"It is destined to be carried by heaven, the emperor decreed."
"I ordered Li Jin, the magistrate of Shanghai County, to serve as the commander of the navy. He will lead a navy of three thousand to suppress the Japanese pirates. I will give Shang Fang a sword. You can kill them first and then report them."
"I hope you don't disappoint me, I appreciate this!"
A young eunuch held the imperial edict and loudly announced it in the Shanghu County Naval Base.
Li Jin and Lan Yu led a group of naval generals to kneel on one knee and listen to Zhu Yuanzhang's arrangements.
When she heard that Zhu Yuanzhang actually appointed Li Jin as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Lan Yu's eyes turned red with jealousy.
The position of Commander-in-Chief is a high position of authority in charge of all affairs of the army. At the same time, it also has the right to independently control the army. It has always been Lan Yu's dream position.
Although he followed Xu Da, Feng Sheng and Tang He in the south and north, he had always been in the vanguard position and was not qualified to control an army at all.
He just kept following orders, which made him very unconvinced.
After all, Lan Yu also studied under Chang Yuchun and learned a lot of military skills.
Zhu Yuanzhang always asked him to take the lead in the charge every time and never let him act alone, which made Lan Yu feel that he was underestimated.
Unexpectedly, it was still like this. This Li Jin was just a hairless boy, but he could actually ride on his head, which made him go crazy with jealousy.
Li Jin stood up at this time and took the imperial edict in the little eunuch's hand and the Shang Fang sword held by the attendant behind the little eunuch in his hands, but his face was expressionless.
His honey is my arsenic.
What Lan Yu wanted to get was meaningless to him.
Li Jin wanted to exterminate the Japanese pirates, but he never thought of going into battle himself. This was not at all in line with his principle of protecting one's own safety.
The so-called gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.
This kind of thing of going to the battlefield and killing people with a knife is not what he wants at all.
But the situation is stronger than the people. Now that the emperor's decree has been issued, he has no chance to refuse even if he wants to.
At this moment, Li Jin actually heard waves of heavy breathing coming from beside him.
Turning his head suddenly, he saw Lan Yu staring at the Shang Fang sword in his hand with red eyes, breathing heavily between his nose.
Li Jin finally discovered that something was wrong with Lan Yu. Was Lan Yu going crazy when he wanted to lead troops?
"Lanyu, what do you want to do?"
Li Jin shouted angrily, trying to wake up Lan Yu from her possessed state.
But when Lan Yu heard Li Jin's roar, she seemed to be stimulated. She roared and rushed towards Li Jin.
"Clang!"
Without enough time, Li Jin directly pulled out Shang Fang's sword and shouted angrily again:
"If you dare to come forward again, you will be killed without mercy!!"
Li Jin's body was filled with murderous intent, and the temperature around him seemed to have dropped a bit because of this murderous intent.
The sword in his hand was pointed at Lan Yu, and the cold edge of the sword finally brought Lan Yu back to his senses a little.
Lan Yu looked at Li Jin's cold eyes and determination, knowing that Li Jin was not joking with her.
Licking her lips, Lan Yu said ferociously:
"Boy, going to the battlefield is not a treat."
"It's a hundred times more cruel than you imagine. If you ask the emperor now to give me the post of governor, I'll be willing to go on an expedition for you. How about that?"
Li Jin ignored Lan Yu's threat, put the sword in his hand back into its scabbard with a "clink" sound, and said lightly:
"Generals, listen to the order and give you half a day to go down and prepare. We will board the ship at a quarter o'clock tomorrow morning and set off!"
"Anyone who cannot be postponed will be killed!"
Li Jin's words were not only talking about Lan Yu, but also the generals behind him.
These generals are all loyal, brave and powerful people selected by Li Jin from the Yiwu soldiers. They are all powerful and able to obey orders.
Those three thousand Yiwu troops, under the leadership of these generals, can make Li Jin use his fingers like an arm.
It is no exaggeration to say that with these three thousand people, Li Jin even dared to have a fair showdown with more than ten thousand Japanese pirates.
Of course, these are based on fair duels and must be on land.
If it were at sea, Li Jin wouldn't be able to guarantee it.
After all, the water quality of Yiwu soldiers, despite a long period of training, is still somewhat unsatisfactory.
This cannot be changed in a short while, and it requires a long period of training and familiarity, but now Li Jin has no time.
After hearing Li Jin's instructions, these generals raised their hands and shouted in unison:
"Here!"
The momentum was overwhelming and morale was high.
Lan Yu was startled by the voice, but after seeing the momentum of these people, she knew that Li Jin, as the commander-in-chief, could no longer change the fact.
He had no choice but to weakly raise his hand to Li Jin to express his acceptance.
Li Jin was too lazy to pay attention to Lan Yu, a reckless man. He turned around and quietly took out twenty taels of silver. After sending away the little eunuch who was delivering the order, he turned around and walked towards his mansion.
He was about to set off tomorrow, so he naturally needed to prepare himself.
...
Ying Tianfu, go to the study room.
All the major governors in the capital gathered in front of Zhu Yuanzhang at this moment. Xu Da, Fu Youde, Deng Yu, Li Wenzhong, etc. were all present.
In addition, there are Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen.
In this small upper study room, it can be said that there are many important officials gathered.
Zhu Yuanzhang's Huaixi generals, as well as his left and right think tanks, were all present. Needless to say, Zhu Yuanzhang must have something big to announce.
Originally, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to call Hu Weiyong over, but thinking that the highway matter was more urgent, Zhu Yuanzhang simply asked Hu Weiyong to deal with the highway matter first.
After everyone arrived, all the ministers' eyes were focused on Zhu Yuanzhang.
Seeing so many familiar faces, these civil servants and generals couldn't help but murmur in their hearts, what big thing is the emperor planning to do, to bring so many people together?
You must know that since Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, especially after Xu Da drove the Northern Yuan Dynasty out of the Central Plains, Zhu Yuanzhang has not been so aggressive for a long time.
The last time he mobilized troops like this was when Zhu Yuanzhang launched his Northern Expedition to the Central Plains. At that time, it was decided whether the Central Plains could be restored.
Zhu Yuanzhang convened important ministers to discuss matters every day. What happened now? How could all these important ministers be summoned together?
Everyone was puzzled, but they didn't dare to be the first to ask. They could only look at Zhu Yuanzhang, hoping that Zhu Yuanzhang could give an answer.
Facing everyone's gaze, Zhu Yuanzhang looked solemn and said in a deep voice:
"A few days ago, the Japanese pirates invaded in large numbers and killed 30,000 people in the Ming Dynasty. I believe you all know it."
"We want to ask what you think?"
Japanese pirates? It turned out to be this.
Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen and others all felt relieved. It turned out that it was because of this matter.
That would be easy to deal with. Japanese pirates happen every year, not just this year.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, we have been accustomed to being invaded by Japanese pirates every year.
However, the scale of each invasion by these Japanese pirates was relatively small, especially after the emperor issued a sea ban and moved the people inland, the scale became smaller year by year.
As prime minister, Li Shanchang was naturally the first to speak up:
"Your Majesty, I think these are just scabies, so the Emperor doesn't need to take them to heart."
"These Japanese pirates come once a year, just to plunder some property, and then retreat into the vast sea."
"I think it's better to strengthen defense."
Tang He also stood up at this moment and said:
"I agree that these Japanese pirates are just bandits, and your superiors don't need to worry about them."
"They looted so much this time. It will take a long time before they come again next time."
Other ministers and generals also nodded. This policy was Zhu Yuanzhang's previous policy.
Although the people of Ming Dynasty suffered heavy casualties this time, they felt that Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely continue his previous policies, so they had no objections.
Only Xu Da and Liu Bowen, who were next to them, did not nod. Xu Da looked expressionless, while Liu Bowen looked thoughtful.
"Bang!"
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately jumped up and said angrily:
"How can we turn a blind eye to these Japanese pirates who killed tens of thousands of our Ming Dynasty citizens?"
"We called you here to tell you that we want to avenge the people of Ming Dynasty!"
"Blood for blood, tooth for tooth!"
As soon as these words came out, Li Shanchang and several governors in the governor's office were all stunned.
revenge? Going to find Japanese pirates?
This is not the emperor's character. Wasn't it just to avoid fighting Japanese pirates when he issued the sea ban?
If he could really avenge the people and destroy the Japanese pirates, he would not have issued a sea ban in the first place.
It was Li Shanchang who stood up nervously and objected:
"Go to the top, absolutely not!"
"Our Ming Dynasty has thousands of miles of sea territory, but these Japanese pirates always escape with one strike. After escaping into the sea, they lose their traces."
"If you want to seek revenge against these Japanese pirates, you must first find the hiding place of these Japanese pirates."
"But the Ming Dynasty's sea area is really too big. Where are we going to find these Japanese pirates?"
"In the end, it will be a futile effort and a waste of money and food."
"And the Japanese pirates only come once a year. The superiors must not stop eating because of choking."
This was also what Zhu Yuanzhang thought at first. The sea was so big that it made people a little scared and even desperate.
The sea is so mysterious that the mysterious Zhu Yuanzhang and his officials knew nothing about it.
Li Wenzhong also stood up and suggested:
"Your Majesty, if you are worried that the people will be invaded by Japanese pirates, it is better to move the people another thirty miles."
"In this way, after the Japanese pirates land, they will not find anything to plunder, and they will naturally retreat slowly."
"I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal!"
If it were on the grassland or on land, these people would all be battlefield killing gods, Buddhas blocking Buddhas and gods killing gods.
Fu Youde, Deng Yu, and Li Wenzhong had not led hundreds of thousands of people to kill generals and capture flags.
But those are all built on land. Once the sea is involved, these people are unsure and retreat.
"Last time, these Japanese pirates penetrated twenty miles into the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Yuanzhang's face was already very cold and he said:
"They dare to break in at twenty miles away, don't they dare to come after thirty miles away?"
"Also, who said they only invade once a year? They'll be here for the second time soon!!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's words were like drums at dusk and bells in the morning, completely silencing everyone.
No wonder Zhu Yuanzhang was so anxious and called them all here. It turned out that the Japanese pirates wanted to come back again?
If this is the case, then the problem is serious.
In the past, Japanese pirates were like mosquitoes. Although they were disgusting, they were insignificant and would only sting people once a year. Therefore, the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty turned a blind eye to Japanese pirates.
But now, this mosquito turned into a mad dog in an instant, and bit Ming madly, so its nature was different.
The last time these Japanese pirates raided the coast of the Ming Dynasty, they killed more than 30,000 soldiers and civilians of the Ming Dynasty.
If this happens again, it will definitely not be tolerated by the Ming Dynasty, which was only three years old.
"Your Majesty, I request your Majesty to immediately issue an order to allow the people along the coast to move thirty miles inland immediately to avoid being harmed by Japanese pirates."
Liu Bowen could no longer remain calm. After all, if it was true as Zhu Yuanzhang said, then allowing the situation to develop would have serious consequences.
And the people along the coast are the ones who suffer the most.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer, but looked at Li Shanchang, hoping that Li Shanchang could give some good ideas.
As a result, Li Shanchang lowered his head at this moment and was thinking of countermeasures in his mind. After all, he was getting old and his mind was not as bright as before.
Instead, Fu Youde spoke up and said:
"Your Majesty, in addition to relocating the people, we will also send troops to patrol the seaside."
"Warning against Japanese pirates invading again."
"In the future, beacon towers can even be built on the seaside. Whenever we see Japanese pirates coming to invade, we will light the beacon tower to remind people to go to the city to take shelter."
The generals below each issued suggestions. In addition to the beacon tower, some also suggested that the villagers along the coast should form strongholds to protect themselves.
Some suggested that more black dogs should be raised in the village to keep watch day and night.
Various methods and suggestions came from the mouths of these governors, but no one made any proactive suggestions.
After all, if you don’t even know where the enemy is, how can you take the initiative to attack?
These top generals in the empire were completely controlled by little Japanese pirates.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the chattering generals, knocked on the table, and angrily said:
"Are we just going to be beaten passively without any ability to fight back?"
"Such a passive situation will inevitably cause turmoil among the coastal people. If things go on like this, coastal people will flee the coast one after another."
“Twenty years from now, will the coastal areas still belong to our Ming Dynasty?”
There was silence, everyone seemed to have their necks stuck, and the words suddenly stopped.
All these people saw were how to solve the current problems, while Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking about things twenty years from now.
This is the pattern and the gap in strategic vision.
Zhu Yuanzhang woke up the dreamer with a word. Everyone lowered their heads and tried hard to think about how to break the situation.
It's a pity that even if these people are all top talents of today's era, they can't escape the limitations of this era and can't figure out how to deal with these Japanese pirates.
After half the payment, Liu Bowen slowly came out of the queue and said:
"During the Western Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu were rampant. In order to defeat the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty bred war horses and trained cavalry."
"Ten years later, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing led 100,000 cavalry across the grasslands, finally defeated the Xiongnu and occupied the Monan area of Hetao."
"The arrogant Huns were driven to the bitter cold land of Mobei. From then on, the Huns were unable to recover and were no longer a match for the Han Dynasty."
"Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty left a famous saying throughout the ages. From then on, offense and defense changed. The enemy can go, and I can go."
"I would like to ascend to the throne and follow the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, train the navy, build warships, control the sea with the sea, eliminate the Japanese pirates from the sea, and build our Ming Dynasty Great Wall on the Sea!"
Liu Bowen's words were like a depth bomb exploding in the crowd. Everyone looked at Liu Bowen in disbelief.
