Chapter 842 The Leading Party

"...The year before last, I went to Nanjing for business. During my free time, I drank with several colleagues from Zhejiang. I realized that their coastal defense was in vain, and it was worse than Fujian six or seven years ago." While the fleet was heading north, Xu Yuzhuo also took the time to share some of his past experiences with Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen.

Chang Guowei's paper strength looks strong, but the actual strength is far from the registered number. This kind of thing is not only on the distant Qiongzhou Island, but also in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, which are famous for their prosperity. It is also true that there are nearly 5,000 officers and soldiers in the Changguo Guard, but the actual strength is only about half, and there are also old, weak, sick and disabled people mixed in to make up the numbers. The training of the troops responsible for defending the sea areas is neglected, and the armaments are lax. In such an environment, Offshore islands are occupied by criminals, and the government often turns a blind eye and is too lazy to take care of them.

But just eating empty pay and drinking soldiers' blood can no longer satisfy the needs of some people in Zhejiang's officialdom for making money. Collaborating with nearby pirates to do smuggling has become another important way to make money. Of course, after this relationship is established, in order to With ease of operation, the government's supervision of coastal defense has gradually become ineffective.

Of course, the inaction and chaos of the Zhejiang government is actually a good thing for the coalition fleet operating in a remote place. The fleet does not need to worry about running into the Zhejiang Navy's patrol fleet, because the local garrison will not patrol at all. This arrangement of coastal defense. According to the intelligence obtained by Xu Yuzhuo, the navy stationed in Changguowei has almost completely abandoned the maritime defense zone, and the frequency of sea patrols has probably been reduced to once a year. Although the navy led by Xu Xinsu originally It was passive for a long time and was suppressed by Shibazhi, but at least there was some interaction on the scene, and it did not completely give up control of the coastal defense. In comparison, the coastal defense situation in Zhejiang is really disappointing. One cannot look directly.

Xu Yuzhuo continued: "Although the Changguo Guard is known as one of the four famous guards in the Ming Dynasty, the scope it really protects is only the half of Sanmen Bay belonging to Ningbo Prefecture and the Xiangshan Port Bay. To the east of Xiangshan In the sea area, the government is indifferent. If a civilian ship is robbed by pirates and reports it to the government, it will often go nowhere. Those who want to do a good maritime trade business can only pay tribute to the local pirates to buy peace. .General Qian, General Shi, you Haihan have always said that the cost of transporting immigrants back from the north is too high. This boatload of people has to pay a toll of one hundred taels of silver to pass through Ningbo. Ten boats will cost a thousand taels. A big boat. If you add more, the ship owner will definitely not bear the cost himself, and will naturally pass it on to you, and the cost will definitely remain high."

Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen are not unaware of this. At present, transporting immigrants from the north completely relies on the transportation capacity of the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants. These additional expenses on the way alone account for 20 to 30% of the entire freight. One ship, two ships It's okay, but it has been like this for many years. The extra expenses added to the Haihan Immigration Department every month have amounted to thousands of taels of silver, and it has shown a rising trend month by month as the transportation capacity has increased. Naturally, the Immigration Department is full of complaints. And this kind of complaint When it was reported to the Executive Committee, the task eventually fell on the military.

Qian Tiandun held a high position and would certainly not complain about these things in front of the Allied generals, but he still had to express Haihan's attitude towards this: "We Haihan have always attached great importance to navigation safety, whether in Guangdong, Guangxi or Fujian.

Ensuring the safety of maritime trade routes is part of the responsibilities of the Haihan Militia. The main problem here in Zhejiang now is not freight, but the inability to ensure the safety of the routes. We come to Zhejiang this time to solve this problem once and for all. Here in Zhejiang

We can't control and don't want to control how the Ming army does things, but we will deal with it in our own way."

Xu Yuzhuo thought that what you call "method" is to solve the problem directly. Although the two sides formulated a general action plan before setting off from Fujian, the content mainly focused on logistical support rather than specific tactics. For the Fujian Navy and Marine Corps

As far as the Han militia is concerned, the coastal waters of Zhejiang are almost all unknown areas with unknown conditions, and plans can never keep up with changes. They have already encountered three groups of pirates along the way from Wenzhou to Taizhou. In fact, they are not included in the coalition's combat plan, but relying on the coalition's super strength

His strength directly crushed him without causing any trouble.

However, the pirate gangs in Wenzhou and Taizhou are basically "wild", while the situation here in Ningbo is a little different. The pirate gangs have more or less entangled interests with the government, and touching them is equivalent to touching the interests of some powerful people.

It may lead to some local resistance or even strong tactics. Xu Yuzhuo believes that this is an aspect that the coalition forces have to guard against.

"General Qian, there will be people lurking in Xiangshan County to meet us tomorrow. You might as well listen to the local news first, and then consider how to take action." Xu Yuzhuo did not point it out. He knew that Haihan and other soldiers were fanatical war elements.

, matters that can be solved through combat will probably not be considered in other ways. However, the purpose of the Ming army's participation in this operation was to train troops and to protect the Xu family's future interests in Zhejiang waters in advance. They did not come here specifically to talk to the Zhejiang government.

The Haihan people had no scruples about doing this, but Xu Yuzhuo did. He did not want a direct rift between the Haihan people and the Zhejiang government, or even a military conflict.

Qian Tiandun didn't know Xu Yuzhuo's thoughts, but he also planned to contact the hidden stakes sent by the Xu family to Zhejiang first, and learn more about the local situation before making a decision. Although he had 100% confidence in his family's military strength

, it can be determined that the combat capability of this fleet far exceeds that of the Zhejiang Navy and the pirate gangs off Ningbo, but if it can be more fully prepared, more confident, and more targeted, Qian Tiandun would not mind doing more before taking action.

Spend some time on intelligence gathering.

Xu Ke has been in a state of anxiety since he sent away the emissary from Fujian a few days ago. If the Haihan people go north, it is highly likely that there will be an armed conflict with the pirate gang in the waters near Ningbo Prefecture, and it is very likely that they will

Conflicts have also arisen with the local government. By then, it may be difficult for leading parties like Xu Ke to continue to lurk.

Xu Ke did not have a very intuitive understanding of the strength of the Haihan people. Everything came from hearsay, so he did not have a lot of confidence in Haihan's plans. If the Haihan people could deal with the local armed forces, then Xu Ke would probably

He can restore his family name and return home in glory. But if the Haihan people are killed in Ningbo, part of the responsibility may be attributed to him. After all, almost half of the various information provided to Fujian comes from him.

Sent out.

On this day, Xu Ke finally received new news. The Haihan fleet was already on its way north and would arrive in Ningbo soon. The fourth son of Xu Xinsu, the patriarch of the Xu family, and Xu Yuzhuo, a senior general of the Fujian Navy, were also in the fleet, and ordered

He rushed to meet at a certain place on the sea on the appointed day.

The appearance of Xu Yuzhuo showed how resolute the attitude of Fujian was. However, what Xu Ke didn't know was that not only the representative Xu Yuzhuo was accompanying Haihan to the north this time, but there were even more than a thousand Fujian naval forces who were still in the establishment.

Officers and soldiers. This action was not a unilateral act by Haihan, but a coalition fleet composed of Haihan and the Fujian Ming Army. Xu Xinsu's determination to intervene in Zhejiang's coastal defense was far greater than he imagined.

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Xu Ke arranged all the affairs at home two days in advance. He only said that he would take the fleet to sea for fishing, but did not reveal the truth to his family. After taking the fleet to sea, Xu Ke did not direct the fleet as usual.

Instead, he chose to go south along the coast in the direction of Zhoushan, where there were more fish. When he arrived at Nantian Island near Sanmen Bay, Xu Ke arranged for his fishing boats to operate in the eastern waters, while his own boat turned southeast towards Yushan.

The islands sail away.

The Yushan Islands are about 30 nautical miles southeast of Changguo Wei Shipu Station. They are the southeasternmost islands under the rule of Xiangshan. They are divided into three archipelagos: Nan Yushan, Bei Yushan and Wuhu Reef. They are composed of 13 islands and 41 reefs. Bei Yushan

There are fresh water resources on the island, but due to the unstable waters, the distance between this place and the mainland is a little far, and life is not very convenient. Therefore, except for fishermen who come here to escape the wind and waves, there are basically no human beings here.

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In the secret report Xu Ke wrote back to Fujian, he suggested that when the Haihan fleet headed north, it could consider setting up a supply point on Beiyushan Island outside Shipu's control to avoid the local Ming army. This time the coalition fleet headed north and left Taizhou waters.

Afterwards, Qian Tiandun and Xu Yuzhuo discussed this place as the place to meet Xiangshan Neiying.

Originally, there was no need to go to such trouble to meet with Xu Ke. Sending a boat directly to Xiangshan County would have the same effect. However, Qian Tiandun and others considered that there were certain risks in going there in person.

The communication effect was not enough, so Xu Yuzhuo ordered people to go to Xiangshan in advance and informed Xu Ke to come here for a while.

Although he had been mentally prepared before coming here, Xu Ke was still quite shocked when he saw the Haihan warships cruising near the Yushan Islands. He had been in Zhejiang for several years and was used to seeing them.

In addition to the outdated equipment of the navy here, compared with Haihan's warships, the navy's ships are really old and small, and they lose a lot in appearance alone.

After Xu Ke's ship sailed into the monitoring range of the coalition fleet, two ships immediately approached it. If it were an ordinary civilian ship, these two ships would drive it away from the sea area to avoid exposing the hidden secrets.

Xu Ke, the fleet of Beiyushan Island, ordered people to unfurl a red and blue flag on the bow of the ship - this was the token sent by the messenger when he was notified two days ago.

When the coalition sailboat saw the token, they lowered their boats and rowed over to pick up Xu Ke. One ship stayed in place to monitor, while the other ship carried Xu Ke to Beiyushan Island.

Xu Ke's business is fishing at sea, and he is quite familiar with this sea area. He knows that there is a small haven to the north of Beiyushan Island. A sailboat as big as the Haihan Warship can accommodate twenty or thirty ships.

.However, when he arrived in this area, he saw several larger sailing ships docked outside the harbor. One of them was at least four or five times larger than the largest fortune ship he had seen in Zhejiang.

He thought he had seen the world, and his jaw almost dropped when he saw this ship.

"The legendary treasure ship that the Three Treasures Eunuchs took to sail to the West must have been nothing more than this!" Xu Ke couldn't help but sigh.

The era of Zheng He's voyages to the West can be regarded as the peak period of the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry. During his seven voyages to the West, the Ming Dynasty built a total of nearly 4,000 large-scale sea-going ships. At that time, the Ming Dynasty's navy had 3,800 ships, including

There were more than 1,300 patrol ships, and 400 large capital ships were stationed at Xinjiangkou in Nanjing alone. At that time, the strength of the Ming Navy even exceeded the combined navies of the European countries at the same time.

Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing and Changle Shipyard in Fujian are the two main places where Zheng He's treasure ships were built. "History of Ming Dynasty: Biography of Zheng He" records: "Treasure Ship No. 63, the length is 44 feet long and 18 feet wide.

." This translates into a hull length of approximately 138 meters and a width of 56 meters, which is much larger than the "Dignity-class" battleship currently in service in the Haihan Navy.

However, such an advanced and developed shipbuilding industry was suppressed after Zheng He's death. A large number of valuable shipbuilding blueprints were destroyed by the government, and private shipbuilding tonnage was strictly restricted by law. After two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty's maritime power has not been greatly improved.

Development, on the contrary, has regressed a lot compared to the Yongle period, and the shipbuilding industry has retreated greatly, so that late comers like Haihan were able to relatively easily gain control of the sea with maritime armed forces in the southern part of the Ming Dynasty, and control Fu with a near-monopoly.

Most of the maritime trade between Guangzhou and Guangxi provinces.

Although the "Enterprise" of the Haihan Navy was placed in Zheng He's fleet, it was larger than the medium-sized treasure ship. However, in the era when Xu Ke lived, the Ming Dynasty's shipyards could no longer build a ship like the "Enterprise".

This is the tragedy of the Ming Dynasty, but it is also the luck of the travelers. Otherwise, they would not have the opportunity to become the maritime overlord on the southeast coast, and enter completely unfamiliar waters to carry out military operations in such an arrogant way.

Xu Ke entered the small haven on Beiyushan Island with full of wonder. It was also full of ships, almost all of which were logistics cargo ships carrying various supplies and troop carriers carrying the army. After landing on the shore

, Xu Ke finally met the legendary Haihan people, and his distant cousin Xu Yuzhuo whom he had not seen for many years.

"Xu Ke, a humble citizen, have met all of you!" After meeting his family, Xu Ke immediately returned to his surname. However, he did not hold any official position, and his attitude was still very humble.

Xu Yuzhuo greeted him warmly: "Brother, you and I haven't seen each other for many years, but do you still recognize my brother?"

This "brother" actually eliminated some of Xu Ke's uneasiness, and responded with a smile: "Of course I recognize the fourth brother. After not seeing each other for these years, the fourth brother has become a lot richer!"
Chapter completed!