Chongzhen wanted to engage in an arms race with the Jiannu, and the area of naval power was one that the Jiannu were not very familiar with.

The Eagle Sauce used a similar method to bring down the Russian bear back then.

Historically, before the 17th year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji sent people several times to request peace talks with the Ming court.

In addition to the perceived lack of military strength, there are also economic factors.

Wars are fought for money and food.

First of all, money.

After Nurhaci moved the capital to Liaoyang, he minted Tianming copper coins. However, due to a lack of copper and inadequate technology, six years later, in the tenth year of Tianming, the Later Jin regime banned the minting of copper coins on the grounds that silver was abundant and there was no need for copper.

Where did their money come from?

Plunder + trade!

They plundered the Han people in Liaodong, the Mongols, and the Koreans.

The more places you conquer, the more silver you will get.

Once the looting stopped, the Jiannu's finances would be in trouble.

Because they have no source of income.

Collect taxes?

joke!

Whose taxes are levied?

The lower class people were all slaves, with nothing but food. The grain of the bannermen was private property within the banner and could not be handed over.

Apart from plundering, the only way to exchange ginseng and furs from Liaodong for silver was through merchants.

Black soil is fertile, but it can only be used for one season.

The Little Ice Age brought about drought and cold weather, which resulted in serious reductions in grain production.

When prices in Liaodong were at their highest, one stone of grain could be sold for eight taels of silver!

It is twice as high as the highest price in Central China.

When the Ming Dynasty was in financial difficulties, it could raid the homes of officials and wealthy businessmen.

Whose house did the Jiannu raid when they were in financial trouble?

The money was all in the hands of the bannermen, and raiding their homes would be tantamount to seeking death.

After they saw the combat effectiveness of the Ming navy, they had to spend a lot of money on the navy, whether for defense or offense.

This will be a huge test for the Jiannu's finances.

......

Dengzhou.

In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, Dengzhou was a prefecture under the jurisdiction of Laizhou Prefecture.

In the ninth year of Hongwu, the imperial court issued an edict: At that time, Deng and Lai states were both close to the sea and were important routes for communication between Goryeo and Japan. Without establishing a government and increasing the number of soldiers and guards, they would not be able to maintain order.

From then on, the state was promoted to a prefecture, with its seat in Penglai.

June 13, the 21st year of Chongzhen.

On the sea north of Dengzhou City, the newly appointed Denglai Governor Yuan Shu, Guanliao Dengjin Navy Commander-in-Chief Huang Fei, Deputy General Yang Zhan, Deputy General Zeng Ying and others were watching the new recruits training on a large ship.

A general stood at the bow and shouted: "According to the latest imperial decree, the navy must not only practice water warfare, but also land warfare."

"From now on, we will practice water battles on the first, fifth, ninth, thirteenth, seventeenth, twenty-first, twenty-fifth, and twenty-ninth of every month."

"Training on land battles on the 7th, 11th, 15th, 19th, 23rd, and 27th of every month."

"Naval warfare is divided into single-ship training and fleet training. Today we will conduct single-ship training. The key to naval warfare is to gain the upper hand before the battle, and then attack with the wind..."

The mainstream tactics at that time were to gain the upper hand and launch an attack.

However, there are exceptions. The French navy is accustomed to staying in a leeward position so that they can retreat in time after being defeated.

After bursts of artillery fire, one simple target ship after another on the sea was sunk.

After the drill, the soldiers manipulated the sails to steer the warship back to the port.

The group disembarked from the boat and rode back to Dengzhou City on horseback.

After a simple lunch, everyone sat together and started discussing.

Huang Fei coughed lightly and stood up and said, "Governor, colleagues, the ship we just boarded is the latest keel gunboat built by the Ministry of Works. This ship is larger than our army's previous main battleship, the Fu ship. The entire ship is about 140 meters long, 30 meters wide, and the cabin is less than 20 meters deep. The wide top is suitable for combat, and the pointed bottom is suitable for deep sea navigation."

"What is the difference between this ship and the double-deck Fu ship?" Yuan Shu asked.

The double-deck Fu ship was built on the basis of the large Fu ship with an additional deck. Heavy guns were placed on the lower deck to fire large projectiles to sink enemy ships.

The upper deck was equipped with light artillery such as the Portuguese gun, which fired 100-bullet blasts to kill soldiers on the enemy deck.

Huang Fei introduced: "This ship has many more guns than the double-deck Fuzhou ship, and it is more resistant to attack and has a faster speed. The other differences are not much."

Seeing that no one asked any questions, Huang Fei continued to introduce: "The keel gunboat will require more than a hundred soldiers, equipped with eight red-haired cannons, invincible flying cannons, 12 guns, and 20 hundred-shot cannons and Portuguese cannons."

(This is not fiction. It is recorded in the book "Military Records" written by He Rubin, the deputy general of Ningshao during the Tianqi period of the Ming Dynasty.)

call--

Although everyone had seen the real thing on site, they were still amazed by the configuration of forty light and heavy artillery pieces.

Especially with the red cannon installed!

This thing has the longest range of all artillery.

At that time, the Ming army's largest Fujian ship could not be equipped with red cannons due to structural load-bearing problems.

With the Red Cannon, they could sail freely along the coast.

The shore guns are fixed, the naval guns are mobile, and the difference in strength is immediately apparent when they shoot at each other!

"Let's put it this way," Huang Fei paused, "this ship can be called a powerful weapon for naval warfare!"

"What a pity..." Yuan Shu sighed amidst the praises.

"With strong ships and powerful guns, why is Lord Yuan sighing?" Yang Zhan asked.

"Strong ships and powerful guns are the result of actual combat, not the bragging of officials in the Ministry of Works," Yuan Shu said seriously.

Although everyone had different expressions, they all agreed with Yuan Shu's words.

"How about...we ask for permission to go out to sea and fight a battle?" Zeng Ying suggested.

"Who to hit?"

"Fight the Jiannu! Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi were all Mao Wenlong's subordinates. They are not only good at land warfare, but also naval warfare. They helped the Jiannu build a navy and arrange coastal defense in southern Liaoning. Now it's time to slap them in the face."

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