Chapter 430: The giant ship returns

During the interview with the Lin'an Military Region envoy that day, Yin Yinglei and I discussed this matter.

"Your Majesty, of course the minister remembers."

"Well, Yin Aiqing, one of the purposes of expanding the Lin'an Military Region to four compartments this time is to form a special advance team to advance directly north from the sea. If you look at the map, you will land on the Shandong Peninsula, cross its hinterland, and turn it upside down in Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, and other places, and at the same time, the Yangzhou and Luzhou Military Regions will wait for an opportunity to move north to respond and hold back the Mongolian East Route Army, and the Mongolian Middle Route Army is trapped in the Xiangyang area, so I think there is a great opportunity. Such a force penetrates deep behind enemy lines and leaps thousands of miles into the Taihang Mountains, which will inevitably accelerate the course of the war, and if the time is ripe, it can also directly attack the capital of Mongolia, Dadu. ”

Li Beiyang said: "Your Majesty, this plan is bold, although there are certain risks, but the probability of success is also very high. ”

"Yes, but I can't be sure of the leader of this army."

Yin Yinglei said: "Your Majesty, the minister is willing to lead the troops." ”

I waited for Yin Yinglei's words: "Okay, Yin Aiqing, this matter is quite risky, so I need a resourceful, courageous and knowledgeable general to lead the troops. ”

Hearing my praise like this, Yin Yinglei was very useful: "Your Majesty, the ministers must do their best and live up to the emperor's grace." ”

"Yin Aiqing, in terms of martial arts, qualifications, and actual combat experience, you do not have an advantage over other generals of our dynasty, but there is one thing that I appreciate very much, that is, you can judge the situation and adapt to the situation. After entering the north, this independent advance force will not receive any support from our DPRK, and it will be far more difficult than other troops. ”

Yin Yinglei nodded and said firmly: "Your Majesty rest assured." ”

"Yin Aiqing, regarding the northward intersperse, I can only give you a vague task, but the specific actions need to be decided by yourself. The most direct point is how to solve the problem of grain and grass? Although there are the majority of Han people in the north, they have been ruled by Jin and Mongolia for more than 100 years, and many people have long felt numb to their Han identity, and I will not blame them for this, after all, the first emperor did not protect them well. After Kublai Khan ascended the throne, he adopted a series of gentle policies, which made the Han people have a stronger sense of belonging to him. Therefore, after you go, you must try your best to restore their long-lost heart of China, and only with their support can you be like a fish in water and gain a firm foothold to the greatest extent. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister understands. His Majesty mentioned the supply of grain and grass and other things, the ministers will learn from the grass cowards who occupy the mountains as the king, and rob, of course, only the Mongols. ”

I smiled and said, "Yes, Yin Aiqing, you are the one who understands the guerrilla warfare I am talking about best, and I believe that you will be able to complete this difficult task." After you go back, you will secretly form an advance team, this team I plan to be composed of a box of troops in the Lin'an Military Region plus 2,000 marines, the total number of people will be controlled at about 15,000, and the early stage will first strengthen mountain training, field survival skills and individual combat ability, and when the Xiangyang War enters a state of interweaving, I estimate that there will be a year at most, that is, the day you send your troops. As for the fact that after you arrive in the north, you will be free to expand your army if you have the opportunity, and perhaps when you join forces with the main force of our DPRK, the advance team will be another military region. ”

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

"As for the question of the number of people in the advance team, I have thought about it carefully, if there are fewer people, it will not work, and if there are too many people, it will be inconvenient, and the advance team will rely on flexible tactics to go deep behind enemy lines, so a team of more than 10,000 people may be the most suitable, or it may be too much. Yin Aiqing, you can also think about this, but you and Li Aiqing know about this advance team, and it will be kept secret for the time being. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

In the blink of an eye, it's the end of the year again. Due to the war, at the end of the year, I cancelled the normal annual military meeting and instead sent five envoys to the five major military regions, including Sichuan and Guangnan, to inspect and express condolences to the local garrisons.

When the several days of government councils ended, it was the last day of the third year of Xianchun, that is, the night of Chinese New Year's Eve in 1267. Because the expenses in the palace have been reduced a lot, this year's Chinese New Year's Eve is relatively deserted, and Xie Daoqing and Quan Jiu have expressed strong support for saving expenses, and other concubines will naturally have no opinions.

Of course, there are still normal Chinese New Year's Eve dinners. As in previous years, all the concubines and I gathered in Ningkun Palace, including Fang Ling, to attend the New Year's dinner of Shouhe Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing Zhang Luo.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the South China Sea Fleet made Ruan Sicong and Jerry. Polo and others returned to Lin'an after a voyage of more than half a year, adding a lot of joy to the New Year of Xianchun in the fourth year.

In the afternoon of the same day, I summoned the main personnel who had returned from the voyage at the Yanhe Temple, including Jerry. More than 20 talents recruited by Polo and more than 10 merchants from Venice and the area along the way, accompanied by the Taishi Jia Nidao, the President of the Government Council Wen Tianxiang and the Commander of the Navy Li Beiyang, this lineup is large enough to see the importance I attach to this voyage.

"See Your Majesty." Ruan Sicong, Jerry and others knelt down first.

"Excuse me, flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Immediately, in Jerry. Under the leadership of Polo, a group of foreign friends knelt down in unison according to the rules of the Great Song Dynasty and said: "See His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, and wish the Emperor a Happy New Year." "On the way to Lin'an, Jerry. Polo not only introduced the customs of the Great Song Dynasty, but also told these Westerners about the rules and etiquette of meeting the emperor.

"Everyone, excuse me, all Aiqing, friends from afar, please take a seat."

Dozens of seats are placed in the Jiying Hall, which is the first time in the history of the Jiying Hall.

"Your Majesty." After the people had finished their saluting, they sat down on their chairs one by one.

Ruan Sicong first described the process of the voyage and handed me the logbook: "Your Majesty, this long journey has really gained a lot of knowledge, and the detailed experience is all recorded, please take a look at it." ”

"Okay, I'll read it slowly." I motioned for Xiao Qi to take the four thick logbooks from Ruan Sicong's hands.

Ruan Sicong continued: "Most of the world maps drawn by His Majesty have been verified, but there are many discrepancies in the names of those places marked by His Majesty on the map. ”

I smiled and said, "Hehe, this is natural." The world is constantly changing, and Lin'an University will also be accompanied by scholars and experts this time, so let them make corrections according to the actual results of the investigation. ”

Although there are only a short period of more than 700 years from the Song Dynasty to later generations, the speed of development in these 700 years is far faster than that of thousands of years in the past, especially the rise of Western Europe, which has changed the world so greatly.

It is in these hundreds of years that our great China began to decline, closed off and self-righteous, when the world is changing with each passing day, our emperors are still thinking of themselves as the Celestial Empire, until foreigners forcibly open our country with foreign guns and cannons, only a few people of insight are the first to wake up.

The experts from Lin'an University present responded: "Yes, the emperor, the subordinates obey the order." ”

"Ruan Sicong, this voyage has lasted for more than half a year, although it is only the point to the end, but it has created a precedent for our dynasty, no, it is a precedent for the history of world navigation, this voyage, you not only carried out overseas trade, but also spread the advanced culture of our dynasty, and the most important thing is to show that our Chinese nation is not afraid of hardships and dangers, and conquers the value trend of nature. I believe that this voyage of yours will be recorded in the annals of human history, will be remembered for centuries, and will be admired by future generations. ”

Ruan Sicong and the others were very excited when they heard that my evaluation of this voyage was so high: "Your Majesty, the ministers are willing to continue the voyage for Your Majesty. ”

"Yes, it's inevitable. I have said that there are far more waters on earth than on land, and with the use of the compass and the development of navigation technology, future voyages will become more and more frequent, and I intend to make another voyage in the next year or two, and the next voyage will be composed of several ships and form a fleet voyage, which will be far larger in scale, personnel, and time than this first time. ”

More than 100 years later, Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty made seven voyages to the Western Ocean, creating many of the most in China's ancient maritime history.

"Your Majesty, your subordinates are also interested in participating." Jerry. Polo Dao.

"Absolutely." I smiled and said, "Wen Aiqing, at the departure place of the Shenzhou, a stone monument will be erected to commemorate this voyage. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Mr. Jerry, tell me about these friends from the West."

"Okay, the emperor, my subordinates first introduce you and your lords to these more than ten businessmen from Venice and other places, the emperor knows that our commerce in Venice is quite developed, this time the goods brought back by the subordinates are deeply loved by them, basically swept away, so they want to come to the East to negotiate business with our dynasty, and their subordinates have selected more than ten powerful businessmen to come to our dynasty for inspection in advance." Jerry pointed to an elderly man on his right and said, "Your Majesty, this is Mr. Brosia, the vice president of my Venetian Chamber of Commerce, and also the patriarch of my Venetian business community. ”

"Mr. Brosia, welcome to the Great Song Dynasty, I hope you can find your favorite items here."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Afterwards, Jerry introduced me to more than a dozen businessmen one by one.

I applauded and said, "Welcome to our court, and may you all have a prosperous business." ”

Jerry pointed to the more than 20 people on the left and said, "Your Majesty, these 20 people are all kinds of talents recruited by his subordinates for the emperor. The first person on the left is called Crete, the chief engineer of the Venetian Arsenal, who has a lot of experience in mechanical production, and it took a lot of effort from his subordinates to say it. For this reason, the subordinates were delayed in Venice for three more days. ”