After presiding over the operation against the Dutch fleet, Zhang Xie, chief of the naval staff headquarters, basically withdrew from the administrative affairs of the navy and concentrated his energies on the reflection and summing up the experience of the naval battle with the Dutch fleet. He also discussed with his students, foreign European captains and first mates, some examples of present and past European naval wars, and from this he led to speculations about the future of naval warfare.

However, Zhang Xie is a sixty-four-year-old man after all, and the climate in the north is much drier and colder than Fujian, so after exsuming a lot of energy, he finally fell ill from the cold in the winter of this year.

Fortunately, after the imperial doctors in the capital opened their treatment to the public, they finally made some progress in medical skills, and they were no longer quacks who kept a few prescriptions unchanged and used ginseng to replenish their vitality at every turn. The imperial doctors, who have a wealth of theories, have become truly experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of a large number of patients.

It was precisely after the emperor constantly sent imperial doctors to diagnose and personally inquired about Zhang Xie's condition that his body slowly recovered his health. On this day, Zhang Xie, who was just getting better, ignored the dissuasion of his family and students, and began to revise the naval tactical regulations he had compiled.

Just when he was engrossed in his work, the housekeeper suddenly ran into his study in a panic, which made the disturbed Zhang Xie extremely unhappy, he stopped what he was doing, looked up at the housekeeper and reprimanded: "What are you panicking about, the sky is falling outside?" Didn't I say that don't come in and disturb me until noon, and I won't see any guests today..."

"Yes, Your Majesty has come to see you." It wasn't until Zhang Xie had lost his temper that the housekeeper cautiously replied to him.

Zhang Xie suddenly dropped the pen, got up and tidied up the clothes on his body, and said to the housekeeper: "What are you still cooking?" Why don't you get a set of clothes for me... Your Majesty is there now? ”

The housekeeper, who was about to get the clothes, quickly stopped and turned around and said, "I have already entered the door of the mansion and come to the study, and the villain thought that he would report to the adults before running over." ”

Zhang Xie paused heavily, and said with annoyance: "You pok, why didn't you say such an important thing earlier, don't look for clothes, help me out to pick up Your Majesty." ”

"Yes, sir." The housekeeper, who was running out, hurriedly returned to Zhang Xie's side and slowly helped him to the courtyard where the study was located. As soon as Zhang Xie walked out of the study, he saw the young emperor dressed in civilian clothes and walking into the courtyard under the escort of several guards and ministers.

After Zhu Youzhen entered the courtyard, he saw Zhang Xie who came out to greet him, he quickly walked a few steps to Zhang Xie, stretched out his hands to support the other party and said: "Mr. Zhang, why is it like this, this northern winter is cold, you don't have to come out to greet you when you are better, let's go into the house and talk..."

With the personal support of the emperor, Zhang Xie did not insist on continuing to salute, and turned around and entered the study with Chongzhen. The study where the earth dragon was burned was still extremely warm, but it was too dry for the southerners. Therefore, as soon as he sat down, Zhang Xie ordered his students to make a pot of tea, so that the emperor could moisten his throat.

After Zhu Youzhen sat down, he held Zhang Xie's hand and said apologetically: "Originally, I should have come to visit my husband's illness a long time ago, but there have been a lot of trivial matters since the beginning of winter, so it has been delayed until today." Seeing that my husband was in good health, I was very happy. I hope that Mr. will recover soon and return to the court to help me..."

Zhang Xie was naturally extremely moved by the emperor's condolences, but after he thanked him, he said: "... His Majesty came to visit the minister, and the minister was really grateful. But the minister's body is best known to the minister himself. Even if he can recover this time, I am afraid that he will not have the energy to guard the navy for His Majesty anymore.

As the so-called leaves fall back to the roots, the fox dies in the first hill, and the ministers are sick these days, they also have the meaning of missing their hometown. Therefore, I also ask Your Majesty to allow the minister to return to his hometown, and also give the minister the opportunity to go home to see the scenery of his hometown. ”

Although Chongzhen said to stay, Zhang Xie's idea of returning to his hometown was very resolute, and Zhu Youzhen had to say: "Mr. is just a temporary illness, so he has the idea of homesickness." Naturally, I don't dare to force me to stay, so why don't my husband take a vacation and go back to his hometown to recuperate, and how about handing over the affairs of the capital to others for a period of time? ”

Zhang Xie shook his head and said: "The minister was originally a Confucian student, and he was ordered by His Majesty to form a navy. Now that I'm going home, I should naturally retreat cleanly, so why bother to get in the way of others?

Moreover, if the name is not right, it is not good to say that although the navy has not been built for a long time, the area to be operated and controlled from Temple Street in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south, from the coast of Daming to the coast of the Americas, is not insignificant. If the officials in charge of the Naval Staff Headquarters cannot be given real power, the minister fears that it will be even more difficult to control the garrisons, patrol offices, and fleets in various overseas areas.

In addition, the minister has also thought about some issues in the past two years, and originally planned to hand it over to His Majesty after the New Year, but since His Majesty came to visit the minister today, the minister also took this opportunity to report the minister's humble opinion to His Majesty, hoping to help His Majesty think about the construction of the navy. ”

Zhu Youzhen took the stack of manuscripts handed over by Zhang Xie, and was not in a hurry to look through them, but asked Zhang Xie first: "Since Mr. is so persistent, then I still have a question to ask Mr. I don't know who would be more appropriate to take over the position of Chief of Staff of the Navy? ”

Zhang Xie was silent for a moment, and then said slowly: "If it is safe, the ministers think that He Changqi, Li Honggui and others can watch the navy for His Majesty." But if you want to make a leap forward in the development of the navy, I am afraid that only Zheng Zhilong can unify the forces of the north and south seas and turn the Ming navy into a real army.

Although the overseas interests are great, there will always be a day when the carve-up will be completed. The existing military groups in the navy may not become a problem for our Ming Dynasty, such as Liu Xiang, Chen Xinji, Li Kuiqi, etc., all of whom were born as pirates and are wild and untamable. It is true that His Majesty can use them to conquer overseas vassals for a while, but when His Majesty wants to strictly enforce military discipline and control their overseas fleets and personnel, the ministers do not think that they can bow down to orders. ”

Regarding Zhang Xie's recommendation, Zhu Youzhen did not reply immediately, he immediately looked through the manuscript in his hand, and asked Zhang Xie for advice by the way.

After Zhang Xie explained a few words, he said to the emperor: "... According to our analysis of the performance of various Chinese and foreign warships and their performance in naval warfare over the past few years, the General Staff Headquarters and the ministers all believe that the Ming-class and Jianghu-class warships are surpassing the warships remodeled from the European Galen ships.

Of course, there is still room for further improvement of the Ming-class and Jianghu-class warships, but we believe that in addition to improving the warships themselves, the use of warships should also be re-planned.

For example, the Ming-class warship, for now, is more suitable for escort and auxiliary firepower output in naval battles, and can also be used as a ship for near-shore extermination of pirates. Therefore, it can be named a frigate, with a tonnage of between 500-800, a gun reduced to less than 40, and a rated member of around 200 people, so that the cost of the frigate can be controlled between 12,500-15,000 Ming Yuan.

Jianghu-class warships, we believe that 1,000 tons is a demarcation point for the performance of warships, and 1,300 tons is another demarcation point. The 1000-1300 ton Jianghu-class warship, with a double-deck gun deck, 50-56 guns, a capacity of about 350 people, and a cost of 30,000-35,000 yuan. Warships of this class can beat all warships in East Asian waters, and the only drawback is that they have a slightly weaker long-distance seagoing ability.

Jianghu-class warships of more than 1,300 tons, some warships can be equipped with three-layer gun decks, 64-80 guns, and a capacity of more than 500 people. Although the cost of this class of warships exceeds 50,000 yuan, it can be used as the main warship in any sea area, and I think this is also the main warship that the Ming Navy needs to equip the most.

Judging from the current Daming coastal defense, it should be time for the Daming Navy to reorganize the fleet. The Patrol Office is barely sufficient to manage civilian ships at sea and maintain regional maritime security, but after Korea and Japan follow our navy, the Patrol Office will soon be surpassed by these countries, so Japan should build a stronger fleet to deter countries around the sea.

In Yichen's opinion, the Ming navy must establish at least five main fleets in order to meet the security of the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade and ensure that overseas territories are not attacked.

The first is the Beiyang Fleet, which controls the Bohai Sea, the East China Sea, the Tsushima Strait, the Whale Sea, Korea, Japan, Ryukyu and other places, with Vladivostok, Jeju Island, Lushun and Tianjin as its home ports, and Miaojie, Busan, Nagasaki, Naha, Yantai, Qingdao, Keelung, and Shanghai as anchorages;

The second is the Nanyang Fleet, which controls the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, the Lombok Strait and the Nanyang Islands, with Xiamen, Dayuan, Guangzhou, and Malacca as its home ports...

The third is the Indian Ocean Fleet, which protects the security of these routes from the Strait of Malacca to the Indian mainland, and from the Indian mainland to the city of Jinghai...

The fourth is the Pacific Fleet, which protects the shipping routes from Japan to the American continent...

The fifth is a mobile fleet, which can be sent to support when the fleet in a certain area is understaffed..."

Zhang Xie said happily, but Zhu Youzhen listened to it a little numb, he quietly flipped to the end, and found that according to the naval fleet planned by Zhang Xie, there are about 25 Jianghu-class warships of more than 1,300 tons, 75 Jianghu-class warships of 1,000-1,300 tons, and about 300 auxiliary ships of various types, with a total cost of about 5.5 million yuan.

Although Zhang Xie intimately noted that if it is divided into 10 years, it will only be 550,000 yuan per year. But apparently the Admiral had forgotten that the manpower needed to maintain such a fleet would also cost money. Moreover, with the cost of training a crew member of the three army soldiers, Zhu Youzhen could not imagine that the army would approve of such a naval construction plan.

No matter how much Zhu Youzhen prefers the navy, he doesn't plan to invest such a large amount of money at one time, after all, the interests of the Ming Dynasty overseas do not need such a large fleet to maintain. Therefore, he chatted with Zhang Xie for a while, and then fled in the expectant eyes of the other party.

Although it was a cold winter, when he came out of Zhang Xie's mansion, Zhu Youzhen still had a lot of white sweat on his forehead.