Chapter 245: Fierce debate in the court

March 15, every five major dynasties.

The news of the defeat of the Spanish Imperial Fleet and the disruption of the southeast coast had already spread throughout the Beijing Division, and all the officials, big and small, were anxious to know what Kangxi's attitude was to this.

After the routine recital, all the officials cheered up and waited for Kangxi to throw out the topic of the invasion of the Spanish fleet, but Kangxi was as calm as a mountain and did not take the initiative at all.

Xiao Yongzao, the minister of the upper study, was reprimanded by Kangxi the day before yesterday for not knowing anything about Greater Luzon, and after going back, he made a lot of effort to Greater Luzon, and seeing that he was a little cold, he was also afraid that the ministers would bring up the topic of Ding Yin's innovation again, so he stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the slave has been ordered to carefully check the situation in Greater Luzon, which is not an indigenous island country in the South Seas, but an overseas territory of Spain, a Western power.

Spain's dispatch of a fleet to disturb our southeast coast for no reason, and to start a war in vain, and to massacre our coastal soldiers and civilians is really rebellious, rude, and frenzied, and we must not tolerate this kind of wanton trampling on the dignity of our Qing Dynasty and challenging the majesty of our court. ”

As soon as he heard that Xiao Yongzao was bluntly talking about going to war, Song Zhu, who was newly promoted to the minister's office, hurriedly stood up and said: "The slave earnestly prays to the emperor to think twice, the Spanish Empire is a maritime power, with a strong naval fleet, and our Daqing Division is the weakest. There are many coastal areas in the Qing Dynasty, and you can land everywhere, and once you start a war rashly, the consequences are unimaginable. ”

The new military department Manshang Shu Yin Tebu flashed out, and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, Spain is far away from the ocean, but there are only 10,000 people, and they dare to come to my Qing Dynasty to act arbitrarily and start a war without permission, how can my Qing Dynasty show weakness?" Even if you fight to the death, you will fight to the end."

Sun Zhenghao, the Han Shangshu of the Ministry of War, stood up and said, "Weichen seconded the proposal." ”

Wang Luo, the minister of the upper study, said: "Your Majesty, Weichen secretly thinks that Spain is strong, and once the war starts, it will inevitably lead to a series of disasters, and the two Guangzhou, Fujian and Zhejiang, and Liangjiang will be ruined, and it is not the blessing of the country, so we should first find out the purpose of Spain, and then make a decision, and I implore the emperor to make a prudent decision." ”

Ma Qi and Xiao Yongzao are both members of the Eight Parties, so they are naturally on the same front, and they followed up and said: "Regardless of Spain's purpose, the war has now begun, there is no room for maneuver, and it must be strongly counterattacked. ”

As soon as the words fell, the Ministry of Rites Shang Shuwa replied: "The minions are not opposed to going to war, but the Spanish fleet ships are strong and artillery, and they are elite soldiers in a hundred battles, and the old guns of our sailors are weak, and the soldiers have not been in battle for a long time, even if the war starts, how can they win?" If the war cannot be won, and the naval division will be exhausted, will the coastal defense be useless, and how can it prevent future troubles? ”

A group of princes and ministers had expected a good show to watch, but they didn't expect it to be so exciting, as soon as it opened, several ministers of the study and ministers of the ministry competed against each other, not giving an inch, and did not even leave them a chance to second.

Everyone knows in their hearts that once a war starts, I am afraid that it will be more difficult than conquering Taiwan, the Zheng family is entrenched in Taiwan, although the fleet is strong, but it cannot be compared with the Spanish fleet at all, not to mention that Spain's national strength is strong, how can the little Zheng family compare? With the war, the southeast sea trade will be cut off, and I don't know how many people will be cut off from financial routes because of this.

Based on this, there were many ministers of the DPRK and China who were reluctant to go to war, and seeing that it was empty, a number of ministers who opposed the war hurriedly followed suit, and the voices of seconding the proposal were all voices.

After calming down a little, the fourth elder brother Yinzhen stood up unhurriedly and said: "Although the Spanish fleet is strong and has experienced a hundred battles, it is only 10,000 people, and on the sea, it may still be strong for a while, but on land, it is ten times more troops, and it is not the enemy of our Eight Banners.

However, what is the intention of Spain to occupy Taiwan? It is nothing more than to want to take Taiwan as a foothold, in order to facilitate trade with our Qing Dynasty, Spain is a Western power, and there is Greater Luzon as a base, once the war starts, it will inevitably be protracted, our Great Qingshui Division is weak, and the expedition to the Great Luzon and the Western Ocean is impossible, and the battle to the end is nothing more than a defeat for both sides.

Erchen secretly thought that it would be better to follow the Portuguese example in Macao and allow Spain to lease a small port in Taiwan to trade with our Qing Dynasty, which would not only avoid war, but also promote maritime trade, which would be beneficial to both the country and the people. Pray for the Holy Decision of Emperor Amma. ”

As soon as this remark came out, all the princes and ministers had their eyes shining and secretly praised it, this suggestion was indeed counted in one fell swoop, and it immediately attracted a voice of seconding.

Zhang Pengxi, the minister of the upper study, has never interjected, as soon as he heard Yinzhen's suggestion, he immediately became vigilant, immigrating to Taiwan and developing Taiwan, the fourteenth master has spent a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, how can the Spaniards be allowed to get involved? The fourth elder brother Yinzhen obviously had bad intentions and tried to bring trouble to the east, and after a little thought, he stood up and said: "Weichen doesn't dare to agree, how can Taiwan be compared with Macao?" Macao is on the mainland, and the Qing Dynasty has absolute control over Macao, and the Portuguese can suppress it at any time if there is a slight change.

Taiwan is different, far away from the mainland, the Spaniards are wolf-like, if they take the opportunity to occupy Taiwan, will it be possible for the imperial court to conquer Taiwan again? ”

As soon as they heard about the conquest of Taiwan, everyone couldn't help but think of moving the border and forbidding the sea, and they were secretly frightened when they landed, and they really wanted to conquer Taiwan again, and they were afraid that they would not see the opportunity to open up sea trade in this life.

The fourth elder brother Yinzhen had no helper in the court, so he could only go into battle in person, and even retorted: "Taiwan has a vast territory and abundant products, and there is already a government and three counties, so it can garrison a large number of troops, and naval warfare is not my forte, but on land, how can Spain be the opponent of my Eight Banners?" Why worry about getting out of control? ”

Zhang Pengxi was speechless, and for a while, he didn't know how to refute.

Li Guangdi coughed lightly, stood up, and said slowly: "On the side of the couch, how can you allow others to sleep soundly, not to mention that Spain is ambitious and aggressive.

Wei Chen thought that he could not show the slightest weakness to Spain, lest it gain an inch, and it must be fought, and it must be completely annihilated at all costs. ”

Li Guangdi is in the court, there are many protégés and former officials, and he is also very cautious, and he is deeply favored by Kangxi, and his prestige in the court is very high. is also completely annihilated, and if you can drive away, you will burn high incense.

However, there are always those who don't sell it, and Zhao Shenqiao, the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, stood up, "The Spanish fleet is strong and can be completely annihilated, which will not only greatly boost the national prestige, but also deter the Western countries, but I am only afraid that I am more than enough, and my strength is insufficient." ”

Li Guangdi didn't even raise his eyelids, and said in a deep voice: "Although the Spanish fleet is strong and artillery, it is still a wooden ship, and the former Ming pirate Zheng Zhilong has repeatedly defeated the warships invading the Netherlands in the Western Ocean, and he attacked it with fireships, and the Spanish fleet today is only a mere thirty-five warships, what is the way?"

It is only necessary to punish a general who dares to die, and when he leads hundreds of fireships to take his fleet to anchor in the harbor, he can set fire to it, and the so-called general will have the heart of death, and the soldiers have no intention of greedy for life, but only need to use their lives to destroy the Spanish fleet in one fell swoop. ”

"Okay, this is what Lao Cheng said about the country." Kangxi stood up and said sharply: "Spain is barbaric, cruel and ferocious, and has slaughtered my Qing people several times in Manila City, Greater Luzon. What about the Western powers, the Spanish Empire? The Qing Dynasty officially announced today that it would go to war with Spain, and the government and the opposition must work together to annihilate the Spanish fleet."

"The Emperor Shengming" Li Guangdi took the lead in kneeling down and kowtowing and praised.

Where did the princes and ministers dare to have different intentions, and hurriedly kowtowed and chanted: "The emperor is sage"

When the next dynasty returned to Xinuan Pavilion, Kangxi did not show ease, not because he declared war on Spain, anyway, he had already started fighting, whether he declared war or not, he had to fight, and after the declaration of war, the conquest of Luzon was justified, and no one dared to make noise anymore. What he was worried about was what method Lao Fourteen would use to deal with the Spanish fleet, and did he also plan to attack with fire?

The next day, early in the morning, there was a loud cry all over the capital, "Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, Spain massacres the Qing people in Nanyang, and the Qing Dynasty officially declares war on Spain." ”

With the cries of the newsboys, the whole capital became a sensation, and there was another war? However, after reading the Beijing News, I figured out that Spain first massacred local Han people in Greater Luzon, robbed trading ships, and attacked Guangdong sailors in Guangzhou, all of them were filled with righteous indignation, and even called Kangxi Shengming.

Fang Bao's 'Nanyang Centennial Festival' was widely recited, and the Spaniards were scandalized into cannibals in less than half a day, and teahouses, restaurants, guild halls, and theaters were all talking about the Qing Dynasty's declaration of war on Spain.

Compared with the passionate people of Beijing, the Western missionaries in Beijing were very nervous, and the soldiers of the infantry commander Yamen began to screen and arrest Spanish missionaries, which made the missionaries panic.

Taiwan Strait, Penghu Island.

Penghu is located between Fujian and Taiwan, about 20 miles long from north to south, about 15 miles wide from east to west, the most dangerous and important island in the southeast coast of many coastal defense key points, its coastal defense geographical location is very important, since ancient times, it has the throat of Taiwan, the gateway of Zhangquan is called.

In the pre-Ming Dynasty, the Netherlands had two large-scale attacks and occupied Penghu, and built forts on it, Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan, Shi Lang conquered Taiwan, all in the Penghu War, Penghu under the continuous management of several forces, the scale is far better than before.

After the conquest of Taiwan, the Qing Dynasty set up Taiwan Town in Taiwan, garrisoning more than 10,000 troops, and set up the Water Division Association in Penghu, which was subordinate to Taiwan Town, under the jurisdiction of the left and right two battalions. There were 1,000 soldiers on the left and right battalions, more than 2,000 people including generals, and most of the officers and men of the naval division were from Tongshan, Fujian, and the same was true for the deputy general Zhang Jin.

Chapter 245: Fierce debate in the court

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