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

Chapter 96 Naval Strategy for Subjugating the Nation

Zhu Jian waved his hand; he wasn't there to hear the bill. He stomped his feet twice and asked, "What's the firepower of this warship under your feet?"

"Your Majesty, this warship is equipped with a double-deck gun deck and has thirty-six cannons, including eight large cannons and twenty-eight breech-loading cannons, distributed on both sides of the hull, which can provide artillery fire within a range of one to three miles!" Zheng Chenggong said, describing the firepower.

The Frankish cannon system was smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the Hongyi cannon, with a range of about 500 to 1,000 meters. The Hongyi cannon, due to its large size, had a range of about 1,500 to 2,000 meters, but was much more expensive.

The cost of the eight Hongyi cannons in Fujian, built by Zheng Zhilong, was close to eight thousand taels of silver. The cost of the twenty-eight breech-loading cannons was only three thousand taels of silver, and the cost of the entire ship was about four thousand taels of silver. This ship alone cost fifteen thousand taels of silver, enough to pay the monthly wages of ten thousand soldiers.

After hearing this, Zhu Jian nodded slightly, patted Zheng Sen on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "You really have a good father."

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty."

He then added, "Compared to this warship, the rest are equipped with breech-loading cannons, which have a shorter range. I intend to use these for harassment!"

Zheng Sen did not believe that the entire Liaodong coastal defense was equipped with long-range Hongyi cannons, which would prevent his small warships from advancing. Therefore, he planned to harass the border cities along the more than 4,000-mile Liaodong coastline as a means of containment, to divert the Tartars' military strength and supplies.

Zhu Jian, leaning on the ship's gunwale, gazed towards Liaodong, his hand repeatedly stroking the wooden hull: "I brought some grain, silk, antiques, and the like, approximately 210,000 taels of silver. After deducting the grain, we'll have 150,000 to 160,000 taels left. Could we build a few large warships in Dengzhou and Laizhou?"

Zhu Jian believes that a shipbuilding system is definitely necessary, and Denglai is a good place for it. We can't just buy ships whenever we need them, can we?

"Your Majesty, the Denglai shipyard is relatively small and can only build two such ships at a time. If we were to build nine or ten, it would take several years! Even if we expand the scale, it would be difficult to quickly achieve a certain scale in a short period of time," Zheng Sen said truthfully.

Zhu Jian nodded, deeply agreeing: "Let's expand the shipyard first. If there's an existing one in Fujian, we could buy it and use it!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Sen's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise. Judging from the emperor's words, a full-scale war against the Tartars was about to begin. He then quickly bowed and said, "As you command."

Zheng Sen felt that Zheng Zhilong's fleet had no less than a hundred such large warships. It wouldn't hurt to take out a few for use first, and then have Fujian build more. There was no war going on in the Fujian area at the moment. The pirates Zhong Lingxiu and Liu Xianglao had been wiped out, and the Dutch were also entrenched on Taiwan Island. Therefore, the time pressure was far less than that of Dengzhou and Laizhou.

Speaking of this, Zheng Sen recalled that when Zheng Zhibao came, he brought the standard firearms that the emperor had previously asked Zheng Zhilong to purchase, so he said, "Your Majesty, when my fourth uncle came, he brought the self-propelled firearms that Your Majesty had previously purchased. The first batch consisted of five thousand pieces."

After hearing this, Zhu Jian nodded slightly. Self-propelled firearms no longer held much appeal for him, as Bi Maokang's Ordnance Department was also developing them, and the Imperial Guards had already equipped themselves with two thousand of them.

"Zhou Yuji, equip the cavalry with these five thousand self-propelled firearms on the spot!"

"As you command!"

After Zhou Yuji left, Li Dingguo stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty, these self-propelled firearms are much better than the bird-shaped and three-eyed firearms, and they are also suitable for equipping the navy."

Li Dingguo believed that after the navy landed, the soldiers would be able to react much faster than the bird-headed and three-eyed soldiers, and their ignition devices would not be wetted by sea fog or seawater. He wanted to request another batch of self-propelled firearms from the emperor.

Zhu Jian waved his hand and said, "Don't rush. The Ordnance Department's Bi Maokang has already started mass production, and the navy and elite border troops will be equipped with it in the future!"

After saying this, Zhu Jian looked at the sun in the sky, which was now setting in the west and gradually getting dark, and said, "Return to the main tent and have a meal with me."

"Yes," everyone responded in unison.

As evening fell, a bright moon hung in the ink-black sky, and in the commander's tent at the water fortress, the candlelight cast a long shadow of Zhu Jian.

Zhu Jian slowly opened the wooden box in his hand, took out a roll of map, and slowly spread it on the table.

Zheng Sen and Li Dingguo walked over curiously when they saw Zhu Jian take out a map.

After the two men could see the map clearly by candlelight, they exclaimed in unison, "Liaodong!"

Zhu Jian nodded and pointed to the location of Pi Island in the southeast of Liaodong: "This is Pi Island. Two years ago (the tenth year of Chongzhen's reign), the Jurchens, in alliance with the Korean navy, captured this island. General Shen Shikui of Dongjiang Town died in battle, and this place also fell. Since then, the Jurchens have been able to recklessly concentrate all their forces on the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line."

After saying that, he looked at Zheng Sen and Li Dingguo.

Dongjiang Town was lost eight years after Mao Wenlong's death, not immediately after. It was only after Huang Taiji subdued Korea in the ninth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign that he had the strength to besiege it.

In the ninth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, Huang Taiji led an army of 100,000 to besiege the capital of Korea, forcing Korea to surrender. He then cleared out Dongjiang Town before he could focus his efforts on harassing the interior of China and pressing the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line.

However, there was one thing Zhu Jian couldn't understand: why didn't the garrison of Guanningjin advance out of Jinzhou to attack the Later Jin's city in front of Jinzhou and harass the Qing army when the Later Jin's 100,000-strong army marched east?

Zhu Jian did not believe that Huang Taiji had taken away 100,000 elite troops and that tens of thousands more would remain stationed in the local areas. It was possible that important towns such as Shenyang and Liaoyang would have troops left behind, but the Guan-Ning-Jin area would definitely be sparsely defended. This was one of the important reasons why, since last year, Zhu Jian had only maintained the regular troops guarding Guan-Ning-Jin, and the equipment and personnel had not been increased.

"Does Your Majesty mean that our navy should retake Pi Island?" Zheng Sen asked.

Li Dingguo frowned upon hearing this. Taking back Pi Island was not a good option. Pi Island was now facing dual pressure from the Tartars and North Korea, and was far from Dengzhou and Laizhou, making it difficult to form a strategic alliance. Even if it were to be taken back in a surprise attack, it would face the risk of losing it after a long defense.

"Whether we take it back or not is not important; what's important is to keep it in check."

"If the Jurchens have a large force stationed in Zhenjiang Fort (Dandong), Pi Island will lose its advantage. However, the navy can turn to attack Dachangshan Island, Jinzhouwei and other places, forcing the Jurchens to send troops to rescue them in multiple places." Zhu Jian was not very interested in seizing and defending the land. His main goal was to wear down the Jurchens.

As long as the Jurchens are dragged into a quagmire of attrition and worn down for two years, their food and supplies will be exhausted. Since Huang Taiji wants to cut down the big tree, he doesn't mind dragging things out with Huang Taiji.

Previously, the Ming Dynasty couldn't afford to spend so much because it lacked military pay and its internal peasant armies were constantly attacking and seizing territory. Now, Zhu Jian has more than 60 million taels of silver in his hands, and the peasant armies are reduced to only two forces: Li Zicheng's and Luo Rucai's, which are being suppressed in northern Shaanxi by Hong Chengchou's troops. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty can completely sustain its losses. If it can't sustain itself, it still has its own "power bank," right?