open sea

Chapter 548 Control
Zhang Juzheng was noncommittal about naming the three warships that traveled around the world.

Whether the circumnavigation fleet can set sail itself is open to debate, and the naming of warships is even more controversial.

At first, this was a matter of pros and cons for Ming Dynasty, but when the naming of the civil and military warship was thrown out by Chen Mu, it directly became a matter of pros and cons for Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang.

He couldn't agree so quickly.

But for the first time, Zhang Juzheng actually asked Chen Mu about the specifications and armament configuration of these three warships, which made Chen Mu feel elated.

What Zhang Juzheng meant was to ask Chen Mu to keep quiet for the time being, and to prepare four ships. When these four warships are built, let them drive to Tianjin Port first, and discuss this matter after he has seen it. The ships should not have any decorations. , just set up armaments.

If it doesn't work, just transfer to the navy and listen to it.

Obviously, no matter how much Zhang Juzheng thought about it, he must have been tempted.

Not only Chen Mu was happy, but Zhang Juzheng was also happy. He once again discovered Chen Mu's characteristics - this person is very good at turning what he wants to do into someone else's business, so that people can exert their strength.

This trait helps a lot with tonight's feast.

There were not many attendees at the banquet, but it was a great occasion. All six books of business came, and there were a few old acquaintances.

In addition to Shangshu, the Prime Minister of Ji Town, Qi Jiguang, if the seating arrangement is strict, he might have to be the last seat. If he was humbled, he took Qi Jiguang back to the seat with words.

If he was in Nanyang, he would be there as soon as he sat down, this is Shuntian, Qi Shuai's territory!

Chen Mu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, is the most familiar person. If he came back during the Chinese New Year, he would not be wronged if he kowtowed to pay New Year's greetings, because that is the old governor Zhang Han. Since Chen Mu entered the door, he has been looking at him with a smile. The more he looks at him, the happier he looks.

Although Chen Mu only met Wang Guoguang of the household department a few times, the Nanyang Military Mansion and the household department are equivalent to "cooperative units".

Ma Ziqiang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is one of the few high-ranking officials who do not favor Zhang Juzheng in the current government. Today, I heard the emperor mention him in the palace. In the past, Wanli was the crown prince when he was the crown prince. Shangshu also served as a lecturer, but this was unacceptable to Zhang Juzheng, so he rejected it on the grounds that Shangshu was busy with affairs. Now he is only a Shangshu, without the power of daily lectures, and only serves as a lecturer for Jingyan.

Just kidding, teaching the emperor's duties day and night could not be done by others, even the textbooks written by Chen Mu had to be translated by Zhang Juzheng himself.

Chen Mu saw himself in Ma Ziqiang. For this alone, Zhang Juzheng would not allow him to stay in Beijing for a long time, and soon there will be new responsibilities for him to go to other places to shine. Self-satisfied - for a person like him, it is much more comfortable to hold power overseas than to be restrained in China.

Ma Ziqiang also handed over Chen Mugong specifically, and thanked Chen Mugong with a smile: "Since the founding of the country, the court's tribute has been a muddled account that was fooled by the princes of various countries. I don't even know the situation outside the Great Wall and Japan. Thanks to the general's emphasis on intelligence, in recent years The situation of the overseas countries is clear, and the names of the countries have their own rules, and Qi Shuai also sent people to investigate Mobei, so he has a good grasp of the situation of the neighbors, which is of great use to the Ministry of Rites!"

This is both funny and deplorable. Some things in this world are very strange to say. The development of history is not absolute. If there are too many things, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be done, but they don’t know that things can be done.

It’s like the Americans in America riding horses. Leaving aside whether there are horses or not, even if they see horses, they will kill them and eat them, because they don’t know that animals can be used for riding.

Needless to say, Tan Lun, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, and Wang Chonggu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry has changed his name to Guo Chaobin. He is also a minister who is not afraid of Zhang Juzheng. The investigation proved that it is not yet time to dig the canal.

The gathering of these people has a great impact on Chen Mu, especially it makes him curious why Zhang Juzheng called them together, sitting here without sleeping at night, neither listening to opera nor singing, speaking in various languages With a relaxed and serious demeanor, it was obvious that he was going to negotiate a big deal.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Juzheng cleared his throat and said to the crowd: "Over the past few years, the imperial court has spent tens of millions of dollars, and the imperial court has finally repaired and strengthened the Great Wall defense line. The power of the three guards increased, so that Jizhen lost its flanks and faced the northern captives directly."

"Everyone is invited to come here today. The most important thing is to discuss. Is there any way for the imperial court to set up the Northern Parallel Capital?"

Everyone agreed, such as the old man Zhang Han, who looked forward to the old horse, but did not provide any substantive answers; there were also those who opposed, such as Wang Chonggu, who was an expert in dealing with the northern captives outside the Great Wall, and he was very pessimistic about it, thinking that the status quo had already been realized. It's not easy, the north has bowed its head and surrendered, and it would be suspicious to attack again.

Qi Jiguang explained: "The defense of the Great Wall is the most important task, and I am not aggressive in attacking Mongolia. The enemy rides our carts, which emphasizes defense and light offense, and lacks mobility. What's more, it is difficult to find the main force when going out of the fort. There is death, but there is no life, but you are all important officials of the court, and the discussion is nothing more than planning for a rainy day."

All dynasties have been repairing the Great Wall. There is no other way. Of course, there was one dynasty that did not repair it, and that was the Tang Dynasty, because Tang Jun, who was more fierce than nomads, thought they didn't need the Great Wall. What did they need the Great Wall for?
At that time, the Great Wall was used to slow down the Tang army's attack speed and protect the enemies outside the Great Wall.

Chen Mu is one of the first and two big ones, discussing this kind of matter, why did Zhang Juzheng bring him here?
His Nanyang Legion is very powerful, but it relies a lot on the transportation of luggage after controlling the sea power. Without logistics luggage on land, his flag army will go to the north for at most two hundred miles, even if it has not passed. Ban Sheng was caught blind.

What's more, the income is too low, and the same effort is not as good as expanding to the sea. When the productivity development changes qualitatively, Beyond the Great Wall will no longer be a strong opponent.

"What is Chen Shuai's high opinion? You have conquered and conquered the country overseas for more than ten years, and you have come up with endless means. Apart from the supply of silver and food, is there any way to help the court gain an advantage other than war?"

Hearing Zhang Juzheng's question, Chen Mu's brows widened. Hearing this, it wasn't that Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng were in a daze to solve the problem by military, so it seemed that they had reached a consensus.

In fact, this is also the inevitable result of the development of productive forces and the abundance of silver and grain. The issue outside the Great Wall has always been on the minds of the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty. Only three announcements and six consolations to Mang Yinglong and one moment, there were no rebellions in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, which is already a very remarkable situation.

Courtiers can also free their hands to think about more things.

Chen Mu nodded and said: "I also think that the time to send troops to the north and solve the problem of the northern captives once and for all with a strong army has not yet come. However, if the imperial court wants to make some preparations for the younger generation, I think it is worth a try."

"Deepen ties in business, and sign treaties with the chiefs of various ministries, allowing Ming people to travel to various places, so as to sell goods into various places outside the Great Wall, go deep into their territory, and install spies to map detailed maps of various places, north, west, east, the farther The better, the Ming Dynasty must understand the surrounding situation, collect intelligence for a long time, and set up a commissioner in the middle of the country, so as to be proficient in strategy and understand the officials outside the Great Wall to deduce the replacement of its leader and future wars."

"In the military, city defenses were set up along the Great Wall outside the Great Wall, such as Bansheng. I went to see my answer. I remember he said that Bansheng was formed because Ming people dared not go out of the Great Wall, and captive cavalry did not dare to approach the Great Wall. Now it is everywhere. Surrender, I understand that people should dare to go out, which will bring contradictions, but even if a battle occurs, the scale will be small, and the side will be able to control it and further erode it to gain an advantage."

"There is one more thing." Chen Mu smiled, what he said represented his opinion, the current Saibei has not been a big threat in recent years, and said: "In Xuanda area, build more woolen factories, Shanxi and Shanxi, build more Cotton thread factories, we can’t control other things, but a small policy adjustment can affect the movement of private merchants.”

(End of this chapter)