prosperous age

The capital city has been settled, and Wei Guangde has issued a note to the Ministry of War to issue a document.

All matters concerning the South China Sea were naturally handed over to the Admiral Yu Dayou, who was also given the power to make arbitrary decisions.

After all, the distance from the southeast to the capital is not short. If everything has to be reported, the opportunity for war will be fleeting and you might make a big mistake.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde wrote another letter to Yu Dayou directly in the duty room, planning to arrange for his family to deliver it later.

After all, his status is different now. Although he is very powerful in the court, the more so, the more people in the palace will be wary of him, so he cannot make any mistakes.

Even though there was a certain tacit understanding between him and Liu Shouyou, Wei Guangde did not dare to guarantee that Liu Shouyou was truly loyal to him.

After all, the Jinyiwei are the emperor's minions, and the place he should be most loyal to is the palace.

What's more, although Liu Shou had control over the Jinyiwei, it was not a solid block, and he might not be able to take care of every aspect of the Jinyiwei.

If the palace sent someone to monitor him alone, it could be hidden from Liu Shouyou through the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

In fact, Wei Guangde believed that the palace must have done so, but he didn't know to what extent.

It's not just him, it should also be Zhang Juzheng.

Only people with a truly evil heart would bully an orphan and a widow. If you have any conscience, it is better not to try to bully them.

If you think about Dorgon, you will understand the pros and cons of a widow raising a baby.

Yu Dayou, who was still stranded off the coast of Chaozhou, certainly had no idea what was happening in the capital. He was still anxiously awaiting reports from various places, including the two naval fleets sent out for reconnaissance.

Yes, Yu Dayou certainly would not pin his hopes on speculation. These days he kept sending people to order the coastal garrisons to step up precautions and patrols and report the results at any time.

The purpose, of course, is to prevent the Lin Feng pirate group from taking advantage of the opportunity to plunder in the Ming Dynasty again.

He was in the cabin looking through the documents reported from various places when a personal soldier pushed the door open quickly, stood in front of him, clasped his fists and said, "Sir, there is news from Luzon."

"What? Have you found any trace of Lin Feng?"

Yu Dayou immediately put down the document in his hand and asked anxiously.

"It is said that they have found that Lin Feng is still on Luzon Island."

The bodyguard replied.

"Do you have the documents? Bring the person here quickly. I want to interrogate him in person."

Yu Dayou immediately gave the order.

Soon, the captain of the centipede ship was brought into the cabin.

Without waiting for the visitor to greet him, Yu Dayou began to ask about the situation impatiently.

You know, this period of time was like a year for him.

Because he had not received any reports on the whereabouts of Lin Feng's pirate group, he was worried that something might go wrong.

In particular, they were worried about another thing, that is, Lin Feng would lead his men to bypass Dongfan Island and head north to attack the northern coastal prefectures and counties.

The Ming Dynasty's defense against the Japanese pirates was mainly in the southeast, and its defense in the north has always been weak.

Although the possibility of this happening was very low, the fact that there had been no news about Lin Feng made Yu Dayou inevitably start to have wild thoughts.

A few days ago, I stayed on the deck every day waiting for news.

But after all, he was getting old, and staying on the deck for a long time exposed to the sea breeze finally made Yu Dayou, a hero of the time, unable to bear it.

I have only returned to the cabin to wait these two days, but I really feel that I am unable to do so.

He took Deng Zilong's document from the other party, opened it quickly and asked, "Are you sure Lin Feng is still in Luzon?"

"Reporting to the Admiral, the news that Lin Feng is in Luzon should be true."

Although the Ming army did not send anyone to investigate and verify when he left, everyone knew that a maritime merchant like Li Jin would not dare to fabricate lies to deceive the government.

You know, the foundation of maritime merchants is their ships. If he dares to tease the naval officers and soldiers, it is conceivable that his ships will never be able to sail on the sea in the future.

Who knows what happens on the sea?

The captain of the centurion recounted their experiences on this trip, mainly their encounter with Li Jin and the part where Li Jin specifically found them on his return journey to report the news about Lin Feng.

Yu Dayou listened to his words, stared at Deng Zilong's letter, and a smile soon appeared on his face.

Yes, he also thought of it. The sea merchant Li Jin would not dare to deceive them.

In this case, the news that most of Lin Feng is still on Luzon Island should be true.

Yu Dayou also noticed the action taken by Deng Zilong, which was to recruit local people to form an army, and to form a vassal army like the barbarians to encircle and suppress Lin Feng.

"Someone is coming."

Yu Dayou shouted loudly.

"grown ups."

The guard next to him immediately responded, "What do you want, sir?"

"Immediately send out orders, all ships must pack up their supplies and prepare to sail."

Yu Dayou ordered.

"Yes."

The personal soldier agreed and quickly went out to deliver the message.

"You go down and rest first. We will still need you to lead the way on this trip to Luzon. Let the soldiers have a good rest for a day. The army will set off tomorrow."

Yu Dayou said immediately.

The South China Sea Navy has no shortage of supplies.

These days, in order to be able to be deployed at any time, all kinds of supplies consumed by the navy are transported from Chaozhou Prefecture, so there should be no shortage of supplies on the station ship.

But since we are going out to sea, to be on the safe side we asked each ship to check again to see what supplies are missing and replenish them today.

Yu Dayou was already calculating in his mind that it would take the centipede boat more than half a month to make the round trip, and that was because of the oars.

The wind direction is not good now, which will naturally affect the South China Sea Navy's southward activities.

It is estimated that it may take a month for the voyage to reach its destination.

Warships like the Dafu ship rely entirely on sails for power and lack speed.

Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty now has no better ship to replace it.

As for the centipede boat, I can only make a small one, but if I make it bigger, its maneuverability is still worrying.

In fact, due to the limitations of technological development, the West at that time did not have any good ship types that could accommodate sailing in different seasons.

Therefore, when Western ships go out to sea, they also need to consider the season and weather.

The West's navigation technology at this time was not much more advanced than that of the Ming Dynasty.

At least, this is the case in the waters of East Asia.

After everyone left, Yu Dayou thought for a moment and shouted to the cabin door again: "Someone come."

The cabin door was pushed open, and the guards outside hurried in and bowed to receive orders.

"Send a message to the Denglai Navy to station them off the coast of Chaozhou and wait for military reports from various places. If any traces of Japanese pirates are found, immediately set out to encircle and suppress them. Tell Xu Qiaoan to come to see me."

Although he was about to lead his troops away, Yu Dayou did not forget his duties as a navy officer.

Last time, he led his troops north, which gave the pirates an opportunity.

This time, he led his troops south again, and naturally would not leave any loopholes for them to exploit.

The Denglai Navy will continue to stay here and can attack immediately if pirates attack.

Although the Denglai navy is slightly weaker in combat power, it is the imperial court's army after all, and its firearms are equipped according to the standards of warships. It is still capable of fighting against other second-rate pirates.

The next morning, as the sun rose over the eastern horizon, the Ming South China Sea Fleet was about to launch its first overseas expedition since its establishment.

Off the coast of Chaozhou Prefecture, the Ming navy stationed there was divided into two. More than 80% of the navy's warships weighed anchor and set sail, slowly heading towards the southern waters.

A few days ago, the Denglai Navy finally arrived here according to the route set for them by Yu Dayou.

Although he was mentally prepared, Xu Qiaoan was still deeply shocked by what he saw.

Not only Xu Qiaoan, but also the naval officers and soldiers under his command.

In the northern waters, the Ming Dynasty only had one maritime force, the Denglai Navy, so in the area where they were active, they were the boss there and the most powerful maritime force.

Although their ships are generally old, they are also the most powerful navy.

Although many people had encountered a grain transport fleet escorted by the South China Sea Navy off the coast of Shandong before, that was only a part of the Denglai Navy, and many naval officers and soldiers had never seen the majesty of the South China Sea Navy.

Especially after communicating with Yu Dayou, Xu Qiaoan eliminated and added some new people when he returned.

Yu Dayou said that the mental state of the navy officers and soldiers was really bad, and they were not like what soldiers should be like at all.

To this end, he conducted a new screening, sent all the veteran soldiers back to their respective guard posts, and re-selected a group of soldiers who were familiar with water.

So, when I saw the South China Sea navy going out to sea, I was still shocked by the scene. All I could see were the sails that covered the sky and the sun.

The soldiers under his command gathered together, pointing and whispering at the departing South China Sea navy fleet, and naturally all of this was seen by Xu Qiaoan.

However, he could only feel envy and jealous.

As the commander-in-chief of the Denglai Navy, he naturally wanted to turn his navy into a large fleet like the South China Sea Navy.

In particular, he was deeply impressed by the gunboats that looked like bird boats but were completely different from them. The huge number of cannons on the bow and both sides of the ship left a deep impression on him.

Even though he was not familiar with this kind of naval warfare, he was still deeply shocked.

One can imagine how amazing the power of a salvo from such warships lined up in a row would be.

  A single ship can fire twelve shells to one side of the ship, and those gunboats can fire nearly a hundred shells at the enemy at a time. How can we fight?

Any number of warships that could get close to them would have probably been hit by shells, with many casualties on the deck.

In the past, the Ming navy’s tactics included artillery fire, but it was definitely not the first choice. They still mainly relied on close combat and hand-to-hand combat on the side of the ship, as well as fire attacks.

According to Yu Dayou, the goal of the South China Sea Navy is to develop into a maritime force that relies on a large number of artillery to fight decisive battles in the ocean. This completely overturned Xu Qiaoan's previous deep impression of naval battles.

He even learned from Yu Dayou about the powerful armed forces of the Yi merchant ships.

The firepower of a single ship even exceeded that of the South China Sea Navy gunboats that he coveted.

Well, he could only secretly lament that he was ignorant of the northern waters.

Because the Ming Dynasty had always only conducted tribute trade in the south, even if there were envoys who came to the capital to pay tribute, they mostly landed in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong and arrived in Beijing via the Grand Canal, and never took the sea route.

Naturally, the Northern Navy was unaware of what the Southern Navy was already accustomed to, and had no idea that the methods of naval warfare had changed drastically.

"Alas, I wonder when the imperial court will pay more attention to the Denglai Navy and allocate money to build a batch of such warships."

Xu Qiaoan was speaking from his heart, and the deputy general beside him hurried forward and whispered in his ear: "If we want the court to allocate money, I'm afraid we still have to ask the Lord to come forward.

I heard that the South China Sea Navy is in its current situation because their admiral has a powerful backer in the court who can get money for them.

Not only the money from the Ministry of Industry, but also the money from the southeastern provinces, is delivered on time every year, and is never in arrears. "

The deputy general's words also reminded Xu Qiaoan that although the Xu family still had some say in Shandong, it was very limited. After all, this was no longer the era when the words of the nobles were effective at the beginning of the country. Only the words of the civil servants counted.

"Admiral Yu has the cabinet minister Wei behind him, and he is in charge of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works, so he can naturally provide convenience for them."

Xu Qiaoan is certainly not blind or deaf, he still knows what’s going on in the capital.

However, his Xu family is not the Xu in the Duke of Wei’s Mansion and the Duke of Ding’s Mansion, and has no relationship with Wei Guangde at all.

"Should you please ask the Lord to talk to Duke Wei in Nanjing? I heard that Lord Wei is Duke Wei's brother-in-law. If we just get close to him, we should be able to get some convenience."

The deputy general whispered an idea.

Marquis Yongkang is now in Nanjing, which means he is also a member of the noble group. He can have some say with the leader of the Nanjing nobles, Duke Wei's Mansion.

"I'll write a letter and try later. Otherwise, I don't know how long the Shandong Provincial Administration Office will delay paying the taxes and grain."

Xu Qiaoan also has a hard life. It seems glorious to be in charge of the Denglai navy, but he is the only one who knows what is going on inside.

Money and grain were in the hands of civil officials. If they didn't pay the money and grain on time, he, as the general, had no choice but to run to Jinan to ask for help, which was really embarrassing.

But there is nothing we can do about it, as the military generals are now in decline.

In many places, a fifth-rank military governor would dare to point at the nose of a second-rank general and curse him, and the military generals would not dare to retort.

  Are you saying that there is no one behind these generals?

That is of course impossible. There is no one in the capital, so you can't inherit the position.

This is the general environment in the officialdom today, where civil officials can suppress military generals.

“I heard that the South China Sea Navy went to the Southeast Asia this time to seize the territory of Luzon.

It was originally a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but now it has been occupied by the barbarians."

The deputy continued.

"That's what happened. For safety reasons, Admiral Yu took away all the main forces of the South China Sea Navy because he was afraid of causing trouble in Luzon.

With soldiers at hand, you won't panic, and you can also force the barbarians to bow down."

Yu Dayou would not tell such things to the lower-ranking officers in the army, but high-ranking officials like the commander-in-chief of the Denglai Navy were considered to be the top figures in the Ming Navy, so they would naturally know about it.

“The encirclement and suppression of the Lin Feng pirate group is fake. The order from the capital is to take over at least half of Luzon.

The barbarians have occupied Luzon, but they will not continue to submit to the Ming Dynasty. For the sake of defense, we have stationed a certain number of troops in Luzon to monitor them at all times. "

Xu Qiaoan said.

These were also what Yu Dayou talked about on his boat the day before. Only then did he realize that the barbarians relied on their strong ships and powerful guns to seize territories everywhere.

It was at this time that Yu Dayou mentioned their powerful armed merchant ships.

When Xu Qiaoan was called to his place by Yu Dayou yesterday, he was still visiting a gunboat to learn about the combat tactics they were practicing.

In the Ming Dynasty, because the Han people were in power, they were not as fearful as the Qing Dynasty was, and their thoughts on foreign affairs were still very open.

Although I did not accept all Western things, I was very good at absorbing them and using them for my own benefit.

Therefore, after obtaining weapons such as the falconet, red cannon and musket, they discovered their enormous power on the battlefield and naturally accepted them quickly, and quickly popularized them in the army.

There is no doubt that if the Opium War had been fought against the Ming Dynasty, the outcome would have been unpredictable.

It's just a pity that God doesn't bless China. (End of this chapter)