Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 967: Insufficient Navy
Looking at Zheng Hongkui carefully, although I haven't seen him for nearly two years, Zheng Hongkui's appearance remains the same, but he is a little darker because of frequent sea trips.

After tea was served and Lu Jiude and others left, Zhu Shenzui asked about the situation of the Shandong Navy, including the current composition of the navy's forces, the size of its warships, the blockade of the Jiannu at sea, and foreign trade in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Shandong Governor's Office.

Zheng Hongkui told Zhu Shenzhui everything he knew about this. He answered all the questions he asked fluently and knew the navy's situation like the back of his hand. From this alone, we can see that Zheng Hongkui cares about the Shandong navy and his duties, otherwise he would not have been able to do this.

Moreover, judging from the reports from the Shandong government and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zheng Hongkui did a good job in Shandong. The Shandong Navy has been able to develop to such a scale in recent years, and the foreign trade volume has continued to increase. Zheng Hongkui has made great contributions.

Listening to his story, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but sigh in his heart, how great it would be if Zheng Zhilong could be the same as Zheng Hongkui! Unfortunately, even brothers have differences. As the saying goes, a vine bears different fruits. Compared with Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhilong is far behind.

After Zheng Hongkui finished speaking one by one, Zhu Shenzhui was very satisfied and praised him immediately. Hearing the emperor's recognition and praise of him, Zheng Hongkui grinned happily, and the whole person felt as comfortable as drinking ice water in the dog days of summer.

"I learned from the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the foreign trade between Korea and Japan is progressing very smoothly and the trade volume is growing. This achievement is due in no small part to your contribution. However, I heard that it is still difficult to open up new routes. What is the situation? What is the difficulty?"

"Your Majesty, since you asked, I naturally cannot hide it. To be honest, the northern route is nothing more than the Korean route and the Japanese route. Let's not talk about the Korean route for now. The Japanese route is mainly Nagasaki. Since Tokugawa Ieyasu replaced the Toyotomi clan, he became the Shogun and took charge of the Japanese government. The Japanese emperor was just a decoration, and the national power was in the hands of the shogun."

"Soon after the Tokugawa shogunate took control of Japan, it implemented a policy of seclusion, opening only Kyushu, namely Nagasaki and Hirado, to foreign ports. In the early years of Chongzhen, the Tokugawa shogunate closed Hirado Port, leaving only Nagasaki as an external port, so currently the only trading port for Japan is Nagasaki, and there are no other ports."

"In your opinion, is it possible for the Ming Dynasty to allow the Japanese shogunate to reopen the new port for trade?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

Zheng Hongkui smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I'm afraid this won't be easy. The main reason the Tokugawa shogunate closed Hirado was to consolidate its rule and implement a policy of seclusion. Leaving the port of Nagasaki open to the outside world is the result of the Tokugawa shogunate's compromise. Of course, with the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, if we force the Tokugawa shogunate to open a new port, it may be possible, but doing so will inevitably lead to hostility between the two countries, and even a war will break out."

"Your Majesty, although Japan is small, its people are brave and aggressive. In the Wanli period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacked Korea and intended to use Korea as a springboard to attack the Ming Dynasty. Although he was extremely arrogant and overestimated his own capabilities, it cannot be denied that Japan's fighting power is not weak. Once the war breaks out, it will not be easy to defeat Japan in a short period of time. Moreover, once the war breaks out, the only port of Nagasaki will not be able to continue trading. The relationship between the two countries has completely deteriorated, which is contrary to your Majesty's foreign trade policy."

"In addition, the Japanese are bullies who only bully the weak and fear the strong, but sometimes they are very stubborn. Although Nagasaki is only one port, a large amount of materials from our Ming Dynasty are shipped to Japan, and the trade volume continues to rise. In addition, the Liaodong Jiannu has not been destroyed yet. In addition to escorting foreign trade, the Shandong Navy is also responsible for the Liaodong war. It simply cannot spare enough combat power to deal with the Japanese direction. Therefore, I think it is better to stay still than to move. For the time being, we should maintain the current foreign trade in Nagasaki without angering the Tokugawa shogunate. As for the opening of additional ports, we cannot go through the Tokugawa shogunate. I think it might be more appropriate to think of a way to bribe or win over the daimyos from all over Japan."

Zheng Hongkui's words made Zhu Shenzhui nod slightly. He had to admit that Zheng Hongkui had put his heart into this aspect, otherwise he would not have said such words.

Moreover, Zheng Hongkui was more familiar with the situation in Japan than others. After all, he had lived in Japan and had dealt with many Japanese. His judgment on Japan's foreign trade was well-reasoned and practical, especially his final proposal to find a solution through other daimyo was a good idea. Although the Tokugawa shogunate now represented Japan, and Nagasaki Port was the only port that the Tokugawa shogunate allowed foreign trade, this did not represent the ideas of other daimyo in Japan.

The so-called daimyo is a local aristocratic family in Japan, or a warlord who ruled one side. During the "Warring States" period in Japan, there were many daimyo in Japan, and they attacked each other and were in chaos. In the end, Oda Nobunaga stood out and was about to unify Japan, but he was burned in the Honnoji Incident. After Oda Nobunaga's death, his general Toyotomi Hideyoshi took this opportunity to inherit Oda Nobunaga's political legacy and army under the banner of revenge for his lord, and then completed the feat of unifying Japan. This is why Toyotomi Hideyoshi later called himself "the man of the world" and controlled Japan. He was ambitious and eventually launched a crazy military operation with the intention of annexing Korea first and then occupying the Ming Dynasty.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi overestimated himself and underestimated the power of the Ming Dynasty. Before his death, he failed to conquer Korea, let alone the Ming Dynasty. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, the Korean expeditionary army withdrew, and the war with the Ming Dynasty ended. At this time, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had been enduring humiliation, had an opportunity. He took advantage of the fact that the Toyotomi family had suffered a great loss in strength due to the Korean War, and the domestic daimyo were dissatisfied and opposed to the Toyotomi family. In addition, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, his heir was young, and there were many conflicts among his ministers. Tokugawa Ieyasu seized the opportunity to launch a war in one fell swoop, and finally won the Battle of Sekigahara, thus replacing the Tokugawa shogunate and creating the Tokugawa shogunate. But even so, although the Tokugawa shogunate is the real ruler of Japan today, the power of the local daimyo is still not weak, and there are even daimyo with millions of stones. These daimyo nominally accepted the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, but in reality they also had a certain degree of autonomy, and were equivalent to local emperors in their own territories. The shogunate was simply unable to completely take back their power, and could only continue to suppress and weaken them.

Therefore, it is a good idea for Zheng Hongkui to find a way from the local daimyo, so as to avoid the isolation of the Tokugawa shogunate and start from other directions. Of course, doing so may also offend the Tokugawa shogunate, but would the Ming Dynasty be afraid of this? As long as there is interest in front of them, this kind of low-key approach, coupled with the use of gold and silver to bribe some bigwigs of the Tokugawa shogunate to turn a blind eye, has a great chance of success.

Zheng Hongkui is indeed a talented person. He is a guy who was born as a pirate. He can think of this, which is beyond many people. Moreover, after careful consideration, Zhu Shenzhui thinks that this is also very feasible and worth a try. Once successful, it will not only allow the Ming Dynasty's foreign trade with Japan to continue to surge, but also take this opportunity to strengthen the strength of the Japanese local daimyo, so that they can compete with the Tokugawa shogunate.

Zhu Shenzhui had no good feelings towards Japan, whether it was due to the historical reasons of later generations or the Ming Dynasty's anti-Japanese and aid-Korea war decades ago. The more chaotic a country like Japan is, the better it is for the Ming Dynasty. Why let the Tokugawa shogunate rule Japan peacefully? Wouldn't it be better to take this opportunity to put some eye drops on him and provoke civil unrest in Japan?

"Apart from the routes to North Korea and Japan, what are your thoughts on the southern route?" As for Japan's plan, Zhu Shenzhui only thought about it for a few times and then put it aside for the time being. He could think about it later, but he turned to ask about the situation of other foreign trade routes.

Zheng Hongkui was stunned, looking a little embarrassed. He hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Your Majesty, the southern route or the South China Sea route is not yet accessible to the Shandong Navy."

"Oh, you can't do it or you don't want to do it?" Zhu Shenzhui asked directly.

"Your Majesty, it's not that I don't want to do it, it's just that I can't do it." Zheng Hongkui quickly replied: "Except for the routes to Korea and Japan, I can only take the route to Ryukyu. As for further south, there is no way. Although the Shandong Navy has a lot of ships now, these ships can only sail near the sea and not the deep sea, and cannot take on the mission of long-distance voyages."

"If we take the South China Sea route, the most suitable one is Luzon, which is located in the southeast of the South China Sea. If we sail from Shandong to Luzon, the journey is too long, and it is difficult for the current Shandong Navy ships to navigate. In addition, there are various factors such as weather, wind and waves, and ocean currents. In addition, there may be conflicts with Western warships in Europe. Even if this route can be taken, the success rate is not high."

"I think if we want to take this route, we must first solve two problems. One is the problem of seagoing ships. The seagoing ships currently built by our Ming Dynasty are not suitable for long-distance voyages. We need to build large seagoing ships that can sail long distances to be competent. If the court's shipyard can build treasure ships like those in the past, then this will not be a problem at all. Your Majesty does not need to urge me. I will personally submit a petition to Your Majesty to request a long-distance voyage."

"The second reason is the combat power at sea. The Shandong Navy cannot bear such a heavy task at present. If it wants to sail far, the ships and combat power required must be at least several times that of the current Korean and Japanese sea routes to ensure safety. In addition, the Navy must also deploy more cannons to prevent raids by Western warships. These red-haired devils are not good guys. Moreover, their ships are not only large, but also equipped with a large number of cannons. They are usually merchants at sea. Once they encounter ships that are smaller in scale and less powerful than them, these red-haired devils can transform into pirates. They must be guarded against!"

"Haha, you seem to know a lot about these things." Hearing this, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but laugh.

Zheng Hongkui said a little embarrassedly: "Your Majesty, you also know my origin. I used to do business without capital at sea. I have dealt with these red-haired devils many times and know their habits. Since Your Majesty asked me today, I naturally cannot hide it. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

"You are right. What's wrong with telling the truth?" Zhu Shenzhui smiled and waved his hands. Although what Zheng Hongkui said did not sound very good, it was indeed the truth. Zhu Shenzhui was not angry but very happy. At least it could prove Zheng Hongkui's loyalty to him.

(End of this chapter)