Huludao, the former pirate nest, has now become the seat of the Yamen of the Ming Maritime Administration. The first half is a military port, where several warships, large and small, are docked, and on the sea more than ten miles away from here, warships on duty and several auxiliary warships swim back and forth to protect the safety of Huludao.

The first half of the gourd mouth has been completely turned into a military fortress, and the wall made of rock almost covers the entire gourd mouth, so you can't see anything from the outside, but as long as you stand on the top of this fortress, you can see a thunderbolt fire densely set up behind the fortress. On the city wall, more powerful crossbows were scattered with a faint cold light, as if they were going to choose people to eat, and there were crossbow machines set up in between, but the number was much smaller.

Almost all of the arrangements here are designed to prevent sudden attacks on the sea, and most of them are mainly long-range strikes. There are a lot of pirates in this sea area, and the Ming Navy Division has gone to sea again and again to sweep them, and Ning Zeyuan doesn't dare to say that he will wipe them all out, and more importantly, there are still many island countries in this sea area. The sudden rise of Huludao may not necessarily attract the covetousness of these forces.

The tranquil bay between the two islands is where the shipyard of Huludao is located, and huge docks are dotted in between. After crossing this sea area, you will enter the main island of Huludao. On the main island, there is the seat of the Yamen of the Maritime Administration, residential areas, and rows of military camps. Sailors and Marines on a rotating basis live here on weekdays.

At this time, after more than two years of development in Huludao, there are more than 20,000 people on the island, including soldiers, shipyard workers, and a large number of ordinary people who have been emigrated here, who are responsible for farming on the island and providing some necessary food and other items for the island. They can also be provisionally requisitioned if necessary.

It was here that Zhou Baozhen saw Chen Ci.

Chen Ci, Luo Yishui, these figures who were famous all over the world on the mainland in the past, Zhou Baozhen had naturally heard of them, but he had never seen them in person, but he did not doubt the authenticity of the person in front of him at all, because Huludao was already preparing for war. Soldiers are being mobilized, warships are undergoing major overhauls before the expedition, and boxes of supplies and weapons are being transported onto the warships in an endless stream.

The Daming Naval Division is indeed preparing for war.

He didn't expect that Luo Yishui, Chen Ci and the others had already gained a foothold on Manila Island and found an excellent puppet. And this also shows that Daming has found their agents overseas.

What does it mean to control Manila, Zhou Baozhen is naturally very clear, that means that it will choke the traffic arteries of communication between the East and the West, although Manila was strong in the past, but there was no overwhelming advantage to shock the surrounding island countries, the former king Nilan was more dependent on the vertical and horizontal and his own personality to unite this sea area, and once Manila fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty, with the strength of the Ming Dynasty and the investment in the sailors, Zhou Baozhen has no doubt that at most ten years, this sea area will completely become the back garden of the Ming Dynasty, Controlling this sea area will provide Daming with an endless stream of financial resources.

Zhou Baozhen seems to have been able to see that in a few years, on the thousands of miles of sea frontiers of Qi, there are Ming sailors everywhere, and the entire sea is full of smoke, and the Ming army wantonly landed in these places and harassed the Linhai county of Qi at will.

Not to mention how much they can achieve, this kind of harassment alone is enough to contain the countless troops of the Qi State, and can make the coastal counties of the Great Qi Dynasty anxious and chaotic, and it will not be possible to become the Chu Force of the Ming Qi War, and it will also become a black hole that drags down the Qi State, and constantly devours the strength of the Qi State.

Unless Qi State achieves an absolute victory on the mainland, once the time drags on, the advantage of the Ming Dynasty will become more and more obvious. Controlling thousands of miles of sea frontier and controlling this vast sea, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty has been in a favorable strategic situation of attacking and retreating.

On the other hand, the Great Qi, so far the court still disdains the sailors, they covet not the navigation technology of the Zhou family, not the shipbuilding ability of the Zhou family, but the massive wealth of the Zhou family, the Zhou family Those who fought in the sea are being forced by them to be transferred to the dense lakes and ditches of Jinghu Lake, like shallow water shrimp to fight with the Chu army.

Seeing the hurried footsteps of those elite soldiers, the balance in Zhou Baozhen's heart had begun to tilt slowly.

Three days later, he finally saw the biggest purpose of this trip, when Ning Zeyuan's five-story ship was launched into the water, the last insistence in his heart finally collapsed.

This sea will belong to the Ming Dynasty in the future, the behemoth floating in the sea has declared the sovereignty of this sea, the former main battleship in front of this behemoth, it seems to have become a puppet, looking at the impact angle that extends far from the bow of the ship, seeing the murderous thing wrapped in iron armor outside the first deck, Zhou Baozhen only feels that every cold pore on his body is whistling, all are shouting, if he can command a battle as the captain of such a giant ship in this life, then what else can he ask for?

He decided to go back immediately. As for the battle of Manila, he didn't feel the need to see it anymore. He is no stranger to there, if the previous main warships of the Ming Dynasty can still resist, then the appearance of this five-story warship will definitely destroy the protection of those important ports in Manila, and pierce their warships like papier-mâché shells.

There is no need for the Zhou family to look forward and backward, taking refuge in the Ming Dynasty can rekindle the Zhou family's desire for the sea, even if the Great Qi turns its face and the Zhou family escapes to the sea, what can the Qi country do to them? As for those industries on land, if they are gone, they will be gone, and with Zhou's ability, are you afraid that they will not be able to re-establish them in the future?

The current Daming sailors are not short of money or ships, and what they are most lacking is talent, that is, experienced captains and sailors who can drive these countless warships across the sea.

Ning's is to grasp this point, has been far ahead of the Zhou family, and the Ming Dynasty, with the power of the whole country, under the cultivation of Ning Ze, can quickly make up for the shortcomings of talents, if it is too late, the Zhou family really has nothing to rely on.

The next day, Zhou Baozhen got on the battleship that Zhou sent him this time, and hurriedly embarked on the way home, what to pay thirty percent of the protection fee in exchange for the protection of the Ming sailor to the Zhou family, now Zhou should be thinking about how to climb the Ming giant ship and sail to the broader ocean. Zhou Baozhen has already made up his mind, and after he goes back, he will do his best to convince the patriarch that if he can't let the Zhou family change course, then his own branch will definitely break away from the Zhou family. Even if you can't take away the shipyard, there are always some shipbuilding craftsmen, technicians, sailors and shipyards, which should be extremely eager talents for the current Ming Dynasty.

On the third day, Chen Ci also left Huludao, and Da Ming decided to send troops to help them control Manila, and he had to rush back to discuss with Luo Yishui to make targeted deployments.

The Great Ming Marine, quietly revealing his sharp fangs, was about to start their first foreign battle to conquer the sea.

Just when Ning Zeyuan was preparing for the first large-scale expedition, the Ming army commanded by Chen Zhihua also advanced to a place less than fifty miles away from Yongdu and set up a large camp.

Although the snow covered the entire land, the army was not suitable for large-scale operations at this time, but Chen Zhihua was not prepared to let all the troops in the barracks for a whole winter, these acropolises are a good training place, the Ming army is still inexperienced in attacking the fortified city, although these acropolis are not big, but they are well-equipped, and they are just used for Chen Zhihua to practice.

Although it was the middle of winter, the Ming military camp was in full swing. In contrast, Yongdu really fell into a gloomy fog. This is already the last fortress that Great Qin has defended. Everyone knows very well how it will end, the difference is only how long they can hold out. All prices have risen rapidly, especially grain, which is already priceless, and the city has completely implemented military management, and the first thing Ma Chao did after returning to Yongdu was to forcibly confiscate all the food and all the materials that could be used in Yongdu's home, and Yongdu has completely entered the era of rationing.

At this time, not to mention the poor people, the wealthy families, and the ordinary officials of the imperial court are all precarious, and the only thing they think about every day is how to fill their stomachs.

The Qin people in Yongdu City are like this, and the Ming people who were locked up in the prison, the miserable end is needless to say, after the Tiger Prison Incident, Ma Yue was furious and ordered the arrest of all the Ming people imprisoned in Yongdu.

The Ming merchants in Yongdu and several surrounding acropolis bore the brunt and were imprisoned in the prison of the Qin people, if it weren't for Qin Ting's concern that these people might still be useful when the Ming army attacked in the future, I am afraid that one person would have fallen to the ground long ago.

But even so, thousands of Ming merchants were locked up in prison, and all they got every day was a bowl of gruel that could be used as a mirror and a black bun the size of a baby's fist.

The weather was almost dripping into ice, and it was even more cold in the cold cell, and the only thing to protect against the cold was some hay on the ground, and the weather was warm when these people were brought in, but it was already in the middle of winter. It's just that they are wearing some jackets, and the only means of keeping warm is to huddle tightly together one by one.

The shadow of death hangs over everyone's head.

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