1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 809

On October 1665, 10, Yongxing.

Zhu Shanping, who was bidding farewell to his relatives, unexpectedly discovered that the soldiers at the train station were much more abnormal. Except for the navy officers and soldiers who returned from sporadic vacations like him, groups of army officers and soldiers who were formed were constantly pouring into the station square, and all of them were burdened. Wearing a marching rucksack, with a dusty look on his face, as if he had just participated in a war.

"These army brothers are the landing combat troops preparing to go to Ottoman. They have been stationed in the inland desert area for the past few months, and they are doing actual combat exercises while adapting to the desertified climate." A lieutenant (major) officer of the Navy Seeing that Zhu Shanping and others stopped to watch the army officers and soldiers who were ready to go, they said: "This time, our navy's combat mission should not be heavy in the conquest of Ottomans. What kind of combat goals we can achieve in the end depends on the actions of these army brothers." means."

Several naval officers and soldiers nearby couldn't help paying a little respect to those army officers and soldiers with tanned skin.It seems that after the army was separated from our navy, it has been holding back its energy and trying to make a good performance to show their importance.

However, in recent years, the situation in Daming, Annan, Luzon, Nanyang Islands and other regions has been very calm, making it impossible for the army to show its strength and power.

Last year, the country of Govasultan on Sulawesi "provoked" the country of Qi. Before the army was ready to attack, Nanyang Trading Company gathered hundreds of armed guards, plus more than 400 volunteers from Xuanhua Island. , The Sultan Kingdom was conquered, and the army leaders were very depressed.

Today, the Qi State is attacking Ottoman, although the target of the attack is only an Egyptian province under its jurisdiction, not its Anatolia and the mainland of Europe, but the Ministry of the Army is still preparing to spend [-]% of its energy to deal with it with all its strength, and must Resolutely uphold the requirements of the king, and use the momentum of absolute crushing to exert the power of Qi.Let the opponents you face feel fear and shock.

When stationed in the inland desert area for exercises, the army even conscripted more than a thousand Hanzhou natives and nearby people. According to the descriptions of those businessmen who had been to the Port of Suez, they built a miniature model city so that officers and soldiers could familiarize themselves with their future life in advance. combat terrain and environment.

Although the cavalry units could not go on expeditions with the army because of the distance, they were not idle.Dressed up as Egyptian Mamluk cavalry, they launched various forms of surprise attacks on the army over and over again, trying to make all officers and soldiers adapt to and experience various real combat situations on the battlefield.

Now, all the preparations are ready, whether it is a mule or a horse, I am afraid that it will only be tested after arriving in Suez.

Because a large number of soldiers gathered at the station were to be transferred to Montenegro, several more passenger carriages were deliberately added to this train, and the number of cargo carriages was correspondingly reduced.

In the compartment where Zhu Shanping and several naval officers were sitting, many army officers squeezed in, making the few dozen ordinary passengers in this compartment feel inexplicably cramped.

Sun Zhengqi couldn't help admiring inwardly when he saw the fighting spirit of these "prosperous" Qi military officers.

Not to mention, the uniforms of the officers and soldiers of the Qi State are completely different from those of our Daming officers and soldiers, and they look particularly energetic and mighty when they look at them.The blue and black military uniform, the big cap, the armed belt around the body, the tortoiseshell collar flower decoration on the shoulders, collar patches and cuffs, and a pair of leather boots on the feet, giving people a handsome and compelling military temperament.

"The new army established by my Ming Dynasty should not only use the Qi army as a template for drills and training, but also the military uniforms we wear can also be used as a reference." Sun Zhengqi had a look of envy on his face.

"Your Highness, my Ming Dynasty has its own traditions, and there are also examples in the army." The attendant Yang Bingrong said in a low voice: "We can't learn the things that Qi has.... Let's just say that the military caps on their heads, We can't wear it."

Hearing this, Sun Zhengqi first looked at the long bun on Yang Bingrong's head, then stroked his own hair, shaking his head and smiling wryly.

Sun Zhengqi, the second son of King Sun Kewang of the Ming Dynasty, aged 25, came to Hanzhou mainland on a Qi immigration ship in February this year.As for the purpose, it was ordered by Sun Kewang to beg for his third younger brother, Sun Zhenghao, to marry the princess of King Qi, thinking that Qin and Qi would marry each other.

And another purpose of his coming to Qi State is to conduct on-the-spot investigation and study of Qi State's political, military, and economic conditions, so as to determine how to formulate and implement alignment policies for the future King Qin's Northern Expedition to the Central Plains and after the unification of the whole country. A real reference.

After several months of consideration and evaluation, King Qi agreed to marry King Qin of the Ming Dynasty. It is scheduled to send Qi Ziyao, the sixth daughter of King Qi, to Nanjing of the Ming Dynasty in June next year to marry Sun Zhenghao, the third son of King Qin. Consolidate the cooperative and friendly relationship between the two parties.

In fact, both Qi State and Sun Kewang knew that the basis for maintaining the current cooperation between the two parties was the existence of the Qing captives in the north.If, once Sun Kewang completed the Northern Expedition, expelled the Qing captives, and unified the country, serious conflicts would inevitably break out between the two sides.The focus of the conflict is immigration. The Qi State absorbs more than [-] immigrants from the territory of Ming Dynasty every year. This is simply bloodletting Daming continuously.

You must know that any dynastic regime regards the people under its jurisdiction as an important source of wealth, not to mention that since the Jiashen Tianchang, the Ming Dynasty has experienced continuous wars for nearly 20 years. After the massacre, the population size has been reduced to a relatively low level.There are even some prefectures and counties whose population size is less than one-twelfth of that before the war, which can be described as extremely withered.

For more than [-] years, wars, plagues, and natural disasters have made people's lives extremely difficult everywhere. Countless people died of starvation, people were displaced, and there was no food or clothing. Your country of Qi recruited refugees and transported them back to Hanzhou. Countless people survived and saved many hungry people , can be regarded as infinite merit.

However, since King Sun Kewang of the Qin Dynasty invaded Nanjing in 1653 and quickly occupied the vast area south of the Yangtze River, he began to gradually restore the economy and settle people's livelihood.More than ten years have passed, and although the entire south has not recovered to the economic level before the Jiashen year, the various prefectures and counties, under such a stable and peaceful environment, have slowly recovered in various industrial and agricultural productions and are moving towards a better direction.

Under such circumstances, the State of Qi continued to absorb immigrants from the territory of Daming, and the number of people had exceeded 15 from the previous tens of thousands per year. This was the population size of several counties within the territory of Daming.

Many insightful people in the Ming Dynasty have written to Emperor Guangde and Qin Wang Sun Kewang several times, requesting that the Qi State should not continue to absorb immigrants in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, stop the outflow of people, and preserve the vitality of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Emperor Guangde did not want to obstruct the source of immigration for King Yong of Yunzhou, and Qi State was a powerful defender of the life safety of the royal family (Qi State had clearly promised Emperor Guangde that it would provide safety guarantees for members of the Ming royal family), so When writing such affirmations, they selectively left them unspoken.

But Sun Kewang was worried that if he refused to accept immigrants from Qi State, he would force the other party to the side of Qing captives.With Qi's strong maritime strength and impressive land combat record, he cannot help but be afraid of it.He could only pinch his nose and acquiesce in Qi's immigration behavior.However, deep down in his heart, he secretly made up his mind that when the world is unified, Qi State will definitely forbid such an act of lying on Daming's body to suck blood.

The state of Qi is naturally well aware of Daming's intentions. Therefore, during the immigration season every year, there are more than a hundred large and small immigrant ships, except some of them, together with the Yongwang forces of Yunzhou, broke into the northern Qing Dynasty to plunder the population. Many ships will sail straight into the Yangtze River, frantically soliciting immigrants to Jiangxi, Huguang and other areas along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Moreover, several new thousand-ton special immigration ships arrive every year, just to capture more people before the reunification of Ming Dynasty.

I went to Hanzhou, distributed the house, distributed the land, and gave it back to my daughter-in-law. There were no exorbitant taxes, let alone poll taxes, and I had a child, and there were government subsidies for money and food...The Hanzhou Continent is the paradise of all poor people. When they arrive there, everyone has no worries about food and clothing, and everyone lives and works in peace and contentment.

In view of the good reputation of Qi State in Daming territory, this extravagant publicity has indeed attracted countless poor people who yearn for a happy life every year. They resolutely boarded the emigration ship of the Qi State people, and then crossed the ocean to the Hanzhou Continent.

"This country of Qi, except that its population is much smaller than my Ming Dynasty, is stronger than my Ming Dynasty in every other way!" As the train speeds up, Sun Zhengqi looks at the fertile fields, villages and factories passing by outside the window, and said faintly: " Even if the father and king can unify the mainland of China in the future, I am afraid that this country will not be able to completely isolate it from the mainland. It is said that the Ottoman Empire they attacked this time is tens of thousands of miles away from the mainland of Hanzhou, which is comparable to our Ming Dynasty. It’s going to be a few minutes further away. Let me ask, to do this, not to mention that we can’t do it now, even during the period between Lord Hongwu and Lord Yongle, it might have been difficult to accomplish.”

"His Royal Highness, we don't need to belittle ourselves." Yang Bingrong said in relief: "My Ming Dynasty has a vast land, rich resources, and a rich population. I just wait for the unification of China. With abundant manpower and material resources, it only takes some time to catch up with the development of Qi. "

"Hehe..." Sun Zhengqi chuckled a few times, noncommittal to Yang Bingrong's words.But he has a vague understanding in his heart that Qi State is a country completely different from my Ming Dynasty, and even from previous dynasties.This country is bred with a powerful development momentum, and it seems that drastic changes are taking place every moment. If Daming does not change at all, the gap between Daming and Qi will become wider and wider.

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On November 11, a group of twelve ships from the Qi State Expeditionary Fleet left Jianye Port one after another. They did not take the traditional fixed route from Xuanhua Island to Java Island, but sailed northwestward, heading straight for Java Island. go.

On November 11, the fleet arrived at Dog Island and stayed here for a day.

Because a few years ago, after the Qi State occupied both sides of the Guangning Strait (Sunda Strait) of the Banten Kingdom, the strategic position of this small island was greatly reduced. It can provide a large amount of natural potassium phosphate fertilizer for the mainland of Hanzhou. With Qi's scarce population resources, I am afraid that this small island will not be developed and immigrated at all.

On November 11, the fleet arrived in Quang Ninh and stayed there for one day.

On December 12, the expedition fleet sailed to Temasek Island (today's Singapore), where it stopped for a two-day rest at a commercial base under the control of Nanyang Trading Company.

On December 12, the expeditionary fleet merged with more than 8 merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company returning to mainland Europe at the port of Malacca, and formed a huge fleet. With the help of the northeast monsoon, it moved towards India. drive away.

On December 12, the fleet stopped at Anhuabao, Daxi Island (now Dengla, a small town in the east of Great Nicobar Island), to replenish fresh water and fresh fruits and vegetables.

On December 12, the expeditionary fleet of the State of Qi separated from the fleet of the Dutch East India Company returning to Europe near the island of Ceylon, and headed straight for Fort Ningyang (now Pondicherry, India) on the east coast of India.

"After 30 years of development, the Hanzhou people are finally showing their ferocious faces to the outside world!" Colonel Van Der Beek, commander-in-chief of the fleet returning to Europe from the Dutch East India Company, looked at the Qi State expedition fleet that was gradually going away, with a serious expression on his face. With a playful smile on his face.

"Yes, the Ottomans are going to be unlucky." Captain Ryan Babel, the captain of the Emsmond, said meaninglessly: "A barbaric country would commit the atrocity of killing a mission of a country. Well, it's completely evil pagan country!"

"When it comes to pagans, Hanzhou people can be considered." Colonel Van Der Beek said with a smile: "The God we believe in does not exist in the hearts of Hanzhou people."

"Colonel, at least the Hanzhou people seem to be a little more civilized than the Ottomans. Moreover, they have maintained close cooperation with our East India Company for more than ten years, and they are a reliable and friendly partner."

"When our inter-provincial republic was fighting against the tyranny of Spain, we used to be close partners with England." Colonel Van Der Beek shook his head and said: "As a result, there was only more than ten years between our two countries. There have been two wars."

"Colonel, do you think our East India Company will have another war with Hanzhou at some point in the future?" Captain Ryan Babel said with a frown.

"Maybe." Colonel Van Der Beek smiled wryly, and said, "Everyone in the East India Company knows that Hanzhou regards the entire East Indies as their back garden, which naturally includes ours. Spice Islands, Batavia, Malacca, and all our commercial bases established here. At present, they still need the existence of our East India Company to help them resell various industrial products, and even pull us Let’s rule out the existence of other European commercial powers together. However, in the future, when the Hanzhou people don’t need us, they will inevitably drive our East India Company out of this fertile ocean.”

"Then... what about Ceylon and India?"

"...With the expansion speed of the Hanzhou people, the entire Indian Ocean may be controlled by them at some point in the future." Colonel Van Der Beek looked around at the vast ocean, with a serious expression on his face , "At that time, they will inevitably rise to become a marine empire with world influence."

(End of this chapter)