Equating the importance of the common people with the current royal family seems to be building momentum for the Zhu family and winning people's hearts, but in fact, it has no effect at all for the Zhu family, which has existed for nearly three hundred years. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Especially those peasant uprising generals, the fundamental reason why they raised the army in the first place was that those guys who gave themselves "parent officials" did not treat the common people as human beings at all, and the peasant army generals hated such dog officials to the extreme.

Li Hongfei's remarks will only deepen the contradiction between civil power and imperial power, and his daily behavior makes his status in the eyes of many generals even greater than that of Zhu Youzhen.

People are the masters who dare to rebel against the emperor, and although they accept Zhao'an now, they don't have much reverence for the emperor in their hearts.

"Hey! If this son could have rebelled in the first place, why worry about the uncertain world.........." Li Dingguo looked at Li Hongfei, who was giving a speech on the stage, and sighed in his heart.

The original concept of the peasant army was also to seek benefits for the people of the world, but as the team grew stronger and stronger, the addition of some people from three religions and nine streams made the team begin to deteriorate.

And this Li Hongfei, after the victory of the Western Expedition and the growing strength of the army, can still keep his heart, which shows that he is a person who can achieve great things.

"But it seems that such an eloquent person is not treated by Zhu Youzhen, this is ......... Maybe it's an opportunity. Li Dingguo muttered to himself.

Unconsciously, Li Dingguo became interested in this "principal" who met for the first time...........

Soon, Li Hongfei's speech at the opening ceremony spread in Nanjing, and Zhu Youzhen in the palace naturally heard about it.

However, Li Hongfei did not say any "inappropriate" remarks, so Zhu Youzhen did not take it to heart, and now he is having a headache about the Dutch, how can he have the heart to savor the true intention of Li Hongfei's remarks.

That's right, the Dutch took advantage of the fact that the Southern Ming were at war with the Manchus and had no time to separate, so they began to make small moves again.

At the end of 1647, when the combined fleet of the Ming army was in a tense confrontation with the naval division of the Qing army, the Dutch learned that most of the Fujian naval division had been transferred, and took advantage of the lack of air defense in the Penghu Islands to form a mixed fleet of nearly 500 warships with the pirates of the Japanese and the Spanish fleet, and quickly invaded the Penghu Islands.

Xiamen and Kinmen, which are important coastal defense areas backed by the mainland, are not easily provoked by the Dutch, but the Penghu Islands are not a problem.

Due to the westward expedition, the entire Fujian Navy Division had less than 300 warships left, and they were basically small and medium-sized warships, and they did not have an advantage in naval warfare at all.

In addition, at that time, the western expedition was at the most critical juncture, and the imperial court could not take care of a small island, so it could only endure it for the time being, planning to wait for the end of the war, and then mobilize sailors to clear it.

But the Dutch are not fuel-efficient lamps, and if they dare to fight the idea of the Penghu Islands, they naturally have a way to occupy them for a long time.

Taking advantage of the time difference of the Ming army, in less than three months of occupying the Penghu Islands, the Dutch provided artillery and the Japanese provided troops, and a large military fortress was built on the Penghu Islands.

The artillery in the fortress, combined with the mixed fleets of various countries, although it is unlikely to attack the interior, effectively blockaded the Taiwan Strait.

What is the Taiwan Strait?

It was an important passage for maritime trade in Nanming today.

The military expenses of Nanming's westward expedition were basically earned through overseas trade.

Once the Taiwan Strait is occupied, then the economic resources of the imperial court will shrink by at least about 30%.

This is not alarmist, now the Dutch have taken over the sea trade routes, the Dutch are charging huge tolls to and from merchant ships, some merchants with thin backgrounds now do not even dare to go to sea, Shanghai, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Wenzhou and other places with the most prosperous maritime trade, almost into a state of stagnation.

The shrinkage of 30% is considered light, and over time, this situation will continue to deteriorate, and even cause the collapse of the coastal light industry economy.

After all, the newly recovered territories will not only not bring benefits in the short term, but will also pull down the revenue of the national treasury.

Nowadays, there are hundreds of thousands of troops in need of weapons and equipment, and the reconstruction of these places requires a lot of silver, and there is no money, where can the court get these weapons for the army?

"Hit! Not only to lay down the Penghu Islands, but also to take back Taiwan by the way! Zhu Youzhen said domineeringly.

Now that he has capital, Zhu Youzhen is no longer afraid to do things.

"Qi Qi Sheng, when the surname of the country returned to Fujian with the army as early as March, he fought a few battles with the coalition forces of the Dutch, but the number of warships on the other side is not a few, and the fortresses of the Penghu Islands are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the surname of the country has no choice but to take blockade measures and wait for the opportunity for a counteroffensive." Shi Kefa reported.

Originally, Fujian's border defense was just a small fight, and the losses on both sides were not too big, so the imperial court did not pay too much attention to it, if it were not for the recent serious economic contraction, Zhu Youzhen would not have cared about a small Penghu Islands.

After all, his confidant is in great trouble with the Manchu Qing in the north, and at such a critical moment, there is no room for distraction.

"What, if you can't beat it, won't you fight? Isn't he known as the first in the world as a Fujian sailor? A small fanbang can also force it to be like this! Gao Hongtu sneered.

Gao Hongtu was actually the most opposed to the war, but he and Shi Kefa were in the same cabinet, and the two were naturally opposites, and Gao Hongtu would oppose everything that Shi Kefa agreed with, regardless of whether Shi Kefa's opinion was beneficial to the current situation.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this that Gao Hongtu, a guy who has no "political achievements", has always been favored by Zhu Youzhen.

After all, what Zhu Youzhen needs is balance.

"The old man didn't say he wouldn't fight." Shi Kefa didn't carry this pot, only to see him quickly explain: "Although the sailors surnamed the country are powerful, but the Netherlands, Spain, and the Japanese are all countries that are good at naval warfare, and this time the warships of the three countries are not much worse than the Fujian Naval Division, and the army also has nearly 40,000 firearms troops, and it is difficult to achieve victory with only the Second Army, and if a stalemate is formed, it may not be conducive to the Northern Expedition." ”

The Dutch have been operating in Taiwan for many years, and in order to adapt to naval warfare, the warships are basically large and medium-sized warships, and if the Fujian naval division is not divided, it does have an absolute advantage, and even if it is allocated to more than 500 warships of the First Group Army, Zheng Chenggong's ships that can conduct naval battles are twice as many as those of the Dutch.

But now the key is that the opposite side is not only the Dutch, but also Spain and the Japanese state, and the advantage of this Fujian sailor is not obvious.

Offense is no better than defense, and the attacking side obviously has to suffer a lot, and when both sides are all-firearms troops, it is indeed unwise to rashly launch an attack if they want to take the opponent's fortress without more than half of the opponent's troops.

Besides, Zheng Chenggong is not stupid, he has such a small family background now, it is impossible to rely on the power of one province to fight with the navies of three countries, order a blockade of the coast, cut off the enemy's supply, and wait for the order from above, which is Zheng Chenggong's best choice.

"What does Scott mean by that........ Use the Ministry of Defense to conduct joint operations? Zhu Youzhen asked.

Since the Second Group Army cannot fight the fleets of the three countries, then there is only one way to increase the number of troops, and once the number of troops is increased, the scale of the war and the command authority will be expanded, and the use of the forces of the Ministry of Defense will become an inevitable trend.

"The country's surname also said that there are not many troops needed, just the Yangtze River Water Division of the First Group Army." Shi Kefa said.

Although the scale of the Yangtze River Naval Division is not as huge as that of the Fujian Naval Division, Zheng Chenggong's steam warships are coveted by Zheng Chenggong, and he has asked the imperial court several times to place orders for the Fujian Naval Division to redress, but the imperial court has now shifted the focus of military spending to the army, and it is impossible to allocate funds to the Fujian Naval Division.

What the Northern Expedition needed was army equipment, and there was no need to continue to increase the number of naval divisions, and even the latest shipbuilding plan of the Yangtze River Naval Division was forced to run aground because of Li Hongfei's resignation.

Today, Baoshan Shipyard, except for the completion of the previous order to refit 200 steam warships, there is no more order from the imperial court.

For this reason, Zhou Furen almost scolded his mother, his Suzhou Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. has produced more than 100 marine steam engines, if this thing can't be sold, he will lose all his money.

Fortunately, Li Hongfei asked the Cao Gang to place a new order for steam warships, which allowed Baoshan Shipyard and Zhou Furen not to lose money.

In this regard, even if the imperial court knew, it didn't say much, because Situ Yan was cautious enough, and every time it was a piecemeal order for one or two ships, and the "buyers" were all businessmen who were more famous in shipping, and they claimed that they were also used for shipping, and did not install artillery.

As for the installation of artillery overseas with the smuggling ability of the Cao Gang after getting the finished product, who knows?

Suzhou Heavy Industry was single-handedly supported by Li Hongfei, and businessmen such as Zhou Furen, Cao Hong, and Su Dinghe were in the same boat as Li Hongfei, and he wanted to make a name for himself secretly, who could find out?

The sale of steamships allowed the imperial court to make money and workers to have jobs, and the imperial court naturally turned a blind eye.

Well, it's far away, to get back to business, the imperial court now has no money, and it has no heart to develop the navy, and the Fujian Navy can't change its clothes, so with the power of one province, it can't help the Three Kingdoms Alliance at all.

"It's nothing to use the Ministry of Defense, but the key to this battle is naval warfare, who to send as the commander-in-chief?" Zhu Youzhen is difficult.

In fact, the ideal candidate in his heart is Zheng Chenggong, but he has resigned from the Ministry of National Defense.

Although Qi Hongying serves in the Ministry of National Defense, not to mention that the other party does not have much experience in naval warfare, he is now stepping up the formulation of the Northern Expedition plan, and he has no time to separate.

The same is true of the rest of the generals of the Ministry of Defense.

To put it bluntly, this Northern Expedition is what Zhu Youzhen is most concerned about at present............

"Qi Qi Sheng, Li Hongfei, chief of staff of the Ministry of National Defense, is now staying at the Military Academy. Moreover, this steam warship was originally developed by Li Guogong, and I think he has made great achievements in naval warfare. Shi Kefa reminded.

Shi Kefa is quite fond of Li Hongfei, and he wants to take the opportunity to make a comeback.

The key to Li Hongfei's appointment now lies in one: the horse cannot hold military power (although this is not the reason on the surface, but secretly Zhu Youzhen has reached a consensus with the ministers).

As long as this naval battle can make an exception for Li Hongfei to take command, then Li Hongfei will definitely be the best choice for the Northern Expedition in the near future.

Since going south, Zhu Youzhen has been influenced by Li Hongfei and has been accustomed to using laws and rules to deal with those disobedient ministers below, and this move is often very effective, even convincing many ministers.

It is precisely because of the emergence of various rules that it also invisibly restricts the wanton expansion of imperial power, Zhu Youzhen wants the people below to abide by the rules, and he must take the lead in complying with them.

That's why this Penghu Islands incident will give Zhu Youzhen such a headache, you say add a fleet to go in, Zhu Youzhen is the emperor, so he casually said a holy decree.

If you really want to take the lead in breaking the rules, then there will be a "precedent" for people to act beyond their authority in the future, which is also what Zhu Youzhen does not want to see.

"Let Li Menghui take command........." Zhu Youzhen hesitated.

It stands to reason that Li Hongfei's current position is indeed in command, but Zhu Youzhen has his own worries, if it were not for the "financial route" being sealed this time, he would rather temporarily lose Taiwan and the Penghu Islands than use Li Hongfei.

In his heart, if the overseas islands are lost, they will be lost, as long as they can regain the territory occupied by the Manchus, they will be able to send troops to recover them at any time.

"There's no need to be so troublesome." Seeing Zhu Youzhen's hesitation, Gao Hongtu hurriedly said: "The little fanyi can't make the climate, it's just relying on the benefits of the warship, hasn't the surname of the country been asking for the purchase of new warships before?" Let's just give it to him. ”

Gao Hongtu was worried that Li Hongfei was really in charge of the troops, and began to give Zhu You an idea.

The Fujian Navy Division was not sure of winning the Triple Alliance, mainly because of the lack of new warships, and as long as the new warships were replaced, there was no need to implement the plan of joint operations.

"Lord Gao said it lightly, how can the treasury have extra money to buy new warships!" Shi Kefa retorted.

"You don't need to buy it, we can exchange it." Gao Hongtu said confidently.

"Oh? Let's talk about it. Zhu Youzhen was quite interested.

After all, it would be best not to expand the scale of the war.

First, it can save a lot of military spending, although it is only the transfer of the Yangtze River naval division into Fujian, but tens of thousands of more people, it will increase the food and salary of tens of thousands of people, and the silver money spent in the state of normal and the state of war are definitely two different concepts.

Second....... Without the intervention of the Ministry of National Defense, Li Hongfei will not be needed, after all, the current manpower of the Ministry of Defense is all concentrated on the Northern Expedition, and there is only Li Hongfei as an "idler" in the entire Ministry of Defense.

With Zhu Youjian's permission, Gao Hongtu organized his language and began to say slowly: "Now that the Manchu Water Division is almost completely wiped out, our army has no opponents in the Yangtze River waterway, and the use of steam warships to cruise is almost no different from ordinary sail warships, so why can't the Yangtze River Navy Division be exchanged with the warships of the Fujian Water Division?" ”

"Moreover, the number of warships of the Fujian Navy Division is larger, which can just be distributed in various ports of the Yangtze River waterway, so we only exchange equipment, not the officers and soldiers of the Navy Division, and it is not considered to disrupt the military deployment. Even the increase in the number of warships of the Yangtze River Naval Division will also be of great benefit to the transportation of troops in the Northern Expedition in the future. ”