4333 AD 1636, October 25th. The great court meeting in Huangji Hall. Wu Baiguan finished discussing Qian Mingyi, governor of Henan and minister of the Yellow River, on his suggestions for repairing the Yellow River.
Jiang Fangding, who was offering wine at the Imperial College, reported on the new Jinshi's studies in the Imperial College. Navy Minister Li Qingmohui reported:
"Your Majesty, one first-class battleship and one second-class battleship produced by the Guangzhou Shipyard have been allocated to the East China Sea Fleet. The East China Sea Fleet is now docked at Qinhuangdao Port in Tangshan Prefecture. Among the large ports near Shuntian County, only Qinhuangdao Port has a slight The ice is floating and the sea is not frozen. Feng Sanqiu, the governor of the East China Sea Fleet, is already waiting outside the Huangji Palace. Please give your Majesty the name of the newly commissioned battleship of the navy." Su He sat on the dragon chair and said condescendingly:
"Xuan Feng Sanqiu enters the palace. As for the battleships, they will continue to be named according to the traditional naming method of battleships. The second first-class battleship will be named Han Wudi, and the third second-class battleship will be named Li Jing." Officials heard the battleship They all already understood His Majesty the Emperor's thoughts on this naming.
At first, they thought there was no rule in naming battleships. It now seems that His Majesty the Emperor still has certain rules for naming battleships.
First class battleships ordered by ancient emperors. Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, this is the emperor who will be enshrined in the ancestral temple through the ages, as the naming rule for first-class battleships.
Second-class battleships are named after famous generals. The names named now are all famous generals, and they are famous generals who fought against foreign races and achieved outstanding results.
Huo Qubing Yan Ran Shi Le, defeated the Xiongnu. Li Jing led his troops to eliminate the Turks, and Yue Fei was a famous general who fought against the Jin Dynasty.
Your Majesty the Emperor, this is using the name of a battleship to refer to Jiannu. Feng Sanqiu walked towards Huangji Hall with neat steps.
He had arrived in the capital last night. His Majesty the Emperor summoned him at Qianqing Palace overnight. Feng Sanqiu saluted with a military salute and said in a sonorous and powerful voice:
"General Feng Sanqiu, Governor of the East China Sea Fleet, pays homage to His Majesty." Su He asked in a kind tone:
"Feng Aiqing, the East China Sea Fleet is stationed in Songjiang County. What will happen to you when you come back?" When Feng Sanqiu heard His Majesty's question, he knew that His Majesty was starting to act.
The East China Sea Fleet is training at Wusong Port. The southern seas do not freeze at all in winter, and the temperature is relatively suitable, making it suitable for naval training.
He was ordered by Su He to take the newly received battleships and the entire East China Sea Fleet to the north.
Su He made it clear in his imperial edict that he would send the East China Sea Fleet to fight, and at the same time take over Ryukyu, the important military port of the East China Sea Fleet.
Feng Sanqiu said seriously according to the script set yesterday:
"Your Majesty, the East China Sea Fleet intercepted the Japanese pirates and discovered important information. Hongguang Emperor Zhu Cixiang was brought to the Japanese country by Li Ruolian, the commander of the Jinyiwei at the time." When Su He heard the news, he slapped the dragon chair heavily with his hand.
"It's unreasonable that Japan, a small country, dares to hide Zhu Cixiang, Emperor Hongguang of the Ming Dynasty. Japan is ignoring our country, and we must give them a profound lesson. During the pre-Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates harassed the border for a long time. I haven't taught them a lesson yet, and now the new Let's resolve the old grudges together. I order the East China Sea Fleet to dispatch immediately to teach the Japanese a profound lesson and let them know the power of the heavenly kingdom." Feng Sanqiu, the governor of the East China Sea Fleet, immediately knelt down to receive the order.
"The general's decree." Except for a few insiders, everyone in the court was shocked. The conquest of a country was decided in just a few words.
This rate of progress is really too fast. Most of the officials, they didn't react at all.
His Majesty the Emperor decided on a strategy to conquer Japan. Now His Majesty the Emperor has made it clear that things cannot be changed.
Hanlin editor Wang Yan immediately stood up and objected.
"Your Majesty, Dahua has just been a country for more than a month, and all parts of the country have not stabilized. There are still many people in the country who can't even eat a bite of food. Your Majesty, don't go into war and start the war. Once the war starts, who knows? How much food is consumed? Invest the limited money into improving people's lives. This is what the country should do now." Du Yunnong, the minister of Honglu Temple, immediately stood up and objected:
"Your Majesty, our heavenly dynasty has always upheld the holy way towards the vassal states and influenced them with benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust. Your Majesty, please don't invite war! The country finally settled down, but once the war broke out, I don't know how many people were displaced. Your Majesty We must learn from the lessons of the Ming Dynasty. In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, they wanted to annex Vietnam, but in the end they suffered a bloody blow." Su He looked at the performance of these people, and realized that these people were only part of the group. There were more officials, and he felt fearful in his heart. Dare to stand up.
These people are the Lord He faction in the court. The peace faction is just a nice word, Su He thinks they are the capitulation faction and the war-fearing faction.
These people are mainly Confucian Qingliu, and they are a group of people who ruin the country with empty talk. Su He looked at Wang Yan and scolded:
"Wang Yan, what do you do? You are a Hanlin editor, and your main task is to compile the history of the Ming Dynasty. Do you understand military and state affairs? Do your job well, and don't point fingers at things you don't understand." Su He looked at it. Du Yunnong said angrily:
"You still have the nerve to mention the holy way. Inner sage and outer king, this is the method of governing the country proposed by the sage Zhuangzi and recommended by many great Confucian scholars. Ask yourselves, during the Ming Dynasty, for the newly occupied Vietnam area, it was to be an inner sage and an outer king. Four words? Your so-called holy way is to bow down to the vassal country. The vassal country pays tribute to a broken stone, and you give back a piece of gold. You are so complacent about this that when you see many small countries paying tribute, you think you are a kingdom in heaven. . Is this a true heavenly kingdom? This is a false heavenly kingdom. The real heavenly kingdom means speaking with swords and guns, and using cannons to make noise. I don’t think the practices of the past dynasties are inner saints and outer kings. He is a king at home and a saint at the outside. He exploits the people of his own country in every possible way, but tolerates all the vassal countries. Even if he is provoked, he does not dare to fight back." Su He knew that these Confucian officials were extremely resistant to outward expansion.
The main reason is that the current governance methods are very crude, and fighting foreign countries consumes money and food, but does not achieve much benefit.
This is because Huaxia gave up all the benefits it should have received before. Nowadays, China is expanding outward, and under the constraints of Confucian etiquette, it is like a righteous war in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Treat the people in the occupied areas better than the people in your own country. Even if the people in the occupied areas dare to resist, these bureaucrats can only compromise in order to avoid trouble.
The people of their own country are easily unable to resist, so they dare to act recklessly. The means are too weak, and it is difficult to transform the newly occupied places into places that the country can control.
In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, Vietnam was conquered, but it was lost soon after. This was the total outbreak of the shortcomings of Confucian governance.
Confucian governance can stabilize the country, but it is very unfavorable to national expansion. Su He announced loudly:
"My Majesty, from now on we must truly implement the practice of being a saint within and a king outside. We must treat our own people as warm as the spring breeze. Treat the enemy as cold as the cold wind." Wang Yan saw that His Highness the Emperor was stubborn and belligerent. On the road of never returning.
He was just about to become famous for his deadly remonstrance when he saw Du Yunnong taking the lead. Du Yunnong said in his sad voice:
"Your Majesty, I am loyal and loyal. However, Your Majesty listened to the traitor and did not listen to the loyal advice. I will die to serve the country." After Du Yunnong finished speaking, he bent down and prepared to hit the pillar of Huangji Hall.
The soldiers of Qilin Guard saw this situation. They immediately ran over, grabbed Du Yunnong and tied him up with ropes.
Su He looked at Qilin Guard's reaction with a smile on his face. He had already expected that someone would ask for his name with a death remonstrance.
Before going to court, he ordered the soldiers of the Qilin Guard to prepare for the situation. In the Ming Dynasty, this behavior was called cheating the court.
Officials of the Ming Dynasty, as long as they were beaten with a court cane, no matter whether they were dead or alive. His descendants will have a smooth career in the future.
This is the gradual erosion of imperial power by the official group. Du Yunnong was tied up by the Qilin Guard soldiers, and he still shouted:
"Your Majesty, even if you beat me to death with your imperial staff, I must say what I should say. The heavenly country should use benevolence and righteousness to influence the vassal countries, and must not start the war lightly." Su He said calmly:
"There is no imperial staff, and we in Dahua do not have lynchings. Du Yunong ignored the court discipline and filial piety. He was removed from his position and demoted to a commoner. Du Yunong had no monarch, and he tried to gain fame by admonishing him to death. He punished Du Yunong's direct descendants, and they were not allowed in the Five Dynasties. Scientific examination." When Du Yunnong heard this punishment, he wailed:
"Your Majesty, you killed me, you killed me! My family is not guilty, they are not guilty!" Su He watched Du Yunnong being dragged out of Huangji Palace by the Qilin Guard soldiers.
He said in a stern tone:
"If you want to give advice, please impress me with your true talents and knowledge. From now on, anyone who asks for advice will be punished according to this example." These officials are not afraid of death, they just know that they will die alone.
His descendants all benefited. Suhe directly cut off their retreat and punished their descendants.
He was going to use this method of removing fuel from the cauldron and put an end to this kind of performance-style death remonstrance. After this farce in the court, no one stood up to oppose sending troops.
Minister of the Navy Li Qingmu saw off Feng Sanqiu, Governor of the East China Sea Fleet.
"Sanqiu, compared with the military merits of the army, our navy is much worse. In this expedition, the navy must perform well. If the set goal is not achieved this time, not only some rotten scholars will object. A large number of officials and the army will definitely oppose our navy. , occupying so much military expenditure. Our navy must work hard to improve its own value. Now the princes and princes of the military are all from the army. Our navy will also have one or two princes. When His Majesty is crowned king overseas, we will be from the navy. The generals must also occupy some good territory." Feng Sanqiu said confidently:
"Minister, there is no need to worry about our East China Sea Fleet. Japan is a small country and its naval strength is limited. We are not occupying Japan this time, we are just seizing money and occupying the market. With the current strength of the East China Sea Fleet, there will be no mistakes. I believe that the navy will not go wrong in the future. , will also serve as the main force for the country's expansion. When the time comes, we will have the opportunity to make meritorious deeds, not only the Duke, but also several princes will appear." Li Qingmu heard this and sighed and said:
"I suggested to your majesty that you send the army to assist the navy and directly capture several Japanese islands. If this suggestion succeeds, you will definitely become the Duke of the country. But your majesty said that the time is not right now. With the current strength of our army, we cannot defeat the Japanese country in one fell swoop. If we only capture some of the islands now, we will fall into endless wars. There are still a large number of areas in the Western Regions, Wusi Zang, Liaodong and Saibei that have not been recovered in China. If we continue to invest our troops into the Japanese country, it will be really difficult. There is no way to divide the troops. And the expedition across the sea is a difficult problem in terms of logistics and supplies. His Majesty said that when North Korea is conquered and Taiwan is built, that will be the time for us to fully send troops to Japan." Feng Sanqiu heard what Li Qingmu said, and he understood His Majesty s Choice.
He believed that with His Majesty's ambition, he would always wait until the day he could lead the warships and occupy the Japanese country.
Feng Sanqiucheng took a carriage and rushed to Qinhuangdao Port. The carriage was traveling on a dirt road, not very fast at all, and very bumpy.
Feng Sanqiu was in a very happy mood. As a soldier, fighting can only make him happy. This attack on Japan will be the first battle of the navy's external expansion, and he must fight this war well.
Feng Sanqiu looked out the carriage window. He could see Shuntian Mansion and Tangshan Mansion. Many factories along the roadside had erected large smokestacks.
Black smoke billowed into the air. This sight of billowing black smoke represents the vitality of the country. The billowing black smoke is like a black dragon, breaking through all the shackles on the body, showing the power of industry.
When he came to the capital this time, his stay was very short. But we also saw the future development direction of the navy.
The shipyard in Qinhuangdao has begun building large-scale ships called paddle steamers. It is powered by a steam engine and can sail smoothly on the sea without sails.
He also saw an experimental boat using a propeller. The speed of a warship as big as a first-class battleship has more than doubled.
The service life of propellers is now extremely short and cannot be used on ships. But he believes that the technology has been developed and can definitely be improved gradually.
A first-generation naval general like him was unable to command steam warships in combat. As the Royal Navy of Great China continues to develop, sooner or later, steam warships will enter the navy's ranks.
Feng Sanqiu came to Qinhuangdao Port, one of the few ice-free ports in the north. The flagship of the East China Sea Fleet, the battleship Han Wudi, the battleship Yue Fei, and the battleship Li Jing are all waiting at Qinhuangdao Port.
Feng Sanqiu boarded the battleship Han Wudi. East China Sea Fleet Chief of Staff Dong Heng and Zhu Shi Hu Nanzhu immediately surrounded him.
"Governor, how is the situation going to the capital this time?" Feng Sanqiu directly took out the imperial edict and the military order from the Navy Ministry.
"According to His Majesty's arrangement, we first captured Ryukyu as the home port of the East China Sea Fleet. After resting in Ryukyu, we went straight to Japan and captured Edo, the capital of Japan. Let Japan sign an unequal treaty with Dahua, and treat our Dahua Make war compensation." Dong Sheng and Hu Nanzhu were very excited when they saw the imperial edict and military order.
Feng Sanqiu asked:
"I saw that the arsenal here in Tangshan Prefecture is very large and should be able to produce naval guns. Can we replenish ammunition here? If we go back to Songjiang to replenish ammunition, we will have to go around in a big circle and waste a lot of time." Dong Scale replied :
"Governor, the order from the Navy Department arrived here before you arrived. The Logistics Department has replenished us with enough ammunition. Our East China Sea Fleet is ready to go out at any time." When Feng Sanqiu heard the good news, he immediately ordered:
"Then we won't waste time. The East China Sea Fleet will set out to attack Japan now. Let the navigation staff plan the charts and guide the warships in the direction. Our first target is Ryukyu." The battleship of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sounded a shrill whistle.
Driven by the steam engine, the battleship Han Wudi began to raise its sails. The battleship Han Wudi took the lead as the flagship, and the East China Sea Fleet set sail.
The navy officially set out to conquer Japan, taking the first step in Dahua's outward expansion.
