At this time, Japan's handicraft industry was underdeveloped, and many daily necessities such as silk, cloth, pots, needles, and medicinal materials were supplied by China. Once China's goods were in short supply, prices rose sharply. Silk was worth five or six taels of silver per hundred kilograms, while The price in Japan is more than ten to twenty times that in China. Such huge profits are naturally exciting.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were still remnant forces in the south such as Zhang Shicheng and coastal smugglers who cooperated with Japanese pirates and used some Japanese islands as bases to continue intruding along the coasts of China and North Korea. This was also one of the reasons that stimulated the maritime ban in the early Ming Dynasty.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang sent envoys to Japan one after another to restore relations between the two countries and to get the Japanese king to restrain his troops. However, because Japan was in a state of division and confrontation, not only did the several envoys have no results, but the Japanese pirate intrusions became increasingly complicated.
The frequent harassment by Japanese pirates prompted the Ming Dynasty to begin to strengthen the construction of maritime power. The four coastal counties of Fujian built 16 cities and added 45 inspection departments, with more than 15,000 soldiers. They also organized coastal defense in counties in eastern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang. Fifty-nine cities were built and divided into garrison guards.
Zhu Biao also learned from Marquis Jinghai about the large-scale intrusion of Japanese pirates in Shandong, Suzhou, Huai'an and other places in the second year of Hongwu. That year was very disastrous, and coastal towns were hit hard.
Last year, another serious invasion occurred, in which Japanese pirates invaded the coast of Shandong, then moved to the Ming, Taiwan, and Wen states of Zhejiang, and then invaded the coastal counties of Fujian to plunder. Fortunately, they were repelled by Tang He and his army.
Now it is a new year. The Ming army's intelligence has learned that the Japanese pirates wandering near the Ryukyu Islands are preparing to plunder again. The Ming army has carefully deployed its defenses according to the orders left by Tang He.
After a group of people wandered around the navy camp, Zhu Biao sent Li Cunyi back. Tomorrow he would board the ship and sail north. Marquis Jinghai would be with him all the way, so there was no need for him to be in the way.
At noon, Zhu Biao had lunch in the camp. Naturally, he ate seafood when he arrived at the navy camp. Zhu Biao didn't really like seafood, but he didn't choose. During the meal, he had a good chat with Wu Zhen. chat.
This person is well-deserved. He has great ideas about naval battles and revenge for destroying Japanese pirates. However, Zhu Biao just saw that he respected Li Cunyi, and he remembered the list he mentioned when talking to Li Shanchang. This person seemed to be on good terms with Hu Weiyong. .
If this is the case, I am afraid that I will be implicated in the future. Zhu Biao listened to Wu Zhen's thoughts on his face, but in his heart he kept thinking about whether to help this person. After all, compared to the army generals, the talents for naval battles are rarer.
Wu Zhen, the Marquis of Jinghai, and his brother Wu Liang, the Marquis of Jiangyin, were both Huaixi nobles who followed Zhu Yuanzhang in his early years. From the titles of these two men, it can be seen that the brothers were naval talents, and Zhu Biao was well aware of their achievements. I have long wanted to meet him.
As early as the first year of Wu, Wu Zhen was worshiped as the deputy general in the southern expedition. He followed Tang He to conquer Fang Guozhen. He entered the Cao'e River along the tide, destroyed the enemy's dam, opened up the water channel, and unexpectedly reached the military stables.
Fang Guozhen was forced to flee to sea, and Wu Zhen went into the sea to pursue him. He fought with Fang Guozhen on Panyu. From Shen Shi to Xu Shi, he captured all his warships, soldiers, and baggage, and forced Fang Guozhen to surrender. Later, Wu Zhen entered Fuzhou by sea, besieged the three gates of the west, south and water districts, and finally defeated the city in one battle.
Such a talent is really rare, but let's take a look at his performance along the way. If possible, transfer him to the East Palace and keep him away from Hu Weiyong in the future.
Wu Zhen had just taken over the position of Chief Anti-Japanese Military Officer and had a lot of affairs. After dinner, Zhu Biao asked him to go down to handle official duties. He himself was led to the seaside and looked at the navy's hundreds of warships. Boat.
Compared with the large steel ships he had seen in later generations, these wooden warships were indeed a bit small, but they were more than enough to defend one side in this era.
In addition to the buildings, mengchong, fighting ships, sea falcons, walking boats and other ships that existed in the previous generation, the Ming Dynasty also had many innovative ships, such as the ultra-small net shuttle ship, which was shaped like a shuttle, with bamboo masts and wooden sails. It has a draft of seven to eight inches, has 2-4 people inside, and is equipped with two or three shotguns. During war, two to three hundred ships and ants gather around it.
There are also self-destructing truck-type mother ships. The mother ship has firewood, heavy oil, and gunpowder fire lines. During war, the mother ship quickly approaches the enemy ship, nails them together, ignites the mother ship, and the people return on the child ship.
The trap-type fire dragon ship has a blunderbuss eye, a knife board and a nail board in the middle. The soldiers lying down can pretend to be defeated by the enemy first, lure the enemy to board the ship, and turn on the mechanism to make the enemy fall from the upper layer into the middle knife board and nail board.
There are many such unique ship fleets, and they are all actual combat type, such as Cangshan ship, wheel barge, Haicang ship, and centipede ship. If facing the enemy head-on, it can be said that the strength of the Ming Navy is the first in the world. There is currently no one in the world that can rival it.
Zhu Biao didn't return to camp until dark. He went up to see most of the ships in person, and also asked the accompanying naval generals to explain them in detail. He had only learned the art of land warfare before, and he could do it to the navy. Say you don't know anything.
It was a rare opportunity to study hard and understand, not to be refined but to understand. This was also Zhu Biao's habit. After returning to the camp, Wu Zhen came to pay a visit. He could not neglect His Highness the Crown Prince in any case.
Zhu Biao didn't see him, and he would have plenty of time to get along with him in the future. Besides, getting close too early was not a good thing, so he asked Liu Jin to prepare the meal and go to bed early.
Early the next morning, we set off and boarded the ship to go north to Qingquankuang, which was also the future Weihaiwei. At this time, it still used the name given by the Yuan Dynasty. It was bordered by the Yellow Sea on three sides to the north and southeast, opposite the Liaodong Peninsula to the north, and the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago to the east and southeast. Facing each other across the sea, it has always been an important place invaded by Japanese pirates.
However, Zhu Biao went there first because he wanted to receive news from Jiang Side and Monk Daoyan. This was also agreed upon before they set off. By this time, the plan was probably in progress.
Zhu Biao's ship was a high-rise ship, and it was also used by Zhu Yuanzhang when he was the king of Wu. It was quite luxurious, and there were many fleets guarding it along the way. The Japanese pirates would be frightened and flee back to Japanese waters.
I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to ride on the Ming Dynasty’s most famous fortune ship, but there was nothing I could do about it. The fortune ship used in naval battles was as tall as a city and could not be driven by human power. It relied entirely on the wind. When the wind was favorable, it suppressed Japanese ships like a chariot crushing a mantis.
Naturally, it was impossible for Zhu Biao to wait for a favorable wind when heading north. Fortunately, the ship was tall and sailed along the coast quite steadily. Zhu Biao did not get seasick while sitting on it. Unfortunately, the ship was too high, which often caused an unstable center of gravity and made it unsuitable for long-distance voyages. Therefore, many Serve as the main force in water battles in inland rivers and coastal areas.
After Zhu Biao boarded the ship, he also received several letters from Beijing. The situation in the court was tense. Hu Weiyong suddenly exerted force, and Zhu Yuanzhang stood aside again. Yang Xian could no longer hold on, so he sent several letters to Zhu Biao for help. , I hope His Highness the Prince will give him a hand for his past merits.
Zhu Biao shook his head helplessly. In fact, the reason why Yang Xian has not fallen down is that Hu Weiyong is waiting for the prince's statement. After all, Yang Xian is a subordinate of the East Palace. If the prince takes action, the situation will be much more complicated. Gotta take a stand.
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