"Five days?" Gu Sanmazi showed an excited look and held up his hands with a smile, "Qiantose Master, are you going to attack Nanjing in five days? I will be the first to attack! I will have two large flat-bottomed centipede boats. They are all ten feet long and two feet wide. Each boat is equipped with forty muskets and two bronze cannons, which are enough to cross the river!"
The flat-bottomed centipede boat he mentioned is a combination of a sand boat and a Western-style galley. Shen Tingyang's Dalongtou is also the same type of boat.
Because this type of boat has a large number of oars and sails, and a flat bottom suitable for shallow water activities, it has excellent maneuverability on the waters of the Yangtze River and Beiyang offshore waters. Moreover, the hull is larger and can accommodate a large number of rowers, warriors and firearms, making it very powerful in combat!
If fighting on the Yangtze River, the combat effectiveness of this kind of flat-bottomed centipede boat is still in the Zheng family's war ship - the Zheng family's war ship is the hull of the Galen ship with Chinese hard sails, because the Galen ship's side is higher and the sides are A large number of gun windows were opened, making it inconvenient to install long oars. Therefore, this type of boat is only suitable for activities along the coasts of Southeast Asia and Japan where the wind direction is changeable and the water level is deep. Not suitable for entering the Yangtze River and Beiyang coasts.
Historically, the Zheng family navy performed poorly in the Yangtze River battles. The main reason was that the ship type was inappropriate. When the wind was favorable, the warships were very useful, but once the wind was against the wind and there was no wind, it was miserable.
During Zheng Chenggong's Northern Expedition to Nanjing, the Zheng family's fleet encountered adverse currents and headwinds, and had to rely on manpower to drag them forward, which delayed the ship.
The large flat-bottomed centipede boat is at home on the Yangtze River. It is fast and flexible and can go anywhere. Moreover, the firepower is strong and there are many sailors, so the gangsters can take advantage of the artillery battle, and they can also hit each other!
With these two large flat-bottomed centipede boats, Gu Sanmazi has been the king of the Yangtze River Estuary for so many years. Even the Haisha Gang had to pay tribute to him. Now he has obtained an official position, not to mention how proud he is.
As for Nanjing's Cao Jiang Navy, he didn't care about it at all. However, he was a little afraid of the navy in the hands of Su Song's commander-in-chief Wang Zhiren and Zhoushan's general Huang Binqing.
Zhu Cixiang did not answer Gu Sanmazi's words, but just smiled and said: "This is not the place to talk. Let's go to Pingshan Hall to discuss it later. Lu Zhijun, let's go to Pingshan Hall of Daming Temple to sit together."
...
"Let's not go to Nanjing for now, let them make more trouble, and then deal with it when the evidence is conclusive and irrefutable. Now let's take down the five prefectures of Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang and Ningbo. What do you think?"
In Pingshan Hall, Zhu Cixiang asked someone to lay out a map of the southeastern area. The two aspects of "going to court" and "Nanjing" are marked on the map. Currently, Huai'an and Yangzhou are in control of the government. Nanjing controls Yingtian Mansion.
As for the other prefectures in the southeast corner of the Ming Dynasty, their positions are unclear.
In the Pingshan Hall, beside the map table made up of several square tables, in addition to Prince Zhu, there were also Li Yan, Chen Rui, Fang Gongyue, Qiu Yu, Fan Jingwen, Li Banghua, Lu Zhenfei, Wu Xiang, Cao Youyi, Wang Zhixin, Zheng Sen, Liu Chongru, Gu San and others. Each of them can play a role in Zhu Cixiang's plan to pacify the southeast!
It was Zhu Cihong's established strategy not to rush into Nanjing. Not only because there was a noble group in Nanjing that resisted him, but also because Nanjing was the target of victory in the eyes of the ruling dynasty and the officers and soldiers of the New Army who were overcoming difficulties.
Everyone is thinking about Nanjing, so before entering Nanjing, everyone will cheer up and dare not relax - this situation is quite similar to that before Li Zicheng entered Beijing!
So Zhu Cixiang was not in a hurry to enter Nanjing... He did not learn from Li Zicheng, he only recognized Beijing, and did not manage the territory he acquired along the way well. Before entering Nanjing, he had to firmly control the seven prefectures in the southeast including Huai'an, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang and Ningbo as his base areas.
With these seven prefectures, plus Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture, plus the four prefectures of Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Huzhou, and Jiaxing that should be controlled quickly, a total of twelve prefectures are in hand, and Zhu Cixiang can have a solid foundation for his rule in the southeast. .
"The two prefectures of Zhenjiang and Changzhou are garrisoned by General Jiang Yuntai, the two prefectures of Suzhou and Songjiang are garrisoned by General Wang Zhiren, and the Ningbo Prefecture is garrisoned by the former Zhoushan Staff General Huang Binqing who has been appointed as the Chief of Guangxi." Chen Rui, the Minister of War, said, "Now this The civil servants in several prefectures are not a problem, the key is the three general soldiers!"
"Master Qiansui, Wang Zhiren is Lao Nu's brother. If Lao Nu goes to talk to him, he will definitely submit." Wang Zhixin immediately took over the topic and made sure.
Zhu Cixiang nodded, then looked at Lu Zhenfei and Zheng Sen, "Lu Zhijun, Senior Brother, are you two related to Huang Binqing?"
"There is a bit of friendship." Lu Zhenfei said.
Zheng Sen also said: "My family and the Huang family are from Fujian, and we are family friends."
Zhu Cixiang nodded slightly and asked, "How strong is he?"
Gu Sanzi carelessly interjected: "Master Chitose, he also has two large centipede boats, which were built at the Zheng family's Shijingkou Shipyard, and he also has 800 boatmen. With these two boats and 800 boatmen, he also has He’s considered the number one person.”
"Lu Zhijun, Senior Brother," Zhu Cixiang said with a smile, "I have two of you...Now that Shen Tingyang is out of town in Beiyang, the navy guard commander is vacant. If he is willing to come to Yangzhou, the guard commander will be for him. He His two centipede boats and 800 boatmen were incorporated into the Yangtze River Navy. In addition, he was given an admiral position, which was filled by the people he sent. After giving him another 50,000 taels of silver, I bought his ships and boatmen. .”
Zheng Sen frowned and said, "Junior Brother, this condition is a bit tight. Mr. Huang may not be able to agree to it."
"I will agree!" Zhu Cixiang smiled coldly, "He is a monkey, I have a knife, and he plans to kill a chicken!"
"Chicken?" Wu Xiang asked, "Who is the chicken?"
"Zhenjiang Commander-in-Chief Jiang Yuntai is a chicken!" Zhu Cihong said, "I have been in Yangzhou for some time, and he doesn't come to see me. What's his intention?
Now that I have soldiers and ships, if I don’t take action on him, who will take action on me? "
Cao Youyi said: "Master Qiansui, who should I let go?"
"Hao Yaoqi, Sun Fugui, Chen Yidao, and Zhang Wenjue each lead a firecrackers association, with Hao Yaoqi as the general. Send out troops in five days!" Zhu Cixiang said, "The Yangtze River navy will attack together.
Fang Futai, you go to Zhenjiang with them to take office... The rest of Jiang Yuntai's troops will do patrols for you! "
He glanced at Wang Zhixin again: "Wang Banban, after Zhenjiang is captured, you can go to Susong and ask Wang Zhiren to hand over Susong's second mansion to Qiu Futai, and then bring the warships and servants to Yangzhou. I will give you He will be the commander of the Huaiyang military garrison! He will be in charge of the military garrison and official fields of the Huaiyang two prefectures."
...
"Dad, the ship has already docked at Baoshan Suo. The young man also used his telescope to see the second master's banner hanging on the top of Baoshan Suo. It seems that the second master has arrived at Baoshan Suo and will meet you soon. See you."
The person who spoke was a godson of Wang Zhixin, who was also an eunuch. He had lived in glory with Wang Zhixin for many years, and then fled all the way to Yangzhou. Now he is waiting for his godfather Wang Zhixin to go to Suzhou for marriage.
Wang Zhixin has a younger brother named Wang Zhiren, who is now the commander-in-chief of Su Song and is stationed in Fucheng, Suzhou. By the way, the Baoshan Institute was not located in the Baoshan District of Shanghai in later generations, but in the Gaoqiao Town area of Pudong New Area. Later, the territory of Baoshan District now belongs to Wusongjiang Suo. Both are under the jurisdiction of Zhenhaiwei, and they are not on the territory of Songjiang Prefecture, but on the territory of Suzhou Prefecture.
In other words, the current entrance area to the Huangpu River belongs to Suzhou. A little further in, it is the territory of Shanghai County, Songjiang Prefecture.
However, whether it is Suzhou or Songjiang, they are now the defense areas of Wang Zhiren, the commander-in-chief of Su Song. These two mansions are really impressive. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a saying that "Su Song paid half the world in taxes". This means that the taxes paid by Suzhou and Songjiang prefectures account for half of the total taxes in the world! This is of course an exaggeration, but there is no doubt about the importance of Su Song's tax to the Ming Dynasty's finances.
After paying so many taxes, Suzhou City is still one of the largest cities in the world. Before the plague ravaged Suzhou in the late Ming Dynasty, the population of Suzhou City was as high as 500,000, surpassing Nanjing and becoming the largest city in the southeast! Nationally speaking, it may be the second most populous metropolis after Beijing.
However, Beijing is a consumption-oriented and military-oriented city, while Suzhou is a production-oriented industrial and commercial city. It was the largest silk industry center in the world at that time, and it was also an important cotton textile center.
Even though the demand for silk in Europe was reduced due to the devastation of the plague and the Thirty Years' War, the Second Mansion of Susong and Song Dynasty was still one of the richest areas in the southeast.
And in Zhu Cixiang's view, the potential of Su Song's Second Mansion is far from being fully realized!
