"Is this the imperial fleet......

In mid-May, when Chen Zuyi's voice sounded in Bolinbang Port, what appeared in front of him at this moment was a fleet of dozens of treasure ships and hundreds of warships.

This is not the full strength of the Lower Western Fleet, but Chen Zuyi is not clear, and thinks that this is the full strength of the Lower Western Fleet.

Looking at the hundreds of huge hulls that were getting closer and closer, Chen Zuyi looked at his own soldiers around him.

After discovering the look of fear on the faces of many of them, Chen Zuyi immediately cheered up his subordinates and said: "Although the fleet of the imperial court is large, most of the boat operators are new to the ocean, and most of them are the divisions of the river ponds. ”

"Although the ships of the imperial court are large, they are slow to move and are unfamiliar with the terrain."

"Although the sailors of the imperial court are strong, they have not fought against them at sea for many years, and the experience of the previous months has made them proud soldiers."

"Besides, although there is Yang Zhan on this water master, he has to follow the advice of a eunuch, what is a eunuch?!"

In the face of the huge fleet under the Western Ocean, Chen Zuyi said something similar to a declaration of war, which was not the same as what he said to his subordinates at the beginning.

Ten days ago, Chen Zuyi announced that he would accept the imperial court's recruitment, which made all the armed merchants and sailors gathered inside and outside the city of Bolin State angry and unfortunate.

However, when they saw the Western Fleet at this moment, they began to feel that there was no problem with what Chen Zuyi had done.

It's just that just when they all accepted the reality, Chen Zuyi's words made all of them feel nervous.

"I've got the trebuchets and ballistas ready, just wait for the imperial fleet to enter the harbor and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

Chen Zuyi's eyes greedily looked at the fleet that was getting closer and closer, this boldness that no one had ever imagined.

Not only did he hide and make hundreds of ballistae and trebuchets, but he also placed more than 300 armed merchant ships and 200 fireships on the sea.

As long as Zheng He commanded the fleet to enter the port, he could immediately order the whole army to attack, taking advantage of the superiority in the number of ships and numbers to achieve victory.

It's high tide time, and your own sailors can take advantage of this opportunity to make the fireboat work in one fell swoop.

As soon as he thought of this, Chen Zuyi couldn't stop being excited, and even thought of the picture of himself capturing Zheng He, Yang Zhan, and Cui Jun and asking for ransom from the Ming Dynasty.

"Something is wrong......"

Chen Zuyi's military order plunged the entire Bolin Banggang into a strange atmosphere, and this awkward atmosphere was quickly noticed by Yang Zhan, who had experienced a hundred battles.

He has been fighting with pirates and pirates for many years, and he is very aware of the combat habits of pirates and pirates, combined with this strange atmosphere, Yang Zhan ordered Cui Jun without thinking:

"Let the whole army disperse, all artillery filled with gunpowder, ready to shell the shore at any time."

"In addition, once the whole team enters the port, the rear army is always vigilant at sea."

"Now is the time of high tide, if this Chen Zuyi really surrenders, then he will definitely use the fireboat to attack, let the rear army prepare shotguns, and wait for the enemy ship to get close to a hundred steps and shell it in one fell swoop."

"The fireship material is not good, just one round of shotgun is enough to penetrate the deck and hull to make them leak, and then ......"

Before Yang Zhan could say anything, Cui Jun, who had been fighting with him at sea for many years, said: "After that, put down the sand boat and use the sand boat to intercept them, right?" ”

"Hmm!" Yang Zhan nodded, and Cui Jun also turned around and left when he heard this, and began to order all ships to be ready for combat counterattacks at all times.

Time passed little by little, and the sailors on the port of Bolin began to move frequently, and this action made Yang Zhan even more sure that Chen Zuyi was a fraudulent surrender.

When Zheng He, as the chief envoy, learned the news, he immediately waved flags to Yang Zhan's ships, signaling that all ships were ready to shell Bolin Bang Port at any time.

"him!!"

On the shore, when the time came to the time of low tide, Chen Zuyi immediately seized this opportunity and took advantage of the fact that it was difficult for the Ming Navy to turn around at low tide and launch an attack.

For a time, whistles and horns sounded incessantly on the port of Bolinbang, and thousands of pirates in ambush were beating the ballistas and trebuchets for the mechanism.

Hundreds of stones and crossbow arrows weighing dozens of pounds were shot towards the Ming Navy, and Chen Zuyi sounded the first horn of the naval battle of Bolin Bang Port.

Most of the stones fell into the sea due to Yang Zhan's early evacuation, a small number of stones smashed through the deck of the warship, and the crossbow arrows pierced the side of the warship, and the Ming army suffered many casualties.

"Beep-"

"Boom, boom—"

When the shrill whistle sounded, the artillery had already been prepared in unison.

Their rate of fire is not as fast as Chen Zuyi's pirate legion, but their power is definitely far superior to theirs.

The fleet was evacuated as soon as it entered the port, and most of the ship's guns were aimed at the shore, so when the guns rang out, thousands of granite shells burst out on all sides, turning the entire port of Bolin Bang into a purgatory on earth.

Houses were smashed through, trebuchets and ballistae were smashed, sawdust and stones flew out to kill and injure, and the sheep's horn wall built by Chen Zuyi failed to protect the ballistas, trebuchets and pirates.

At a distance of less than 300 paces, the power of the Ming navy's naval guns does not need to be repeated, and the messy Bolin Bang Port is enough to explain everything.

Seeing this scene, Chen Zuyi and many pirate leaders had numb scalps, it was not that they had not fought with the Ming army, but the bowl mouth guns and Hongwu iron cannons of the Ming army were not so powerful at all.

Now it seems that they far underestimated the strength of the Ming army to dare to go to the West.

Obviously, at this time, the ships of the Ming Navy changed direction with the rise and fall of the tide, which could make the Ming Navy unable to attack Bolin Bang Port with all its strength and make a strong counterattack.

However, in the face of such a disadvantage, the Ming army recovered the disadvantage with only one round of artillery bombardment, and when the pirates under Chen Zuyi's command on the shore were hugging their heads, they began to turn the rudder of the ship with difficulty, and turned the other side of the ship towards Bolin Bang Harbor and continued to launch artillery bombardment.

"Boom, boom—"

The cannon rang out again, this time with a larger number of shells, smashing almost all the houses off the coast of Bolinbang Harbor and destroying most of the ballistae and trebuchets that Chen Zuyi had spent more than a month carefully preparing.

"Don't panic, we still have warships and fireships at sea!!"

In the chaotic situation, Chen Zuyi's cheering was so weak.

As he expected, when the northern sea forces heard the sound of artillery in the south, they immediately decided to go south to encircle and annihilate the Ming fleet.

It's just that their speed is too slow, and by the time they appeared in the rear of the Ming army, the Ming army had already carried out twelve rounds of artillery bombardment on the port of Bolinbang, and in the whole half an hour, the pirates under Chen Zuyi's command suffered heavy casualties, and all the offshore houses in the port were in ruins.

"When the enemy comes from the rear, play the flag, first fire with long-range stone shells, and then use shotguns when you get closer!"

Cui Jun, who was in charge of the rear army, gave the order in an orderly manner, and when he saw the hundreds of ships approaching, he did not panic at all.

Compared with the Ming army's lowest warship of 3,000 materials, the largest ship of pirates under Chen Zuyi's command was a fortune ship of 5 or 600 materials.

This kind of ship can sink even if it hits, not to mention shelling.

"Fixed-shot reloading, solid ammunition preparation, height self-adjusting, preparation...... Ignition! ”

"Boom, boom—"

The dull sound of artillery sounded, and more than 20 warships of the rear army fired hundreds of shells in an instant.

Twenty pounds of heavy granite bullets pierced the five or six hundred material fortune ship in an instant, and the sea water continued to pour into the ship.

In the first row of shells alone, more than ten pirate ships under Chen Zuyi's command were sunk and dozens were heavily damaged.

Many of the pirate ships that were shot were so frightened that some even broke away from the team and fled far away.

Soon, small ships filled with gunpowder and oil rushed towards the navy's fleet with great vigour, as if they were going to inflict heavy damage on the navy in this form.

In the face of their attack, Choi Jun turned the whole army around the rudder, exposing the gunners on the other side of the ship, which had prepared the shotguns early.

"Ignition!"

"Boom, boom—"

Dozens of shotguns the size of quail eggs were loaded together and fired, sweeping the fireships like hail when they were less than a hundred paces away from the fleet.

Since most of the fireships were converted from Wuxiao ships, there was little protection at all.

If the sailors had shrewdly jumped into the sea, there might have been a chance of survival, but most of the sailors were killed on the spot by the dense shotgun the size of a quail egg almost immediately.

Even if he was lucky enough to avoid this round of shotguns, the sand boats that Cui Jun ordered people to prepare early also began to intercept them, and concentrated their shots with arquebuses.

Some of the pirates who were caught in a hurry set fire to the fireboats in advance, causing a burst of fire at sea, and some of the sand boats were damaged, and the navy soldiers in paper armor grabbed their arquebuses and went to other sand ships to be rescued.

Some of the fireships broke through the defense line of the sand boats, and Chen Zuyi's cousin, Chen Cun'an, stood at the bow of a fireship, shirtless and holding a torch in his hand.

The Ming army's large arquebuses were still shooting at them, and Chen Cun'an was also shot, but fortunately, he only scratched a little skin.

"Eight Ship Masters!"

When a small boat owner saw that Chen Cunan was shot, he immediately wanted to turn the bow of the boat, but Chen Cunan grabbed his hand:

"Lao Tzu is fine, lean over the boat!"

With that, he lit the line of fire with the torch in his hand, and the rest of the pirates rowed desperately.

Before the line of fire was about to burn out, Chen Cun'an jumped into the sea with the support of the owner of the small boat, floated in the sea, and watched the fire ship crash straight into the Ming army's warship.

"Boom—"

Several fireships exploded, causing serious injuries to the Ming army's two 3,000-material Dafu ships, and the hull of the ship was tilted.

"Haha!"

Chen Cun'an, who surfaced, laughed loudly, the laughter was not loud, but it was very harsh.

Seeing this, the surrounding Ming troops raised their guns and pulled the trigger on Chen Cun'an, who was fluttering in the sea.

At the same time as the thick smoke appeared, Chen Cunan just wanted to dive, but saw blood flowers appear in the sea in the next second.

"Escort the wreck to the shore urgently!"

Seeing through the binoculars that two of his warships were seriously injured, Choi Jun immediately ordered to escort them to the shore urgently.

The cost of the warship is not expensive, but the guns on the ship are very expensive and must not be lost.

"Ignition!"

"Boom, boom—"

The sound of artillery and gunfire continued, and in the face of the 10,000 Ming troops and hundreds of warships participating in the southward movement, the pirates under Chen Zuyi's command were powerless to increase the casualties.

The Ming army only paid two 3,000 warships and more than 20 sand ships, as well as less than 50 casualties, to sink and destroy more than 100 pirate ships, killing pirates.

In the face of such casualties, the pirate ships at sea did not dare to step forward, and could only use ballistas and trebuchets to bombard the Ming artillery, but after a period of bombardment, it was found that only a handful of ships of the Ming army were damaged.

In contrast, the former and Chinese warships under the command of Yang Zhan and Zheng He are bombarding the port of Bolinbang with artillery, turning it into a tile, leaving the pirates on the shore with nowhere to hide.

The fierce battle at sea lasted for two hours, and at 3:45 in the afternoon, the naval battle of Bolin Bang Port was completely over, the sea pirates fled, Yang Zhan commanded the warships to dock, and the Ming army landed ashore and began to search for the city of Bolinbang.

Until dusk, the city of Bolin Bang was taken over by the Ming army, and more than 3,600 pirates were captured, and Chen Zuyi fled to the south with more than 2,000 remnants.

"It seems that this Chen Zuyi is going to the south to find the Majapahit."

After going ashore, Zheng He found Yang Zhan, who had taken over Bolin Bangcheng, and expressed his opinion after learning of Chen Zuyi's whereabouts.

Regarding his opinion, Yang Zhan also agreed: "Cui Jun came to report that the pirates at sea had fled to at least more than 100 warships, and if Chen Zuyi could take that group of remnants to join this group of people, it would still be a lot of strength." ”

"I mean, stop Majapahit for a while, and clean up this group of pirates first."

Yang Zhan's words were beyond Zheng He's expectations, he didn't expect Yang Zhan to postpone going to Majapahit, after all, a few days ago, the letter from the north was not good, and Yang Li's situation was not good.

"First for the country, then for the family!"

Faced with Zheng He's astonishment, Yang Zhan put down a sentence and began to command the Ming army to inspect his own warships.

For damaged ships, the shipyard at Bolimbang Port was expanded to repair them.

For Bolin Bangcheng, it was handed over to Zheng He to come to Qi Min to compile a household, and Shangshu asked the court to give a name.

By the time this matter reached the capital, it was already late May.

Zhu Gaoxu took the information copied on the letter paper by Jin Yiwei and looked at it, and asked for a note written by Zheng He and them again, and only after confirming that it was correct, he nodded and looked in front of him.

In front of him sat Guo Zi, the secretary of the household department, Xia Yuanji, the secretary of the ministry, Huang Fu, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and Li Zhigang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, who did not wait to see Zhu Gaoxu and was not treated by Zhu Gaoxu.

"There's nothing wrong with this news, it's the same as what I just showed you."

Zhu Gaoxu put down the letter and note, and while speaking to the four people in front of him, he also stood up and pointed to the map of Nanyang with a command pole:

"Sumatra Island is about the same size as our Chao Sichuan, and now the area of the old port Xuanwei Division occupied by our Chao is only about one-tenth of Sumatra Island."

"There are dozens of princely states and countries on this island, and I mean that the old port Xuanwei Division is the Zhaofu Division, and the princely states on the island are specially recruited as local officials, and the local Tusi is managed by the fetters, and the stronger countries are included as subject countries."

"As for the Manraka Peninsula (Malay Peninsula) above, the imperial court only came into contact with Manraka, but there are more than ten small countries such as Da Ni, Pahang, and Ting Galu."

"If these small countries are willing to accept the Ming Dynasty's appeasement, then warn Siam that they must not continue to ask for tribute from these countries, and all national tributes are formulated by the imperial court, and at the same time, the imperial court also sets up subordinate national pavilions in various countries, and all tributes are handed over to the subject state pavilions, and the trade between the subject countries is also carried out through the subject state pavilions."

"If they don't agree, it will be to support Manraka on the spot, and to extinguish the small countries that the Manraka Peninsula has not yet touched by the imperial court, such as Pahang and Tingalu, and let the Manraka Peninsula be under the control of the imperial court."

After he finished speaking, his idea was nothing more than to use the old port Xuanwei Division to deter Nanyang for a long time, and to accept the countries of Nanyang as subject countries and feudal toasts, so as to maintain the maritime authority of the Ming Dynasty in Nanyang, and at the same time facilitate the collection of future tariffs and tributes.

Regarding his suggestion, Guo Zi and the others naturally would not stop him, but Li Zhigang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, asked: "According to His Royal Highness, then I am afraid that there will be no less than twenty places in this national pavilion." ”

"If this is the case, then the expenses of the Ministry of Rites will also become larger, and how to solve the tributary rewards?"

Li Zhigang asked Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaochu didn't care about this kind of question at all: "The tributary reward will be done according to the previous one, once the South Seas are peaceful, you can recover enough money and grain for the future sea tariffs." ”

Without waiting for Li Zhigang to continue to speak, Zhu Gaoxu turned his gaze to Guo Zi: "Is the money and food allocated to the Western Army complete?" ”

"All the allocations have been completed, and the Lijiang Mu clan is also ready, and the three thousand papaya soldiers can enter the West at any time."

"The 4,000 Xifan cavalry under the command of Liu Zhao has also arrived in Songpan, and at present, only waiting for Li Du's command envoy to arrive in Xining in June, the three-way army will immediately set off to enter Xifan."

"Has the Ministry of Rites informed Uszang and Oli and Dogan?" Zhu Gaoxu looked at Li Zhigang, and Li Zhigang could only make a fuss when he heard this:

"Three hundred soldiers and three officials were sent to the edict in March, and many of the local officials already knew that the imperial court's heavenly army would enter Xifan, but they did not welcome it, and the ministers feared that a conflict would break out."

"You don't have to worry about that." Zhu Gaoxu comforted everyone and explained the current situation in the West:

"The West has long lost the prestige of Tibet, and at present, there are no more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in the hands of various factions, and there are only a few hundred."

"It is impossible to enter the West without incident, but if you say that you want to fight, then the court is not afraid of anyone."

"It is expected that 10,000 troops will be stationed in Xifan first, and if the horse collection after that is not satisfactory, or if it is not as much, then it is okay to reduce it as appropriate."

Zhu Gaoxu said his thoughts, and this was also because the household department showed him the loss of grain transportation.

From the Guanzhong Plain and the Chengdu Plain to Xining and Songpan, the grain was lost by two percent, and I am afraid that it will be higher after entering Qinghai-Tibet, and even reach ten stones, and it is possible to send half a stone.

If this is the case, then it is not impossible to reduce the number of local garrisons as appropriate.

"Your Highness is wise."

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu's words were finished, Guo Zi below breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing them like this, Zhu Gaoxu continued to ask: "Half a year has passed, what is the situation in Annan, Henan, and Modong?" ”

"No less than 150,000 people have been distributed and relocated." Guo Zi subconsciously replied, and then added:

"More than 60,000 people have moved into Henan, and the reclamation has been very smooth, and more than 200,000 mu have been reclaimed in less than half a year."

"Modong has distributed a lot of people, and there are more than 60,000 people recorded in the "Yellow Book", but more than 10,000 of them are still on the way to distribution."

"The situation in Annan is the best, and many people who migrated south of Fujian and Zhejiang have settled down in the same place."

"Judging from this year's situation, the local local households should be able to pay 1.2 million stone in the field, so ......"

Guo Zi asked Zhu Gaoxu with his eyes, wondering whether he would collect taxes or continue to exempt him for a year.

"Continue to be exempted for a year, so that the people of Annam can live more comfortably."

They still refer to Annan as Annam, rarely as Cochin, and the policy of exempting people from the shell and equalizing land is also in progress, and many people in Annam have received one to three acres of arable land.

The reason why they did this was to let the people of Annan know the benefits of the Ming Dynasty, so that after the puppet Chen Yao died of illness, Annan would be justifiably included in the Ming rule.

"The remnants of the Hu family and his son in the west of Annam have been suppressed, but the barbarians in the long mountains and the local heroes rebel from time to time."

"Although Fu Rang suppressed it in time, every rebellion will cause harm to the people, so don't stop until I open my mouth."

Zhu Gaoxu instructed Guo Zi, and when he saw him saying that he knew, Zhu Gaoxu asked them about the follow-up turmoil of the imperial examination.

"Two months have passed since the imperial examination, and I have heard that many scholars among the people think that it is not a good thing to reduce the "Jingyi" and increase the "Arithmetic", yes or no?"

"This ......" Xia Yuanji hesitated for a moment, and after looking at Li Zhigang, he said embarrassedly: "There are indeed many candidates who failed in "Arithmetic" who criticized the imperial examination of the imperial court. ”

"Then tell the world and tell this group of candidates that the imperial examination is not static." Zhu Gaoxu was straightforward:

"The classics of history must be learned, and arithmetic must still be learned, and there is continuous refinement."

"I won't say anything else, just say that in the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu, Henan and Sichuan provinces can even count the amount of cultivated land wrongly, and this is still an official who has been in the imperial court for many years."

"If the imperial court really collects taxes and grain according to the wrong amount of statistics that year, I am afraid that the people of these two places will only rise up."

The more Zhu Gaoxu talked, the more angry he became, he looked down on this group of scholars who had been arrogant and indulged in the two Song Dynasty and were free-range in the former Yuan Dynasty at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

In his opinion, national data must not be wrong, but this kind of error was made many times throughout the Ming Dynasty.

In the previous year, more than 10 million mu of cultivated land was cultivated, but the result was that the survey suddenly exceeded 100 million mu, and the population has not changed.

If the imperial court collects taxes based on this kind of data, it is estimated that it will take less than two years for the whole country to rise.

"Shame on ......"

Guo Zi, as the secretary of the household department, naturally knew about the mistakes in local statistics a few years ago.

If it weren't for Yu Xin and Zhu Yuanzhang rejecting the "Fish Scale Atlas" of Henan and Sichuan provinces, then the local yamen would probably be able to make mistakes again and again.

"In the remaining months, the imperial court only has three things: going to the West, entering the West, and immigrating to the real side."

"There will be no more major wars, but if it involves people's livelihood, the household department should not be stingy."

Zhu Gaoxu was talking about the matter of exemption and disaster relief, although the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties both managed the world's water conservancy well, but they still seemed so thin in the face of nature.

This kind of thing is not allowed to be sloppy, so Zhu Gaoxu specially explained.

"Ministers and Leaders ......"

Guo Ziying should go down, and Zhu Gaoxu also waved his hand when he saw this: "Let's all step down." ”

"The ministers retired ......"

The four of them got up to salute in return, and then slowly withdrew from the Spring and Peace Palace.

After they left, Zhu Gaoxu instructed Yisha, who had not spoken beside him:

"Yang Zhan's father, Yang Li, you have been running a few more times in the past few days, although the imperial doctors of the Tai Hospital and the doctors of the hospital have said that they are fine, but they should be taken care of."

"The slave and maid lead the ......" also lost his hand, but this was the sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the hall.

A eunuch on duty hurriedly walked in, which made Zhu Gaoxu have a bad premonition.

Sure enough, after he walked into the Chunhe Palace, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, and his voice howled:

"Your Highness, the Marquis of Wuding has passed away......"

(End of chapter)