Nowadays, most of the railway lines have been completed, and it is quite convenient to deploy troops and supplies.

From Beijing to Fujian, in the past, it took at least three months for the baggage truck to arrive, and it took at least half a year to equip tens of thousands of soldiers and horses with equipment and supplies.

But now it's different, with the steam train, it will be completed in less than half a month.

The soldiers and horses on the expedition were mainly naval divisions, so the five military battalions did not move, and the other guards did not move, only 3,000 battalions and the Shenji battalion were transferred.

The other soldiers and horses included the Ningbo Naval Division, the Jiaozhi Naval Division, and the Luzon Naval Division, totaling 15,000 men.

Counting the boatmen, sailors, and people, the total is 30,000 people.

A total of 52 ships were dispatched, of which Zheng He was the flagship, Zhu Qizhen personally led the team, Zhu Qiyu was the deputy, and Zhang Mao was the vanguard, ready to go.

At the same time as the 3,000 battalion and the Shenji battalion arrived, the dissuasion regiment led by Cao Nai also arrived.

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

Cao Nai didn't say hello, and began to persuade as soon as he came up.

Behind him, Kuang Yu and the others were also ready to say something, and they stepped forward to dissuade him.

Zhu Qizhen listened with a big head, waved his hand, and said, "You Qing family came all the way from Beijing to persuade me to give up the expedition?" ”

Kuang Yu hurriedly stepped forward and said, "The emperor is ready to go on an expedition, and the division is unknown!" The so-called name is not right, it is not good, I am the Heavenly Empire, I should follow the law of etiquette, and wage war against Eastern Rome, what is the purpose? ”

At the beginning of the first battle of Tumubao, when Wang Zhen advocated the imperial expedition, he came out to dissuade him.

It's just that Wang Zhen's strength was too great at that time, and it can be said that he is the same in the court, and in desperation, many people had to follow the emperor to go on the expedition together, and the result was that they almost died in Tumubao.

Later, everyone found that the emperor had matured a lot, but his temper was still eccentric and he was a little impulsive.

Now I don't care if I can persuade or not, as a courtier, I should persuade him, and fighting a war is not a family, not to mention the loss of money and labor, this kind of large-scale sea battle, the Ming army is not good at it, you still have to drive the expedition in person, in case something happens, what can the Ming do?

Zhu Qizhen also knew the thoughts of these people, he originally planned to send Tang Xinggu over to fight the Confucians, but after thinking about it, after all, they also had good intentions, and they were not deliberately embarrassed, so forget it.

I am the emperor, I do things above board, and I don't steal or rob, what can't I say?

"Since I decreed the opening of the sea, the Eastern Romans have come to the Ming Dynasty, but instead of obeying the laws of our Ming Dynasty and acting according to our rules, they have bribed officials, engaged in smuggling business, and even privately built a port on Qiongzhou Island, which is simply a kingless law!"

Hearing this, Cao Nai said: "What the emperor said is that foreign devils are really hateful, but it is only a small group of people, and it is just a lesson, there is no need to declare war on a country, right?" ”

"I'm not done yet!"

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and continued: "The most infuriating thing is that they actually stole the blueprints of the ironclad ship!" You should know that in order to build an ironclad ship, the imperial court spent tens of millions of taels of silver, invested a lot of manpower and material resources, and almost poured the whole country into it, how could such an achievement be taken away by outsiders? ”

The scene became somewhat quiet, as that seemed to be enough.

You steal the blueprints of my ironclad ship, and I send troops to kill you, which is very reasonable.

Cao Nai looked at Kuang Wei, meaning, you go up!

Kuang Yu said depressedly: "The minister is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and it is really annoying that such a thing happened, but whether those foreign devils stole the drawings for their own selfish desires, for silver, or were instructed by the Eastern Roman court, it is not yet known, why don't you make a holy decree, apply for it, and order it to return the drawings, what does the emperor think?" ”

"What if the other party doesn't cooperate?"

"If you don't cooperate, it's not too late to send troops!"

Zhu Qizhen nodded slightly, and said, "It's not impossible to salute first and then soldier, it's just ...... This Eastern Rome is thousands of miles away from me, and if I send an envoy to deliver the message, and then come back to convey the other party's intentions, it will take too long, and I don't want to wait. ”

He was also telling the truth, the blueprints of the ironclad ship were scattered overseas, and it was too dangerous.

If it is taken by the seafaring countries of Europe, it will be bad!

Kuang Yu thought for a while and said: "The minister suggested that the emperor wait, I am the upper kingdom of the Heavenly Empire, even if I fight, I am also famous, if I wantonly send troops to trample on their land, what is the difference between it and robbers?" ”

Zhu Qizhen said with a straight face: "Kuang Qing, have you ever thought about what kind of enemy my Ming will face in the future once the drawings of the ironclad ship are lost overseas?" At that time, what if the robbers outside wantonly trample on my Daming land? ”

"If there is an invasion of foreign enemies, the old minister is willing to be the first to go to battle and kill the enemy."

"I believe you have the courage, but why do you want to raise a tiger? Wouldn't it be nice to get the drawings back now and do it once and for all? ”

】

"Hmm...... Small overseas countries do not necessarily have the strength to build ironclad ships. ”

"What if so? What if it was actually made? Have you ever thought about what price the enemy would have to pay if the enemy had ironclad ships, even if my soldiers were brave and fearless and victorious? ”

Kwong was silent because ...... Speechless.

The emperor is right, get the drawings back now, it will be done once and for all.

Otherwise, no one knows what will happen.

If someone really builds an ironclad according to the drawings, the matter becomes much more serious.

Kwong thought about it, but he didn't know what to do.

The rhetoric he prepared when he set off was useless, because he now felt that the emperor was right, and this battle must be fought.

"The emperor is right, minister...... The ministers agreed to go on the expedition, and the officials and subordinates will fully cooperate! ”

Cao Nai's expression was dazed, why did he change his position?

Didn't you say that you would persuade the emperor not to go on the expedition......

In desperation, he had to say: "The minister thinks that even if he wants to go on the expedition, the emperor should not go into battle in person, and I have an excellent general who can go on behalf of the emperor." ”

Zhu Qizhen nodded, and said: "This battle is different from the past, it is a sea battle, if I don't go, the information from the front line will be transmitted back, and it will be three months later, I can't know the situation on the front line, and I can't make an accurate decision, so I must go out in person in this battle." ”

"But ......"

Cao Nai sighed and said, "Your Majesty, you are a golden body, and the sea is stormy, just in case, in case ......"

"Alright, don't talk about it, I know!"

Zhu Qizhen smiled and said, "Look at those crew members, they have been adrift overseas for months, even years, but I don't see them complaining about being tired, they can, why can't I?" ”

Cao Nai really didn't know what to say, as the first assistant of the cabinet, he did his best.

"The emperor is right, minister...... Join the army! ”