Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 326 Strong Army and Mighty Horses, Spreading Prestige at Sea (Part 2)

The next morning, before dawn, the sky was still pitch black, and the entire capital city seemed to be still asleep.

At this moment, the Kunning Palace in the Forbidden City was already brightly lit, with countless eunuchs and palace maids bustling about.

In the darkness, a long line of lights quickly stretched from Kunning Palace to Yuhe Bridge Wharf.

Before long, a fleet of more than ten fast boats set off with lanterns lit.

Before Chenshi (7-9 AM), Zhu Jue had already arrived at the port dock outside the mouth of the Haihe River!
Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao, Zhu Youzhen, and others had all gathered on the flagship, ready to depart. Lu Xiangshan and Wang Zheng also came to see them off.

When they saw that Zhu Jue had arrived at the dock, they quickly disembarked, went forward to greet him, and bowed respectfully.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "So, is everything ready?"

Zheng Zhilong nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, everything is ready."

This expedition is different from the past; you are going to Southeast Asia.

Zhu Jue then asked, "The South Seas are still unbearably hot right now. If there is no ice water to cool them down, some of the soldiers in the Beijing garrison may not be able to adapt. Can you bring enough saltpeter and have you stored enough fresh water?"

There's plenty of saltpeter right now, especially in the capital, where there's an unimaginable supply.

Zheng Zhilong quickly explained in detail: "Your Majesty, our large Zhiyuan merchant ships are loaded with more than half of saltpeter, each ship carrying more than 200,000 catties. The medium-sized Weiyuan warships are also loaded with more than 100,000 catties each, and the medium-sized Zhenyuan and small Zhenyuan warships are loaded with 50,000 catties each. All of them together are about 400 million catties, enough for 400,000 to 500,000 soldiers to use for three or four months."

As for fresh water, we plan to exchange it in Luzon, replacing the fresh water with the prepared fertilizer. That should be enough to supply 400,000 to 500,000 soldiers for a month.

Okay, then there shouldn't be any problems.

As for whether we can conquer Java, that's not even a question.

The Dutch East India Company had less than two hundred ships in total, and the thugs they hired at most numbered around ten thousand. They had more than two thousand warships, and their combined garrison and navy numbered four to five hundred thousand. It would be strange if they couldn't conquer Java.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Any other questions?"

I still have a problem.

Zheng Zhilong cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, there will likely be prisoners of war in this battle. What should we do with them?"

What should be done with the prisoners?

These prisoners must have witnessed the power of the Ming warships. If we release them, they will probably take precautions against the Ming warships. We can't release them, so should we kill them all?
That seems like a waste.

Captives can sometimes be used as bargaining chips.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said: "Don't release the prisoners yet. Send them all to mine. As for when to release them, we'll talk about it after we've seized maritime supremacy."

Furthermore, their scattered armed merchant ships and even warships, if unaware of the situation in Batavia, will likely still head towards Batavia. After you take Batavia, you should spread the cordon further away.

Without the support of fortresses and gun emplacements, their remaining armed merchant ships and warships should not dare to fight us. When the time comes, surround all the ships they have driven over into the port and docks, disarm them, and seize their ships.

These armed merchant ships and warships are useless to us, but we can sell them to Spain. They'll definitely want them, and we can make a good profit.

Uh, we're going to steal their ship too.

Seizing ships was one of their pirates' strengths.

Even when he didn't have many warships under his command, he still dared to seize Dutch ships. Now that they have more than two thousand warships, seizing other people's ships shouldn't be difficult.

Zheng Zhilong nodded slowly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

That should solve the problem.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, then waved his hand and said, "Go, show the might of the Ming Dynasty."

The generals immediately responded with a resounding roar, then bowed and took their leave.

Soon, the sun rose, and thousands of enormous ships slowly left the dock and set sail. Zhu Jue looked at the massive formation of the naval fleet and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

After more than two hundred years of self-inflicted wounds, the Ming Dynasty navy has finally regained its former glory.

To be honest, the decline of the Ming Dynasty's navy is truly laughable. During the Yongle reign, the Ming Dynasty's navy was incredibly powerful; it could be said that the Ming Dynasty's navy was the undisputed master of the seas at that time.

As a result, the invincible fleet that had been built at such great cost in terms of manpower, resources, and money did nothing but go out and take a few laps!

At that time, not a single person in the Ming Dynasty thought of using such a powerful fleet to make some money!

Money was so easy to make back then, because European colonial powers hadn't even started plundering the world yet. It could be said that the Ming Dynasty could seize all the world's resources.

This acquisition doesn't require the frenzied looting of European colonial bandits; it can be done by exchanging goods.

Silk, cloth, porcelain, tea, and other goods from the Ming Dynasty are still sought-after commodities worldwide today. Back then, what couldn't you get in exchange for them?

If the Ming Dynasty were to exchange goods for resources, the profits would be at least tens or even hundreds of times greater. With just a few exchanges, the Ming Dynasty could become incredibly wealthy.

What's puzzling is that back then, not a single person thought of making a profit!
While it's true that government officials don't love money, they have a plethora of ingenious schemes and tricks when it comes to embezzling it.

It's truly baffling that no one seems to realize this opportunity to make money all over the world.

The Ming Dynasty managed to ruin its invincible navy, and this ruin lasted for more than two hundred years, which is truly a bizarre story throughout history.

He wouldn't hold back now; he'd grab any money he could find and seize any resources he could get his hands on!
If he were to be polite, it would be tantamount to handing everything over to European colonial bandits.

Those European colonial bandits are not going to be polite. Once they develop with the money and resources they've plundered, they'll definitely set their sights on the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, one cannot be polite these days, whether dealing with colonial robbers or the Jurchens.

He sighed inwardly for a moment, then asked, "Jiandou, we're going to launch a counterattack against the northern frontier next spring. Our first step is to retake the old territory of the Beiping Regional Military Commission. What do you think? Any problems?"

If we're talking purely about physical strength, it seems there's no problem at all.

The Jurchens couldn't even muster 100,000 cavalry at this moment, while they had 400,000 chariot soldiers in the capital and 100,000 chariot soldiers in Liaodong, totaling 500,000. Taking back the old territory of the Beiping Regional Military Commission would definitely not be a problem for them.

The problem is that the former territory of the Beiping Commandery is too large, and the north side is flat, making it difficult to defend.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng thought for a moment before cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that while it is easy to reclaim the former territory of the Beiping Commandery, it is difficult to defend it."

Our chariots are more than capable of crushing the Jurchen cavalry. Even if we split into three groups and pushed forward, the Jurchens would not be able to resist. Reclaiming the former territory of Beiping Commandery will definitely not be a problem.

The problem is that the former territory of the Northern Pacification Commandery did not have a border wall, and to the north was a vast grassland stretching to the north, with only the Lamulun River running through the middle. The Lamulun River was seven or eight hundred miles long, making it extremely difficult to defend.

Especially in winter, once the river freezes over, the Jurchen cavalry can break in from anywhere they want. I really can't think of a way to defend against it, unless we build a border wall seven or eight hundred miles long along the river.”

Building a border wall is a bit of an overreaction.

Zhu Jue slowly shook his head and said, "There is not much point in us building the border wall, because people cannot live on the border wall."

However, we can consider building a fortified city. You can now order the soldiers of the capital garrison to prepare the materials for building the fortified city. We can use reinforced concrete for the foundation, and we can also fire the red bricks for repairing the city walls and barracks in advance.

Next spring, we will mobilize our forces to retake the former territory of Beiping Commandery as soon as possible. Before the ice freezes, we can use our naval ships to block the river, which will give us enough time to build the fortified city.

"Then we'll build a garrison town every fifty li along the Mulun River, and a beacon tower every ten li in between. That way, no matter where the Jurchen cavalry invades from, we can detect them early, and the chariot troops in the garrisons can be reinforced very quickly."

Building citadels is a good idea. If we build one citadel every fifty li (approximately 250-200 kilometers) across seven or eight hundred li, then we would only need to build a dozen or so citadels. Now that they have cement and red bricks can be pre-fired, the speed of building citadels is incredibly fast.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng slowly nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

Blocking the river requires a large number of small Zhiyuan merchant ships. Right now, almost all the small Zhiyuan merchant ships they can mobilize have been sent to Southeast Asia. If the battle in Southeast Asia is not over, those small Zhiyuan merchant ships cannot be recalled.

When will this war in Southeast Asia finally end?
He had no control over this, because the South Seas were too far from the Ming Dynasty, and he could only wait for news.

(End of this chapter)