Chapter 386 Rent a hundred or so ships from the Zheng family!
In the tenth month of the lunar calendar, Zhu Youjian issued an imperial edict and officially launched the war to regain Jiaodong.
It has been grinding for a long time, and it is time to make some big moves in the belly, otherwise the world may forget that he is the legitimate emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The battle in the belly cannot be too big, but it cannot be too petty.
The Jiaodong Peninsula is the most suitable, especially because of its convenient transportation. Due to the convenience of sea and land, troop projection, military supplies transportation, etc. will be much easier. If the sea is opened, contact with the Jiaodong area is even smoother than some places in Beizhili.
It's also faster.
There is no strong enemy in Jiaodong so far. I thought that after taking control of Penglai and Mouping counties last year, there would be some actions in Shandong direction. Both the governor of Shandong and the governor of Luyu would send some troops to garrison and strengthen Denglai and other places.
military presence.
As a result, more than a year has passed, and the intelligence department has not reported any signs of additional troops in the direction of Denglai. The original governor of Denglai and the prefect of Dengzhou even moved to Nanzhi, which is now a place where several magistrates and counties are autonomous.
"Deputy Commander Fang, you have brought the fleet to control Weihai, Aoshanwei, and other places. I will send a few troops from the land to other prefectures and counties in Jiaodong. The war in Jiaodong will be basically over. Now it seems,
There won't be any major wars in Jiaodong. Our main job is to clear away the rural forces here and create a stable governance environment for Prefect Liu and others as soon as possible so that they can start government work as soon as possible." Ren Shuangyou's headquarters at Dengzhou Port
, Xiang Ruocheng simply assigned the next task. In the Battle of Jiaodong, the imperial court sent an army division to assist. However, after Ren Shuangyou arrived at the battlefield, he realized that it was of no great use. This was not a war at all, it should be a peaceful reception.
problem.
"Commander, we have to fight until we reach that point. Does the imperial court have any specific instructions?" Fang Ruocheng asked his question. He felt that as long as this battle is fought with heart, it won't be a problem to recover the entire Shandong. It just depends on how determined the imperial court is.
.
"The three prefectures of Laizhou, Pingdu, and Jiaozhou will be recovered first. The imperial court's plan is to station two security brigades and one main battle brigade in these three prefectures, and station another main battle brigade in Dengzhou Port. For the navy,
While inspecting several ports, we will also recruit some troops. By April or May next year, the number of troops will reach 20,000, and there will be more than 500 large and small warships, of which the total number of large and small ships will be 200. From now on.
When we fight, except for this army division, we have to rely on the navy itself to solve the problem."
"Only one division of the army? Jiaodong has taken over two brigades of soldiers and horses. We will have to control other prefectures in the future. I'm afraid the number of people is not enough."
"Depending on the war situation, the two brigades in Jiaodong can also be transferred to fight elsewhere. In the future, in the Fuzhou we regain, a security brigade will be built to garrison at the Military Command Hall. We will only be responsible for recovering the place and providing support at the same time.
To the south of Dengzhou, there are ports that are not closed to the sea in winter. It will be easier to support and dispatch the main battle force. In addition, the navy can also provide some important land warfare support. We have tens of thousands of naval forces and we cannot just fight naval warfare."
"That's okay! Can the imperial court's shipyard provide us with more than a hundred blessing ships before April next year?" Tianjin Shipyard has only delivered six small blessing ships and five large blessing ships to the navy this year. Fang Ruocheng has some doubts about the shipyard.
Production capacity. As for small boats, the production capacity of the shipyard has increased. More than 150 ships have been delivered to the Navy this year. By April, there should be another 100 ships.
"In April next year, Tianjin Shipyard will be able to produce at most another twenty ships. The imperial court is looking for ways to buy other ships from the Fuzhou area."
Shipbuilding is a job that requires skills and accumulation. It is not easy to restore the Tianjin Shipyard to the annual production capacity of 20 ships in two or three years. Of course, the situation is getting better, and there will be two more
In three years, Tianjin Shipyard will almost reach the level of producing 100 Fuzhou ships per year. By then, Tianjin Shipyard will be considered a large-scale maritime shipyard.
"Buy a boat? Can you buy so many boats?"
"The method was thought up by people. I heard that the imperial court has negotiated with the Zheng family in Fujian, and they will rent a hundred old and large boats from the imperial court."
"Rent an old boat?" Fang Ruocheng exclaimed in disbelief.
There is no way, we need to use ships now, but the shipyard's production capacity cannot be increased. After buying more than 30 small blessing ships and a dozen large blessing ships from Fuzhou from last year to this year, the thief Zheng family seems to have reacted. Over there
He kept pushing and pushing, but couldn't get new ships. When new ships couldn't be obtained, the genius Zhu Youjian came up with a curved way to build an army. He asked Gong Yonggu to send someone to come forward to discuss with the Zheng family, and from them
Rent a hundred old boats.
The cost of renting an old ship is quite high. The annual rent is 200 taels of silver dollars for a small ship and 400 taels for a large ship. In addition, they will have ten to twenty sailors on the ship, and each sailor's monthly salary is ten
Two taels of silver. Basic boating and other work can only be carried out under the supervision of their people. At the same time, the contract is signed for three years, and it is paid off at once, including rent and military pay. In fact, the money will be
Buying old junk boats will make you rich.
The Zheng family didn't want to agree to this condition at first, until Gong Yonggu said that it was okay if they didn't agree. Anyway, the Zheng family was not the only one with so many ships. In Tianjin Port, they could also contact the Dutch and Franconians and other red companies.
Mao Ship, couldn’t they agree to the price given by the court?
After much deliberation, Zheng Zhilong finally agreed to this plan. After all, Comrade Zheng is a businessman, and he is not a bastard if he has money. He is like this, he wants to make money, he loves to hug others, he is ambitious, and he is a little bit at the critical moment.
Coward. It was precisely because of this contradictory personality that the leasing plan was finally completed.
Just spend money. Building a strong navy is more important than anything else. Zhu Youjian thinks it is worthwhile to spend ten or two hundred thousand silver dollars. At this stage, the navy will reach the Ningbo front line at most in one or two years, and it will not be able to enter.
In the core area of the Zheng family, the navy's ships are mainly used for transportation. Old broken ships can also be repaired and repaired. Use these ships to prop up the stalls first. After a year or two, the Tianjin Shipyard's production capacity will increase and they will be used.
Just replace it with these junk goods. At that time, the situation in the world will be different. If the Zheng family dares to seek skin from a tiger, it will be his good fruit.
When Zhu Youjian proposed this plan, people in the military command hall and the cabinet continued to object! They thought that it was a disgrace for the court to charter a ship to a bandit who was recruited by a pirate. These people don't know the Zheng family at all.
How powerful their power is, if their potential is forced out, with the current ability of the court, it may not be possible to suppress them, so we still have to deal with them in this ambiguous and gentle way.