Yu Zhigao's face turned red, but he couldn't say anything to excuse himself. In the end, he could only hope for Ai Ai's defense: "It's just some sea tankers, who don't admire the prestige of the court, but are accompanied by thieves. This generation is not satisfied with Wang Hua and was bought by Zheng Thief Xiaoen Xiaohui, so he is willing to help the thief, it is not the fault of the court sailor. ”

Zhu Youzhen's eyes were fixed on Yu Zhigao for a long time, and it was not until he lowered his head that he said coldly: "As an officer and soldier of the imperial court, he can't get the support of the people of the Ming Dynasty on the land of the Ming Dynasty, isn't this a shame for the army?" ”

Yu Zhigao finally didn't dare to continue to defend himself, and got up to confess to Chongzhen, explaining his sin of lax management of the army.

Zhu Youzhen himself did not deliberately summon Yu Zhigao to Beijing to ask for the guilt, but just said a few words to him lightly, and bypassed this topic.

Then Zhu Youzhen continued: "If you want to rebuild the water division, you must have someone. The fishermen in Fujian, who are familiar with the water, are basically interested in the Eighteen Zhi Pirate Group. I want to ask General Yu Zongbing, do you plan to rely on a group of inland landlubbers to rebuild the Fujian Navy, or recruit a group of Fujian fishermen who are full of resentment against the imperial court? Are you training sailors for the imperial court? Or is it training reserve troops for Zheng Zhilong? ”

Yu Zhigao was silent, Xu Xinsu, who had never dared to speak out, saw that Yu Zhigao was about to give in to Chongzhen, and finally couldn't help but interject and said, "But Your Majesty, Fujian is the starting point of overseas trade, if Your Majesty gives up the sailors of Fujian, then it is equivalent to giving the financial resources of overseas trade to others..."

"Bold, in front of Your Majesty, do you have the qualifications to interject indiscriminately?" Wang Chengen immediately stepped forward and reprimanded Xu Xinsu.

Xu Xinsu's face was red and speechless when he was reprimanded, Zhu Youzhen raised his hand to stop Wang Chengen, but nodded at Xu Xinsu and said: "Wang Companion doesn't have to be like this, let Xu General continue, I summoned them to the capital, didn't I just want to hear some truth?" ”

Xu Xinsu took a turn and continued: "The establishment of a sailor not only requires skilled sailors, but also requires a lot of wealth to build the combat equipment of ships at sea. Giving up Fujian, a source of overseas wealth, he thought that other parts of the Ming Dynasty might not be able to have enough wealth to build a powerful sailor. ”

Zhu Youzhen did not object to Xu Xinsu's words, he looked at the officer who was born in the maritime merchant and said: "I have no objection to your statement, the battle at sea is nothing more than the victory of a big ship over a small ship, and the victory of an organized ship over an unorganized. Of course, I think the most important thing is that the ship is strong and the guns are sharp. ”

Xu Xinsu suddenly said in surprise: "Your Majesty's big ship is better than a small boat, it is really in one sentence, and it exhausts the essence of naval warfare. However, when it comes to this gun, His Majesty is probably misled.

Whether it is my Fujian Navy Division or Zheng Zhilong's fleet, they all use No. 1 and No. 2 Fu ships as the main warships. The largest warship of our Fujian Navy Division, tree three masts, the main mast is 4 zhang high, the length of the ship is 17 zhang, the cabin is three floors, the ship is as high as a city, can accommodate 120 people, and is equipped with firearms such as 1 Dafa tribute, 6 big Buddha wolf machines, 3 bowl-mouth guns, 60 spray cans, and 10 bird's beak guns.

Dafa tribute is a large artillery gun improved on the basis of the Franc machine gun, cast in copper, about 500 catties, the charge is 4 catties, and the projectile fired weighs four catties. However, the vibration during the launch was too large, and it was easy to crack the ship's plank, so it could not be launched directly on the Fukuship, and it had to be placed on a special raft for loading and launching during wartime.

If the wind and waves are fierce during the battle, it is often not used in combat, and the slightest mistake in the gunner's operation may cause the raft to capsize. Therefore, the officers and men of the naval division were not willing to use artillery to fight.

The Big Buddha wolf weighs between 150-200 pounds, the charge is 4-5 taels, and the projectile is 4-5 taels, although it can reach far, but it does little damage to the enemy ship, and can only kill and injure the personnel on board.

Therefore, in a decisive battle at sea, a large ship is better than a small one, because the larger the ship, the more combatants can be loaded. And the battle of the sea gang is to see who has more fighters, because there is no place on the sea for the crew to escape, and everyone can only fight bravely.

As for the sturdiness of the ship, it determines the ship's ability to withstand wind and waves on the sea. On the sea, the greatest enemy of the sailors is not the enemy's fleet, but the natural power that cannot be resisted between heaven and earth. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Xu Xinsu approvingly and said: "It's very good, Mr. Xu is so familiar with maritime affairs, and he is worthy of being a person who has experienced the storms and waves at sea." The ancients said that it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books, which is true. Listening to your words is better than reading a book for ten years.

However, Xu Jiang always thought that how much time would it take to train the elite under Zheng Zhilong who could fight at sea? ”

Xu Xinsu thought for a long time with an ugly face before muttering: "I'm afraid it won't take ten years, and it may not be possible." ”

"Ten years? So what does Xu Jiang think will be in ten years from now? Zhu You asked sincerely.

Xu Xinsu was speechless for a moment, although he wanted to say that as long as the imperial court continued to block the maritime trade in the southeast, the Zheng Zhilong group, which could not obtain supplies from the mainland, would eventually have to decline due to the depletion of financial resources.

However, Xu Xinsu knew that this kind of thought could only be thought of by himself. Not to mention that this edict to appease the Eighteen Zhi Pirate Group is an official edict made public to the world, and it is impossible for Chongzhen to just retract the order he issued.

What's more, the Fujian and Guangdong Naval Divisions have been disabled by Zheng Zhilong's fleet, and the Southeast Coastal Naval Division has always been crowned by the Eight Fujian Naval Divisions, and the Fujian and Guangdong Naval Divisions are crippled, which means that the pirates under Zheng Zhilong can crisscross the southeast coastal areas without any scruples.

If not, what Zheng Zhilong and most of the other pirate leaders want is the recruitment of the imperial court, I am afraid that the southeast coast would have been eroded long ago.

For the current Ming Dynasty, there are troops in the northeast and a rebellion in the southwest, and the imperial court will definitely not want to cause another pirate rebellion in the southeast.

Even Xu Xinsu himself had lost confidence in defeating Zheng Zhilong's fleet head-on at sea. What he wants most now is to take advantage of Zheng Zhilong and other pirate leaders to leave the sea and come to the capital, and wipe them out in the capital.

Then take advantage of the leaderless leader of the Eighteen Zhi pirate gang to win over and divide the forces within the pirates, and take this opportunity to turn the tables.

Yu Zhigao finally couldn't help but speak: "Then what does Your Majesty think should be used to re-establish the water division in what way and where?" ”

Zhu Youzhen touched the armrest of the chair with his hand, and thought for a while before saying: "I think the name Sailor is too general, as long as it is an armed force on the water, it can be called a Sailor, and the boats in the rivers and lakes are not the same thing as the fleets on the ocean.

I thought that the armed ships on the inland river system could be called sailors. But the fleet above the ocean cannot simply be called a sailor. For the former, it is only a vassal of the army and cannot alone decide the outcome of the war. The latter, on the other hand, is an armed force that is completely separated from the army and can fight independently.

An army that controls the seas, I think it would be more appropriate to change the name to the navy. And the navy should also not be used as a defensive force near the shore, but as an offensive force at sea. So I want to build a navy, not a navy. ”

Yu Zhigao blinked his eyes a little and couldn't turn around, and he asked with some doubts: "Your Majesty, since Emperor Sejong began to clear out the Japanese invaders, the sailors are generally used to transport troops and assist the land army to encircle and contain the Japanese invaders.

As His Majesty said, it seems unrealistic to think of the sailors as the decisive force on the sea. In the middle of the ocean, it is almost as difficult to find a pirate as it is to retrieve a fallen iron needle in the middle of the sea.

Moreover, the sea is boundless, and it is difficult to find a fixed reference, and if the fleet of sailors leaves the near shore, the possibility of disorientation increases greatly. Your Majesty, a well-equipped warship that can be used for the sea, costs no less than 10,000 taels of platinum.

And in order to form combat effectiveness, it is necessary to equip 3-5 warships. As soon as it gets lost at sea, the entire fleet is lost. Therefore, it is really unstable for the water engineer to decide the victory. ”

Zhu Youzhen said indifferently: "There are three risks in sailing and horses, and fighting a war is a very risky thing. Mr. Yu, you have already said the risks of fighting at sea, first, the sea is vast and difficult to locate; Second, it is impossible to track the enemy's whereabouts, and it is difficult to force the enemy and our fleet into a decisive battle.

For the first question, I am ready to issue the Longitude Act to solve the problem of positioning at sea with a large reward.

And for the second question, hasn't Zheng Zhilong already made a perfect answer? Whether it's a pirate or a maritime merchant, they all need a home port in the end. However, it is difficult to achieve success in the operation of a home port in four or five years.

Because ships need to be repaired by docks, and all kinds of craftsmen and materials for shipbuilding cannot be created in a vacuum. Pirates can flee everywhere, but they can't take a good port with them. ”

Xu Xinsu asked suspiciously: "But Your Majesty, even if you solve the problem of sea positioning, you can find the home port of the pirates." But if these pirates avoid fighting, there are so many ports on this vast sea, and the sailors can't occupy them forever, right?

When the sailors are gone, won't these pirates reoccupy those ports? It's like a weed in the spring, set on fire once, but soon the weed grows again. ”

"Why leave? As long as pirates are willing to serve as ports for their lairs, there will inevitably be wood, rivers, and fertile land. Why should such a place be left to those pirates?

As long as the people of the Ming Dynasty were relocated, soon those ports would become the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Daming has people, no matter how many such ports there are, we can occupy them, right? If we have countless ports in this world, then where else can the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty go? ”