The Donghai Navy received a batch of firearms and headed to the Northeast day and night.
Liaodong Dusi, Daning Dusi, and Peiping Dusi received urgent documents from the imperial court. The deployment of guard sergeants inside and outside the pass became frequent, and the outer defense line surrounding Duoyan Guard and Fuyu Guard gradually became thicker.
On this day, the Navy Commander's Office received a new order: to move the main force of the South China Sea Navy northward and stationed at Qindao Port in Shandong;
Ministry of War.
Tie Xuan looked at the map with a solemn expression.
Yang Rong picked up a document and handed it to Tie Xuan: "The navy is gathering. The Longjiang Shipyard has also received an order to speed up the repair of Zheng He's navy ships. The craftsmen are working in shifts day and night."
Tie Xuan pointed to the northeast direction of the map: "What is the emperor going to do? Even if the Tatars run to the Luqu River, and the Duoyan Guards and Fuyu Guards cause chaos in the northeast, they won't mobilize the Nanhai Navy, right?"
Yang Rong glanced at the map, frowned and said: "It is true that the Nanhai Navy is in Jiaozhi. If it is necessary to mobilize the Southeast Navy, the Southeast Navy should also be mobilized. However, the emperor ordered the Nanhai Navy to be mobilized north. It is really surprising."
Tie Xuan's eyes lit up and he looked at Yang Rong: "The Emperor transferred the South China Sea Navy but not the Southeast Navy. I'm afraid there is only one reason!"
Yang Rong nodded slightly.
The reason is: the Southeast Navy is busy and has other things to do.
But everyone in the court knew that since the imperial court took control of Penghu, Xiaoliuqiu Island, and Daliuqiu Island, there were no other countries in the southeastern sea, and pirates were basically extinct.
Although some Japanese pirates have appeared sporadically in recent times, this scattered strength is simply not enough for the imperial court to stay alert and even mobilize the main force of the Nanyang Navy to go north.
When there are no disturbances in the southeastern waters, the Southeast Navy just goes fishing every day. How can it be busy?
If you really get busy, there is only one possibility.
Tie Xuan pointed his finger at the location of Da Liuqiu Island with a stern look on his face: "If I am not wrong, the Tatars may advance eastward and the Duoyan Guards may cause rebellion. This is all a pretense! The emperor's real target is Japan!"
Yang Rong stared at the Japanese island with a smile on his lips: "Tie Shangshu, Duoyan Wei and Fu Yuwei are defeated. If Sheng Yong hadn't been merciful back then, they would have been wiped out. The imperial court can deal with them once or twice. , I can naturally take care of them three or four times, how could my rhythm be disrupted because of them?"
Tie Xuan sighed: "So, the navy is making preparations for a full-scale invasion of Japan? As the minister of the Ministry of War, the emperor did not inform such an important arrangement..."
Yang Rong said with a smile: "The emperor's arrangements are mostly unexpected. It seems to be heading towards the northeast, but in fact it may be heading towards the East China Sea. The emperor's silence indicates that he has not yet made up his mind on this matter. Once the situation becomes clear and the time is right, It is impossible for the Emperor to hide this from the Ministry of War."
Tie Xuan understood this truth, but he was still a little disappointed.
Serving a monarch who is good at organizing the overall situation makes him somewhat incompetent.
Seeing that Tie Xuan seemed worried, Yang Rong said firmly: "The world only saw that Zheng He's navy brought new food seeds, but many people didn't see that Zheng He brought back not only food seeds, but also navy Seed! Regardless of whether the emperor is thinking about the East China Sea or not, the Navy will usher in a group of the best generals. With these people, it will be a piece of cake to completely pacify the East China Sea!"
Tie Xuan nodded heavily.
Although the new seeds brought by Zheng He are extremely precious and their achievements will last for a long time, the large number of naval officers he trained are the most precious wealth at the moment!
After nearly five years of long sailing, these naval officers have experienced more than half of their losses, and every one of them has been tempered!
According to Zheng He's navy log, in order to ensure that the navy successfully completed its mission, they even prepared a system in which one group of people would be sacrificed and another group would take over. As long as everyone on the ship did not die, the ship must move forward!
It is this awareness that makes every ship deliberately train captains, train helmsmen, and train commanding officers. Even hundreds of households and small soldiers rotate through different positions and master the navigation skills.
In other words, among these naval officers who have returned from a narrow escape, no less than 400 of them can be directly pulled out to serve as treasure ship captains, and no less than a thousand can serve as fleet commanders!
This is a very precious force for the rapidly expanding Ming Dynasty Navy. They are far more outstanding than the generals trained by the guardsmen who were transferred to the navy!
Any one of Zheng He's navy officers and soldiers is not an ordinary person to pick out!
Tie Xuan looked away from the map and said seriously: "Wait, after Zheng He's navy rests for two months, the emperor will arrange its whereabouts. If most of the generals and sergeants have entered the Donghai Navy, Southeast Navy Master, it can be concluded that the emperor wants to ignite the war in Japan."
Yang Rong's eyes were cold and stern, and he said with a bit of hatred: "Japanese pirates have been harassing and causing trouble to the people of our country since the Hongwu period. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu even sent soldiers to collude with Chen Zuyi and rob the shipyards of Yangjiang Shipyard! They can kill the Ming Dynasty, we You can still fight to Kitayama. The battle of Tsushima and Iki Island is like a notice posted outside the theater, Tie Shangshu, no one would think that the notice is the real drama, right?"
Tie Xuan picked up the tea, blew it twice and put it down again: "Since the Ainu people entered the capital, preparations have been underway for the main event, right? The Donghai Navy has occupied Jeju Island, where a large port is being built, and reserves Supplies. Now that Zheng He's navy has returned and strengthened the navy's strength, war will definitely start within two years."
Yang Rong doesn't mind. Fight early and late. We should fight there. Li Jian said that there are many gold and silver mines there. The money of the Ming Dynasty always needs to be linked to the reserve. If the Ming Dynasty does not have enough minerals, then we have to think of something else. Method.
Zhu Yunwen did have thoughts on a full-scale attack on Japan. Especially in the past month, the news of Japanese pirate invasions received by various places increased sharply. The East China Sea and Southeast China Sea, which had been peaceful for several years, suddenly became less peaceful again.
Although these Japanese pirates had little power and did not pose much harm, and most of them were dealt with by the cruising navy, the information about the Japanese pirates' invasion still successfully attracted Zhu Yunwen's attention.
I thought that I should have brought the letter that I asked the Ainu people to bring to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, but Ashikaga Yoshimitsu did not say anything about ceding territory to the Ming Dynasty, nor did he send anyone to negotiate for compensation of silver. This was because he was determined not to give face to the Ming Dynasty. .
If this is the case, then prepare for war.
Zhu Yunwen made up his mind to completely eliminate the Japanese country in his own hands!
But the Japanese country is not Annan, nor is it the Western Regions. The Ming Dynasty can continuously support troops from land and ensure logistics. The Japanese country is overseas, and its logistics support completely relies on the navy!
If the navy is not strong, it will be difficult to maintain logistics, let alone continue operations. If we really want to completely eliminate the Japanese state, we must use no less troops, and we must ensure that there are no problems with logistics.
Now is not the time to take action directly. Zheng He's navy will need to rest for at least three months, or even half a year. Steam engines and ships are still being built at a fast pace, and it will take time to build a large scale. The following days became a bit boring.
Apart from Datong's report that the main Tatar force had been beaten and moved north, there was not much news worth noting. The invasion of Guandong was proceeding in an orderly manner. The imperial court's financial resources perfectly supported this migration. Large areas of land began to appear in the northeastern plains. The Jurchen tribe was also forced to turn to farming.
The summer harvest in May and June was ripe in various places, and news of the harvest continued to spread to the capital.
The Ministry of Revenue breathed a sigh of relief. With these grains as a base, the major granaries set up by the imperial court will gradually be filled.
Affected by the bumper harvest, the price of grain has dropped again and again. Originally, one stone and eight buckets of grain were worth one or two yuan, but now it can only be sold for eight hundred yuan.
Xia Yuanji suggested that the court set a minimum price to purchase grain to avoid the situation of low prices and harming the people. Zhu Yunwen agreed to pay one stone, eight dou and one tael of banknotes as the bottom line, and ordered all prefectures and counties to purchase large quantities of grain.
Guangxi reported that the granary was full, enough to support the local government for five years.
Sichuan reports that every household has a full warehouse, and the official warehouse can be used for ten years.
Beiping reported that the grain reserves are full and can be used for three years.
…
After forty years of hard work by the Ming Dynasty, great harvests finally appeared one after another in various places. The imperial court had an unprecedented accumulation of grain. In Nanjing alone, there were four million shi of grain.
What is prosperity?
For the feudal dynasty, when most people can have enough to eat, it is a prosperous period!
Zhu Yunwen worked hard for ten years based on the solid foundation laid by Lao Zhu, and finally allowed the people of the Ming Dynasty, at least most of them, to have a certain amount of food surplus.
While officials from all over the country were presenting their congratulations, Zhu Yunwen severely scolded the officials who were whitewashing the prosperous times. The reason was that the people outside the capital of the Ming Dynasty only had enough food to feed their family for eight months.
Eight months?
This is still near the capital!
How much food do people in other places save?
Three months!
After paying taxes, most ordinary people need to sell their grains in exchange for other living necessities. In addition to all kinds of things, they have to keep part of their living expenses, and the grain storage at home is only enough for three to five months!
You don't even have enough food for a year, how dare you call it a prosperous age?
Facing Emperor Jianwen's angry rebuke, some officials felt very aggrieved. During this prosperous era recorded in the history books, whoever asked how long people had enough food to store at home always said that if the official warehouses were full and the local disaster preparedness warehouses were full, it would be enough to last for many years. …
"Your Majesty, you might as well set the standard for a prosperous age."
Yang Shiqi left work.
With indicators and standards, everyone will know what a prosperous era is and when it will reach a prosperous era, and no more officials will report it and be criticized.
Zhu Yunwen thought about it again and again, and said to the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty: "There are six standards for prosperous times: first, the common people's families have enough food to last for a year and a half. Second, the common people's families have enough wealth to last a year and a half. Third, the officials The warehouse is full, enough to support 70 million people for a year. Fourth, the official smelting iron output exceeds 10 million jins. Fifth, culture and education are prosperous, and there are no white men in the common people's homes. Sixth, the military is strong, and the enemy is frightened. Act rashly! If none of the criteria are met, it will not be a prosperous age, and you still need to work hard..."
Xie Jin, Yang Shiqi and others were a little depressed. As for grain, it shouldn't be difficult to complete once new grain and high-yielding grain come out.
But there is no white man in the common people's house, so this is a bit difficult. There are still enemies that are always around, but this Ming Dynasty has no say. No matter how strong the deterrent is, it is only a deterrent after all. And the steel production, this...
