Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

Chapter 88 The Embryonic Formation of the Ming Dynasty Navy

Upon hearing this, Zheng Sen laughed and said, "Isn't Mao Wenlong's case the same as Zuo Liangyu's? Yuan Chonghuan couldn't control him, which is why he was killed!"

Li Dingguo shook his head: "It's different, it's different!"

"Look at how His Majesty deals with disobedient troops! He cuts off their pay directly and then transfers them between different units! Just like the smuggling case in Shanxi, His Majesty even killed the vassal kings, but the troops in the three towns of Shanxi were not implicated. You say they weren't involved? I don't believe it! Without the tacit approval of these border generals, how could these merchants have smuggled goods out?"

It is obvious that Li Dingguo does not believe that the troops stationed in Shanxi have no connection with the Shanxi merchants. It is just that when the emperor arrested the Shanxi merchants, all the border soldiers were transferred to the vicinity of the capital to receive their pay. Moreover, the emperor was intentionally protecting the border troops. Otherwise, at least a few centurions would have been implicated, instead of the army being completely unharmed as it is now!

Furthermore, regarding the smuggling from Xuanfu to Datong, even if the border generals weren't directly involved, they were still at fault for negligence. After all, this wasn't the first time; it was a route that had been established for many years...

"Exactly! If Yuan Chonghuan wanted to reform military discipline, he could have simply reported it to His Majesty! If His Majesty ordered the executions, then he could have done it without any problem!"

"In my opinion, it's more likely that Yuan Chonghuan received an imperial decree from the Tartar emperor to kill Mao Wenlong, thus eliminating a potential threat to those Tartars."

After saying that, Ai Nengqi took a sip of wine and burst into laughter!

Li Dingguo nodded: "It is said that His Majesty ordered him to intercept the Jurchens who were invading the border. He was in Guanning and Jinzhou, and it took him several days to reach Jizhou! After the Jurchens retreated north, he still had to lead his troops into the city to rest and reorganize!"

"The last person to request leading troops into the city for rest and reorganization was Zhao Kuangyin. Perhaps Yuan Chonghuan also had this idea?"

Zheng Sen shook his head: "I don't think so. Zhao Kuangyin was a young emperor, and the country was in turmoil! After all, the emperor was only a few years old at that time!"

"I don't know if it's true! Anyway, our Ming emperor had only just ascended the throne not long ago!" Li Dingguo said nonchalantly.

Li Dingguo then added, "If I were to command Dongjiang, I certainly wouldn't want to be under the control of the Guan-Ning-Jin Commander!"

"Why can't it be my commander Dongjiang?" Ai Nengqi retorted.

"you?"

"You're no good! You're better suited to digging for ginseng in the Dongjiang River!"

After saying that, Zheng Sen and Li Dingguo burst into laughter!

Just then, the sound of a warhorse neighing came from outside the tent, and a soldier immediately entered: "General, this is His Majesty's decree!"

The laughter of the group stopped abruptly, and they immediately rose, knelt down, and said in unison, "This humble general receives the imperial decree!"

"His Majesty said that the generals should examine the box themselves!" He then handed the wooden box to Zheng Sen.

Zheng Sen took the wooden box, opened it, and read the letter. A short while later, he handed the letter to Li Dingguo: "His Majesty has granted permission to expand the army by 20,000! And to continue building warships!"

Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi quickly scanned the letter, their faces lighting up with delight. Li Dingguo carefully put the letter away and went to Zheng Sen's side: "His Majesty has allocated funds for shipbuilding; I think it would be better to build more small warships!"

Li Dingguo felt that if Dongjiang Town were re-established, small warships would definitely be more useful than medium and large warships! Dongjiang Town was mainly for rear control and flexible operations, and small warships were suitable for dealing with this kind of situation!

Zheng Sen nodded, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Ai Nengqi, you and Shi Lang go and recruit another 15,000 soldiers! Preferably fishermen or those who can swim!"

"yes!"

Ai Nengqi bowed and left the main tent to recruit soldiers.

Li Dingguo sighed and said, "It seems His Majesty still trusts us!"

Zheng Sen nodded: "We just need to make sure we don't let them down!"

He paused, mentally calculating the cost and time, and then said, "At current prices, a small warship equipped with two cannons would cost about five hundred taels of silver. His Majesty has given two hundred thousand taels! That's enough to build four hundred small warships!"

The current monthly military pay for soldiers in the Ming Dynasty is one tael and five mace, which is roughly equivalent to thirty years' worth of military pay for one soldier. Therefore, the cost of building a navy is much higher than that of an infantry!

"We don't have that many in our shipyard..."

"..." Li Dingguo said.

Zheng Sen smiled mysteriously: "When I first arrived in Dengzhou, I had my father start building small warships! Two hundred small warships have already been built, and fifty medium-sized warships are under construction!"

Medium-sized warships could be equipped with eight cannons and cost one thousand taels of silver each. Small warships could carry forty men, while medium-sized warships could carry one hundred. Medium-sized warships were mainly used for coastal firepower, while small warships sometimes also served as landing craft.

Li Dingguo was taken aback upon hearing this, and said incredulously, "The imperial court didn't provide any funding, yet your father started building ships?"

Li Dingguo was genuinely envious. Is this the entrepreneurial path of a rich second-generation? Tens of thousands of taels of silver are spent so casually! If the emperor doesn't allow the expansion of the army and shipbuilding, isn't that just throwing money away...?

As for these small warships, they are not suitable for Zheng Zhilong's large fleet; they are only suitable for harassment operations. If the imperial court does not want them, they will be useless to Zheng Zhilong.

"Brother Li, you don't need to worry. Your father is also a general of the imperial court!" Although he said that, Zheng Zhilong was originally a pirate merchant and he wouldn't act until he saw a clear benefit.

Zheng Sen originally wanted the money directly, but Zheng Zhilong refused. Zheng Sen had to compromise and agree to build the ship first, then transport it to Fujian once the court's funds arrived, and then send the ship to Dengzhou and Laizhou. Only then did Zheng Zhilong reluctantly agree! In Zheng Zhilong's eyes, he was not going to pay the court to do anything!

However, Zheng Zhilong still cared deeply for his son, giving him a large warship as his flagship. This state-of-the-art vessel, equipped with thirty-six cannons and capable of carrying over three hundred soldiers, was his main warship in battles against the Dutch, and was virtually unmatched near Dengzhou and Laizhou! At the very least, it ensured a safe return to Dengzhou and Laizhou...

Li Dingguo nodded slightly. As long as there are ships and soldiers, it's only a matter of time before Dongjiang Town is re-established! They had already studied the Tartars' tactics. Cavalry was dominant, but at sea it was useless. As for Kong Youde and others who surrendered to the Tartars, they only brought over the scattered ships and cannons that Mao Wenlong used before. It was not a systematic approach at all. Zheng Sen's combat system was the same as Zheng Zhilong's system, which was geared towards naval warfare.

In other words, as long as they were not on land, the Jurchens could not pose much of a threat to them; at most, the Jurchens' cannons would destroy some of their small warships!

A few days later, Zheng Zhilong, who was in Fujian, received a letter from his son and was overjoyed for quite some time.

Having just returned from his inspection, Zheng Zhibao saw Zheng Zhilong sitting in the hall, looking at the letter with a smile on his face. He stepped forward and asked, "Brother, Sen'er wrote a letter?"

Zheng Zhilong nodded: "Yes! Sen'er said the Emperor gave 200,000 taels of silver for shipbuilding, and the Dengzhou-Laizhou navy has been expanded to 20,000!"

Zheng Zhilong thought that they were using the court's money to support their own army, and they felt that the Ming Dynasty's navy in Dengzhou and Laizhou was also his! But in Zheng Sen's eyes, his father Zheng Zhilong's navy was his! His father was supporting the court's navy!

Zheng Zhilong now favored his eldest son, Zheng Chenggong, but the turning point for them came later. After the Jurchens captured Fuzhou, Zheng Chenggong famously said to his father, Zheng Zhilong, who was determined to go north to surrender: "Fathers have always taught their sons loyalty, never betrayal." After saying this, father and son never saw each other again...