When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zheng Zhilong's fleet with his own eyes, he felt a little disappointed.
"Too small!" he sighed.
"What?" Zheng Zhilong behind him didn't quite understand what Zhu Yuanzhang meant.
"We are saying that your boat is too small!"
In Zhu Yuanzhang's simple and unpretentious concept, greatness is justice. Such a petty warship made his original battle plan somewhat compromised.
He had suffered a lot when facing Chen Youliang's fortune ship. If Chen Youliang hadn't underestimated the enemy and fallen into his own scheme, it would be hard to say whether he was the one who founded the country now.
Since then, he has become obsessed with building large ships. Now in the early Ming Dynasty, shipyards all over the country are trying to build larger ships.
According to the historical records of the Ming Dynasty he read, large ships of 5,000 materials were indeed built during the Yongle period, which could even race horses and hold thousands of soldiers.
That is the real treasure ship.
"Your Majesty, if a warship is too big, it will easily become a target. Small ships are more flexible in battle!" Zheng Zhilong forcibly defended his fleet.
"That's true, but that's on an inland river, right?"
"The sea is flat, so wouldn't the bigger the warship, the better?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.
Seeing that Zheng Zhilong still wanted to defend himself, Zheng Sen hurriedly said helplessly: "Dad, your Majesty defeated Chen Youliang's navy of 600,000 with 200,000 men in the Battle of Poyang Lake. When it comes to naval battles, you really may not be able to compare with him." Your Majesty, so you’d better stop showing off!”
Zheng Sen found that his father's momentum was completely suppressed in front of the Hongwu Emperor. He couldn't continue like this.
People came all the way here, and the first thing they did was to see the ship, obviously because they were needed.
If the momentum is suppressed, they will be passive during negotiations later.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zheng Sen, who was in his twenties, in surprise, laughed loudly and said: "Jing Haigong, your son is amazing!"
"Your Majesty thinks so highly of him. They are just some clever things, not worth mentioning!" Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but smile, but his face was full of humility.
"Your Majesty, we are a rough man. Since you asked, let's tell the truth!"
"We used to be a businessman, but you also know that in today's world, overseas Japanese pirates are rampant, and red-haired ghosts are arrogant and domineering. If you are an honest businessman without your own weapons, you will lose everything. We have no choice but to develop. fleet."
"At the beginning we just wanted to protect ourselves!"
"But..., as our business grows bigger and bigger, some people regard us as a thorn in their side and a big fat piece of meat, and they want to pounce on us and take a bite!"
"There is nothing we can do, so our boat gang can only grow bigger and bigger, until it has reached the scale it is now."
"Now, huh... To be honest with you, your majesty, our boat gang does engage in some killings and stealing goods, but what we kill are those merchant ships that are arrogant red-haired ghosts, and those seamen who have sons and have no buttholes to raise Japanese pirates." business."
"Your Majesty asked us why we all use this kind of boat."
"To be honest, we really don't have the ability to build a treasure ship with five thousand materials like the one used during Zheng He's voyages to the West."
"But even if it can be made, we really don't know how to use it."
"Two hundred years have passed since Zheng He's voyages to the West. The red-haired ghost's firearms have been greatly developed. Nowadays, the speed of ships on the sea cannot be slower than the red-haired ghost's ship. Otherwise, it will be a disaster to encounter the red-haired ghost. Die."
"So our ships are all these bird ships with 500 materials and a maximum of 1,000 materials. These ships are fast enough to escape in a blink of an eye when they encounter a red-haired ghost's warship."
"If we encounter their merchant ship, hehe..."
Zheng Zhilong didn't say anything further, but everyone present understood what he meant.
"We understand!"
Zhu Yuanzhang walked to the side of the ship and looked at the sea, and said in a deep voice: "We are in front of our own house. We still can't defeat these barbarian warships in a head-on battle. We can only hide here and there like mice, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, right?"
"Yes!" Before Zheng Zhilong could speak, Zheng Sen behind him spoke directly.
"No one's boat is fast, and no one's cannon can shoot far and powerful, so can't they just be mice?" Zheng Sen asked again.
"Don't be rude!" Zheng Zhilong scolded.
"Actually, we can still fight. Half a month ago, I led the fleet to fight the Dutch East India Company head-on and sank three of their ships." Zheng Zhilong said with a smile.
"If we weren't familiar with hydrology, causing their big ship to run aground, and then letting the fire ship attack them fiercely, how could we have won the battle?"
"Just like this, even though we had the right time, place and people, our brothers still suffered more than two thousand casualties, ten times as many as others!" Zheng Sen mercilessly exposed the scars that his father had hidden.
"You evil son, do you want to make dad angry to death?" Zheng Zhilong was furious.
"Is he telling the truth?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked quietly.
"Yes...!" Zheng Zhilong was overwhelmed by Zhu Yuanzhang's momentum. He hesitated for a moment, but finally chose to tell the truth.
"Hey, if we hadn't come here, we wouldn't have known that those barbarians have become so rampant, and that the majestic China has become so weak."
"His Majesty!"
"The ordinary people are brave, please ask the imperial court to pay attention to this and send skilled craftsmen to study and imitate various Western Yi technologies as soon as possible."
"Nowadays, we can still fight with the red-haired ghosts by virtue of the right time and place, but the various firearms technologies of the Western Yi people are updated very quickly. If we don't pay attention to them, and if things continue like this, I am afraid that in a hundred years, our great country of China will not be a country. "Zheng Sen knelt on the ground and said in a sonorous and steady voice.
"What's your name!" Zhu Yuanzhang finally turned back to look at this young man in his twenties.
"Caomin Zheng Sen!"
"good!"
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly burst out laughing: "Get up and come back to Nanjing with us this time. We'll find you a princess to marry. How about that?"
Zheng Sen: "...!"
"Why is the brain circuit of this Emperor Hongwu so strange? He is talking about national affairs and the future of the nation. Why does he suddenly turn around and talk about his wife?"
Seeing Zheng Sen kneeling there blankly and not knowing what to say, Zheng Zhilong suddenly became anxious.
"Thank you quickly!"
"You're such a traitor, you really want to make your father and me angry to death!"
"Jing Haigong, we also have another fortune for you!"
Suddenly Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zheng Zhilong again.
"What wealth?" Zheng Zhilong looked confused.
"Do you want to raise the status of a duke to a higher level and become a prince who splits the earth and seals the borders?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with temptation in his tone.
"Here we come!" Zheng Sen, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly had a clear understanding in his heart. He knew that the Hongwu Emperor had been preparing the ground for so long and was finally going to explain his intention.
"What does Your Majesty want us to do?"
"But I'll do whatever I'm told." Zheng Zhilong is not stupid and understands that things are not that simple.
"It's very simple. Use ships to help us transport the cavalry to the north. We will steal the Qing Dynasty's nest." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.
