Rise From the Humble

After everything in the study returned to calm, Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu and Zhu Pingan sat and talked.

"What, Zihou, you actually took over the military preparations of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province?! Alas, it's too late. I originally wanted to specifically tell you not to take over the "military preparations" mess. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and so on In Shandong, the military preparations along the coast are all bottomless black pits."

When Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu learned that Zhu Ping'an had taken over the military preparations of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Not to mention anything else, the Japanese invasion is raging day by day, and the military situation is dangerous. Alas, I still remember talking with my nephew in the capital about the Japanese invasion in the southeast. At that time, I thought that I only needed to recruit Wang Zhi or trap and kill Wang Zhi, and the Japanese invasion in the southeast was just around the corner. But, alas, it was too wishful thinking at the time, and it was too unrealistic to recruit or booby-trap. Nowadays, Japanese invaders are boiling like fire, and Japanese invaders are emerging in endlessly along the entire southeast coast, becoming unimaginably rampant. Japanese pirates are brave and good at fighting. He is also insidious and cunning, and the guards' troops are often beaten and thrown away when they touch them. My dear nephew, you command the troops of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, and the people you command are militiamen, who are worse than the guards' troops. You lead the militia to fight against the Japanese pirates. , Isn’t this asking for death?! Shu’er is still pregnant, if something happens to you, how do you want Shu’er to deal with it?”

Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu shook his head. He was not optimistic about Zhu Pingan's leadership of the militia and was worried.

"Also, the Ancha Division originally did not care about military preparations. It was only added due to the recent serious Japanese invasion. Not only is the supporting food and salary insufficient, but also the responsibilities overlap with the guard station and the New Army. The status is quite embarrassing. Grandma does not love my uncle. Participate. If you are lucky enough to win the fight against the Japanese, your militiamen are only supporting you, and the credit will basically not fall on you. If you lose the fight, I'm sorry, but when the pot is divided, you will not be short of a piece, or even the pot will fall from the sky and all the credits will be deducted. On your head. The military personnel of the Fujian Province were a little earlier than those in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The military personnel of the Fujian Province were often demoted and punished for their mistakes, and some were even arrested and imprisoned."

"besides."

In just one cup of tea, Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu gave Zhu Pingan more than ten reasons why he could not accept military preparations.

"Thank you uncle for your concern." Zhu Ping'an listened patiently, raised his hands to express his gratitude to the Marquis of Linhuai for his concern, and then said with firm eyes, "If you only care about the life and death of the country, how can you avoid the trend because of misfortunes and blessings! Nowadays, Japanese pirates are becoming more and more serious, along the coast Life is in ruins, but I want to live in peace and enjoy the blessings of the people, and I also want to do my part."

"To benefit the country's life and death, how can you avoid misfortunes and fortunes." Linhuai Marquis recited it silently, looked up at Zhu Ping'an complicatedly, and sighed, "Hey, maybe I'm getting old."

Standing towards the mountain, bravely shouldering important responsibilities. Such a high-spirited young man!

The Marquis of Linhuai felt a lot of emotions in his heart. The young man in front of him originally lived in the Marquis's mansion, but in one fell swoop, within a year, he reached the high position of being a fifth-rank official, punishing judge, and inspector. It was not a matter of luck. It was just his mind The courage is far beyond what I can match! I have inherited the honor from my ancestors. I started out as a marquis. I have been in the officialdom for decades, and now I am only a fourth-grade Admiral Cao Jiang.

Although he seems to be of a higher rank than him, the people in power in our court are civil servants, and the status of military attachés is relatively low. Not to mention the fourth-rank Admiral Cao Jiang, the third-rank guerrilla, general, or guard commander, at the same rank Even in front of civil servants of several lower ranks, they can't straighten their waists, and even worse, they have to kneel down, so that some military attachés call themselves "stooges" in front of civil servants of several lower ranks. If he and Zihou didn't have this kind of relationship, he, the fourth-rank admiral, would have to bow before Zihou, the fifth-rank judge, when he met him.

"My uncle's sword never grows old. My uncle Yu Yingtian supervised the maneuvers on the river. He led up and down the river to prevent incidents. He did not avoid swords and soldiers, and was willing to take on the important task of expelling the Japanese pirates. He was also able to learn from his uncle by admiring the troops in Jiangsu and Zhejiang."

Zhu Ping'an praised the Marquis of Linhuai for his courage in taking on important tasks and gave him a high hat.

Hearing this, Li Tingzhu's face turned slightly red. At the beginning, he thought that the Japanese invasion of Jiangnan was just a small incident and would be easily quelled soon. The person he just came to take office was not that great.

"How has the situation been since uncle took office recently?" Zhu Ping'an asked curiously.

"Alas, it's hard to describe in one sentence. The naval forces are poorly prepared and the warships are desolate. There are only three out of ten. If we encounter a small group of Japanese pirates with several small boats, our navy can still drive them away; if we encounter a large group of Japanese pirates, we will be unable to catch them."

Marquis Linhuai spoke slowly, his face turning even redder.

Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but twitched his lips when he heard this. It seemed that the navy was even more abandoned than the guard station.

In fact, navy is very important! If the naval force is strong, for example, if there are half or even 30% of the strength of the Sanbao eunuch when he went to the West, the Japanese pirates can be wiped out at sea. The Japanese pirates will not dare to come to the Ming Dynasty at all, and they will not be able to reach the shore of the Ming Dynasty. Taking ten thousand steps back, even if the naval force is not strong enough to fight the Japanese at sea, it can still get twice the result with half the effort by cooperating with the Army Guards to attack the Japanese by land and water.

However, the feudal era has always been based on army doctrine and did not attach importance to the navy. The status of the army was more important than that of the navy.

Although it is sad that the navy is abandoned, it is also reasonable.

"Uncle, how derelict are the naval warships?"

Zhu Ping'an knew the importance of the navy and couldn't bear to see the navy abandoned and unable to play its value.

"Admiral Caojiang led the defense of the upper and lower rivers. He originally had 400 warships. However, in order to save military expenses when he was in office, the former admiral Shi Panjue reduced the number by half. When I took office, the imperial court approved and reduced the number by 200. There are only 200 ships left. Ahem, because the Ming Dynasty has recently stopped inspecting ministers, China and foreign countries dare not talk about the maritime ban, and the coastal defense has been weakened. Our navy, Admiral Jiang, is not immune to the impact, and the damaged warships cannot be recovered in time. It has been repaired so that there are currently less than a hundred usable warships."

Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu replied awkwardly.

In other words, less than a quarter of the navy's warships are left. These are just warships. What about the navy? ! The current situation of empty pay, lax training, and insufficient military equipment is no secret in the Ming army. It is estimated that the combat power of the navy under the command of Linhuai Marquis can be preserved, which is a good achievement.

Therefore, the navy under the command of the Marquis of Linhuai could only drive away a few broken wooden ships in warships, but more would not be enough.

"Uncle, the Japanese pirates have been attacking the southeast recently. How can hundreds of warships be used? Why don't you go to Shu Sheng and ask for more warships, or at least restore the old ones, so that you can drive away the Japanese pirates and play the role of the navy." Zhu Pingan After thinking about it for a while, he gave advice to Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu.

"My dear nephew, your Majesty only approved the plan to reduce the number of warships by half a year ago. Now I am admonishing you to build more warships. Isn't this going against your Majesty? You can't do it, you can't do it." Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu shook his head.

"Uncle, the situation is different now and then. When the Holy Emperor agreed to Shi Caojiang's request to reduce the number of warships, the Japanese invasion was still under control. Now Wang Zhi, the leader of the Japanese pirates, has failed to request trade, and even though the Japanese are plundering the southeast, the Japanese pirates have lost control. The Japanese pirates are becoming more and more rampant in the heat of the sun. The number, intensity, scale, and area of ​​their incursions along the coast are so numerous that the Japanese pirates in other periods cannot match them. At this time, I asked the Holy One to build more warships and restore the old ones. It is expected that the Holy One will agree. In this way, not only will the strength of the uncle's navy be greatly increased, and it will be able to play a greater role in fending off the Japanese, but it will also be of great benefit to the uncle personally. His power means fulfilling his responsibilities, which not only shows his uncle's responsibilities and achievements, but also allows him to be heard by the saints." Zhu Pingan explained patiently.

The Marquis of Linhuai was moved when he heard the words, but after hesitating again and again, he still shook his head and said, "My dear nephew, let it go. After all, Your Majesty has just reduced the number of warships. It is not appropriate to increase the sparseness at this moment. Don't bring trouble to Your Majesty."

Don't seek merit, but seek no faults.

Zhu Ping'an knew the Marquis Linhuai's mentality at the moment and knew that talking more would be useless, so he said no more.