Chapter 032 Navigation Chart
Give it to your collection, okay?
"Oh My God..."
Huang Yigong, a former craftsman of Longjiang Shipyard and a descendant of Huang Shi, who participated in the construction of the treasure ship, was looking at the construction drawings of the treasure ship handed to him by Chen Cao. After looking at it for a long time, he murmured: "My ancestors have always said that building treasure ships is the right way. That thing is big Ah," he said, looking at Chen Cao: "Sir, with this blueprint, I believe we can build a treasure ship within a year."
"Don't worry yet." Chen Cao stopped Huang Yigong's idea: "These drawings not only include treasure ships, but also construction drawings of many maritime warships such as horse ships. The largest sea-going ship in our country now only has 800 materials. Compared with other people’s sea ships, it’s not even a fraction of that of others.”
Huang Yigong nodded: "What you said makes sense. I built ships for the Portuguese in Fujian a few years ago. Their warships were all three-masted soft sails. Each ship had more than two thousand materials. Naval battles were huge. Wu Ba."
"That won't work," Chen Cao waved his hand: "Now the reopening of the shipyard depends entirely on Wei Guogong. The sea-going ships in it are made of a thousand materials. Now we have a plan. Based on it, we can directly build a sea-going ship of three thousand materials. We will build three thousand ships first." It will be useful by the end of this year.”
"yes..."
"You are now the ambassador of the shipyard. If you work hard, your benefits will be indispensable."
"Thank you, sir..."
Zou Weilian was acquitted. Previously, this group of people were hiding under the instruction of Qi Boyu. Now Jin Yiwei confirmed that there was a false accusation, which made some people in the Ministry of War Yamen panic. After all, when they came to pick up the person, someone else told him about the report within the Ministry of War.
Qi Boyu comforted Zou Weilian with a few words and then let him leave. There have been fewer rumors about him in the past few days, and Qi Boyu has also begun to rise. The most important thing is to find out who falsely accused Zou Weilian.
Chen Cao was not idle. He had been studying navigation charts at home these days, but he made no progress at all.
"What a terrible thing..." Chen Cao didn't dare to throw it away. This nautical chart is the original map and has not been copied. However, considering that the development of modern powers depends entirely on maritime colonization, the hegemony of this sea must be fully controlled. In Ming's hands, the key is that he really knows nothing about navigation.
'You have to find someone who knows the sea and is reliable. ' Chen Cao thought to himself.
After leaving the study, Chen Cao walked to the door, called Zhao Xin to come closer and asked: "How many of our Ming Dynasty naval forces are there now?"
Xin Zhao frowned: "My subordinates only know Caojiang Navy, Chaohu Navy, Longjiang Navy, Poyang Lake Navy and Guangdong and Fujian Navy. The rest have to go back to the Yamen to check the files."
"Forget it, I have to ask Mr. Xu."
Xu Guangqi was a high-ranking official and was of the right age. When Chen Cao saw him, he said, "Sir, do we have any famous generals in the Ming Navy?"
Xu Guangqi frowned: "The Ming Dynasty Navy has declined since its orthodoxy. Famous naval generals only existed during the reign of Emperor Taizu and Chengzu."
"What about recently? Or was it during the Wanli Master period?"
Xu Guangqi thought for a while and then said: "The chief general Chen Lin and the deputy general Deng Zilong during the Eastern Expedition to Korea were the naval admiral and the deputy general. If you had to choose these two people in the near future, you must also know that General Deng is He died in Luliang."
Chen Cao felt it made sense, so he asked, "Do these two generals have any heirs who will serve as officials in the court?"
"I don't know about this, but I'm sure they know how to fight in water," Xu Guangqi looked at Chen Cao and said with a smile, "I know what you mean by asking this."
"Hehe..." Chen Cao laughed, excused himself and walked away. He turned to look at Zhao Xin: "Go and check on Chen Lin and Deng Zilong's family members immediately."
...
"The Eastern Expedition to Korea was called the Imjin Japanese Rebellion in Korea at that time. The Japanese army had almost 200,000 people, and they were all well-equipped. They had matchlock guns that were more advanced than our Ming Dynasty," said a four-year-old from the Qianhu Institute. Baihuguan, who was in his teens, was telling Chen Cao a story: "At that time, my subordinate was just a small banner of Nanzhen Fusi. He was ordered to go to Korea to spy on the military situation of the Japanese army. This group of people fought bravely, from the landing in Busan to Korea. It only took less than a month for Sandu to fall. They advanced by land and water, and captured Seoul on the 19th day after landing. The subordinates were in the headquarters at the time. By the end of the war, there were only six people left, including subordinates. Many brothers from this headquarters and Beizhen Fusi also died in North Korea."
It will be recognized in later generations that North Korea is a pig mate, otherwise it would not have been so badly beaten by the Japanese army. It took 19 days to conquer North Korea during the cold weapon period. It can be regarded as Toyotomi Hideyoshi's courage and the Japanese army's combat effectiveness.
"The commander-in-chief of the Japanese army is Ukita Hideie, the army is led by Konishi Yukinaga, and the navy is commanded by Kuuki Yoshidagu, headed by Todo Takatora." The Hyakuho official added: "North Korea's armaments have been in decline for nearly two hundred years, and the entire country's military is no more than Thirty thousand people were defeated to the point of being defeated. If Yi Sun-shin had not tried his best to stop him, he might not have been able to wait for our troops from the Celestial Empire to arrive."
"I didn't expect the Korean War to be so interesting." Chen Cao's knowledge of the Korean War in the past was only one-sided. Now he has a survivor who participated in it: "By the way, how is the command of our Ming Navy?"
Baihu thought for a while: "Admiral Chen Lin and deputy general Deng Zilong are both navy commanders and are quite familiar with water warfare. Moreover, they are from Guangdong and Fujian."
"Sir, I've got it..." Xu Kaixian walked into the middle hall with the file: "Chen Lin gave it to the crown prince as Taibao. The family has a hereditary title of 100 households. The eldest son has died. The eldest grandson Chen Maoxiu is now the commander of the Qianhu Command in Yun'an County. and Chen Yongsu, the fifth grandson of the concubine, who is now the patrol inspector of the Navy in Yongping Town, Liudu County." Then he flipped through another page: "After the death of General Deng, his son Deng Guang is now a hundred households of the Poyang Lake Navy."
"Tomorrow I will go to my uncle for help and promote Chen Maoxiu, Chen Yongsu and Deng Guang in the name of Caojiang Navy and let them serve as Caojiang Navy."
...
On the fifth day of April, the first major inspection of the Nanjing Right Guards was held. There were a total of 5,600 generals and soldiers on staff in the whole guard.
Chen Cao was covered in robes and stood majestically on the general stage. On the left was Song Che, his colleague, and immediately following him were Qianshi Qi Xianzong, Qianshi Bei Tianhua and other right-guard commanding generals.
Qi Xianzong took a step forward and shouted loudly: "Nanjing right guard, the martial arts performance begins..."
The right guards of Nanjing had no cavalry, but were all infantry. After being trained in the "Chen's Cao Dian", they were well trained and their goose-stepping skills could keep up with the armies of later generations.
Chen Cao nodded with satisfaction: "Qi Xianzong did a good job."
Qi Xianzong was responsible for the basic training and battle formation training of the whole bodyguard, while Song Che was mainly responsible for the musketry training.
"The thousandth household is under preparation..."
'Tap tap tap tap...' After a trot, more than a thousand people from the No. 1,000 Households lined up in front of the shooting range. They directed the Qianhu Houses to draw their swords and shouted: "Raise the gun... prepare... fire..."
'Bang bang bang...'
After several months of improvement, the smoke produced by the paper shell bullets is obviously much smaller, and there is no need for a match rope to ignite, and there is no need for three-stage shooting. After a burst of gunfire, only the straw targets in the shooting range were beaten. Lower body.
Chen Cao was very satisfied, and then the remaining Qianhu offices were inspected. At the end, after the three hundred servants belonging to Chen Cao fired their guns, Chen Cao patted Qi Xianzong and Song Che on the shoulders and said: "The next day Fugui, you two are with me.”
"Thank you, sir..."
"By the way," Chen Cao looked at Song Che and said: "The shouts of killing are very noisy on the battlefield. In order to convey the order in advance, we made some iron whistles and used the whistles to represent military orders. As for how to arrange it, I will write it to you after I think about it. , you should train according to this."
"No problem..." Song Che nodded.
...
"YCIS, I heard that your Nanjing right guard training is over?" Xu Hongji drank tea and looked at Chen Cao, who was sitting far away in the next seat, and asked: "When can you go to sea?"
"My lord, you can go to sea at any time, but there are three warships with 800 warships of the Jiang Navy. If we really fight, we have to try our luck." Chen Cao expressed his concerns without hesitation.
"Do you have any suggestions for water battles?" Xu Hongji frowned.
"You can go to sea directly. The Longjiang shipyard is currently building a large ship with a cost of 3,000 materials. It will be launched in June at the earliest." Chen Cao handed over.
Xu Hongji breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "I will not hide it from you. The imperial censor of the imperial court impeached me, the Duke of Wei, and said in front of your majesty that my Xu family has been guarding Nanjing for generations and should be removed from the post of Admiral Cao Jiang. Now the imperial court is in charge. For this matter, YCIS, if you can't go out to sea and fight to establish your authority for us, I'm afraid I will have to submit my resignation before September."
"Is the Donglin Party so intolerable to you?" Chen Cao was a little angry, and then he handed over his hand: "Don't worry, sir, my subordinates will go to sea in three days, and we will use three warships as the basis to meet the pirates. Please rest assured, sir." , they want people from the Donglin Party to supervise Cao Jiang, but they don’t have the ability..."
When Chen Cao came out of the Duke's Mansion, he immediately ordered Xin Zhao beside him: "Take the 20,000 taels of silver notes and send them to Wei Zhongxian in the capital immediately. He has another hospital in the capital, so send it directly to the other hospital. Hand them my letter."
"yes..."
After that, he gave instructions to Zhang Fengnian beside him: "From now on, you will take charge of the three hundred servants around me. Go back and tell them to get ready and prepare to go to sea."
"yes..."
"Xu Kaixian..."
"My subordinate is here."
"Go to the military camp immediately, tell Song Che and Qi Xianzong to gather 700 people, distribute ammunition, and go to sea to fight the pirates in three days."
"yes..."
...
On the tenth day of April, everything should be done
Xu Hongji, the hereditary Duke of Wei, sent an official document to the Ministry of War, saying that there were pirates along the coast of Zhejiang and harassing ships everywhere. In order to ensure peace along the coast, three navy warships and soldiers were dispatched. More than a thousand people went to sea to fight against pirates. In order to make the operation go smoothly, Nanjing Right Guard Chen Cao's troops were specially assigned to go to sea together...
Chen Cao had never been on a ship, and he felt a little uncomfortable after getting on the ship. After vomiting more than ten times and sailing for two days, Chen Cao finally recovered.
"The difference between a sea ship and a river ship is really big..." Chen Cao stood on the side of the ship, blowing the sea breeze, and said to Zhao Xin beside him.
Xin Zhao was probably born with the ability to ride a boat, and he did not vomit after getting on the boat: "The river boat is smooth, and the sea boat is bumpy. The difference is huge. Half of the brothers who got on the boat suffered from seasickness, just like adults. It got better after I vomited."
"Tell my brothers that this battle is the first time our right guard has fought. We can only gain something but cannot return empty-handed." Chen Cao said and looked at Xin Zhao: "What's the news over at Daqu Mountain?"
"Back to my lord, according to the previous intelligence reply, Daqushan was originally under the jurisdiction of Dinghai Zhongzuo. There were more than a dozen fishermen on the island. A group of pirates occupied Daqushan Island the year before last. Dinghai Zhongzuo sent troops there and was defeated. On the way back, Commander-in-Chief Li Rulong also sent troops there, but they still failed." Zhao Xin said as he took out a copy of the navigation chart, which clearly marked the pirates around Daqu Mountain: "Sir, please take a look, this group of pirates Among them are not only Japanese pirates, but also the people of Ming Dynasty. There are more than a thousand pirates and more than a hundred ships of various types on the island."
"Where are the warships?" Chen Cao was thinking about the warships: "How many big ones are there?"
Zhao Xindao: "The spies who broke into the island reported that there were four warships with more than 1,000 materials. The flagship was a Fo Lang machine ship with 2,500 materials, and there were 25 large-scale ships with 500 materials. "
"Ah..." Chen Cao screamed: "Is he going to get a haircut?"
Xin Zhao looked at Chen Cao with wide eyes: "How about we withdraw?"
"You bastard..." Chen Cao stood up straight and cursed: "We still have to pick on the weak. Our ship is not good at sea battles, but these pirates are not necessarily our opponents in land battles. Let's put up the semaphore and send Song Che and Qi Xianzong, call me over."
The two were commanding on two other ships respectively. After receiving news from Chen Cao, they took a small boat to Chen Cao's command ship.
"Sir, do you have any instructions?" Qi Xianzong asked with his hands raised.
Chen Cao sat on a chair on the deck, pointed to the navigation chart and said: "There are two small islands to the north of Daqu Mountain. The fishermen leading the boat said that when the tide goes out, ships will be stranded if they enter, but that is the only place to enter Daqu. Mountain Island lot.”
"YCIS, why don't we climb up from the southern cliff." Song Che pointed at the map.
"This plan is okay, but it's just a part of my whole plan." Chen Cao stood up and looked at the sea and said: "The pirates are cunning, but they also know that our navy is useless, so they look down on our navy. During the day, we pretend to be civilians. Merchant ship, at nightfall, you lead 300 people to climb up from the cliff. I will lead the team to disembark on the small island in the north. When the tide goes out in the evening, I will take the people in a small boat to get up from the island. Qi Xianzong, you will take three ships. Ship, ambush at the east exit. As long as the pirates come out on the ship, give me a hard beating. But remember, if you can’t beat them, run away. Don’t let me try to be a hero. We only have these three ships. If something happens to the Duke, If I ask you to blame, I will take the blame on you."
"The last general takes orders..." Qi Xianzong handed over his hands with a serious look on his face.
Chen Cao said with a bad smile: "We are all infantry, and we don't have enough ships for naval battles. We don't have the bravery of Yi Sun-shin in naval battles, so we have to do some sneak attacks. Otherwise, how can we dominate the sea in the future?"
"Your Excellency, you still know about Yi Sun-shin?" Zhao Xin also laughed.
"Fuck you..." Chen Cao kicked him over.
Daqushan Island is the largest among all the outer islands in Zhejiang. There are mountain springs on the island, and there is also a flat land where simple crops can be planted. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, but Nantou Mountain in the south is the highest. There are rocks everywhere.
Zhao Tianlin usually lives in the Satsuma Domain of Japan, and occasionally puts on makeup and goes ashore to live in his hometown in Zhejiang for a few days. Because he heard about a large number of merchant ships heading north from Fujian a few days ago, he simply set out from Zhejiang with his people, preparing to block the road and rob him. Today happened to be Just prepare the ships at Daqushan Island, and wait until early tomorrow morning to set off to rob merchant ships.
All the original dozen or so families of fishermen on the island were killed. After reconstruction by the pirates, these dozen or so houses were connected together. According to the Zhejiang residential architectural style, a dozen or so large houses were built, surrounded by walls. There is also a small watchtower on a section of the wall.
Daqushan Island recedes every night. Once the tide recedes, the pier in Beibu Bay will be surrounded by the rocks of the two small islands running across the outside, forming a natural protective barrier. If outside ships want to enter, they must wait until daytime. The tide is rising, which is also an important reason why Zhao Tianlin built his base camp on Dqushan Island.
Chen Cao personally led three hundred servants, and under the cover of night, took a dozen small boats to arrive at the outer island. The spies responsible for the response were already waiting on the island.
"Liu Shouwen, the small flag of Nanzhen Fusi, has met the envoy of Zhenfu." Liu Shouwen was dressed in a pirate costume. After the Japanese pirates retreated last year, he was ordered to make up and join the pirates. After many twists and turns, he came to this Daqushan Island. With his extraordinary skills With his courage, he became a small boss who was responsible for guarding the island.
The sea water was cold at night, and Chen Cao had hydrophobia. If he had stood here alone, he would have been so scared that his legs would become weak. But now that there was a large group of people behind him, he naturally emboldened himself and slowly walked onto the beach through the sea water. Chen Cao Taking advantage of the faint moonlight, Cao asked, "Liu Shouwen, please briefly tell me the details of this island."
"Yes..." Liu Shouwen clasped his fists: "There are two small islands on the periphery. This island is called Nan'ao Island, and the one over there is called Bei'ao Island. I have a small boss mixed in with me. There are more than a dozen people guarding this island. I am instigating rebellion." I killed a few, and I killed all the rest. You don’t need to worry about the Bei’ao side. There are only people stationed there during the day. Even during the day, all ships going to and from Daqushan Island must go to the Nan’ao. There are many reefs around it. , the Dinghai Zhongzuo Institute suffered a loss in Bei'ao the year before last."
Chen Cao looked around. Except for the pier at the beach, the rest of Nancao Island was covered with rocks and mountains covered with trees and weeds: "By the way, how is the situation on the island?"
Liu Shouwen handed the topographic map he had drawn to Chen Cao with both hands: "On the island, there are 732 pirates composed of Ming fishermen, more than 100 Japanese pirates, 224 ronin, and more than a dozen The red-haired ghosts of Folangji were captured in the Fujian waters at the beginning of the year, and they specialize in making cannons for pirates."
"Build cannons?" Chen Cao frowned: "Do they have cannons?"
Liu Shouwen nodded: "Yes, the flagship has four Folang machine cannons they built, as well as many Folan machine guns. Everyone among the Japanese pirates has iron cannons."
"Trouble..." Chen Cao didn't expect that this group of pirates was so well-equipped. He was worried that tonight's night attack would not be enough with these people: "By the way, how is their combat effectiveness?"
"Japanese pirates and ronin are more troublesome, but the rest of the pirates are simple. There are still two to three hundred people on the island who were captured from Zhejiang last time." Liu Shouwen replied.
"What's their leader's name?"
"Zhao Tianlin..."
Chen Cao didn't know him, but he thought they were the Japanese pirates who retreated from Zhejiang last time. Compared with those who had fought against him, he took a deep breath: "Lead the way and touch them."
Liu Shouwen said: "Now that the tide has gone out, all the ships are parked on the pier. There are reefs all around. The boats have to stop after traveling for at most half a mile. Let's go up from the beach in the south. There is usually no one there at night."
Chen Cao nodded: "Liu Shouwen, you did a good job this time. When you go back, you will be promoted to chief flag officer and rewarded with a hundred taels of silver..."
"Thank you for your humiliation, sir..."
After the tide went out on the southern beach, all the rocks were exposed on the sea. Chen Cao, led by Liu Shouwen, took 300 servants and quietly disembarked not far from the beach. They stepped on the rocks and passed slowly. No one dared to light a torch. , marching by the weak moonlight, it took nearly an hour until we reached the beach.
"His...it's our turn to do this bad job, bastard..."
"Okay, stop scolding me. Can't we go in again when the time comes?"
"Hey Lao Wu, this girl just died and her body is still hot. How about we two? Hehe..."
"Okay, boy, that's fine. There are a lot of people inside. After that guy got a lot of people, those women's private parts were full of filth and they didn't wash. I'm also afraid of getting sick. This woman was just killed and no one touched her. Let's Just the two brothers..."
Chen Cao's team walked in a straight line on the beach, leaning against the scorched rocks above their heads. From time to time, they stopped when they heard these words. Perhaps there was a sea breeze, and the two pirates above did not hear the movement on the beach below at all. Chen Cao Cao could only hear the man's exhalation. There was no movement at the end, and then there was a rustling sound.
With a thud, the woman's body was thrown down the beach. The pirate above said: "Let's go. I will rush into the sea to feed the fish when the tide rises tomorrow. I am too lazy to bury it."
The corpse fell in front of Chen Cao. The woman did not close her eyes until she died. Chen Cao got angry and waved to Zhao Xin. The latter quickly rushed out with four or five people and attacked the two pirates who turned to leave. Shoot the sleeve crossbow down.
The two pirates fell down at the sound, and Xin Zhao turned over and rushed forward to finish off the two men's heads, cutting off their heads and bringing them down.
Chen Cao ordered people to dig a simple pit at the beach, put the woman in, filled it with soil, placed the heads of the two pirates in front of the tomb, and gave them a military salute with a respectful look: "Girl, you and I are strangers. But we are the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, so don’t worry, I will avenge you tonight.”
Everyone behind him stood at attention and saluted the tomb. Chen Cao clapped his hands, then asked Liu Shouwen to lead the way and continued forward.
There are many caves around the house, and some low-level pirates live in the caves. Chen Cao counted at least seven or eight by the light of the surrounding fire: "How many pirates are there in each cave?"
"No more than fifty people." As he spoke, Liu Shouwen pointed his knife at Nantou Mountain: "There are caves on the mountain. Most of the treasures captured by Zhao Tianlin are inside. There are more than a hundred people stationed on Nantou Mountain."
"Everyone is here, muskets ready..." Zhang Fengnian shouted after receiving Chen Cao's order.
Since he dared to speak out, it meant that Chen Cao and others had already approached the area around the house. Chen Cao was wearing armor and a helmet, and the lightning rod on it showed his unusual status: "Pass the order, those who surrender will live, and those who resist stubbornly will survive." die..."
Zhao Tianlin and a group of pirate leaders were eating, drinking and playing with women in the center of the house. Chen Cao could not be heard shouting outside the house. In addition, the house itself was big, so it would take at least a minute or two to go in.
"Thirty people were assigned to each cave entrance, and they were fired in turn with muskets to cripple them. After the battle, they immediately came to surround the house..."
"yes..."
After Chen Cao gave various orders, he had someone sound the signal flare, and a special red firework bomb was ignited and shot into the sky, exploding in the sky...
The fireworks on the sea are so colorful...
