Yongle Emperor's grandson: Zhu Yuanzhang with cheats, Zhu Di went crazy

Chapter 174 Pirate Leader Zheng Zilong

"Your Highness, you should return to the cabin first."

Seeing that Zhu Zhanjun was still looking at the two warships approaching from the opposite side, Wang Jun scratched his head anxiously.

If he was not afraid of offending Zhu Zhanjun, he would have wanted to take action directly and drag Zhu Zhanjun into the cabin.

"There must be something wrong. There is no way these two ships are here."

Zhu Zhanjun thought quickly in his mind and soon came up with a bold guess.

Zhu Zhanjun raised the telescope again and quickly adjusted it, then began searching on the two ships.

In just a moment, the telescope was fixed on one place.

That's where ships fly their battle flags.

Two flags fluttering in the wind.

On one side there is the word Zheng, and on the other there is a big word Ming, around which there is a green dragon coiled.

"Don't worry, it's our ship."

Zhu Zhanjun shouted quickly.

At the same time, two ships approaching in the distance blew their horns and heard drums beating.

Wang Jun frowned and listened, and after a long while he said, "He is really one of our own."

But then he looked confused. As the commander of a squadron of Zheng He's fleet, he was very familiar with the strength of the Ming navy.

The Ming Dynasty definitely did not have a ship with such a strange appearance.

Then the question arises, where did these two ships come from? They claimed to be from the Ming fleet, so which navy did they belong to?

“This is my fleet.”

Zhu Zhanjun didn't want to talk more about this issue, so he said that the two ships were his private fleet.

Although Wang Jun still had some doubts in his heart, he did not dare to ask, so he could only nod. He gave an order to send a ship to approach to see what was going on and to formally confirm it.

Soon, a small ship approached quickly.

Through Zhu Zhanjun's telescope, the crew of the small ship sent out boarded one of the ships, the Sea Sovereignty.

Zhu Zhanjun could also see clearly the clothes of the people on the opposite boat.

Although many people were shirtless, there were also many wearing the official military uniforms of the Ming Dynasty.

Some of them were wearing the uniforms of officers of the rank of centurion or thousand-householder commander.

The two boats approached each other for a while, and then the small boat returned.

"Your Highness, they say your private East China Sea Fleet, Commander Zheng Zilong, is already waiting."

"Zheng Zilong." Zhu Zhanjun was surprised for a moment, then reacted.

It should be Zheng Zhilong, but the situation may be the same as Zhang Baigui. He just has the other party's memory and all knowledge, but he is not the person himself.

"So it's Zilong who's here. I thought he would meet us in Japan."

Zhu Zhanjun said with a smile, and under the protection of Wang Jun, he came to the side of the warship.

"Zheng Zilong of the East China Sea Squadron pays respect to His Highness. May Your Highness be blessed with good health!"

"Ha ha……"

As the two got closer, Zhu Zhanjun felt something in his heart and confirmed that the person in front of him was the one he had summoned during the New Year.

Zhu Zhanjun stepped forward to help Zheng Zilong up. Looking at the short man with slightly dark skin in front of him, he laughed and said, "Zilong, I have been waiting for you for a long time. I thought you had gone somewhere else."

Zheng Zilong clasped his fists and replied, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I wanted to go to Nanjing to find you a month ago, but our ship was too conspicuous. Once we approached, we would be discovered by the Ming navy."

"I have no choice but to cruise around the surrounding seas, thinking that since Your Highness is going to Japan, we should be able to meet him here."

After explaining the reason, Zheng Zilong said a little embarrassedly: "Your Highness, do you have any fresh water and food supplies? We have been drifting on the sea for nearly three months, and we don't want to go ashore and harm the people. The ship ran out of water yesterday."

Wang Jun, who was standing by, confirmed that the two parties really knew each other, and quickly said, "Commander Zheng, I'll have someone send a supply ship over right away."

"Thank you."

Zheng Zilong clasped his fists in gratitude.

"We are all brothers, no need to be polite, you can talk to His Highness, I will make the arrangements."

Knowing that the two had something to say, Wang Jun tactfully led his people away.

The two men walked to the bow deck, and Zhu Zhanjun pointed to the warship in the distance.

"Are these two ships included as a gift?"

Zheng Zilong replied in a low voice: "Yes, when I showed up, I was on a ship, and the ship was equipped with corresponding personnel and artillery."

Zhu Zhanjun nodded repeatedly in satisfaction.

The space service is becoming more and more meticulous.

Zheng Zilong is a man of talent who combines both maritime combat and trade management.

With Zheng Zilong around, Zhu Zhanjun won’t have to worry about future events at sea.

However, compared to Zheng Zilong, what made Zhu Zhanjun happier were these two warships.

According to Zheng Zilong, everything on the ship was configured and equipped according to the real Sovereign.

There are many things worth learning from artillery, guns, and ships, which are of great help to the military technology of the Ming Dynasty. After a period of replenishment and rest, the two warships named Zhenyuan and Dingyuan by Zhu Zhanjun joined the fleet and continued to move towards Japan.

Zheng Zilong is an expert in navigation. He has been traveling to Japan and other regions for many years and is most familiar with the shipping routes here.

The Dingyuan led the way in front of the fleet, and the Zhenyuan followed behind, and they sailed towards Japan in a mighty manner.

Zhu Zhanjun moved to the Dingyuan ship.

It's not that he is fickle, but these two warships belong to him, which makes it convenient for him to act.

Before Zhu Zhanjun set off, he was still thinking about how to release Wu Sangui and others reasonably.

Now that the two warships have arrived, this worry has naturally been eliminated.

"It is indeed the pinnacle of British warships during the sailing age. Many of its designs are very reasonable."

Zhu Zhanjun released Xu Shou as well.

This old man knows more than just chemical steam engines.

Living in his era, I had an inexplicable feeling towards ocean warships.

When Xu Shou and others built the first domestically-made steam engine, they placed it directly on the ship, which shows how much importance these people attached to the ship.

"Take your time to read it. We have plenty of time. There is no rush."

Seeing the old man touching this and that, Zhu Zhanjun did not disturb him. He said hello and took Zheng Zilong and Wu Sangui back to the war room.

"The above is our goal for going to Japan. Tell me what you think."

Zhu Zhanjun briefly told Zheng Zilong about his idea of ​​going to Japan.

The person that Zheng Zilong copied had close ties with Japan. Although it happened a hundred years later, the overall relationship would not be too different.

Zheng Zilong did not answer immediately, but fell into deep thought. After a long time, he said, "The Japanese are a despicable race. They are greedy and bold, but they are also inferior."

"They worship the strong and despise those who bully the weak. When faced with the sympathy of the benevolent, they take it for granted and are equally ungrateful."

“This is not just about their entire nation, it can be clearly seen from the family system.”

"In their family system, the eldest son is the one who controls everything, and the rest of the children are his slaves, and they have to devote their entire lives to serving him."

After briefly explaining the situation in Japan, Zheng Zilong looked at Zhu Zhanjun and said solemnly, "Your Highness, you may not know that this nation is extremely greedy for our Ming Dynasty."

"I have heard more than once that they covet the territory of Ming Dynasty."

"But the Confucian culture of the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the fact that Emperor Taizu Gao listed Japan as a country that would not be conquered, made these guys feel safe and secure."

"I can conclude that if our Ming Dynasty remains strong, these despicable Japanese will behave themselves and only commit petty thefts."

"Once our Great Ming is weak in the future, these despicable guys will pounce on us like hungry wolves and tear apart our former master."

"So I suggest that since Your Highness has this opportunity, you should take complete control of this place."

"We will wipe out all the noble families and retain only the lower-class serfs as slaves."

"Then we will send people to teach our thoughts, and within a hundred years, this disaster will be eliminated."

"By then, not only will all of Japan's territory belong to us, but it can also serve as a line of defense for our Great Ming at sea to resist enemies coming from the ocean."

At this point, he suddenly remembered that Zhu Zhanjun might not understand the situation in later generations, so he hurried to the map and changed it.

"Your Highness, please take a look."

Zhu Zhanjun looked over and found that it was a relatively general world map.

The continents are a little vague, but the ocean routes are very clear, crisscrossing and running through almost all known countries.

Zheng Zilong pointed to the map and explained: "This is the route that Zheng He will take in the future, but there are actually more countries in the West."

"Their current strength may not be a match for our Ming Dynasty, but their learning and stealing skills are extraordinary."

"If our Ming Dynasty doesn't develop quickly, these guys will step into the ocean within a hundred years."

"In addition, I hope Your Highness can ask the Ming government to keep some of the technologies secret."

"Although I also know that there are no secrets in the world that can be kept forever, but one day of hiding is one day of hiding."

After briefly talking about the Western world, Zheng Zilong said with emotion: "Your Highness, although this world is very big, it is also very small."

"Perhaps everything we have now is enough for us to develop. As for the future, a unified world will allow our Ming Dynasty to move towards a greater future."

Zheng Zilong's words made Zhu Zhanjun feel deeply moved.

There is a saying in later generations: The Ming Dynasty is not short of talents, but what it lacks is the opportunities to discover these talents and to give these talents opportunities.

Zheng Zilong was a pirate leader, but he had such a broad understanding of the world. What's funny is that the subsequent Southern Ming Dynasty and the future Qing Dynasty didn't care about this at all.

One was thinking about fighting for power, the other was worried that the Han people would seize their territory. As a result, they missed the opportunity for development and let the West overtake them.

The subsequent Westernization Movement was supposed to be the last chance, but it was strangled to death in its infancy by Empress Dowager Cixi and her idiot subordinates.

He even shouted arrogantly: I would rather give it to foreign enemies than to my domestic slaves.

Perhaps even God couldn't stand it anymore and sent Zhu Zhanjun here to give him the opportunity to change everything.

Looking at the world map, Zhu Zhanjun slammed the table heavily.

"Okay, then let's take down Japan first to accumulate capital. When our army is strong and our navy is invincible, that will be the time for us to take over the whole world."

(End of this chapter)