The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Shandai, let me tell you what you are good at. Dongfan Island has not yet been completely brought under the rule. Why are you setting your sights on Luzon again?

I have received some notices from the Fujian side, saying that the Nanhai Navy has been stationed on Dongfan Island for a long time and has had some conflicts with the people on the island, which seems to be a tribe called Gaoshan tribe. They asked for the navy to be transferred back.

At this time, you still want to extend your tentacles to Luzon. If the news spreads, won't you be afraid of being impeached by hundreds of officials? "

Zhang Juzheng's rude words made Wei Guangde feel a little unhappy, but he also knew that if he didn't come from later generations, he would naturally not know what was happening on the earth at this time.

At the end of the Age of Discovery, the major geographical discoveries were almost complete, and only crazy colonization and plundering of wealth were left.

If Daming doesn't get on the ship at this time, he will never have the chance to get on the ship.

However, Zhang Juzheng's concerns seem to be correct.

"Uncle, you should have read the news from Nanyang collected by Liu Shouyou. Now the Yi people are coming from the west and east, and wherever they pass, they will seize large and small territories and build So called domination.

What does this mean?

I think this matter is not that simple.

Now, the barbarians have established cities in Malacca and Manila, which means that more barbarians will come across the ocean.

Their wolfish ambitions were already evident when they occupied Malacca and Manila.

The Ming Dynasty relies on its strong military power, so the Yi people dare not act recklessly.

But the surrounding vassals have become fat in their eyes.

I can say this, if the Ming Dynasty did not intervene in the surrounding vassal lands, Fanbang alone would not be able to protect them. "

Wei Guangde reminded, "But if we, the Ming Dynasty, get involved, the barbarians will naturally be afraid of them, because if they dare to attack the surrounding vassals of my Ming Dynasty, my Ming Dynasty's troops will all live there.

You can't expect the barbarians to stay away just by relying on a piece of paper from the court.

The benefits that have been obtained, if it were not for the war, people would not spit it out at all.

Speaking of Annan, isn't it possible that Uncle Uncle was not touched? If the Annan people had not resisted fiercely, would Ming Dynasty have withdrawn its troops from there?

This principle applies to the Yi people as well.

In my opinion, in order to ensure the security of the vassal countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Navy should find a good port in the vassal country to establish a camp and station a troop of troops.

As for the supply of soldiers and horses, let the vassal states bear it, while I, the Ming Dynasty, will ensure their safety. "

Having said this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but get up, walked back and forth in the room twice, and drafted the words before continuing: "When the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar conquered surrounding areas, such as Siam, if my Ming Dynasty owned a water village in Siam , stationed in our Ming Dynasty soldiers, does Mang Yinglong dare to attack Siam?

In the same way, finding a good port to station troops in the surrounding vassal states can actually ensure their safety, and this will only support our Ming Dynasty as the suzerain state.

Look at Nanyang and the Xuanweisi in the southwestern territory. If the imperial court had not intervened strongly when they were invaded, how could they be so alienated from the Ming Dynasty and not even consider my suzerain country as they are now? In eyes. "

In fact, Wei Guangde already had an idea in his mind. Since the various countries in Nanyang recognized the Ming Dynasty as the suzerain country, it seemed that it was one of the Ming Dynasty's responsibilities to provide them with security protection.

It is entirely possible to follow the experience of beautiful countries in later generations and establish military bases in sensitive areas.

In this way, if foreign countries want to invade here, they must first consider encountering Ming's counterattack.

The Ming Dynasty may not turn the Southeast Asian countries into colonies, but its strong influence must ensure that the Ming Emperor's will can be disseminated and implemented here.

"But Luzon."

Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Wei Guangde: "Lu Song is different.

Luzon used to think it was a foreign country, but from the information spied on by Jin Yiwei, it seemed that it was the same as Dongfan Island, where the local people lived together in tribal forms, like scattered sand.

In this case, if I, the Ming Dynasty, do not intervene here, then all of Luzon will definitely fall into the hands of the barbarians.

It is terrifying to have a person with a strong aggressive nature appear so close to my Ming Dynasty.

Controlling part of the land in Luzon can also contain the barbarians nearby. At least we can control their movements at any time.

If there is an opportunity, it may not be impossible to take Luzon into its hands.

We can allow the Yi people to come to our Ming Dynasty for trade, but if we want to deploy military power near our Ming Dynasty, we will never agree.

The threat of Mongolia in the north is enough. Ming Dynasty can no longer have huge hidden dangers in Nanyang. "

"That is to say, the troops stationed in the vassal country require the vassal country to provide food and salary, and the Ming Dynasty provides military protection?"

Zhang Juzheng was not an ignorant person, but no one had ever made such a suggestion before. By establishing military bases, he would protect the vassal countries from becoming colonies of the barbarians.

When the barbarians seized the colonies, they usually came first, first in line, and those who came later could only occupy the territory nearby and at a distance.

When developed territories encounter each other, the two sides will either negotiate peace and divide the borders according to longitude and latitude lines, or divide them through war.

But no matter what, when they carry out colonial expansion, the first consideration is whether the opponent is strong or not.

In East Asia, it seems that only the Ming Dynasty has the ability to suppress the Yi people.

Through several naval battles, Wei Guangde believed that the barbarians should have experienced the strength of the Ming Dynasty and knew that they were not easy to mess with.

This victory was achieved when the Ming army used inferior equipment, which was enough to deter them.

And now, under the leadership of Yu Dayou, the South China Sea Navy is rapidly catching up with the strength of the barbarian fleet. When they fight again, the Ming Dynasty may not need to pay a heavier price to win the naval battle.

The Ming Dynasty was an important period when the gap between the military technology of the East and the West began to widen, and it was also an era when Western learning was relatively prosperous.

Since the Jiajing Dynasty, Japanese pirates, pirates, and European forces have continued to invade. In order to meet the needs of coastal defense, the Ming Dynasty Navy has undergone two technical and tactical changes.

The first was the Jiajing Wanli Dynasty, which centered on the introduction of the Portuguese; the second was the Tianqi Chongzhen Dynasty, which centered on the introduction of the red barbarian cannon. Both changes also brought corresponding tactical adjustments.

However, because of Wei Guangde's intervention, the second change came earlier and went more smoothly.

Before the second reform, the order of importance of the Chinese navy in naval warfare tactics was still to burn ships and ram the plow with ships. The first achievement in naval warfare was to ram and sink pirate ships, and then to behead and capture prisoners. It was rare to injure people with cannons or destroy ships with cannons.

In the early 17th century, the Dutch came to the East, and the number and power of their ship guns were more and larger than those of Portuguese ships.

Several conflicts made the Ming Dynasty recognize its performance characteristics and specifically called it "Red Barbarian" cannon.

The southeast coast, where the coastal defense problem was serious, quickly applied the Red Barbarian cannon to coastal defense warships, and broke through the number limit of large artillery-equipped warships, and specialized barbarian ships appeared, and derived the broadside gun technology, which was very close to the artillery tactics of European ships.

Now it is only the early Wanli period, and the Ming navy has begun to master the Red Barbarian cannon and make the 熕 Ship.

Although the Ming gunboat designed by Yu Dayou had some defects, it did develop and narrowed the technical gap between the Ming and European warships.

You should know that the Ming Dynasty's warships at that time were fighting against the Netherlands, the "sea coachman" who dominated the ocean. At that time, the Dutch navy had surpassed Spain and made huge profits through trade.

The combat power of the Dutch naval warships at that time was also far superior to that of warships of other European countries at the same time.

Of course, the main force of the army that fought against the Dutch was not the real Ming navy, but the Zheng Zhilong pirate group that was recruited.

In the 1633 Ming-Holland Liaoluo Bay naval battle, the large warships of the Ming army were equipped with 16, 20, and 36 cannons respectively.

Hans Putman, the governor of Taiwan, the Netherlands, also recorded that Zheng Zhilong's warships were "built according to the Dutch model, huge and exquisite, well-equipped sailing ships and fleets, and some cannons that can be towed, with ring bolts, and placed on double decks were also installed on the ship."

In the battle to eliminate Liu Xiang in 1635, Zheng Zhilong's warships "could accommodate 24 large guns on each ship. Once the cannon sounded, it broke through the clouds and waves, and finally achieved the success of the battle array."

Although the Ming Dynasty is still in a state of terminal illness, the Ming army's combat power has been greatly improved due to Zhang Juzheng's reforms and Wei Guangde's intentional or unintentional influence.

Originally, the Ming army was still producing and equipping a large number of Portuguese cannons, while Wei Guangde had already set his sights on the latest European red cannons.

However, the red cannons are only effective on the ocean for the time being. For the land division, Portuguese cannons are still used in large quantities, because among the Ming Dynasty's land opponents, no rivals have been found for the time being, so there is no need to equip the red cannons that are not easy to maneuver.

Moreover, after the navy has fully mastered the characteristics of the red cannons, it is not difficult to develop into a land division.

Moreover, the biggest obstacle to the development of military power in the late Ming Dynasty will no longer exist in the next few years under the premise that Zhang Juzheng's reforms continue and the court's finances are extremely abundant, because of Zhang Juzheng's reign.

However, in Zhang Juzheng's room, Wei Guangde was not allowed to think about these things. What he needed now was to persuade Zhang Juzheng to support him and let the Ming Dynasty expand its military power.

If the Ming Dynasty's base in Nanyang is not stabilized before the large-scale arrival of Europeans, it will only be more troublesome in the future.

"This is my plan. The expansion of the South China Sea Navy in Nanyang will first obtain the best port location through merchant ships.

The court will then contact the vassal states to discuss the possibility of transferring the good port to our Ming Dynasty. The key point is to let them understand that because the Ming Dynasty fleet no longer went to the West, there have been constant wars and disputes among the Nanyang countries over the years.

Now my Ming Dynasty has discovered that the Nanyang countries are facing external threats, so as a suzerain country, it needs to protect the safety of the vassal states and prevent them from being threatened by the military of foreign countries.

Leasing good ports to garrison troops is naturally the best way. With the existence of my Ming Dynasty navy, even if the barbarians want to use force, If we rule them, our Ming Dynasty will also respond.

Correspondingly, the Ming Dynasty will naturally need the vassal states to provide the military expenditure.

The ultimate goal of doing so is to ensure their safety.

Taking Malacca and Siam as examples, I believe that the countries in Southeast Asia should accept our dynasty's request.

Imagine, if there were Ming Dynasty troops stationed in Malacca and Siam at that time, would the barbarians dare to attack Malacca?

Would the Toungoo Dynasty dare to risk the world's disapproval and rashly send troops to Siam and capture the Siamese king. "

When Wei Guangde told Zhang Juzheng about his idea of ​​coercing and luring the surrounding vassal states, Zhang Juzheng naturally felt that the feasibility seemed very great.

Of course, there will definitely be various problems.

But don’t be afraid if problems arise, just discuss and resolve them if they arise.

For example, the painting community within the port area and the political status of the navy in the vassal state actually still need to be discussed with the court.

"When the time comes, let the Ministry of Rites and the Department of Public Affairs select a group of eloquent people to go to the Southeast Asian countries to discuss the matter.

Stationing troops abroad is no small matter.

The incident in Annan, if Chengzu had not wanted to include Annan in the territory and establish the Xuanwei Department, would not have triggered such a huge popular uprising.

Moreover, there are many benefits to garrisoning troops there.

To influence them, this is actually a good way.

Because the Ming Dynasty fleet no longer sails to Nanyang, the influence of our country is reduced. They think that without the constraints of our country, they can do whatever they want and attack other countries at will.

After all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and it is impossible for me, the Ming Dynasty, to pay attention to them all the time and send troops to intervene.

Just like what Jin Yiwei said in the information sent back, the lords of foreign vassals don't pay much attention to our court now because our court is mostly just a piece of paper to the outside world, which really brings shame to the court.

But if the Daming Navy is stationed nearby, the situation will be very different. Our court can quickly intervene, and naturally no one will dare to violate the emperor's majesty. "

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he sat quietly aside, waiting for Zhang Juzheng's decision.

After a while, Zhang Juzheng finally said: "Since the matter is serious, it would be better to hold a ministry meeting, discuss it with everyone, and then report it to the palace.

Shandai, you can draft a charter as mentioned just now, and then bring it to the meeting for us to discuss it.

What do you think? "

After hearing Zhang Juzheng's words, Wei Guangde felt more confident.

Zhang Juzheng should have been moved by what he said, but the matter was too big, and of course it couldn't be decided by the two of them.

The six ministers also participated in the discussion on this matter. In the future, even if there are different voices from the government and the opposition, more people can be gathered to support their decision.

Moreover, through discussions with more people, other different opinions can also be heard.

Zhang Juzheng does not think that he is the smartest person in the world. Maybe others will notice what he cannot see.

Indeed, Wei Guangde's proposal is very attractive.

In fact, after seeing the information sent by Jinyiwei from Nanyang earlier, he had become extremely sensitive to information about the Yi people.

They are too aggressive.

From the few words we got from Nanyang, we can know that the Yi people have controlled a huge and vast land in the east, which is rich in products.

Although the Ming Dynasty has a vast land and abundant resources, and there is no intention to go there, after acquiring such land, the Yi people are still expanding their power towards the Ming Dynasty, which has to arouse great concern.

Stationing troops overseas to defend the enemy from outside the country seems to be the best way.