On the tenth day of November in the thirteenth year of Yongle, after a few days of preparations, Zhu Zhanji led the generals to board a 400 stone fortune ship converted into a building ship.

The 400-stone lucky ship, not to mention in the sea, is not a large ship in the Yangtze River.

However, the shape of the pointed bottom of this kind of ship, the keel structure, the watertight compartment structure, the multiple bottom plates, and the winch used to control the tail rudder lifting and lowering all represent the most advanced sea ship technology of the Ming Dynasty in this era.

Not only is this kind of boat safer, not easy to overturn, can withstand high winds and waves, even if it leaks, it will not affect navigation, and more importantly, the boat is faster.

Today's First Military Region of the Ming Navy is a huge naval division from Jingzhou, to Wuchang, to Jiujiang, and has been extended to Chongming Island in later generations.

Although this 400-stone battleship is not the largest, it is the fastest and has a small draft. Whether it is in Chaohu Lake, Poyang Lake, or Dongting Lake, it can be unimpeded, so this kind of boat has also become a boat commanded by the generals of various naval divisions in the inland river.

Zhu Zhanji and the others will take this ship to the sailor camp on Chongming Island, where they will transfer to a large treasure ship with a displacement of more than 5,000 tons, and set up their flags and send troops.

Because this time it is a suppression of bandits, not a confrontation between the two armies. In order to keep it secret, he did not mobilize the army this time, and many ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty did not know that Zhu Zhanji, the grandson, personally went to sea to suppress bandits.

The last time he went on the expedition, he was Zhu Di's sidekick, and no one could command him except his own guards.

This time, however, he was the commander in chief of the three armed forces, and not only the 200 warships of various types of the First Fleet were under his command, but even the Second Fleet and the Third Fleet, which were combined with the First Fleet to form an encirclement network, were also under his remote command.

As for the Japanese Invaders, no one was really worried about what casualties they could inflict on the Ming fleet.

No matter how ruthless they are, they are only killing people on land. In the vast sea, if you encounter it, the main thing is to look at the size of the ship and the sharpness of the artillery fire.

A number of generals of the naval division, including Zhu Zhanji, preferred to regard this trip to sea as a live-fire exercise to temper the combat strength of the Daming naval division.

Although the strength of the Daming Naval Division is the best in the world, it is only in the initial stage of how to effectively enhance its combat effectiveness and give full play to its war potential.

Zhu Zhanji is not a novice leader, in his previous life, he was able to give full play to Yang Billy's strengths, allowing him to build his mercenary corps into a military group with superior combat effectiveness.

Although he has his own natural shortcomings in commanding operations, his ability is originally in coordination and management of people.

At the Navy Headquarters, he convened the first operational meeting of the commanders of the First Fleet and above.

According to the size of the ships going to sea, the First Fleet determined the route of the march, the battle plan, determined the new type of herald flag, and even included the emergency measures of each ship after encountering sea winds and fog.

Sitting in the position of the chief commander in high spirits, the first military order was immediately issued, which was to determine the command system of the entire fleet.

In the Xinjiang Estuary Barracks, after the local ships raised the military command flag, all the ships raised their flags one after another.

Each different ship hoisted the flag to the left and right, and the high and low positions were different, and these determined their position during the march. Any trained crew member can easily tell where each ship should sail.

The entire fleet was divided into a command part, a navigation part, a logistics support part, and an operational part.

Although the means of communication are somewhat backward, when the concise and clear flag herald system is unified, the seemingly chaotic fleet actually has a stable law.

After conveying the first order, Zhu Zhanji sat in the command cabin and handed over the power to Zheng He.

In today's Ming Dynasty, there are more brave generals than Zheng He, but no one can surpass Zheng He in commanding a team of 200 warships to march and combat experience.

As Zheng He's orders were conveyed through the flags, the two hundred warships gathered here began to set off in an orderly manner.

On the wide Yangtze River, warships marched in line according to different sizes and different purposes. Either two ships are in parallel, or three ships are in parallel, and at most four ships occupy half of the water surface of the Yangtze River.

The merchant ships that were moving back and forth, seeing a march of this size, all hid on the shore and gave way to the waterway.

Running down the Yangtze River, the speed of the boat is very fast, and in a day at most, the fleet can reach Chongming Island.

Zhu Zhanji's flagship was located in the middle of the flotilla, protected by a frigate on each side. This is only in the Yangtze River, and when it reaches the sea, the size of the fleet will be even more amazing.

The fleet sailed, and the flotilla generals were idle.

After Zheng He conveyed all the orders, Zhu Zhanji invited him to his subordinates and sat down. "General Zheng commanded the whole combat fleet for the first time, can he not be with him?"

Zheng He shook his head and said: "In the whole combat fleet, there are only four types of ships, and the officers and men of each department are uniformly ordered, but they are easier to control than the envoy fleet. ”

Zhu Zhanji nodded, understanding what he meant. Now all the departures are warships, there are no horse ships, there are not many supply ships, and the composition of the crew is not drawn from various departments, so the execution of orders is even more uniform.

Zheng He's previous envoys were more than 200 different ships, with dozens of types of ships, and each ship was not affiliated with a single fleet. Some ships are fast, some are slow, some are big, some are small, there are combat units, there are diplomatic teams, and it is actually more complicated to command.

Zhu Zhanji looked at his somewhat dark face and said, "This time I went to sea to search for the Japanese invaders, which is not a diplomatic mission than usual. I also know that Zheng Zongbing is merciful and does not want to kill more. But this time the purpose is different, and I hope that Zheng Zongbing can be more decisive. ”

Zheng He clenched his fists and said, "The ministers know. To be merciful to the Japanese is to be cruel to the coastal people of the Ming Dynasty. This peace will respect the order of His Royal Highness and live up to its mission. ”

Zhu Zhanji laughed, although Zheng He believed in Buddhism, he was more like a moderate diplomat than a military strategist. But he had been killed with a knife and a shot since the Battle of Jingjing, and this time his mission was different, and he was not afraid that he would be merciful to the enemy.

If he was really merciful, there would be no Chen Zuyi's 5,000 troops burned to death by him, and there would be no record that the capital of Ceylon was defeated by him.

Zhu Zhanji nodded and said: "The difficulty of exterminating the Japanese is that it is difficult to find their whereabouts. However, this time, the Jinyi Guards have spies among the pirates, and unless they never dock, they will definitely leak their roots. Exterminating the Japanese is our tactical goal this time, but it is not the strategic goal of our Ming Dynasty. For the long-term stability of my Ming Dynasty, this lonely still needs the help of the general army. ”

Zheng He pondered for a moment and asked, "Your Highness, what is a tactic?" What is strategy? ”

Zhu Zhanji asked rhetorically: "Zheng Zongbing is rich in five cars, can he know the word politics?" ”

Zheng He responded: "The pre-Qin princes used the word politics. "Shangshu Bi Ming" has "Tao Qi Politics, Ze Run the People", and "Zhou Li, Diguan, Suiren" has "Hold its political ban". In more cases, the dynasties have interpreted 'government' and 'governance' separately. 'Politics' mainly refers to the power, system, order and laws of the state; 'Governance' mainly refers to the management and education of the people, and also refers to the realization of a stable society. ”

Zhu Zhanji nodded and said: "Zheng Zongbing's real name is worthy of his name, and the meaning of such a rare word can be explained clearly. So, may I ask Mr. Zheng, what is the purpose of the war? ”

Zheng He groaned, and Zhu Zhanji said without waiting for him to speak: "The so-called war is nothing but the continuation of politics, and the purpose of all wars is to serve politics. The extermination of the Japanese is only a war, but if we want to completely solve the problem of the Japanese invaders, it is not a war that can solve the problem, we must dig deep into the foundation of the Japanese and fundamentally cut off the foundation of their survival, and this is the difference between tactics and strategy. ”

Zheng He responded: "Your Highness means that you can achieve it by using tactics to compete for the length of a while!" If it is a plan for the world, it needs to be planned from the overall situation, which is the strategy! ”

Zhu Zhanji laughed and said: "The words with the chief soldier are really refreshing, and Zhanji admires it." ”

This is Zhu Zhanji's heartfelt words, talking to a smart person, the other party can quickly understand his meaning, saving a lot of tongue.

Moreover, Zheng He can completely express Zhu Zhanji's meaning in concise words, which is far inferior to Zhu Zhanji.

He is stronger than Zheng He, but he has more knowledge, and the other two have different statuses, so the information they are exposed to is asymmetrical.

Really compared to his personal comprehensive quality, Zhu Zhanji really feels that he is not as good as Zheng He.

Zheng He asked: "Your Highness, the ministers have not been in the court for a long time, so they don't know much about the situation in the court. Since last year's Northern Expedition, His Majesty defeated the Warat Department and developed the Beimingshan Copper Mine in the grassland, and the situation in the grassland has been cleared. Now has the imperial court shifted its main efforts to the coastal countries of the Ming Dynasty? ”

Zhu Zhanji said with a smile: "Does Zheng Zongbing want to ask that the imperial court will pay more attention to sea power?" ”

Zheng He smiled a little ashamedly, clasped his fists and said, "The ministers are smiling generously. ”

Zhu Zhanji nodded affirmatively and said, "General Zheng Bing, please rest assured, although the current grassland forces have not been completely conquered, the imperial court is just waiting for the new musket to be reloaded." When all the guards of the Ming Dynasty used muskets, at that time, the cavalry advantage of the grassland forces would completely cease to exist.

In the future, the Ming Dynasty will no longer regard the two million Northern Yuan forces as real opponents. The Ming Dynasty will become an alliance with sea power as the mainstay, focusing more on areas outside the Ming Dynasty. What Zheng Zongbing needs to do is to take good care of his body, and in the future, there will be more places where the general soldier is needed! ”

Zheng He asked again: "If the Japanese forces are cleared, and where will the next step be, please let Your Highness make it clear!" ”

Zhu Zhanji said with a smile: "In the west of the Timurid Kingdom, there are countless small countries, and those countries have never heard of my Ming Dynasty, and they don't even know that there is my Ming Dynasty in the East. To promote the prestige of our Ming Dynasty, it is inseparable from the hard work of the general army. ”

Zheng He said categorically: "This is his lifelong ambition, and he has suffered a lot. ”