At this military meeting hosted by Emperor Chongzhen, a large map of Nanyang was hung up. It should be said to be a very detailed map, including various islands in Nanyang, shipping routes, the sphere of influence of Western barbarians, and the general distribution of Nanyang natives. And so on.
Emperor Chongzhen stood in front of the map of Nanyang, holding a thin stick in his hand, pointing at the map and saying to the civil servants and generals: "I want you to select elite seamen to go to these places to observe the hydrology and enemy situation."
"..." The people below were stunned after hearing this. What does it mean? Even if you observe it, then send the news back? But if this was useful, I would have done it long ago!
Those who went to observe, if the wind and waves are too big, they may not be able to come back. Even if they come back, what will happen if the wind and waves turn back again?
There is also enemy information, which is also very delayed when conveyed back and forth on the sea. With so many points, it is really unrealistic to ask them to report back one by one and summarize the hydrology and enemy situation in this Nanyang region!
Thinking of this, Zheng Chenggong felt it was necessary to remind the emperor, so he went out and said: "Your Majesty, it takes a lot of time to go back and forth on the sea, and it depends on God's face. It is not as fast as the eight hundred miles on land. In the end, the general Think……"
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Emperor Chongzhen, who asked Zheng Chenggong: "These elite men on the water have to be selected from your side. You don't have to worry about other things. You can do this immediately." Things, and then bring them to see me!"
When Zheng Chenggong heard this, he had no choice but to immediately accept the order and quickly went out to select elite people. At the same time, he was also wondering in his heart. The emperor seemed to be confident, so what would he do to solve this problem?
Not only him, but also Lu Xiangsheng, Anders and others were very curious.
However, the emperor often made unexpected moves, so they had no choice but to wait and see.
Emperor Chongzhen would naturally not be idle and began to understand the specific combat readiness of the southern navy, as well as the existing news about the Spanish in Luzon.
Just when he had almost understood it, Zheng Chenggong came back to reply. The sailors who could be dispatched had been selected, but there were too many people to stand in the lobby, so they were all waiting in the courtyard.
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen strode out of the hall. The other ministers naturally followed him and went out to see the situation.
"Long live my emperor!" The courtyard was filled with sailors and soldiers. Seeing the emperor's appearance, they all became excited. They all knelt on one knee and shouted in unison.
Not everyone could see the emperor, let alone their sailors far south. Now that I have the opportunity to meet the emperor who is rumored to be wise and powerful, who loves his soldiers and his people like his son, and who often wins great battles, I am of course very excited.
Emperor Chongzhen let them stand, and then said to them seriously: "The thieves from the West of Lu Song killed our Ming people, and they are still getting away with it. They have not paid the price they deserve. What's more, our Ming people fled into the mountains and forests, and now they don't know whether they are alive or dead. If the imperial court If the army can conquer Luzon as soon as possible, it will be able to uphold justice, avenge the people of the Ming Dynasty, and rescue the people who are still alive. However, the current sea conditions are unpredictable, and the army was forced to return twice during the expedition. With the current wind and waves, you can wait for Are you willing to obey my orders and go to the designated place to monitor the hydrology and enemy situation?"
After hearing the emperor's words, these ordinary soldiers immediately responded in unison without even thinking: "Yes!"
"Okay!" Emperor Chongzhen nodded approvingly. Although he knew that these elite sailors were not afraid of the current storm, but they always had to take risks, he still agreed without hesitation.
After approving, he turned to the commanding comrade Wu Zhong of the Jinyiwei who was following him and ordered: "Give the things to them, one to each of them."
"The general obeys the order!" After hearing this, Wu Zhong immediately agreed, waved to his men, and brought over a box. Wu Zhong himself also walked down the steps, opened the lock of the box with a key in his arms, and began to distribute things to the elite sailors below.
When Lu Xiangsheng and others saw it, they were extremely curious. They didn't know what the emperor had given them. They quickly looked at it carefully. After looking carefully, they were a little confused.
I saw that the sailor who had already distributed it was holding a palm-length wooden sculpture in his hand. It was thick at both ends and thinner in the middle. It seemed that it could just be held in the middle part of the wooden sculpture. And one end of the wood carving seems to be carved with small holes, many and very dense; while the other end is carved with a large circle.
What is this?
The elite sailors who received the things were also very curious. They looked around at the small wooden sculpture, but they had never seen it before and couldn't guess what it was for.
Emperor Chongzhen saw all their doubts in his eyes, but he remained calm and just watched Wu Zhong distribute all the things, with some leftover. After locking the box again, he replied that the distribution was complete.
It was only then that Emperor Chongzhen reached out and took a similar wooden sculpture from the eunuch Fang Zhenghua who was following behind him, and then said seriously to these elite sailors: "After you arrive at your destination, report the hydrology and enemy situation to me regularly every day. If so. If you encounter an emergency, you can report it at any time.”
"..." When everyone heard this, including Lu Xiangsheng, who was well-read, or Zheng Chenggong, who had seen countless strange things at sea, and other navy officers, they were all speechless.
After arriving at the destination, report the hydrology and enemy situation to the emperor? What kind of reporting method? It makes no sense to just rely on this wood carving in your hand!
As if he had guessed their surprise, Emperor Chongzhen also gave a demonstration. He held the middle part of the wooden sculpture, with the part with many pores facing his ears, and the other end close to his mouth. After doing this, he Then he said: "As long as you report like this, your voice doesn't need to be too loud. No matter where you are, I can hear you! You don't need to worry that I didn't hear you. Just finish reporting the situation. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" After the elite sailors shouted in unison, they came back to their senses and were confused again. What did they understand? With this wooden carving in my hand, can I really report it directly to the emperor?
Is this...possible?
Of course this is impossible!
However, Emperor Chongzhen did not lie. Because he had prepared a large number of Class B eavesdropping seeds, each of these elite sailors was rewarded with one. This wood carving is a cover. The real information collected from these elite sailors is only the seeds of Class B eavesdropping.
Of course, Emperor Chongzhen did not have nothing to do. He had a purpose in making this wood carving.
There is a sense of ritual in letting the elite sailors speak to this useless wooden sculpture. Except for Emperor Chongzhen himself, others did not know the specific reason and thought that this wood carving was really useful. In this way, they will wonder why Emperor Chongzhen is so miraculous. Dongxi was very surprised, and his awe for Emperor Chongzhen would be greatly deepened. Of course, this will definitely become the most troublesome and interesting topic for historians of later generations.
In addition, this wood carving was modeled after an old-fashioned telephone tube from later generations. If a telephone is really invented in our lifetime, many people will think of this and be surprised how the emperor came to have such a thing in the first place, and it is even more mysterious. In this way, Emperor Chongzhen will be given a layer of mystery, and he will be even more convinced of his words!
At this time, after Emperor Chongzhen explained the "purpose" of the wood carvings, he said no more and asked these elite sailors to go back and make preparations to set off on a different day.
So, as soon as these elite sailors returned, everything about this wooden sculpture spread. Many people are curious and want to see what is so magical about this wood carving.
Some elite sailors regarded this thing as a treasure and would not show it to anyone; others, although they showed it, kept urging them to be careful.
However, whether it is the elite sailors themselves or other Ming army officers and soldiers, no matter how smart they think they are, they cannot tell the difference in the special features of this wood carving after repeated viewings.
However, the less they can see any difference, the more powerful they think this thing is.
Of course, there are also people who doubt whether this thing is useful, but more people associate this thing with rumors about the emperor. A rumor soon spread among the army that this was probably a treasure that Emperor Taizu got in heaven and gave it to his emperor.
As a result, an unexpected thing happened.
A wooden sculpture belonging to an elite sailor was stolen. The army was immediately shaken. Zheng Chenggong was so frightened that he immediately placed a martial law in the army and dug three feet into the ground to search.
Thanks to this treasure, the stolen elite sailor quickly discovered that he was missing. In a short time, Zheng Chenggong finally found it and found it. Another soldier in the army had stolen it. According to his explanation, he became greedy because he thought it was a treasure from heaven.
Not to mention whether this was a heavenly treasure or not, it was just a gift from the emperor, so it was beyond his reach. Zheng Chenggong was sentenced to death and reported to Emperor Chongzhen.
Of course Emperor Chongzhen would not tolerate this, and he agreed with a wave of his pen.
At the same time, after all the elite sailors went to sea, Emperor Chongzhen personally sat in the southern navy and watched Zheng Chenggong reorganize the army and enforce strict military discipline.
In fact, most of this southern navy was transformed from the Zheng family fleet. As for the foundation of the Zheng family's fleet, it was just pirates who were recruited. It is expected that some of them will be greedy.
In addition, Emperor Chongzhen actually knew in advance that some of the southern navy's hands and feet were not clean during their stay in Annan through the eavesdropping seeds on Lu Xiangsheng. Therefore, we took this opportunity to vigorously rectify it.
In addition, Emperor Chongzhen also issued an order to establish the Annan Naval Military Academy. All officers and soldiers of the Ming Army who have made military achievements can apply for selection. In addition, as long as the common people are clean, they can also apply for selection. If they pass, they will enter the school to study and graduate. An extremely low-level naval officer.
