prosperous age

"The pits dug by Jiangxi's predecessors have to be filled by us, the Jiangxi's younger generations."

That night, Tan Lun did not dare to conceal the matter of the Ministry of War's document warehouse, and went to Wei Guangde's house to explain the situation.

Wei Guangde "tsk tsk" twice and couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes, this Lord Liu Daxia is really too bold.

Even if they hid it at the time, they could have put it back afterwards, but they only left a message behind."

Tan Lun was also speechless.

"Dig the ground and tear down the wall. If that doesn't work, the Ministry of War will tear it down directly and let the Ministry of Works build a new one for you."

Wei Guangde joked.

To be honest, this information is probably very difficult to find, and there is no clue at all.

In fact, Wei Guangde did not think that these materials were of much use. The most important thing was the nautical chart, which could be used to determine the route, making it convenient for the Ming navy to set sail.

But now is no longer the same as it used to be. There is nothing on the sea, and the Ming navy’s move was earth-shattering at the time.

Now, the Spanish and Portuguese should have the nautical charts of that place in their hands. Their ships have been sailing in that sea area for a long time and are no longer unfamiliar with it.

"If it doesn't work, tell Yu Dayou to find a way to get the sea chart from the barbarians. Also tell the Jinyiwei to lend a hand."

Wei Guangde said.

Rebuilding the Ministry of War was just a joke. If it can't be found, then it can't be found. Is it possible that one could get out in the past but can't get out now? Liu Daxia really underestimates the people of the world.

He is complacent and assumes that others are too.

"Shandai, do you think the navy will have a conflict with the barbarians when they travel west?"

Suddenly, Tan Lun asked.

"I remember you said at the beginning that the barbarians had wicked ambitions. The tiny countries of Spain and Portugal wanted to dominate the ocean and plunder everywhere."

Tan Lun's words suddenly made Wei Guangde's expression startled.

During the day he was very proud of his brilliant idea. If it was done well, it would be a grand event that would attract tributes from all nations. As the initiator, how could he not be proud?

But now Tan Lun's words made him suddenly sober up. It seemed that it was not so easy to conquer the West. After all, many years had passed and the international situation had changed drastically.

Wei Guangde didn't answer, but was thinking.

The fierce war that broke out between Spain and Britain was nominally a revenge action taken by the Spanish against the looting of British pirates, but in fact such looting activities themselves also showed that the Spanish hegemony over the ocean was collapsing and had been challenged by Britain.

Rather than fighting piracy, it is more about confirming the status of maritime hegemony.

"The Spanish came from the East, the Portuguese came from the West"

Wei Guangde murmured, "Tell me, did they agree on this? To develop in the east and west without conflicting with each other?"

Wei Guangde didn't know the decrees of the European Pope, but that didn't stop him from guessing something.

At the very least, Wei Guangde vaguely remembered that most of the territory in America belonged to Spain, and Portugal had very little territory, which seemed to be just a small area in South America.

In Africa, the situation is reversed.

However, Wei Guangde did not know that compared to Spain's large-scale invasion of colonies, Portugal was more engaged in maritime trade, and the cases of destroying countries and occupying land were actually relatively rare.

The Spanish were much more unbridled. With the endorsement of the Pope, they packaged the war as a religious war and claimed that they were only trying to eliminate a small group of heretics.

This is also the reason why church missionaries liked to follow the Spaniards everywhere during this period.

Gather the believers, if they want to survive.

There is no faster way to get treasures, kill people and burn things, and get gold belts than to rob.

Although Wei Guangde's words were brief, it did not affect Tan Lun's understanding of their meaning.

"Shandai, you mean that Spain and Portugal have agreed to divide the world up as you said?"

Wei Guangde had mentioned this to Tan Lun as early as when the navy entered Luzon. The Portuguese were actually two countries, one Portugal and the other Spain.

But they are just two of the European countries, while other countries are still circling around their doorsteps.

"I'm ready to continue, but I still need to think carefully about the navy matter."

Wei Guangde said to Tan Lun.

"Shan Dai, is there something wrong with the navy's trip to the West?"

Lao Kan on the side interrupted and asked.

He was in the Censorate, and this time he received an order from Chen Zan to go south to supervise the goods in the local treasury.

So, he also came to Wei Guangde tonight to ask about the situation.

To be honest, when he heard the news, he was still completely in the dark and knew nothing.

"There are definitely things I haven't considered, but they're nothing major."

Wei Guangde spoke, but there was a hint of lack of confidence in his tone.

He wanted to brush it off with a few words, but that was not so easy.

Both Tan Lun and Lao Kan were old foxes in the officialdom, so they naturally knew that what Wei Guangde said was untrue.

"Could it be that Shandai is worried that the barbarians will become enemies of the Ming Dynasty at sea?"

Thinking of what he just said, Tan Lun guessed.

Wei Guangde glanced at Tan Lun, then at Lao Kan and Jiang Zhi. These people are now considered the backbone of the Jiangxi people in the Ming Dynasty court, so he is not afraid to tell them.

So, he nodded slightly and said, "Brother Zili's words really reminded me that I had not considered it carefully before.

Maybe you don't understand it now, but the situation at sea has changed drastically compared to two hundred years ago.

The oceans today are no longer controlled by the Ming Dynasty, but as far as naval warships are concerned, the Spanish are probably the best among them."

"How is this possible? I remember you said that Spain is just a small country. How can it be compared with the Ming Dynasty?"

The person who was speaking was Jiang Zhi, who was in charge of the Ministry of Works. Wei Guangde said that the Ming Dynasty's naval warships were not as good as those of Spain. Doesn't that mean that his Ministry of Works was not good and could not build better ships?

"Over the next hundred years after Zheng He, among the European countries in the far west, the first to look toward the sea were actually the Portuguese, or what we used to call the Portuguese.

The Spaniards followed closely behind, and through more than a hundred years of development, Spain has benefited the most.

They have already occupied a piece of land in the far east of our Ming Dynasty that is countless times larger than the territory of our Ming Dynasty, and the Spanish navy has already crisscrossed the two oceans.

That is, the ocean from Europe to the land they call the 'New World', and the ocean from the 'New World' to our Ming Dynasty.

As for the Portuguese, they only sailed from the so-called Mugudushu to the Ming Dynasty. There was only one ocean for them to sail. " Wei Guangde knew about the treasure ship from America to the Philippines, but he didn't know what the Spanish called America. However, the Filipinos also knew about the news that there was a continent in the east.

Previously, Wei Guangde ordered Liaodong to restore the Nurgan Regional Administration and continue exploring northward. His purpose was nothing more than to find a sea route to Alaska along the coastline.

You have to know that there were no steamships in that era. Ships relied on ocean currents and sails to travel on the sea. Paddle boats could also do this, but it was too laborious.

This is also the reason why the Spanish kept the route of the "Treasure Ship" strictly secret. It was absolutely priceless in that era.

It can be said that even if the Ming Dynasty knew that there was America in the east, they would not be able to take a ship there because they did not know the route.

Trying to row the boat across by brute force will only result in more harm than good.

"In the past, our Ming Dynasty was just Zheng He's fleet sailing across the ocean.

Even though there are only dozens of barbarian ships in the waters surrounding the Ming Dynasty, there should be thousands of their large sea vessels in other places.

It’s just that they are too far away from the Ming Dynasty, so they won’t come.

People always say that Zheng He's fleet was wasteful, but few people know that a tiny country in the far west had a navy several times larger than Zheng He's fleet, and they were able to build up such power by relying on the profits from maritime trade.

Wei Guangde continued, telling the simplest of what he knew.

“Is maritime trade so profitable?”

Jiang Zhi was very surprised to hear that the Spaniards had expanded their fleet to such an extent by relying on maritime trade.

Others only had a general number, but he knew more. Shipbuilding was not easy. Not only did it require money to hire craftsmen, but it also required finding the best wood.

Of course, now that the Ming army has occupied Xiaoliuqiu, it can be said that the problem of shipbuilding timber has been solved, but silver is also a huge expense.

Moreover, felling and processing wood is a huge project that takes several years and costs a lot.

“They don’t make money entirely from maritime trade.”

Wei Guangde shook his head and thought for a moment before deciding to tell them the way the Yi people made their fortune, so that at least they would have some idea.

"The Portuguese made profits mainly through maritime trade. It was natural for them to make money through business, but occasionally they would attack some small countries and destroy them directly to rob them of their wealth.

For example, this is the case with Manciga. After his country was destroyed by the Portuguese, the king had no choice but to flee.

During the Zhengde reign, the imperial court issued an edict prohibiting trade with the barbarians for this very reason.

Wei Guangde explained.

When they heard this, they were all surprised.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde gave a brief account of the situation of the Spaniards, omitting the fact that they were the first to start the slave trade.

After all, the black slaves were not transported to the waters of East Asia, so the origin of the news would be difficult to explain.

"When they discovered the New World, they cleansed the local kingdoms, using their Portuguese cannons and muskets to destroy the countries and seize their wealth. They also enslaved the locals to mine gold and silver. The gold and silver they brought to the Ming Dynasty for trade all came from here."

Wei Guangde told these close friends all the inside stories of the Spanish trade. Tan Lun was furious when he heard this and said angrily: "The Western barbarians are so shameless. We should report this to Your Majesty and punish them severely."

"Brother Zili, please be patient. The kingdom of the New World has no vassal relationship with our Ming Dynasty. What if I tell His Majesty?

After Mancijia destroyed his country, he asked our dynasty for help, but Emperor Wuzong was unable to help.

But this also reminds me, the Ming Dynasty, that the navy cannot be abolished. What should we do if enemy ship owners come one day?

Yu Dayou's proposal was correct. If the enemy comes from the sea, we need to cut off the sea route and keep the enemy out of the country. This requires our dynasty to have a powerful navy fleet that can defeat the enemy at sea.

This voyage to the West is also a test for our Ming Dynasty navy. Although I don’t know how the Portuguese will respond, we must be on guard.

Especially when our navy goes to the West to restore the connection between the Western vassal states and our Ming Dynasty, if they are invaded by the barbarians, what should our Ming Dynasty do? This is also something that the court needs to decide this morning."

Wei Guangde had previously been complacent about the Ming Dynasty's annexation of Myanmar and possession of the West Sea, but now he finds that it seems that he has shot himself in the foot.

When the Ming army entered the Indian Ocean, it was bound to compete with the Portuguese for interests. It was unknown whether the result would trigger a third Sino-Portuguese naval war.

The worst outcome would be that the Portuguese and the Spanish would join forces to attack the Ming navy. Facing two powerful enemies at once, it would be a question whether Yu Dayou could withstand it.

“The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works need to devote all their efforts to building the double-decker warships that Dayou mentioned, and have the craftsmen find ways to improve them and build larger warships that can carry more artillery.

As for money, after gradually opening up the Western Ocean, our dynasty can also use the profits from maritime trade to build ships for the navy."

Wei Guangde finally said to Tan Lun and Jiang Zhi, "I remember seeing news before that the largest warships in the West can carry more than a hundred cannons of various types, but on one side alone, there can be dozens of cannons, which are extremely powerful, several times more powerful than our Ming Dynasty's latest warships. I dare not imagine it, I dare not imagine it."

"How do their ships carry so many cannons?"

Tan Lun didn't believe it and asked immediately.

Jiang Zhi did think of something. After all, the Ministry of Industry knew about the large ships ordered by the South China Sea Navy, and now all the large shipyards in the Ming Dynasty were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry.

"It should be a stacked deck. Isn't Yu Dayou's new ship just a second deck added to the original one? I think he got the idea from seeing the Yi people's ships with three or four decks."

Jiang Zhi said.

"Indeed, the barbarian warships have six or seven floors, so can't they fit a hundred cannons?"

Wei Guangde also agreed.

Jiang Zhi had received a report from the Jiangnan Shipyard that they had seen the barbarians' ships arriving at Yuegang.

Seeing that Jiang Zhi knew about this, Wei Guangde might as well say more, so he continued: "The ships that the barbarians use to trade with our Ming Dynasty are all civilian ships. They are just armed merchant ships, but they already have the combat power of the South China Sea Navy's latest warships, not to mention the specialized warships in their own country.

In order to carry cargo, merchant ships usually only have twenty or thirty guns, while warships can carry as many as they can.

Once the war starts, bullets and arrows will rain down upon the enemy. How can they bear it?"

"They don't dare to be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty, right?"

Tan Lun asked hesitantly.

“I don’t dare now, but I may not dare in the future.

They dare not act now because they need the products of our Ming Dynasty. Seeing that our Ming Dynasty is so powerful, they naturally dare not act rashly.

However, when it comes to naval power alone, the Ming Dynasty is far inferior. If time goes on for a long time, they may develop the desire to go to war.

According to news from Luzon, not long after the Spanish arrived in Luzon, some of them planned to sail ships to destroy the Ming Dynasty like they did with the kingdoms in the New World. However, they knew that the Ming Dynasty chose to trade with the Ming Dynasty only after they were defeated in a series of naval battles with the Portuguese.

The people of the Western Barbarians have been dazzled by their achievements in the New World.

Now the Spanish navy in the waters around the Ming Dynasty is not strong enough, so they dare not start a war rashly. But once they make huge profits through maritime trade and build more warships, they will no longer be bound by this, and seeking war with the Ming Dynasty will be inevitable. "

Wei Guangde was not sure whether the Spaniards really had plans to attack the Ming Dynasty, but he vaguely remembered that this happened.

As for the reason for the final cancellation, Wei Guangde believed that it should be related to the Ming Dynasty's victory in the naval battle against Portugal.

The Spanish were far less powerful than the Portuguese in East Asia at this time, after all, they arrived here earlier. (End of this chapter)