Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Emperor Chongzhen knew that he could not stop Zhang Shikang from getting married, so after drinking a sip of sweet potato wine, he agreed to the matter.

"One more thing, didn't I buy thirty galleons from the Netherlands at the beginning of the year?

A few days ago, the red-haired barbarians sent news that thirty warships had arrived at Dongfan Island, and Zheng Zhilong had discovered those ships and was keeping a close watch on them. "Zhang Shikang said with some concern.

After all, thirty galleons were not small items. In fact, Zhang Shikang was already surprised that the Dutch could transport these ships smoothly from Batavia to Dongfan.

After all, the Zheng family also has spies on Dongfan Island, so it is not surprising that they were discovered. I just don’t know if Old Zheng will suspect the court or him of this.

After all, Zheng Zhilong still owed him more than 60 auxiliary warships, and the deposit had been paid.

Moreover, throughout this year, Zheng Zhilong purchased a total of 1.3 million shi of grain from overseas for the court, which was a great help to the court.

Without such a large amount of grain, the imperial court would not be able to support the consumption of digging canals and have enough grain left to fight bandits.

No matter what, Old Zheng has helped the Ming Dynasty a lot in the past two years. It is not reasonable for him to secretly collude with the enemy and buy warships.

Of course, Zhang Shikang believed that this was for the benefit of the imperial court, and it was because Mr. Zheng was always on guard.

"How strong is our Ming navy now?" said Emperor Chongzhen.

"Now, let me do the math.

There is currently one Fuchuan No. 1 in service, the flagship Gousheng, and one Fuchuan No. 2.

The twenty fully-equipped silk ships ordered from Zheng Zhilong in the middle of this year have arrived. Together with the old navy under Ma Tong, there are a total of 52 silk ships and 82 other types of auxiliary warships.

There are also two battle-damaged galleons, one in the Guangzhou Shipyard and the other in the Tianjin Shipyard. These two are used for research purposes.

Then came the thirty galleon warships that the red-haired barbarians transported to Dongfan.

There are also sixty auxiliary warships that the Zheng family promised to deliver by the middle of next year.

I have also ordered from the French 20 large armed merchant ships, 40 medium-sized armed merchant ships, 80 of the 100 24-pound bronze cannons, and 200 18-pound bronze cannons for warships.

The artillery will also be delivered by the middle of next year, while the merchant ships will have to wait until the end of next year.

This is the current specific situation of our Ming navy." Zhang Shikang said truthfully.

"If we make enemies with the Zheng family, I'm afraid this navy won't be enough," Emperor Chongzhen guessed.

He had only a vague understanding of military affairs, and even less of maritime affairs, but according to the news from the imperial guards, the Zheng family had more than 2,000 warships of all sizes and merchant ships, so he thought it would not be a big success.

"From what we can see now, if we only rely on our current navy, it is definitely not enough.

The galleons were under surveillance in Dongfan, and those ships were not equipped with artillery, which would not arrive until the middle of next year. Fortunately, the artillery foundry in Haojing could transport the artillery by land.

If those thirty galleons could be put into use and fully armed, the navy of our Ming Dynasty would be able to at least dominate the East Ocean.

Although it is still far from enough for the Zheng family, Your Majesty, the Zheng family has many enemies, such as the French and the Dutch.

I was able to buy advanced artillery from the French and galleons from the red-haired barbarians because these guys all regarded Zheng Zhilong as their mortal enemy. "

"Well, we can contact their king. If Zheng Zhilong is really ignorant of the current situation, perhaps the three parties can work together to fight against Zheng Zhilong." Emperor Chongzhen said.

"Forget it, Your Majesty. The Netherlands and Little France are 18,000 miles away from us. There is no land route, and it will take more than a year to go back and forth by sea.

Moreover, their fleets currently stationed abroad are all operated by companies. Not only do they not require state aid, they also pay huge profits to the country every year.

If Zheng Zhilong really breaks up with us, I will go find them." Zhang Shikang thought for a moment and said.

"Company? What is a company? Is it what you call maritime trade?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned.

"It's the Chamber of Commerce. It's similar to the one I'm running, Liansheng, but its organizational form is more advanced," Zhang Shikang explained.

Zhang Shikang had told Brother Chongzhen about the He Liansheng matter several times, and even said that if maritime trade was officially launched, he would also have a share of the profits.

However, Emperor Chongzhen always felt that it was extremely shameful for an emperor to engage in business in secret.

Even though the trade direction with Liansheng was set overseas and would not have much impact on the domestic merchant class, Emperor Chongzhen was still not very interested.

"The Chamber of Commerce also controls the naval fleet? What does their king think?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned.

In fact, Emperor Chongzhen looked down on Europeans, even though Zhang Shikang said that Europeans had surpassed the Ming Dynasty in many production areas.

This kind of contempt is based on the inherent idea of the Celestial Empire and the outrageous systems of Europeans.

Zhang Shikang once told him that Europeans believed in bloodline, and if their king died without a son, he would most likely be succeeded by a foreign noble who had married into the country.

This is like if Zhu Youjian had no son, and after his death all the territory of the Ming Dynasty was inherited by the King of Japan or Korea. Although the Ming Dynasty did not have marriages with foreign countries, he always felt that it was too outrageous.

Not to mention that the Ming Dynasty had a vast territory and abundant resources, but the fact that its territory was stolen by a small foreign vassal state for more than 270 years was something that the Chinese civilization, which placed great emphasis on the concept of great unity, could never accept.

Not to mention that Zhang Shikang also told him that more than two hundred years ago, Europeans would not take a bath once every half a month or even once a month.

They also said that when their king defecated, he would go directly outside from the high tower, and the streets would be filled with the smell of urine. There was even a king who accidentally fell into a pit while defecating and was drowned by feces and urine.

Stories like these always made Emperor Chongzhen look down on foreign vassal states, believing that only barbarians could be so sloppy.

Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen heard that a chamber of commerce actually controlled the naval power, he became even more disdainful.

"Your Majesty, they are playing with a republic and a constitutional monarchy, and the territory they occupy overseas is more than their own territory. They can't disperse their navy everywhere, right?

Administrative efficiency will decrease and costs will increase sharply. Oh, this issue is too complicated. Let’s talk about it later.

It is this Zheng family. What I mean is that the imperial court will have to separate from it sooner or later. The coastal defense of our Ming Dynasty must never be left in the hands of one person.

But as our imperial navy grows stronger, the conflict with the Zheng family will become greater. For example, right now, Zheng Zhilong may be very troubled.

I intend to transport that batch of galleons to Tianjin as soon as possible no matter what. If Zheng Zhilong turns against me, it may be a little early, but there is nothing we can do about it.

I am just telling Your Majesty in advance so that Your Majesty can be mentally prepared if things really come to that point." Zhang Shikang thought about it carefully and said seriously.

Emperor Chongzhen never had much interest in maritime affairs. After all, compared with the northern threats that had plagued the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years, they were not worth mentioning at all.

After listening to Zhang Shikang's complicated words, he looked confused and pretended to think about it, and simply chose to continue to be a hands-off boss:

"I am relieved that you are in charge of the navy, but if there is a war, just destroy him."

……