Chapter 34 Maritime Crisis in Nanjing
The navy fought with its stock, which was the result of high-intensity wars in later generations. In this era, shipbuilding was not yet very important.
Fu Youde was very worried that the fierce war at sea would have a great impact on the entire Ming Dynasty. Because he knew very well that the Beijing Navy was much more powerful than the Japanese pirates.
Fu Youde is also worried about financial issues.
After all, wars cost money, and Fu Youde can solve other problems, but the money problem cannot be solved by Fu Youde.
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After Zhu Yunwen returned to the palace from the Fu family, he had no appetite at all.
the reason is simple.
Seeing that Zhu Yunwen had a good attitude, Fu Youde took this opportunity to talk about all the problems that Fu Youde was worried about.
Zhu Yunwen felt uncomfortable hearing this.
On the one hand, Zhu Yunwen had never thought about many things. He originally felt that he had done a very good job in the year since he ascended the throne. But now it seems that is not the case. There are problems everywhere.
On the other hand, he certainly knew that what Fu Youde said was true and the old minister was sincere. But one can't help but feel that Fu Youde was deliberately trying to put him in trouble, to let him know how to behave and be honest and obedient.
It's just that Zhu Yunwen is uncomfortable.
He still has self-control.
Forcibly clear away some negative emotions from your heart. For example, he was excessively suspicious of Fu Youde and focused on specific matters.
Now Zhu Yunwen really feels the sense of crisis.
This sense of crisis is due to Beijing’s strength on the one hand. If before, Zhu Yunwen thought that the Battle of Hejian was an accidental result, now he did not dare to think so. On the other hand, it is the death of Xu Da.
If before, Zhu Yunwen still hoped that Xu Da would take action to turn the tide and make the final contribution to the Ming Dynasty. Now Zhu Yunwen can only rely on himself.
He could only face these problems and solve them one by one.
Zhu Yunwen did not need to worry about military issues for the time being, and left everything to Fu Youde, who was asked to take charge of the northern defense line and provide support in all aspects.
Even Fu Youde is more powerful now than before the Battle of Hejian.
But the various issues mentioned by Fu Youde.
Zhu Yunwen has to deal with them one by one.
Zhu Yunwen thought for a long time and immediately summoned Qi De.
Qide was awarded the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of War and became a bachelor. But in the cabinet, there is no sense of presence.
Without him, Qi De had no right to speak in front of several princes about military matters. Just a handyman. How much power can one have? How much sense of existence can a person without power have?
It's just that Zied doesn't have any power at all.
At least the Jingjiang War was put down step by step under the leadership of Qi De. Read the book
This gave Zide a certain say in the military.
In fact, Zhu Yunwen had always wanted Qi De to preside over the world's military affairs and take back military power from the nobles, thereby reducing the threat to him from the nobles. However, Zhu Yunwen knew very well that this was almost impossible.
If he proposed it, almost all nobles would object.
Zhu Yunwen summoned Qi De this time just to ask how the war at sea was going?
When Zhu Yunwen asked, Qi De didn't say anything and apologized.
Zhu Yunwen said: "What do you mean? Why can't you threaten me if I can't deal with some people?"
Qi De said: "I don't dare. It's just my fault that the situation at sea collapsed. I really have failed the king's favor. Please punish me."
Zhu Yunwen said: "Now it is not a matter of punishment or not. You tell me first, how bad the sea is now, and do you have any way to redeem it? Instead of talking about this here."
"Yes." Qi De said: "I organized two operations to seize Penghu, but they failed repeatedly. The Fujian Navy has reached the point where it has become disloyal to talk about going to sea. In order not to go to sea,
Some people even sank their warships. "
Zhu Yunwen was furious and said: "You are so timid to fight? You deserve to be killed."
Qi De said: "Originally I thought so too, but I found out later, but I can't blame them. They are really thieves with strong ships and powerful guns, so we cannot fight against them."
Then Qide told some details about the configuration of the Northern Army Navy.
For example, the ships of the Northern Navy were very thick, and even Zide suspected that there was iron trapped in the hull. Anyway, when the Fujian Navy bombards them, they rarely penetrate them. However, the opponent's artillery hit the Fujian Navy ship, and two holes were immediately opened.
In other words, the entire ship was penetrated.
This is nothing. Although the opponent's ships are not many, each ship has a lot of artillery, as many as dozens. Once a war begins, the artillery fire will be endless, and the Fujian Navy will not be allowed to get close at all. Many ships of the Fujian Navy lost heavily.
Although not many were sunk, many ships lost their ability to navigate and were discovered by passing merchants. The entire ship was almost full of dead people, and the remaining people were simply not enough to drive the ship.
The scene was simply too horrible to watch.
It does too much damage to morale.
Zhu Yunwen was silent for a while and said, "Would it be impossible to fight without artillery?"
Zide said: "I have also thought about this problem. I want to lure the thieves' ships to the offshore, and then attack them with fire, or take advantage of the tide to rush up and fight them in close combat. However, the thieves seem to be very cunning and do not approach the coast at all. Let's There is absolutely no way.”
This is actually He Xi's order.
He Xi didn't want the southeast coast to fall into war. Therefore, Fang Chengfeng was more interested in maintaining trade in Penghu. He did not pay much attention to shore strikes, and he had no idea of landing. After all, Fang Chengfeng knew the virtues of the troops under his command.
That's all for the navy. After all, he is the master of the imperial government. Although everyone has smuggling, there are not many. It's a sailor's benefit. As for those Japanese troops, it would be difficult to take them back after they were released.
Let these Japanese come ashore and start a killing spree. Fang Chengfeng will not be able to return to his old position in the future. It should be noted that Fang Chengfeng is also from Zhejiang.
As for business matters, there is no need for Fang Chengfeng to go to the coast. In the past few years since the sea was opened, the big families along the coast have made a fortune, and maritime business has flourished. How could it be cut off at the drop of a hat? Even now, the Emperor of Heaven has not ordered a ban on the sea.
Everyone in Beijing and Nanjing is Ming Dynasty.
Many businessmen below do business with Beijing without feeling any guilt at all.
In this case, Fang Chengfeng could only keep the Fujian Navy from attacking Penghu, and he didn't need to worry about other things.
I just didn't expect that this approach would also avoid a lot of losses.
Although the Northern Army's navy has strong ships and powerful artillery, it is still smaller in number than the southeastern coastal navy. Historically, the navy in the southeast coastal area was composed of Zhejiang Navy with between 700 and 800 warships. Fujian Navy has more.
And now because of the opening of the sea. The number of this establishment has not increased much, but many small boats have become large ships.
The only problem is that the Southeast Navy is more of an offshore defense force. Going to sea to fight is not very suitable in many ways. Coupled with the superiority in size and quantity of the Northern Army's ships, the current problem has arisen.
On the open sea, the Northern Navy's navy was small in number, but very sharp and could defeat many with less. But how to operate on complex sea surfaces, such as offshore bays, islands, and river estuaries. In such places, the hydrology is complex and it is easy for ships to become inconvenient.
This gave the Southeast Navy an opportunity to exert its numerical advantage.
This is just like Zheng Zhilong dealing with the Dutch fleet. On the open sea, the Dutch can come and leave whenever they want. Not easy to deal with. But in a place like the bay, if Zheng Zhilong finds an opportunity, he can destroy them.
There is nothing wrong with Zid's strategy and tactics.
From this point of view, he and Zheng Zhilong have the same heroic views.
But the Northern Army didn't fall for it.
If it weren't for Fu Youde Zhuyu in front, Zhu Yunwen would definitely lose his temper with Qi De and even force the opponent to attack, but now Zhu Yunwen is more rational. He rubbed his temples and said, "Is it just a
Are you running out of ideas? "
Qi De said: "My incompetence makes Your Majesty worried."
"Don't say these are useless." Zhu Yunwen said: "Just tell me directly how you plan to clean up this mess. Don't tell me that you have nothing prepared?"
Zhu Yunwen still understands Qi De. Generally speaking, Zide is still a person who can get things done.
