Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 290 The world surrenders and forms a navy!
This ability to tell stories.

Everyone in the hall thought that Lord Li Chunfang might have some side job.

But everyone understood what Li Chunfang meant.

"Found" the son of Chen Ze of the Eastern Chen family and 'Crown Defender' Margaret.

In this way, they claim to be the orthodoxy of England, fight against the royal court established by the former "rebels", overthrow the rule of the current Queen Elizabeth I of England, and restore the orthodoxy of England (Eastern).

By the same token, as the descendant of the "son" of the cousin of King Charles VII of France, this descendant also has the right to inherit the throne of France, and even the right to inherit most of Europe.

Portugal, Spain, Poland, etc., the chaotic bloodlines and succession methods in Europe amazed everyone present.

But it also made everyone realize how much help such a hybrid could bring to the Ming Dynasty's strategy.

In England, rebels came to power, so the legitimate kings killed the rebels. The royal families of France, Spain, Portugal and other countries may have come to power legitimately or not, but as long as all qualified heirs disappeared, they could take over the throne as the legitimate kings.

It is worth mentioning that Europe does not restrict one person from becoming the king of multiple countries. If the conditions are met, one person can become the king of the whole of Europe.

It's outrageous, but it's true.

Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu looked at each other subconsciously, and both thought that for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, the Chen family of Elder Chen Yiqin should have such a mixed-race child.

Gao Gong looked at Li Chunfang and was shocked at how Li Chunfang framed his old friend and peer's family.

Suddenly, a Chinese-European mixed-race person appeared in the family, which was obviously against the decision of the ancestors.

However, although Li Chunfang's idea was good and it was easy to find such a mixed-race offspring, the difficulty lay in how to convince Lord Chen and the Chen family to agree to this humiliating thing for their ancestors.

Since Lord Chen was not in the cabinet or in the capital, it would be inappropriate for them to make the final decision in front of the emperor. They could only wait until they left Yuxi Palace and then send a letter to Lord Chen and the Chen family to discuss the matter.

However, Li Chunfang collected the Chen family's humanities illustrations and diaries and prepared to pack them up to take back home, asking the emperor for permission. Zhu Houcong nodded in agreement.

There is not much sailing content here, and even less valuable content, but there are some exciting things that are worth savoring.

Witnessing this scene, Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Wang Chonggu, and Minister of Works Zhu Heng's mouths twitched slightly.

I made up my mind that I would never write a diary again, especially an indecent one. Damn it, who knows when it might be dug out by someone.

Death of a person is a small matter, but dying with integrity is a great matter.

Chen Ze, the ancestor of the Chen family, was also not an unknown figure in the Ming Dynasty. If we calculate the time, Chen Ze went to sea twice when he was young and frivolous. After returning to the Ming Dynasty successfully, he imitated the ancient sages and studied in the two capitals and thirteen provinces.

Perhaps influenced by Confucius' idea of ​​teaching without distinction, or perhaps by the more open-minded ideas of the West, Chen Ze accepted thousands of students and disciples during his travels. He taught everyone in accordance with their aptitude and enjoyed a great reputation among the literati of the Ming Dynasty.

Even though decades have passed and the person has died, some important officials and old officials can still remember Chen Ze's name when it is mentioned.

Unfortunately, despite the Chen family's heritage and experience of in-depth exchanges with the West, Chen Ze did not write any books or spread his own ideas and concepts, so he could not become a great scholar or a sage in the Central Plains.

In addition, his behavior and teaching methods were not tolerated by some orthodox Confucian scholars and masters of the School of Mind. Therefore, both Chen Ze and his disciples were only known by word of mouth in the court and among the people. In a few decades, I am afraid that Chen Ze will only live on in the genealogy and family history of the Chen family in Nanchong, Sichuan.

If it weren't for the imperial court's desire for treasure ship maps and navigation charts, Chen Ze's legendary stories would have become a thing of the past.

Li Chunfang looked at the nautical charts and found out that England, France, and even the whole of Europe were territories of the Ming Dynasty since ancient times.

The other four ministers and officials who had seen the treasure ship map and navigation map could not remain silent.

Gao Gong, the chief minister of the cabinet, who had estimated the approximate price of the treasure ship and fleet of the Sanbao eunuchs, said with a bleeding heart, "Your Majesty, the cost of building a treasure ship alone is about 500,000 taels of silver. The cost of the fleet's horse ships, grain ships, passenger ships, and warships is different, but all cost about 200,000 taels of silver. Therefore, the cost of building a fleet of treasure ships is about 13 million taels of silver."

Battle of the seas.

This is really not something a small country can do.

Even big countries were alarmed by it. Thirteen million taels of silver was almost one-third of the annual tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty forty years before the reign of Emperor Jiajing.

Moreover, this is only the basic cost of building a fleet. Weapons and other items need to be configured, captains and crew members need to be recruited, food and supplies need to be provided. The maintenance, sailing and combat of the entire fleet are also huge figures.

No wonder the court stopped organizing large-scale voyages to the West after the fifth year of Xuande. This was certainly due to the obstruction of smuggling forces such as princes, ministers, and Chaozhou merchants, but after the Battle of Tumu, the national strength and fortune of the Ming Dynasty plummeted, and there was indeed not much spare energy to expand overseas.

The Ming Dynasty was not a small country with few people like Portugal and Spain. It had vast territory, rich resources and a large population. It was destined to have countless state affairs, and it was difficult for the previous emperors to have more energy to pay more attention to the world.

"Our dynasty must prepare at least eleven fleets of treasure ships." Zhu Houcong gave the holy voice.

Hu, Wang, Li and Zhu were extremely shocked.

Gao Gong almost fainted on the spot.

The cost of building a fleet of treasure ships was 13 million taels of silver. Eleven fleets of treasure ships would cost 143 million taels of silver!
It’s still the same thing. The cost of building a fleet is the lowest cost in the strategy. If you want every fleet to be invincible, it will cost at least hundreds of millions of taels of silver throughout the entire time the fleet exists.

Eleven treasure ship fleets would cost 1.1 billion taels of silver. According to the eunuch Sanbao's calculation of the lifespan of the treasure ship fleet, it would cost 1.23 billion taels of silver in 28 years!
Averaged out per year, it was 42 million taels of silver, which was exactly the average annual tax before the 40th year of Jiajing.

Although Gao Gong didn't know much about military affairs, he knew that once the eleven treasure ship fleets were launched, the whole world would prostrate itself at the feet of the Ming Dynasty.

But is it worth it to use 1.2 to 1.3 billion taels of silver to control the world for more than 20 years?

Gao Gong had no suitable reference and could not calculate whether it was a profit or a loss, but he was frightened by such a big deal.

Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang, Wang Chonggu and Zhu Heng could not guess why there were eleven treasure ship fleets, but since the emperor had given the order, who could disobey?
The hall fell into silence instantly.

Zhu Houcong did not explain, in his two lives, the shock that the eleven "aircraft carriers" brought to the world, and the huge strategic benefits behind them.

Controlling the world for twenty years?
No.

It’s been nearly a hundred years! The world is developing, not that slowly, but not that slowly either!
A gentle breeze blew, and a soft bell rang in the hall. Gao Gong sighed softly, led the way by kneeling down, and praised the emperor: "There is no one more wise and wise than Your Majesty!"

The strategy of the Ming Dynasty officially expanded from East Asia on the world map to all parts of the world map.

Gao Gong could not see through the fog before him, nor could he see clearly the future of the Ming Dynasty, but after much deliberation, he chose to follow the emperor.

Firstly, the emperor’s will cannot be violated, and secondly, the current Ming Dynasty can afford it!

Not to mention anything else, the money obtained from the three major business gangs of Jin, Hui and Chao is enough to achieve the emperor's world layout.

What's more, the overall national strength of the Ming Dynasty has increased, and both the court and the people have gradually become wealthy, basically achieving the "holy dynasty" in the legends of sages, where wealth is shared by the people.

Gao Gong was a man well-versed in ancient and modern times, and had a very basic understanding of the current Ming Dynasty. Even if the emperor passed away at this time, the ministers would follow the example of the Han Dynasty and not change any of the dynasty systems. For fifty years, at least fifty years, there would be a scene of peace and prosperity.

That’s right, a truly peaceful and prosperous era has three major conditions: no big countries around, no strong countries around, and no enemy countries around. The Jiajing Dynasty had already achieved all of these.

Japan was half-destroyed, Goryeo was destroyed, and the Southeast Asian peninsula was in turmoil due to His Royal Highness King Jing. The small countries in Annan, not to mention being enemies of the Ming Dynasty, also kept trying to show goodwill to the Ming Dynasty.

You know, the last era of peace and prosperity was the Kaiyuan Period during the reign of Emperor Minghuang of the Tang Dynasty, which lasted for 10 to 20 years.

After more than 900 years, the first unified dynasty of China after the Tang Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, achieved what its predecessors had done and would surely go further.

Even if the emperor is crazy, Gao Gong is willing to accompany him for once.

Zhu Houcong looked at Gao Gong and suddenly had a better understanding of this minister who had a strong and violent personality, was stubborn and intolerant.

He is definitely worthy of being called a “famous minister of the country”!
As long as the emperor decides and the prime minister agrees, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished in the Ming Dynasty. The strategy of deploying eleven treasure ship fleets around the world is in front of everyone.

When Hu Zongxian stood up, he suddenly realized that his preparations might not be sufficient.

Huang Jin brought a world map and spread it out in the hall. Hu Zongxian took the long pole from Huang Jin and pointed it at the strait southwest of the Ming Dynasty on the map. He said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, you should send troops to control the Strait of Malacca as soon as possible and build a port."

Hu Zongxian completely annihilated the Japanese pirates in the southeast of the country. He fought many battles at sea and understood one thing deeply: the sea is vast, but in fact, most places are not suitable for navigation.

The mighty power of nature and the huge waves it stirs up are absolutely beyond human control.

On the world map, the two oceans known as the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, most of the time the traffic between them goes through the southeast region, and the only straits available are the Strait of Malacca, the Lombok Strait, and the Sunda Strait.

However, compared with the Strait of Malacca, the Lombok Strait and the Sunda Strait are geographically remote, close to the open sea, and have a large number of reefs and coral reefs, and the shipping risks are much higher than the Strait of Malacca.

From ancient times to the present, including the eunuch Sanbao's voyages to the West, sea voyages between the East and the West have centered around the Strait of Malacca.

Ships from the Central Plains traveled from here to India, Africa, the Middle East and other regions. Arabs in the Middle East and countries along the Indian Ocean also traveled from here to the Central Plains and Indochina.

After the Age of Discovery arrived, Portugal, which was developing towards the east of the world, almost immediately took control of the Strait of Malacca.

It has to be said that this strait, which is more than 2,000 miles long, is like a maritime lifeline, connecting the East and West of the world.

In order to complete the global strategy, the Strait of Malacca must be controlled by the Ming Dynasty, and at least one of the eleven treasure ship fleets must be stationed here regularly.

According to Hu Zongxian's judgment, the Ming Dynasty had to build at least three ports on the Strait of Malacca, namely "Lion City", "Malacca", and "Penang" from the Ming Dynasty's entry into the strait to the northwest.

With these three ports, the Ming Dynasty could completely control the Strait of Malacca and have dominance over all ships entering and leaving the strait.

Hu Zongxian explained in detail his judgment and deployment ideas on the Strait of Malacca before the emperor, and continued: "Your Majesty, as for places farther away, please forgive me for not being able to judge other strategic points for the time being."

Human power is poor.

Hu Zongxian's strategic ability can only judge that the Strait of Malacca is relatively close to the Ming Dynasty. Hu Zongxian has heard a lot of information when he was in Zhejiang, but as for those unknown places further west, he has to go there in person before he can make a judgment.

Hu Zongxian's forehead was covered with sweat, which was obviously a sign of overthinking.

Zhu Houcong nodded and did not force Hu Zongxian. He asked him to sit down and asked Huang Jin to bring cups of tea to the ministers and officials to moisten their throats and relieve their fatigue.

But Wang Chonggu could no longer sit still, so he stood up and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I request to go to Jiangnan to recruit a navy... no, to form a navy."

Take the eunuch Sanbao’s seventh voyage to the West as an example. The total number of officers and soldiers in the fleet was as high as 27,550.

Among them were officers, flag soldiers, fire chiefs, helmsmen, anchormen, interpreters, clerks, scribes, doctors, anchor-building craftsmen, sailors, and crewmen.

What about the eleven treasure ship fleets?

The total number of officers and soldiers needed for a fully staffed fleet alone would be as high as 333,500!
In the southeast of the Ming Dynasty today, or in other words, all the provinces and counties connected to the ocean, such as Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, there are about the same number of naval soldiers.

It is impossible for the imperial court to send all its naval soldiers to the treasure ship fleet and leave no soldiers for defense on the mainland.

As a former Grand Marshal of the Ming Dynasty's army, he was also aware of the uneven quality of the Ming Dynasty's military. Although in the ongoing military and political reforms, the army and navy had eliminated those soldiers who did not meet the combat requirements or were not suitable for joining the army, but two hundred years of ills could not be changed overnight.

For the time being, the best solution for the court is to recruit 300,000 naval officers and soldiers, then train them, send them to sea, and fight.

After entering the cabinet, Wang Chonggu experienced the feeling of intrigue again, which made him very uncomfortable as he was used to military life and dealing with barbarians.

Therefore, under the layout of the emperor's eleven treasure ship fleets, Wang Chonggu made a request, just like Minister Chen Yiqin, to do things outside the capital.

Hear the words.

Gao Gong finally couldn't hold it anymore, his expression twisted. Three hundred thousand navy, how much would this cost...

(End of this chapter)