Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 275: It's Obvious That We're Going to Fight
The Caojun Zhayang General was reorganized into a merchant company and became the Changming Zhayang Company. It had been operating in Dagu for more than five years.

This is the estuary of the Haihe River, the gateway to Beijing and Tianjin, and the throat of land and sea.

During the Yuan Dynasty, this was the northern port for maritime transport. Today, many merchants from the south also go from here to Lutai and then to the northeast.

During the Jiajing period, Japanese pirates were rampant in Jiangnan. How could we not be on guard since it was so close to Beijing?

Only then did they pick up again the Tianjin Coastal Defense Camp established during the Yongle period, with two camps, one on land and one on water, with a total of 5,000 people stationed in a place called Gegu.

There was a tower every three miles along the coast to overlook the sea, and each tower had a cannon as part of the land and sea defense.

During the tense period of aiding Korea in the fight against Japanese pirates, knowing that the Japanese pirates were able to cross the sea to attack Korea, the coastal defense in the Tianjin area was further strengthened.

In addition to appointing a special Tianjin Coast Defense Governor, the density of artillery batteries between coastal forts was increased, with the distance between forts increased to one per mile.

At this time, the weather on the north and south banks of the Haihe River is very different.

Tanggu on the north bank is now bustling with business, while Dagu on the south bank is much more somber and has more than one dock.

On the west side of Dagu Town today, a large area along the river belongs to the shipyard of Changming Zhayang Company.

The shipyard here was once a shipyard of the Qingjiang Shipyard near Jingwei. It was sold to Changming when it was restructured into a commercial shipyard.

On the east side of Dagu Town, near the estuary, is the old site where the Tianjin-Liaoning Navy prepared for expedition.

It was a temporary navy that was organized to aid Korea in the war against Japanese invaders. In the 25th year of Wanli, Chen Lin became the commander of this navy. Based on the Tianjin Coastal Defense Camp, warships from nearby coastal defense roads were mobilized, with a total of more than 13,000 people and hundreds of large and small warships gathered here.

Now, Xinjian Earl Wang Chengxun and his 100 standard-bearers are waiting here, waiting at the Tianjin Coastal Defense Camp military port dock looking at the sea. Behind them are the generals and officers among the remaining 2,000 people in the Tianjin Coastal Defense Camp.

At Tanggu Wharf, the previously quiet wharf became bustling with activity because the emperor had boarded the dragon boat.

"It went to the southeast. Isn't that where the Coastal Defense Battalion is stationed now?"

"…No matter where your majesty goes first, you have to go to the shipyard of Zhayanghang. They have been waiting there for who knows how long. Since your majesty ascended the throne, this is the first time you have left Beijing so far. I think there is a lot of business at Zhayanghang in the back."

"There must be some iron material leaking out from the Zunhua Iron Works, right? It would be nice to have some nails too..."

"There are also the Military Equipment Bureau and the Armour Bureau over there. The big garden protected by the military candidates and the military scholars is usually used up by the money-eating beasts. I want to get iron materials from there and then supply nails to the Zhayanghang Shipyard. Do you have the means to do that?"

It is certainly a good business to get iron materials from Zunhua not far to the north, process them, and then supply them to the increasingly prosperous shipyard not far away.

At this time, on the surface of the Haihe River, the "dragon boat" was moving diagonally towards the southeast.

Zhu Changluo was still standing on the deck at the stern looking over there.

"After the Liaodong border city policy became more relaxed, has Tanggu become more prosperous than before?"

"Your Majesty, I have asked the old official in the county government. Thanks to your Majesty's great blessing, after the military ban in Dagu was tightened, many merchants moved to Tanggu. Five or six years ago, only the riverside wharf area was prosperous. Now, there are many merchants from the riverside wharf to Tanggu Bay. The commercial tax in Baodi County has increased by more than three times in the past few years."

Above Longzhou, the magistrate of Baodi County, which belonged to Shuntian Prefecture, followed the ship to the south bank because the emperor had something to ask.

Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "Think about it carefully. Baodi County is connected to Xianghe Wuqing and Tongzhou in the west, Fengrun and Yongping Prefecture Shanhaiguan in the east, and Yutian and Zunhua in the north. In the future, it should focus on industry and commerce. Zunhua focuses on military industry, and Jinghai focuses on coastal defense and shipbuilding. The counties in the triangle of Jinghai Dagu, Jizhou Zunhua, and Shuntian Prefecture Tongzhou will all be more prosperous in the future."

"I will listen carefully to the imperial edict!" The magistrate of Baodi was just a juren, and now the emperor allowed him to go to Dagu on a special ship. This was a great opportunity.

After crossing the Haihe River, it is the territory of Hejian Prefecture in northern Zhili. The magistrate of Jinghai County, where the three guards of Tianjin and Dagu are located, is not here.

I wonder what he thinks about Dagu’s “decline”.

Zhu Changluo became interested in the prosperity of the docks along the Tanggu coast to the north bank of the Haihe River, and felt that the magistrate of Baodi County was somewhat capable.

Baodi County is in the northwest corner of the entire county, while Lutai and Tanggu are in the southeast corner.

Zhu Changluo certainly looked up to him because he was able to seize the opportunity here and manage the two key towns of Lutai and Tanggu in an orderly and vibrant manner through the Lutai Inspection Office.

"Xiao Dehe, do a good job!"

Zhu Changluo encouraged him again but didn't say anything else.

Baodi County Magistrate Xiao Dehe was naturally excited.

Walking from the stern to the bow, Zhu Changluo quietly looked at the south bank getting closer and closer, and the base of the Tianjin Coastal Defense Battalion.

The achievements of the master craftsmen in the Zunhua Military Industrial Park made Zhu Changluo somewhat excited and he saw a glimmer of hope.

In order to further improve the smelting technology, in addition to asking master craftsmen to think of ways, it is also necessary to break down the barriers between different industries and see if some special reactions can be produced between them.

Don’t the bottlenecks encountered by the military industry now require alchemists to continue looking for suitable chemical products?
Zhu Changluo did not forget that the great breakthrough in the art of explosion was made by those chemists.

While wandering around the salt fields here, Zhu Changluo, who was thinking about these things, recalled the early Chinese industry that he had learned in his textbooks.

Salt is not just for eating, Zhu Changluo knows this very well. When he worked as a secretary, he accompanied the leaders to investigate and inspect various chemical companies. Zhu Changluo now only has scattered memories.

But among the three acids and two bases, it seems that several of them are related to salt.

In any case, Zhu Changluo felt that it was time to have a chemical park and the foundation had to be laid.

Chemical industry is dangerous and polluting...

This place is quite suitable. It is not far from Beijing, the "scientific research center" of the Ming Dynasty, but it is not too close either.

There is a relatively sparsely populated middle area between the coastal commercial road, the border wall of Jizhou Town in the north and the canal in the west.

When the coastal area from Dagu Tanggu to Shanhaiguan becomes more prosperous, a lot of people will be attracted here.

The idea was there, but it was a pity that Zhu Changluo was not from a science background. Otherwise, he should have remembered some knowledge by now and could point them in a more accurate direction.

Now I only remember those words that everyone is familiar with, such as nitroglycerin...

After this trip to the Military Industrial Park, Zhu Changluo was able to catch up on his lessons.

In fact, the current foundation is already very good. For example, the preparation of gunpowder has already involved granulation, which makes its power even greater.

After listening to what Zhao Shizhen said, Zhu Changluo said that Qi Jiguang had said the same thing in his "Jixiao Xinshu". This shows that there were many people in the Ming Dynasty who were capable and dedicated.

From Zhu Changluo's perspective, the most important thing is to encourage these people.

From officials, to professionals, to ordinary craftsmen.

Cooks, craftsmen...it's time to solve the problem of their slave-like status.

This new Governor-General's Secretary of State is very important.

The "dragon boat" sails smoothly on the inland river.

This was not a special "dragon boat" for the emperor to travel, but a new product of the Zhayanghang Shipyard. It was a seagoing ship and a warship. According to the current saying of the Ming Dynasty shipbuilding industry, this was a giant ship of 1,500 tons.

Among the Ming Dynasty's current warships, a 400-ton ship that is more than 80 feet long is already a flagship.

There were also larger ships than this one, which were the imperial ships used by envoys to visit foreign vassals at sea. However, the Ming Dynasty only had one such imperial ship left, and it was built by Zhu Changluo's father.

While reading the records during that period, Zhu Changluo was quite interested in this matter, after all, it was a top-level sea vessel.

The treasure ships that had sailed to the West seven times were gone. Zhu Yijun and the ruler of the Ryukyu Kingdom ascended the throne in the same year, and according to custom, the Ming Dynasty had to send envoys to confer titles on them. The matter was decided in the third year of the Wanli reign, but it was not until the seventh year of the Wanli reign that the journey began.

The reason is that there are no sealed boats worthy of the Celestial Empire.

When Japanese pirates were plaguing the southeast, Fujian built many warships and cut down all the large trees.

This Fengzhou took more than three years to build and was 145 feet long, half a foot shorter than the one that was used to sail to Ryukyu in the 40th year of Jiajing and was later burned. However, it was still claimed to be a 4,000-ton ship.

Today's 1,500-ton ship is the largest ship that the Zhayanghang Shipyard can build.

This was due to the fact that the Zhayang Company asked Li Hui of Korea to cut down large timber from the sparsely populated Changbai Mountain and the deep mountains of Korea, and also to the integration of current shipbuilding technology from the East and the West.

One thousand five hundred tons. According to Zhu Changluo's current understanding and calculations, the displacement should be less than five hundred tons according to the standards of later generations.

A thousand-ton giant ship can only be of Feng Zhou's level.

However, with primitive power relying solely on sails, what is the need for a giant ship of this level?

Zhu Changluo looked at the already wide Haihe River estuary, and his mind was filled with thoughts: I wonder if I will be able to see a smoking ironclad ship in my lifetime.

The emperor stood at the bow facing the wind in silence, and his ministers just stood behind him and watched him silently.

The giant ship has sailed out of the Haihe River and is now entering the sea.

Chang Qing'an was very nervous. As the head of the Zhayang Company, he had confidence in the ship, but not in the weather.

Once you enter the sea and there are storms, although it won't cause any disaster, it will still be a disaster if it scares your chariot.

Even if it just goes out from the mouth of the Haihe River and turns south, it will dock along the coastline into the bay where the Tianjin Coastal Defense Camp military port is located.

This section of the road is a little far, after all, the Haihe River is still carrying silt into the sea, and the coast is actually slowly pushing outward. In the delta area, the shallow shore is not convenient for building docks.

But since the Tianjin-Liaoning Navy was able to prepare for the expedition here, there must be a suitable old place.

When they arrived at the naval port, Chang Qing'an breathed a sigh of relief when the most experienced sailors on the "Dragon Boat" who were transferred from the Zhayang Company maneuvered the giant ship to the dock.

On the shore, Wang Chengxun led people to perform a grand ceremony there.

After Zhu Changluo asked them to stand up, he turned around to look at the "Dragon Boat" and then said to Wang Chengxun: "This ship is now in your hands. You will stay here for the next few months. I have ordered them to ship the new cannons produced in the military industrial park. Once they are shipped and loaded, you will sail it to the outside of Shanhaiguan. It must arrive before mid-July."

"I accept the decree!"

Chen Lin was old, and there was no one to succeed him as a naval commander. The emperor's intention was quite clear when Wang Chengxun, who had no military achievements, was appointed as the Left Commander of the Left Army.

In the first three years, the grain transport army spent a lot of energy on how to transport grain. In the last three years, Wang Chengxun focused more on the affairs of the Left Army Governor's Office.

Strictly speaking, he did not need to worry too much about the military affairs of Liaodong, Shandong, the coastal prefectures of Nanzhili and Zhejiang, but in the process of setting up the upper, middle and lower routes of the canal protection navy and reorganizing the Tianjin Coastal Defense Battalion, Wang Chengxun was planning to build the Beiyang Fleet as mentioned by the emperor and the Privy Council.

The Tianjin Coastal Defense Camp is just the foundation, and Dagu is not the most ideal military port.

There always has to be a beginning.

Zhu Changluo first stopped here for a visit before going to the Zhayanghang Shipyard in order to boost Wang Chengxun's morale and give Tianjin Coastal Defense Battalion more confidence in the process of reorganizing it into the Beiyang Fleet.

Orders have already been sent to the officials of the Coast Defense Department that the Beiyang Fleet should officially surface after returning to the capital.

There is nothing much to say here. All we have to do here is to summon the generals and encourage them.

The stay is not long, everything is just the beginning. It is easy to hastily combine like the Jinliao Navy did in the past, but it still needs to be tempered through actual combat in the future.

From here we arrived outside Dagu Town, where the Hejian Prefecture governor and other local officials had already arrived.

We are staying here tonight to give them a heads-up in advance: Hejian Prefecture, especially Jinghai County, must be prepared to undertake work similar to the preparation of the Jinliao Navy in the 25th year of Wanli.

For them, it is both good news and hard work.

At this point, the purpose of the emperor's tour of the suburbs of Beijing had become very clear: to prepare for war.

The next day, Zhu Changluo led the ministers of the Privy Council to take a look at the Zhayang Shipyard as if they were at the Military Industrial Park.

Back in Beijing, the Minister of Rites Chen Jian had probably just received the imperial edict and set off. The selection of the two prime ministers of the Imperial Study and the Council of State Administration had not yet begun, but the position of Governor-General and Minister of State Affairs had already become an extremely hot position.

After only six years of rest, is the Ming Dynasty going to enter wartime mode again?
Many people suggested that the censors should come forward to persuade and remonstrate, but Shen Li had already figured it out after that night talk with the emperor. He now repeatedly talked to the censors: If you want to discuss government affairs, you can submit a memorial. The memorial submitted by the Inspection Office can only be about the gains and losses of specific officials in specific affairs.

But the irony is that such public opinion is not intense, and does not have the strong opposition to going to war that it had in the past.

Wang Xijue is still in the capital, and his son Wang Heng has now been promoted to Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites.

"Father, there are undercurrents in the government and the country. My son is in the Ministry of Guests and will have to accompany you to Zunhua in two months. Then..."

After a while, the emperor might have chosen important officials before leaving the capital. When he returned to the capital, Wang Xijue might have already left for his hometown.

"Undercurrents?" Wang Xijue shook his head meaningfully. "Your Majesty's itinerary has already been figured out by the court. Next, whether you can advocate war and whether you are willing to follow the emperor's will is the key to whether you can move up a step. As for you, why worry about the future?"

"If the war goes badly, officials and gentry in the government and the country..."

"Your Majesty has great ambitions. How can the Taichang Dynasty be peaceful and war-free? Foreign war is war, and civil war is also war! In the end, whether the internal and external troubles are released together, or whether the foreign barbarians can be tamed and the internal wars can be stopped, it's time to see who is smart and who will commit stupid crimes. Just remember one thing, His Majesty allowed you to go to the Ministry of Guests and Guests, which is a reward for your father's years of hard work."

"...Son, don't you understand?"

"You will understand one day." Wang Xijue laughed, "Minister Fang said that you did a great job in sending the envoy out of the border wall. The person you chose is good."

Wang Xijue has seen through it.

So many people have their own ideas, as if the layout of one room and four courtyards in the center has already been determined.

The emperor seemed to want to go to war, but it was just an open conspiracy.

Do those forces who have found themselves stuck in a quagmire and whose government affairs are not being carried out effectively dare to take advantage of this opportunity to do something?
Wang Xijue wanted to live a few more years after getting rid of the heavy burden and see what the outcome would be.

In short, after this time, the situation should be completely new.

With a great war on the horizon and a national war on the horizon, what a great excuse!

This morning, the big students report to school, and the small students report to school in the afternoon. Only one chapter is updated, 4000+
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(End of this chapter)