amaotonovel Chapter 1116: Advance by Land and Sea
Chapter 1116: Advance by Land and Sea
Chapter 1116: Advance by Land and Sea
Lord Tie was Tie Xuan. He had been granted the title of Earl for his contributions in exploring the sea. After Zhu Biao ascended the throne, he praised the achievements of his ministers and officials, and Tie Xuan was rewarded with a title of Marquis.
However, Tie Xuan had gone out to sea at that time and had not yet returned, so he probably did not know that he had been conferred the title of Marquis.
"Yes. I understand." Zhu Biao waved his hand and told the eunuch to leave. Then he smiled and said, "Tie Qing's return is just in time."
"With the gold and iron from Fengmingzhou sent by Tie Qing, it will be much easier to support the treasury of the Ming Dynasty."
Every time the Fengmingzhou fleet returned, it would bring back a lot of gold, silver and iron ores for the Ming Dynasty. These gold and silver from Fengmingzhou, as well as the gold, silver and copper mines from Yingzhou, were the basis for the Ming Dynasty's rapid development.
Although there has been a certain degree of inflation in Yingtian Prefecture in the past two years, the Ming Dynasty's money houses responded properly and did not directly put the gold and silver into the market, but used them as reserves for the issuance of treasure notes, so the Ming Dynasty's market did not suffer too much impact.
On the contrary, because of the operation of the money shops, the Ming Dynasty had more funds to invest in industry, which made all industries flourish.
Tie Xuan was also one of the contributors to these changes and made great contributions.
Tie Xuan's fleet docked at the Longjiang Shipyard and brought back a large amount of various ores, resources, gold and silver to the Ming Dynasty. In a short period of time, the national treasury, which had been depleted by the two special examinations, the construction of the academy, and the relocation of the capital to Shuntian, became rich again.
This also meant that many ministers in the court who were originally opposed to the Western Expedition had one less reason to oppose it.
In the north, Beiping Shuntian, the future city of Beijing.
Zhu Su, Zhu Di and other princes were accompanying Zhu to inspect the construction site of Shuntian Palace. This palace was built on the basis of the Yuan Dynasty palace and imitated the palace of Yingtian City. Because there were enough people, the construction of Shuntian Palace went very smoothly.
A few days ago, Chengtian Gate outside the imperial palace was completed. When Yingtian Imperial City was first built, the Ming Dynasty had just been founded and had limited financial resources. Although it was built to be magnificent, it was also repaired a lot after the Ming Dynasty became wealthy. But compared with Chengtian Gate in Yingtian, the Chengtian Gate in Shuntian is much more magnificent.
There is already a vague shadow of the Tiananmen Square in Beijing in later generations.
Zhu Su stood in front of Chengtian Gate, his eyes dazed. In a trance, he had a feeling of traveling through time and space.
However, the discussion between Zhu Di and Old Zhu about the Western Expedition beside him quickly brought his thoughts back from this emotion.
"As for how to send troops to the west, the court has not yet decided. The founding nobles in the army are quite enthusiastic about this, but most of them are old. If we trouble those old generals and marshals to go on the expedition, if something goes wrong, it would be putting the cart before the horse. How can the Western barbarians afford it?"
"So, those who were sent here are all young people. Those veteran generals saw that the top founding nobles were all granted fiefdoms, so they were anxious to make their own families more successful, so they sent their children to make achievements. These people must be eager for quick success, but they lack experience... I'm afraid they are not up to the task."
"Well, if we want to go on an expedition, it should be the court that sends a skilled army." Old Zhu nodded and looked at the Chengtian Gate in front of him, but his mind was already on the Western Expedition.
"It's only been a short time since we left Yingtian, but the officials in the court have become so lazy. It's just a matter of the Western Expedition, but they hesitated for so long and haven't even decided on the right tone."
"If I really die, these officials will definitely get in the way of our Zhu family. It seems that I have to give them a good beating after I return to Beijing!" Old Zhu said, blowing his beard.
Zhu Di and Zhu Su did not dare to respond to this, but just lowered their heads and stood aside. Old Zhu cursed a few words, then turned around and looked at Zhu Di, saying: "Since you said so, I'm afraid you have already made a plan in your mind?"
"Yes." Zhu Di nodded. "I think that speed is of the essence in war. If we delay any longer, I'm afraid the three sultanates will be destroyed by those Western barbarians."
"If the three sultanates are destroyed, when our army arrives at the battlefield, no one will be able to provide us with food and fodder. Moreover, Kangju City (Samarkand) is an extremely important support for our Ming Dynasty in Central Asia, and we must not lose it. If we go too late, if Kangju City cannot wait for reinforcements and falls in advance, our Ming Dynasty will be in a passive situation."
"In that case, why don't I lead my troops to attack first, and the imperial reinforcements will come later as the rear army. In this way, even if we can't gain an advantage, at least we can serve as a deterrent and delay the Western barbarians."
"It's not the right time yet." Old Zhu waved his hand. "Our original idea was to let your troops lead the way. But the time is not right now."
"I know," Zhu Di said. "Dad, you think we should wait until summer to send troops. I think so too."
"I originally thought that the court would be able to allocate enough troops by then. But now it seems that it may be too late for the court to allocate troops."
Zhu Di's troops were mostly grassland cavalry, and it was just the beginning of spring, with grass and trees growing. If the army were to move in large numbers, the cattle, sheep, and horses would not have enough fodder to eat along the way.
After the summer, the grass is in full bloom, which is the best time for nomadic cavalry to go out to fight. Even if it is urgent, you have to wait for several months before you can go out.
Old Zhu frowned. To be honest, he hoped that the Ming army would help him go west with Zhu Di. However, according to the efficiency of the court, even if they started to mobilize troops from now on, they would not be able to form an army to accompany Zhu Di on the westward expedition.
Zhu Di went there alone with his army, and the battle was in a foreign land, so he was actually still worried.
Just as Zhu Di and Zhu Di were discussing, a messenger with a red flag on his back came to the Jinshui Bridge and saluted Zhu Di from a distance. Erhu went to meet him, took the bamboo tube containing the message from the messenger, looked at it, and then returned to Zhu Di and reported: "Your Majesty, it's news from the Marquis of Zhenhai (Tie Xuan)."
"Oh?" Old Zhu tilted his head slightly, "What?"
"The fleet of the Marquis of Zhenhai is transporting military supplies from the Yingtian Baoyuan Bureau and is heading towards Shuntian Prefecture."
"Tie Xuan actually came to Shuntian?" Old Zhu's eyes lit up.
……
Tianjin Port was originally the place where the Tianjin Guard of the Ming Dynasty was stationed. Later, because Zhu Yuanzhang decided to move the capital, a huge port was built here. It is close to the Bohai Sea and was designated by Zhu Yuanzhang as one of the most important maritime transportation nodes in Shuntian Prefecture and Beijing City in the future. Therefore, this Tianjin Port was built according to the highest standards of the Ming Dynasty. It covers a vast area and has become a giant port city.
Today, this future giant port city has just taken shape. The vast but empty dock in the past is now home to many terrifying giant ships.
Although the ship had furled its sails, its sides alone were enough to block out the sun. Looking up at the ship from the dock, one couldn't even see the mast on the ship's deck.
There were ten of these huge ships, and the barnacles and traces of wind and waves on the huge hulls showed that these ships had been through many battles. The black muzzles on the decks stretched forward, indicating that these ships were not just for show, but also terrible weapons of war.
This is the Fengmingzhou treasure ship fleet of the Ming Dynasty, the largest maritime fleet of the Ming Dynasty and also the most powerful maritime force in the world today.
"Master!" Seeing Zhu Su waiting for him at the port, Tie Xuan hurried down the boat. "Disciple Tie Xuan, greetings to Master!"
"Get up, get up! You are already a marquis, why are you still so formal?" Zhu Su helped Tie Xuan up and patted his shoulder. It had been a year or two since he last saw Tie Xuan. At this time, Tie Xuan had begun to grow a beard. Because of the years of experience at sea, his face was carved by the sea wind, and he looked much older and more stable.
"It's all Master's work, I just benefited from it. Without Master's support, how could I be here today? And I was able to find Fengmingzhou because of the sea map Master gave me." Although he has been conferred the title of Marquis, Tie Xuan is still loyal and conservative, which is why Old Zhu can trust Tie Xuan with this fleet and Fengmingzhou temporarily. If it were a character with greater ambition, I'm afraid he would have thought of taking the fleet away, occupying the gold mines in Fengmingzhou, and establishing himself as the king.
After exchanging greetings with Zhu Su, Tie Xuan bowed to Zhu Di who was standing beside Zhu Su and said, "I pay my respects to His Majesty the Prince of Yan."
"No need to be polite." Zhu Di raised his right hand. He had complicated thoughts about Tie Xuan. After all, this was the man who almost killed him, Zhu Di, in the original history. In the original history, Tie Xuan guarded Jinan and caused great trouble to the "Emperor Yongle". The fact that "Emperor Yongle" cooked and killed Tie Xuan was enough to let him know how much he hated Tie Xuan in history.
But now, Zhu Di actually likes Tie Xuan, a conservative but loyal minister. This love, mixed with the deeds of Tie Xuan in the original history, constitutes Zhu Di's complex view of Tie Xuan.
"I didn't expect that my brother would ask you to transport this batch of military supplies." Zhu Su said with a smile.
Zhu had indeed ordered the court to send military supplies for the Western Expedition, but he had never expected that this batch of military supplies would be delivered by Tie Xuan's fleet. Tie Xuan said: "After all, the amount of military supplies delivered by Baoyuan Bureau this time is quite large. If it is transported by the canal, I am afraid it will have to be transported several times."
"If that happens, it will delay the Great Ming's westward expedition plan, which will be bad."
"It's a large number?" Zhu Di raised his eyebrows, very interested. The military supplies from Baoyuan Bureau were basically weapons sent to him for the Western Expedition. "What are they? Tell me about it."
"To your Highness, the military supplies delivered this time include 3,500 flintlock rifles, 200 rifles, 80 tiger squat cannons, more than 10,000 shells, more than 100 small-caliber cannons, 130 large-caliber cannons, more than 30,000 shells, more than 100,000 paper-wrapped ammunition, 20 hot air balloons, more than 300 mortars, more than 4,000 thunder bombs, more than 900 five-barreled guns, and land mines..."
As Tie Xuan listed all the weapons in detail, Zhu Di's eyes became brighter and brighter. The imperial court actually allocated so many weapons, which almost emptied the Baoyuan Bureau!
It is not necessary to empty the Baoyuan Bureau. Now the Ming Dynasty has adopted workshop-style production and assembly line operations. Coupled with the continuous development of basic science, the output of the Baoyuan Bureau has also increased. At the same time, firearms are constantly being updated, and those old-generation weapons cannot be sold to foreign races, so they can only be stored in the warehouse to collect dust.
He simply gave the latest mortars and other weapons to the army on the westward expedition. After all, the army on the westward expedition was led by his younger brother Zhu Di, who was representing the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Biao was also worried about his younger brother's safety on the battlefield. Giving him more weapons would make it easier to kill the enemy.
Zhu Yuanzhang might have been a little afraid of Zhu Di's "Jingnan" campaign, but Zhu Biao had 100% trust in his brother.
"Brother, do you want to take all these weapons?" Zhu Su said with a smile, looking at Zhu Di with shining eyes. "It's not impossible, but with so much equipment, do you have so many people who know how to use it?"
"And the amount of baggage is huge. If we drag it all to the battlefield, it will definitely slow down the cavalry."
"Fourth brother, you need to calm down. These war preparations should be used together with the army of my Great Ming's Western Expedition."
"...I certainly know about this." Zhu Di said, but his eyes couldn't help but glance at the treasure ship fleet docked at the port.
"Alas, if these firearms and weapons are brought to the west, they will surely be effective in one battle and win a great victory. Unfortunately...if we bring firearms, it will inevitably hinder the advance. After all, marching on land is not as good as sailing on the sea..."
As he spoke, his speech became slower and slower. Suddenly he thought of something, turned around and hugged Zhu Su's shoulders, saying, "Fifth brother! Yes, we can transport it by sea!"
"Fourth brother, have you really lost your mind?" Zhu Su said with a smile.
"How can a sea vessel reach the battlefield in Central Asia?"
"Although seagoing ships cannot go to the battlefield in Central Asia, they can bypass Central Asia and go directly to Europe..." Zhu Di said.
"Who said that if we want to save the three Khanates, we can only confront the army of the Western Barbarian Church head-on?"
"Isn't the Western Barbarian Church's army also composed of people from various Western Barbarian countries?"
"If the Ming Dynasty advances by land and sea, we can march into Central Asia by land and fight them head-on. We can also go straight to Europe by sea and approach their doorsteps, attacking them from behind and saving them from the enemy."
"Can they still turn the tables?"
(End of this chapter)