Chapter 114 Beginning
Overall, the civil officials' attack on the prince was quite successful. As had been the custom for over a hundred years, when the court showed unity in their hatred of a common enemy, even the cabinet and the emperor could not go against the will of the people. If the previous waves of impeachment attacks could be kept in reserve and delayed until something happened, after Ouyang Jin instigated the retired officials to disobey orders and submit petitions, even the Wanshou Emperor, who was high in the sky, would not be able to hold back the momentum and would have to send the petitions to the six ministries and order important officials to discuss them in court. The important ministers' discussion in the court was tantamount to handing the fate of the crown prince over to the outer court. Given the current momentum of public opinion in the court, is there any need to say more about the result?
Things had progressed to this point, which was already a major victory for the anti-Muslim faction, enough to lock in the outcome in advance. But the bloated system built by the bureaucrats over the past hundred years finally played an unexpected role at this time - that's right, as long as the important officials are summoned to determine the charges, even the nobles will find it difficult to turn things around and they must be kicked out of the capital; but the problem is that according to the practice since Emperor Xiaozong, the review of the nobles is a matter of great importance. If the procedures of summoning important officials, coordinating departments and asking for imperial decree for discussion are completed one by one, it will take at least three months.
Do you understand the value of our bureaucratic system's overlapping structures?
People cannot lift themselves up by their hair, and civil servants who have been nurtured by the bureaucratic system cannot go against the practice of more than a hundred years. They can only follow the process honestly. What is even more infuriating is that the anti-Mu elders originally wanted to instigate lower-level censors to write letters of impeachment, in order to ruin the Mu family's reputation; but after the two sides came into contact, the veteran censors raised an unavoidable key point - they did not mind impeaching the prince, but after the prince was overthrown, all matters related to coastal defense and maritime trade would inevitably be interrupted; if there was no profit from maritime trade, who would pay them the salaries they had been owed over the years? We can't all be left starving again, right?
How vulgar! Everybody is talking about the important matter of eradicating corrupt officials and maintaining order and order in the court, but these crude and vulgar petty officials keep talking about those trivial matters, which is really chilling!
Besides, if the ministers knew how to fill the huge hole of at least one million taels of silver in maritime trade profits, would they still need to suffer in the outer court? Wouldn't it be better to offer silver to lick the old hook of Master Feixuan, win the emperor's favor and rise to the top?
The two sides parted unhappily, each leaving with a grudge. Without the support of the censors in charge of discipline, this vigorous anti-Mu movement was inevitably deserted and could not create much momentum. It could only be confined to the top level of the court and could not reproduce the grand scene of the past when the great ceremony caused unrest in the world. But it doesn’t matter. No matter how cold and indifferent they are, as long as they can survive these three months and complete the process, they can still kill the enemy.
It is impossible to complete the ship supervised by Tianjin Port in just over three months; with just this little capital, can Mr. Mu still make a fortune?
·
"The March period has arrived, welcome the Dragon King back to his throne!"
The Prince of Duke Mu stood at the bow, reciting poems in a slow voice. His snow-white sleeves fluttered in the wind. He seemed to be floating on the sea, looking light and graceful, just like an immortal from the upper realm.
But after chanting this sentence, the prince suddenly closed his eyes, tilted his head to the right, and vomited into the sea with a "wow".
After he spit out the clear water, Qi Yuanjing next to him immediately handed him a white cloth for him to wipe. Both parties looked calm and not surprised at all, as if they were already used to this process.
The prince wiped the corners of his mouth and finally let out a long breath of pent-up air caused by dizziness - the ships made by the ancient medieval methods were still too simple and crude, and no matter how much training they did, it was difficult to get used to this irregular shaking; even if the prince vowed to lead the way, he could not withstand the waves on the sea, and after practicing until now, he was just forcing himself to adapt to the dizziness.
However, after getting used to the dizziness, at least vomiting won’t be so embarrassing. The prince looked around, confirmed that there were no outsiders around, and finally spoke calmly:
"Have all the ships that went out to sea returned?"
"They are all back." Qi Yuanjing nodded: "It is said that a large ship from Japan was seized in the distant sea. Although the details are unknown, it seems that the ship set out from the south of Japan and went to Luzon to buy muskets..."
"If Japan sets out to the south, it can also purchase firearms from the Spaniards." The prince said thoughtfully, "There aren't many powerful forces that are qualified to place such an order... Is it a merchant ship from the Kishu Domain? Or is it simply a ship from the shogunate?"
He turned around and looked back. Ru Wang, who was standing behind him, had a strange look on his face and looked quite embarrassed. He stared at the prince for a long time before he nodded hesitantly and replied:
"It should be a merchant ship from Kishu."
Speaking of this, Ru Wang couldn't help but sigh in his heart. To be honest, after clearly finding out the intention of the Prince of Duke Mu towards Japan, as a sinister and cunning banker who sucked blood and fed on flesh, he immediately became very enthusiastic and provided advice with great sincerity: Although there had been many twists and turns over the past year or so, the court had tried its best and invested no less than millions in coastal defense, and the prince had almost shamelessly used cheats; but after all, the time of establishment was too short and the foundation was too weak. If it really had to be sent to the vast ocean for a large-scale naval battle, the result was actually hard to predict; for an old sea merchant like Ruwang who was skilled in navigation, of course he hoped that the prince would play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, and criticize the strong and the weak, so that he could make money.
And Ruwang’s suggestion is quite consistent with his identity. He reminded the prince very earnestly that it was not advisable to rashly engage in battle with the main force of Japan; but as long as the large ships were repaired and able to sail long distances, they could use their sharp firearms to bully the smaller ones and easily suppress the merchant ships passing by - now that Japan is not closed to the outside world and trade with the Spaniards and the Dutch is very frequent, the profits from merchant ships are considerable.
He said this very politely, but after listening to him, the prince only asked him one question:
"You want us to be pirates?"
So talking to smart people is so unpleasant that you can’t be tactful even if you want to. Ru Wang was stunned for a moment before he had to nod in acknowledgement. The prince listened to him carefully but did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked up at the sky and began to mutter some strange words that no one could understand, such as "If the pirates can go, I can go too", "It is indeed the British. The ancestral craftsmanship cannot be forgotten", and "No one knows more about pirates than Daiying." But after chirping in a low voice for a long time, he finally lowered his head and agreed to Ru Wang very calmly.
Again, when it comes to maritime plundering, an intangible cultural heritage of mankind, the old cannon with the English Cross flag has to go. Ruwang's words actually hit the nail on the head for Da'an: the current coastal defense of the Central Plains is invincible at home, but life and death are unpredictable when going out to sea; the strengths are extremely long, and the weaknesses are extremely short; therefore, the way to play to one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses is to use firearms to bully merchant ships. Although the Da'an sailors were incompetent, they still bullied the merchant ships one-sidedly. If the Japanese pirates wanted to take revenge, they could only hope that they would be able to master their skills and be able to defeat the Fat Man's anti-Japanese special attack rockets that were widely distributed along the coast of the Central Plains. Who doesn’t like to unilaterally cut off trade lines like this?
Of course, Ruwang also had selfish motives in recommending this tactic. Being a pirate is not just robbery on the road, it requires accurate knowledge of the route; otherwise, there is no support in the vast ocean and there is nowhere to rob if you want to. As for route maps, no one in the world knows them better than England; as long as the prince changes his tactics, he can rely on this information to make a big profit and take a big bite out of the cooperation.
But so far, Ruwang's ardent hope seems to have been dashed. The prince had found a very accurate nautical chart from somewhere and was able to lock the route without his guidance. His understanding of the related trade was beyond Ruwang's expectations - he could quickly judge the forces involved in the trade from the direction and exchanges. This insight was truly extraordinary.
Such sophisticated and accurate insights could be attributed to either the prince hiding his prowess and trying a clichéd trick of playing the pig and eating the tiger, or there is an expert behind the scenes who is guiding him and providing crucial intelligence. But no matter what, Ruwang planned to record this in his diary so that he could think about it later.
So, after a moment of silence, he only said dryly:
"Your Highness, that's a good idea."
The prince was slightly startled, and looked at Ru Wang with a very strange look, and then he slowly spoke:
"If we include this time, among the merchant ships seized now, three are going to Luzon to buy muskets, right?"
Qi Yuanjing said: "That's right."
The new firearms have not yet been tested in naval battles, but they are easy to use to bully merchant ships. In the past few days, the prince has mobilized the warships in Tianjin and Zhejiang to attack on all fronts, and almost every time he goes out, there will be gains. The Crown Prince's generosity also made the recruited sailors very happy - as long as they handed over sensitive materials such as firearms and gunpowder, they could basically keep the remaining floating assets for themselves; if the price was fair, they could also exchange them for cash from the maritime merchant Mr. Ruwang, which was a great deal either way. After the distribution system is fair, the enthusiasm of the subordinates will be greatly increased, and they can provide feedback that is real and rich enough. For example, the prince knew that the merchant ships intercepted in recent times were of considerable size. They did not seem like spontaneous civilian fleets, but more like trade organized by the state apparatus. The captured Japanese sailors had a rather strange attitude. During the interrogation, they also used the identities of certain "high-ranking officials" to vouch for themselves, implicitly threatening these "pirates" of unknown origin.
The state organised a massive purchase of muskets and gunpowder, even colluding with the Spanish...
The prince sighed:
"…It looks like a war is imminent."
·
On February 28 of that year, the warship "Emperor Xingxian", which was converted from a captured Portuguese flagship, set out from Shangyu, Zhejiang, and once again rushed to the Japan-Luzon route, trying to intercept merchant ships transporting muskets and cut off Japan's source of foreign aid.
This kind of fighting style, which is similar to a diplomatic breakout, has been used many times and each time was very successful. But this time the battle encountered obstacles. The merchant ship intercepted by the Emperor Xingxian was organized by the shogunate and was escorted by a large number of warships. The Chinese and Japanese sides had a long-standing grudge against each other, and as soon as the warships came into contact, a war broke out.
However, although this hastily encountered battle is regarded as the opening of the Sino-Japanese naval war, there are not many records of this naval battle because few of the sailors who participated in the battle were literate. Despite this, there is one thing that later historians can be 100% sure of - after panicking and pouring most of the rockets on the shogunate ships, the sailors who had just experienced naval warfare only took half a quarter of an hour to quickly calm down, and in front of the large number of warship ruins, they realized a crucial key point:
——It turns out we are so strong.
·
Of course, from the perspective of future generations, the sailors' surprise was actually of little value. The ocean is different from the land. It is unobstructed and impartial. No tactics or military strategies can be applied. It is a pure competition of hard power. In this competition, the side with stronger ships and more powerful guns is invincible, and the side with advanced firearms is unstoppable, without any exceptions. The outcome of this battle could have been predicted long ago. In fact, if we put aside the firearms, the performance of the "Xingxian Emperor" would not have been outstanding at all. It even mistakenly hit a merchant ship due to the panic operation of the sailors, resulting in the loss of a large number of spoils and hostages, seriously damaging its own interests. The entire war was conducted in a state of disarray, which can only be described as muddled.
But if we take into account Da'an's past history, the significance of this naval battle is significant. Don't forget that after the eunuch Sanbao sailed to the West, and before the True Lord Feixuan revitalized the coastal defense, the Central Plains' coastal borders had been non-existent for hundreds of years, and the only way to resist the Japanese pirates was on the shore; after hundreds of years of life and death separation, the long-term confusion and helplessness have transformed into a kind of learned helplessness that is stamped in the mind. No one can believe, or dare to believe, that the court can actually make any great achievements in coastal defense.
This "anyone" even included the Prince of Mu, who actively advocated maritime trade. If he was not worried and timid, how could he have taken such an extreme approach and simply sent the navy to intercept merchant ships?
Therefore, historians attach great importance to the first battle of the "Emperor Xingxian". The result of the first battle itself was of greatest significance. It meant that after being closed, conservative and isolated from the ocean for hundreds of years, the bewildered and almost weak Central Plains dynasty finally realized its own strength in naval warfare through a small battle - this was a combat power that even the Prince of Mu and Ru Wang did not dare to speculate about before the war.
This is not good news for the surrounding island countries.
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