Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 50 Foreign countries also want to spread the incense

In the imperial study, the emperor was listening to Chen Ju read Zhang Xiao's naval construction memorial.

"Sea power will become more and more important in the future. The navy costs a lot, but the greater cost is in manufacturing warships and artillery. After they are built, the cost of maintenance is relatively not very high. But the difference between the navy and the army is that , once a war breaks out, and the navy loses too much, it will be too late to rebuild ships. Even if it uses civilian ships to make up the number, it will be difficult. Because there are few civilian ships that can be used for ocean voyages, and the sailors of civilian ships are not unfamiliar with them. Warship operations.”

"The coastline of our Ming Dynasty is long and winding. Although it can be defended with forts, forts and other fortifications, this is the last line of defense. The best way is to prevent the enemy from approaching our coast of the Ming Dynasty. If the enemy invades, they can choose from south to north. If you launch a surprise attack at a weak point, reinforcements from all walks of life will be difficult to arrive in time. The enemy has at least two key tactics. One is to enter the Yangtze River, threaten Nanjing, and cut off the water transportation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The second is..." Chen Ju stopped here while thinking. Come down.

"Why don't you read it anymore? What weird words did Zhang Xiao say?" the emperor asked.

"The second is to gather a large army, enter the Bohai Sea, land in Tianjin, Tangshan and other places, and then directly attack the capital. Even though our Ming Dynasty has a million troops, it will be difficult to deal with it in a hurry. Even if the capital is strong, the territory of the capital will definitely be shaken. We The prestige of the Ming Dynasty should also be damaged..." Chen Ju read while paying attention to the emperor's expression.

"Let's read it here first, and let Zhang Xiao report the memorial. He really dares to write it. Bring the memorial up. I will read the rest myself, so I won't embarrass you." The emperor said.

Chen Ju handed the memorial to the emperor.

The emperor turned the memorial back to the beginning and read it carefully again.

"Have you read this memorial before?" the emperor asked Chen Ju.

"Your Majesty, the ministers have indeed finished reading it," Chen Ju replied.

"What do you think Zhang Xiao said? Does it make any sense?" the emperor asked.

"It involves military and national affairs, and the ministers dare not speak nonsense." Chen Ju still did not dare to answer directly.

"The draft plan written by the cabinet this time didn't say anything real. It just said that I would make a decision. Chen Ju, you don't dare to speak nonsense now. You don't dare to make a decision, and I can't make a decision casually." The emperor said unhappily.

"Your Majesty, it stands to reason that these two invasion routes can be taken. But now, neither the Japanese nor the Folanji Kingdom has such a large number of reliable warships that can directly pull tens of thousands of people to the gates of Nanjing. Or Tianjin City came down. So Zhang Xiao's words are just a hypothesis." Seeing that the emperor said this, Chen Ju had no choice but to analyze his own judgment.

"That means it is possible, right?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty does have many coastlines. Naturally, people may land on any coast." Chen Ju said.

"Then get ready. If you can't build the fort, you have to build the outpost first. In this case, you can send someone to call Zhang Xiao." The emperor ordered. A few days later, Zhang Xiao came to the emperor's study room again.

"Zhang Xiao, I have read your naval development memorial, but some of the things you wrote in it need to be clarified with you in person. For example, your memorial said that the Fo Langji people planned to invade the Ming Dynasty with 20,000 people. Is this true? How did you know about it?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, my family has lived in Nanyang for a long time, and I have heard about the movements of the Fo Langji people. This plan was written by the governor of the Fo Langji country in Greater Luzon, and I only learned about it occasionally. And at the beginning, Our plan was to send a few ships and more than a hundred French warriors to land. Later, I may have thought it was too outrageous, so I changed to this plan." Zhang Xiao took out his false identity again. Anyway, there are so many Chinese families in Nanyang. Daming now has no way to verify the authenticity of what he said.

"Why did this later plan come to a standstill again? Was it because the king of Folangji felt that the plan was not feasible, or was there some big change in Folangji?" the emperor asked.

"This plan is just that the governor wants to fool King Fo Langji, and wants to make great military achievements and be promoted back to the country. Naturally, King Fo Langji will not just believe the words of a governor who is far away across the ocean. And Fo Langji There was a rebellion by the Dutch at home, and the British had to be fully dealt with outside. Naturally, it was impossible to send the main ship and 20,000 elite warriors, which were important to the country, to the Ming Dynasty. As a result, the main fleet of the French Armada, known as the Invincible Fleet, was defeated miserably. Lang Ji doesn't have time to take care of things outside." Zhang Xiao explained.

"What you say in this memorial is that the person the King of England calls Elizabeth is still a woman? Doesn't the British royal family have any male members? It is still a country of girls. How can a woman be the king? This woman is the king's daughter. Or someone else? Doesn’t the British royal family have to deal with incense?" the emperor asked.

"This Queen Elizabeth is the daughter of the former King of England, Henry VIII. Naturally, Henry VIII also wanted a son to ascend the throne, but he could not give birth to a son. Most European countries believe in Christianity and are monogamous, with only the children of their wives He is the direct bloodline. Henry VIII originally had a queen who had no heirs after being married for a long time. Henry VIII wanted to divorce this queen..." Zhang Xiao compared the marriage system of European aristocrats, as well as Henry VIII and his sixth wife. I told you about my wife. In particular, it was said that Henry VIII was determined to get a divorce, but the Pope refused to agree, and the angry Henry VIII directly broke with the Holy See. There are also stories about Henry's divorce and murder of his wife.

"I see, then Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne is in line with European etiquette. How old is this queen this year? Is she married?" the emperor then asked.

"Queen Elizabeth should be in her fifties or sixties now, and as far as Wei Chen knows, Queen Elizabeth has never been married." Zhang Xiao answered while secretly thinking that the emperor was too nosy.

"Then this Henry VIII has completely lost his relationship? It is not difficult to find a wife for the queen of a country," the emperor said with emotion.

"I really don't know about this. But according to rumors, Queen Elizabeth said that she was married to the British, so she has never been married and is focused on British hegemony." Zhang Xiao said.

"As a woman, Elizabeth can be considered a promising king if she can achieve such a career. This Britain seems to be a powerful country. The "The Rise of the Great Powers" you plan to write has the name of Britain, right? ? By the way, how is the progress of "The Rise of Great Powers"? You said before that you were going to write Timur's Samarkand Kingdom at the beginning, how is it now?" asked the emperor.

"Your Majesty, "The Rise of Great Powers" has the name of Britain. I have finished writing the life story of Tamerlane, the founder of the country of Samarkand. The next step is to introduce the subsequent king Shaharul and others. After the book is completed The ministers will present it to His Majesty together." Zhang Xiao replied.

　Thanks to shiyueshiri book friend for the tip

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)