Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 525 I'll leave this battle to you, my dear!
"I agree with the proposal. The Jiujiang navy can go to sea and cooperate with the other five guards in the expedition!" said the Minister of War Wang Lu.

Emperor Yanping nodded slightly, "What about warships? Does the Ministry of Works have warships for the Jiujiang Navy to use?"

The Minister of Works, Jiang Wei, was in a dilemma. The Ministry of Works had a strong ability to manufacture ships, but it was also unable to provide a large number of warships in a short period of time.

"Your Majesty, even if we rush the work now, it will probably take a year to provide enough large warships for the Jiujiang Navy!"

"One year!" Emperor Yanping looked at him with dissatisfaction.

Jiang Wei looked distressed, "Your Majesty, there is nothing we can do about it."

Liang Chu glanced at Jiang Wei secretly, and then said: "Your Majesty, I have an idea that may make up for the shortage of warships in the Jiujiang Navy!"

"Tell me about it!" said Emperor Yanping.

Liang Chu said: "It is definitely too late to build warships now, but if we convert merchant ships into warships, it should be faster. The Jiujiang Navy will probably need ten large Fuzhou ships, and there should be quite a few large Fuzhou ships among the merchant ships. The court can borrow large Fuzhou ships from the people!"

There are differences between merchant ships and warships, but the differences are not that big, and they can be easily modified.

Of course, even after the transformation, merchant ships are not as good as warships in performance, but this is still a feasible method.

Emperor Yanping looked at Jiang Wei again. Jiang Wei thought for a moment and said, "If it's just a modification, three months will be enough for ten large Fu ships."

"Then we will modify it, but not ten ships, but eighteen!" Emperor Yanping added directly.

He thought that since the modifications were possible, he should modify more of them, as more ships are always better than too few.

If the Jiujiang navy cannot be used, then other navies can be used.

Jiang Wei hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Emperor Yanping was adamant, he could only grit his teeth and agree, "I obey your order!"

Emperor Yanping asked again: "Are there any other questions?"

Liang Chu said: "There are several innate warriors in Xingyue Sect. If we want to wipe out Xingyue Sect, the court will need innate warriors to go with the army!"

"How many innate warriors are there in the Xingyue Sect?" asked Emperor Yanping.

"Three to five!" Wang Zhongzhi gave an uncertain answer.

Emperor Yanping nodded and said, "I will arrange this matter."

There are three to five innate warriors, so Darong must dispatch five to eight to ensure that everything is foolproof.

It just so happens that the Temple of Worship has been established for more than two years, and it’s time to assign some tasks to those innate warriors.

Liang Chu added: "This battle still needs a prudent general to lead it!"

Emperor Yanping frowned slightly, "Who do you think is suitable?"

"This~~" Liang Chu was stuck for a moment.

Who is suitable?
He really couldn't imagine it.

If it is a land battle, there are many people he can think of, such as Yang Zhengshan, Qu Changkong, Lu Baishu, Guo Ying, Marquis of Wuding, Zhang Luan, Marquis of Jianchang, Duan Qifeng, son of Duan Rui, Duke of Rong, and so on. These are all experienced generals of Dayong.

But as for naval battles, Dayong has not fought a large-scale naval battle for decades.

The several commanders of the Jiujiang Navy are definitely not qualified, as they have never fought at sea.

The commander of Jinhaiwei was Haichangbo Xue Chang'an, but he was definitely not good enough as Xue Chang'an had never experienced a large-scale naval battle.

As for the others, Liang Chu thought about them one by one, and finally rejected them one by one.

Even Yang Zhengshan was rejected by him. Although Yang Zhengshan built the Tenglong Vanguard, he had never fought a naval battle, not even a small-scale naval battle.

Everyone fell into silence.

The most embarrassing thing is that no one is available!

Minister of War Wang Lu hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Your Majesty, is Marquis Jing'an capable of taking on this important task?"

He still proposed Yang Zhengshan for a simple reason: Yang Zhengshan had built the powerful navy of Tenglong Vanguard.

As for Yu Tonghai, his official position was too low and he had no prestige, so he certainly could not command tens of thousands of naval forces.

Emperor Yanping looked at Zhou Mao, "Duke Ningguo, what do you think?"

He also didn't know whether Yang Zhengshan could do it. This battle was related to Dayong's national prestige in the southeastern waters. If it was defeated, Dayong would not only suffer serious losses, but would also leave an impression of weakness to many forces in the southeastern waters.

This battle involves a lot of things. If Yang Zhengshan is defeated, it will be a disaster for Yang Zhengshan. Emperor Yanping is actually unwilling to let Yang Zhengshan take risks.

Zhou Mao thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, perhaps you can ask Marquis Jing'an about this matter!"

Emperor Yanping could only nod his head. "Then I will ask Marquis Jing'an later. The Cabinet and the Ministry of War should first come up with a set of regulations for mobilizing troops. The Ministry of Works should rebuild the warships as soon as possible. The Ministry of Revenue should prepare money and food. Duke Ning, Duke Rong, and Marquis Changping, you should coordinate with the Five Military Commandery and cooperate with the Ministry of Works to mobilize troops."

"I will obey your orders!"

The ministers responded.

……

Today, Yang Zhengshan is idle at home.

In the pavilion on the back mountain, there is a rocking chair, a travel journal, a coffee table, a pot of tea, and a plate of melon seeds. Yang Zhengshan is cracking melon seeds and leisurely reading the travel journal in his hand.

He has always read travel notes as novels. These travel notes are quite interesting. Most of them are written by predecessors who traveled around the world. Some of them are nonsense, while some are compiled according to facts.

Do not underestimate the warriors of Dayong. Many of them are very adventurous and are true adventurers. They go out to sea, head south, or travel to the far west.

For example, the travel notes in Yang Zhengshan's hand are the experiences of a warrior who traveled to the Daluo Dynasty in the far west a hundred years ago.

The so-called Far West is a very far place in the west, the Far North is the snowy land in the north, and the Far East Sea is the vast ocean in the east, which are probably extremely far away and unknown places.

The Daluo Dynasty was also an extremely prosperous place with many warriors. Its customs were somewhat different from those of Dayong, but overall they were similar to those of Dayong.

Just when Yang Zhengshan was watching with great interest, Lu Shou came running over and said, "My Lord, the eunuch Wang in front of the emperor is here to invite you into the palace!"

"Enter the palace!"

Yang Zhengshan was somewhat suspicious, "Did you say what it was for?"

"No, just say that His Majesty summoned you!" Lu Shou said.

Yang Zhengshan put down the book, stood up and said, "Go prepare your robes!"

Emperor Yanping rarely invites him to the palace. In the past two years, Emperor Yanping has gotten used to his lazy nature. He sent someone to invite him today, probably because of something.

Yang Zhengshan didn't guess too much. He would know what it was all about once he got there.

A moment later, Yang Zhengshan changed into the Qilin costume and rode in a carriage towards the imperial city.

The carriage stopped in front of the Meridian Gate. Yang Zhengshan walked into the imperial city and came to the Taiji Hall.

"We meet Marquis Jing'an!" Zhang Mingzhong seemed to have been waiting here for a while. When he saw Yang Zhengshan coming, he stepped forward and responded with a smile.

“Hahaha, how are you, Eunuch Zhang?” Yang Zhengshan laughed and stepped forward to put his arm around Zhang Mingzhong’s shoulders. “I heard that Eunuch Zhang is a favorite of His Majesty now!”

After saying that, he winked and looked mischievous. Zhang Mingzhong said with a wry smile, "Sir, please stop joking with us. His Majesty is still waiting for you!"

"Oh, do you know what His Majesty wants to see me about?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"Your Majesty intends to attack Xingyue Gate." Zhang Mingzhong said softly, and then took Yang Zhengshan into the Taiji Hall.

Arriving at the imperial study, Yang Zhengshan bowed politely and said, "Your Majesty, I, Yang Zhengshan, pay my respects to you!"

Emperor Yanping was dealing with memorials. No one knew how many memorials there were in the court. Anyway, every time Yang Zhengshan came, Emperor Yanping would lie on the desk to deal with the memorials.

"Mingzhong, please serve tea!" Emperor Yanping said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yang Zhengshan said.

Zhang Mingzhong led him to sit at the tea table next to him, and then asked the eunuch to bring him tea.

Emperor Yanping also put down the memorial in his hand and walked to the tea table and sat down.

"My dear, are you good at naval warfare?" asked Emperor Yanping.

Yang Zhengshan knew what was going on as soon as he heard it. Emperor Yanping wanted him to lead the troops to attack Xingyue Gate.

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This matter?

He has indeed become a little lazy in the past two years. He used to be always busy and full of energy, and he could handle all kinds of official duties with ease. But after a few years of idleness, he actually liked this leisurely life.

"Your Majesty, do you want to use military force against Xingyue Sect?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Emperor Yanping was not surprised that he knew about this. He nodded slightly and said, "The disaster in Yuzhou was caused by Xingyue Sect. If the court does nothing, I'm afraid those pirates in the southeastern sea will think that Darong is weak and can be bullied!"

Yang Zhengshan nodded, there was nothing wrong with this logic.

There are some things you cannot compromise on, especially when it comes to state affairs. If you compromise, the other party will definitely become more demanding.

The Xingyue Sect has already started this trend. If Dayong cannot fight back, the forces in the southeastern waters will inevitably harbor evil intentions.

Dayong has such a long coastline that it is definitely impossible to ensure complete safety. If you want to prevent the coastal areas from being harassed by pirates, you must use the power of thunder to deter the villains in the southeastern waters.

"Is the court planning to use those naval forces?" Yang Zhengshan asked again.

Emperor Yanping briefly explained the previous court discussion, and then asked, "What do you think, my dear minister?"

Yang Zhengshan thought for a moment and said, "So, Xingyue Sect probably has 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers, and the court has mobilized many naval forces, with a force of around 50,000."

"The difference in military strength between the two sides is not big, but in terms of warships, our warships are more powerful, so we have the advantage in this respect!"

Dayong was an empire. Even though Dayong had a weakness in navy, it still had many advantages in many aspects.

For example, in terms of shipbuilding, crossbows, weapons and armor, how can the Xingyue Sect, which is similar to a sect, compare with the huge Dayong Imperial City.

Yang Zhengshan simply weighed the combat capabilities of both sides and felt that this battle could still be fought.

"If Your Majesty doesn't have any other suitable candidates, I am willing to serve you!"

He did not refuse. After all, he was employed by his emperor and should be loyal to him.

After eating free rice for three years, it’s time to do some work for the court.

"Are you sure you can win?" asked Emperor Yanping.

After his anger subsided, Emperor Yanping became cautious.

After all, this is a big war. If we win, everything will be fine. But if we lose, it will have a huge impact on the court.

He has to consider the gains and losses.

Yang Zhengshan smiled, "Of course I am not sure of winning, but as long as Your Majesty supports me, I am still 70% to 80% sure!"

Win!

Who can guarantee this?

But I'm 70% to 80% sure that he is just being modest.

As long as there are enough innate warriors to support him, he has a 90% chance of success.

It is true that he has never fought in a naval battle, and he doesn’t even know how to fight a naval battle, but that doesn’t matter because he has a cheat.

Sensing celestial phenomena is his greatest confidence.

Naval battles are different from land battles, and celestial phenomena provide greater assistance to naval battles.

The advantage of wind direction and wind speed alone can determine the outcome of a battle.

For Yang Zhengshan, when the wind will blow, in which direction and how strong the wind will be are all things that can be predicted.

As for how to fight a naval battle, this is actually not a difficult task.

Yang Zhengshan doesn't understand, but there will always be someone who does. Besides, Yang Zhengshan doesn't know nothing. He also studied naval warfare when he was in Tenglongwei, but he has never practiced it in practice.

Since Tenglong Vanguard will participate in this battle, we can borrow Yu Tonghai's abilities at that time.

Although Yu Tonghai had never fought in such a large-scale naval battle, he had participated in many small-scale naval battles when he served in Haizhou Zuowei.

At that time, Yang Zhengshan will decide the strategy, and Yu Tonghai and others will decide the tactics.

Emperor Yanping thought about it and felt that a 70% to 80% confidence was not low. The key point was that he really had no one else available now. Since Yang Zhengshan was 70% to 80% confident, let Yang Zhengshan try.

"Then how long will it take you, my dear, to destroy the Xingyue Sect?"

"This~" Yang Zhengshan estimated, "It may take half a year to a year."

The Xingyue Sect is just a sect. Its territory is mainly Xingyue Island, and there are also many small islands. It does not have much room for maneuver and no strategic depth. It can be said that one or two major battles can decide the outcome, and it does not take too much time at all.

"It's mainly because these naval forces are being brought together. It will take some time for them to adjust and train. I estimate that three months of training will be enough. If everything goes well, they can go out to sea and fight before the end of the year."

Emperor Yanping nodded. He was very satisfied that Yang Zhengshan did not rush for quick success.

"Then I'll leave this battle to you, my dear!"

Yang Zhengshan stood up and accepted the order, saying, "I obey your order!"

"My dear, please come to the morning court the day after tomorrow!" Emperor Yanping looked at Yang Zhengshan with some dissatisfaction.

You never come to the morning court, but you must come this time.

"Haha, I understand. I will definitely come to court!"

What else could Yang Zhengshan say? This matter must be arranged at the morning court.

"Well, let's settle this matter for now. My dear, please go back and prepare!" said Emperor Yanping.

"I resign!"

(End of this chapter)