Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2373: First Show of Strength (Part )
At this time, Gao Fusi had just finished his meal, so he put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a fine cotton towel, stood up and said, "Let's talk over there." Then he walked back to the inner room of the study.

Menggu Zhezhe stood up and rang the bell, telling the maids to clear the dishes, then came to Gao Youshi and stood aside, ready to wait until the maids left before continuing.

Gao Fusi waved his hand and said, "No need to delay, sit down and we will continue."

Considering that these maids really couldn't have any connection with the Mughal side, Menggu Zhezhe didn't insist. She sat down on another chair next to Gao Youshi and said, "In terms of military support, I think we should support any forces hostile to the Mughal Empire within our capabilities. It would be great if we can charge a certain fee, but if not, we must do it firmly and should not consider too much the temporary profit or loss on the books."

Gao Fusi smiled and said, "When have I ever acted like a miser?"

Menggu Zhezhe lowered her head and said, "How dare I have such an idea? I am just worried that after some plans have been implemented for a period of time, there will be different voices within Jinghua."

Gao Fusi nodded slightly, indicating that she should continue, but did not say much more.

Menggu Zhezhe then took a deep breath and continued to elaborate on her idea: "First, we can secretly send military advisers and instructors to help those forces that oppose the Mughal Empire improve their combat effectiveness. At the same time, we can also provide weapons and equipment to more directly enhance their military strength."

Gao Youshi nodded in agreement, and then added: "Your idea is good, but we must also be aware that direct military intervention may cause a strong reaction from the Mughal Empire. Before we are fully prepared - I mean preparations for the next large-scale war - we'd better avoid such a thing, so as not to draw the Mughal Empire's attention and main energy back to us.

Therefore, our military support should be covert. In addition to providing weapons and equipment, it is best to ensure that our advice and training are provided without anyone noticing.

We can use our fleet advantage to import supplies to some areas behind the Mughal Empire by sea. For example, we can use the Portuguese port of Goa as a transit point for supplies and personnel. If the Portuguese have any objections, I will give them an offer they cannot refuse...

Of course, at the same time, we can also use our maritime forces to harass the western coastal areas of the Mughal Empire and distract their attention - don't let the Nanyang Fleet do this alone. I think it's time for those pirates we have subdued and recruited over the years, especially the 'Black Tide', to redeem themselves."

Speaking of the pirates that the Nanyang Fleet subdued and recruited, I should mention one more thing here. Historically, most Chinese pirates have been hanging around along the southern coast, and very few have gone to the northern coast (rarely does not mean absolutely none). However, during the rise and even expansion of Jinghua, quite a few pirates were recruited.

In the early stage, after these pirates were screened - the principle of screening was generally whether they had the blood of Ming compatriots on their hands - most of them were directly transferred to the Nanyang Fleet, which was expanding rapidly at that time, and the remaining small number continued to keep the "title" of pirates, but were placed in some so-called "uninhabited islands" occupied by Jinghua. When Jinghua needed to threaten some blind forces, they were sent out to "play their true colors".

Yes, although Gao Youshi usually looks harmless, that is only because he has to maintain his reputation as a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty. But at that time, most of the so-called "Japanese pirates" were actually people from the Ming Dynasty, and he would not really refuse some means that were not easy to put on the table.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Gao Youshi understands this principle and will never be pedantic.

In the later period, especially after sweeping across the South Pacific islands, local garrisons and temporary garrisons began to clear out resistance forces on a large scale in the South Pacific islands. The South Pacific Fleet could not sit idle either, so it almost simultaneously launched a large-scale crackdown on South Pacific pirates.

However, no matter how much of a protagonist's halo Gao Youshi has, some universal laws are always inevitable - for example, as Jinghua gradually builds its own "maritime law", the original large and small pirate gangs in Nanyang begin to fight among themselves, competing for smaller and smaller spheres of influence. When the internal fighting is left with only the last few bosses, watching their increasingly weak tribes, they are finally forced to unite.

This alliance happened to form the last afterglow of South China Sea pirates - a pirate group calling itself "Kuroshio" - just after the major islands in the South China Sea were swept by Jinghua.

In the legends of the South Sea merchants, the leader of the Kuroshio Pirates did not reveal his real name, and outsiders only called him "Sea Yama". Who he was and how he became the leader of the Kuroshio Pirates, these questions are unknown. It is only rumored that he survived a shipwreck and was washed up on a deserted island in the South Seas by the waves, and since then he has had an indissoluble bond with the sea. He used the deserted island as a base, gathered a group of desperate people who were also abandoned by the waves, and began their pirate career.

The judgment of the Nanyang Fleet was: nonsense. After all, although there are many shipwrecks in the South China Sea, it is simply taking people for fools to form a pirate gang just by relying on the people washed up on the islands.

The Nanyang Fleet believed that this guy was most likely the leader of a pirate gang in the past. When many pirate gangs were forced to unite, he used some unknown method to seize the final victory. Then, considering the critical situation, he did not dare to reveal his real name.

However, no matter what, the Kuroshio Pirates became the last remnants of the South China Sea pirates, and also became the target that the South China Sea Fleet must eliminate or subdue.

After much investigation, the Nanyang Fleet determined some information: the Kuroshio Pirates had a fleet of various ships, including fast sloops, sturdy two-masted warships, and small paddle boats used for offshore plunder. Although their ships were not as large as the Jinghua standard ships, they were more flexible and maneuverable, and could shuttle freely between complex islands and reefs.

Moreover, it seems that they also learned some experience from the design of Western ships, so that they also have some equipment in terms of artillery. Each ship is equipped with artillery and muskets looted or smuggled from various places. Although it seems a bit disorganized, it can still exert a good power in medium and short-range naval battles.

The Kuroshio Pirates are known for their cunning and cruelty. They are good at using the complex terrain of the South China Sea to ambush, and often launch attacks when merchant ships are least defended.

At the same time, they were also very clear about the power gap between the "enemy" and the "ourselves". They rarely went up to cause trouble for the larger fleets that used the Beijing-style armed transport ships. As for the smaller fleets, or the ships that were not armed transport ships but ordinary Ming Dynasty ships, they often regarded them as food on the plate and wanted to rob them as soon as possible. Their plundering targets were not limited to gold and silver treasures, but also precious trade goods such as spices, silk, porcelain, and even the crew and passengers on the ship. After being abducted by them, they either became slaves or were forced to join their ranks.

As the reputation of the Kuroshio Pirates grew, merchant ships sailing in the South China Sea began to fear this sea area. Their presence not only threatened the safety of maritime trade, but also posed a threat to coastal towns. Whenever the flag of the Kuroshio Pirates appeared on the sea level, it meant the coming of death and disaster.

Although the South China Sea Fleet and European maritime forces (mainly Spain and Portugal, which had trade rights) tried to wipe out this pirate gang, the Kuroshio Pirates always managed to cleverly avoid pursuit, and even in some cases turned defeat into victory, dealing a heavy blow to their pursuers - the unfortunate Portuguese once had a two-ship formation surrounded by the Kuroshio Pirates after the pirates lured the enemy deep into their territory, and they were ultimately defeated with one ship captured and one ship escaping.

As a result, the "legendary story" of the Black Tide Pirates became widely circulated in the South Seas, and even became one of the favorite topics of storytellers in some taverns.

The Nanyang Fleet's attack on them had some effect, but it was never completely wiped out. The reason was that although this gang also had a base, there were too many islands in Nanyang - just think about it, in the future, Indonesia alone had more than 17500 islands, not to mention that now the entire Nanyang was unified by Jinghua, the number of islands was simply too large to be daunting, and it was impossible to "actually control" every one of them.

In this case, the situation is that the South Sea Fleet destroyed a base of the Kuroshio Pirates today and just held a celebration party, but the next day they discovered another base of theirs... This is really like a wildfire that cannot be extinguished, and it will spring up again with the spring breeze.

What to do if they can't wipe them out? What else can we do? It costs money to send the Nanyang Fleet to wipe out the pirates, and it costs a lot of money. Since they can't wipe them out, we can only gradually form a tacit understanding in the struggle.

For example, if this merchant fleet flies the "Book and Sword Flag" that allows special navigation from Jinghua, then you, the Kuroshio Pirates, cannot touch it. Otherwise, my South China Sea Fleet will definitely attack it and at least destroy one or two of your bases to avenge them.

As for some fleets that did not fly my "Book and Sword Flag" - no matter why they were unwilling to spend money to buy the Book and Sword Flag, since they did not have it, then you, the Black Tide Pirates, could rob them, and my South Sea Fleet would rather not get involved and just pretend that I didn't see anything.

Later, something even more outrageous happened: the Kuroshio Pirates took the initiative to send people to contact the South Sea Fleet, saying that they were willing to become Jinghua's black gloves and do what they could when Jinghua needed them.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

This matter caused controversy within Jinghua at the time. The reason was that Jinghua previously had its own "Royal Black Gloves", which were raised by Jinghua itself. Now that the Black Tide Pirates wanted to do this job, wouldn't their own black gloves be useless?

Looking deeper, if their own black gloves are useless, there are indeed ways to deal with it. Whether it is giving them the opportunity to redeem themselves by meritorious service on the battlefield, or simply disbanding them, they will eventually face a problem: the Black Tide Pirates are not directly controlled by Jinghua. What if they disobey at certain times?
In the end, the matter could not be resolved, and Gao Youshi's order was: temporarily approved.

The two words "temporarily approved" are easy to understand, meaning "temporarily approved". However, the meaning behind it can be seen to some extent - since we cannot eliminate them now, it is okay to allow them a chance to "serve the country". The final situation will depend on their performance in the future.

At this point, there has been a phased "result", that is, Jinghua does have a mysterious and elusive maritime force at its disposal. In terms of capabilities alone, it is indeed a very capable black glove.

Menggu Zhezhe carefully noted Gao Youshi's words, knowing that he was planning to send "Kuroshio" to stir up trouble in the waters of the West Indies. However, she had no objection to this. As a woman from the Yehe tribe of the Jurchens, even though she had read a lot of internal information in Beijing, she still could not fully understand the life of pirates, let alone how to use them specifically.

So Menggu Zhezhe nodded and continued, "We can also consider setting up some secret training camps to train those warriors who oppose the Mughal Empire. In this way, even if our actions are discovered, we can say that they came voluntarily to receive training and it has nothing to do with us. We can even say that this is just an ordinary transaction - the other party pays for training, we receive money for training, it's just a business."

Gao Fusi smiled and nodded, saying, "This is a good idea, and it fits with the tone of Jinghua over the years. However, I guess most of the forces that oppose the Mughal Empire don't have much money, so the training fee can be charged symbolically."

"I understand." Menggu Zhezhe continued, "As for other aspects of military support, we can also send a small number of elite troops to destroy the key military facilities of the Mughal Empire. These troops should have received special training and be able to conduct covert operations behind enemy lines, perform sabotage and assassination missions... These are the 'special forces' that the master once mentioned."

Gao Youshi did mention the idea of ​​a "special forces", but he just talked about it casually within his family and did not actually do anything. The reason is that Gao Youshi felt that there were still many conditions that did not meet the requirements for the establishment of a special forces. If the conditions were not met, the so-called "special forces" would at best be another "night squad", but the organization might be larger and the meaning was not clear.

Therefore, Gao Youshi pondered for a moment before saying: "This plan needs to be carefully planned to ensure the concealment and suddenness of the action. We can draw some night guards from each garrison army and let them form a special force to specialize in sabotage missions behind enemy lines.

At the same time, once we are going to carry out such an operation, we need to ensure that they have sufficient intelligence support so that they can launch an attack at the most appropriate time. Therefore, this plan must be carried out after the Tianzhu Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is established and has formed effective working capabilities, and we cannot rush it. At this stage, let each garrison select personnel, and tentatively provide each garrison with 100 elite night guards. "

Menggu Zhezhe nodded to show her understanding. She continued, "Finally, we can also take advantage of the geographical advantages of potential allies and suggest that they conduct guerrilla warfare through mountains and jungles. We can train the local tribes that oppose the Mughal Empire and use economic and military assistance to make them our allies. Then, we can use their familiarity with the terrain to harass and attack the Mughal Empire's army everywhere."

"No." Gao Youshi decisively waved his hand to interrupt, looking at Menggu Zhezhe and said, "If we teach them this trick now, it will not be a pleasant thing if they use it on us in the future."
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PS: Halfway through writing, I went to look up information about South China Sea pirates during the Wanli period. There was some information but it was not very useful. It actually wasted two hours of my time. In the end, I had to make it up on my own... Oh, really.

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