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

Chapter 473 Survival from desperate situation with support from Ming Dynasty

Chapter 502

The naval construction of the Ming Dynasty once came to a standstill due to the emergence of the fire ox, that is, the steam engine.

However, after consulting later information, it was discovered that the steam engine was actually invented by French physicist Denis Pabon in the seventeenth century (1679), and Thomas Seville in 1698 and Thomas New in 1712. Komen manufactured early industrial steam engines, and in 1814, Stephenson developed the first steam locomotive.

Of course, this is a Western historical record. According to the historical records of the Ming Dynasty, the earliest mention of steam engines was in the 1559th year of Jiajing ().

"A woman sits deeper on a small boat, without the need for a paddle or a canopy. She can cross the river in a hurry, and her anger will spurt the attackers."

The boat in this poem does not need rocking or sails. It can cross the river on its own. It can also cross the river very quickly, and it also sprays steam, which is very powerful. Those who encounter this gas are in danger.

此载于《唐荆川纂编武编》，这是一部兵书，明代唐顺之（1507年11月9日-1560年4月25日）编。

In addition, there are Wang Zheng's "The Fire Ship Goes on Its Own" and Wang Yuanchun's Dharma Chariot: "The method of stimulating the rotation of a copper wheel and adding fire and vapor is called the Dharma Chariot."

The shadow of the steam engine can be seen to some extent, and it is not an isolated evidence. Due to the limitations of classical Chinese, it cannot be described in detail like the vernacular. It can be basically inferred that the prototype of the steam engine was roughly in the Ming Dynasty.

Even according to Western historical data, the time span from the invention of the steam engine to the appearance of the world's first steam engine ship was more than a hundred years.

It will take more than a hundred years to enter the era of iron-clad steamships, and Cheng Shijie no longer insists on it. There is still a long way to go from steam engines as the driving force of ships. Just like the fire ox, as a kind of machinery in the Ming Dynasty, is now widely used. It is used in various fields, and there are more and more derivative versions. Even without your own intervention, steam engines and ships will appear.

Under this circumstance, Ming Dynasty's naval development began to accelerate again. Lushun Shipyard, Jinzhou Shipyard, Dengzhou Shipyard, Fujian Shipyard, Shanghai Shipyard and Jiangnan Shipyard started construction at the same time, and started building 48 ships at one time. For the Jusha class, except for the Lushun and Jinzhou shipyards, which are technologically mature, the other four shipyards are not technologically mature enough.

The construction took as long as six and a half months. However, since then, the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding speed has skyrocketed. Due to the increase in the number of warships, Cheng Shijie is preparing to expand the original four fleets to nine fleets. The temporary fleets located in Zhanzhou and Xinming The fleet was expanded to a formal establishment.

At the same time, Cheng Shijie is preparing to establish three ocean-going fleets, namely the Pacific Fleet, the Atlantic Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet. It seems that these fleets are very scattered and are not conducive to the rapid concentration of forces.

In fact, it was enough for the Ming Dynasty. The biggest opponents of the Ming Dynasty were the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company. These two countries in the name of companies were not rivals of the Ming Dynasty navy at all. As for the Indian Ocean Fleet, it is stationed in Ceylon, which is an overseas territory captured by Li Zhixiang.

Originally there was no foothold for the Ming Dynasty in Europe, but now there is. Venice is willing to cede half of Crete to the Ming Dynasty, so the Ming Dynasty has enough foothold. As for the Americas, no one's consent is needed there. Spain People who use teeth don't dare to say a word "no".

Since the Ming Dynasty began to get involved in large-scale navigation, it has achieved rich results, and more and more people have a strong awareness of maritime rights. It can be said that the Ming Dynasty’s caravans contributed 90% of the Ming Dynasty’s current tax revenue. Cheng Shijie is prepared to Leave the gift to his son Cheng Jialong. If Cheng Jialong ascends the throne in the future, he will announce that Ming Dynasty will be exempted from agricultural tax and corvee, and only personal income tax will be retained.

Then, Cheng Jialong can at least get the title of a benevolent king or a wise king. Cheng Shijie's current interference in Europe is actually to test the attitudes of European countries.

Why do business when you can rob? Since they dared to do the first year of junior high school, Cheng Shijie naturally dared to do the fifteenth grade.

As Cheng Shijie's order was issued, Li Xin, who was in charge of foreign affairs, brought an interpreter to meet with Elminster, the representative of the French Far East Trading Company, Guy, the representative of the Portuguese Far East Trading Group, Francisco, the Spanish ambassador to the Ming Dynasty, and the Governor of the British East India Company. Davis and the Far Eastern Trade Representative of the Holy Roman Empire.

As the representatives arrived one after another, and after three drinks, Li Xin finally spoke of the purpose of his trip: "Everyone, I know that there have been some frictions between Venice and other countries before. I hope that we can forget those unpleasantnesses as soon as possible. After all, None of us want things to get to the point where neither of us can control it.”

Elminster smiled slightly and said: "Master Li, we in France have always wanted to maintain friendly relations with Venice. Unfortunately, it seems that some people in Venice do not think so. If you understand the situation, you will know that most of the responsibility for the current situation is They are all in Venice, it’s not that we in France are deliberately causing trouble..."

Siegfried, who followed Li Xin, heard what the translator said and immediately retorted: "You are talking nonsense..."

Li Xin raised his hand and said calmly: "The City-State Republic of Venice is our Ming Dynasty's closest ally in Europe. It is absolutely impossible for our Ming Dynasty to sit back and watch our allies suffer disaster. Gentlemen, let's face reality!"

"What does it mean to face reality?"

Davis felt something was wrong.

Li Xindao: "The reality now is that the regent of Ming Dynasty is very angry about this. If you are willing, we can sit down together and discuss how to solve the problem in Venice."

The representatives were silent.

Li Xin then smiled and said: "It seems that your attitude speaks for itself. Ming Dynasty can treat you as if you disagree, so you must be prepared for a protracted war. More than thirty years ago, Ming Dynasty was extremely difficult, facing the small I believe that an army of more than 200,000 will invade our Ming Dynasty's vassal state of Korea, and the Ming Dynasty will spare no effort to send troops. I hope you will take care of yourself!"

Davis asked: "Is this a threat from the Ming Empire?"

"However, it's not!"

Li Xin looked at the representatives and smiled lightly: "There is no possibility of relaxation between the Ming Empire and the Ming Royal Army and Royal Navy. The war will break out tomorrow. You can leave Ming on your own. Ming will not make things difficult for you. Ming is a country of etiquette. !”

"Wait, Master Li!"

Elminster said hurriedly: "We can talk!"

Li Xin pointed out: "This representative of Venice..."

"Siegfried Elizzo, Consul Francesco Elizzo is my father!"

Siegfried said: "I can negotiate with you on behalf of Venice!"

…     War is inhumane and unscrupulous. As the Battle of Venice in Europe entered a fierce stage, a large number of Venetian merchant ships were seized by various countries.

To be precise, these were all non-war personnel. However, these non-war personnel were collectively taken to the front line on Crete Island. At least two thousand Venetians were tied up hand and foot to serve as human shields.

Crete is the crown of the Venetian city-state. In order to defend this island, which has a total area of ​​only more than 8,000 square kilometers, the Venetians have lost more than 6,000 people.

If placed in other countries, more than 6,000 people died in battle, which would be within an acceptable range. However, the problem is that Venice is too small. Even if it learns the development methods of the Ming Dynasty, immigrants from the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies expand the population. With more than one million people, Venice was still a small place compared to the Ottoman Empire.

What's more, now all of Europe, except for the Spanish Empire, is almost attacking Venice. They are either attacking Venetian merchant ships, directly attacking Venice itself, or attacking Crete together with the Ottoman Empire. island.

The Ottomans' desire for territory had no limits. Crete was so strategically important and rich, so it was naturally the best target for the Ottomans to snatch.

More than two hundred years of war between the Venetians and the Ottomans broke out. The Venetians relied on their excellent navy to suppress the Ottomans in the Mediterranean again and again. However, the powerful national power of the Ottomans made the Venetians feel like they were rolling down the mountains. of despair fighting against the boulders.

Venice won countless victories, but they were never able to break the Ottomans' muscles and bones, and the Ottomans made them heartbroken time and time again.

Sixty years ago, the combined fleets of Venice, Spain and the Pope defeated the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Lepanto and achieved a great victory. However, this war was based on Venice paying the Ottomans 300,000 gold coins. After the compensation was over, although the Venetians were very rich, such a huge sum of money really made them feel pain.

Therefore, in the past few decades, Venice has been strengthening its armaments and developing new weapons and warships to avoid the recurrence of the tragedy sixty years ago.

Through the artillery and rocket launchers purchased from Daming, and the "Daming-class" battleships produced in conjunction with Daming, of course the so-called Daming-class battleships are actually the foreign trade version of the Daming Haisha-class battleships, adopting the same setting and construction style as the Haisha-class battleships , which is different from the Ming Dynasty in that a steel ram is installed at the bow.

The Ming Dynasty did not need this device, because the Ming Dynasty's navy did not fight by joining gangs, and the Venetians often had to face raids by pirates. Using warships to ram the opponent's pirate ships was a more economical way of combat.

The advantage in equipment was made up for by the Ottomans' absolute advantage in numbers. They even attracted countries such as Great Britain, the Netherlands, and France.

The busiest thing in Venice now is their diplomats, who are actively looking for allies. What makes him despair is that it seems that the whole of Europe has become Venice's enemy. No matter how hard he tries, he can't find a reliable ally!

The most powerful countries in Europe are attacking them. Even the city-states on the Italian peninsula who share the same culture and race are fighting against them, even harder than the Ottomans!

Europeans accused Venice of forgetting the terror of the Mongols and providing the damn Ming Dynasty with Europe's most advanced navigation technology, which enabled the Ming Dynasty to sail out to sea and seize a large number of European colonies, which seriously damaged the interests of the Europeans. They wanted to Venetians pay the price!

Consul Francesco Elizzo was also very speechless. In fact, the Venetians learned warships and navigation technology with larger loading capacity, faster speed, and safer from the Ming Dynasty.

But the problem is, if the wolf wants to eat the sheep, why worry about not having an excuse? In the words of the Ming Dynasty, if you want to impose a crime, there is no need to hesitate! Francesco Elizzo finally saw through it. In recent years, through trade with the Ming Dynasty, Venice's wealth has grown like a snowball, poaching a large piece of the pie from the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch, and also attracted these three people. The hatred of a country.

The civil war in Britain needs a target to divert people's attention, and it is best to obtain a large indemnity from Venice to improve its financial situation; France's cunning Prime Minister Richelieu is worried about the increasing naval strength of Venice. Venice dominates the Mediterranean...

As for the city-states in Italy, they simply do not want Venice to continue to grow and have the strength to unify Italy. In short, every country and every force has its own interests and demands, and every force hopes to take a big bite out of Venice. A piece of meat!

Consul Francesco Elizzo was almost desperate. Even if he cut the entire Venice into pieces and sent them away, he still wouldn't be able to feed these evil wolves. In desperation, he thought of Catherine and immediately wrote to her. After writing two letters, the countess, who had a good personal relationship with the emperor of the Ming Empire, came forward to mediate and asked the Ming Emperor to send troops to support Venice. Venice was willing to become an overseas vassal of the Ming Dynasty!

It has been several months since the letter was sent out, and it seems like it has disappeared into the sea, with no response, and the war has become more and more tragic. Consul Francesco Elizzo ordered the abandonment of some overseas territories that could not be defended, and reduced the number of troops to stick to core areas such as the mainland and Crete, waiting for reinforcements.

Francesco Elizzo firmly believed that Catherine, who was shrewd and capable with outstanding appearance and temperament, could exert a huge influence in Ming Dynasty and draw Ming Dynasty's attention to Europe.

This is a behemoth bigger than the whole of Europe combined. If he can come to Venice's side, even if it is just verbal support, it can greatly improve Venice's situation!

It’s just...how long will it take to get a response?

Lord Greco of Candia and Catherine's clan brother, wearing plate armor, stood at the port of Rethymnon and looked into the distance, silent.

In the port, eighteen scarred battleships were moored there. The most seriously injured ship even had its main mast broken, and it was a mess. The black muzzles of the three-inch naval guns on the bow and sides were firing high. , like an eye glaring only towards the Aegean Sea. In the past year-long war, these giant guns turned countless enemy ships into fireballs, causing the Ottomans, French, British, Dutch, Portuguese, Genoese, and Neapolitans to... Those who had to face its wrath were terrified.

It was precisely because of the superiority of naval guns that Venice was able to sustain itself in this war of great disparity and did not show premature defeat. But the situation is deteriorating rapidly. It cannot be changed by one or two weapons. Even the most powerful naval gun is useless!

Now they were running out of artillery shells, and to make matters worse, there were now more than two thousand Venetian merchants and their families, being used as human shields to stand in front of the Ottomans.

Facing their compatriots and relatives, they simply did not dare to open fire.

Facing the Ottomans getting closer and closer, there were also the prisoners.

Count Greco shouted: "The Venetians will never be slaves and will fight to the death!"

"Family, you protect us in heaven, we are with you!"

"Fight to the death!"

A desperate and tragic atmosphere permeated the entire port. Whether it was the Venetian navy or sailors, whether they were generals or soldiers, they all gritted their teeth, wrapped their hands and weapons with cloth strips, and prepared to fight to the death.

Count Greco shouted: "Shoot out all the cannonballs, bombard the Ottomans, use up the cannonballs, set all the warships on fire, prepare for the final decisive battle... prepare to fire..."

At this moment, the Ottomans suddenly stopped their attack, and several Ottomans holding white flags walked towards the port.

"What the hell are they doing?"

(End of this chapter)