Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 342 Steam Ironclad Ship

Spain is the Ming Dynasty's biggest rival in the competition for global interests, and it can even be said to be its only opponent at present.

However, Spain's influence in North America has been gradually eroded by various forces injected by the Ming Dynasty.

But in Western Europe, Spain still has a strong military force and can pose a great threat to Ming Dynasty’s colonies in the Mediterranean!

"We cannot give up the colony of Ceuta just because it is far away. It is our bridgehead for mining the gold and silver mines in the entire North Africa. Now, Spain wants to take it away, and we will never agree to it!
We can't even let Spain keep harassing here. Ceuta can't always be under the military threat of Spain. That would cause a long-term interruption of trade in the Ceuta region, and it would also be a huge loss for the Ming Dynasty! Therefore, we must send out an expeditionary force to hurt Spain! Beat him so that he dare not provoke the Ming Dynasty!"

Jiang Dong, the deputy privy envoy of the Imperial Guard, said this at a meeting with the Imperial Guard on how to deal with the military threat from Spain.

As the empire developed to this point, it has become a consensus among the people of the Ming Dynasty that colonies cannot be lost or divided. After all, people all over the world have benefited from colonial plunder, or it can be said that it is colonial plunder that has supported the Ming Dynasty's prosperity to this day.

Because clean administration, perfect government public services, high welfare benefits for the people, tax cuts and levy reductions, and the maintenance of a strong army are all related to this. Otherwise, the Ming Empire would have to pay huge financial expenditures to achieve these unique labels of prosperity.

Therefore, Jiangdong's proposal that the Ming Empire should send troops to expedition to Spain was unanimously agreed upon by the top leaders of the Guards. Zhu Houzhao naturally had no objection. He also hoped to take a luxurious voyage around the world during his lifetime. After all, he wanted to be the emperor of the world, and naturally wanted to see the empire he had established.

But God has given people a limited lifespan, and the time required to develop an empire is greater than a person's lifespan. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao can only imagine how the pioneers of the empire struggled in global trade.

Of course, Zhu Houzhao also thought that after he turned 70, he would completely hand over his burden to Zhu Zailei, become a retired old man, and travel around the world. Just imagine, it would be a nice feeling if he could ride on a warship of the Ming Empire into the Strait of Gibraltar and see the scenery of the Mediterranean.

"Of course, we must go on an expedition. If you submit the memorial to me, I can approve it immediately. But how should we plan the specific details of the expedition? Does the General Staff have a detailed plan?"

Zhu Houzhao withdrew his thoughts and looked at Jia Yingchun, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, who was dressed in military uniform.

This former governor of Shaanxi and Gansu (originally the governor of the three borders of Shaanxi, but the protagonist established Gansu Province, so it was changed to the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu) and the governor of the military affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi, the chief of the imperial general staff likes to study geography and simulate the imperial global war. Now that he sees Zhu Hou looking after him, he immediately cups his hands and says, "Your Majesty, the general staff has already drawn up a plan."

As Jia Yingchun spoke, he walked to the bottom of the map and began to explain everything to Zhu Houzhao. According to Jia Yingchun's plan, the most difficult issue for the Ming Empire to go on an expedition would be logistics supply, especially since the Ming Empire's army was now an armed force and was more dependent on logistics supply.

Therefore, Jia Yingchun believed that if the empire wanted to go on a long expedition, it would need to first establish several logistics supply stations, using Ming colonies such as Qiongzhou, Qui Nhon, Malacca, Goa, and Cape Verde as logistics supply stations, and carry out logistics supply in stages, which would be equivalent to staging a Zhengde version of "Zheng He's Voyages to the West" to provide the Yuanzheng troops with a complete logistics supply line.

Of course, this is a systematic project.

First of all, the Ming Dynasty needed to establish a complete military-industrial system in Guihua and Qiongzhou, and at the same time use the grain of Jiaozhi as food supplies for the expedition to the West, and build a defense system based on the land of Jiaozhi to control and protect the shipping routes to Malacca, and establish a shipping fleet that can specifically transport military equipment from Qiongzhou and Guihua to Malacca.

The same is true from Malacca to Goa, from Goa to Cape Verde, and from Cape Verde to Ceuta.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty now has the rudiments of building this systematic project. Qiongzhou already has the most complete shipyard of the Ming Dynasty. After Jiaozhi was recovered by the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had absolute ruling authority here because of the Ming Dynasty's forced land reform, and the Ming Dynasty has gradually established heavy industrial bases and military industrial bases here.

Malacca was the longest-governed colony of the Ming Dynasty and had always been controlled by the Ming army. The Ming Dynasty's Governor-General of India, Cai Kelian, was in India and Ceylon, according to the information about Zheng He's voyages, and was successively reoccupying and building ports such as Calicut, Cochin, Kochi, Guanyu, Kolangwu, and Belori as supply bases for the Ming Dynasty's voyages to the West.

In addition, Feng Yue, the governor of Malacca of the Ming Dynasty, also successively established ports such as Kunlun Island, Xincun, Jiugang, Yalu, Nanwuli, and Cuilanyu, recreating the places that Zheng He discovered overseas after his voyages to the West.

Whether it is the Ming army or the merchant caravan, from the mouth of the Pearl River to the city of Goa, there is basically no need to worry about any logistical support issues. Even a special rescue fleet has been established in this area to escort this route around the clock and rescue ships in distress. Pirates in this area are basically extinct.

The real challenge is the area from Goa to Cape Verde, and from Cape Verde to Ceuta. Fortunately, Zheng He's voyages to the West reached as far as today's southern Africa, and Xia Yan also once toured the West based on Zheng He's experience.

Moreover, by enfeoffing kings overseas and encouraging its people to develop overseas, the Ming Dynasty also saw the establishment of many Han Chinese strongholds from India to Africa, so there was no need to worry too much about getting lost or not being able to find suitable places to anchor and resupply.

Zhu Houzhao finally decided to adopt Jia Yingchun's plan, first let the Ming expeditionary army gather in Guihua, then take a boat from Guihua to Malacca, then go to Goa, pass through Cape Verde, arrive in Ceuta, and then attack Spain through the Strait of Gibraltar.

It was initially determined that the expeditionary army would consist of a main force of more than 10,000 people, with Yu Dayou, who was familiar with naval warfare in the war to retake Jiaozhi and had studied at the Army Command College, as the commander-in-chief. There would also be more than 10,000 non-combat personnel, namely those responsible for logistics and propaganda, as well as communications, translation, technology, etc., totaling nearly 30,000.

This is the number of people after the Ming Dynasty continued to improve itself, and is similar to the number of people when Zheng He made his seventh voyage to the West in history.

But just when Zhu Houzhao was discussing the dispatch of an expeditionary force with the senior officials of the Imperial Guard, a report from Ceuta was delivered to Zhu Houzhao. "I, the Governor-General of Ceuta, the Chief Censor of Ceuta, Weng Wanda, respectfully report to your majesty that in the 51st year of Zhengde, Spain has repeatedly harassed the waters near Ceuta, and even worse, massacred our fishermen. Since last year, a total of 267 fishermen have been killed, including no less than 50 women and children. The crimes of the Western Barbarians are too numerous to list! ... I ask your majesty to send a royal army as soon as possible to punish the evil of the Western Barbarians and prevent future troubles!"

Weng Wanda's memorial detailed the crimes committed by Spain and the pirates it supported in the Ceuta region of the Ming Dynasty. After reading it, Zhu Houzhao's thick black eyebrows stood up straight, and then he said: "Spain has already offended our dynasty and killed our people. It is time to send an expedition! Summon Yu Dayou and order him to go south immediately after receiving the order!"

At this time, Yu Dayou was still studying in the General Class of the Ming Dynasty's Supreme Military Academy in Nanjing. After all, the Ming Dynasty was now a country that used rifled rifles and rifled cannons as its main combat weapons. Naturally, military command needed to be re-summarized and relearned. Moreover, with the development of the empire's globalized trade, ideological education also needed to be continuously updated and followed up.

For Yu Dayou, the main purpose of his further studies was naturally ideological education, so that he could understand whose command he should obey. In addition, he also further understood the history of war and summarized various war experiences.

After receiving the transfer order, Yu Dayou quickly rushed to Qiongzhou, where he was ready to receive the expeditionary force prepared for him by the General Staff of the Guards. Here, he met his old friends Lu Tong and Tang Kekuan, who were his deputies and both were newly rising generals of the Ming Dynasty. In addition, after arriving in Qiongzhou, Yu Dayou also saw the new warship of the Ming Dynasty - the "Nanjing" steam ironclad battleship!

This battleship will also accompany the expeditionary force and serve as the flagship of the expeditionary force.

The "Nanjing" steam ironclad battleship built in the shipyard in Qiongzhou is more than 40 zhang long, more than 30 zhang long at the waterline, about 6 zhang wide, with a length-to-width ratio of about 7.2, and a depth of 2.5 zhang. It has a displacement of 9,200 tons, a sail area of ​​more than 7 acres, and an iron armor three or four inches thick. It has more than 40 cannons of various types. Although it has only one gun deck, it is one of the most advanced ironclad warships in the Ming Dynasty and can directly carry more than 700 people.

In addition, there are three smaller wooden-hulled iron steam warships that will also participate in the formation of the expeditionary force, namely the "Daming", "Fengyang" and "Jiaxing".

The others are sailing ships and various functional warships.

As a general of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Dayou was naturally familiar with this kind of steam-powered ironclad warship, but when he saw the steel giant "Nanjing", he still could not hide his excitement. He could not help but reach out and touch the icy but very textured iron armor. Even the two huge chimneys that reached into the sky made his mouth dry.

However, Yu Dayou cannot immediately give the order to launch this huge ship across the ocean. He still has to train the troops he has received for a period of time to enhance the relationship between himself and the officers and soldiers, and to make himself more familiar with the army that will be going on the expedition with him. At the same time, he also has to make corresponding material and procurement preparations, and of course saying goodbye to his family is also essential.

"Your Majesty, the expeditionary army set out to sea on the fourth day of last month. It is estimated that they are now replenishing food and fodder to go to Malacca." At this time, autumn has arrived in the capital, and the rustling autumn wind is blowing again. The older people get, the more afraid of the autumn cold they are. At this time, Zhu Houzhao had already wrapped himself in thick woolen clothes, but Jia Yingchun, who was reporting to Zhu Houzhao, was still wearing a single piece of clothing. When Zhu Houzhao saw this, he sighed and secretly lamented that he would grow old one day.

Zhu Houzhao nodded, took the magnifying glass from Jia Yingchun, looked at the entire Western Ocean on the map, and asked, "How is the direct contact between Hu Zongxian and Wang? Is this pirate in Japan willing to serve the court as a bigger pirate, go to the Western Ocean, and plunder Western countries?"

After Zhu Houzhao learned that Spain secretly supported pirates in harassing Ming ships, he decided to send officials to recruit some pirates to specifically rob Spanish ships. After all, it was not cost-effective to let the Imperial Navy specialize in robbery and it would also delay training. If he supported some pirates to rob, these pirates would not consider logistics or care about domestic public opinion. Naturally, they would rob if they won and run away if they lost.

However, Hu Zongxian volunteered to secretly contact these pirates on behalf of the court. Now that the expeditionary force has set out to sea, Zhu Houzhao feels that it is not enough. After all, the expeditionary force is carrying out a frontal military operation, which requires many considerations. The speed of the attack on Spain will undoubtedly be greatly affected. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao began to pay attention to the progress of Hu Zongxian's contact with the pirates. If all goes well, the Ming Dynasty can naturally use these pirates to go to the West to muddy the waters first.

"Hu Zongxian sent back news that Wang Zhi is willing to submit to the court and work for the court, but these people are pirates. I am worried that if the conservative officials know that the court wants to recruit and use these pirates, it may cause criticism."

Jia Yingchun said with some concern.

"Criticisms are fine, but if we want to accomplish great things, we can't be so particular about small details. Let Hu Zongxian tell Wang Zhi that the imperial court only recognizes the number of white eunuchs. If Wang Zhi can present one person to the imperial court during his trip to the West, he will be rewarded with ten silver dollars! If he presents ten people, he will be rewarded with one hundred silver dollars. I am waiting for him to empty my treasury!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but stand up as he spoke: "The Ming Dynasty needs labor, but it doesn't need too many non-yellow races to reproduce. There are some things that the court can't do well, but these pirates can do them. After all, they are pirates. Since the Westerners dare to kill our people with pirate behavior, our pirates can naturally cut off their descendants."

Jia Yingchun nodded in agreement. He began to worry that Wang Zhi might exterminate many Western barbarians in order to make money from the court. Even the Ming army would do such a thing to make money through Wang Zhi. But he did not dissuade Emperor Zhu Houzhao. After all, he also knew that being kind to the enemy is being cruel to oneself.

Zhu Houzhao quickly issued an order to establish the Ministry of Slaves to manage slaves all over the world, and set up a state-owned slave management company under the Ministry of Slaves to receive a large number of castrated white slaves in the future. There was no need to predict this. Once the court really wanted to purchase white eunuchs at a high price of ten silver dollars, pirates all over the world would definitely go crazy, because this was obviously more profitable than robbing merchant ships. They could just capture people directly, and the cost was simply too low.

Of course, the great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not issue such an explicit decree. Therefore, even many years later, when people investigated why the number of white people had decreased drastically, they only thought that it was because the development of capitalism at that time was still in its primitive stage, leading to the prevalence of the slave trade, which was just the dark side of the slave trade.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty was revered by people all over the world as a free, prosperous and high-quality country. Naturally, not many people would blame the great Emperor Zhengde, who created the great empire, for not stopping this evil behavior in that era.

After all, people will easily forgive the strong, and even take the initiative to whitewash the strong.

Hundreds of years later, a white professor at a university in Cambridge, Atlantic, mentioned this in an interview and said: "Emperor Zhengde also had his historical limitations, but this does not prevent us from praising him as a great emperor, the founder and builder of a great civilization!"

Thanks to the book friend for the reward of 100 pound of sugar and 20170905132616435 starting coins. Thank you to the book friend 100 for the reward of starting coins.

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(End of this chapter)