sea from the east of Fuzhou, while Fuqing County is the throat of Fuzhou to the sea from the south.

In the end, Zheng Zhilong's strength was mainly arranged in Xiamen and Jinmen.

Of course, the ships and troops placed in these places are not all of Zheng Zhilong's strength. Zheng Zhilong has thousands of ships. Even if they are placed in these places on average, each place has more than 200 ships and more than 200 ships parked. How many places have such a large dock?

Zheng Zhilong's main battleships parked in these places, each with hundreds of soldiers and more than 30 artillery pieces.

And even if it was the main warship, Zheng Zhilong couldn't keep all of it at home. He was a pirate, so he couldn't put the ship on the dock to rot. If he didn't go out to do some business, how could he be worthy of his profession?Even if you don't go out to rob, you still have to collect some protection fees or something.

In fact, most of Zheng Zhilong's strength is placed on various coastal islands and cruising at sea.

Although Zheng Zhilong is the overlord of the sea, he has the final say on the southeast coast, but it is impossible to say that there are no other pirates on the sea.There are countless small bands of pirates along the southeast coast, some of these pirates are too lazy for Zheng Zhilong to eliminate (the scale is too small, only one or two boats, can't make big waves, and it's too much effort to catch them at sea), and some of them don't want to. To eliminate them, if they are all eliminated, how can he collect protection fees from merchant ships?

But it's one thing not to be wiped out, and another thing to cruise the sea. It's like a beast that always patrols its own territory.

In fact, Li Jing's attention was mainly focused on these islands all over the sea.

After all, no matter whether it is Quanzhou, Fuzhou, or Xiamen, they are all fighting on land, and Li Jing's victory is [-]% in fighting on land.

Because the weapons used by the pirates are knives, but the weapons used by Li Jing's troops are artillery and rifles, and in order to ensure victory, Li Jing specially transferred back [-] combat-experienced veterans from Cao Wenzhao, including [-] veterans. Cavalry, if they can't win this battle, I'm afraid they don't need to be dealt with by Li Jing. Sun Meng, Chen Dahu, Liu Erleng and their subordinate officers and soldiers will all have to throw themselves into the sea to commit suicide.

Li Jing is most worried about Sun Chuanting's naval forces.

Although the naval forces also use firearms, combat at sea is different from that on the road. On land, in order to prevent the enemy from attacking, you can light bonfires around the camp for lighting. How do you light a fire at sea?

If you ignite the lights on your own ship, not to mention the limited range of illumination, isn't that equivalent to telling the enemy your position and waiting for them to sneak attack?
Li Jing knew that Zheng Zhilong was the best at setting fire to ships. He fought against the Dutch fleet several times, as well as against Liu Xiang and others. Zheng Zhilong used this trick to defeat the enemy many times.

The biggest threat to Sun Chuanting is the densely populated islands along the southeast coast.

Because no one knows which island Zheng Zhilong's ship will hide in and wait for an opportunity to attack.

The naval force trained by Sun Chuanting has only 3000 men who can barely fight at sea, and only 2000 to [-] large and small ships, and some people have to stay to look after the house. At most, more than [-] people and [-] ships can be sent out. The scenery can't afford to lose at all.

Laying paper and grinding, Li Jing first drew a rough map on the paper according to the information provided by Zong Chao, and then marked the large and small islands on it.

After having the sketch, Li Jing began to carefully calculate the positions of the islands and the distance between the islands, and then redraw the map.

In this way, after many calculations, he finally drew a map that Li Jing thought was closest to the actual situation.

(The orientation of the maps drawn in ancient China is not fixed. Up to south, down to north, left to east and right to west are more. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang once made the "Daming Mixed Map", which took the north as the positive direction.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, specifically, after Matteo Ricci came to Daming, the advanced western latitude and longitude cartography began to be introduced into our country.

This method is mainly to measure the earth’s dimension by observing the height of the Polaris. When drawing a map, the direction of the meridian is used as the orientation basis, and the north is the positive direction. The future maps will basically follow this drawing standard.

Therefore, it is not abrupt for Li Jing to adopt the drawing method of later generations, and it can be accepted by everyone. )
Putting down the pen, Li Jing rubbed his wrist, looked at the maps he had just drawn, and then sighed softly.

In the vast sea, it is not enough to rely on flat maps to find targets. It is better to use nautical charts. Unfortunately, the nautical charts drawn by Zheng He during his voyages have long since disappeared. There are very few talents who can draw nautical charts in Ming Dynasty, and Li Views do not draw nautical charts.

In addition, Li Jing knows that the instruments used to determine the direction and position of sea navigation are firstly the compass and the second is the compass (astrolabe), but the compass is too simple and can only determine the direction. The data are also very inaccurate.

The simplest and most practical instrument to determine the route and position is actually the sextant, but no one has invented the sextant yet, and Li Jing can’t make a sextant. Measure the angle between the sun or stars and the ground at a certain time, and then determine the latitude and longitude according to this angle.

Due to the inaccuracy of the instruments, in fact, navigating at sea now mainly depends on experience.

However, Sun Chuanting's subordinates obviously did not have sailors who were familiar with the conditions around the southeast coast, so Li Jing had to do everything possible to poach Zheng Zhilong's corner.

Put away the map and sea materials and seal them up. Li Jing wrote the word "Top Secret" on the cover with a pen, and then put it in the letter box.

Calling Xiao Jiu, Li Jing ordered him to send someone to Sun Chuanting immediately.

Then Li Jing also sealed up the information on Lu Lu, and ordered Xiao Jiu to send someone to Sun Meng.

After sending the information, Li Jing finally breathed a sigh of relief. Without being able to personally lead the troops, everything can only be handed over to the generals below. In terms of layout, there is only so much he can do for the generals. Now he can only It is enough to ensure the logistics supply of the front line.

Pressing his forehead, Li Jing picked up his pen again and began to calculate how much logistical supplies he would need for this expedition.

"Marshal, you've been busy all day, should you rest?" Xiao Jiu came in with a basin of cold water and said.

"Oh? What time is it?" Li Jing stopped writing and asked.

Xiao Jiu smiled wryly, "Didn't you see that the candles were all lit? I called you several times, but you didn't care, and you didn't even eat lunch."

Hearing this, Li Jing patted his head lightly: "Cough, I forgot. By the way, who came here this afternoon?"

Xiao Jiu hurriedly said: "There are quite a few people who came to report. I saw that you are busy, so I asked them to leave the official documents and don't wait here."

Seeing Li Jing frowned, Xiao Jiu hurriedly said, "I asked, but nothing is very important."

Hearing this, Li Jing's face softened a little, and he thought for a while and said to Xiao Jiu: "In the future, you and Wen Qing will handle these matters together, don't let people gossip about you."

Xiao Jiu nodded, thought for a while and said, "Marshal, Wen Qing's personality is too boring, so he is not suitable for this job. I think Brother Tongchang is more suitable to help you with official duties."

"Oh? Are you very familiar with Bie Shan (Zhang Tongchang's character)?" Li Jingqi said.

Xiao Jiu nodded: "Brother Tongchang often goes to the palace to look up information and files. The brothers see that Brother Tongchang is elegant, humble, and extremely talented. They all admire him and are willing to make friends with him."

Li Jing smiled: "Then you think Wenqing is not refined, humble or lacking in talent?"

Xiao Jiu hurriedly said: "That's not true. The key is that Wen Qing doesn't like to talk, as if he doesn't know us, which makes everyone very uncomfortable."

Li Jingjing nodded: "Wen Qing is indeed not very talkative, but it has something to do with his family environment. Wen Qing's family was poor, and he only knew how to study hard since he was a child, and rarely interacted with others, so he developed a taciturn character. Especially the first When she came to me one day, I said something, so I didn't dare to speak.

Although Zhang Tongchang's family is in a poor family, he is a descendant of Mr. Taiyue after all. This background makes him far more confident than ordinary people. Of course he will not be restrained if he is confident, so he can let go of the conversation between you. open. "

As he spoke, Li Jing buried his face in the water basin, soaked it for a while before raising his head, took a towel from Xiaojiu's hands and wiped off the water on his face, and then continued: "But Wen Qing is still young, as long as you give him confidence , His personality will change, you are all young people, communicate more in the future."

After a pause, Li Jing continued with a smile: "Actually, I wanted to arrange for him to work in Dali Temple after Bie Shan finished the Daming Constitution Law, but you recommended him just now, I have to give you face. How about it, Let him come back after Bie Shan has finished the Ming Constitution."

"Hehe, Zhang Tongchang sent the draft two days ago. Didn't you revise and review it? The rest is re-transcribed. I don't think there is any need for Brother Tongchang, right?" Xiao Jiu laughed.

Li Jing pondered for a while, then nodded lightly: "Since Bie Shan wants to come back, let the people in Dali Temple handle the follow-up matters by themselves."

After finishing speaking, Li Jing turned his head to look at Xiao Jiu and said, "Hehe, yes, I have learned to speak for others. But you are not good at doing this, and you will offend others if you speak for others like this. Go back and think about it yourself. , what should I say today.

Also, you can speak for others, but you have to keep your eyes open. Don’t speak good words to those mediocre people and those with bad morals, let alone speak good words to people in front of me for money. If I know you are doing this , you can pack your bags yourself. "

"Hehe, you can't hide anything from your old man. Don't worry, Commander, I will never do such a thing again." Xiao Jiu said with a smile.

Li Jing shook his head: "You still have to talk when you should talk. When you grow up, you should also have your own contacts. Accumulating some contacts now will benefit you in your future work."

Waving his hand, stopping Xiao Jiu from speaking, Li Jing continued: "From now on, you, Tong Chang and Wen Qing will be responsible for the affairs of the foreign study."

Xiao Jiu scratched her head: "What about the inner study?"

(End of this chapter)