Huludao, the old pirate nest in the past, has now become the seat of the Daming Maritime Affairs Office. The first half is a military port, where several warships of all sizes docked here. On the sea surface more than ten miles away, warships on duty and several auxiliary warships traveled back and forth, protecting the safety of Huludao.

The gourd mouth in the first half has been completely turned into a military fortress. The walls made of rocks almost cover the entire gourd mouth. Nothing can be seen from the outside, but as long as you stand on the top of the fortress, you can see thunder fires densely set behind the fortress. On the city wall, more powerful crossbows are scattered with faint cold light, as if they want to choose people to eat them. There are crossbow machines in between, but the number is much smaller.

The arrangements here are almost all to prevent sudden attacks on the sea, and most of them are mainly long-range strikes. There are so many pirates in this sea area, which is the Ming Navy went out to sea to sweep them again and again. Ning Zeyuan dared not say that they would wipe them out. More importantly, there are still many island forces in this sea area. The sudden rise of Huludao may not attract the covetousness of these forces.

The quiet bay between the two islands is where the Huludao shipyard is located, with huge docks spread out among them. Crossing this sea area, you enter the main island of Huludao. On the island is where the Maritime Affairs Office is located and residential areas, as well as rows of military camps. Sailors and Marine soldiers who are resting on weekdays live here.

At this time, after more than two years of development in Huludao, there were more than 20,000 people on the island. In addition to soldiers, shipyard staff, and a large number of ordinary people who have been immigrated here, these people are responsible for farming on the island and providing some necessary food and other items to the island. If necessary, these people can be temporarily remitted.

It was here that Zhou Baozhen saw Chen Ci.

Zhou Baozhen has naturally heard of Chen Ci and Luo Yishui, these people who were famous all over the world on the mainland in the past, but he has never seen them himself. However, he does not doubt the authenticity of the person in front of him, because Huludao is already preparing for war. Soldiers are being mobilized, and warships are undergoing major maintenance before the expedition, and boxes of supplies and weapons are being transported to the warships continuously.

The Ming Navy was indeed preparing for war.

He did not expect that Luo Yishui, Chen Ci and others had already stood firm on Manila Island and found an excellent puppet. This also shows that the Ming Dynasty had found their agent overseas.

What does controlling Manila mean? Zhou Baozhen naturally knew very well. It represented a major transportation route that blocked the East-West exchanges. Although Manila was strong in the past, it did not have an overwhelming advantage to subdue the surrounding island countries. The former king Nilan relied more on Hezong Lianheng and his own personality to unite this sea area. Once Manila fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty, with the strength of the Ming Dynasty and the investment in the navy, Zhou Baozhen had no doubts. At most ten years, this sea area would completely become the back garden of the Ming Dynasty. If this sea area was controlled, it would provide the Ming Dynasty with endless financial resources.

The Great Qi is now at least above the navy, and it is impossible to compete with the Ming Dynasty at all. Zhou Baozhen seems to have seen that a few years later, the Ming navy was everywhere on the thousands of miles of the sea border of Qi, and the entire sea area was full of war. The Ming army landed in these places and randomly harassed the Linhai County capital of Qi.

Not to mention how great they have achieved, this kind of harassment alone is enough to restrain the countless troops of Qi, and to make the coastal county governors of Daqi, and to be in a mess. It is impossible to become Chu's power in the Ming and Qi war. It will also become a black hole that drags down Qi and constantly devour the strength of Qi.

Unless Qi State achieves an absolute victory on the mainland, once the time goes by, the Ming Dynasty will become more and more obvious. Controlling the thousands of miles of sea and controlling this vast sea can be said to be in a favorable strategic situation where the Ming Dynasty can advance and retreat and defend.

In contrast, the Daqi Dynasty still disdained the navy in the court. What they coveted was not the Zhou family's navigation technology or the Zhou family's shipbuilding ability, but the Zhou family's massive wealth. The Zhou family's war-torn soldiers fighting in the sea were forced to be transferred to the dense lakes and ditches of Jinghu, fighting against the Chu army like shallow shrimps.

Seeing the hurried pace of those ingenious soldiers, the balance in Zhou Baozhen's heart began to tilt slowly.

Three days later, he finally saw the biggest purpose of this trip. When Ning Ze's five-story boat was launched into the water, his last persistence finally collapsed.

This sea will belong to the Ming Dynasty in the future. The giant floating in the sea has declared the sovereignty of the sea. The former main warship also seemed to have become dolls before this giant. Looking at the corner of the boat extending far away and seeing the fierce object wrapped in iron armor outside the first deck, Zhou Baozhen only felt that every cold pore on his body was roaring and shouting. If he could command a battle as the captain of such a giant ship in this life, what else could he wish for?

He decided to go back immediately. As for the Battle of Manila, he felt that there was no need to see anything. He was not unfamiliar with it. If they could resist the previous main warships of the Ming Dynasty, then the appearance of this five-layer warship would destroy the protection of those important ports in Manila and expose their warships like paper-paste shells.

There is no need for the Zhou family to look forward to it. Surrendering to the Ming Dynasty can rekindle Zhou's desire for the sea. Even if the Daqi turns against each other and the Zhou family flees to the sea, what can Qi do to them? As for those industries on land, they will be gone. With the Zhou family's ability, are you still afraid that you will not be able to re-built in the future?

The current Ming navy is not short of money or ships. What they lack most is talent, the experienced captains and sailors who can ride these countless warships across the sea.

The Ning clan grasped this point and was already ahead of the Zhou clan. With the strength of the whole country, the Ming Dynasty could quickly make up for the shortcomings of talents under the training of Ning Ze. If it were too late, the Zhou clan would really have nothing to rely on.

The next day, Zhou Baozhen took the battleship that Zhou sent him this time, and hurriedly embarked on the way home, paying 30% of the protection fee in exchange for the protection of the Ming Navy. Now Zhou's thoughts on how to climb the Ming Dynasty's giant ship toward a wider ocean. Zhou Baozhen had made up his mind to try his best to convince the clan leader after returning. If the Zhou family could not be allowed to change its course, then his own group of people would definitely leave the Zhou family. Even if he could not take the shipyard, there were always some shipbuilding craftsmen, technicians, combat sailors and shipyards. These should be extremely eager for the current Ming Dynasty.

On the third day, Chen Ci also left Huludao. The Ming Dynasty decided to send troops to help them control Manila. He had to rush back to discuss with Luo Yishui to make targeted arrangements. The battle time and cooperation between the two sides would take a long process to prepare.

The Ming Navy quietly showed his sharp fangs to the outside, and was about to start their first foreign war to conquer the sea.

Just as Ning Zeyuan was preparing for the first large-scale expedition, the Ming army commanded by Chen Zhihua also advanced to a place less than fifty miles away from Yong and set up a camp. In front of them were several acropolis of Yongdu. If they wanted to go to Yongdu, they would take down the acropolis first.

Although heavy snow covered the entire land and the army was not suitable for large-scale combat at this time, Chen Zhihua was not prepared to let all the troops be in the barracks for a whole winter. These acropolis are good places to train. The Ming army still lacked experience in attacking the city. Although these acropolis were not big, they had complete facilities, which was just right for Chen Zhihua to practice.

Although it was the middle of winter, the Ming army camp was in full swing. In comparison, Yongdu was really trapped in a miserable mist. This was already the last fortress that the Qin Dynasty defended. Everyone knew the ending, but the difference was just how long they could last. All prices rose rapidly, especially grain, which was already priceless and had no market. Military control was fully implemented in the city. The first thing Ma Chao did after returning to Yongdu was to forcibly confiscate all the food and all the materials he could use in Yongdu. Yongdu had completely entered the ration era.

The army is naturally the one who receives the materials first. At this time, not to mention the poor, even the noble families and ordinary officials of the court are in danger. The only thing they think about every day is that they can fill their stomachs.

This is true for the Qin people in Yongdu City, and the Ming people who were imprisoned in prison had a miserable end. After the Hulao Incident, Ma Yue was furious and ordered the arrest of all the Ming people detained in Yongdu.

The Ming merchants in Yongdu and several surrounding acropolis were the first to be hit and were imprisoned by the Qin people. If Qin Ting hadn't thought about these people, they might be useful in the future when the Ming army attacked, they would have probably fallen to the ground alone.

But even so, thousands of Ming Dynasty merchants were locked in prison, and their daily income was only a bowl of clear porridge that could be seen in a mirror and a black bun the size of a baby's fist.

The weather was almost dripping into ice, and the cold prison was even colder. The only thing to keep the cold was some hay on the ground. The weather was still warm when these people were caught, but it was already in the middle of winter. They were wearing some clothes, and the only way to keep warm was to squeeze together one by one.
Chapter completed!