Towards the end of the fourth year of the Hongxing reign of the Ming Dynasty, the banks of the Yangtze River were already freezing and windy. In the waiting hall next to the Xihua Gate of East Lake Palace in Wuchang, two crimson-robed military attachés were talking in the corner.
"You're such a shameless kid. You want to ruin the family tradition of my Li family by marrying such a rich woman!"
The person giving the lecture was Li Ruolian, who was currently the deputy military advisor and director of military science at the Generalissimo's Mansion.
"Mr. Fan is capable of giving birth. Look at her figure, her breasts, and her ass. She is capable of giving birth! Isn't she pregnant now? There are three ways to be unfilial, and having no offspring is the worst! My nephew doesn't have a son yet, so marry one. A mother-in-law who can bear children is a filial piety, and I am a filial son!"
The person who replied was Li Shaoyou, the temporary ambassador of the Ming Empire to the Holy Roman Empire. This guy was already very eloquent, but now that he has become a diplomat and has gained international experience, he is even more eloquent.
"You are still a filial son...Have you ever asked your father? Of your three sons, you are the most unfilial one!"
Li Ruolian continued to curse with a straight face.
"Uncle...I am now successful. When I meet the emperor later, I will definitely be a hero in overcoming difficulties. Maybe I can even get a title and honor my ancestors."
Li Shaoyou still spoke plausibly. He was indeed not a filial son before. He could not even spend enough money on himself. Even at his old age, he did not marry and have children. Moreover, he especially liked to go to places like the Qinhuai River... But now he has made a fortune!
This time he brought back more than 700 Arabian horses (more than 200 died on the road), more than 300 European ocean horses (excluding his wife), a Dutch-made warship, dozens of Dutch navy, and There are many guns and ammunition, countless raw materials for machinery and equipment, many Western technical books, and many single Dutch mechanics whose wives have died or who are too old to get married. Oh, there is also one who is said to be from France. Prince Kong, the greatest warrior in the country...
There is also "Ambassador Li's Journey to the West" written by himself!
This is all credit!
Although Ji Kun occupies the majority, he, the deputy envoy, can always get a small share of the credit, right?
"you......"
Li Ruolian was about to continue reprimanding when he heard a male duck call: "Li Shaoyou! Who is Li Shaoyou?"
Li Ruolian looked back and was stunned. It was Huang Xiaobao, the eunuch Bingbi, the Superintendent of Ceremonies!
After Huang Dabao went to Beijing to mourn, he was the biggest in the East Lake Palace. That is to say, the eunuch has no power now. If we put it aside, he will be the "internal prime minister" and can rival Wei Zaode!
"Eunuch Huang, why are you here in person?" Li Ruolian immediately went up to greet him.
"Deputy Military Advisor Li?" Huang Xiaobao was stunned, "You are not on the list of people asking to see you!"
"I came here with Li Shaoyou." Li Ruolian pointed to his nephew, "He is my nephew."
"Oh," Huang Xiaobao smiled, "Then let's come together... Your Majesty is eager to see you."
At this time, everyone in the waiting hall cast envious glances - there are rules for waiting for meetings. You have to report to the Supervisor of Ceremonies in advance, and then the Supervisor of Ceremonies will arrange when to meet according to the situation. It is generally arranged. The order of the audience will not be changed unless the emperor is really anxious to see him.
At this time, Huang Xiaobao said again: "Everyone else, please go back... Your Majesty, I don't have time to see you today. I will make arrangements with the Ceremony Supervisory Committee later."
Just meet Li Shaoyou!
Is this going to be of great use?
...
"Don't kneel down, come forward and speak, and give me a seat!"
Zhu Cixiang was getting a little impatient waiting! When they saw Li Ruolian and Li Shaoyou walking in, they were not allowed to kowtow. Instead, they were asked to sit down and talk.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat..."
"I respectfully bid your Majesty's peace."
Li Ruolian and Li Shaoyou quickly thanked their seats and said hello. As soon as their buttocks touched the chair, Zhu Cihong spoke.
"Who is Prince Kong, the greatest warrior in France? What is his surname? What is his name? Where is the fiefdom?"
This question confused both Li Ruolian and Huang Xiaobao on the side.
Of course Prince Kong's surname is Kong... he is from the same family as that strong man Yan Shenggong!
"Your Majesty," Li Shaoyou hurriedly stood up and replied, "This Prince Kong is named Bourbon. He is on the road and on the way, and his name is De."
That is Louis de Bourbon!
Li Shaoyou continued: "As for the fiefdom, it is in Condé County, Champagne Prefecture, France. Because he is a close relative of the French King and a hereditary iron king, he is called Prince Condé..."
Zhu Cixiang said in surprise: "Isn't that the Great Kong Dynasty?"
"No, it's not Da Kongdai." Li Shaoyou said, "He's not big at all. He's short and stumpy. He's just a little man."
That's right!
Zhu Cihong thought to himself: That is the Great Kong Dynasty! The French dwarf general is feared by all of Europe...Why was this guy abducted by Ji Kun and brought to China?
"Where is Prince Kong Dai?" Zhu Cixiang asked hurriedly.
"Still in Shanghai..."
Zhu Cixiang said: "Quickly announce that Li Yan, Wu Xiang, Wu Sanfu, and Zheng Zhilong have entered the palace!"
...
Li Yan was still serving as his military advisor, Wu Xiang was still the Minister of War, and Wu Sanfu was leading troops away from home, returning to Wuhan to celebrate the New Year. It's already the end of December, and all the government offices are about to go on holiday, and all the officials are thinking about celebrating the New Year - the government offices have to celebrate the New Year too! We have to arrange the New Year's Eve dinner, prepare big red envelopes, arrange for people to work overtime, and many people have to go back to their hometowns. There is a lot to do!
Li Yan and Wu Xiang were busy in the yamen, so they were announced by the eunuch to come to the East Lake Palace to meet the driver. They found that Li Ruolian, Wu Sanfu, and Zheng Zhilong were all there, and they all became nervous.
Is this going to be a war?
During the Chinese New Year, the enemies of the Ming Dynasty won’t take a break either?
"Everyone, please take a seat... We have something important to discuss." Zhu Cixiang asked them to sit down when he saw that everyone was gathered.
After several people saluted, they all took their seats, and then looked at Zhu Cixiang who looked excited.
So happy, could it be that Donglu has started fighting among himself?
Zhu Cixiang spoke, "My Ming Dynasty is now fully equipped with military provisions, sophisticated equipment, and some good horses. The only shortcoming is the lack of generals."
Lack of generals?
Wu Xiang glanced at his son Wu Sanfu. Both father and son looked aggrieved.
They have worked hard!
"But now there is a way to make up for this weakness." Zhu Cihong said, "The delegation that visited Europe recently came back and brought back many foreign generals. One of them is the number one general in France, he is quite outstanding!"
"Your Majesty," Wu Xiang asked, "do you want to use foreign generals?"
Use Prince Kongdai to fight Dodo and Azig?
That's not good......
"It's not a big use, but a good use." Zhu Cihong said, "It's better to teach people how to fish than to teach them how to fish. No matter how powerful the foreign generals are, they belong to others after all. We use them to command the war. It's better to ask them to be our teachers and teach us." My own generals use Western military techniques.”
Of course, China also has many good military arts, including those that teach strategy and those that teach tactics. For example, Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Ji Xiao", "Records of Military Training" and Mao Yuanyi's "Military Bei Zhi" are all very powerful military works.
In particular, Qi Jiguang's "Records of Military Training" is a military book with high practical value. Many of the contents are still included in the teaching materials of the Military Academy, and now the middle and senior generals of the Ming Army are familiar with the contents.
However, Zhu Cixiang's new army adopted the Western-style Morris Square as its main field tactics after all, so it could not completely use the "Records of Military Training", "New Book of Records" and "Book of Arms Preparation" to train officers. For this reason, Emperor Zhu began to introduce Western instructors to help train the troops a long time ago, and also opened a martial arts hall with Western officers as instructors to train new types of officers.
However, the Western officers he had previously invited through the Portuguese and Dutch were of varying levels and had no experience in commanding large-scale troops. At best, they had served as mid- to low-level officers on the European battlefield, and had commanded troops ranging from dozens to hundreds to hundreds of people. They were all infantry and artillery officers, no cavalry officers, and no staff officers.
Therefore, Zhu Cixiang's new army is actually a combination of a large number of infantry battalions and regimental artillery batteries. Individually, the combat effectiveness is not weak, but once it is formed into a large corps, it cannot exert its strength and is far from the level that can crush the Qing army.
Zhu Cixiang said: "We have to ask the Martial Arts Hall to open a cram school for general officers, and invite Prince Kong Dai and his people to teach, so that all officers at battalion level and above can come and learn!"
