prosperous age

The Tower of London, the residence of the Queen, in London, England.

With a bang, the door was violently pushed open, and Queen Elizabeth stormed into the palace.

Behind her, the palace steward and Earl Robert followed her in.

These two men were both retainers of Queen Elizabeth and among her most trusted men.

"Your Majesty, it is understandable that the ministers have concerns, after all, it is a war with the Spanish."

"If we were to actually get involved in the Low Countries War, the Spanish navy would certainly blockade the English Channel, completely isolating us from the mainland, which would be absolutely not in the kingdom's best interest."

Earl Robert Dudley quickly explained behind the Queen, hoping to calm her down instead of causing her to fly into a rage.

"Robert, do you know the current relationship between the Kingdom and Spain?"

We are already at war, yet you still hope to make peace.

If the kingdom wants to develop, it must break Spain's dominance at sea, did you know that?

"Our task should be to cooperate with Henry III, unite all forces, establish an anti-Spanish alliance, and contend with them for dominance of the seas."

Queen Elizabeth said angrily.

Just two days ago, London received a letter from the Netherlands requesting assistance from Britain to help them gain independence.

Although a full-scale anti-Spanish uprising had not yet broken out in the Netherlands at this time, many Dutch nobles and merchants were seeking to break away from Spanish control.

Spain is powerful, but it has not helped the Netherlands develop; instead, it has been constantly leeching off them.

Faced with a powerful Spain, even France and the Holy Roman Empire expressed some concern.

Yes, at this time there was no Germany, and Prussia was still under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire, whose emperor was Rudolf II, one of the few "emperors" in Europe.

Although most of Europe was at peace at this time, conflicts were ongoing in the Low Countries.

Rudolf II worked tirelessly to promote peace in the region, but with little success.

Now, he also leans towards ending Spanish rule over the Netherlands, which might restore peace there.

After all, the Netherlands was adjacent to the Holy Roman Empire, and war in the surrounding area was certainly not a good thing for the Holy Roman Empire.

Of course, the main countries with real disputes with Spain are Britain and France.

Spain maintained a strong land-based pressure on France, while its powerful navy and vast maritime interests were also coveted by Britain.

Drake was just one of them, not the only one.

"Robert."

Queen Elizabeth sat on the throne, still furious, but clearly less agitated than before.

"Your Majesty, what are your orders?"

Earl Robert hurriedly bowed and said.

"You've been to the Ming Dynasty, and you said its navy is also very powerful, is that right?"

As the Queen's representative, Earl Robert attended the ceremony of Emperor Wanli's wedding, having visited the Ming Dynasty just two years prior.

After that, he spent more than half a year returning to Britain, and was subsequently appointed Foreign Secretary by Queen Elizabeth.

Now, Britain needs to compete with Spain for maritime supremacy. Although they are still small, Elizabeth is clearly unwilling to wait. She wants to fight and try to defeat the Spanish navy.

"Your Majesty, although the Ming Dynasty's navy is very powerful, it still seems to be slightly inferior to that of Spain."

Robert began to speak.

"But Spain needs to station troops in various places, so they can never gather their full naval strength."

Elizabeth argued, "Besides, the allied forces also include us, the French, and even the Portuguese, who will stand with us."

Although King Philip II of Spain seized the Portuguese throne after the deaths of Kings Sabbastián and Henry I, leaving the country leaderless, most of the Portuguese nobility did not support him and continued to seek independence.

To this end, they continuously contacted countries including France and Britain for support, and their overseas colonies remained independent.

The Governor-General's Palace of Goa had already stopped respecting the Spanish king and refused to be taken over by the Spanish.

Thus, although Philip II was nominally the King of Portugal, in reality, he had no control over the Portuguese army and colonial governments in the overseas colonies.

The Governor General's Office in Manila also tried to contact the Portuguese in Texan and Temasek, but it was obviously ineffective; they were completely ignored.

Even when their naval warships tried to approach the Mirror, they were met with demonstrative firing from the Mirror's gun emplacements.

This is the complex situation in Europe now, and Elizabeth came up with what she considered a brilliant solution: to unite with known major Eastern powers and join forces to defeat Spain's maritime dominance.

"Your Majesty, I solemnly remind you that the Ming Dynasty is far too far away from us."

If they were to mobilize their navy, it would take at least one to two years, and they would have to risk crossing thousands of miles of ocean to get here.

And what do they get in return?
Do you think the Ming emperor would send troops without sufficient incentives?
Perhaps all they can do is expel the Spaniards from Manila; it won't help us Europeans at all.

Earl Robert countered that he did not agree with the Queen's idea at all, and that inviting the Ming Dynasty to intervene in the European struggle was such a naive idea.

Perhaps he would rather contact the Ottomans than seek help from the Ming Dynasty.

"Moreover, although the Ming Dynasty has many warships, what I have seen is that their main warships are mainly third-class battleships, with only a small number of warships that can barely be called second-class battleships."

Earl Robert continued.

In Europe at that time, naval warships were divided into four categories. Only warships that could carry more than one hundred cannons could be considered first-class battleships, which were the main force of the navy.

Of course, first-class battleships were very rare in Europe at that time, with most countries having only a few.

As for Britain, well, at this time Britain's shipbuilding capabilities were mediocre, and they didn't have a single ship.

Europe's main warships were second-class battleships, which were large warships capable of carrying 90 cannons.

In addition, the third-class battleships were also the mainstay of various countries. Britain also purchased a small number of these warships from abroad and built some domestically. They were large ships that could carry sixty or seventy cannons.

Yu Dayou's once proud gunboats, which carried fewer than fifty cannons, were classified as fourth-class battleships in Europe at that time.

Of course, this is also the main naval force of most European countries.

In fact, the tonnage of the main warships of the Ming Dynasty was between that of second- and third-class European battleships, but the ship structure prevented them from carrying a large number of cannons like European warships.

This is also why Yu Dayou and Wei Guangde are now demanding that the shipyard copy European warships.

Now, and for the next few hundred years, the seas will belong to the era of cannons and giant ships.

The massive hull and the large number of cannons were the key elements representing maritime rights in this era.

"Okay, let me think about it some more."

However, while we cannot send troops to the lowlands, we can provide them with a batch of weapons.

Contact them as soon as possible and provide them with a batch of weapons.

Elizabeth had now completely calmed down and thought about the terrifying voyage from Ming China to this place. As for the Netherlands' military industry, it was actually quite developed; many of Spain's naval warships were built there.

After gaining independence, the Netherlands quickly developed into a maritime power, relying on its massive military-industrial complex to continuously build ships and cannons.

However, most of these were controlled by Spain, and the Dutch nobles and merchants lacked weapons to resist the Spanish, so they had to find ways to obtain them from England and France.

While Queen Elizabeth II abandoned efforts to contact the Ming Dynasty and allowed it to become embroiled in the European war, the Ming Empire's massive war machine had already begun to operate and was accelerating.

As October approached, a large number of brand-new warships were launched at the shipyard and handed over to the East China Sea and South China Sea navies, greatly enhancing the strength of the Ming Dynasty's navy.

When the last batch of food and gunpowder prepared for the war were stored in Songjiang Prefecture and Dengzhou Water City respectively, it meant that the previous war preparations were completed and the war could be launched at any time.

In the Forbidden City, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the office of the Grand Secretary, Zhang Ke once again came to discuss matters with Wei Guangde.

As the deadline approached, Zhang Ke would make a trip to the cabinet every two or three days.

Such frequent visits naturally aroused suspicion in the outer court.

Those who know the inside story will not speak of it, but most people outside are unaware of it, and they don't even know that the Ministry of Revenue mobilized a large amount of grain.

However, rumors had already spread throughout the capital that the imperial court might send troops to punish Japan.

In fact, when this rumor first came out, it made the Embroidered Uniform Guard quite nervous for a moment.

However, later, under Wei Guangde's instruction, the Embroidered Uniform Guard began to fuel the flames.

They couldn't openly declare their intention to attack Japan, but they could spread the word through rumors first. When the time was right and the emperor issued the decree to launch the campaign, the public's emotions wouldn't be so tense.

Let the bullets fly a little longer.

"Shan Dai, we just received news that all the supplies have been delivered and stored. Now we're just waiting to set the departure date."

Inside the duty room, Zhang Ke put down his teacup and spoke to Wei Guangde.

At this point, a month had passed since Wei Guangde was impeached.

"Has the Nanjing military parade ended?"

To disguise the gathering of troops for training, the troops mobilized from Nanjing were first stationed in Songjiang Prefecture for a while to adapt to sea transport, and then moved to Nanjing Daxiaochang for training, supposedly to be presided over by the Duke of Wei for a grand review of the southern army.

However, the reality is that training continues, focusing on formations and proficiency with firearms.

Although we don't expect the garrison soldiers to become the main force on the battlefield, they still need appropriate training, just in case they are needed to step in.

To this end, the Southern Army's armory carried out a large-scale re-equipment of these garrison troops, equipping them with a large number of breech-loading cannons and muskets.

As for the Northern Army, they have already assembled on the Liaodong Peninsula, and the East China Sea Navy warships have been assisting them in conducting maritime transport training.

"Do we have enough naval warships? Have the calculations been completed?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Everything has been calculated, enough for the entire army to be mobilized. Afterwards, provisions and supplies will be continuously transported over via Fujian ships, so there will be no shortage of military equipment and food at the front."

An army marches on its stomach; the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, as a specialized military agency, would naturally not make such a basic mistake.

They planned the transportation of naval warships well in advance, and even specially recruited a group of shipwrights to make up for the shortage of naval crew.

It's worth noting that the South China Sea Fleet had quite a few idle ships back then because it was already overstretched and couldn't find enough manpower.

Some of these ships were also sold to trade associations in various regions for use in maritime transport.

To ensure sufficient transport capacity, these ships, which had been idle for more than two years, have now been requisitioned.

"I had a discussion with His Majesty the day before yesterday, and we roughly set the date as the eighth day of the tenth month. His Majesty has already secretly instructed the Imperial Observatory to determine the specific time."

Wei Guangde said, "We should have a definite answer in the next few days. You need to deliver it to both places promptly without delay."

"That's good."

A smile appeared on Zhang Ke's face. Having the Imperial Observatory calculate the departure time meant that the emperor had fully approved the military operation, so their work had not been in vain.

"I've read the regulations you submitted the other day. There's basically nothing to change. We'll submit them once the Imperial Observatory sets a date."

Wei Guangde spoke up.

That was the plan for this expedition against Japan. Naturally, it wouldn't be a sudden imperial decree. The Ministry of War had to submit a memorial, first listing the damage caused by the Japanese invasion to the southeast, and then requesting the emperor to issue an edict to punish them and retaliate against their incursions into the southeast.

By then, the court will be shaken, and they will realize the military operation that the Ministry of War has been planning for a long time.

As for their attitudes, judging from the current reactions from all sides, the Qingliu faction is more opposed to sending troops, while most middle and lower-level officials and ordinary people support it.

That's the effect of that rumor; it shows public opinion through rumors.

It's understandable that the Qingliu faction opposed the use of force. In reality, war means death, even if the Ming army was equipped with weapons far superior to those of Japan.

In reality, the weapons of the Ming Dynasty are not a qualitative leap compared to those of Japan; they are roughly of the same generation.

The only difference was that the Ming army was equipped with more cannons.

Well, this was also the Ming army's firepower advantage in the Wanli Emperor's aid to Korea war. With arquebuses not being as effective, the sheer number of cannons was the key to overwhelming the Japanese Toyotomi army.

As a person from the future, Wei Guangde naturally knew this even better.

Even if the Ming Dynasty reformed its firearms, it was still impossible to produce weapons that were ahead of their time due to the limitations of technological development.

The weapons that we are familiar with in later generations were gradually developed more than two hundred years later, by which time Europe had already experienced the complete Industrial Revolution.

"By the way, if I submit a memorial to the emperor, will they object?"

Zhang Ke looked at Wei Guangde and asked meaningfully.

"You mean Zhang Siwei? Haha, if he objects, I'll just kick him out of the court."

Wei Guangde said casually.

After being tricked by Zhang Siwei last time, Wei Guangde continued to govern as if nothing had happened and did not have a conflict with Zhang Siwei because of it.

The Minister of Personnel has still not been selected, although there are already opinions in the court and among the public that it is not good for the position to remain vacant.

The only change was that Liang Menglong replaced Wang Zhuan as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and together with Lao Kan, he handled the official business of the Ministry of Personnel.

"Should we continue with the matters concerning the Ministry of Personnel outside?"

Zhang Ke asked in a low voice.

"He recommended Yan Qing, the former governor of Shanxi, to me. I am still considering it."

Wei Guangde said in a low voice.

Yan Qing and Zhang Siwei may have some connection, but he is a Yunnan official, so their relationship should not be deep.

If the reaction from the court and the public is too strong, Wei Guangde is actually inclined to let Yan Qing temporarily take over the Ministry of Personnel. (End of this chapter)