The warship crossed the river. Zhu Zhanzhen woke up early in the morning and looked at the scenery outside the window. The land on both sides of the bank was disappearing and they were about to enter the sea.
Because no one called him on the boat, he slept until midnight again.
"Your Highness, you are awake." Chu'er helped Zhu Zhanchen get dressed on the boat. He was wearing ordinary clothes, coarse cotton clothes, which were good for keeping out the cold, but a bit ugly.
When we step onto the deck, we can see the endless sea ahead. The weather is good today, so I feel comfortable looking from a distance.
"Your Highness, this is my first time to see the sea." Chu'er was seasick yesterday and her condition is much better today.
We walked to the bow of the boat where we had a good view, but of course the wind was also very strong.
"Your Highness, we are about to enter the sea. The wind is strong. Please go back to the cabin and rest first."
"How far is it from where the Japanese pirates are?"
Zheng He pointed at the map and said: "If there are no wind and waves, it won't take a day. It's just that it will take some time to search for the islands."
Zhu Zhanzhen looked at several warships. If there were only three steamships in order to wait for the warships behind, the time would be shorter. However, in the first battle, he did not dare to let the steamships risk going deep alone.
"Lord Zheng He, when you went to the West, how were the naval battles of the countries you encountered?"
"The countries along the Western Ocean, their ships, and their weapons are all very poor. Facing the Ming Dynasty's warships, they are almost powerless to fight back. Any intruders are almost wiped out. Some of these countries pay tribute to us, but their
Rebellions often occur on the land, and once our troops go ashore and are not familiar with the local terrain, their advantage will be lost."
There were many people on each voyage to the West, but they were also afraid of losing numbers. Once they went to fight on land, the losses would be huge, so Zheng He would try his best to avoid landing ashore to fight.
Fortunately, the vast majority of coastal countries are quite honest, and few dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty.
"Sir Zheng He, what countries were along the voyage to the West?"
Zheng He took out a more detailed maritime map, which showed Zheng He's route to the Western Ocean.
"Your Highness, when I first sailed to the West, I first arrived at Champa (today's Champa, Vietnam), then took a short detour to Siam (Thailand), and then arrived at Srivijaya Old Port (today's Palembang, Indonesia)."
When talking about the old port, Zheng He expanded and said: "I summoned the local pirate Chen Zuyi, who pretended to surrender and planned to attack the fleet. I led my army to defeat him, killed more than 5,000 enemy people, burned ten enemy ships, and captured the enemy.
They took seven ships and captured Chen Zuyi and three others alive, and then appointed a new owner of the old port. Now the old port is still ruled by his country and pays tribute to our country."
"However, our army also lost more than a thousand men and damaged 7 ships. After passing Kochi and Guri (India), we had to return."
Hearing about Zheng He's voyage to the West, several people listened with great interest.
"The second voyage to the West took a similar route. We consecrated the King of Guli in Guli and returned all the envoys who visited the Ming Dynasty, as well as the gifts given to them by His Majesty. In order to show the power of the Ming Dynasty, these people who are loyal to our dynasty
The state envoys all brought back a lot of gifts."
"The previous route for the third time was the same. In Ceylon (Sri Lanka), I heard that the king of Ceylon Mountain, Ariel Kunel, was "disrespectful and plotted to murder the captain." In order to avoid unnecessary battles, we avoided Ceylon and arrived at
Gu Li then visited and inquired, and confirmed the route to the west."
Zheng He pointed to the place on the map that represented the Persian Gulf of the Arabian Peninsula: "This is the farthest place I went that time, Horumus (Gulf of Hormuz, Iran)."
"When we were returning, we met the king of the Ceylon Mountain Kingdom, Ariel Kunel, who lured me to the country and sent 50,000 troops to besiege the fleet. I took advantage of the enemy troops to come out and the country was empty, led my entourage of 2,000 officers and soldiers, and took advantage of the night.
Raid the royal city of Ariel Kunel, break into the city, and capture Ariel Kunel and his family alive."
Zheng He said this was just a paragraph, but you can imagine how urgent the situation was at that time. The Ceylon Mountain Kingdom wanted Zheng He's treasure ships and belongings. Zheng He finally relied on his excellent military command ability to win the battle.
In the battle, although it is a small country, the enemy has the upper hand in terms of military strength.
We have a better fleet, better warriors, better equipment, and better command.
However, when Zheng He won the battle, he did not plunder the opponent's country, but established a new king who was obedient to the Ming Dynasty. After all, he would use this as his foothold in the future to continue his voyages across the ocean.
The fourth voyage to the West was the most recent, departing in the 10th year of Yongle.
"On the fourth voyage to the West, Su Qianlao of Sumen had just killed his king and usurped the throne. The Ming Dynasty thought he was a "false king." He was angry that the Ming court did not reward him, so he led an army to intercept and kill our fleet. Finally,
Still defeated by our army, a new king was established."
"We went to Horumus again and wanted to go west but couldn't find the way. Finally we brought back the strange beast "Qilin"."
Zhu Zhanzhen looked at this map. Zheng He went to the Persian Gulf and searched all over the Arabian Peninsula, but could not find a way to continue. In fact, if he landed on the Red Sea and walked northwest, he would reach the Mediterranean. Otherwise, he would have to go around to the west.
across the vast African continent.
It's just that they don't have a world map.
Unlike staunch materialists such as Zhu Zhanzhen and Yao Guangxiao, Zheng He was a staunch supporter of theism.
Zheng He is a Hui nationality, and he believes in Buddhism. He is a disciple of the Bodhisattva ordination, and his Dharma name is Fu Jixiang. He believes that there are gods in this world. He wants to pursue the holy city and see where the kingdom of gods is in this world.
People at sea believed in Tianfei (Mazu), and he also brought this belief to all parts of the world with his fleet.
If you want to see God, you must first see yourself.
After traveling thousands of miles, he has yet to see his holy city, nor his God.
There are only a handful of people with such an adventurous spirit throughout history.
Zhu Zhan looked at Zheng He, who kept talking about maritime affairs in detail, and wondered what would happen if Zheng He was given more time and more voyages.
"Lord Zheng He, look at Champa. Every time you set out overseas, your first stop is there. It is located in the south of Jiaozhi. The Li Dynasty is currently rebelling in the south. If the rebellion is not put down before sailing to the West next year, your fleet will
We must fight a battle first."
"Don't worry, Your Highness, if this is the case, I will be able to suppress the rebellion by attacking from both sides of the sea and the land army. I have had many dealings with the Cochin people. Their fighting power is not strong, and their court ability is also weak."
Zhu Zhanzhen shook his head: "Since the battle of Jiaozhi, there has been very little time for stability over the years. We can't just fight it once and for all. We have to find a way to get it done at once to avoid future troubles."
Zheng He shook his head: "Even without us, there would still be rebellions in Jiaozhi year after year. It is a fertile land, and rice can ripen more once a year than in the Central Plains, but the people there are difficult to educate."
"Sir Zheng He, suppose, and I'm talking about hypothesis, we set up a new steam shipyard in Guangzhou and train the navy. With the current development speed of steam ships, as long as there are enough steam ships and troops, no matter how Jiaozhi rebels,
Our army has the ability to intervene and pacify the situation at any time, do you think this is the case?"
Zheng He thought carefully about Zhu Zhanyi's hypothesis, then stood on his head and looked at Zhu Zhanyi with wide eyes.
He understood the meaning behind Zhu Zhanzhen's words. As long as there is a rebellion in Jiaozhi, I will send troops until they dare not rebel. With the development speed of steamships, if the sailing time from Guangzhou to Jiaozhi is shortened to three to five days in the future,
, the rebellion in Cochin seems to be very simple to solve, after all, their army is no match for our army.
You can even send heavy troops to guard it.
Zhu Zhanzhen smiled slightly and said: "It's just a hypothesis. The land in Jiaozhi is fertile. If grain is grown and steam ships can transport it northward, the granary of our dynasty will be abundant every year."
Looking at the innocent smile of His Highness the Fifth, with his childish face, Zheng He couldn't help but think of what the Crown Prince had mentioned occasionally before, that Zhu Zhanzhen wanted to fief the land near Guangzhou Mansion.
There was only one question left in his mind: when did His Highness the Fifth Prince consider his hypothesis? He had just thought of it or had already planned it.
"He wants to never keep the land, but make it a stable granary."
The plan is far-reaching and unimaginable.
The steamer sailed on the sea, and Zheng He did not sail far away from the mainland. He could still see the shore in the distance.
When he saw a fishing boat appearing in front of the steamer, Zheng He looked at the map and said, "Your Highness, we are almost reaching Zhoushan Island."
"According to the confession, we need to search nearby islands. First we will dock at Zhoushan Island and ask the fishermen if there are any traces of Japanese pirates around."
"Can."
The coastal defense of the Ming Dynasty focused on the mainland. Islands near Zhoushan, which were easy to attack and difficult to defend, often became gathering places for Japanese pirates. The lack of defense forces caused the residents of the islands to bow to the Japanese pirates.
Zheng He docked at Zhoushan for some reorganization.
In fact, islands like Zhoushan were the maritime gateways to Jiangsu and Zhejiang during the Age of Navigation, and this strategic position must not be lost.
Once Zhoushan Island is occupied by Japanese pirates, they will have a resting place very close to the land, and they can harass the coast endlessly.
Before the emergence of steamships, the Ming Dynasty focused on land defense, but after the emergence of steamships, there will be a big change in this direction, from land to sea, from defense to offense.
We landed on Zhoushan Island near night.
There is now a Qianhu Station on Zhoushan Island. Seeing these warships docking with the Ming military flags flying on them, Chen Baiyue from Qianhu Station came to greet them.
Zheng He often traveled by water, so Chen Baiyue knew him.
"Lord Zheng He, why are you here?" Chen Baiyue did not receive any news that Zheng He was coming.
Zheng He simply said: "The fleet needs to dock for rest and stay for one night."
"You are a rare visitor, please come this way, please come this way."
"No, we'll all spend the night on board. Chen Qianhu, please come on board and have a chat." Zheng He declined the other party's invitation.
Chen Baiyue looked puzzled. After hesitating for a while, he led a few people onto a steam warship that they had never seen before.
Zheng He did not mince words: "Chen Qianhu, Japanese pirates have been seen on the edge of Zhoushan Island recently."