Chapter 939 1028 Dongfan Island

Huayu is located at the westernmost part of the Penghu Islands, 30 kilometers southwest of Penghu Island, with an area of ​​1.4729 square kilometers and an average altitude of about 40 meters.

At this time, there were no indigenous people on Huayu except the Japanese pirates.

Huayu is mountainous at the northwest end and rolling green hills in the southeast. It is the westernmost island of the Penghu Islands.

The Penghu Islands are located between Taiwan Island and Fujian Province, east of the center of the Taiwan Strait.

However, Taiwan at that time was not called this name, but Dongfan or Xiaoliuqiu, and the Ryukyu Islands were called Daliuqiu by the Ming Dynasty.

The name of the Penghu Islands is due to the surging sea outside the harbor and the calm water inside the harbor. It consists of 64 islands in the southeast of the Taiwan Strait. The main islands are Penghu Island, Yuweng Island and Baisha Island, with an area of ​​about 96.6 square kilometers, accounting for 76.1% of the total area.

There are 8 islands with an area of ​​more than 1 square kilometer, including Hujing, Jibei, and Wangan. The remaining 53 islands are all less than 1 square kilometer, of which 44 are uninhabited.

The development history of Penghu can be traced back to before the Qin and Han Dynasties. It was officially included in the Chinese territory in the Song Dynasty and was under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province. Its development time was more than 380 years earlier than that of Taiwan Island.

During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, with the increasing number of immigrants, the Inspection Office was set up. However, the Ming Dynasty had always neglected the management of this place, especially the Japanese invasion in the early Ming Dynasty. In order to implement the sea ban, the population of Penghu was moved back to Fujian and the Penghu Inspection Office was abolished.

It was not until the 42nd year of Jiajing that the Penghu Inspection Office was re-established to deal with the harassment of Japanese pirates, but it did not really play a role in defending against Japanese pirates.

In fact, many of the isolated islands overseas have no residents, and most of the active people on the islands are Japanese pirates and sea merchants.

Even if the people were relocated to live there, the court banned the sea, and the residents on the island could not get supplies from the mainland and had to choose to leave and return to the Ming Dynasty.

Knowing that the Japanese pirates were hiding in Huayu, Penghu Islands, Yu Dayou could not delay for a moment. He immediately ordered the Pingyang County Office to imprison the people first, and he hurried back to the dock to board the ship, and then the fleet set sail for Huayu.

On the ship, Yu Dayou summoned his generals and ordered: "This time the army will surround the Penghu Islands in four directions, and all the islands and reefs in Penghu must be searched to ensure that no Japanese pirates are spared."

"Yes."

All the generals agreed.

"Marshal, do you want to go to Dongfan Island as well? The last time the trench mirror sent back the news, the Portuguese discovered the island when they went to Japan for trade and called it Formosa.

Dongfan Island is too close to Fujian, and it can be reached in the evening. As far as we know, there is no royal authority on the island, and there are no ignorant villagers.

If Dongfan Island is occupied by the Portuguese, it seems to be disadvantageous to our Ming Dynasty."

A general said.

"Dongfan, Fujian actually knows the situation, but it is inconvenient to send people to supervise it because of the sea.

Even Penghu is a place that Quanzhou Prefecture is unwilling to spend energy to manage, let alone such a large Dongfan Island."

Yu Dayou hesitated.

His worries are not groundless. In fact, the Ming Dynasty knew more or less about the misunderstanding at the founding of the country. Daliuqiu did have a so-called Ryukyu King, and it had always maintained a good relationship with the Ming Dynasty. From time to time, envoys would go to the Ming Dynasty to pay homage.

As for Xiaoliuqiu, it was basically a deserted island. Fujianese did move there in the early years.

But after the sea ban, most people had withdrawn.

However, this also made the Ming Dynasty know the situation of Dongfan Island. There are some villages on the island with indigenous people living in them.

However, the real reason for preventing the Ming army from landing on the island was that the name of Xiaoliuqiu was included in the fifteen countries that were not to be conquered in the "Huang Ming Zuxun" clearly stated by Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, that is, this place was not included in the Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang made military and politics his "main business" throughout his life, he seemed to be particularly cautious in using troops.

The same is true for governing a country. If the country is not peaceful, use troops to investigate and quell the chaos.

When the world is peaceful, all you need to do is repair the armor and weapons, train the soldiers, and prepare for national defense.

Why do you say that?

Everyone should know that using military force can eliminate disasters, but it can also cause disasters. If you rely on your wealth to show off your power, be ambitious, and stir up trouble, you will make enemies and provoke, which will just cause disasters!

Just like a doctor prescribing a drug that can make people sick, forcing a healthy person to take it, although it will not cause physical disability or death, it is enough to seriously damage the vitality!

So those who are in power should always talk about military affairs, but they must not be warlike!"

This is the "earnest teaching" of the old emperor who has always been "Hongwu" and "martial arts", and this is the epiphany that Zhu Yuanzhang got from historical experience and lessons.

He made this announcement to the ministers of various departments at the Fengtian Gate of the Ming Palace in Nanjing: "If there are barbarian countries overseas that are a threat to China, they must be conquered; if they are not a threat to China, they must not be mobilized.

The ancients said that a vast territory is not a long-term plan for peace, and the hard work of the people is the source of chaos.

For example, Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty raised an army to conquer Ryukyu, killed the barbarians, burned their palaces, captured thousands of men and women, and did not have enough land to provide for them, nor enough people to command them. He only pursued a false reputation and damaged China, which was recorded in the history books and ridiculed by future generations.

I think that the barbarians are small countries, separated by mountains and seas, and are isolated in a corner. They are not a threat to China, so I will never attack them. However, the Hu Rong in the northwest (referring to the Mongolia in the north of the desert) have always been a threat to China, so we must be careful. You should remember what I said and know my intention. "

This is actually the main reason why Zhu Yuanzhang decided to not conquer these fifteen countries, that is, they are sparsely populated and difficult to manage, and the gains and losses are not equal.

In the later years of Hongwu, Emperor Lao Zhu was afraid that his descendants would be arrogant, frivolous, and willful in using military force, thereby causing disaster, so he specifically wrote his national policy of prudent external military use into the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions".

"The barbarians in the four directions are all separated by mountains and seas. They are isolated in a corner. The land they get is not enough to provide supplies, and the people they get are not enough to command. If they come to disturb us without thinking about themselves, it will be unlucky for them.

He is not a threat to China, and it is also unlucky for me to raise an army and attack lightly. I am afraid that future generations will rely on China's wealth and strength, be greedy for temporary military success, and raise armies for no reason, causing harm to human lives. This must not be done.

However, Hu Rong and the northwest border are close to each other. After many wars, they must select generals to train troops and be prepared at all times. "

Later history actually proved to some extent that Zhu Yuanzhang's views on this were actually reasonable. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he violated the ancestral precepts and attacked Annan.

Of course, Zhu Di also thought carefully.

Annan is located at the junction of mainland China and the Indochina Peninsula. Once occupied, it can contain Champa, Siam, and Chenla in the near distance, and can control Manchuria and the Sumatran Peninsula, Old Port, Kwawa, and Ning near the peninsula. Mud and other countries.

However, because Annan was far away from the Central Plains, he finally moved towards independence and became today's Vietnam.

It can be seen that the ancestral precepts set by Zhu Yuanzhang are not nonsense, at least it is proved to have some truth by facts.

For this reason, even if the Ming Dynasty navy found traces of Japanese pirate activities on Dongfan Island before, it would often just make a quick strike and immediately withdraw its troops, without actually entering Dongfan Island.

Also because they discovered the Ming Dynasty's fear of this place, many Japanese pirates once operated this place as their lair.

Now that a general mentioned Dongfan Island and pointed out the impact of Dongfan Island's special geographical location on the Ming Dynasty, Yu Dayou had to think about it.

After thinking for a long time, Yu Dayou gave the order: "I will report this matter to the imperial court first, and the imperial court will make a decision.

The target this time is Penghu, and the first priority is to eliminate the Japanese pirates entrenched in Penghu.

After the Japanese pirates are eliminated, the fleet can circle Dongfan Island to observe whether there are any traces of Japanese pirates on it, and report it when the time comes. "

Most of the generals knew what Yu Dayou said, and this was a reason to talk nicely.

If the imperial court wanted to take action against Dongfan Island, they would use their memorials to state the reason why Dongfan was occupied by Japanese pirates and send troops to Dongfan.

Yes, there are people on Dongfan Island, but without contact, how can you know whether they are Japanese pirates or aborigines?

If you can't tell them apart, you can only suspect Japanese pirate activities.

At the moment, Zhejiang has just been attacked by Japanese pirates. Although this group of Japanese pirates is about to be wiped out by them, the imperial court will definitely use thunderous means to deal with it. It mainly depends on whether the adults in the DPRK are willing to take over Dongfan.

The Nanyang Navy headed eastward towards the sea.

They didn't know that after they returned to the Ming Dynasty with great victory, their trip would also be recorded in history, because this incident finally gave Wei Guangde the opportunity to take action, and justifiably included Dongfan Island, or Taiwan, which should be called Xiaoliuqiu. China's territory.

Since there are people living on Dongfan Island, and there is no royal authority and they are just ignorant villagers, it is natural that they should feel the teachings of the saints and learn etiquette and respect.

Two months later, Beijing received an urgent report from Yu Dayou.

After reading the battle report, Wei Guangde immediately wrote a memorial with this title, describing in detail the role of Dongfan Island as a barrier to Fujian and protecting the tranquility of the East China Sea.

He also emphasized that Dongfan had no political power. Although the land was vast and sparsely populated, making it inconvenient to manage, the imperial court could establish garrison posts in the north and south of Dongfan Island and move the military households there.

At the same time, Wei Guangde also excerpted the description of the environment on Dongfan Island at this time from the battle report. Towering trees can be seen everywhere, lush and green.

I write this, of course, not because this is a beautiful island, but because Ming Dynasty is currently facing a dilemma of lack of good wood.

Of course, this shortage of good wood mainly refers to the Jiangnan region.

After years of development, most of the forests here have been cleared and the forest resources have been exhausted.

Nowadays, when the imperial court purchases huge trees, most of them come from Qiongzhou and Southwest China. The distance is thousands of miles and transportation is extremely troublesome.

In Wei Guangde's words, the Ming army's arrival on the island can bring saints' teachings to the local aboriginal people, making them enlightened and wise, which is a great meritorious deed.

If the Ministry of Industry Shipyards in Nanzhili and Zhejiang are relocated, it can solve the material problem of sea-going ship construction for the Nanyang Navy.

Prior to this, most of the timber for Ming Dynasty ships had been transported from Guangxi to Zhejiang and Fujian shipyards. The transportation costs were high and there were many risks.

When Wei Guangde wrote this, his purpose was naturally to turn Dongfan Island into a naval base and make it a home port for the Nanyang Navy.

"Shandai, you will move the guard station to Dongfan and educate the local people."

During the cabinet duty, Zhang Juzheng kept rubbing the armrest with his right hand, and for a while he couldn't find any reasonable reason to object to his words.

Zhang Juzheng was actually very conflicted. Last time he wanted to expand his territory, but it resulted in news that thousands of people were massacred by Wang Gao's tribe.

It was good that the news was strictly blocked at first, but after the imperial court used troops against Liaodong, the news could no longer be concealed.

For this reason, both he and Wei Guangde were impeached by Ke Dao officials several times.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, he is naturally the most scolded.

Fortunately, good news came from Liaodong last month, and Wang Gao was bound and taken to the capital.

Recently, Wei Guangde's job has been to contact the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War to prepare for the prisoner presentation ceremony.

The extermination of the rebel chieftains could have been avoided, but Zhang Juzheng wanted to use this matter to save some of the face he had lost before.

Wei Guangde had no objection to this, so it was settled.

Now Wei Guangde supports Yu Dayou to take over Dongfan Island. Although Zhang Juzheng knows that there are only a few aborigines on Dongfan Island, and there is no king or anything like that, which means that the Ming Dynasty can take over this place without bloodshed, Zhang Juzheng privately asked Fujian officials, and most of them are not optimistic about this.

To put it bluntly, although Dongfan Island is large, it is all land for development. If the court really goes there, it must invest energy in development, and resources will be invested in a huge amount without seeing any benefits.

Didn’t the Fujian government know the situation of Dongfan Island?

Of course not, they knew it earlier, and even knew the situation during the Hongwu Dynasty.

But considering the mismatch between input and output, everyone is a floating official, and there is no need to make wedding clothes for future generations.

Knowing the situation, Zhang Juzheng naturally hesitated.

On second thought, taking over Dongfan Island is actually expanding territory, but there is a huge obstacle that is difficult to overcome, that is, "Huang Ming Zuxun".

Wei Guangde deliberately avoided this matter in his memorial.

But once the imperial edict is issued, the court officials are not blind, especially those in the Hanlin Academy, they will definitely oppose it in every possible way.

So Zhang Juzheng said, "Once the imperial edict is issued, the court will certainly oppose it based on the ancestral precepts. Has Shandai thought of a countermeasure?"

Wei Guangde heard Zhang Juzheng say this and smiled faintly, "This memorial is just a secret that is not to be passed on. Only you, me and the palace know it.

To the outside world, the Ministry of War will order the Nanyang Navy to go to the island to suppress the Japanese pirates. After that, water forts will be set up in the north and south, and it can also be said to the outside world that it is to prevent the Japanese pirates from resurrecting.

As for the relocation of the garrisons, it can be done slowly. Zhejiang and Fujian will each select a garrison to move east, and then transfer a shipyard from Nanzhili and Zhejiang. I plan to complete it in five years.

By then, your majesty will announce this to the world. The matter is done, and it will be like this naturally.

At the same time, you can recruit candidates from all over the world to go to Dongfan Island to educate the people. It can be limited to five years. After five years, return to the court to recruit court officials with higher grades."

Wei Guangde made this arrangement because he wanted the response of scholars.

Going to Dongfan Island to teach, the students are naturally the military households and aboriginal children on Dongfan Island.

If they were directly recruited as teachers, I'm afraid many people would not be willing to go. Giving them five years to complete the nine-year exam and then being directly assigned to the county government to serve as a county magistrate would still be very attractive.

In fact, many candidates who entered the government as teachers could only be promoted from the county school to the prefectural school, and it was difficult to advance further.

There were very few people who, like Hai Rui, went from being a teacher to a county magistrate and continued to rise.