() In the first month of the first year of Chongzhen, the capital.
Zhu Youjian was born in December of the 48th year of Wanli. He is 19 years old on the surface this year, but in fact he is only 17 years old. He has a slightly immature square face, a wide forehead, sword-shaped eyebrows, and a square mouth. He has a very grand appearance. The imperial court
He has the appearance of an emperor among all officials.
When Emperor Tianqi was dying, he pulled Zhu Youjian's hand and asked him to treat Wei Zhongxian well. Zhu Youjian agreed happily on the surface, but he had other concerns in his heart. His brother Zhu Youxiao may not know that Wei Zhongxian was a loyal dog in front of him.
It was a vicious jackal outside. Perhaps the emperor's brother knew what Wei Zhongxian was doing, but he was just considering their friendship and deliberately pretended not to know.
Zhu Youjian's respect for the emperor's brother comes from the bottom of his heart. There is no doubt about this, but he still believes that the emperor's brother is not a qualified emperor. The Ming Dynasty has shown signs of decline since the Wanli period. The emperor's brother has been on the throne for seven years, not only
It failed to turn things around, but instead worsened the situation further. The reason for this is inseparable from the emperor's brother's employment style of "far away from gentlemen and close to villains".
Zhu Youjian was a man with great ambitions, determined to revitalize the Ming Dynasty, and took his imperial brother as a warning. His first step after ascending the throne was to "stay away from the villain and be close to the gentleman". After months of planning and step by step, he finally defeated Wei Zhongxian.
This jian who was hated by everyone in the Ming Dynasty was killed on the way to Fengyang.
Zhu Youjian has always been dissatisfied with several members of the cabinet. They may be Wei Zhongxian's minions, or they may have problems with their character and ability. When news of Wei Zhongxian's death came back, Zhu Youjian immediately recruited Donglin Party members Qian Longxi and others.
Cabinet, yu will replace it.
The Donglin Party members are all gentlemen. They were dedicated to serving the country and were persecuted by Wei Zhongxian. Zhu Youjian believed that if he wanted to make a difference and become a wise king in history, he must rely on the help of the Donglin Party members.
In the seventh year of Tianqi, Zhu Youjian completed the step of "staying away from villains and loving gentlemen". He was just waiting for the coming year to show off and create a new situation. Unexpectedly, just after the New Year, the situation in the South China Sea gave him a blow.
The Fujian officers and soldiers were defeated by the pirates again, and they were completely defeated. Zhu Youjian was so angry that he didn't eat anything all day long.
During the incident, Yan Jizu, a native of Longxi, Zhangzhou, immediately wrote a letter to impeach Yu Zigao, the commander-in-chief of Fujian Province. He said bluntly: "The god of money has a spirit, and icebergs are enough to rely on. I heard that the strong bandits were ravaging the mainland, Tong'an, and Haicheng, so the Fujian commander had to
.”
Zhu Youjian almost did not hesitate and immediately ordered the arrest of Yu Zigao for imminent death penalty. He was the son of the famous minister Yu Dayou, he had been guarding the sea for decades, and he was old. One word, kill!
There was also a memorial to impeach Zhu Yifeng, the governor of Fujian. Compared with his decision to kill Yu Zigao, Zhu Youjian was slightly hesitant this time. Zhu Yifeng came from a famous family in Taixing and was the governor of King Qin (Zhu Feng), the second son of Taizu.
He was the eighth grandson of Shi Zhuchang, and he was an awe-inspiring and upright man. Previously, Wei Zhongxian wanted to send sales money from various places to build a mausoleum and a palace for the emperor's brother, but Zhu Yifeng didn't give him a penny. He didn't mention Wei Zhongxian's name even a word in his memorial to the court.
He also participated in his appointment as a private person.
In Zhu Youjian's view, Zhu Yifeng was a rare virtuous minister, but his guilt this time was too great and he had to go unpunished. Zhu Youjian really couldn't bear to see a virtuous minister leave like this.
From the first month to February, the courtiers got into a quarrel. In March, the dispute came to an end, and the governor Zhu Yifeng was dismissed. Xiong Wencan, the newly appointed governor of Fujian Province from the left, was appointed as the censor of the right capital, governor of Fujian, to replace him.
At the same time, Zhao Yinchang, the censor of Fujian Province, once again proposed to "ban foreign boats from entering the sea." As early as 1998, Yan Mingtai, the Minister of War, proposed a ban on the grounds that "(foreign boats) are tall and strong, and they can be seized by thieves, and officers and soldiers cannot resist them."
He was blocked by the governor Zhu Yifeng and Yan Jizu and others. At that time, Zhu Youjian had just ascended the throne and was still unfamiliar with the situation in the South China Sea.
If you understand, play it accurately.
The opening and closing of Yuegang from Longqing not only resolved the crisis caused by Japanese pirates, but also became the only port for the direct import of overseas silver. This sea ban not only directly triggered the chaos in the South China Sea for several years, but also caused the imperial court to completely lose control.
Control of the South China Sea.
…………
March of the first year of Chongzhen, Fuzhou.
The Fujian Governor's Office at the foot of Songshan Mountain has welcomed a new owner. Xiong Wencan, named Xinkai, is from Sichuan. He is not tall but has a majestic face. He has been a scholar since high school and has had a prosperous official career. From being promoted to an official to being the head of the Ministry of Etiquette, he has been involved in politics from the left.
, inspector general, chief envoy... all the way up smoothly, he finally reached the position of governor of a province in his early fifties. Xiong Wencan served as Fujian Zuo chief envoy for two months and had a clear understanding of the current situation in the South China Sea.
The governor's position is not stable. It's like walking a tightrope. If you make a mistake, you will fall off and end up with the same fate as Zhu Yifeng. There is only half a harvest. The summer and autumn are droughty, and everything is red. It did not rain until March this year. The countryside
The roots and bark of the bark were all eaten. Five out of ten houses were found to be thieves, and it was difficult to question them. In the fourth month of Dingmao, Zheng invaded, and in the third month of the war, the land in the middle and left turned out to be a place where tigers and wolves were entrenched. Seven
The Yue invaders entered the center of Guangdong. In the ninth month, General Yu hooked up with the red barbarians and attacked them. They were defeated and fled. The Zheng invaders took advantage of the victory and drove forward. In the twelfth month, they entered the center of the left. The officers and soldiers fled, and all the ships and equipment were reduced to nothing.
The whole of Fujian was shocked. But the gentry in Quanzhong had no choice but to negotiate..."
Xiong Wencan looked over and over at the book in his book, with a solemn expression and a frown on his face. Zhu Yifeng and Yu Zigao had completely lost all the Fujian family's wealth. At this time, Xiong Wencan took over because he wanted money but no money, and he wanted soldiers but no soldiers.
, what can he do against Zheng Zhilong, who has hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of tigers and wolves under his command? Will he go into battle naked in person? Now there is only one way left in front of him, to negotiate.
Regardless of whether Xiong Wencan is willing or not, conciliation is inevitable. However, the court's attention is currently focused on the situation in the South China Sea. If he rashly proposes to recruit peace now, he will definitely be severely rejected by the court. He will have to wait until the situation calms down. The court will pay attention.
Only by transferring power can things be accomplished.
Zheng Zhilong has recently gathered people from all over Zhang and Quan, seeming to be sending him signals of goodwill. Xiong Wencan does not dare to relax for a moment, and Zhu Yifeng has no intention of recruiting him. Unfortunately, Zheng Zhilong's price is too high, and he cannot agree even if he wants to.
What should he do if Zheng Zhilong opens his mouth to him in the future?
Xiong Wencan put away the book worriedly and murmured to himself: "Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhilong, if you are truly cared for, don't cause any trouble again..."
…………
Huang Chen stood in the courtyard, examining a brand new Western-style heavy musket. Compared with the handle of the Chinese musket, the Western-style matchlock gun with a shoulder stock design is undoubtedly more in line with the trend, and it will greatly increase the firing time.
The stability and accuracy of the gun. Huang Chen loaded the ammunition skillfully, and every step seemed to be done with ease. Ever since he learned the marksmanship from Hu Yin, he has never left it behind in the past few years.
After a few rounds of practice, he doesn't have Hu Yin's extraordinary talent, but among gunmen, he can at least be ranked in the middle or upper reaches.
After loading the lead powder, Huang Chen smoothly placed the gun on the stand. He closed his left eye, looked at the star from behind with his right eye, and pointed the star from the front to an iron plate hanging on a wooden frame forty steps away.
Pulling the trigger, the gun fired with explosives and a loud "bang" sound. A small hole was immediately opened in the target iron plate.
Huang Chen stepped forward to observe, his brows slowly furrowed. Like the light matchlock gun he had imitated before, it was not as powerful as a Western-style musket. He glanced at Xu Jiasu, the leader of the craftsmen who was following him, and said in a neutral tone: "Mr. Xu,
This gun is still not as powerful as a Western-style musket. This is already the fourth heavy musket you have imitated."
Xu Jiasu's old face, as dry as orange peel, couldn't help but feel bitter, and said to himself: "It's really a ghost. It looks exactly the same, but the power is inferior. Alas! What's the problem? What's the problem...
…?”
Huang Chen thought for a while and then said: "Although this gun is inferior to Western-style muskets, it is much better than a blunderbuss. It is enough for now. You will be ready to start mass production. At the same time, don't fall behind in research and strive to have one."
ri meets or even exceeds the standards of Western-style muskets."
"Yes, the big leader." Xu Jiasu remembered the way he had sworn in front of Huang Chen, and now he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Huang Chen handed the heavy musket that weighed more than ten kilograms back to Xu Jiasu and said in an unquestionable tone: "Mr. Xu, the firearms workshop produces one hundred light muskets and fifty heavy muskets every month, no problem."
Wouldn't it be more despising for Huang Chen if he couldn't do it? Xu Jiasu gritted his teeth: "It's a bit difficult, but it's not impossible."
Hearing that he agreed reluctantly, Huang Chen felt a little uneasy and couldn't help but remind him: "Don't focus on weight rather than quality. You must pay close attention to this aspect. I don't want to see the phenomenon of barrel explosion."
"Don't worry, chief, I can spare this." Xu Jiasu nodded with a serious face. No one would make fun of his own life.
Huang Chen said "Yeah": "I will continue to recruit craftsmen and strive to double the output within three months." The light matchlock gun and the heavy smoothbore gun have been mass-produced, and now only the revolver gun remains.
, Huang Chen asked Xu Jiasu: "Mr. Xu, have you made a second gun?" Earlier, Xu Jiasu and others made a gun, but it was no different from a useless gun, with more than half the misfire rate.
Xu Jiasu was so embarrassed that he bit the bullet and said: "It's been done, and the misfire rate has also dropped, but this power..."
"It seems that there is still a long way to go to get a qualified gun..." Huang Chen shook his head and couldn't help but sigh.
Xu Jiasu's face turned red and he said: "Big boss, give me another month, and I will make a qualified gun."
Huang Chen shook his head again: "Don't worry, take your time. No matter how good the gun is, it's not something I urgently need. At present, you still focus on mass-producing muskets."
"Yes, big leader." Xu Jiasu bowed with both fists.
Huang Chen nodded, and then left the firearms workshop with others. He first watched Zhao Hongyi's land camp drill. After three months of running in, the captured soldiers have basically integrated into the team. There is no difference between them and the veterans, at least on the surface.
can not tell.
Zhao Hongyi is not a stubborn person. He found that the European method of training firearms soldiers was more effective, so he decided to adopt Western methods. As for the spear soldiers, he was not too impressed. He felt that the spears were too long and slow in movement.
Not as convenient as a long gun.
Huang Chen agrees with Zhao Hongyi's idea. It's not that spears are better than spears. It's just that the quality of our own soldiers is higher and few enemies can match them. When we are strong and the enemy is weak, it is more suitable to use weapons such as spears that are conducive to offense.
After that, Huang Chen watched Zhuang Mo train his bow again. The latter returned to Lieyu at the end of January and brought back more than 300 elite barbarians. Together with the barbarians under his former command, the total number was over 500. Huang Chen had spent the past few days
They were successively equipped with large bows. A large bow was equivalent to a waist knife, with only one tael of silver to spare, which was almost half the price of a matchlock gun.
Bows and arrows were eliminated by matchlocks, and it had nothing to do with cost-effectiveness, but simply because of lack of power. In a sense, the poisonous arrows of the Tuman slightly made up for the gap between the two, but it was not enough to bridge the gap between the two.
Huang Chen did not think that the barbarian soldiers had the ability to become his main force. In order to make them more valuable, Huang Chen not only equipped them with large bows, but also equipped them with waist knives and shields. A force capable of fighting at a distance
, a scary-looking mountain soldier capable of close combat?
Huang Chen didn't have too many extravagant expectations for the barbarian soldiers. He only hoped that they could play a role at a certain moment and give him a surprise, that's all.
Finally, Huang Chen appeared at William's training ground.
William said with a hint of excitement on his face: "Tou, you see, they are progressing very quickly. The enemy we encountered last time (referring to Cai Yifan's tribe), if I have such a battalion of troops, I don't need you to go out, I will do it myself."
Can defeat the enemy."
William didn't speak English, let alone Dutch or German, he spoke Chinese. Although he was stumbling over his words, he occasionally mixed in one or two sentences in English when he couldn't express himself clearly. Poor Huang Chen could only listen with his ears raised.
He understands 60-70%, but considering that he could only speak a few words in Chinese three months ago, his progress is so rapid that Huang Chen can't help but sigh at the great power of love.
Unfortunately, William's love career is not progressing very smoothly. The beautiful widow Chen rarely goes out. Even if she does go out, she will avoid William like the god of plague when she sees him, especially recently, her belly is getting bigger and bigger.
, maybe a child will be born in April, or maybe the child will be born at the end of this month. In this case, it will be harder for William to see his "angel" than to go to heaven.
What impressed Huang Chen was that William was not discouraged. The more frustrated he became, the more courageous he became. Of course, it can also be understood as getting deeper and deeper. Huang Chen even had a feeling in his heart that as long as he had control of the Chen family, he could "do whatever he wanted" to William.
a feeling of.
Huang Chen shrugged and said: "Unfortunately, there may not be many opportunities for you to test your strength recently."
"Why?" William asked in surprise. He rarely cares about the development of the situation in the South China Sea. Firstly, he is not interested, and secondly, he has no right to participate.
"Because neither the leader of the alliance, Zheng Zhilong, nor I want to continue to be pirates." Huang Chen made no secret of his thoughts.
"Not a pirate? Then..." William reacted immediately: "Boss, are you planning to surrender to the Chinese Empire?"
Huang Chen couldn't help laughing and said: "Don't be so embarrassed. Now that we have an absolute advantage in the South China Sea, the Ming Dynasty has no way to deal with us. The Chinese method is to recruit peace, and the court will absolve us of our crimes and make us officials."
"Sounds like a decent result." William said: "Boss, will you become a high official in the Chinese Empire?"
"A big official? No, a very, very small official." If Huang Chen surrenders to Zheng Zhilong, at best he will be able to make a fortune, but it will still be a false position. In Fujian, there are not twenty, but a dozen or so, which are worthless at all.
William shrugged and said: "Then we might as well continue to be pirates. The Chinese Empire can't deal with us, right?"
"I have my plan." Huang Chen said meaningfully.
William was not a person who liked to talk too much, but he was intrigued by Huang Chen's so-called plan and couldn't help but ask: "Boss, I'm very curious about what your plan is."
Huang Chen was also a little surprised by William's blunt statement, and smiled: "I plan to become the new master of China, do you believe it or not?"
"...!" William was stunned and dumbfounded on the spot. Although the Chinese Empire lags behind Europe in some aspects, it is one of the largest empires in the world. In terms of population, it can even lose one. Huang Chen, a pirate, actually wants to
To subvert it, replace it, and become the supreme emperor of a huge empire is really a crazy, bizarre and ridiculous idea.
Huang Chen looked at William's stunned look and said with a smile: "It seems you don't believe what I say."
William smiled awkwardly and said: "I can only, I was stunned. Head, I really want to know, are you serious or joking?"
Huang Chen said ambiguously: "If you think it is true, it is true. If you think it is a joke, it is a joke."
"..."
Until Huang Chen left, William still didn't come back to his senses. His intuition told him that Huang Chen was not joking. "Oh, God! Does he know the meaning of what he is thinking? It's crazy! Unbelievable!"
On the second day, a small bird boat docked at Lieyu Port. It came from Yunxiao Zhang's Shipyard. Part of the boat ordered by Huang Chen has been completed, and the remaining part will be delivered before the end of April. Please pick up the boat before Huang Chen.
Huang Chen's spirits were lifted. In September of that year, he ordered three 10-foot teak big bird boats, ten 10-foot ordinary big bird boats, ten 7-foot horse boats, and ten 4-foot-8 oar boats from Zhang's Shipyard.
After half a year, it is finally almost completed. With the addition of these warships, his strength at sea will reach a whole new level.
He is buying a lot of warships, and others are also busy. In order to strengthen his strength, Mr. Zhou did everything he could to buy and rob. This has aroused great dissatisfaction with Zheng Zhilong. He is interested in contacting the new governor of Fujian.
Xiong Wencan, restrain all thieves in the alliance from "acting rashly" for the time being. There are those who obey orders, and there are those who disobey them. But this is the only one like Zhou Lao who blatantly turned a deaf ear to his words.
Huang Chen smiled coldly at this, so what if he lets Zhou Lao fool around for a few more days? When the alliance is disbanded, he will kill Zhou Lao immediately, no matter what his status is at that time.