Chapter 921 1010 Deng Zilong

"It's easy to talk about the ship. As long as the court is willing, you can make a big difference in your place in two years. However, I think the morale of the sailors on your ship is low. You should practice well after you return.

Also, it would be best to mobilize more sailors from the Denglai guards for training. How can this be done with such a small number of troops? "

When Yu Dayou heard about Denglai Navy's current predicament, he didn't take it seriously and just gave a kind reminder.

"With the current finances of the imperial court, how much money can I expect from the government? If they had valued us, they would have allocated money long ago."

Xu Qiaoan said bitterly, "The imperial court's intention is to integrate all the ships of Shandong Dusi to defend this sea area. What I can do is to patrol the sea with warships that can still go to sea to ensure the safety of one side." ”

"You, if I hadn't seen that you are Qiao Song's cousin, I wouldn't even bother to remind you."

At this time, Yu Dayou felt that this Xu Qiaoan was a rare enterprising person among the generals of the Ming Dynasty, at least much better than Xu Qiaosong.

Perhaps because of Xijue, the temperament of Xu Qiaoan cannot be seen in Xu Qiaosong.

When Yu Dayou first met Xu Qiaosong, he was still a very motivated man. He led Shuiying around the river all day long and blocked the passage for Japanese pirates to enter the interior.

But when we met again later, he had become slippery and lacked the energy he had before.

Perhaps, he was influenced by the big dye vat of officialdom and became a lot more philistine.

The way Xu Qiaoan looks now reminds Yu Dayou of Xu Qiaosong. If he doesn't give him hope, it won't take long before he will become like everyone else.

Thinking about it, Yu Dayou said: "When I was transferred from the battlefield to Guangxi and took over as the chief military officer of Guangxi, I switched from fighting Japanese pirates to suppressing bandits and suppressing rebellion. I couldn't understand it at that time.

But I did not sink. I worked hard to fulfill the court's orders, and then went to Fujian to order naval warships. And now, I have the Nanyang Navy, which governs Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and the Guangxi Navy that I personally built. Now there are thousands of warships. The ship is much more powerful than when he was the commander-in-chief of a province. "

"That is because the commander-in-chief has great military exploits and is famous. Even the last general in Shandong has heard the legend of Yu Long and Qi Hu. The imperial court will naturally use people."

Xu Qiaoan gently flattered Yu Dayou and also praised the court.

Being able to rise to an official position like admiral is not something that ordinary people can achieve.

Many military generals, throughout their lives, only know that the chief military officer is the highest title of a military general, and the admiral is such a distant official position.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, even if a military general leads an army alone, he is still the chief military officer, and there are really no more.

On the other hand, the official position of governor in the civil service is similar to that of admiral, but the appointment decree usually states "Governor of military affairs and money and food of a certain place", which gives the governor the right to interfere in local military and government affairs.

The term "admiral" first appeared in the early years after the "Gengxu Rebellion" in the 29th year of Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing wanted to reorganize the Beijing camp and appointed the position of "admiral-general military officer". However, it soon became Change again.

The regiment camp and the two official offices were dismissed, and the old system of the three camps of the Yongle period was restored. The three thousand battalions were renamed Shenshu camp. The three battalions of the three battalions, such as Shaoye and other ministers, were abolished and were commanded by a general, called the governor Jingying Rong. The government is assisted by a member of civil servants, who is called the assistant manager of the military affairs of the capital.

Because the post of governor is mostly an official position held by a civilian governor, the generals who governor the military affairs of the Beijing camp are generally called the commanders of the Beijing camp, but they dare not call themselves governors.

Wei Guangde gave Yu Dayou great power, allowing him to take the position of Chief Military Officer of Guangxi over the Chief Military Officer of the three provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. Naturally, he could not be allowed to continue to serve as the chief military officer in the position of Chief Military Officer, so he thought hard for a long time and finally established the position in Jiajing. To find a "precedent" for this.

As a result, the "Admiral Military Affairs" general, who is half a level higher than the general military officer, was born. The military general oversees military affairs, while the governor is the governor military affairs. Speaking of which, the admiral still has to listen to the governor.

Therefore, Zhang Juzheng, Lu Tiaoyang and other court officials did not make a fuss about Wei Guangde's proposal and accepted it calmly.

In their view, they are just the generals in charge of the generals, the so-called generals in the past, and the other generals are deputy generals. There is nothing to fight for. They all have to look up to the civilian officials anyway.

But this is also a serious matter. The military general has the official position of admiral above the chief military officer.

However, there are not many general military officers in the Ming Dynasty. If you want to be an admiral, you must first take the position of general military officer. You must also have strong connections with Beijing and China. In addition, you need to have opponents. Only then can you be given control of several provinces by the imperial court. The rights of soldiers and horses.

These points are indispensable and naturally difficult to achieve.

It can almost be said that Yu Dayou has reached the pinnacle of the Ming Dynasty military generals, commanding the troops and horses of the four provinces.

The only person who has commanded more troops than him in recent years is probably Hu Zongxian, the governor of Jiangnan during the Jiajing Dynasty, who could nominally mobilize troops from the thirteen provinces of Jiangnan.

However, since he is a civil servant, it is a different matter.

"What if I choose to give up and just muddle along while I'm in Guangxi? Do you think the imperial court will give me this opportunity to lead troops?"

Yu Dayou sneered.

"Well."

Xu Qiaoan was stunned and didn't know how to answer the question.

"I'm telling you this because as far as I know, the Denglai Navy was established at the suggestion of Mr. Wei Ge. I know Mr. Wei Ge's temper and will never do this for no reason.

Now that there is a Nanyang Navy in the south of the Yangtze River, can't there be a Beiyang Navy in the north?

One south and one north guard the peace of the Ming Dynasty. "

Hearing this, Xu Qiaosong fell into silence and lowered his head to think.

Yu Dayou knew that Wei Guangde had the idea of ​​raising troops to go to Nanyang and restore the Xuanwei Office of Jiugang, otherwise he would not have asked him to inquire about the situation in Nanyang and learn Western shipbuilding and artillery technology, just to show his power overseas.

There is no ship and artillery more powerful than the Western barbarians. With his understanding of Wei Guangde, he would never order them to go to sea in a hurry.

Therefore, during this period of time, Yu Dayou has been arranging people to inquire about the barbarians' ships and artillery technology everywhere, and sent people to steal their skills.

The unexpected encounter with the Denglai Navy during this voyage may also be a blessing from God.

If it were not for this meeting with Yu Dayou, perhaps soon after, Xu Qiaosong would have quickly withered like other Ming Dynasty generals, becoming a general who enjoyed comfort and comfort, and would no longer have the ambition to win the sea.

The Nanyang Navy and Wang Zongmu's selected can naturally be excellent, so they can let go of the speed and sail to Tianjin at the maximum range.

The warships of the Nanyang Navy can actually have a higher speed, but they have to slow down to take care of the grain ships.

But even so, the grain ships are still faster than the old and broken ships of the Denglai Navy.

After all, the Denglai Navy also has to take care of the ships in the fleet that can no longer sail at high speed, so they can only slow down to maintain the formation of the fleet.

After parting with Yu Dayou, Xu Qiaosong made up his mind to go back and train his sailors hard, so as not to lose people again when he meets the Nanyang Navy next time.

At the same time, he also planned to write a letter to his cousin to ask if Yu Dayou has any big legs in the capital.

Although from the previous conversation, he vaguely felt that the person behind Yu Dayou should be the Wei Ge Lao in the cabinet, but he was too far away from the level of the court after all, and he used to be more dependent on the wings of his cousin's Yongkang Marquis Mansion.

If the Wei Ge Lao mentioned by Yu Dayou really values ​​the navy, then it is not a bad idea to join his school.

The second assistant, in the court, is the one who is above everyone else. Except for the first assistant, the second assistant seems to be the biggest.

Although there is a little emperor above him, after all, the emperor is too young to rule the country, and it is said that the cabinet handles the court affairs.

"Finally, it's over."

At this moment, the guards beside Xu Qiaoan sighed.

Xu Qiaoan looked outside, and the fleet that stretched for an unknown length finally surpassed the Denglai Navy.

"I'm afraid there are more than a thousand ships. I didn't expect that my Ming Dynasty has such a large navy."

Another guard beside him sighed.

Indeed, before this, the most powerful navy in the northern sea of ​​Ming Dynasty was the Dengzhou Navy.

Later, because the sea ships of the guards in Laizhou and Jimo were collected, the size of the Dengzhou Navy doubled, and they thought that dozens of ships were already a strong maritime force.

But this time, seeing the warships of the Nanyang Navy taught them a profound lesson, letting them know that there are more powerful navy in the south, which is countless times more powerful than theirs.

"No wonder there is no trace of the Japanese pirates now. With such a powerful navy, who dares to scratch the tiger's whiskers."

Xu Qiaoan listened to the discussion of the guards below, and his heart moved, and finally made up his mind.

He liked the feeling of staying on the ship, liked this sea, and he wanted to become the strongest king on this sea.

At this time, Yu Dayou, the commander of the Nanyang Navy, was on the ship. Yu Dayou ordered his guards behind him: "It's getting dark. Find a harbor to anchor and leave tomorrow.

Send someone to send a letter to Chen Lin, asking him to be careful around and keep an eye on the grain ships. This is still the open sea. It will be safe after passing the Miaodao Islands and entering the Bohai Sea."

"Yes, Marshal."

The guards took the order and left. Yu Dayou also returned to the cabin to rest. After a day of sea breeze, he, the old general, could not stand it.

"Brother Zili, come and have a drink."

In the flower hall of Wei Mansion in the capital, Wei Guangde was entertaining the Minister of War Tan Lun.

He waved his hand and said to a person sitting below: "Zilong, you also raise your glass, and we will drink it up."

"Drink it, we are all family, don't be restrained."

Tan Lun spoke at this time.

After a glass of wine, Wei Guangde looked at the man at the bottom and asked, "Brother Zili, Zilong is a rare military hero among my Jiangxi children. Do you really want to arrange for him to go to Guangxi?

It's not peaceful there, and according to the official documents sent back by Yunnan, Myanmar is eyeing Mengchong, Manmo, Mengmi and other places in our Ming Dynasty. It's not a good place to go."

"Zilong participated in the suppression of the rebellion in Jiangxi in his early years, and he also led troops to follow Dayou into Fujian and Guangdong to suppress the Japanese rebellion. I think he should be given a chance. If he continues to stay in Jiangxi, it will be useless."

The person who accompanied him to drink also left a name in history, but Wei Guangde didn't know it. He was introduced by Tan Lun, the Minister of War.

And his name is Deng Zilong. He should have been an unknown person in history, but because of a naval battle, he died heroically on the battlefield, and his name was passed down.

Deng Zilong, courtesy name Yunqing, alias Wuqiao, also known as Huguan Daoren, was born in Fengcheng, Jiangxi Province. He was proficient in astronomy and geography, good at riding and shooting, and was good at poetry and calligraphy. He was an outstanding military strategist, famous general against Japanese invaders, and a national hero in the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, it would not be difficult to arrange for Deng Zilong to go to the southwest or the north, but Tan Lun knew that Wei Guangde had a series of ideas about the affairs of the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of War. Deng Zilong was only in his forties and could still work on the battlefield for another ten or even twenty years, so he brought him here to see if Wei Guangde had other arrangements.

Again, they were all fellow villagers. Although they had different paths in civil and military affairs, Wei Guangde's background determined that he would not treat military men with contempt.

Perhaps, Wei Guangde will arrange a more suitable position for him.

"We are all fellow villagers. Since Brother Zili brought you here, it means that he is very optimistic about you."

Wei Guangde said this, and after a slight pause, he said: "He asked you to go to the southwest, where there may be military affairs.

Although I have never been to the southwest, I have heard a lot about it. It is not suitable for large-scale military expeditions.

If you are good at commanding small-scale battles, it is naturally great to go to the southwest.

But if you are not good at this, and you are good at the orthodox Ming army formation, I suggest you not to go to the southwest."

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he noticed that Tan Lun nodded and agreed: "I also told him this, but now there is no place to make achievements except the southwest and Liaodong."

"Do you have any ideas about the navy?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Navy?"

Deng Zilong, who was not good at speaking, was stunned when Wei Guangde mentioned the navy. He knew that Yu Dayou, the former lieutenant general of Jiangxi, was now the admiral of the Nanyang Navy, commanding thousands of warships of all sizes and the coastal garrisons of four provinces.

Thinking of this, Deng Zilong couldn't help but look at Wei Guangde, wondering if he was going to let him change his career to become a naval commander.

You know, there is no sea in Jiangxi. When he was destroying Zhang Lian, he led his troops into Fujian and saw the sea for the first time.

"Yes, it's the navy. Your old boss will arrive in Tianjin soon. If you are interested, you can go with me and train under him for a few years. The navy is also in urgent need of officers who are good at water and land battlefields."

Wei Guangde said.

"Good loan, you."

Tan Lun hesitated and finally didn't say it.

Wei Guangde knew what he meant and chuckled, "Brother Zili, it is a national policy for the navy to go to Nanyang to restore the old port. I don't know what the situation is there now, but the warships of the Western barbarians are constantly coming from the west, and our Ming Dynasty has to pay great attention to it.

The geographical location of the Old Port Xuanwei Office is crucial. If the court resumes its management there, the traffic of Western barbarians will be under control.

With the old port, the entire Nanyang can also be called the Ming Sea.

Moreover, the natives of Nanyang can establish a country there, so there is no need to worry about not having enough financial resources for the court to maintain contact between the two places.

As far as I know, Nanyang is rich in products, and rice can be produced three times a year, which is even better than the Jiangnan area of ​​the Ming Dynasty.

Based on this point, it is worth the court to conquer it."

Wei Guangde didn't know if there were gold and silver mines in Southeast Asia. He only knew that there seemed to be coal mines there, but the development value was not great now.

But using this as a springboard, you can extend your tentacles to the Kangaroo Country.

Of course, due to transportation and communication reasons, it will be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to effectively control this place within a hundred years, but it might as well make some attempts.

Old Port must be guarded by a general who is familiar with amphibious warfare. This is what he decided.

"I am willing to follow Marshal Yu."

Although he didn't know where the Old Port they were talking about was, Deng Zilong still knew that this place was very important. He heard that Wei Ge Lao was planning to let him guard it, so he spoke up immediately. (End of this chapter)