Relying on this kind of left and right, Portugal has been mixing around Daming. (.23w[x].

Lu Yan thought for a while and said, "Let's trade with Portugal." ”

Jia Xu was still extremely pleased that Lu Yan could follow his advice.

However, far water can't quench his thirst, and those forces may not have the medicinal materials he wants, and they may not be willing to sell him gunpowder and other materials.

After the discussion between Lu Yan and Jia Xu, it was finally decided to join Kou Daming.

Since you have decided to enter the Ming Dynasty, you must think about where to enter the Ming Dynasty.

His aim was to obtain iron, lead, gunpowder, and all kinds of much-needed supplies, not to say that wherever there was money, he would go to the prison.

Therefore, he once again brought in Li Kuiqi and his subordinates, who were very familiar with the coastal area, to come to the staff officers.

"My Fujian is a major iron-producing province in the Ming Dynasty, and many places have iron ore production."

Li Kuiqi said with some pride.

He is right, at least in terms of class rails, China's most class railways are not Liaodong, not Sichuan, nor Hebei, but Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang.

In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, these three provinces would pay 300 to 450 tons of iron to the Ming Dynasty every year, making them the three provinces that paid the most iron taxes in the late Ming Dynasty.

Most of the iron handed over by Fujian every year will be escorted to Beijing, and the rest will be kept for their own use.

Quanzhou and Zhangzhou are the iron-smelting centers of Fujian, and there are more than 30 private iron-smelting furnaces in Zhangzhou alone.

But these two places are the anointed places of Fujian, and they are also the places where Fujian is heavily garrisoned, and if you want to seize fine iron from these two provinces, you must defeat the local garrisons.

This made Lu Yan feel a little headache, if he beat Da Ming too hard, maybe it would attract Da Ming's fierce revenge.

"So are there other places along the coast that are also iron-smelting centers, but there are not many officers and soldiers."

Lu Yan asked.

"Yes, Zhao'an has."

At this time, one of Li Kuiqi's subordinates said.

"The small one used to be Zhao'an people, Zhao'an has a Huang family, is the local tyrant of the big family, not only has a large number of industries, but also operates more than a dozen iron smelting furnaces, the annual production of refined iron and lead is estimated to be close to one million catties."

"Close to a million catties, so much."

Lu Yan was a little surprised, that is, there is an output of about 500 tons a year.

This was nothing in the past, but it was definitely a staggering number at the time.

"That's right, it's just that this Huang family has made friends with the government and hidden their own output, and they rarely pay taxes at ordinary times."

The pirate said.

Lu Yan knew in his heart that whether it was in the past or in the future, those businessmen were virtuous, and they always tried their best to evade taxes.

"So do they produce saltpeter or sulfur there?"

Lu Yan continued to ask.

"I don't think so."

The pirate thought for a moment and said.

Hearing this, Lu Yan couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"And not far from Zhao'an, there is also a big bazaar called Jiuzhen, which has a population of tens of thousands, is a famous local trading center, and has a large number of shops. The most important thing is that the bazaar has no walls, and we can easily occupy it once we land on the shore. ”

The pirate continued.

Hearing this, Lu Yan nodded secretly.

Now he is in great need of all kinds of goods, and if he can capture the old town, then this situation can be greatly alleviated.

"Okay then, let's invade Zhao'an and the old town."

Lu Yan thought for a while and said.

"But there is a big island not far from Zhao'an and the old town, and on that big island is stationed Tongshan Shui Village, one of the five major water villages of my Ming Dynasty, if we seize the old town and Zhao'an, the Ming army of Tongshan Water Village will definitely come to the rescue."

The pirate said.

"How many Ming troops are there in Tongshan Water Village?"

Lu Yan asked.

"I don't know, but there should be at least hundreds of people."

The pirate said.

Hearing that there were only a few hundred people, Lu Yan immediately put his mind at ease.

With his strength, it was still easy to defeat the Ming army sailors with hundreds of people.

"In that case, we've chosen this place."

Lu Yan said with a smile.

Once you've decided on your goals, it's time to draw up a detailed battle plan.

For this, Deng Zilong and Jia Xu are very good at it.

Jia Xu shook the folding fan lightly, looked at the map and pondered for a while, and then proposed his own idea to Lu Yan, who couldn't help but be overjoyed after hearing it, thinking that it was feasible.

However, due to the need to cross the sea for an expedition and a large-scale conflict with the Ming army, Lü Yan now had two options, one was to exchange for a horse boat and bring the cavalry to Fujian.

His ships were not specialized horse ships, and it was very difficult to carry them.

The other is to exchange a large number of elite infantry for a decisive battle with the Ming army.

Lu Yan thought about it and decided to take a horse boat to Fujian.

After all, the cavalry can attack when advancing, retreat can defend, maneuver and be flexible, and the fight is completely based on one as ten.

Lu Yan took a fancy to a horse ship in Zheng He's fleet, 37 zhang long and 15 zhang wide, divided into four layers, twice as long and wide as the "Sea Sovereign", and the height was higher than the "Sea Sovereign", with a displacement of more than 8,000 tons.

It can be called a real sea giant, just in terms of displacement, the "Sea Sovereign" and the "Holy Trinity" can't catch up with the horses, just one is enough to load hundreds of war horses.

Probably due to the fact that the ship did not have a large number of guns, and did not need a large number of gunners, it required 13,000 combat merits with men and ships.

That's an incomparably large number.

Because his current strength is sufficient, and he is worried that too many soldiers will increase the pressure on food, Lu Yan has rarely recruited troops.

Lu Yan looked at his battle merits, and there was still a gap of 4000.

So on the one hand, he prepared for the war, and on the other hand, he ordered those soldiers to go to sea to suppress bandits, so as to make up enough military achievements.

On April 25, the second year of the Apocalypse, when an eight-masted treasure ship slowly sailed towards Dayuan Bay, everyone was shocked.

"Eight-masted, it turned out to be an eight-masted ship."

Looking at the ship, Li Kuiqi couldn't close his mouth in surprise.

Since the abolition of martial arts in the Ming Dynasty, it is strictly forbidden to build large ships with more than three masts.

Therefore, not to mention eight masts, even if it is six masts, he has never seen a big ship with five masts.

"My God, there is such a big ship, could it be the original Zheng He treasure ship."

It was still Grenwell who had insight, and he immediately thought of the treasure ships of Zheng He's fleet back then.

The people on the shore were all amazed.

Even Jia Xu was surprised.

Fortunately, they had already learned that the ship was their own, so they were not alarmed.

Seeing this treasure ship, Lu Yan sighed again and again.

The Zheng He fleet of the Ming Dynasty was definitely the real invincible fleet in the world at that time, and no fleet could match it.

The largest treasure ship of Zheng He's fleet has a displacement of more than 20,000 tons, which is unimaginable to later generations.

The wooden battleship turned out to be in the 10,000-ton class.

And even if the wooden sail warships in the West developed to the early stage of ironclad ships, there was never a ship with a displacement that could exceed the treasure ships of Zheng He's fleet.

It is a pity that such a powerful fleet was destroyed by the Ming Dynasty himself, which is enough to make countless descendants sigh.

After the horse boat docked at the pier, a large crowd of people swarmed up to try to see the treasure ship.

Lu Yan has no intention of stopping it, he will attack Daming in two days, let them be happy, this can be regarded as a way to relax before the war.

*****

******

On April 27, the second year of the Apocalypse, Lu Yan set off with 8 Western ships, 3 armed merchant ships, and a horse ship.

This time, except for a small number of warships and sergeants left behind in the base camp, the rest almost poured out.

The sailors on the three armed merchant ships were the pirates, but the gunners were drawn from other Western ships.

Since most of the cases when Western ships are fighting, they only use one side of the artillery to fire, and the other side is useless, so Lu Yan believes that this will not affect the combat effectiveness of those Western ships too much.

His first target was the Ming Army's water village on the Penghu Islands.

The Penghu Islands are located in the middle of the Taiwan Strait, which is the gateway of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, and whether it is the Japanese Kingdom, Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions that want to go to the South Seas, or Portugal, the Netherlands and other countries that want to trade with the Japanese countries, they all need to pass through here.

Therefore, it can be said that controlling Penghu is controlling the Taiwan Strait, controlling all trade with the Japanese and part of the trade with the South Seas.

In the twenty-fifth year of Wanli, in order to guard against pirates and pirates, the Ming Dynasty created a tour, a general, four sentinels, 20 winter bird ships, and 800 soldiers here.

In the spring of the twenty-sixth year, a general post was added, and the boat master said that it was. He also traveled in Haitan, Nanri, Huyu, Hutong, Tongshan, and Nanao Liuzhai to draw a sentry officer and lead three boats.

Later, considering that the soldiers' salaries would be difficult to continue, they cut off a tour, and the three remote sentinel ships in Haitan, Nanri, and Nanao gradually stopped. Today, there are only 20 ships of the first general office, two sentinels, and 20 winter bird ships, and 850 officers and men.

However, during the summer flood season, the Ming army in Penghu would withdraw to the mainland to avoid the typhoon.

Therefore, the Dutch warships of that year were able to easily occupy the Penghu Islands.

However, it was spring now, so when Lu Yan came to Penghu Island with the fleet, there were still a large number of officers and soldiers stationed on the island.

When Lü Yan arrived on Penghu Island, a large number of sea ships were anchored there to replenish fresh water.

Although the Penghu Islands produce very little grain, in the eyes of some people, this is a real anointed land.

A large number of ships passing through the Taiwan Strait will supply fresh water or food here, and if they control this place, they will be able to receive a soft hand just by collecting tolls.

Some of the seagoing ships and fishing boats that had not yet docked also fled in panic when they saw such a powerful fleet, and they all felt that this fleet was not a good come.

However, those sea ships can escape, but the sea ships on Penghu Island can't.

"Raise the Mazu flag!"

Lu Yan said with a smile.

The Mazu flag is the standard pirate flag of the Ming Dynasty, and many pirates hang colorful Mazu flags, not the skull and sharp blades of the West, which represent the pirate flag of death.

Moreover, the Chinese pirates are humbly praying for safety and food and clothing written on the flags, which are the most small and trivial dreams of the grassroots class.

Speaking of which, the pirates of the Ming Dynasty are also very pitiful, not at all as beautiful as the pirates of the West.

When the brightly colored Mazu flag was raised, almost everyone confirmed that this was a pirate, and a powerful pirate.

The purpose of the pirates, of course, is not to guess, that is, to rob.

The Ming army, maritime merchants, and fishermen on the island also immediately became panicked.

"Oh my God, where did this fleet come from, what a powerful, extravagant fleet."

A Portuguese man with flaxen hair crossed and his mouth closed in surprise.

He was a maritime merchant who went to the Wa Kingdom, and due to the prevalence of the Wa and the Imjin War, the Ming Dynasty forbade trade with the Wa Kingdom, so Portugal almost monopolized the trade in goods related to the Wa Kingdom and the Ming Dynasty.

The current Wa country is a famous silver-producing country in the world, and in the West, he has the reputation of the island of silver, and he is definitely very rich.

"You're right, this fleet is too extravagant."

Another mustachioed Portuguese captain said.

The general fleet will be equipped with large, medium and small ships, each performing its own duties.

But the vast majority of the fleet in front of you, except for those armed merchant ships, was dominated by large battleships.

It's like a fleet with 6 Yamato-class battleships, a luxury that is enough to blind countless people.

Coupled with the huge eight-masted treasure ship, it completely subverted people's perception of the Daming sea ship.

"What should we do? Do you want to help the Ming army defend against pirates? ”

Said the flaxen-haired Portuguese.

"Are you crazy? Do you think those Ming troops will be their opponents? This is Daming's internal affair, and we should not interfere. ”

The Portuguese captain said angrily.

The flaxen-haired Portuguese rolled his eyes, if these were just a small group of pirates, it is estimated that he would have shouted to help the Ming army kill this group of pirates.

But the Portuguese captain was still extremely anxious about what the pirates would do to them.

Now that his ships are also anchored in the harbor, if he pulls anchor now, it will surely attract the attention of the pirates, and maybe attract their attacks.

With his ships, it is absolutely impossible to be an opponent of this fleet.

"Find a way to get in touch with the other party, even if you pay money, you have to find a way to keep the ship no matter what."

The Portuguese captain gritted his teeth and said.

This armed merchant ship is his most important possession, it is this merchant ship that has brought him a steady stream of wealth, if this merchant ship is hijacked by pirates, then his career will start again, and now Macau has money and may not be able to buy merchant ships.

Those Ming troops were also extremely frightened, this powerful fleet made them feel a lot of pressure, and almost all the soldiers ran back to the island without thinking about it.

After discovering that those Ming troops had escaped, Lu Yan was a little surprised.

So he hurriedly ordered the "Triumph" and "Royal Charles" to be the first to land, and the other ships continued to be on guard to deal with the emergency.

Soon they were in control of everything here, and things were going smoothly beyond his expectations.