Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 432
The Dutch were mainly active in Taiwan and rarely in Guangdong. The Guangdong navy, including Wang Yan, did not know the Dutch very well.

Shi Lang turned out to be a member of the Zheng family, and the Zheng family had many contacts with the Dutch, so he had seen the Dutch and had a better understanding of the Dutch's combat power.

After hearing Wang Yan's words, he immediately explained: "Reporting to the Duke, if Heyi is on land, with the tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Guangnan, it will be as easy as wiping the dust with his sleeves. However, Heyi relies on artillery Even if the Ming Dynasty had [-] soldiers, it would not be able to go to sea to catch him, but the warships of the Guangdong Navy are far inferior to those of the Heyi, so the general will not have the will to win."

The tonnage of naval ships of the Ming Dynasty gradually decreased after the sea ban. The main force of the naval warships of the early Ming Dynasty was about [-] materials, which is more than [-] tons. Zheng He’s treasure ships were tens of thousands Some Western scholars believed that it reached [-] tons, but by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the main warships had degenerated to less than [-] tons, and the tonnage was less than [-] tons.

At this time, the main battleship among the Western sailing ships began to move towards the thousand-ton class. Wang Yan also read some memorials about Xiyi, but after all, he had never seen it with his own eyes, so he didn't know where the gap was.

The Han people call Huaxia China, and they regard China as the world. Outside the Han land, they call it Hu, Lu, Di, Yi, Rong, and Man. The reason for such derogatory names is naturally because of the advanced and powerful Han culture and civilization. Only the advanced are qualified to despise the backward. As a scholar-bureaucrat, Wang Yan naturally has strong confidence in his own culture and civilization. Although he recognizes some of Xiyi's advantages and intends to absorb them, he still despises Xiyi in his heart, so he frowns Asked: "How much better is He Yi's warship than Navy's warship?"

While leading Wang Yan to the camp, Shi Lang said, "Duke, in naval battles, it's just about using a big boat to defeat a small boat, and using a big blunderbuss to defeat a small blunderbuss; He Yi and I, Da Ming, have fought against each other twice before, and the reason why he was defeated by Da Ming was not because his ship was weak or his weapons were not good, but because Da Ming had many ships, while He Yi had few people and few ships."

Wang Yan nodded. In the battle of Penghu, Nan Juyi, governor of Fujian Province, used 1000 people to fight against more than 150 Dutch barbarians. It is expected that Luowan Zheng Zhilong used 60 warships to fight over [-] Dutch barbarians and pirate ships.

Shi Lang continued: "When the last general was in Fujian, he saw Heyi warships in the Fujian Sea. The captain was more than 60 feet long, several feet high, with two decks, and more than [-] cannons lined up beside the ship, totaling more than [-] ships. The guns can shoot four or five miles, and the fishing boats will be smashed immediately when hit. The largest naval warship of ours is no more than thirteen feet long, four feet wide, and equipped with thirty guns. The size and artillery are only half of those of He Yi. The Qi boat is narrow and long, while the Fu boat is wide, which is not conducive to riding the wind and waves, and its speed is also slower, so if you stay close to the Guangdong navy, you will think that your chances of winning are not great.”

Wang Yan stopped and said in surprise, "Is the gap that big?"

Shi Lang said: "It may be more serious than what the general said. Above the sea, the Zheng family has always ruled the world. The court didn't pay much attention to the Guangdong navy before. The current navy only started after the Duke entered Guangdong. Most of the ships were warships transformed from merchant ships brought from the south of the Yangtze River, and the navy's artillery, except for a batch purchased from Macau, was old and could not be reused."

Speaking of this, I have come back to the old question. In the final analysis, Nanming still has no money. With the government's finances, the supply of the Lu division is guaranteed, so there is no surplus money to develop the navy.

The only time the Guangdong navy added new guns and new ships was before Wang Yan entered Chu, and in the past year, they have never added any new property.

Wanting to understand the unspeakable secret of the navy, Wang Yan couldn't help sighing, "It seems that the imperial court decided to go to war, which is a bit reckless."

"Duke, isn't the imperial court planning to contact the Portuguese to fight He Yi together?" Yu Fangqi, who had been silent on the side, saw that Wang Yan was a little disappointed, and quickly said that, unlike Shi Lang's opinion, he was trying his best to fight.

Wang Yan shook his head, "This time, the governor went to Macau on the way. He originally wanted to discuss with Portugal about dealing with Heyi, but after hearing General Shi's words and knowing the real situation of the Guangdong Navy, the governor did not plan to join forces with Portugal for the time being."

"Why is this?"

"In the past, the Song and Jin sea alliances agreed to jointly attack Liao. The Jin army won all the way, but Song was defeated by Liao's partial division. The Jin people saw the incompetence of the Song army and felt ashamed of Jingkang." Wang Yan looked at Yu Fangqi, Explained: "In the eyes of the governor, Portugal and Heyi are the same breed, but the Portuguese are more disciplined than Heyi, so the imperial court is willing to trade with Portugal. This time the imperial court intends to unite with the Guangdong water The division is the main one, and the Portuguese are the assistants, but if the navy itself is not good enough, there will be many hidden dangers for the Portuguese to see the joke."

Yu Fangqi was slightly taken aback when he heard this, but Shi Lang clasped his fists and said, "Guo Gong, in fact, the training of the Guangdong Navy has been in place. The artillery configuration is almost the same as the Heyi ship. If the navy can have this kind of warship and equipped with excellent artillery, the navy can fight without the Portuguese."

"Oh?" Wang Yan asked happily: "As long as there is such a warship, General Shi is sure?"

"Returning to the Duke, the Heyi came from thousands of miles away. There are not many people in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The main reason is that the boats are fast and the guns are good. My manpower is far from that of the Heyi. As long as we have the same warships and artillery, plus the strength of the troops There is no reason why you can't win if you attack with an absolute advantage of several times."

Wang Yan came to understand that fast boats are like cavalry on the sea, while Heyi's boats are not only fast but also have many cannons. It can be said that they combine the speed of light cavalry and the power of heavy cavalry. Imagine Wang Yan's hope for cavalry, he can't It's hard to see the navy's covetousness for the Heyi warship.

For a while, Wang Yan became very interested in the Dutch-Yi warship imitated by the Zheng family.

In fact, the ships of the Ming Dynasty were not bad at all. It was only after the sea ban was implemented that they gradually declined. According to legend, according to the records of "Shuyu Zhouzilu", the archives of the Sanbao eunuch's voyages to the West, including nautical charts and treasure ships, were originally stored in the Ministry of War. However, during the Chenghua period of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, an eunuch asked the emperor to send someone to go to the West again. The emperor was moved and sent officials to check the old files, but they couldn't find them after three days. Liu Daxia hid in advance.

It is also said that Liu Daxia felt that the Sanbao eunuch's voyage to the West was a waste of people's money and was not beneficial to the country, so he burned the materials together.

Wang Yan thought, to defeat the Heyi, the Ming Dynasty must have larger and stronger sea ships than the Heyi, but with the degradation of the shipbuilding technology of the Ming Dynasty, it is difficult to build a thousand-ton ship, let alone a treasure ship. .

Wang Yan heard that the Zheng family had the same big boat as He Yi, and his heart suddenly moved. It doesn't matter if they can't build a bigger boat. The same boat can also be used. With Daming's manpower and material resources, He Yi has one, and Daming can do it. Exploding ten ships out, ten against one, there is no reason why they cannot be defeated.

Of course, to build a ship, Wang Yan first needs money, blueprints, and craftsmen.

"After Zheng Guo's surname experienced the change in central Fujian, he lost a lot of strength. Although he took advantage of the unpreparedness of the Qing army and robbed a batch of grain and grass supplies from Quanzhou and Anping, it also attracted the attention of Zhang Cunren, so he could only stick to Jinmen. Don't dare to move lightly." Wang Yan said: "The imperial court called him to report to the court this time when the new year opened, but he only had the memorandum to come, which shows that the situation is quite tense. This time, when we are dealing with the Dutch, we didn't want to send him to join the war. The general said so, but the governor is going to change his mind."

(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone. Thanks to yeye for the monthly pass, and to Yuedong Woxin, Qin Songwang, and Yun Piaopiao for their rewards.)
(End of this chapter)