In the Wenhua Hall of the Capital, glass replaces window paper, which makes the light in the hall very good.
Emperor Chongzhen was handling government affairs and discussing spring plowing in various places with Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet.
At this time, Wen Tiren eloquently described the situation in various places to Emperor Chongzhen, and emphasized that there was no heavy snow in the inland, especially Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Gansu and other places, and he was afraid that spring plowing would be affected due to lack of water.
As he was talking, he suddenly noticed that Emperor Chongzhen was frowning, with a worried look on his face, but he also looked absent-minded.
Wen Tiren was a little speechless, so he had to pause his report and called Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
The sounds became louder and louder each time, finally calling Emperor Chongzhen back to reality from his fugue state.
Emperor Chongzhen looked at Wen Tiren's beard and looked dissatisfied. He felt a little embarrassed, knowing that he was distracted again, so he explained to Wen Tiren: "I was thinking just now that the governor of Liaodong was seriously ill, but Master Zhong may
We have arrived in Liaodong and are about to start the Haizhou War. I don’t know how the fight will go?"
Wen Tiren knew that Emperor Chongzhen was worried about this, because this situation had happened more than once.
However, he could also understand that not to mention that Emperor Chongzhen was still young and could not hold his breath. He was worried about the gains and losses of the first battle to regain Liaodong, and he was also worried about the safety of Marquis Zhongxing. Even Wen Tiren himself would often think of this incident when he was busy.
fighting.
But he couldn't sit in the Forbidden City with Emperor Chongzhen and dream about it, because it wouldn't have any effect.
So Wen Tiren had no choice but to persuade Emperor Chongzhen: "I have said many times that Marquis Zhongxing has mastered the use of firearms troops. Jianlu was afraid when he heard about it. There should be no problem in this war. Your Majesty can rest assured and wait for the good news.
That’s it. There are still a lot of things in Ming Dynasty that need to be dealt with first!”
Emperor Chongzhen actually knew this truth, but he was really worried about it.
He sat up straight and said to Wen Tiren seriously: "Wen Qing, I understand, and I would like to ask Wen Qing to explain the situation in each place again."
Wen Tiren nodded, he was satisfied with Emperor Chongzhen's attitude. So he started explaining again.
But before Wen Tiren could say a few words, an urgent report suddenly arrived.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren became nervous, as they would not see the outcome of the war so soon.
However, when they knew that the urgent news came from Fujian, they relaxed again. At the same time, they were also a little strange, why did the urgent news come from Fujian? Japan had surrendered, so there could be no Japanese pirates?
With a trace of doubt, Emperor Chongzhen calmly opened the emergency report and began to read it.
Wen Tiren noticed that Emperor Chongzhen's expression immediately changed. This time, Wen Tiren's heart began to rise again. It was definitely not a good thing.
Sure enough, Emperor Chongzhen looked grim after reading it. While handing the urgent report to his chamberlain, he said to Wen Tiren: "Wen Qing, the Fujian Navy has almost been wiped out. The coastal defense situation along the southeast coast is very serious."
Wen Tiren understood the importance of coastal defense better than Emperor Chongzhen. When he heard this, his face immediately became heavy. He took the urgent report forwarded by the chamberlain and quickly read it.
After he finished reading, Emperor Chongzhen said again: "From what Master Zhong said, Zheng Zhilong should be a very powerful person. How could he cause the entire army to be wiped out?"
"Your Majesty, this urgent report says that pirates and Hongyi have joined forces, and the number of warships has exceeded that of the Fujian Navy. And the Hongyi warships are even more powerful. The cannons on the warships alone are ten times as many as the cannons on the warships of the Ming Navy.
Many times, there is no way to fight with it." Wen Tiren reminded Emperor Chongzhen of the reason.
Emperor Chongzhen frowned and asked Wen Tiren in confusion: "Can't we put a few more cannons on the warships of the Ming Navy?"
Wen Tiren was not very clear about this matter, but he knew that there must be a reason for not firing so many guns.
So, he suggested to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has banned the sea for many years. There may be some bottlenecks between artillery and warships, which makes it impossible to launch multiple artillery. In my opinion, it is better to recruit Zheng Zhilong
Come to the capital."
"Huh?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little confused as to why Wen Tiren suggested recruiting Zheng Zhilong to Beijing instead of arresting him.
Hearing the doubtful tone in Emperor Chongzhen's voice, Wen Tiren further explained: "Your Majesty, in the future, when the Ming vassal feudal kings move overseas, naval battles will be inevitable. Therefore, the difference between the Ming warships and the Hongyi warships should be clarified as soon as possible.
Narrowing this gap will definitely affect major things."
"This Zheng Zhilong is a big pirate. If he knew that the court wanted to accuse him, he would definitely not surrender and be captured. Therefore, I suggested that he be summoned to come and ask questions. If the defeat is due to his own incompetence, then he will not be accused.
Late."
Wen Tiren's words made Emperor Chongzhen nod his head repeatedly, but he still had questions: "Then will Zheng Zhilong be willing to come to the capital?"
Zheng Zhilong is not an idiot. Of course he knows that if he comes to the capital, he will be like fish on the knife board and can only be slaughtered by others.
Wen Tiren thought for a moment, and then continued to explain: "It can be seen from this urgent delivery that Zheng Zhilong has very few warships left. Unless he wants to give up the power and power in front of him and is willing to remain anonymous and become a rich man, otherwise he must
Relying on the imperial court, only after the Fujian Navy is rebuilt will it be able to prosper. Therefore, as long as the imperial court makes it clear why he came to the capital, I believe that such a hero will definitely give it a go."
Emperor Chongzhen nodded after hearing this and said: "Okay, then according to Wen Qing's words, the matter of this defeat will be postponed for the time being, and we will deal with it after the truth of the defeat is found out."
But after he finished speaking, he asked Wen Tiren: "Wen Qing, do you think Master Zhong will know the difference between these battleships?"
Wen Tiren thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I thought that Marquis Zhongxing might not know. Otherwise, he would have reminded me last year when he ordered the shipyards to start construction."
Emperor Chongzhen nodded slightly disappointedly. After all, Master Zhong was not omnipotent.
"Then the combined fleet of red barbarians and pirates defeated the Fujian Navy and left as if nothing happened?" Emperor Chongzhen didn't understand this, so he just
Also consulted Wen Ti Ren Dao.
This time Wen Tiren was stumped. He didn't believe that those bandits would be so magnanimous, spend so much money and effort to fight, and then leave on their own without asking for anything?
In the end, the emperor and his ministers still couldn't figure it out, so they could only do this for now.
They didn't expect that just five days later, a shocking news reached the capital. Everyone's eyes, including Emperor Chongzhen, no longer even paid attention to the Liaodong war. They were all shocked by the combined fleet of Hongyi and Pirates.