I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 35 A Completely Different Hu Zongxian

Zhenhaiwei, Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian.

On the city wall of the garrison near the sea, Hu Zongxian, along with a group of officials and staff, climbed up to look into the distance.

"The location here is good. To the west is Haicheng Yuegang, the largest seaport in Fujian except Quanzhou. To the north are Zhongzuo and Jinmen. It controls the throat and calms the sea."

Hu Zongxian, dressed in a scarlet official robe, looked darker and thinner, with slightly red eyes, but he looked very energetic.

Liu Tao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, said excitedly: "Minister, the pirates and pirates who are fleeing from Xinghua, Hui'an, Chenghai and other places are now surrounded by our troops on the island of Jinmen. They will be destroyed soon."

Hu Zongxian was in high spirits. He turned around and asked everyone, "Tell me, why is this suppression of the Japanese pirates different from the past? Why can we quickly gather the Japanese pirates who were running around in all directions together?"

Cao Bangfu, the deputy envoy of Fujian's Maritime Patrol, replied: "This time, our army can advance both by land and sea. Wherever the Japanese pirates flee, we will not only have the navy to ambush and intercept them on the sea, but also the land forces to chase them and land. We will take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold to launch a fierce attack."

Qi Jiguang echoed, "Vice Envoy Cao is right. The two naval forces trained by General Lu and General Yu ambushed and intercepted the Japanese pirates. They not only wiped out the fleeing Japanese pirates, but also ambushed the real Japanese ships drifting from East Japan, cutting off the source of the Japanese pirates. They made great contributions."

Hu Zongxian stroked his beard and nodded with satisfaction.

According to his deployment, the patrol navy was split into two, the Zhejiang Navy and the Fujian Navy. Lu Tong was the admiral of the Zhejiang Navy, and Yu Dayou was the admiral of the Fujian Navy.

This is the imperial court system.

Everyone knows that the emperor and the court would never allow the Ming Dynasty's most powerful navy to be controlled by Lu Tong alone.

Lu Tan was also aware of this.

In this case, it would be better for us to take the initiative to propose it. It would be bad if we wait until the emperor and the court speak up.

Sure enough, when Hu Zongxian submitted the memorial to split the navy, it was not only approved immediately, but also received praise in red ink from Emperor Jiajing.

sensible!

Hu Zongxian, feeling reassured, transferred Yu Dayou to be the commander of the Fujian Navy.

First, Yu Dayou was indeed good at naval battles.

He had proposed the use of naval warfare tactics to curb the Japanese pirates very early on, and put forward the statement that "there is no other strategy for naval warfare. Big ships are better than small ships, big guns are better than small guns, many ships are better than few ships, and many guns are better than few guns." This statement was highly praised by Hu Zongxian, who even quoted it in front of Zhu Yijun.

The second is Yu Long and Qi Hu.

Hu Zongxian was very distressed that Yu Dayou was always compared with Qi Jiguang. They were both powerful generals under his command, and if he favored one over the other, it would chill the hearts of his soldiers.

Now let's just transfer Yu Dayou to the navy. Since they are not in the same system, it will be difficult to make a direct comparison.

The navy was split into two, and Hu Zongxian asked Lu Tong and Yu Dayou to reorganize the fleet and intensify training.

He also hired Portuguese warships and instructors at a large expense to teach them the techniques of Western naval warfare, boat handling and firearms.

Hu Zongxian entrusted the training of the Marine Battalion to Qi Jiguang, who was the best at training soldiers.

Based on the previous 6,000 Yiwu soldiers, 2,000 were selected as the backbone, and brave fishermen from Tai, Wen, Ningbo, Quan, Zhang and other states were recruited to form four battalions, front, back, left and right, with a total of 12,000 people.

After practicing hard on tactics such as boarding ships, landing, and amphibious combat, we have seen results in just two or three months.

The land forces in Fujian and Zhejiang were commanded by Liu Xian, Tang Kekuan, Wang Rulong and other generals.

With no worries about food and wages, strict military discipline, smooth military orders, and cooperation between land and sea, the suppression of the Japanese pirates over the past six months was naturally extremely smooth and achieved considerable results.

But Hu Zongxian still wanted to warn his subordinates.

"Last month, several thousand Japanese pirates attacked Lianjiang and Changle, but were ambushed by the Zhejiang navy at sea and fled south in defeat. The Fujian navy intercepted them halfway, but they were caught by the pirate ships and fled from the west side of Haitan Mountain to Tongshan, Zhangzhou.

The left and right battalions of the Marine Corps were taken by the Fujian Navy and pursued to Tongshan. They underestimated the enemy and turned the planned annihilation battle into a rout. Most of the Japanese pirates fled to Nanzhao, disturbing Zhao'an County, gathering more than 10,000 local bandits and pirates, and regained their ferocity.

If the Zhejiang Navy had not arrived in time and blocked the sea, General Qi would have made meritorious contributions and landed with the three Marine Battalions in the southwest of Zhao'an County, attacked the flank of the bandit camp, and wiped out the bandits in one fell swoop. They might have destroyed Fujian and Guangdong provinces again. "

Lu Tong, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang honestly bowed their hands and confessed: "I admit my guilt!"

Fujian Governor Tan Lun cooperated tacitly and said a few words: "Hu, although General Lu, General Yu and General Qi have made minor mistakes, it does not affect the overall situation. They can make up for it in time and finally eliminate all the Japanese pirates in Zhao'an.

The nearly 10,000 Japanese pirates on Kinmen Island were successfully surrounded here thanks to the tacit cooperation of the three generals. After these pirates are eliminated, Fujian is considered to be cleared."

Hu Zongxian looked at Lu Tong, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang majestically and said, "The Emperor and the Crown Prince have high hopes for the three of you. The safety of the southeast and the peace of the sea routes all depend on you. You must not be careless." Lu Tong, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang had already secretly been pointed out by Hu Zongxian that the three naval and land forces under your command were to escort the Coordination Office.

You can completely control the southeastern sea power, and if you don't allow a single ship or sail to go out to sea, it won't be able to go out to sea. Then the words of the coordinating office standing on the shore will be loud and clear.

Do you dare to operate illegally and pay taxes according to the law?
An official document was sent to the Navy Office, and you were treated as Japanese pirates both on the sea and on land, and you were unable to go to sea or to land.

I can only confess my guilt to the Coordination Office.

The Coordination Office is not only the grain depot for the Southeastern Army to suppress the Japanese pirates, but also the purse of the Emperor's Shaofu. If you understand this relationship clearly, you will know what is going on!

Lu Tong, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang immediately responded: "We will remember the minister's teachings and will never slack off."

"Well, Ouyang Butang, the governor of Guangdong Military Affairs, reported that a group of pirates, who seemed to be the navy commanders under the Annan Mo family, gathered five to six thousand people and hundreds of ships, and were stationed in Shangchuan Mountain and harassing the Pearl River Estuary.

After wiping out the pirates on Kinmen Island, General Qi quickly led two battalions of marines, and General Yu led the Fujian Navy to carry and escort them, and quickly headed south. The navy ambushed the pirate ships, and the marines attacked the pirates' lair in Shangchuanshan.

Cao Bangfu, who was standing beside him, quickly advised: "Minister, that's Guangdong. General Qi and General Yu will be impeached if they cross the border without permission!"

Hu Zongxian waved his hand and said, "We chased the enemy at sea and went to Guangdong. When the pirates disturbed the territory, did the navy and army turn a blind eye?
The Imperial Censor impeached us? Well, let him point out where the Guangdong and Fujian borders are on the sea! If he can point them out, we will petition the Emperor to ask this Imperial Censor to stay on the sea every day to prevent us from crossing the border. "

Isn't this a scam?
Cao Bangfu was speechless.

Ever since receiving the touching handwritten letter from the prince, Hu Zongxian's entire mental outlook and style of doing things have changed completely.

Because Cao Bangfu didn't know, Hu Zongxian also received other secret letters from Zhu Yijun.

In the letter, Zhu Yijun told him clearly.

After gaining control of the seas in Nanzhili, Zhejiang and Fujian and controlling the maritime trade in these three places, the next step is to gain control of the seas in Guangdong and control Guangdong's overseas trade.

If I can help the emperor eat this big piece of fat meat, it will not only be blameless, but also a great achievement!

Hu Zongxian, who was fully enlightened by Zhu Yijun and understood the emperor's thoughts, was very confident.

Using troops across borders is useless!
If we can gain control of the South China Sea and manage the maritime trade in this vast area, we won't have any problem going abroad to fight.

The key is that you have to win!
"Yuan Jing, Zhi Fu, from here, you will cross the sea and go down to the mountains and rivers. The journey is thousands of miles long and the sea route is dangerous. This is a great test for you. Practice well. As long as the emperor gives the order, you can fight wherever he points.

"The barbarians from the West can travel thousands of miles across the sea to come to our Celestial Empire. But our great Celestial Empire cannot go to their barbarian lands?"

"As ordered!"

"Alright, go down and deploy. When the time comes, launch the general attack!"

"Yes!"

An hour later, on the eastern sea, hundreds of ships of the Zhejiang Navy fired their cannons at the same time, bombarding the ships of the Japanese pirates anchored east of Kinmen Island.

The air was filled with smoke and the sound of cannons rumbled.

The entire sea surface seemed to be shaken upside down.

The iron balls made a terrifying hissing sound in the air, whistling and hitting the wooden boats, making holes in the large and small ships of the Japanese pirates.

Southwest of Kinmen Island, hundreds of ships of the Fujian Navy fired thousands of rockets at the west coast of the island, covering an area six miles long and two miles wide in fire and black smoke.

"Not bad, not bad. The rocket designed by the prince is quite powerful."

"Yes, although the accuracy is not good, but the quantity is effective. Hundreds or thousands of rounds fired at a certain place can cause huge damage."

"It's a pity to use such a powerful weapon to fight against Japanese pirates."

As everyone was talking, they watched as the 6,000 Marines were divided into two groups and boarded landing boats, leisurely landing on the cleared shore.

"Kill the Japanese pirates!"

The officers in the front shouted loudly, and thousands of soldiers followed suit, and the sound spread over dozens of miles.

(End of this chapter)