At this military conference presided over by Emperor Chongzhen, a large map of the South Seas was hung out, which should also be said to be a very detailed map, including the islands of the South Seas, the shipping lanes, the sphere of influence of Xiyi, the general distribution of the natives of the South Seas, and so on.

Emperor Chongzhen stood in front of the map of the South Seas, holding a thin stick in his hand, pointing to the map and saying to the generals below: "I want you to send elite men from the sea to these places to observe the hydrology and enemy situation. ”

When the people at the bottom of the "......" heard this, they couldn't help but be stunned. What does that mean? Even if you observe it, and then send the message back? But if it had been useful, it would have been done a long time ago!

These people who went to observe, if the wind and waves were too big, maybe they would not be able to come back, and even if they came back, what should they do if the wind and waves were strong again?

There is also the enemy's situation, which is also very delayed to pass back and forth on this sea. With so many points, it is really unrealistic to ask them to report back one by one and summarize the hydrology and enemy situation in this Nanyang region!

Thinking of this, Zheng Chenggong felt the need to remind the emperor, so he came out and played: "Your Majesty, this sea back and forth is extremely time-consuming, and it depends on God's face, it is not as urgent as eight hundred miles on land, and the end will be ......."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Emperor Chongzhen, so he asked Zheng Chenggong: "This elite man on the water still has to be selected from Qing." Don't worry about other things, just do this immediately, and then bring me to see me! ”

Zheng Chenggong was helpless when he heard this, so he had to immediately receive the order and quickly go out to select elite people. At the same time, he also wondered in his heart, the emperor seemed to be confident, so what would he do to solve this problem?

Not only him, but also Lu Xiangsheng and Anders and others were very curious.

However, the emperor always has unexpected moves, so they have to wait and see what happens.

Emperor Chongzhen naturally did not sit idle, and began to learn about the specific combat readiness of the southern navy, as well as the current news about the Spaniards in Luzon.

Just when he understood about it, Zheng Chenggong came back to reply to the decree, and the sailors who could be sent had been selected, but there were too many people to stand in the lobby, and they were all waiting in the courtyard.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he strode out of the hall. The other courtiers naturally followed him and went out to see the situation.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" The courtyard was full of sailors, and when they saw the emperor appear, they all became excited, and they all knelt on one knee and shouted in unison.

Not everyone could see the emperor, let alone their sailors far to the south. Now that I have the opportunity to meet the rumored emperor who is wise and martial, loves soldiers like sons, loves the people like sons, and often wins big battles, of course, I am very excited.

Emperor Chongzhen flattened them, and then said to them solemnly: "The western thieves of Luzon killed my Ming people, and now they are still at large, and they have not paid their due price." There are also people of my Ming Dynasty who fled into the mountains and forests, and now they don't know whether they are alive or dead. If the imperial army can conquer Luzon as soon as possible, it can uphold justice, avenge the people of the Ming Dynasty, and rescue the people who are still alive. However, the sea is now unpredictable, and the army was forced to return on both expeditions. With the present storms, would you like to listen to my will and go to the designated place to monitor the hydrology and the enemy's situation? ”

These ordinary soldiers, after listening to the emperor's words, didn't think about it, and immediately replied in unison: "Yes!" ”

"Good!" Emperor Chongzhen nodded approvingly. Although he knew that the elite of these sailors were not afraid of the current wind and waves, they always had to take risks, but they still agreed without hesitation.

After approving, he turned his head and instructed Wu Zhong, the commander of the Jinyi Guard who was following him: "Send them the things, one for each person." ”

"The last will obey!" When Wu Zhong heard this, he immediately agreed, beckoned to his subordinates, and brought over a box. And Wu Zhong himself walked down the steps, and after opening the lock of the box with a key in his arms, he began to distribute things to the elite sailors below.

When Lu Xiangsheng and the others saw it, they were all very curious, they didn't know what the emperor gave them, so they hurriedly looked at it, but after looking carefully, they were a little puzzled.

I saw that the sailors who had been issued were holding a palm-length wooden carving, thick at both ends and a little thinner in the middle, which seemed to be able to be held in the middle of the wooden carving with their hands. And one of the ends of the wood carving seems to be carved with small holes, many of them, very dense; At the other end, there is a large circle carving.

What is this?

The elite sailors who received the thing were also very curious, looking left and right at this small wood carving, but they had never seen it at all, and they couldn't guess what this thing was for?

Emperor Chongzhen looked at all their doubts, but he remained silent, just watching Wu Zhong distribute all those things, and there was still a little left. After locking the box again, he replied that the distribution was complete.

It was only then that Emperor Chongzhen reached out and took an identical wood carving from the hand of the eunuch Fang Zhenghua who followed behind him, and then said solemnly to these elite sailors: "After you reach the destination, you will regularly report the water and enemy situation to me every day. If you encounter an emergency, you can also report it at any time. ”

"......" Everyone heard this, including Lu Xiangsheng, who was well-read, or Zheng Chenggong, who had seen countless strange things at sea, and other naval soldiers, all of them were speechless.

After arriving at the destination, report the hydrology and enemy situation to the emperor? What is the method of confession? With this wood carving in his hand, this makes no sense!

As if to guess the surprise in their hearts, Emperor Chongzhen also made a demonstration, holding the middle part of the wood carving, the part with many fine holes facing the ear, and the other end, close to the mouth, after doing this action, he said again: "As long as you say so, the voice does not need to be too loud, no matter where you are, I can hear it!" You don't need to worry that I haven't heard, just tell me about the situation, understand? ”

"Understood!" After the elite sailors shouted in unison, when they came back to their senses, they were confused again, what did they understand? With this wood carving in his hand, can he really tell the emperor directly?

This...... Is it possible?

Of course it can't be!

However, Emperor Chongzhen did not lie either. Because he had prepared a large bunch of B-level eavesdropping seeds, each of these sailor elites was rewarded with one. This wood carving is a disguise, and the news that really collects the elite of these sailors is just a B-level eavesdropping seed.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen is not doing nothing, he has a purpose in doing this wood carving.

Let the sailors speak to this useless wood carving, there is a sense of ceremony. Except for Emperor Chongzhen himself, others didn't know the specific reason, and thought that this wood carving was really useful. In this way, they would have such a miracle about Emperor Chongzhen. The thing was very surprised, and the awe of Emperor Chongzhen would also be greatly deepened. Of course, this will also become the most troublesome and interesting topic for future historians.

In addition, this wood carving is modeled after the old-fashioned telephone microphone of later generations. If the telephone was invented in his lifetime, many people would think of it, and they would be surprised how the emperor had this thing in the first place, and it was even more mysterious. In this way, it will also give Emperor Chongzhen a layer of mystery, and he will be even more convinced of his words!

At this time, after Emperor Chongzhen explained the "use" of wood carving, he didn't say anything more, and asked these sailors to go back to prepare and set off on a certain day.

So, as soon as these sailors returned, all the things about this wood carving spread. Many people are curious and want to see what is so magical about this wood carving.

Some sailors and elites regard this thing as a treasure and don't show it to anyone; Others, although I have seen it, I also tell you to be careful.

However, whether it is the elite sailors themselves or other Ming soldiers, no matter how smart they think they are, they can't see any difference in the special features of this wood carving after looking at it repeatedly.

However, the more they couldn't see the difference, the more powerful they felt about it.

Of course, there are people who doubt whether this thing is useful, but more people associate this thing with rumors about the emperor. There was soon a rumor in the army, saying that this was probably the treasure that Emperor Taizu got in the heavenly realm and gave it to today's son.

And so something unexpected happened.

There was an elite wood carving of a sailor, which was stolen. The army was immediately shaken, and Zheng Chenggong was so frightened that he immediately imposed martial law in the army and dug three feet into the ground to find it.

Thanks to this treasure, the stolen sailor elite soon found out that it was missing, and it was very short, and it was finally searched by Zheng Chenggong, and it was stolen by another soldier in the army. According to his confession, it was because he felt that this was the treasure of the heavenly realm that he became greedy.

Not to mention whether this is a heavenly treasure or not, just the emperor's gift is not something he can touch. Zheng Chenggong was sentenced to a decisive sentence and reported to Emperor Chongzhen.

In this regard, of course, Emperor Chongzhen would not tolerate it, and with a wave of the imperial pen, he agreed.

At the same time, after all the elite sailors went to sea, Emperor Chongzhen personally sat in the southern navy and watched Zheng Chenggong rectify the army and strictly enforce military discipline.

In fact, most of this southern navy was transformed from the Zheng family's fleet. And the bottom of the Zheng family's fleet is just that it was recruited as pirates. Some of them will be greedy, and it is to be expected.

In addition, Emperor Chongzhen actually knew in advance that some of the southern navy were not clean during their time in Annam through the eavesdropping seeds on Lu Xiangsheng's body. Therefore, we took advantage of this opportunity to vigorously rectify.

In addition, Emperor Chongzhen also took advantage of the situation to decree the establishment of the Annan Navy Military Academy, all the Ming army officers and soldiers who have made military merits can sign up for the selection, and as long as the people are innocent, they can also sign up for the selection, and if they pass, they will enter the school to study, and they will graduate from the low-level officers of the navy.