Jinling City is the most important city in the south.
Not just because of its historical status, but also because of the industry it owns.
At this time, Jinling City was the largest intensive production city of silk, velvet, etc. in the Qing Dynasty, with 30,000 looms of various types.
The prosperous weaving industry, coupled with Jiangnan, the land of plenty, together formed the red line for food and clothing in the northern Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Once Jinling is lost, the north of the Yangtze River will face the dilemma of insufficient grain and rice.
Therefore, Hong Chengwan was very anxious.
Letters for help were sent out one after another.
When the Ming army began to build Chongming Port and began to hold landing drills and street fighting drills on Chongming Island.
Several urgent letters worth 800 miles were delivered to the Forbidden City.
Jiaqing convened the ministers in the imperial study room overnight and began to discuss strategies to retreat from the enemy.
"The new Eight Banners Army has not yet been established, and the gold and silver obtained from ransacking homes in the south has not yet crossed the Yangtze River. But the Ming army is fierce. Do you have any countermeasures?"
Jiaqing sat at the top, and the entire imperial study was crowded with officials of all sizes.
Jiaqing's face turned dark when he saw that everyone was submissive and couldn't hold back a word for a long time.
"What's wrong? You're all mute? Yesterday, at the court meeting, I built a garden. Aren't you quite capable of speaking?"
Liu Yong looked around and sighed deeply.
He was having a sweet dream when he was woken up by the eunuch from the palace in the middle of the night.
Liu Yong took a step forward and said: "Your Majesty, although there are many green camps in the south, they cannot be used at one time. Only the 4,000 Zhenghuang Banners of Tongjinbu in Qinhuai can be used at one time.
Based on the opinions of the ministers, I mobilized Tongjin to go south and enter Jinling to assist in the defense..."
Before Liu Yong finished speaking, Ji Xiaolan raised an objection.
"Absolutely not. Since ancient times, to defend the river, you must defend the Huaihe River, and to defend the Huaihe River, you must defend Hefei.
If Tongjin goes south, the Ming army will not fight with it, but will go north to Qinhuai, and the Qing Dynasty will be in danger! "
"Ji Tiezui, don't forget the Ming army and navy. No matter whether it is the Yangtze River or the Qinhuai River, we, the Qing Dynasty, cannot hold it.
For the current plan, we can only defend Jinling and Jiangnan!
Protect the tax-rich land first, and then look for other things. "
"You..., Liu Luoguo, if Qin Huai fails, the Ming army can directly attack the capital.
Which one is more serious? Can't you tell? "
The two old men talked fiercely and argued endlessly over whether to protect Jiangnan or the capital.
The debate soon turned into a shouting match.
"Well, Ji Xiaolan, you have iron teeth and copper teeth, you can talk a lot, but I don't know what's going on underneath you, how can you still move it?"
Liu Yong is no match for Ji Xiaolan in reasoning, but he is good at scolding people.
Everyone knows Ji Xiaolan's lewd character.
He is almost buried, but he still had a concubine for the first two months.
In the imperial study, several officials couldn't even hold back their laughter, and the situation was very embarrassing for a time.
"Okay, okay, I summoned you here to discuss countermeasures, not to curse."
Jiaqing quickly stopped the two of them.
If this were the case before, he wouldn't mind eating melon.
But now the Ming Dynasty has come knocking on the door. If you eat melon again, your home will be gone.
Jiaqing stood up and paced back and forth in front of the ministers.
After a while, he seemed to have come up with a brilliant idea and couldn't help but share it with the ministers.
“The military strength of the Ming Dynasty lies in the army, navy, and guns.
As the ancients said, you can't have both fish and bear's paws. You would give up the fish and take the bear's paws.
On the sea, we, the Qing Dynasty, have absolutely no chance of winning.
But on land, we can rely on city walls and mountains, and the Eight Banners New Army to resist. "
The more Jiaqing talked, the more energetic he became, and he even started dancing.
"The huge green battalion consumes the Ming army. When the Ming army is exhausted, the Eight Banners' new army can break it!
But before that, the Qing Dynasty must find a way to eliminate the threat of the Ming Navy to the Yangtze River coast. "
Everyone looked at each other, and Liu Yong was also confused. He didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Jiaqing Gourd.
They all cast doubtful glances.
Jiaqing smiled calmly, pointed to the map on the table, and started micro-managing.
"If the Qing Dynasty concentrated its large ships on the Yangtze River and Qinhuai River, they would sink themselves at the mouth of the Yangtze River and block the river channel.
How should Ming respond? "
Shipwreck?
Liu Yong looked at the map, his eyes stopped at Jiangyin, and he mentally estimated the possibility of success.
In the end, he had to admire Emperor Jiaqing's fantastic ideas.
The iron ships of the Ming Dynasty were huge and must have a deep draft.
If the narrow part of the river is blocked, big ships will naturally not be able to enter the river.
"Your Majesty!"
Everyone paid homage to him.
In Jinling, Hong Chengwan was hosting a banquet for several guards who had come to assist in the defense.
"Master Liang, I haven't seen you for many years, but you still have the same style!"
"I dare not say that I am very charming. Pirates are rampant in Zhejiang and I am already very worried. This Zhang Baozai is simply not a son of a man!"
"What about you? Lao Liu, shouldn't you escort Baiyin north?"
Liu Tong took a sip of wine, his eyes filled with helplessness.
he said.
"Those adults above, how do I know what they are thinking? They pushed me away. Maybe they have their thoughts on these silvers..."
"Old Liu, don't say this nonsense. You and I are both Han banner generals, so we can pretend we didn't hear it.
If this is told to outsiders, I'm afraid I will have to visit your grave next year. "
Several people sighed, and even Hong Chengwan drank several large bowls.
In the past, in the Ming Dynasty, civil servants rode on their heads.
Now in the Qing Dynasty, there is another Manchu riding on their head.
Then Huangtaiji didn't come in vain.
It’s a hard time.
At this time, the approval from the Forbidden City was sent in by the soldiers.
Hong Chengwan took a look, showing disappointment and worry at the same time.
Seeing this, several people put down their wine bowls and looked over curiously.
Jiaqing said a lot of encouraging nonsense, and then sent 4,000 people from Tongjin south.
After seeing the instructions of the shipwreck, everyone's faces were also full of worry.
Jiaqing is far away and is not very familiar with the water system here.
Sealing the river seems feasible, but the Ming Navy is an iron ship.
When a wooden boat sinks underwater, it is also a wooden boat...
Can a rock made of wood damage the bottom of an iron ship?
The country's affairs are difficult.
With doubts, Hong Chengwan started Emperor Jiaqing's plan to seal the river.
Chongming Island.
Zhu Zaiming, wearing a body armor and a steel helmet, inspected the site selection for Chongming Fortress surrounded by a group of guards.
As Chongming Port will serve as the home port of the First Fleet in the future, corresponding protection measures must still be taken.
The General's Office is planning to build a fortress in the north of the military port.
As the technology of Xinxiang Cement Plant matured, the construction of military facilities also began to be lavish.
Build a temporary factory directly in Chongming to provide cement for the construction of the fortress nearby.
In the plan, Chongming Fortress is 12 kilometers long from east to west and 4 kilometers from north to south. It is a long fortress group with dozens of large and small fortresses.
The entire fortress is divided into two parts: underground and above ground.
The underground passages extending in all directions go more than thirty meters underground, with a large number of anti-infiltration positions set up and many dead-end passages.
The above-ground part is a combination of Chinese and Western styles.
A large number of corner platforms are distributed around the fortress, which together with the moat, labyrinth walls, and slope traps form the external defense.
Such a huge project cannot be built in a short period of time with the Ming Dynasty's existing 360,000 people.
"So, what the cabinet means is that the natives from Southeast Asia can be transported over."
"There are also merchant ships heading to Japan. It is easy to buy some displaced islanders."
"Moreover, in the future war with the Qing army, those Eight Banners prisoners will also be a better labor force."
The officials from the Ministry of Works talked in a flurry, while laying the engineering drawings in front of Zhu Zaiming and introducing the Chongming Port-Chongming Fortress Joint Defense Group.
