Hearing Li Xing's words, Li Zhi smiled and said, "It is said that Zheng Zhilong has more than forty trading ships and operates maritime trade in the East and South Seas. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Not only that, but he also collects protection money from maritime merchants who pass through the sea off Fujian. As long as we win Zheng Zhilong, we will have a few years of expenses. ”

Li Xing thought for a while and said, "This Zheng Zhilong made such a big force, how did he make his fortune?" ”

Li Zhi had heard some things about Zheng Zhilong, but he didn't know much about it. He looked at Gao Ligong and motioned for Gao Ligong to explain.

Gao Ligong arched his hand and said: "Second general, this Zheng Zhilong's family history is very dirty. His real name is Zheng Yiguan, he went to the sea at the age of seventeen, and he fought under various Chinese and foreign maritime merchants, and even worked as a pirate under the red hair, but he has been very depressed and has been in a state of confusion for ten years. ”

It wasn't until he defected to the maritime merchant Li Dan that Zheng Zhilong could be regarded as getting ahead and became one of the leaders of Li Dan's subordinates. Li Dan was the largest maritime merchant between China and Japan 20 years ago, and he was very powerful in Fujian and Japan, and also had a port in Taiwan. However, this Zheng Zhilong is an ungrateful person, as soon as Li Dan died, Zheng Zhilong instigated his subordinates to forcibly occupy the Li family's port and fleet in Taiwan, and no longer listened to the Li family's command. ”

Now that Zheng Zhilong has become a big official, he hires people everywhere to beautify his history, saying that Li Dan handed over Taiwan's industry to Zheng Zhilong. However, this is pure lie. Zheng Zhilong used all the despicable tricks in order to swallow Li Dan's industry. ”

"After betraying the Li family, Zheng Zhilong had a port and a fleet, but there was no source of goods and no sales. He colluded with the Taiwanese pirate Yan Siqi, entrenched himself in Taiwan as a pirate, and picked up a single merchant ship. Not only robbed merchant ships, but Zheng Zhilong also rushed to the coast of Fujian to raid the inland and attack the city. ”

"Later, Yan Siqi also died inexplicably, and Zheng Zhilong annexed Yan Siqi's subordinates."

Zheng Zhilong robbed for a few years, bribed officials with the stolen silver, and finally turned into a court official. After becoming an official, he relied on scheming and means to maneuver easily in the officialdom, and the entire Fujian Navy Division gradually became his private army. He led the Fujian sailors to exterminate all the other maritime merchants, and destroyed the power of his original benefactor Li family in Fujian, and finally became the de facto ruler of Fujian. ”

Li Xing asked curiously: "This Zheng Zhilong also has a port and stronghold in Taiwan?" ”

Gao Ligong nodded and said, "This port was originally established by Li Dan. At that time, Li Dan felt that Taiwan's land was fertile, and he had been transporting immigrants to Taiwan, and there were more than 20,000 peasants in the port. ”

Li Zhi nodded and said: "I didn't expect Zheng Zhilong's family history to be so dirty, such a person, no wonder he would target our Hsinchu." ”

Gao Ligong said: "Grandpa Guo, we must not let such a two-faced villain with no loyalty occupy Hsinchu!" ”

Li Xing laughed and said, "If you want to occupy Hsinchu, you also have to ask our ironclad ship if you agree!" ”

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On December 20, Li Zhi's military academy opened.

Li Zhi vigorously promoted cultural learning in the army, and after completing the arduous recruit training, the soldiers attended night classes in the evenings to learn to read and write. Today, Li Zhijun's veterans who have been in the army for three years are basically literate. These veterans were able to read books and newspapers, and gradually became more knowledgeable and decisive, and they also gained more understanding and loyalty to the vigorous force of Jinguogong.

These veterans are all good seedlings of future officers.

But for officers, literacy alone is not enough. A good officer should be a military expert whose military knowledge is much higher than that of ordinary soldiers, and who must have a wealth of knowledge of warfare. Some of this knowledge comes from the actual battles he has participated in, but it can also come from books and other people's experiences.

To quickly raise the level of officers, the Military Academy is a good institution. In the military academy, instructors can introduce the basic knowledge of various wars, the characteristics of various formations and various arms of the armed forces, and the characteristics of various fortifications and facilities, so that the trainees can improve themselves in a short time. The instructors can also introduce various Chinese and foreign combat examples to the trainees, so as to enrich the trainees' war experience.

If a soldier who has experienced a bloody battle is a good officer seedling, then a soldier who has experienced a bloody battle will basically become a qualified grassroots officer after studying in a military academy for a period of time.

Li Zhi had been preparing for this military academy for more than a year, and the academy not only had senior officers from the Tiger Division as instructors, but also invited two Spanish army officers and three Portuguese naval officers.

Now that the name of the Duke of Tsu has spread all over the world, even the Portuguese are eager to develop some friendly relations with Li Zhi. After Li Zhi contacted the parliament of Macao, the parliament of Macao immediately invited experienced military officers from Europe. These officers were well acquainted with the details of the major wars in Europe and could introduce the cadets of the military academy to the history of war.

On the first day of the opening of the Military Academy, Li Zhi walked to the podium wearing the military uniform of the commander of the Tiger Division.

Looking at the hundreds of grassroots officers and meritorious soldiers sitting upright in the audience, Li Zhi nodded and said, "Soldiers, now Dongnu has been beaten down, and the thieves have been beaten to pieces by us. It is believed that the imperial court will be able to cope with the current situation by relying on their own strength. ”

"Today, our eyes will be on the ocean!"

"The Ming court is still fighting within the party, and the people of the Ming Dynasty are still ignorant, they don't know that today's era is the era of the sea."

Li Zhi jerked the rope, and a huge map of the world appeared on the wall behind the podium. This large map was drawn by Li Zhi with the memories of later generations, and it clearly depicts Europe, Asia, the New World, and Australia. When the soldiers saw this world map, they couldn't react one by one.

Li Zhi tapped the whip on the map and said, "Da Ming is here, so small!" ”

Then Li Zhi drew a circle on the map and said loudly: "But the world is here, so big!" ”

"The wave of carving up the world has begun. In Europe, there are old powers Spain and Portugal, that is, the Francos to open up South America, and the emerging hegemon Netherlands, that is, the red-haired people to conquer Southeast Asia. Even the English and French were ready to make a move, establishing colony after colony on the coast of North America and Africa. ”

"This is a colonial era, and this is a golden age that we should not miss. We can't just surrender the vast world to these barbarians. ”

"From today onwards, we will use our cannons and warships to compete with the barbarians on the four oceans. We want to plant the banner of the Han people on all the fertile lands of the world. ”

"There is still a long way to go. However, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and we will start from this military academy today to turn this goal into reality little by little! ”

"In the first lesson of the day, we asked Captain Enrique of Portugal to give us a detailed account of the Battle of Gravoline, the tactical characteristics of the two belligerents, and the mistakes that have been made by both sides."