In the Battle of Penghu Island, the entire Folangji fleet was wiped out. Four of the seven warships were sunk and three were captured. Commander Alvarez and several lieutenants were captured.
Although all the Franco fleets that came to invade this time were destroyed except for the three that surrounded Zhangzhou Port, the Ming Dynasty suffered heavy losses, especially the assault boats responsible for the wolf pack's siege, merging, and luring the enemy. The navies of the three provinces went out to attack Of the more than 200 ships brought before, only more than 30 ships were left this time.
Although all the Franco fleets that came to invade this time were destroyed except for the three ships that surrounded Zhangzhou Port, the Ming Dynasty also suffered heavy losses, especially the assault boats responsible for the wolf pack's siege, merging, and luring the enemy. The three provincial navies Of the more than 200 ships brought before the expedition, only more than 30 ships were left this time, and the main force of the battle was Fuchuan, which also lost more than 30 ships.
It has to be said that there is still a certain gap between the combat effectiveness of the ships of the Ming Dynasty and the warships of Folangji. This time, there are only seven ships in the Folanji fleet, which can actually cause so much trouble to the coalition forces of the three provincial navies. . If there were a few more warships like the "Dominator" in Folanji, then the outcome of the final naval battle might be uncertain!
After the war, Penghu Island returned to peace.
Shi Pu wiped the blood splattered on his face, licked his cracked lips, and jumped off the deck. ????????????????
"Report to Zhentai, our Fujian navy caught a big fish in this naval battle, and their red-haired commanders were all captured by us!"
Shi Pu grinned and laughed. This time he took the lead, climbed up in person, and captured Alvarez, the top officer of the Franji fleet, with his own hands. Naturally, he was very happy.
"Hahaha, what a great victory!"
Hearing this, a rare smile appeared on Ji Bo's face, but he did not speak. He just looked at his beloved general quietly.
"Ji Zhentai! Congratulations, congratulations! This great victory will enhance the prestige of our Ming army and will surely make the Western countries dare not underestimate us!"
Yanggu boarded the deck, counted the loot, and came to Ji Bo to congratulate him.
When the two met, they held hands tightly. This time, the Fujian Navy and the Guangdong Navy cooperated with each other to successfully board the deck of the "Hegemony".
"You have planned this battle well. If it weren't for your Guangdong Navy taking the lead in firing, I would never have been able to make up my mind to fire on their giant ship."
Ji Bo felt a little emotional. He looked at the red seawater in the distance. As the highest commander of the Fujian Navy, he hesitated before the battle, causing many navy officers and soldiers to lose their lives in vain.
Yanggu waved his hands, slightly embarrassed, and said:
"Hey, I also ordered the firing after watching the Zhejiang Navy in the east fire back. To be honest, I have to thank Geng Fu. He helped us make up our mind."
Hearing this, Ji Bo was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect that the final decision would be that they, the Confucian commanders, never looked down on the warrior Geng Fu.
A few people were chatting and walking. When talking about capturing Alvarez, Yanggu praised Shi Pu repeatedly. It must be said that heroes come from young!
But Geng Fu, the commander-in-chief of Zhejiang Province, directed his sailors, officers and soldiers to clean the battlefield this time.
The deck of the "Hegemony" had already been stained red with the blood of the Francois and the officers and soldiers of the Ming Navy. Corpses, muskets, and steel knives were also scattered on the ground.
When several people came down and saw Geng Fu, they hurriedly came forward to congratulate them, chatted with each other, and thanked Geng Fu for his prompt decision and "waking them up."
"Brother Geng is indispensable for achieving such an amazing result in this battle. After this battle, if you talk about your merits, the imperial court will definitely give you the victory!"
After this naval battle, Yanggu no longer dared to underestimate Geng Fu. He changed his name from the brave and foolhardy to Brother Geng. After the latter heard this, he just laughed and said:
"Hey, Geng has never cared about this official position. He just wants me to be a soldier. As long as I can be loyal to the country, that's enough!"
When Geng Fu said these words, Yanggu and Ji Bo were stunned on the spot, unable to speak for a long time...
After the great victory in the Battle of Penghu Island, the battle report reached Fuzhou. Liu Daxia, the governor of Fujian, was overjoyed when he heard about it. He ordered his people to work hard to get the news to the capital, and held a celebration banquet in the evening.
Attended at the celebration banquet were not only the naval generals of the three provinces, but also Hong Jing, a Chinese translator who had narrowly escaped death, and his deputy Lu Gang.
That night there was a big banquet in the city, and the whole army rested for the day!
Early the next morning, the Zhejiang Navy led by Geng Fu and the Guangdong Navy led by Yanggu, whose mission had been completed, were ready to return. The Fujian Navy, under the order of the governor Liu Daxia, was put in charge of the commander-in-chief Ji Bo to select elite soldiers and generals. , landed from Zhangzhou Port and was responsible for countering the rebellion.
At this time, the rebels, led by Chen Fu, were advancing with great success. They had defeated Quanzhou Prefecture and Zhangzhou Prefecture, and divided their armies into two groups to go north, advancing on Tingzhou Prefecture and besieging Yanping Prefecture. They were known to the outside world as one hundred thousand.
The rebels' victorious battles also reflect from the side that today's local guards are in disarmament and the generals are incompetent. Of course, these are not to mention. .
…
Inside the Xinuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Youtang looked at the secret reports sent by Jin Yiwei from various places, but there was no sign of anger on his face. He still lay on the bed calmly and ate a plate of oranges peeled by the palace ladies.
The ones kneeling on the ground were the Jin Yiwei who had returned from various places. They were waiting for the emperor's final approval. Because the secret reports contained some bad news, the Jin Yiwei were all frightened at this time, fearing that Emperor Long Yan would be furious and implicated. On yourself.
At this time Yanhai walked in and whispered: "Your Majesty, Mr. Ge is here."
"Well...let him in."
As soon as Xu Pu, the second assistant to the cabinet, entered the room, he saw the imperial guard kneeling on the ground. Looking up again, he saw that the emperor was lying on his side on the bed and reading the report.
There is no need to think about this situation. It turns out that the royal guards sent by the emperor have brought bad news. If it is a happy event, these royal guards will naturally not be kneeling.
"Veteran Xu Pu has met Your Majesty!"
Zhu Youtang stood up and saw Xu Pu coming. He stretched and said, "Sit down for Mr. Ge and serve tea!"
"You all should get up and go back to continue the investigation!"
"Master Ge, look at these." Zhu Youtang waved his hand, waved away the Jinyi guards, and handed the report in his hand to Xu Pu.
Xu Pu read the first few memorials. They all wrote about the vassal kings from various places who were extravagant and lived extravagantly. They did all kinds of evil in the local area. Moreover, the local officials not only did not dare to take care of it, but also colluded with them to prey on the people. Xu Pu Pu's face changed drastically, and he quickly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down!"
In fact, Zhu Youtang already knew the results from the moment he sent the Jin Yiwei to investigate. He had no hope for them in the first place, so naturally there was no such thing as disappointment or anger.
"When Taizu founded the country and established the vassal state, he enfeoffed twenty-four vassal kings all over the country. Now the number of vassal princes and grandsons has increased more than ten times, and the court can no longer support them!" Zhu Youtang sighed.
Regarding the issue of the vassal king, after all, it was the matter of Lao Zhu's family, and it was hard for Xu Pu to say anything. If he said the wrong thing, he would cause trouble.
In fact, the vassal system of the Ming Dynasty was different from other dynasties. After Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty founded the country, he more or less considered the king of the opposite sex. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang started from scratch. His feudal system was only for his own sons. Since he had conquered In the world, you should let your sons enjoy the fruits of victory with you.
In order to let his descendants enjoy the blessings, Lao Zhu provided the vassal king with generous treatment. Politically, in the early days of the vassal establishment, the palace not only had prime ministers, but also military ministers were served by honorable ministers, who became generals. Entering is the phase. Officials of the royal palace can also participate in provincial affairs and serve as the highest local administrators, or they can also serve as commanders of the capital and have local military power.
Economically, the feudal king not only had a lifelong salary, but also received very generous treatment. The annual salary alone is 50,000 dan in meters, which is 50 times that of a first-class minister. In addition, there are also expenses for canonization, palace, marriage, funeral, etc., and are given to kitchen servants, vegetarians, laymen and other handymen.
Although the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di later banned the princes from participating in political and military power after coming to power, what the vassals received was an expansion of economic privileges. As time goes by, the population of the clan will double every 30 years. At the time, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Laosi probably did not expect that their descendants would be so prosperous in the future. Every time a clan member was born, the court would provide them with a As the population doubled, the annual salary of the vassal vassals also doubled, becoming an unbearable burden for the Ming court.
"Wait a minute, there are still two vassal kings who have not been sent news! Now these vassal kings are very rich one by one. If this continues, within a few decades, the imperial court will be overwhelmed by them. What can the elder do?"
As soon as Zhu Youtang finished speaking, Yanhai, who had just left, hurried in again.
"Long live my lord, the spy in charge of King Ning Hua is back. He said that this matter is important and cannot be discussed without first reporting it to the Holy One."
As soon as Yanhai said these words, Xu Pu immediately felt a chill in his heart. He was afraid something big was going to happen!
Zhu Youtang turned his face aside and said coldly: "Pass it!"
After a while, a man wearing common people's clothes walked in. He looked around first and saw Xu Pu on the right side. He was about to speak, but the words were swallowed back from his throat.
Because these Jinyi guards were personally selected by Mou Bin, the commander of Zhu Youtang's palm seal, these people are only responsible to the emperor. The rest of the people, even if you are a cabinet minister, will not take you seriously at all.
"Let's talk here!" Zhu Youtang said calmly.
"Your Majesty, I went to Taiyuan Fucheng to investigate on your Majesty's order. I found that the people in Taiyuan are far from living and working in peace and contentment as in the legend. Instead, they live in dire straits. The left and right guards there will trample the people's farmland and Killing people is like grass, and their evil deeds are heinous.”
Xu Pu was shocked when he heard this. He immediately stood up and asked, "Is what you said true?"
“Every sentence is witnessed by my own eyes.”
What happened to the feudal lord just now made Zhu Youtang feel complicated. Now he heard these things again and sneered:
"These people dare to act so wantonly in broad daylight. Who is behind them?"
"Return to Your Majesty, we are still investigating."
Zhu Youtang stood up and took off his sword from the wall and said:
"The decree was passed, and the envoy of Huguang, Zhang Fuhua, was ordered to receive the decree. He immediately stood up and patrolled Shanxi with my sword, and went to Taiyuan to thoroughly investigate the matter. Anyone who trampled on the people's farmland that day and had people's lives on their hands, regardless of their background, Whoever is going to be beheaded for favor! Order Mou Bin, the commanding officer of Jinyiwei Palm Seal, to go to Taiyuan immediately to assist Zhang Fuhua in handling the case!"
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