This has been around since ancient times......

Wu Sanfu and Huang Binqing, who knew the inside story, really admired Emperor Zhu's ability to fool people!

You must know that not long ago, because there were no nautical charts, the Ming Navy didn't know how to use ocean currents to travel between the two sides of the Pacific Ocean, and now it's just a one-way trip - I don't know if the Henan has arrived safely, he dares to brag since ancient times! If the Henan comes back now, will he blow all the Americas?

"Is this true? Did you really discover the New World in the Tang Dynasty? ”

"Is it true that the narrowest point of the ocean between Asia and the Americas is only a few dozen miles? Where is this strait? ”

Marville and Kirkbell were both incredulous and began to ask.

Zhu Cihong nodded very affirmatively: "When we finish fighting the Satsuma Domain and the Spanish Oriental Invincible Armada, we will organize an expedition fleet together, and then we will be able to confirm what I said is true." ”

Of course, what Zhu Cihong said is true...... Unless it's not Earth here!

And the reason why he proposed to organize a joint expedition fleet was because the Ming Navy also needed high-level British navigators to take on expeditions!

The era of sail is about the century-old navy, and without a long period of accumulation, it is impossible to improve navigation technology by leaps and bounds, unless you can get a good learning opportunity.

Now, by learning navigation from the Dutch, the Ming Dynasty already had a group of naval officers and men who could sail and fight in the open sea. But it's not a good idea to let them go on an adventure...... Expeditions are not only about being able to go and come back, but also about being able to draw maps and charts, finding good ports, facing all kinds of complex sea conditions, repairing ships that are damaged, and sometimes dealing with a group of crazy sailors!

And Zhu Cihong has a limited number of navigators at hand, so he has to save a little money, and he can ask foreigners to help with pathfinding and mapping, so let's take a look!

Marville and Kirkbell looked at each other, then nodded together. It's a rare opportunity, and you might be able to take advantage of it to find a shortcut between Europe and Asia through the sea at the edge of the Arctic Circle.

After Marville and Kirkbell agreed to Emperor Zhu's proposal to jointly explore northwestern North America and northeastern Asia, Emperor Zhu continued: "The Ming Dynasty's territorial claims to Spanish America are not high, and they are limited to the area north of the port of San Diego, including the port of San Diego and its surroundings. ”

Zhu Cihong put forward his territorial claims to the New World, and he was not black-hearted at all, he did not want Mexico, the core of New Spain, as long as California, which was still desolate.

As for north of California, that's since ancient times......

Marville and Kirkbell listened to Emperor Zhu's request, and neither immediately expressed their opinions—it was not that they opposed the Ming occupation of California, but that they could not be such great masters.

And the two of them didn't dare to believe that with the strength of Britain, France, Ming, Portugal and the Netherlands, they could really shatter the Spanish world empire.

Spain, it's not that easy to break!

Don't think that with the French army, the navy of England, and the silver of the Great Tomorrow Dynasty, you can smash the Spanish kingdom that doesn't know if it is favored by the gods or is nervous!

It may be easy to defeat Spain, but it is very difficult to break it, or even force Philip IV, the old stubborn man to admit defeat, although he can't fight, but he can really survive, and sometimes he really gets God's favor.

......

Kagoshima Bay, Japan.

In the sea north of Sakurajima, thirteen small Galen sailing boats are moored, floating gently on the calm sea like leaves.

Most of the armed Galen ships of the Spanish Oriental Armada had already left Kagoshima Bay at this time, and they were squatting on the Sino-Japanese and Asah-Japanese trade routes.

Due to their dispatch, the route between Tomorrow and Asahi has been temporarily suspended, so Tokugawa Takako, who was supposed to have been sent to Emperor Zhu's palace, is still stranded in Nagasaki.

The thirteen Spanish warships that stayed in Kagoshima Bay were also a huge obstacle for the Tokugawa shogunate, which was planning a crusade against the Satsuma Domain.

Because they can be dispatched at any time to cut off the waterway traffic between Kyushu Island and Honshu Island and Shikoku Island.

As soon as the water transportation was cut off, the shogunate army that went deep into Kyushu was alone.

Therefore, after the Tokugawa shogunate pointed out the Satsuma domain as an enemy, it did not take any further action, neither issued an order to crusade, nor did it mean to reconcile with the Satsuma domain, as if it was in a state of confusion.

The Satsuma Domain, on the other hand, seemed to be encouraged, and from October 1656 (1656), the banner of the Emperor's Downfall and Toyotomi's Revival was openly unfurled, calling on all of Japan's aspirants to come to the Satsuma Domain to participate in the grand event.

At the same time, the Satsuma Domain also sent secret envoys to the "strong domains" such as Nagasu and Tosa, trying to contact the two "strong domains" who were also facing an extreme surplus of samurai to raise troops to resist the rule of the shogunate!

In the Satsuma Domain, Shimazu Mitsuhisa was reinstated as the governor of the clan with the support of Kiyoo Youneto and other feudal lords, and issued a summoning order for the domain, ordering all the feudal lords and villagers who could go into battle to kill the enemy to gather at Kagoshima Castle and wait for the military commissions of the feudal office to select loyal and brave men from among them to form the Shogunate Army.

As soon as the clan summoned the order, the Satsuma and Osumi kingdoms to which the Satsuma clan belonged suddenly boiled, and the villagers who worked in the fields immediately left their farm work at hand, went home to find all kinds of well-maintained equipment, spears, bows and arrows, and arquebuses, and then rushed to Kagoshima, the main city of the Shimazu family, like a tide, and they were all happy as if they were celebrating a festival!

Even the neighboring Kyushu feudal clans were in an uproar, and countless villagers, ronin, and even low-ranking feudal lords all flocked to the Satsuma domain.

Even after the news that the Celestial Empire was trying to form an Eight-Nation Alliance to attack the Satsuma Domain was brought to Kyushu by the merchant ships of the Dutch, who had remained neutral for the time being, the enthusiasm of the Kyushu samurai to overthrow the emperor did not diminish in the slightest.

And this scene was seen by Admiral Garcia, who was a guest in Kagoshima Castle, but he was greatly surprised - the Japanese were too strong to fight, right?

Eight-Nation Alliance!

It's scary to hear...... Moreover, the Ming Emperor also paid a high price to recruit armed Galen ships to participate in the war! So Admiral Garcia was scared, but why weren't those dwarf samurai of the Satsuma Domain afraid at all?

There are more and more samurai camping outside Kagoshima Castle, and I am afraid that there are no less than 50,000 people......

But their equipment was poor, there were basically no cavalry, no flintlock pistols, and the most common armament was a katana - these people would not think that a slender knife could cut down the Eight-Nation Alliance under the command of Prince Condé, would they?

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency...... Good news! ”

While Admiral Garcia was thinking about slipping back to the New World, Caballero, the Spanish envoy to Daming (now the ambassador to Japan), rushed into Garcia's apartment in Kagoshima Castle.

"What's the good news?" Garcia looked at Caballero, who had just come from Mitsuhisa Shimazu.

"Admiral," Caballero said, "the Satsuma clan has decided to form a new army, and will take out all the weapons stored to equip the samurai gathered outside the castle...... His Royal Highness would like to ask us to provide officers who are proficient in the Spanish phalanx to help them train. He hoped to complete the formation and training of the new army by the end of the year, and start the Kyushu strategy after the New Year. ”

Although the feudal lords of the Satsuma Domain raised the banner of overthrowing the Shogunate, all they really wanted was to divide Kyushu - it was not something they dared to think of to bring down the entire Shogunate!

"Can you win?" Garcia was still a little worried, "You have to win soon, right?" The Ming Dynasty is already forming an Eight-Nation Alliance, and it won't be long before their expeditionary force will come across the sea. ”

That's why Mitsuhisa Shimazu decided to give it a go...... He hoped to take Kyushu before the Eight-Nation Coalition arrived. Caballero said, "After taking possession of Kyushu, he will be able to raise an army of more than 100,000 samurai, and then he will really not be afraid of anything!" ”