Chapter 982 1071 Defend the enemy outside the country
“Shandai, let me tell you what you are good at. Dongfan Island has not yet been completely brought under the rule, why are you setting your sights on Luzon again?
I have received some notices from the Fujian side, saying that the Nanhai Navy has been stationed on Dongfan Island for a long time, and has had conflicts with the people on the island, which seems to be a tribe called the Gaoshan Tribe. There have been some conflicts, and they asked to be transferred back to the navy.
At this time, you have to extend your tentacles to Luzon. If the news spreads, are you not afraid of being impeached by the officials? "
Zhang Juzheng's rude words made Wei Guangde feel a little unhappy, but he also knew that if he didn't come from later generations, he would naturally not know what was happening on the earth at this time.
At the end of the Age of Discovery, the major geographical discoveries were almost complete, and only crazy colonization and plundering of wealth was left.
If Daming doesn't get on the ship at this time, he will never have the chance to get on the ship.
However, Zhang Juzheng’s worries seem to be correct.
"Uncle, you should have read the news from Nanyang collected by Liu Shouyou. Now the Yi people are coming from the west and east, and wherever they pass, they will seize The establishment of so-called domination in large and small territories
What does this mean?
I think this matter is not that simple.
Now, the barbarians have established cities in Malacca and Manila, which means that more barbarians will come across the ocean.
The wolfish ambitions have been revealed since they occupied Malacca and Manila.
Our Ming Dynasty relies on its strong military power, so the barbarians dare not act recklessly.
But the surrounding vassals have become fat in their eyes.
I can say this, if the Ming Dynasty did not intervene in the surrounding vassal lands, Fanbang alone would not be able to protect them. "
Wei Guangde reminded, "But if I, the Ming Dynasty, intervened, the barbarians would naturally be wary of them, because if they dared to attack the surrounding vassals of my Ming Dynasty, my Ming Dynasty's troops would all live there.
You can't expect the barbarians to stay away just by relying on a piece of paper from the court.
The benefits that have been obtained, if it were not for the war, people would not spit it out at all.
Speaking of Annan, isn’t it possible that Uncle Uncle was not touched? If the Annan people had not resisted fiercely, would Ming Dynasty have withdrawn its troops from there?
This principle applies to the Yi people as well.
In my opinion, in order to ensure the security of the vassal countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Navy should find a good port in the vassal country to establish a camp and station a troop of troops.
As for the supply of soldiers and horses, let the vassal countries bear it, while I, the Ming Dynasty, will ensure their safety. "
Speaking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but get up, walked back and forth in the room twice, and drafted the words before continuing: "When the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar conquered surrounding areas, such as Siam, if my Ming Dynasty were in Siam has a water fort where our Ming soldiers are stationed. Does Mang Yinglong dare to attack Siam?
Similarly, finding a good port to station troops in the surrounding vassal countries can actually ensure their safety, and thus we will support our Ming Dynasty as the suzerain country even more.
Look at Nanyang and the Xuanweisi in the southwestern territory. If the imperial court had not intervened strongly when they were invaded, how could they be so alienated from the Ming Dynasty as they are now? In eyes. ”
Actually, Wei Guangde already had an idea in his mind. Since the various countries in Nanyang recognized the Ming Dynasty as their suzerainty, providing them with security protection seemed to be one of the Ming Dynasty’s responsibilities.
It is entirely possible to follow the experience of later beautiful countries and establish military bases in sensitive areas. .
In this way, if foreign countries want to invade here, they must first consider encountering a counterattack from the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty may not turn the Southeast Asian countries into colonies, but its strong influence must be ensured. The Ming Emperor's will must also be disseminated and implemented here
"But Luzon."
Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth to say, but was interrupted by Wei Guangde: "Luzon is different.
Luzon used to think it was a foreign country, but after spying from Jinyiwei According to the intelligence, it seems to be the same as Dongfan Island. The local people are all based on tribes. The form of settlement is like scattered sand.
In this case, if our Ming Dynasty does not intervene here, all of Luzon will fall into the hands of the barbarians.
It is so close to our Ming Dynasty. It's scary to have someone with a strong aggressive nature.
Controlling part of the land in Luzon can also contain the barbarians nearby. At least we can control their movements at any time.
If there is a chance, it may not be impossible to take Luzon into our hands.
We can allow the barbarians to come to our Ming Dynasty for trade, but if we want to deploy military power near our Ming Dynasty, we will never agree.
The threat of Mongolia in the north is enough. Ming Dynasty can no longer have huge hidden dangers in Nanyang. "
"That is to say, the garrison in the vassal country requires the vassal country to provide food and wages, and we, the Ming Dynasty, provide military protection? ”
Zhang Juzheng was not an ignorant person, but no one had ever made such a suggestion before. By establishing a military base, he would protect the vassal countries from becoming colonies of the barbarians.
When the barbarians seized the colonies, they usually came first, first served. The latecomers could only stay nearby and seize some distance before occupying the territory.
When developed territories encounter each other, the two sides will either negotiate peace and divide the borders according to longitude and latitude lines, or divide them through war.
But no matter what, when they expand their colonies, the first thing to consider is whether the opponent is strong or not.
In East Asia, it seems that only the Ming Dynasty has the ability to suppress the Yi people.
After several naval battles, Wei Guangde believed that the Yi people should have experienced the strength of the Ming Dynasty and knew not to mess with them.
This was a victory achieved when the Ming army used inferior equipment, which was enough to scare them.
Now, the Nanhai Navy, under the leadership of Yu Dayou, is quickly catching up with the strength of the Yi fleet. When the time comes to fight again, Ming may not need to pay a heavier price to win the naval battle.
The Ming Dynasty was an important period when the gap between Eastern and Western military technology began to widen. It was also an era when Western learning was relatively prosperous.
Since the surrender of the Jiajing Dynasty, Japanese pirates, pirates, and European forces continued to intrude. In order to cope with the needs of coastal defense, the Ming Dynasty Navy experienced two changes in technology and tactics.
The first was the Jiajing Wanli Dynasty, centered on the introduction of the Folangji; the second was the Tianqi Chongzhen Dynasty, centered on the introduction of the Hongyi cannon. Both changes also brought about corresponding tactical adjustments.
However, because of Wei Guangde's intervention, the second change came earlier and went more smoothly.
Before the second revolution, the order of importance of Chinese naval tactics in naval battles was still to burn ships with fire, and to plow ships with plows as the most important. In naval battles, sinking pirate ships was the first achievement, and killing ships to capture prisoners was the most important. The next best thing is to use cannon to injure people and destroy ships with cannon, which is rare.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Dutch came east, and their ships had more and more powerful guns than the Portuguese ships.
Several conflicts made the Ming Dynasty recognize its performance characteristics, and named it the "Hongyi" cannon.
Along the southeastern coast, where coastal defense problems were severe, Hongyi cannons were quickly applied to coastal defense warships, breaking through the limit on the number of large-scale artillery-equipped warships, and specialized warships appeared. The broadside gun technology was derived, and it has been closely related to the bombardment of European ships. The tactics are very close.
Now is the early stage of Wanli, and the Ming Navy has already begun to master the Hongyi cannon and develop the Ji boat. Although the Ming Dynasty gunboat designed by Yu Dayou had some flaws, it did develop and narrowed the technological gap between the Ming Dynasty and European warships.
You must know that at that time, the Ming Dynasty's ships were sailing against the "Sea Coachman" Netherlands, which dominated the ocean. At that time, the Dutch navy had surpassed Spain in terms of naval strength. It earned money through trade. Huge profits.
The Netherlands' naval battleship combat power at that time also far exceeded the warship combat power of other European countries at the same time.
Of course, the main force that fought against the Dutch was not the Ming Dynasty Navy in the true sense, but the Zheng Zhilong pirate group who recruited them.
In the 1633 Ming Dynasty naval battle at Liaoluowan, the large warships of the Ming army were equipped with 16, 20 and 36 cannons respectively.
Hans Putoman, the governor of Taiwan in the Netherlands, also recorded this: Zheng Zhilong's warship was "built according to the Dutch model, a large and exquisite, well-equipped sailing ship and fleet, and was also equipped with a part that can be towed, Ring-bolted, double-deck cannon."
In the battle to annihilate Liu Xiang in 1635, Zheng Zhilong's warships "can accommodate twenty-four gunmen per ship. When the cannon is fired, it splits the clouds and penetrates the waves, forming a battle array."
Although today's Ming Dynasty is still in terminal illness, due to Zhang Juzheng's reforms and Wei Guangde's intentional or unintentional influence, the Ming army's combat power has improved by leaps and bounds.
Originally, in this time and space, the Ming army was still mass-producing and equipping Fran cannons, while Wei Guangde had already set his sights on the latest Europeans' Hongyi cannon.
However, Hongyi cannons are only exerting their power on the ocean for the time being. For the land division, they still use a large number of Fran cannons, because among the land opponents of the Ming Dynasty, no comparable opponents have been found for the time being. , naturally there is no need to equip the Hongyi cannon, which is difficult to maneuver.
Moreover, after the navy has fully mastered the characteristics of the Hongyi cannon, it is not difficult to develop into a land division.
Furthermore, the biggest obstacle restricting the development of military power in the late Ming Dynasty, because of Zhang Juzheng’s reign, will no longer be possible in the next few years as Zhang Juzheng’s reforms continue and the court’s finances will be greatly enriched. exist.
However, Wei Guangde was not allowed to think about this in Zhang Juzheng's room. What he needed now was to persuade Zhang Juzheng to support him and let Ming Dynasty expand its military force.
If we don't stabilize the Ming Dynasty's basic position in Nanyang before the large-scale arrival of Europeans, it will only be more troublesome in the future.
“This is my plan. To expand the Nanhai Navy in Nanyang, we will first obtain the location of the best port through merchant ships.
The imperial court will then contact the vassal countries to discuss transferring the good port to me. The key to the possibility of the Ming Dynasty is to let them understand that because the Ming Dynasty fleet no longer sailed to the Western Ocean, wars and disputes among the Southeast Asian countries have continued over the years.
Now I, the Ming Dynasty, have discovered that the countries in Southeast Asia are facing external threats. Therefore, as a suzerain country, we need to protect the security of the vassal countries from military threats from foreign countries.
Leasing good ports to garrison troops is natural. That's the best way. With the presence of our Ming Navy, even if the Yi people want to rule them with force, I, the Ming Dynasty, will respond.
Accordingly, if the Ming Dynasty was to bear this military expenditure, it would naturally need to be provided by the vassal states.
The ultimate purpose of doing this is to ensure their safety.
Taking Malacca and Siam as examples, I believe that the Southeast Asian countries will accept our request.
Just imagine, if our Ming army was stationed in Malacca and Siam at that time, would the barbarians dare to attack Malacca?
Does the Toungoo Dynasty dare to risk the disapproval of the world, rashly send troops to Siam, and capture the Siamese leader? ”
When Wei Guangde mentioned his idea of coercing and luring neighboring vassal states, Zhang Juzheng naturally felt that it was very feasible.
Of course, there will definitely be various problems.
But don’t be afraid if problems arise, just discuss and resolve them if they arise.
For example, the painting community within the port area and the political status of the navy in the vassal country still need to be discussed with the court.
“When the time comes, let the Ministry of Rites and the Department of Pingren select a group of eloquent people to go to the Southeast Asian countries to discuss the matter.
Stationing troops abroad is no small matter.
The incident in Annan, if Chengzu had not wanted to include Annan in the territory and establish the Xuanwei Department, it would not have triggered such a huge popular uprising.
Moreover, there are many benefits to garrisoning troops there.
To influence them, this is actually a good way.
Because the Ming Dynasty fleet no longer sails to Nanyang, the influence of our country is smaller. They think that without the constraints of our country, they can do whatever they want and attack other countries at will.
After all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and it is impossible for me, the Ming Dynasty, to pay attention to them all the time and send troops to intervene.
Just like what Jin Yiwei said in the information sent back, the lords of foreign vassals don’t pay much attention to our court now, because our court is mostly just a piece of paper to the outside world, which really brings shame to the court.
But if the Daming Navy is stationed nearby, the situation will be very different. Our court can quickly intervene, and naturally no one will dare to violate the emperor's majesty. "
After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he sat quietly aside, waiting for Zhang Juzheng's decision.
After a while, Zhang Juzheng finally said: "This matter is serious, so we should hold a ministry meeting for everyone to discuss it. It's better to come and report to the palace.
Shandai, you can draft a charter as mentioned just now, and then bring it to the meeting for us to discuss it.
What do you think? ”
Hearing Zhang Juzheng’s words, Wei Guangde felt more confident.
Zhang Juzheng should have been moved by his own words, but the matter was too big, and of course it couldn’t be left to the two of them. It's a matter of final decision.
The six ministers also participated in the discussion. In the future, even if the government and the opposition have different voices, they can gather more people to support their decision.
Moreover, through discussions with more people, other different opinions can also be heard.
Zhang Juzheng does not think that he is the smartest person in the world. Perhaps others will discover what he cannot see.
Indeed, Wei Guangde’s proposal is very attractive.
In fact, after seeing the information sent by Jinyiwei from Nanyang earlier, he had become extremely sensitive to information about the Yi people.
They are too aggressive.
From the few words we got from Nanyang, we can know that the Yi people have controlled a huge and vast land in the east, which is rich in products.
Although the Ming Dynasty has a vast land and rich resources, and there is no intention to go there, after acquiring such land, the Yi people are still expanding their power towards the Ming Dynasty, which has to arouse great concern.
Garrisoning troops overseas to defend the enemy from outside the country seems to be the best way.
(End of this chapter)