My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 81 Yuan Chonghuan has been dead for ten years, can he still harm the Ming Dynasty?

Huang Fei, a native of Nanchang, originally had the surname Tu and was the nephew of Huang Long, the former general of Dongjiang Town.

When Huang Fei was young, he followed his uncle Huang Long to fight against the Jiannu in Liaodong.

After Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan's forged imperial edict in the late Ming Dynasty, and Liu Xingzhi rebelled, Huang Long was appointed as the general of the new Dongjiang Town.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen, Huang Long was defeated and killed in a fierce battle with the Later Jin army at Lushunkou.

Because Huang Long had no son, Huang Fei was able to inherit the position. He was later promoted from garrison commander to deputy governor, commander-in-chief of the Northeast Navy, and admiral of the Guanliao Tongjin Huaihai Jiangzhen Navy.

Simply put, Huang Fei was a Ming Dynasty naval general whose military strength was second only to Zheng Zhilong. He had been traveling between Shandong and Liaodong for many years and was familiar with the waters there.

He was also an extremely loyal general, who eventually died for his country in the original history!
Coming back to his senses, Zhu Cilang finally spoke:

"Take him to the warm room of the East Palace."

Afterwards, Zhu Cilang also stood up and went to the warm room.

Not long after, a burly middle-aged man came hurriedly. It was Huang Fei!
When Huang Fei saw Zhu Cilang, he immediately bowed and respectfully called out:
"I, General Huang Fei, the Navy Commander-in-Chief, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Cilang smiled and nodded, and said in a gentle tone:

"General Huang, I've been waiting for you for so long!"

Huang Fei was somewhat surprised when he heard this. After all, he was not familiar with the Crown Prince.

Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was so friendly as soon as they met, which made him a little at a loss for a moment.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang comforted him:

"General Huang, don't be afraid. The reason I want to see you is because I have something important to discuss."

Huang Fei's expression instantly turned serious when he heard this, and he quickly bowed and said:
"Please give your orders, Your Highness. I will do anything I can to fulfill it."

Zhu Cilang nodded slightly, then waved to Ma Bao beside him.

Ma Bao understood what he meant and quickly called another young eunuch to come in. The two of them worked together to lift something that looked like a screen in front of Zhu Cilang.

Huang Fei took a closer look and realized that this was not a screen, but a detailed map.

A map depicting the topography and sea areas of Ming Dynasty and Liaodong.

At the same time, Huang Fei finally understood Zhu Cilang's intention of summoning him!

Needless to say, this was definitely for the war in Liaodong.

Sure enough, the next second he heard Zhu Cilang ask:

"General Huang, how many naval forces do you currently have under your command?"

Huang Fei heard this and quickly replied:

"Your Highness, I currently have 60,000 naval forces under my command."

Zhu Cilang continued to ask:
"What about the warships?"

Huang Fei replied:

"There are 230 patrol ships, 130 warships, 53 large ships stationed in the Shandong area, and 150 grain transport ships. In addition, there are also some patrol ships for protecting the ocean and patrolling the river, as well as patrol ships for law enforcement and messengers."

"About 700 ships in total!"

Hearing this number, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

You should know that during the reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had more than 3800 warships, but now there are less than a fraction of that number.

But then he asked again:
"You have been fighting against the Jiannu in Liaodong before, so you should be familiar with this sea area, right?"

As he spoke, Zhu Cilang came to the map and pointed to the sea area between Tianjin and Dalian.

Huang Fei nodded and said:
"I have sailed on this sea for more than ten years, so I know it like the back of my hand."

Zhu Cilang pointed to Tianjin and Jinzhou on the map and asked:
“How far apart are the two?”

Huang Fei took a look and replied:

"About a thousand miles."

Having said that, he had already vaguely guessed Zhu Cilang's intention.

The purpose was simply to use the navy's power to support Liaodong and transport food and supplies by sea.

However, Huang Fei did not have any hope for this.

Of course, this is not because he is disloyal to the Ming Dynasty, but because this strategy is really difficult to implement.

When Huang Fei was lost in thought, Zhu Cilang's voice rang out again:

"So how about from here to here?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the sea between Weihai and Dalian.

Huang Fei looked up and then said:

"About five hundred miles!"

Huang Fei sighed again in his heart. He knew that Zhu Cilang wanted to start from Yantai and attack the Jiannu by sea.

But this is basically impossible!
It was even more difficult than transporting grain from Tianjin to Jinzhou.

Because the Jiannu navy was stationed here, it was simply a pipe dream to launch an attack from here.

Just when Huang Fei was feeling helpless, Zhu Cilang's voice rang out again:
"General Huang, are you trying to say that both of these scenarios are impossible? Because the Jiannu navy is entrenched in this area."

"Whether we want to transport grain from Tianjin to Jinzhou or from Weihai to Dalian, we will be blocked by the Jiannu navy."

Huang Fei was stunned when he heard this.

The next second, he looked at Zhu Cilang in disbelief.

He really couldn't understand what was going on. He didn't say anything, but Zhu Cilang was keenly aware of his thoughts.

But he quickly came to his senses and answered with gritted teeth:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, please understand. This is indeed what I think." Zhu Cilang didn't care when he heard this.

In fact, as early as the tenth year of Chongzhen, the sea and land situation in the Liaodong battlefield had undergone major changes.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty's naval power was greatly weakened, and Pi Island fell completely. The defender of Shicheng Island, Shen Zhixiang, led his troops to surrender to the Jiannu. Since then, the Ming army has completely lost its ability to attack at sea.

At the same time, the Jiannu's naval power was growing stronger and stronger!

Because Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming took away cannons, muskets, and ship navigation technology when they surrendered to the Jiannu, the Jiannu also possessed powerful naval power and firearms.

From then on, the Jiannu began to continuously attack and harass the coastal cities of the Ming Dynasty from the sea.

However, the Ming Dynasty was unable to withstand the attack for a while due to its declining national strength.

Speaking of this, we have to mention Mao Wenlong and Yuan Chonghuan!
If Yuan Chonghuan had not killed Mao Wenlong, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming might still be ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

As long as they did not surrender to the Jiannu, the Jiannu would not be able to possess a series of war weapons such as cannons, muskets, and warships.

Similarly, they would not attack the Ming Dynasty from land and sea at the same time like they are doing now!
Let the Ming Dynasty be attacked from all sides!
Hey!
Who can think of it?

Yuan Chonghuan has been dead for ten years, but he can still harm the Ming Dynasty!

Coming back to his senses, Zhu Cilang looked at Huang Fei again.

"If I want you to completely wipe out all of Jiannu's navy, what do you need?"

When Huang Fei heard this, he fell silent.

Because over the years, he had tried to destroy the Jiannu navy.

However, the Jiannu's ships, artillery and other weapons were all plundered from the Ming Dynasty, which led to the two sides being equally strong and unable to do anything to each other.

Moreover, the Jiannu navy was composed of Han people who surrendered to the Jiannu and Jiannu people. When at sea, they mainly relied on the strength of the Han navy, but when it came to fighting, they mainly relied on the strength of the Jiannu!

This makes warfare at sea extremely difficult, let alone complete annihilation.

However, facing Zhu Cilang's question, Huang Fei could only answer honestly:
"Your Highness, I believe that with my current strength, I really cannot do this! I can only defend and ensure that the Jiannu cannot invade the coastal cities of the Ming Dynasty."

Although it is a bit embarrassing to say this, it is better to be embarrassed than to deceive the king, right?

"What if I give you another 100,000 sailors?"

At this moment, Zhu Cilang suddenly spoke.

"what?"

Huang Fei was stunned when he heard this.

Give him another 100,000 naval troops?
This is simply a fantasy!

Where does the Ming Dynasty still have 100,000 naval forces now?
etc.
Suddenly at this moment, Huang Fei suddenly thought of something. He then looked at Zhu Cilang in surprise and asked tentatively:

"Your Highness, the 100,000 naval forces you are referring to are not the Ming navy led by Zheng Zhilong, the Fujian general?"

Zheng Zhilong, recognized as the strongest pirate leader and commander of the Ming navy in the late Ming Dynasty, was also a traitor despised by everyone!

Zheng Zhilong's image in history is not good. The reason is that he led his troops to surrender to the Jiannu and was then killed by the Jiannu!

But because he had a son who was a national hero: Zheng Chenggong, he was able to save some face in history.

Seeing that Huang Fei understood the meaning of his words, Zhu Cilang smiled and nodded.

"That's right. If Zheng Zhilong can cooperate with you to attack the Jiannu navy, do you think we can completely wipe them out?"

Now it was Huang Fei's turn to be silent.

As the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty's navy, he was well aware of Zheng Zhilong's strength. This guy had been entrenched in Fujian and claimed to have 20 people and 3000 ships.

After a moment, he slowly spoke:
"If Zheng Zhilong's navy can truly unite with me to deal with the Jiannu navy, then completely annihilating the Jiannu navy will be a piece of cake."

"But based on my understanding of Zheng Zhilong, he might not agree."

"Because he was born a pirate, even after surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, he still has the habits of a pirate in his bones."

"Before doing anything, he would weigh the pros and cons and consider the degree of danger it would pose to him. Once it exceeded the acceptable range, he would not agree."

"War with the Jiannu is always brutal. Who knows how many people will die and how many ships will be destroyed."

"So, I don't think he will agree easily."

"This can be seen from the number of troops and ships reported to the court by Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong clearly had a navy of nearly 20 and 3000 ships."

"But he was very cautious when reporting his own strength, saying only that he had 3 men and over 1000 warships."

"So I think Zheng Zhilong will never really work for the Ming Dynasty!"

When Zhu Cilang heard this, he began to look at Huang Fei with a new respect.

Because he almost knew Zheng Zhilong's thoughts thoroughly.

After all, in history, Zheng Zhilong was a two-faced person. Even though he had 20 naval forces and 3000 ships, he did not really contribute anything to the Ming Dynasty.

His most famous battle was the Chongzhen Ming-Herzegovina naval battle in the sixth year of Chongzhen.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty deployed 150 warships, including 50 gunboats, and tens of thousands of soldiers.

The Dutch Indochina Colonial Headquarters dispatched nine galleons equipped with cannons to engage in a fierce battle in Liaoluo Bay on the southeast coast of Kinmen, Fujian.

Finally, the Ming Dynasty navy, with Zheng Zhilong as the vanguard, defeated the coalition forces of the Dutch East India Company and Liu Xiang's pirates with its absolute superiority in force.

You see, even this battle was not won by Zheng Zhilong alone, but in cooperation with the Ming Navy.

In short, Zheng Zhilong did have money, soldiers, ships, and strength, but he would not really work for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Cilang naturally knew all of this.

But for Zhu Cilang, this was not a difficult task.

Because he was sure that he could make Zheng Zhilong willingly work for him!
(End of this chapter)