I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 425: What qualifications do you have to be complacent?

Chapter 425

Li Zhixiang quickly drafted a memorial: "Your Majesty, Li Zhixiang has received a report that the Japanese pirates have harassed coastal towns in Shandong in recent days and killed many fishermen. Their methods are cruel and their crimes are heinous. I ask the supervisor to allow me to cross the sea again to attack Xiaoli. I will give you a small punishment." The Great Ring…”

This matter was immediately put for discussion by Cheng Shijie at a cabinet meeting.

Even if Sun Zhiwan didn't think with his head but with his knees, he knew that the Japanese pirates attacking the coastal areas of Shandong were nonsense. However, the problem was that before Sun Zhiwan had time to express his opinion, he immediately received reports from Liaodong and North Korea about the incident. It’s almost the same as what Li Zhixiang reported.

"Japanese pirates frequently attack North Korea and coastal islands, killing and plundering terribly. It is really intolerable. I beg the country to send troops to attack Japan and let the little life rest for a while!"

Probably feeling that the report was not weighty enough, King Li Zhu of North Korea arrived in Beijing in person and came to the cabinet meeting. He burst into tears and cried loudly, saying that the Japanese pirates came to them to kill people and set fires, which caused misery to North Korea. You must make the decision for me and help me kill those dwarves.

Of course, everyone is not a fool, especially the cabinet members. They simply believe that the Japanese pirates dared to come to the Ming Dynasty to kill people and set fires. If it were ten years ago, or even six years ago, the Japanese pirates would have had the courage and ability, but it is different now. No, they really don’t dare.

But the problem is that Cheng Shijie, the regent of the Ming Dynasty, faced this situation and directly issued an order: "The Governor of Annan, Shen Mingyu, took command, and the Navy Department dispatched the Fourth Fleet to join the Second Fleet to cooperate with the Governor of Annan in the expedition against Xiaoli. Punish!"

However, just after this order was issued, Yuan Zongdi asked Cheng Shijie to fight.

This guy was a bandit and had a fanatical interest in things like burning, killing and looting. But the problem is that after being adapted by Ning Haijun, he became the Ming Royal Army. Although it was the Ming Royal Army, the Ning Haijun who changed his military name was still Ning Haijun, Military Discipline just changed its name.

Yuan Zongdi did not dare to violate military discipline. It would be so interesting to go to Xiaori territory to kill people and set fires. He proposed that [-] reform-through-labor prisoners could be selected from the labor camps and go on an expedition with Governor Shen.

Cheng Shijie thought for a moment and agreed to Yuan Zongdi's application.

Shen Mingyu was overjoyed when he received the order. Because he had cuckolded Emperor Chongzhen, Shen Mingyu was actually very scared. During this period, he was really afraid that Cheng Shijie would order him to wash his neck and wait for death.However, the problem was that instead of being ordered to wash his neck and wait to die, he was given an order to conquer Xiaozhi.

Shen Mingyu immediately ordered the Annan Army Corps from the Annan Governor's Mansion. In order to show fairness, this good fortune did not allocate a brigade as a whole, but transferred a regiment from each Annan Army Corps, totaling more than 1 troops. Shen Mingyu Before they set off, Yuan Zongdi led his men and horses to join him. A total of 2 men and horses were divided into more than 200 ships. They went straight to Xiaotian, killing people, setting fires, and capturing young men.

In this expedition, Shen Mingyu only brought 36 three-inch cannons. As for the four-inch cannons and five-inch cannons, he did not bring them at all. In his eyes, he should not have the ability and courage to fight against the Ming Dynasty army in the field.Although it did not carry heavy artillery, it did carry more than [-] rocket launchers.

Presumably, these rocket launchers are very filling, enough to drink a bottle in a small day.

In fact, during the founding period of the Ming Dynasty, the army was not a consumption department, nor a burden to the country, but the pillar of the country.

The garrison system established by Zhu Yuanzhang allowed the country to farm in its spare time and serve as soldiers in wartime. Not only did it not require the state to bear the burden of money and food, but it could also provide food for the country. The land occupied by the garrison garrison in the Ming Dynasty peaked at [-] million acres, which is equivalent to A quarter of the entire Ming Dynasty.

However, as time went by, the number of military households increased, and the taxes became heavier and heavier. In addition, the gentry officials used their power to invade and occupy the military fields of the guards. Counting the original Dengzhou Guards, the Dengzhou Guards were established. At the beginning, a guard soldier could own an average of more than 150 acres of land. By the time Cheng Shijie accepted Zuo Qianhu, the average Dengzhou guard owned less than six acres of cultivated land. In addition to the increase in population, a large amount of land had been occupied, and military households had also become relieved the burden of Ming Dynasty.

But Cheng Shijie is different. He supports a large number of troops, and these troops can make money. Of course, this money is made through war.

Now the Ming Dynasty has suffered a lot of losses due to the plague. As long as vegetables, grains, and meat have been eaten by rats, they can no longer be eaten or used as feed. They can only be destroyed, causing huge losses.

Especially during the rat-catching operation, 3000 to [-] million people were catching rats throughout Beizhili, western and eastern Liaoning, Shandong, and Henan. A large amount of food and money were consumed every day, and medicines were consumed very quickly.

In this case, the only way to divert Ming's losses was through war.

In addition to letting Shen Ming attack Xiaori, of course, Xiaori is actually very poor now and doesn't have much food, but Xiaori has money. Cheng Shijie is going to use the silver from Xiaori to crash the food market in Jiangnan.

As for the food needed by the Ming Dynasty, it was mobilized from Dayuan and Luzon. However, Luzon was too small and the food was limited. Liu Qingsong found that he could not gather enough food at all. In order to complete the task, he had to set his sights on The Southern Monkey Kingdom is separated by a sea.

This is tantamount to doing the work that Shen Mingyu will do in the future. The Luzon Army has also mobilized more than [-] troops. These strong soldiers who can be experienced through the Luzon Monkey Farm are suitable for jungle and tropical environments. Have sufficient experience.

More than 20 Luzon troops fiercely attacked Nan'an. They went directly upstream from the Red River and attacked Thang Long City directly. They used more than 200 Sea Wolf-class warships, more than 100 naval guns, and more than [-] six-mounted rocket launchers. , fired fierce artillery fire at Shenglong City, kicking off the attack on Shenglong City, and the entire Shenglong City trembled in the roar of the God of War.

The artillery shells hit the fortifications of the Southern Monkey Army like hail, and the city and outside were covered with flames. The city wall collapsed in the loud explosion, and the fortress turned into a sea of ​​fire. The Southern Monkey Army defending the city was screaming and running with their liver and gallbladder broken. Crazy.

The rocket launchers also made a terrible whistling sound. More than 100 rocket launcher shells were fired in a group, one after another, soaring into the sky in the eruption of smoke and flames, pulling out a dazzling arc and plunging into Thang Long City, followed by a violent thunderstorm. With intensive terrifying roars, houses were razed to the ground, trees were either uprooted, or the crowns of the trees ignited fire and turned into a large torch.

For the Southern Monkey Army, these rocket launchers are even more terrifying than naval guns. No matter how powerful the naval gun shells are, they can only hit a small area, but this thing covers a large area. Even if it is not killed on the spot, it will be caused by the explosion. The fire burned it to ashes!
The bamboo-wood structure houses in Thang Long City were instantly ignited, turning into a sea of ​​flames. Unknown how many soldiers and civilians of Thang Long City were trapped in the fire, shouting and wailing in despair.

In just half an hour of shelling, Thang Long City suffered heavy losses.

At this time, Li Weiqi, the Southern Monkey Emperor, finally reacted and sent envoys to ask the Luzon army why they wanted to attack them.

Liu Qingsong said that it was the Southern Monkey fishermen who attacked the Luzon fishermen, and they came to investigate.

Li Weiqi didn't know whether this was true or not, but the truth or falsehood was no longer important. He had to think about the aftermath. After seeing that the Luzon Army had such a strong combat effectiveness, he suddenly had an idea.

The current South Monkey is during the third war between Zheng and Nguyen. The Zheng family, supported by Dutch artillery, almost broke through Thang Long City. Facing the aggressive Zheng family, they could only parry but had no power to fight back.

The intervention of Lu Song's army gave him hope of defeating the Zheng family.

During the negotiations between the two parties, Liu Qingsong didn't care about the intrigue between them at all. What he wanted was food.

Li Weiqi breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that Liu Qingsong wanted food.

When it comes to gold and silver, he really doesn't have much in his hands, and some of it is donated to Buddhism. However, food is not a precious thing in Nanhou. There is no need to cultivate anything, just like cutting leeks. When the rice is ripe, it is cut in the fields. The remaining rice is the seeds, which will mature in two or three months.

If the people of the Ming Dynasty knew that Nanhou farmed so much, they would probably cry to death in the toilet. They worked so hard that it was difficult to have a full meal all year round. However, Nanhou guarded such fertile soil and did not have to farm at all. They The environment here is better than in Luzon.

Therefore, Li Weiqi hoped to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and, with the help of the Ming Dynasty, attack the rebel Zheng family. Naturally, Liu Qingsong could not make the decision in this matter, but it did not prevent him from blackmailing Nanhou.Liu Qingsong offered to introduce their envoys to Li Weiqi, so the Li Dynasty was responsible for providing 300 million stones of grain, and they would raise these 300 million stones of grain.

Liu Qingsong easily completed the tasks assigned by Cheng Shijie.

At this time, the Tokugawa shogunate, who had been robbed by the Ming army but could not avenge it once, was pleasantly surprised to find that the Ming army was fighting again. This time they had a chance to take revenge!Of course, it was just a chance to take revenge. They soon discovered that they had a chance to take revenge, but there was no hope of success...

Facing the powerful Ming army, the Japanese army had almost no hope of successful revenge.The Royal Army of the Ming Dynasty and the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty were already well-equipped and disciplined, and their tactics were far ahead of any opponents. After a war that almost destroyed the country, the Ming Dynasty carried out a comprehensive reform, and the military reform was as first priority.

All the constraints placed on the army by civil servants in the past have now been swept away. The new Ming army has regained its freedom and can roar to its heart's content and pounce on any prey they fancy.

When there were constraints from civil servants, the new army of the Ming Dynasty defeated all the invincible opponents in the world. Now that these constraints have disappeared, who else is their opponent?

Not to mention those Japanese dwarfs, even Europe, which gradually became stronger after the Renaissance and gradually surpassed Asia in equipment and tactics, was far from their opponent.When the Ming army landed in the coastal city of Xiaori, the daimyo of Xiaori soon discovered that they seemed to have no other choice but to be slaughtered and escape.

What Liu Qingsong didn't expect was that he had just received tens of thousands of stones of grain from the Ruan family of the Southern Monkey. When he was preparing to mobilize more ships to transport the grain, Zheng's master Zheng Jie sent someone to contact Liu Qingsong to express that their Zheng family was also willing. Proclaimed himself a vassal to Ming Dynasty and gained Ming Dynasty's support.

……

Hejian Mansion, Mozhou.

This is the most serious epidemic area after Beijing. Fortunately, Beijing has received the greatest attention and immediately started to clean up the rat infestation. In particular, the government exchanged the plague-contaminated grain for the people, and it was of the same quality. The people will not suffer a loss. In this case, the source of rat infection has been well controlled.

Because this time is not the most serious time, it is easier to control. However, Mozhou, located in Hejian Prefecture, has become the largest epidemic area.

The original war did not spread to Mozhou in the river, so there were many people fleeing from Shuntian Prefecture and Yongping Prefecture. The large number of people here, and the people's lack of attention to hygiene, created a good environment for the breeding of rats. .

On April [-], the first year of reform, Cheng Shijie arrived in Mozhou.

"Meet the king!"

"Qingyun, thank you for your hard work!"

Cheng Shijie was about to head towards the epidemic area.

However, Yang Qingyun blocked Cheng Shijie and said: "Your Majesty, you can't go there!"

Yang Qingyun's attitude is very determined.

"Qingyun, you should know that the source of plague is rats!"

"But it cannot be ruled out!"

Yang Qingyun said: "There are more than 6000 patients here, including more than [-] severe patients!"

"How many people have died?"

"There are more than 400 people!"

Cheng Shijie sighed and said, "This is a big deal!"

There was no way, Cheng Shijie was blocked from the epidemic area by the ministers. If Cheng Shijie insisted on going, they would die. Cheng Shijie also knew that he had actually been there and could not do anything. He was not a doctor or an expert in epidemic prevention.

When he returned to the capital, Cheng Shijie wanted to hold a meeting. This time the plague also exposed the current problems of the Ming Dynasty. There were too few doctors. Some counties even had only three or four doctors. These doctors also included barefoot doctors or orthopedic doctors. .

Cheng Shijie was thinking about whether to take out the manual for barefoot doctors from later generations. At this moment, Hou Si came in with a basket and uncovered the cloth covering it, revealing a pile of dark, metallic stones.

Cheng Shijie was too familiar with this kind of thing. He was a professional in steelmaking at Hansteel Group. When Sun Zhidao picked up a piece, he felt it was heavy in his hand. When the two stones touched, they made a clanging sound.

Sun Zhidao exclaimed in surprise: "Is this pig iron!?"

"You guessed it, it's pig iron. But it's not smelted in a blast furnace, but picked up in the mine."

Cheng Shijie suddenly remembered that he had sent an expedition team to look for Australia.

"Could it be that the expedition team is back?"

"Some of them came back. To be precise, only three of the fifteen expedition ships came back, and twelve of them encountered a storm!"

Cheng Shijie was speechless. The risks of immature ocean routes are much greater now than in future generations.However, he did not give up on this situation.

The Ming Dynasty is not short of iron, but it is short of refined iron.

Cheng Shijie said calmly: "We have always boasted that our land is vast and rich in resources, but let's go out and take a look. Other people's iron ore slag is much stronger than our selected ore. What qualifications do we have to boast of being rich in land and resources! They The rotten land that we absolutely despise is a hundred times better than the agricultural reclamation area that we carefully manage. Who do we have to be complacent! If we don’t take advantage of the fact that the population of Xiyi is still small and don’t want those good places to seize those lands, we will have to wait until they make a decision. Do you want to fight for it only when you are determined to develop overseas territories?"

Sun Zhili looked at the ore in his hand, which was similar to pig iron, with a green light in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)