For the Ming Dynasty, which has been in the seventh year of Jianwen, the situation is not very good.

As Hubu Shangshu Yuxin pointed out, the pacification of Korea put a heavy financial burden on the Ming Dynasty, and it would take at least two years for the DPRK to become self-sufficient, and in these two years, the Ming Dynasty increased its additional expenditures for the sake of Korea, no less than two million taels, or no less than one million stone of grain, and this was without any rebellion.

And for the military, there is also a feeling of inadequacy.

The pacification of Korea requisitioned elite troops from Shandong, Hebei, Liaodong, and Jilin, and more than 100,000 troops took root in Korea and set up guard posts, although it promoted the stability of Korea, but objectively caused the emptiness of the military strength of Shandong, Liaodong, and Hebei.

Fortunately, Timur was indeed dead, and the threat from the northwest had disappeared, so Zhu Yunwen issued a holy decree, ordering the Shaanxi Metropolitan Division and Shaanxi Xingdu Division in the northwest to transfer troops to the north to support Shanxi, and Shanxi to transfer troops to reinforce Hebei and Northeast China, while most of the troops who set out from Henan and Beijing to Shandong to quell the rebellion stayed in Shandong, but in this way, the number of troops in Beijing Division declined, and a part of the army had to be requisitioned from nearby provinces in case of accidents.

All this was spent, and money and grain were spent like water, and the household department, the general supervision department, the general quartermaster department, and other departments complained one after another.

Therefore, both the military and the civilian government have varying degrees of resistance to further attack the Japanese state.

Of course, no one dared to openly oppose the conquest of the Wa Kingdom, which did commit great crimes, the first was the assassination of the emperor, which was an unpardonable crime; The second is the public plundering of the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty, which is suspected of threatening the palace, and it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to accept this threat.

Of course, it is not uncommon for those who strongly advocate attacking the Japanese state, that is, the navy.

During the Hongwu period, the navy was known as the naval division, and it was a defensive force attached to the coastal guard station, whose main responsibility was to transport grain and fight against the Japanese pirates.

After surviving the most dangerous Yanwang Rebellion, Zhu Yunwen renamed the naval division to the navy, and formed the Liaodong, Shandong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Nanyang fleets, clarifying the responsibilities of each fleet, that is, to ensure the safety of the Ming people on the sea, and eliminate some forces that threaten the Ming people, such as pirates, pirates, and attacks by small countries.

The newly formed Royal First Fleet and the Royal Second Fleet were the pride of the Navy, and they were given the name "Royal", which excited the new generation of admirals, who saw it as the emperor's praise for their loyalty and combat prowess.

In the war to pacify Korea, the navy did not live up to the expectations of Emperor Zhu Yunwen.

In the Battle of Ganghwa Bay, the navy destroyed the Han River naval division, leaving Seoul naked under the navy's guns, a victory that forced Li Fangyuan to abandon the land north of Pyongyang and gave the Ming a foothold on the Korean Peninsula.

In the Battle of Jeju Island, the Royal First Fleet destroyed the combined naval divisions of Korea and the Japanese Kingdom, and the west coast of Korea was no longer fortified against the Ming Dynasty, laying a solid foundation for the Ming army to occupy Jeolla Province and force Li Fangyuan to retreat to Gyeongju.

And the surprise attack on Gyeongju, the navy also made a special achievement, and the contribution was indispensable.

However, under the glory of successive victories, the navy has been criticized, and the reason is simple, that is, the cost is huge.

According to the army, feeding one cavalry is equivalent to feeding five infantrymen, which is an important reason why the number of cavalry has not been able to rise in the Ming army; However, compared with the navy, this is completely insignificant, even if the cost of building ships is not counted, only the cost of training and maintenance of sailors is calculated, and one sailor is equivalent to at least seven or eight infantrymen.

In addition, although the naval guns of the navy are extremely powerful, every time the losses are counted after a naval battle, the officials of the military department, the household department, and the general armament department have to be heartbroken.

In the report on the pacification of Korea, the consumption of the navy is not less than that of the army, but even much more, so it is not surprising that after the pacification of Korea, there are calls for reducing the navy and increasing the proportion of firearms in the army.

Of course, Zhu Yunwen would not agree to this strange theory, but he still ordered the naval department to save resources, which could not only reduce the complaints of other departments, but also relieve the pressure on the emperor's side. This made Xuanxin, Zhu Xin and others of the Navy Governor's Office feel deeply helpless, they felt that they were very wronged, the navy has its own characteristics in war, and it can't be equated with the army, right?

For this reason, the various giants of the Naval Governor's Office, such as Xuanxin, Zhu Xin, Zhang Rong and others, held a special meeting to study how to solve this dilemma, and for this reason they considered various plans, such as reducing the number of artillery, reducing the number of naval ships, reducing the power of artillery, and so on.

In the end, it was the proposal of a naval staff officer named Jiao Siwei, which made everyone's eyes shine: "Your Majesty once said that if you want the country to be rich and strong, you can't ignore the ocean. Wealth comes from the sea, and danger comes from the sea. ”

"Therefore, the development of our navy should start from these two aspects, at present, the threat at sea is the Japanese pirates, and in their eyes they threaten the maritime trade routes of our Ming Dynasty; And the source of wealth is also the Wa country, whose silver reserves are even higher than our Ming Dynasty, isn't such a country the most ideal target of our navy? ”

"Therefore, Xia Guan thinks that our navy should try its best to promote the attack on the Japanese, as long as this matter is successful, then the attack on our navy will all disappear, and even our navy will usher in a big development!"

After heated discussions, everyone agreed that promoting the attack on the Japanese is the only way out for the navy, which can not only solve the urgent needs of the navy, but also enhance the influence of the navy in the Ming military.

This meeting had an extremely far-reaching impact on the Ming Navy, and Jiao Siwei also entered the field of vision of the navy's top brass because of this incident, and since then he has risen to the top.

To this end, the entire Navy Governor's Office was launched, and the upper echelons of the Governor's Office actively negotiated with the Army, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Households, hoping to get the support of the other side; The Naval Staff sent special personnel to collect information on the geography of the Japanese state, the garrisons, and even the combat strength of the Japanese invaders, and on this basis, formulated a strategy for attacking the Japanese invaders. In addition, some people went to the Institute of Engineering, Longjiang Shipyard and other places, hoping to obtain technical support, hoping to avoid the impact of the sea breeze on the greatest scale, and so on......

Regarding the movements of the Navy Governor's Office, Zhu Yunwen was very insightful, but he neither stopped nor contributed to the trouble, but ordered the Investigation Department to pay close attention to its movements and prevent the act of colluding with the rebellion.

Today's Zhu Yunwen is completely different from when he was reborn, he has experienced many rebellions, and he admires his grandfather more and more - Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, so the book he has read the most recently is Zhu Yuanzhang's "Emperor Ming Zuxun", the first chapter of which is very impressive, and at the same time I feel that it is not easy to be an emperor.

......

Constrained by authority and resources, there are actually many problems in the plan of the Navy Governor's Office, and both Xuanxin and Zhu Yunwen are well aware of this, but Zhu Yunwen did not say it, but asked him to discuss it at the military meeting in front of the emperor.

The plan is divided into two parts, which are roughly as follows:

1. Strengthen the escort force of merchant ships, the current merchant ship escort, whether it is ability and quality, or weapons and equipment, is not the opponent of the Japanese pirates, in response to this problem, Xuanxin proposed three plans: strengthen naval patrols, and even pay to escort merchant ships; Strengthen the training of merchant ship escorts and equip them with excellent weapons; Finally, the navy's obsolete warships were sold to merchants to strengthen their escort forces.

2. The time for the attack is expected to be in the spring of next year, and at the same time the Japanese will attack Kyushu, Shikoku, and the main island, of which Kyushu is the main attack, and Shikoku and the main island are feints, and the navy will dispatch the first and second fleets of the royal family and the four fleets of Liaodong and Shandong, which will be sufficient to ensure the safety of the sea march; And the combat strength, according to Xuanxin's estimates, will require at least 100,000 men.

As for the time of the battle, Xuanxin explained it like this, first of all, it is unrealistic for Jianwen to attack the Japanese in seven years, and winter will come soon; Second, attacking the Japanese in the spring can affect the farming of the Japanese and dissipate their combat effectiveness.

After discussing the issue of the Japanese invaders, they were inclined to strengthen the practice of guarding merchant ships, but as for the armed escort and the sale of retired warships, the people refused to consider it; Not only that, but the people also have strict restrictions on the weapons held by the guards, first of all, firearms are not allowed, they can be equipped with bows and arrows, crossbow arrows, etc., but they must be strictly monitored, and some people even suggested sending people to the merchant ships to supervise the use of weapons, but considering the large number of merchant ships, this is not realistic, and finally everyone decided that when the merchant ships enter the port, strictly check the wear and tear of the weapons to avoid falling into the hands of lawbreakers.

The first problem is easy to solve, but the second problem is a bit troublesome; in the final analysis, it is still a problem of soldiers, money and food, and the military headquarters and military aircraft department have unified the caliber, and it is difficult to mobilize a large army to attack the Japanese at any time under the condition that a large number of troops are stationed in Korea and the northern Xinjiang Warat may move south at any time; Compared with the military's euphemism, Hubu Shangshu Yuxin said bluntly that there is no money, no food, and no way to fight.

For a while, everyone looked at each other, and the meeting reached an impasse.

Everyone couldn't help but turn their eyes to the emperor, hoping that he would make a final decision.

Facing everyone's expectant eyes, Zhu Yunwen smiled slightly and said, "I think this matter is easy to solve. ”

"Mobilize the king's guards to make up for the lack of military strength, and issue war bonds to make up for the lack of money and food."

"Your Majesty, no!"