I only heard Zheng Zhibao report to Zheng Zhilong: "Tokugawa Iemitsu has gathered another 100,000 Japanese troops and recruited a total of about 2,000 naval warships. The assembly was almost completed before I left Edo, and it is estimated that I have arrived at Kyushu Island now. The sea area..."
This... Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be a little stunned after hearing this. It seems that Tokugawa Iemitsu is going to risk his life?
He was commenting in his mind, and then heard Zheng Zhibao continue to report: "The general in charge this time is Ii Naotaka, the elder of the Japanese country..."
"What, Ii Naotaka?" When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he couldn't help but said in surprise, "He came out of the mountain?"
The reason why he was so surprised was because this Ii Naotaka was not an ordinary person.
This Ii Naotaka was born in the Japanese Warring States Period, and his father was the famous Warring States general Ii Naomasa. He inherited the most elite red troops under his command. In the early days of the Tokugawa shogunate, he held Tokugawa Ieyasu's thigh and made several great achievements. He was also the main figure who made Toyotomi Hideyoshi cut off his descendants.
Starting from Tokugawa Ieyasu to the current Tokugawa Iemitsu era, he can be said to be the patriarch of the Edo shogunate for three dynasties. He is now the auxiliary minister in the Tokugawa Iemitsu era. Because of him, the shogunate has the official position of elder, and Matsudaira Nobutsuna's senior ministers are all below him. During the Iamitsu era, Ii Naotaka commanded 350,000 koku, which was unique among the important officials of the shogunate.
When Tokugawa Iemitsu wanted to plot North Korea, Naotaka Ii was against it.
In the original history, during the Southern Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong asked Tokugawa Iemitsu for help and asked Japan to send troops. Both Tokugawa Iemitsu and his uncle Tokugawa Yorinobu supported sending troops. Ii Naotaka had experienced Tokugawa Ieyasu robbing Toyotomi Hideyoshi. During that period of dominance, he firmly opposed sending troops. In the end, Tokugawa Iemitsu compromised.
But this time, North Korea became a terra incognita, and it was at the doorstep of Japan. In the end, an ally like Jianlu came to the door, so Naotaka Ii, who also opposed sending troops, did not play a historical role. In the end, Tokugawa Iemitsu left him aside and reused the veteran Matsudaira Nobutsuna and resolutely sent troops.
In Japan, there are many rumors about Naotaka Ii. One of them was saying that Ii Naotaka was actually the illegitimate son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Seingu clan. This rumor can be supported by not only Tokugawa Ieyasu's various favoritism towards him, but also the comparison of his appearance. Of course, Zheng Zhilong doesn't care as to whether it is or not.
However, if Emperor Chongzhen knew about Naotaka Ii's morale, he would be impressed. The lucky cat that has been widely circulated in later generations comes from the deeds of Naomasa Ii.
Zheng Zhilong was just thinking about the morale of Naotaka Ii when he heard Zheng Zhibao say with certainty: "Tokugawa Iemitsu visited three times in total, and it was only on the third time that Naotaka Ii assumed the position of commander-in-chief."
Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong finally understood. The enemy he is about to face is a Japanese army of 100,000 and a Japanese navy of about 2,000 warships. The commander of the army is Naotaka Ii, the elder of the Japanese army.
After thinking about this for a while, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but feel relieved. What he fears most is not knowing the details of his enemy. As for the Japanese navy, which was much larger than the Ming navy, and the commander of the army was still the famous Naotaka Ii, so what?
If it were still the same situation as before and I was just using Geoje Island as a base to fight the enemy, I would still be a little worried. But now that they have North Korea as their back and Li Dingguo's troops can rely on them, the situation is completely different.
As for Naotaka Ii, haha, I am still the Pirate King, who is afraid of whom?
"Brother, when I left, I left a letter for Tokugawa Iemitsu and asked him to open it personally. If he saw it, he would probably be so angry that he vomited blood." After Zheng Zhibao finished reporting the official business, he called his eldest brother and said, "But In this way, he can definitely guess that the eldest brother is still in charge of the Ming Navy. Does the eldest brother think this has any influence? "
Zheng Zhilong heard this, and after thinking for a while, he comforted his fifth brother and said: "It doesn't matter, the emperor was worried that the Japanese would guess it, so he asked you to evacuate in advance. No matter what, if the Japanese guessed it, I guessed it. I want to see how much attention the Japanese country will take after they know that I am commanding the Ming Dynasty Navy?"
After hearing this, Zheng Zhibao felt relieved and immediately said happily: "Brother, you don't know, the letter I kept will definitely make that little dwarf Tokugawa Iemitsu vomit blood, and it may even cause trouble in their officialdom. It's best to do it." To get him to deviate from his morality, in this way, I can apply what I learned from Master Li, the commander of the Imperial Guards, when I was in the capital!"
"Oh?" When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he wanted to ask what Li Ruolian taught him, but when he looked back, he thought that it seemed that he went beyond his scope of authority to inquire about the internal affairs of Jinyiwei. This was unacceptable. So, he immediately changed his words and said, "Okay, Commander Li is His Majesty's confidant. You must be obedient and serve the court well, you know?"
"This is natural. You don't know where I am in the letter..."
Just when Zheng Zhibao was showing off to his brother how angry he was with Tokugawa Iemitsu, Emperor Chongzhen, who was far away in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, had already fed back the news through the Class-A eavesdropping seeds on the two brothers, as well as the Class-A eavesdropping seeds on Li Dingguo. The situation of the war between North Korea and Japan is clearly understood.
To be honest, Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised that Li Dingguo and Lu Dasuo, who had more than 10,000 troops, finally defeated the Japanese army in Korea without any effort. Didn’t you expect that except for yourself, a commander who has always been victorious in every battle, other generals are actually good at fighting? In this way, at least for the time being, I can avoid going to the Korean battlefield!
Then he carefully analyzed the situation in North Korea as a bystander. Emperor Chongzhen felt that operations in northern North Korea could be suspended, but southern North Korea, as a base for the war against Japan, should not be abandoned as it is now. At least the replanting of food in the Seoul plains and other areas can alleviate a lot of logistical pressure.
Moreover, judging from the news brought back by Zheng Zhibao, the Japanese Tokugawa Iemitsu is still determined to be evil and is desperately trying to continue to increase his troops. In this case, I am afraid that there will be too much pressure on Zheng Zhilong and Li Dingguo.
With this in mind and after weighing the possible logistical pressure, Emperor Chongzhen immediately issued a decree to Lu Xiangsheng, asking him to lead his troops forward and sit in southern Korea to cope with possible changes in the war situation. As for the food needed by the army, Jeju Island can supply one or two. In addition, a batch of winter clothing and food shipped from the capital has also been sent through Tianjin Port, which should be able to catch up with the imperial army in southern Korea for the winter.
This edict was finally delivered to Liaodong using flying pigeons, so that it could reach the fastest speed. Maybe Lu Xiangsheng could join in the fun if he leads his troops south. After all, there was no fighting along the way, and the cavalry was advancing rapidly.
After finishing this matter, Emperor Chongzhen issued an order to recruit Zheng Sen, who had been accompanying the prince as a student, and was named Zheng Chenggong by him.
When Zheng Chenggong was presented with the gift, Emperor Chongzhen looked at him carefully. At this time, Zheng Chenggong was already twenty-one years old, the age when a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers. Despite his heroic spirit, he also had a calm demeanor.
Emperor Chongzhen was generally satisfied with this, so after Zheng Chenggong finished the ceremony, he smiled and said, "I heard that you prefer to lead troops in war?"
Originally, when Zheng Chenggong received the order to appear in court, he was wondering whether it was due to his learning of natural knowledge while accompanying the prince that he was outclassed by Song Yingxing's eldest son, Song Shihui. Did the emperor know about it?
Therefore, after listening to Emperor Chongzhen's question, he immediately turned red and felt that this was really the case. He quickly echoed respectfully: "I have been influenced by it since I was a child. I have heard more about the affairs of the sea. I heard that in the future The Ming Navy will be of great use, so my subordinates are indeed more interested in maritime affairs!"
He is the prince's companion and the eldest son of Zheng Zhilong, so he has hundreds of households with royal guards. Of course, these 100 households of Jin Yiwei actually only receive a salary, which is a reward given by the emperor to the children of meritorious civil and military ministers. Therefore, even if he calls himself a subordinate, he can take care of him. After all, the Jinyiwei are the emperor's direct subordinates.
The fact that he said that the Ming Dynasty Navy would be more useful in the future not only came from Zheng Zhilong's training to him, but also from the speculation caused by Emperor Chongzhen's placement of the Navy at the finale during the last military parade.
At this time, Zheng Chenggong faced Emperor Chongzhen and did not dare to deny it, so he answered truthfully.
In his view, Emperor Chongzhen paid great attention to the study of natural knowledge, and even praised the prince, causing the prince to "not do his job" and have been engaged in the study of natural knowledge. And if you are so different and vaguely express that you don't want to learn, you will probably be reprimanded by the emperor and ask you to study hard.
But who would have thought that Emperor Chongzhen smiled slightly after hearing this and said, "Everyone has his or her own ambitions, and I won't force you. But since you like it, just do what you like!"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Chenggong couldn't help but be overjoyed. But before he could say anything, Emperor Chongzhen said to him again: "Your father made great contributions in the war against the Japanese. I have been thinking that your family's talent at sea cannot be buried. In this way, I sent How about you go to the Fujian Navy to serve as a coastal defense guerrilla?"
Emperor Chongzhen actually had several considerations for making such an arrangement.
First, in this era, there were no military preparation schools, and the ability to lead troops in war was mostly passed down from generation to generation. And this was one of the reasons why Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that military households and generals should be hereditary. It cannot be denied that Zheng Zhilong is a master of naval warfare. His son has been exposed to it since childhood and will definitely understand naval warfare better than other ordinary people.
Second, the Fujian Navy sounds official, but in fact it is still the Zheng family’s fleet. It is not particularly safe if a general is sent to take charge. But if Zheng Chenggong is sent there, there won't be any setbacks. For the imperial court, or for Emperor Chongzhen, Zheng Chenggong was trained in the capital when he was young, and his loyalty to the imperial court must be greater than that of other children of the Zheng family. For him, this is also advantageous.
Third, promoting Zheng Chenggong to take charge of the Fujian Navy can be regarded as a reward for Zheng Zhilong's military merits, and the Zheng family's continuous purchase of grain from Nanyang to support the court.
Of course, these are temporary measures. After things on the mainland are almost straightened out, no matter which navy it is, it must be absolutely in the hands of the imperial court. It is inevitable to open the Armed Forces Hall and cultivate military talents.
Zheng Chenggong naturally didn't know about these things. At this time, when he heard Emperor Chongzhen's words, he was suddenly very surprised. He raised his head in disbelief and looked at Emperor Chongzhen's face, which was full of surprise.
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