Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 205 The land sinks to the southeast, the big blessing boat
Under Fan Wencheng's suggestion, the Manchu Qing court took advantage of Sun Kewang's surrender to make a big fuss, and issued many policies to win over Han officials.All kinds of actions have indeed confused many people.

Some Han officials and gentry in the north were originally dissatisfied, and they secretly joined forces to revolt against the Tartars.

In the south, however, the Manchu move had little impact.But there are exceptions, that is, the Zheng family, which made a fortune in the pirate business, has an abnormal situation.

One day in mid-May, Li Cunming secretly met Liu Zhiyuan at the Lameizi hot pot restaurant.

Last year, Liu Zhiyuan and other Huizhou merchants went to Fujian with the staff of Xichang and Qu Shixu to discuss the glass business with the Zheng family, but there has been no news.

Li Cunming asked about this a few days ago, and Cao Huachun replied that he did not know the details.Unexpectedly, a few days later, the Anhui merchants returned to Nanjing, so they had this secret meeting.

"Liu Zhiyuan, you have been in Fujian for nearly a year, why did you delay coming back now? Where are you from Qu Shisi?" Li Cunming asked straight to the point.

Liu Zhiyuan knelt on the ground. He lost a lot of weight and aged a lot. It seemed that he had suffered a lot.

"Your Majesty, the situation of the Zheng family is too complicated!" Liu Zhiyuan said.

"Sit down and talk back. If you have anything to say, I also want to know something about the Zheng family."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Liu Zhiyuan got up, but he didn't dare to sit down, bowed his body and said.

"At first when we arrived in Fujian, Zheng Zhilong's whereabouts were uncertain, we couldn't get in touch for a while, and we went to many places. Later, Zheng Zhilong took the initiative to send his subordinate Zeng De to meet us and took us to Anping Town, Jinjiang."

"The Zheng family has a huge and luxurious mansion in Anping Town. It is said that it took three years and two months to build. It is comparable to a royal mansion. We businessmen are also rich, but compared with the Zheng family, That's a beggar."

"It's a long way to go. After we moved into Zheng's mansion, Qu Shiqi and the staff of the West Factory first negotiated with Zheng Zhilong. But the progress was very slow. During this period, Zheng Zhilong often went out, and sometimes went overseas. He didn't see anyone for ten and a half months, leaving us alone. Don’t care about it in Anping Town.”

"It was only later that we gradually found out that the Zheng family has developed to the present, and the family has a big business. The members of the family began to have their own thoughts, and it was difficult to unify their opinions. And because His Majesty suppressed the Donglin Party and the Donglin Party in Nanjing last year. The members of the Zheng family have doubts, and their positions have been vacillating."

Hearing this, Li Cunming rubbed his chin and thought to himself, the Zheng family is actually equivalent to a family business, internal strife is basically inevitable, and it is expected that people will be divided.

"Zheng Zhilong is an official of the Ming Dynasty. How dare he be so arrogant and rude?" Cao Huachun said.

Li Cunming sneered and said: "People are not enough to swallow elephants, the Zheng family probably wants to sell it for a price!"

"Your Majesty, you are wise, we have also guessed the same, and there are various signs that the people of the Zheng family are indeed not satisfied with their current official positions, and they want to go further." Liu Zhiyuan said.

Cao Huachun frowned, and said with a gloomy face, "What is going further?"

"I just want to be knighted!"

Li Cunming said: "Zheng Sen instigated the scholars in Nanjing to quit the exam, I will not pursue it, and pardoned his crimes. I am sincere, and the Zheng family should be able to see that as long as they do things honestly for the court, it will be a matter of time before they become knights." things. Could it be that I will be stingy?"

Liu Zhiyuan said: "Actually, there is something hidden in it... I don't know if I should talk about it or not?"

"Just talk!" Li Cunming said.

After Liu Zhiyuan hesitated for a moment, he said: "Your Majesty, when I was waiting in Fujian, I heard some rumors that the Zheng family had secret contacts with the Manchu Tartars, and it seemed that they had a good relationship. Qu Shixu asked Zheng Zhilong about this, but he didn't expect to offend him. Put us under house arrest."

"Is this really happening?" Li Cunming stood up suddenly, his expression changing.

Liu Zhiyuan hastily knelt down and said, "Of course we have no way of knowing the specific situation. But in the Jinjiang area, similar rumors are heard endlessly, and some people say that Fan Wencheng sent several envoys to the south secretly to meet the main leaders of the Zheng family at sea. "

"As for whether it is true, I dare not jump to conclusions, but it is absolutely true that Zheng Zhilong put us under house arrest. In April this year, Zheng Sen suddenly released us and told us to leave Fujian as soon as possible. Qu Shixu refused to come back. He said he would stay in Fujian. Continue to complete the task assigned by His Majesty..."

Before Liu Zhiyuan finished speaking, Cao Huachun said sharply: "Your Majesty, I have to guard against it!"

"It's the old man Fan Wencheng again!" Li Cunming cursed, pacing with his hands behind his back, and began to meditate.

Zheng Zhilong in history did surrender to Manchu after the death of Emperor Longwu.

But today is not what it used to be, the situation has been greatly changed because of Li Cunming's crossing, is it still necessary for Zheng Zhilong to surrender to the Tartars?How could such a shrewd pirate leader be so confused?

"Liu Zhiyuan, you have worked hard, and now you have a good rest. In a few days, I will send someone to my house to reward you." Li Cunming waved.

When Liu Zhiyuan retreated, Li Cunming said: "Since moving south, I have flattened the north of the Yangtze River and conquered Yunnan and Guizhou in the west. The half of the country in my Ming Dynasty has been considered stable, only the southeast coast is not peaceful. The land subsidence in the southeast has always been on my mind. A thorn."

"At first, I didn't pay much attention to the Zheng family. They run rampant at sea, but they don't pose much threat on land. But now it seems that I really have to guard against it! If Zheng Zhilong is really deceived by lard If we want to seek refuge with the Manchu Tartars, I must kill this situation in its infancy."

Cao Huachun asked: "Your Majesty, what are you going to do?"

"Don't overdo it, lest the Zheng family will jump over the wall in a hurry. Cao Huachun, you send more staff from the West Factory to go south. On the surface, they are going to Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places to negotiate business, secretly monitor the Zheng family, and collect information. I will let Gong Yonggu sent Jinyiwei to assist."

"As for me, I have to go to Jiujiang to inspect my naval army of the Ming Dynasty!"

……

In late May, Emperor Luan drove out of Nanjing City, and traveled westward along the Yangtze River in the name of inspecting the defense of the Yangtze River, and then arrived at Jiujiang.

When Zuo Liangyu and his son rebelled, Huang Degong and Yuan Jixian defeated the Zuo army and captured many warships.

Li Cunming ordered the two of them to train the navy in Jiujiang. Later, Huang Degong led the troops to Wuchang, and the task of training the navy fell on Yuan Jixian's shoulders.

Yuan Jixian took Jiujiang officials out of the city to meet him, and Li Cunming held his hand and said, "Yuan Aiqing, you are quite strong, and you will grow stronger when you grow old!"

"I don't want to die before the Tartars are expelled!" Yuan Jixian said with a smile.

Li Cunming also laughed, and said, "Who do you think I brought you? Fu Aiqing, why don't you hurry up and see your teacher!"

Fu Shan hurried over, saluted Yuan Jixian, and said, "Student has seen his mentor, and we have been separated for several years. I never thought that there would be a chance to meet again..."

Teachers and students reunited after a long absence, and it was inevitable to ask questions about their health and well-being, and the joy was beyond words.

Li Cunming waited for them to talk to each other, and then said: "Yuan Aiqing, I came to Jiujiang this time to inspect the navy. Come on, take me to the navy barracks to have a look."

When we arrived at the riverside, we saw that the dock was full of warships of all sizes, with masts standing in great numbers, stretching for several miles.

Yuan Jixian introduced: "Your Majesty, the navy that I am practicing has more than 3 large and small warships and more than [-] soldiers. The warships are equipped with artillery and sufficient ammunition. The soldiers practice every day. Never slack off."

"Okay, very good!" Li Cunming nodded with satisfaction.

Yuan Jixian pointed to a huge warship and said, "Your Majesty, that is the Great Fortune Ship! When His Majesty passed through Jiujiang on the western expedition, he ordered his ministers to build the Great Fortune Ship. I found some materials left by Zheng He, and repeatedly explored with the craftsmen. , finally made it."

The Great Fortune Ship, the treasure ship that Zheng He sailed to the West, is the strongest wooden sailing ship produced by China in ancient times!
According to the description in "Wu Bei Zhi", the Dafu ship has three stories on the top, and there are guard boards beside it, protected by bamboos, erected like a wall, and its sails and masts are two.There are four layers.The lower layer is equipped with ballast stones, the third layer is used for fresh water tanks, and the second layer is where soldiers live.The uppermost floor is a terrace, which needs to be climbed up from the ladder on the third floor, with board wings on both sides as railings, people leaning on it to fight, arrows, rocks and cannons are all fired from a bird's eye view.It is indeed a weapon of naval warfare.

According to records, Dafu boats are generally 151 meters long and 61 meters wide, and can carry thousands of people. They are powered by hard sails, and the watertight cabin structure is anti-sinking.

In Zheng He's era, although the Dafu Ship was not the largest ship, there were even bigger ships in the West, but compared with the navigation capabilities, firepower, and fleet size, Zheng He's Dafu Ship was definitely the strongest at that time!
Of course, the larger the ship, the better. The ship is used for fighting or transportation, so it needs speed, cargo capacity, resistance strength, and firepower. Otherwise, it is possible to build a city on calm water with enough wood, but it cannot be sailed. The ocean, it is useless to go far.

With excitement, Li Cunming boarded the ship and took a closer look, seeing from the bow to the stern.I went down to the cabin again and saw the unique watertight compartment of the Dafu ship.

The so-called watertight compartment is to use watertight partitions to divide the cabin into mutually exclusive compartments, which makes the cabin a watertight compartment. Generally, there are 13 cabins, and there are also 8 cabins.

Because of the watertight cabin structure, the Dafu boat is more stable and larger, and the hard sail structure is easy to operate, so it can be used for sea-to-board battles.

Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, it is precisely because he owned the Dafu Ship that he was able to travel freely, and crushed all the way, greatly promoting the country's prestige!

It is a pity that because of the weakening of the Ming Dynasty's national power and the short-sightedness of the civil servants, the imperial court was asked to stop the long-distance voyage activities.Since then, the Dafu Ship has disappeared into the long river of history, and my country's shipbuilding technology has plummeted.

Being able to see the famous Dafu boat with his own eyes, Li Cunming was filled with emotion, standing on the bow of the boat and said: "Yuan Aiqing, let the soldiers practice, I want to see our navy of the Ming Dynasty brave the wind and waves!"

(End of this chapter)