My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 317: Old Zhu Wants to Build a Navy
Upon hearing what Tang He said, Xu Da's eyes suddenly lit up. As early as the first sea trial of the steamship, he and a group of nobles had proposed to install cannons on the ship. Now that Tang He had proposed this because of the pirate issue, this was a great opportunity.

Although the navies of both sides had already moved artillery onto ships to fire at each other during the war between Yuan and Song more than a hundred years ago, the effect was not satisfactory. Today's artillery has made great progress compared to the Yuan and Song dynasties, so Xu Da has always been obsessed with this matter.

"Your Majesty, I second the motion!" Xu Da said, "Naval warfare is not like land warfare. On the sea, ships are too maneuverable. Although the new rifles are extremely powerful, they have too many limitations at sea, and they are indeed not powerful enough to attack ships.

Therefore, I think Tang He’s suggestion is very necessary! "

Li Wenzhong also nodded and said, "I second the motion!"

Zhu Yuanzhang had already had this idea and quickly approved the proposal. However, when he talked to Li Min about this matter, Li Min pointed out that there were several technical problems that needed to be solved before the artillery was installed on the ship.

First, the artillery currently used by the Ming Dynasty are all muzzle-loading guns. Once they are on board the ship, how to ensure that the artillery can be loaded and fired smoothly is a big problem.

Secondly, the current ships of the Ming Dynasty are all designed for loading cargo or transporting troops. After the artillery is loaded onto the ship, how to ensure convenient shooting requires redesign and planning.

As long as Chen Zuyi and his gang are not eliminated, there will be no peace in the sea. But what Li Min said is true. We cannot rush into installing cannons on board. Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and decided to ask Li Han first if he has any good ideas about installing cannons on board.

At the same time, he ordered the Jinyiwei to go to Guangdong to investigate the relevant information about Chen Zuyi. Within a few days, the Jinyiwei sent back the news.

Chen Zuyi's ancestral home is Chaozhou, Guangdong. However, as early as the first year of Hongwu, his Chen family moved to the West. No one knows where they moved to. Those who remained in the area were only relatives within the fifth degree of mourning, and they had long lost contact with Chen Zuyi's family.

However, after investigation, the Jinyiwei discovered that the pirates wreaking havoc in Guangdong, Guangxi and southern Fujian belonged to Chen Zuyi's pirate gang.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang furious again, and he was even more determined to completely wipe out Chen Zuyi's pirate gang. However, a little impatience would ruin a big plan, so before the artillery was successfully loaded onto the ship, he could only temporarily strengthen the coastal defense and try to minimize the losses.

It was just the third sea trade, and it had to be suspended before Chen Zuyi was annihilated in one fell swoop.

Although Tang He's plan to cross the Strait of Malacca and open up shipping routes from Ming Dynasty to India and even to the Arab world and Persia failed in the second maritime trade, it was not completely fruitless.

When they returned north from Temasek, they still had almost half of the fleet's cargo, but all of it was sold out in Siam and other places. Moreover, many foreign countries were not satisfied with this and placed many additional orders.

After this trip, if the gold, various jewels and other local goods were converted into silver, it would bring more than two million taels of profit to the Ming Dynasty. According to the original agreement between the court and the nobles, after retaining the reserve, half of it went into the national treasury, and the other half was distributed as dividends to the nobles who had invested in the company.

The profits brought by maritime trade were astonishing, and Zhu Yuanzhang was also considering the feasibility of entering India and Persia by land.

Although in the fifth year of Hongwu, the Yuan Dynasty's imperial tutor Nangabazangbu surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and was granted a title, and the Ming Dynasty also established many garrisons in the Xifan area, Xifan is a plateau area with towering mountains and many places without roads, making it almost impossible to enter India for trade from Xifan.

As for the Western Regions, the trade route from the Central Plains through the Western Regions, to India, Daqin, Persia, and finally to Europe was opened since Zhang Qian, the envoy of the Han Dynasty, was sent to the Western Regions. However, for the current Ming Dynasty, this route is not feasible. First, the Western Regions are currently occupied by the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. Although the current strength of the Ming Dynasty can destroy Chagatai and other khanates without much effort, it is not of great value before the railway is built.

After witnessing the terrifying carrying capacity of trains, Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer impressed by the carrying capacity of caravans and camel caravans.

How much money can you make if you spend a year or two on a trip? It can't even meet the growing production capacity of Ming Dynasty!
Therefore, the current trading method that can maximize profits is still maritime trade.

Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking, Lao Li had said long ago that the essence of maritime trade lies in sea power, and the way to achieve sea power is to control the shipping routes through force and use trade to consolidate the shipping routes.

Li Han had told himself this at the beginning, but he did not realize the core of the problem at that time. The only way to achieve control of the shipping routes by force is to build a strong navy, um... maybe it should be called a navy!
Perhaps only when a problem occurs can we think in this direction. Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little resentful in his heart. Why didn't Lao Li remind him earlier to form a strong navy?
There is no point in thinking too much. Just write to Lao Li and ask him. Maybe Lao Li will have some amazing suggestions on installing artillery on ships?
Spreading out the letter paper, Zhu Yuanzhang wrote:

"Old Li, thanks to you, the first railway has been successfully completed. The Annan prisoners of war are now enthusiastic and are actively building the second railway of the Ming Dynasty.

Our plan is to build a second railway from Yingtian Prefecture to Songjiang Prefecture for two reasons. First, Yingtian Prefecture is the industrial center of Ming Dynasty, while Songjiang Prefecture has the best seaport in Ming Dynasty, and the largest shipyard in Ming Dynasty is also in Songjiang Prefecture.

By connecting the two prefectures with railways, it is possible to quickly transport resources from Yingtian Prefecture to Songjiang Prefecture, and then load them onto ships and ship out to sea.

At the same time, we plan to build Songjiang Prefecture into the second industrial center of the Ming Dynasty, which will focus on the shipbuilding industry. The construction of railways will also provide us with the innate conditions to further control Jiangnan.

These are all good news, but I have some bad news to tell you.

The second group of maritime trade fleets has returned. Although they brought back huge profits, the original mission of passing through the Strait of Malacca was not completed.

The fleet encountered a pirate attack in the Strait of Malacca. Although it did not cause any losses, the fleet was unable to cross the strait smoothly due to the obstruction of the pirate ship and had to return empty-handed.

According to what Tang He, the leader of this fleet, said, the pirates who blocked the Ming fleet in Malacca were all led by a pirate leader named Chen Zuyi. We have sent the Jinyiwei to investigate. This man's ancestral home is Chaozhou, Guangdong, but he moved his entire family to the West in the year when the Ming Dynasty was founded.

I wonder if the Chen family had any connection with Chen Youliang, otherwise why would the entire family flee the Ming Dynasty in the first year of Hongwu?

Maritime trade has now become the basic national policy of the Ming Dynasty and cannot be stopped because of a mere group of pirates. Tang He proposed installing cannons on ships in order to eliminate pirates in naval battles.

However, Li Min believes that there are still many problems to be solved regarding how to mount artillery on board ships. Do you have any ideas about this, Old Li?
Our idea is to establish a standing navy on this basis. I wonder if you have any good ideas, Old Li?
Speaking of this, I have to say a few more words to you, Lao Li. When you were teaching us about sea power, why didn't you remind us to build a navy to protect the shipping routes? Now that we have suffered losses, we only remember this.

Don't you think this will cause any delay?
Looking forward to your good news.”

(End of this chapter)