After a while, Liu Tichun and others rushed over, and when they heard that Li Guo had convened a meeting of important generals, they all thought that Li Guo had begun to have a new battle plan, and they all rubbed their hands and prepared to fight. +.

Li Guo looked at these excited guys, and laughed in his heart.

Li Guo told them that he had caught a few Francophiles, and he was going to ask him later, and all the people should listen obediently on the sidelines, and they were not allowed to make noise without permission! There are noisy people, spanking with boards!

Most of the people under Li Guo did not know Westerners, but they had also heard of the Franc machine, and they made various types of guns called the Franc machine gun. But everyone didn't care about the Francophone people, because although the Ming Dynasty was in decline at that time, after all, the land was vast and rich, and the Westerners were collectively called Fanyi, and they didn't value it.

Therefore, when I heard that it was just a Fanyi interrogation, many generals disagreed.

Li Twelve stood up, "Brother, I still have some military affairs waiting to be dealt with." ”

"What military affairs?" Li asked.

"It's nothing, it's just a normal way to watch soldiers drill." Li Twelve said.

Li Guo saw that some of the rest of the generals were also ready to get up and retire, pointed at Li Twelve, and shouted, "Sit down for me!" ”

Li Twelve had no choice but to sit down.

Li Guo pointed again, "Remember, shut up!" ”

Li Twelve didn't dare to say anything. The rest of the people also obediently stopped squeaking.

Li Guo stood up and said to everyone, "Wait for that Franc machine to come, everyone listen carefully, and you also have to learn a long time." Don't always be a small farmer, don't always be self-righteous! Don't think that winning a battle is great, you have to learn a lot! Listen and think much. Don't interject. ”

Li Guo pointed at Song Yingxing, "Come, Yingxing, you sit a little ahead." Wait a minute, there's a lot of stuff you're going to use. ”

In the midst of the chaos, the Francis Ricci came, washed it cleanly, and changed his clothes.

Li Guo asked the Ricci to sit down in front of him, and then began to ask questions, and Liu Ru began to translate.

"Are you Portuguese?" Li asked.

"Yes, sir." Ricci nodded.

"How did you get here?" Li asked.

"Back to my lord. We were hit by a typhoon, and we were blown by a typhoon. Our hull was damaged, and many crew members died. There were only a few of us left. Ricci replied.

"I heard that you used to be the overlord of the sea, but are you still now?" Li Guo then asked.

"My lord, I won't tell you, it's not now." Ricci had a wry smile on his face.

"Oh? So which country is the hegemon of the sea now? Spaniard? Li Guo asked curiously.

Matteo Ricci spoke.

Li Guo ordered someone to make tea and pour water for Ricci. Don't worry. Speak slowly, don't be afraid of a long time, as long as he speaks clearly and in detail, there will be a reward.

Everyone looked at Li Guo who was very particular about the etiquette of this Franc machine, and they didn't feel puzzled, thinking, what is the tiger master polite to this Fanyi?

In fact. Li Guo has Li Guo's thoughts, that is, the territory and hegemony of the ocean.

In fact, the power of the sea. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was the strongest navy of the Ming Dynasty.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, China had a navy of 3,500 warships, which carried out massive cruises every spring and summer.

In 1373 and 1374, the Chinese navy pursued the Japanese pirates as far as the Ryukyu Islands.

In 1409, he defeated the Annami pirates in the Gulf of Tonkin.

A Chinese detachment in Zheng He's Sixth Maritime Expedition rounded the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Atlantic Ocean as far as southwest Africa.

Another detachment entered the Pacific Ocean via the Solomon Islands to the east coast of Australia.

In the Strait of Malacca, Sri Lanka and Sumatra, challenges to China's maritime authority were crushed, the world of thirty-six countries submitted to the Ming Empire, and China became the most powerful maritime power at the time.

As a result, a Ming overseas empire was formed, consisting of the trading fortresses of the North Indian Ocean, the Malay Peninsula and the South Sea Islands, and the Sulphur Islands.

But by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, China's once-powerful navy was rapidly declining, causing the Ming Empire's national security space in the northern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific to shrink dramatically. As a result, it changed the pattern of power in the Eastern Hemisphere and influenced the course of modern and modern history of the entire world.

This great hegemony began to decline in the middle of the fifteenth century, thus causing the greatest dream in the history of world maritime hegemony to be shattered.

The decline of the navy of the Ming Dynasty began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and its specific expression is three points

First: the coastal guard post is empty, and the morale of the sailors is low. The Weisuo army is a system drawback of the entire Ming Dynasty, the soldiers of the Weisu are poorly treated, only one stone of food and salary per month, and they are exploited by the officers, life is difficult, and the soldiers flee in large numbers. At the same time as the number of soldiers was sharply reduced, the morale of the soldiers was low, the combat effectiveness was severely reduced, the soldiers had no food and clothing, they were undisciplined, the officers did not know how to fight, they only knew how to exploit the soldiers, and the officers and men regarded each other as enemies.

Second: the fleet is reduced, the ships are damaged. The sharp decrease in the garrison army also led to a sharp decrease in the number of naval personnel, so it led to the reduction of warships, and there was no battle without ships!

Third: the regression of the coastal defense strategy, the navy of the Ming Dynasty at that time had changed from the offensive defense strategy in the early Ming Dynasty to the conservative defense of the shrinking coastal defense line, the ocean-going fleet was recalled, the construction of large ships was stopped, the island base was abandoned, the retreat policy caused the navy to suffer heavy losses, and the coastal defense line was pressed back to the coast from the far sea or even the ocean.

Some scholars who have studied the navy of the Ming Dynasty have said with sadness that the impact of the decline of the navy of the Ming Dynasty is extremely far-reaching

The first is the loss of control over the northern Indian Ocean.

In fact, Chinese businessmen are able to bear hardships and stand hard work and have a flexible mind when doing business. As early as the Tang and Song dynasties, many Chinese merchants were doing business in the Indian Ocean, and many Chinese trading stations were set up on the Indian coast. During Zheng He's naval expeditions, military deterrence and peaceful trade led many Indian Ocean countries to become vassals of the Ming Dynasty, forming a solid tributary trade circle in the northern Indian Ocean.

However, with the decline of the Ming navy, this qiē not only lost the opportunity to expand commercial trade, but also lost the military barriers and trade routes of the Chinese sea, and also lost a very important opportunity for China to become a global power.

The second is the loss of control over the nearby seas, including Southeast Asia.

At that time, most of the major vassals of the Ming Dynasty were located here, and all of the Indochina Peninsula and most of the Nanyang Islands were subject states of China. Malacca and the Old Port are also nominally Chinese overseas territories.

Zheng He once said: "If you want the country to be rich and strong, you must not ignore the ocean." Wealth comes from the sea, and danger comes from the sea. Once the king of another country seizes the sea, China is in danger. Our fleet is invincible, and can be used to expand trade and subdue foreign lands, so that they dare not covet the seas. ”

At that time, Nanyang had almost become a part of China, and it was a vassal of China in terms of economy, culture and politics. The civilization of Nanyang is completely part of the efforts of the Chinese people.

Some scholars say that if the Ming Dynasty could continue to operate as it did in the early Ming Dynasty, it would not wait for the Europeans to come east, and the Nanyang countries would have become the territory of China.

But this qiē came to naught with the decline of the Ming Dynasty navy.

Li Guo traveled to this era, of course, to fight for hegemony, and with the improvement of strength, it was impossible for him not to consider the ocean. This is for the benefit of all generations!

Therefore, preparing for the construction of the navy is also a dream of Li Guo, which is why he values the captured Franco-Ricci so much.

He wants to understand the current situation in the entire ocean, and he wants to build a navy in a targeted manner, although it is difficult, but Li Guo does not believe that with his modern foresight, he will definitely be able to dominate the world!

Therefore, hearing that the Portuguese are no longer the overlord of the sea, Li Guo couldn't help but ask, "Then who is the boss of the sea now?" (To be continued......)