Baidu otaku as Chongzhen

Chapter 185 The Way of the Mercenary
"Cough cough...Master Xu, I want to ask you, do you know about the mercenary of the Fulangjiren? I heard from Sun Yuanhua that this matter was urged by you? Tell me quickly." Yang Reform couldn't wait. asked.

Xu Guangqi looked at the emperor in surprise, his head short-circuited. Is this the reason why the emperor was in a hurry?There was a lot of contention in the imperial court about hiring Portuguese people to fight. However, it was not successful after all. Why was the emperor so interested in this matter?
"Your Majesty? Why are you so interested in this matter?" Xu Guangqi had to ask back.

"Master Xu, to tell you the truth, I plan to recruit a group of Western warships and hire Westerners to fight for me..." Yang Reform said his plan.

As soon as Xu Guangqi heard that the emperor wanted to recruit Westerners, he immediately became interested and excited, and said: "Your Majesty, this matter is indeed very promising. I think the Westerners are indeed better than our dynasty in terms of artillery. This boat is also good in naval warfare." It is stronger than my court. It can sail across the ocean in a boat. Without any real materials, it will definitely not work. In the early years, I did play a role in the court. You can recruit and hire some Portuguese to fight for our court, or Training soldiers, or casting cannons, but due to opposition from some people in the court, this matter was left alone. Later, Liaodong was in a tight situation, and the court recruited a group of Portuguese [Portuguese, Xu Guangqi was mainly recruited in Macau, Macau It is occupied by Portugal, so it is called Portuguese] Gunner, Gunner, teach me how to shoot at the artillery battalion..." Xu Guangqi talked about this matter, and immediately began to eloquent.

"Why did it cease to exist afterward?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, alas...it's difficult! The elders of the court think that it is disrespectful for our dynasty to learn from the barbarians, and it will make the barbarians know the inside story of our Ming Dynasty. Therefore, we are determined not to hire Portuguese..." Xu Guangqi said This matter is also a sigh. If the imperial court has been supporting him vigorously, using Portuguese to train artillery and use Portuguese to forge Flang machines, how can this Eastern barbarian attack cities and plunder again and again?
Yang Reform is also speechless. If the Ming Dynasty had always insisted on Xu Guangqi's suggestion, this history would really be rewritten!This history is really full of regrets!

"Master Xu, does this mean that my dynasty did hire foreigners?" Yang Reform didn't care, he was already very aware of the military gap between the Western and the Ming dynasty, and knew that it was necessary for the mercenaries to make their way. You can greatly speed up your expansion in the sea. There is no need to be too entangled in the past. Now that you are the emperor, you have to do what you want.

"That's true, Your Majesty, there have been times, hehe, when the war is tense, all these things are easy to discuss. Those who want to buy guns buy guns immediately, and hire them immediately. The money is also paid diligently. Once the military situation slows down, This immediately abolished our suggestion, and there is no need for anything, alas..." Xu Guangqi explained to the emperor the origin of the mercenary with a wry smile.

Yang Reform was also blushing when he heard that. The elites of the Ming Dynasty were really weak. They typically cramped their feet temporarily, passed the policy of demolishing bridges, and only remembered after the war.

"Hehe, master Xu, don't be discouraged. Don't worry about the past. Now I'm going to hire a group of foreigners to fight for our court. Since there are precedents before, it can't be better. I don't need to waste my words. , I would like to know, Master Xu has a way for this mercenary to go all the way?" Yang Reform has made up his mind to use Western mercenaries to solve his military shortcomings, such as cannon casting and cannon shooting. The problem of not having enough time to build a ship by yourself.Now there is a lack of a channel, and this channel is here with Xu Guangqi.This is what Yang Reform cares about. Otherwise, who would he pass?Go there to recruit Western mercenaries?

"Reporting to Your Majesty, we need to recruit and hire Portuguese to serve our court. This is simple. As long as I write a letter to the Portuguese missionaries in Macau, there will be no problem at all. The key is the resistance of the court... I am afraid that it will be the same as last time. It's over..."

Sure enough, Xu Guangqi has connections, and he can get mercenaries with just one letter.Hearing this, Yang Reform was very happy, and said: "Resistance from the court? As the emperor, I can still do this. Don't worry, Master Xu, I will fully support it, and it will never be like the last time. Half-hearted, this time, I plan to hire a large number of foreigners, including warships, casting guns, and training gunners. The hiring time is very long, and the commission is also very considerable. I will also trouble Master Xu to match up..."

The extremely excited Yang Reform wanted to hire someone immediately, the sooner the better.

Xu Guangqi was very happy to hear the emperor's guarantee, and he was dumbfounded when he heard about the large-scale employment. For an emperor, what kind of scale can be considered a large-scale employment?
"Your Majesty, may I ask Your Majesty, how many Portuguese warships does Your Majesty plan to hire?" Xu Guangqi had to ask the emperor how many people the emperor had in the large batch.

"Hehe, the more the better, Master Xu knows that I have already responded to the envoy of the Ryukyu Kingdom and will go to expel the Japanese people who are entrenched there. Although I have ordered the construction of warships, they will not be dispatched until next year at the earliest, so , This time is too long. My current plan is to hire a group of foreigners and warships, while training the newly recruited sailors for me, and at the same time, use Westerners to mix with my new sailors to drive out The Japanese entrenched in Ryukyu, in this way, can quickly complete the expulsion of the Ryukyu Japanese, and can also train sailors by the way, killing two birds with one stone." Yang Reform introduced his idea, which is to use foreigners to train sailors for himself.This matter of aiding Ryukyu is no longer a secret in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty.

Xu Guangqi heard this, and said: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid you don't need to be so impatient to support the Ryukyu and expel the Wa people, right? The Wa people have been entrenched for some years. It doesn't matter if it's a year earlier or later..." Xu Guangqi felt that Guang It is a Ryukyu, and it seems that it is not worth the emperor's impatience to hire Westerners and warships in such a hurry.

When Yang Reform heard that his master was also a shrewd guy, he immediately guessed that he was not in a hurry to hire Westerners to deal with the Japanese from the Ryukyu side. After thinking about it, he said softly to Xu Guangqi: "Actually, I am Before the end of this year, we plan to cross the sea to Seoul in North Korea to fight Donglu in North Korea, so as to delay the time for Donglu to enter the customs." Yang Reform told Xu Guangqi the reason of the incident.

Xu Guangqi stared at the emperor dumbfounded. Unexpectedly, the emperor's courage was not ordinary. He was forced to the edge of the Great Wall by Donglu. When the whole court was thinking about how to defend, this His Majesty actually wanted to The most important thing is to fight against Donglu in North Korea. I have to say that His Majesty the emperor dares to think and do it.

Xu Guangqi also knows the basics of military affairs. After thinking about it for a while, he understood the truth, and said: "Your Majesty, North Korea has been occupied by the Donglu. They are fighting against the Donglu in North Korea. If the Donglu does not come to help, the North Korean Re-entering the hands of our dynasty can form a situation of encircling Donglu. If Donglu sends troops to North Korea, this time will come and go. It will not be completed in a year or a half! The time for Donglu to enter the customs must be indefinitely Ah! Your Majesty, this handwriting is really a stroke of genius!" Xu Guangqi wanted to understand the importance of North Korea, and immediately praised the emperor.

Yang Reform smiled and said: "Hehe, master Xu, don't praise me. This plan was thought up by Master Sun. I think it is necessary, so I immediately agreed to send troops to control North Korea by the end of this year, and re-formed the strategy of besieging the Eastern Captives." Situation, wait for the Donglu to invade the dynasty again in the coming year... Of course, it would be better if he didn't come. The Donglu himself would be trapped between the white mountains and the black waters. Drag Donglu to North Korea, let Donglu want to stop, so that we can buy a lot of preparation time for our dynasty, so that the decisive battle with Donglu in the future will have a great chance of winning!" Yang Reform explained softly .

"A good plan, a good plan...Young rope is a great talent, a great talent! In this way, the troubles of the Eastern captives are nothing to worry about..." Xu Guangqi stroked his beard, suppressed his voice, and cheered.

"Hehe, Master Xu, a good plan is a good plan, but there are flaws in it. For example, how to transport troops? How to transport supplies? How to protect the troop transport? Even need to use the navy to attack the Eastern captives. I haven't thought about it very well... My initial plan was to use my Chaoyang navy to speed up the construction of new warships, or to buy merchant ships and hire merchant ships. Now it seems that I can hire a group of Western warships to mix with my Chaoyang navy. Fighting together, one can effectively attack the Eastern Captives on the Korean battlefield, and two can effectively train the navy of the new army, so that the navy can be trained as soon as possible, and a group of masters who can use artillery can also be trained as soon as possible. If the Eastern captives fight, they will not be afraid."

"That's right, that's right, that should be the case. Westerners do have expertise in casting cannons. The Francine cannons they cast are indeed powerful. They can shoot farther and more accurately than my cannons. We should learn from the skills of the barbarians. , The barbarians are indeed better at manipulating warships and naval battles than our dynasty. Thinking about these barbarian people who have traveled thousands of miles to come to our dynasty, this boat must be very capable. It is indeed impossible with a little skill, Your Majesty, I agree with His Majesty's idea, this matter is completely feasible... However, I would like to ask, how will Your Majesty plan to hold back the Eastern Captives when he is in North Korea?" Xu Guangqi said to the barbarians and Ming The advantages and disadvantages between the DPRK are very clear, which is why there have been successive purchases of Western cannons and hiring Westerners to train gunners.At the same time, I don't understand what the emperor's "drag" tactic for guerrilla warfare is.

"Hehe, how to hold Donglu in North Korea? It's simple. Master Xu has seen grenades before?" Yang Reform answered with a smile.

"Grenade... oh! I understand, I understand! Hehe... So, Donglu is really not enough." Xu Guangqi immediately understood the emperor's plan when he heard the emperor say the grenade. Xu Guangqi had seen the power and strength of the grenade. Although the combat method is a bit heavy and the throwing is not far away, standing on the city wall and throwing it downwards, even women and children can do it!From then on, defending the city is no longer the business of the old and the young. How many people are there in the East for the grenade?
Yang Reform and Xu Guangqi, the two of them began to laugh triumphantly, as if the Donglu had been annihilated in the blink of an eye.

"Your Majesty! This matter is up to the old minister. How many warships and Portuguese will His Majesty hire? The old minister will write letters to Portuguese missionaries, as many as you want." Xu Guangqi talked excitedly with the emperor, and it was also a big deal. Big up.

Yang Reform felt that he had found the right person, and the matter of hiring foreigners seemed to be a success.Immediately said: "Hire warships, this, the more the better, preferably more than [-] ships, for the matter of hiring gunsmiths and gunners, I already have a batch here, and I plan to add another batch, the number of people, The more the better, everyone who can make cannons and cannons is wanted. I want them all."

The twenty warships mentioned by the emperor did not scare Xu Guangqi to death. Although he had been mentally prepared for a long time, he was still intimidated by the emperor's large-scale mercenaries. There were at least a hundred people on this ship. Ten ships, that is, more than 2000 people.

"Your Majesty, don't you need so many?" Xu Guangqi also muttered, he was very sure that the emperor wanted [-] ships, even if Macau was turned over, there would not be [-] decent warships!
"Master Xu, you don't know. I plan to use these ships to quickly train my new sailors. My sailors have already recruited thousands of people. The twenty ships will be divided. If more than 100 people can be allocated, why not twenty ships? Of course, the more the better!" Yang Reform thinks about doing big things and doing things quickly, and the scale and speed will increase at once.Next year, as soon as my own ship comes out, I can start large-scale immigration immediately.This is the fundamental solution to the problem of the end of Ming Dynasty.

Xu Guangqi wiped his forehead, and said: "Your Majesty, forgive me for your boldness. Even if you turn Macao over, you will never find twenty Portuguese warships!" The emperor's request far exceeded Xu Guangqi's estimate. It would be a big deal to hire one or two ships. Where did you know that the emperor would hire twenty ships at once.

"Hehe, Master Xu, it doesn't matter! As long as the price is right, I believe that Macau doesn't have it, Nanyang has it, Nanyang doesn't have it, and India has it. With the right price, I believe that even the British, Spaniards, Dutch, etc. Wait, I will be happy to be a mercenary for me!" Yang Reform was full of confidence, knowing that at this time, in the eyes of foreigners, money is everything, as long as they have money, those foreigners, even if they pick up the national flag of their country, will give it to themselves. To be a mercenary.Yang Reform is going to make a bet at all costs, and get a lot of money from him!Use money to spawn your own navy.It is said that the navy is a money-burning industry, and those who dare not burn money should not play the navy.

Facing the emperor's madness, Xu Guangqi was a little uncomfortable, and he was also surprised by what the emperor said. The emperor actually knew about Macau, Nanyang, and India, and said that there must be ships in these places. Could it be that the emperor is very familiar with these places?
"Well then, Your Majesty, I will try and hire as many Western warships as possible for Your Majesty... However, Your Majesty, I think that it is better to hire Portuguese gunners. In fact, the group of people Your Majesty has already That's enough, His Majesty can let them teach the gunners of this dynasty, and then let the gunners of this dynasty teach more gunners, that's enough, there is no need to hire many Portuguese, the same is true for this cannon, hire a group of cannons Teacher, after learning the technique, you can completely cast it yourself, and there is no need to hire too many barbarian people, which is a bit wasteful." Xu Guangqi didn't dare to promise this time, he could only say try his best.Regarding the matter of hiring cannon masters and cannon casters, he gave his own opinions, not too much, but enough.

Yang Reform thought for a while, and thought it was true. As long as there is a correct method for gunner training, the rest will be fed with a lot of money. If there are too many people, he can't afford it, so he said: "Then this As for the matter, I will leave it to Master Xu, and for the casting of the cannon, I will rely on Master Xu."

"I obey." Xu Guangqi agreed.

"By the way, Master Xu, this matter must be kept secret, especially the matter of dispatching troops to North Korea, please keep it secret for the time being. When the raw rice is cooked and cooked, even if the courtiers object, there is nothing you can do about it. "Yang Reform is too lazy to argue with the courtiers. He is going to make these things real. If the money is spent, even if the courtiers object, there is nothing he can do about it.

Xu Guangqi felt ashamed when he heard the emperor's words. What he said was too vulgar, so he hurriedly agreed.

"By the way, Master Xu, this time I'm going to Macau to hire Western warships. Master Xu has a reliable candidate here. He must have a heart for the imperial court, be able to serve me, understand what I mean, and be able to communicate with the people in Macau. If you can get in touch with people, you need to know more about Western affairs and this battleship, otherwise, I’m afraid you won’t be able to complete this matter!” Yang Reform remembered that he couldn’t expect those elites in the imperial court to negotiate with foreigners, otherwise , If you don't say it's floating, you will be slaughtered as a fool first.One's own money is not to be cheated by others.

Xu Guangqi listened to the emperor's words, thought for a long time, and said: "Your Majesty, there is a person here who is more in line with your majesty's requirements. If there is contact, then the hiring of warships will be guaranteed." Xu Guangqi solemnly named out one person.

"Oh? Is this person reliable? Who is it?" Yang Reform was going to see if he was a famous person in history. If so, he could judge based on his "historical achievements". If he wasn't a famous person, he could only trust Xu Guangqi.

"Your Majesty, this person is Li Zhizao, Li Zhenzhi, this person must be able to meet your Majesty's request." Xu Guangqi said solemnly.

Li Zhizao?Yang Reform doesn't remember such a person in history, it should be a less important person.That can only refer to his experience.

"Master Xu, can you tell me about his experience and background?" Yang Reform asked with some doubts. This person is not a historical celebrity, and he has no "historical achievements" for reference, so he can only ask about Xu Guangqi's information.

Seeing the emperor asking about this person, Xu Guangqi was full of confidence, and said: "Your Majesty, this Li Zhenzhi, a native of Zhejiang, was born in the 44th year of Jiajing for me, and a Jinshi in the 26th year of Wanli. In his early years, he studied under Li Madu. I know better, I bought Portuguese cannons in my early years, and I am very familiar with how to deal with Portuguese people. I used to be the young minister of the Taipu Temple, but because I offended Wei Wei, I resigned from office, and now I live at home."

When Yang Reform heard it, it was no wonder that Xu Guangqi had a confident face. Judging by his qualifications, he was quite good. First of all, he was a Jinshi. With this, he can be sure that he definitely has a heart for the Ming Dynasty, and he is not worried about his character. , there is no possibility of defrauding money. I am a classmate with Xu Guangqi. I have studied Western things. It seems that I have a good understanding of Western things. I have also done the business of buying guns, and I am familiar with it. There is no problem at all, and he used to be a high-ranking official of the imperial court, and once served as the Shaoqing of the Taipu Temple. This guy, the standard is quite high, and it can also reflect the integrity of the hired fleet. This person is simply Tailor-made for yourself!

(End of this chapter)