At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 372 I'm Going Too!
Nowadays, most of the railway lines have been connected, and the deployment of troops and materials is quite convenient.

From the capital to Fujian, in the past, it took at least three months for the trucks to arrive, and it took at least half a year to equip tens of thousands of soldiers and horses with equipment and supplies.

But it is different now, with the steam train, it was completed within half a month.

The soldiers and horses that went out were mainly naval divisions. Therefore, the Fifth Army Battalion did not move, nor did the other guards. Only the Three Thousand Battalion and the Shenji Battalion were transferred.

Other troops include Ningbo Navy, Jiaozhi Navy and Luzon Navy, with a total of 5000 people.

Including boatmen, sailors, civilian husbands, etc., there are a total of 3 people.

A total of 52 ships were dispatched, among which Zheng He was the flagship, Zhu Qizhen personally led the team, Zhu Qiyu was the deputy, and Zhang Mao was the vanguard, ready to go.

At the same time that the Sanqianying and Shenjiying arrived, the dissuading group headed by Cao Nai also arrived.

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

Cao Nai didn't exchange pleasantries, and started persuading him as soon as he came up.

Behind him, Kuang Ye and others also prepared their speeches and stepped forward to dissuade him.

Zhu Qizhen was overwhelmed by what he heard, waved his hands, and said: "Your family came all the way from the capital, just to persuade me to give up the expedition?"

Kuang Ye hurried forward and said: "The emperor is going to go to war, and the teacher is unknown! If the name is not correct, the words will not go well. My Ming Dynasty is the kingdom of heaven, and I should follow the rules of etiquette. What is the purpose of launching a war against Eastern Rome?"

In the first battle of Tumu Fortress, when Wang Zhen advocated the imperial conquest, he came out to dissuade him.

It's just that Wang Zhen's strength was too great at that time, and he could be said to be the same in the court. In desperation, many people had to follow the emperor to go out together, and the result was that they almost died in the civil castle.

Later, everyone found that the emperor had matured a lot, but his temper was still eccentric and he acted impulsively.

Now it doesn’t matter whether you can be persuaded or not, if you are a courtier, you should be persuaded. War is not just a house, not to mention wasting money and money. The Ming army is not good at this kind of large-scale sea warfare. What would Daming do if something happened?
Zhu Qizhen also knew what these people were thinking. He originally planned to send Tang Xinggu over to fight against the Confucians, but after thinking about it, they had good intentions after all, and they didn't deliberately make things difficult, so let's forget it.

I am the emperor, I do things aboveboard, and I don't steal or rob, so what can't I talk about?

"Since I decreed to open the sea, the Eastern Romans came to Daming. However, instead of abiding by my Ming laws and following our rules, they bribed officials and started smuggling business. The port is simply lawless!"

Hearing this, Cao Nai said: "What the emperor said is that the foreign devils are really hateful, but they are only a small number of people, and it is enough to teach them a lesson. There is no need to declare war on a country, right?"

"I haven't finished yet!"

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and continued: "The most exasperating thing is that they stole the blueprint of the iron-clad ship! Everyone should know that the imperial court spent tens of millions of taels of silver and invested a lot of manpower and material resources in order to build the iron-clad ship. It was created with all the effort of the whole country, how can such an achievement be taken away by outsiders?"

The scene became a little quieter, because this reason seemed to be enough.

You steal the blueprint of my ironclad ship, and I send troops to kill you, which is very reasonable.

Cao Nai looked at Kuang Ye, meaning, come on!

Kuang Ye said depressedly: "I am the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. It is indeed annoying that such a thing happened. However, it is not yet known whether those foreign devils stole the blueprints for their own selfish desires, for money, or under the instigation of the Eastern Roman court. , why not issue an imperial decree, order it, and order it to return the blueprint, what does the emperor think?"

"What if the other party doesn't cooperate?"

"If you don't cooperate, it's not too late to send troops!"

Zhu Qizhen nodded slightly, and said: "It's not impossible to give courtesy first and then soldiers, but... this East Rome is thousands of miles away from my Ming Dynasty. If you send an envoy to pass the decree, and then come back to convey the other party's meaning, it will be a long time. It's taking too long, and I don't want to wait."

What he said is also true. It is too dangerous for the blueprint of the ironclad ship to be left overseas.

If it is taken by those European countries that are good at sailing, things will be bad!

Kuang Ye thought for a while, and said: "I suggest that the emperor wait a moment. My Ming Dynasty is a kingdom of heaven. Even if I fight wars, I am also a famous teacher. If I wantonly send troops to invade their land, what is the difference from robbers?"

Zhu Qizhen said seriously: "Kuang Qing, have you ever thought that once the blueprint of the iron-clad ship is lost overseas, what kind of enemy will our Ming face in the future? At that time, if the bandits outside wantonly invade our land , so what?"

"If a foreign enemy invades, the old minister is willing to be the first to fight and kill the enemy."

"I believe you have the courage, but why do you want to feed the tiger? Now, bring back the blueprint once and for all, wouldn't it be beautiful?"

"Hmm... small foreign countries overseas may not have the strength to build iron-clad ships."

"If there is? What if it is really built? Has the Qing family thought about the price that if the enemy has an ironclad ship, even if our soldiers are brave and fearless and win the victory?"

Kuang Ye was silent because... he had no words to think.

What the emperor said is right, if you bring back the blueprint now, it will be done once and for all.

Otherwise, who knows what will happen.

If someone actually builds an ironclad ship according to the blueprint, things will become much more serious.

Kuang Ye thought about it, but didn't know what to do.

The rhetoric he prepared when he set out was useless, because now he felt that the emperor was right and this battle had to be fought.

"Your majesty is right, my minister... I agree to go to the expedition, and all the officials will fully cooperate!"

Cao Nai looked blank, why did he change his position?

Didn't you agree to persuade the emperor not to go out...

In desperation, he had no choice but to say: "I think that even if you want to go to war, the emperor should not go to battle in person. My Ming Dynasty has some excellent generals who can go to war on behalf of the emperor."

Zhu Qizhen nodded, and said: "This battle is different from the past. It is a sea battle. If I don't go, it will take three months for the information from the front line to come back. I can't know the situation on the front line, so I can't To make an accurate decision, therefore, I must go out in person in this battle."

"But……"

Cao Nai sighed, and said: "Your Majesty, you are a body of ten thousand gold, and the sea is stormy, just in case, just in case..."

"Okay, stop talking, I know!"

Zhu Qizhen smiled and said: "Look at those crew members. They have been drifting overseas for months or even years, but I don't see them complaining of suffering and tiredness. They can, why can't I?"

Cao Nai really didn't know what to say. As the chief assistant of the cabinet, he did his best.

"Your majesty is right, my minister... please go out with the army!"

(End of this chapter)