"The Tokugawa shogunate can send troops to attack the city," Zheng Zhilong said. "The shogunate's strength is far superior to that of Satsuma. As long as the troops can reach Satsuma, the outcome will be decided."
Zhu Cixiang nodded and agreed with Zheng Zhilong's view. It is now 1656, not 1856. It is only forty-one years since the Osaka Summer Battle, and the Tokugawa family has not yet become too corrupt to fight.
Even if the Tokugawa family cannot do it, they can still let Prince Kongdai lead the Ming army across the sea to help in the war. No matter how powerful the warriors of Satsuma are, they will face a dead end when encountering flintlock guns and explosive bullets!
"However, sea confrontation is a problem," Zheng Zhilong said. "The terrain of Kagoshima Bay is difficult, and we only need to deploy heavy artillery on Sakurajima to block our fleet.
In addition, the Spanish fleet will not stay in Kagoshima Bay for a long time. After setting up defenses, it will go out to plunder. We have too few warships on hand and cannot even escort them! "
The Ming Navy actually had quite a lot of warships, including three hundred ships, which alone were more than the Netherlands and England plus one.
However, most of the three hundred ships are Wanshi Daitori ships. These ships are not traditional Chinese sailing ships, but a combination of Chinese and Western styles. They are built with the introduction of ship rib technology. They are strong ships capable of mounting a large number of artillery, so they are also Can serve as a warship. However, this kind of ship still uses hard sails, and its speed is obviously slower than Western-style soft sail warships.
Therefore, it is difficult for these ships to take the initiative when performing escort missions. When chasing Spanish sailing ships, they can only guard against thieves along the way, which is tiring!
In addition, most of the sailing ships that now support the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty are these big bird ships with hard sails and thousands of stones. They are strong, durable, and economical. They are simply money-making machines. But the problem is that this kind of ship is slow and has few people. It is difficult to escape and resist when pirates rob it.
That's why Zheng Sen, who has been in charge of the Dongning Army for all these years, has been able to earn protection money while lying down!
But the problem is that Zheng Sen's warships (mainly also big bird ships) are enough to deal with the pirates off the coast of the Ming Dynasty, but it is not easy to defeat the Spanish privateer fleet.
If the losses at sea are large, the Zheng family's Dongning Army may suffer losses!
Losing money!
This is what Zheng Zhilong fears the most!
"Your Majesty, I have an idea. You can hire the fleet of the Dutch East India Company!"
Prince Kong Dai is also in the Huangji Palace. Zhu Cixiang has decided to form an alliance with France and England! Therefore, Prince Kong Dai had more and more opportunities to participate in imperial meetings. Today he gave Emperor Zhu an idea.
"Hire a Dutch fleet?" Zhu Cixiang thought for a while, "Can they agree? If we form an alliance with England, the Dutch will be very unhappy, right?"
"As long as your bid is appropriate, the Dutch will be happy to serve you!" Prince Condé said with certainty.
Zhu Cixiang thought for a while, nodded and said: "I can pay for it, Prince. I will order you as an envoy to visit the Dutch East India Company's business store in Shanghai and ask for the price first."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Prince Condé bowed and showed a proud smile. This was a good opportunity for the Dutch to get into the water!
As long as it succeeds, the Kingdom of Spain will almost lose. It is very difficult to achieve this goal in Europe, because the Dutch and the British have deep conflicts, so they will not help the British to fight the Spanish.
But in the East, the Dutch East India Company should not dare to offend Zhu Cixiang, a big customer!
If Zhu Cixi turns to support the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company to compete, the Dutch will suffer huge losses!
Zhu Cihong paused and then ordered: "The Ministry of Revenue must prepare a sum of money to hire the Dutch, and also prepare a sum of money for shipbuilding!
If we want to compete with the Spanish for dominance in the Pacific Ocean, we cannot rely on slow bird boats. We have to build soft sailing ships. However, there is no need to build a Galenic warship like the Flying Ship. We have to redesign a 600-ton warship that can install at least 8 18-pound short guns. It requires the use of soft sails, can sail at high speed, and has strong seaworthiness. "
The naval revolution has begun!
In the Battle of Dinghai Anchorage, two or three explosive shells could destroy a large ship of several hundred deadweight tons, so the future must belong to explosive shells!
Therefore, the warship must be redesigned. The wooden sailing battleship that can be equipped with hundreds of cannons may never have a chance to dominate the sea again.
A small number of large-caliber "bombardment guns" are the main guns needed for future naval battleships.
Therefore, the Ming Navy must seize the opportunity of the naval revolution and complete the reform first.
Two days after Zhu Cihong was determined to start a naval revolution, his most capable prefect, Grand Duke Luo, escorted the "gift mission" from Britain and France to Nanjing.
After settling the envoys, Grand Duke Luo immediately went to the palace to see him and reported to Emperor Zhu the discovery of the little foreign horse.
"Mary Mancini? Are you beautiful? How old are you? Where are you from?"
When Zhu Cixi heard that there was a French beauty trap, he immediately became interested, and the expression on his face became wonderful.
Of course he is not lewd, and the number of people in his harem is not large, but that does not mean that he is afraid of the beauty trap! Of course the emperor of the Celestial Empire is not afraid of heaven and earth. How can he be afraid of a Western beauty?
"Your Majesty," Archduke Luo smiled, "This little French girl has the appearance of a fish out of water. She is about seventeen or eighteen years old. It is said that she is the niece of French Cardinal Mazarin. She comes from Italy and has everything going for her. She is a Catholic."
"Mazarin's niece? He is really willing to spend a lot of money." Zhu Cixiang laughed, "Well, I know how to meet this Marie Mancini! As for Catholicism, I don't care, I practice religious tolerance. "
"Your Majesty, I know that Catholicism practices monogamy." Grand Duke Luo showed some worry, as if he was worried for Emperor Zhu, "I'm afraid she won't be a concubine!"
This is a concubine. She is obviously here to study!
"This is not a problem," Zhu Cixiang smiled. "Although Western Catholic countries practice monogamy and the king cannot have concubines, they have a royal mistress system."
"Mistress? A royal mistress?" Grand Duke Luo was stunned again and again. Isn’t a mistress just a thief? This is an adulterous couple!
"What? You don't believe it?" Emperor Zhu was in a good mood and asked Grand Duke Luo with a smile.
"Oh, I was just thinking that there is a queen in the West," Luo Dagong said, "Can the queen have an adulterer in her reign? Is this adulterer called a royal adulterer?"
"Hahaha" Zhu Cihong amused Grand Duke Luo, "I didn't expect you to tell jokes! I will ask about it when I see Mary later. But before I see Mary, you have to work hard and talk to me. condition.
You go and tell her, after all, I am the emperor of heaven, and I have the dignity of the heavenly family to take into account. If she wants to be my royal mistress, I can agree, but she cannot be as free as the mistresses of European kings. do you understand? "
Of course this means that Emperor Zhu cannot be cuckolded! Moreover, they have to be supervised and have no freedom in life.
Zhu Cihong was the first to say the ugly things. If Mary Mancini, the little pony, is willing to accept it, then she can come to Emperor Zhu. As long as she can be favored, why not be afraid of losing glory and wealth? If she is not happy, just treat her as a tourist in China and go back wherever she came from!
"I understand, I understand." Grand Duke Luo smiled and nodded, "I must have a good talk with her and try my best to persuade her to enter the palace as a concubine."
He is quite confident that the little foreign horse is willing to go all out to make a honey trap, so there is no reason to hold back? Besides, this little foreign pony does have the capital to spoil the harem, so what's there to be afraid of?
"That's not necessary," Zhu Cixiang said with a smile, "The royal mistress is very nice and unique!"
Zhu Cixiang was not willing to let the heirs of this Western beauty have the right to inherit, even if he was granted the title of king. It's not a matter of race, but a matter of faith.
Mazarin's niece must be a staunch Christian
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Grand Duke Luo was smiling all over his face when he spoke. He looked like he was happy for the Emperor. He was such a loyal minister!
