Zheng Zhilong was shocked when he heard this. Based on what he heard, he guessed where North America was and where the feudal king would go in the future. This news was really shocking.
But no one in the Wenhua Hall was surprised at all. It was obvious that these people had known about this for a long time.
Emperor Chongzhen did not let Zheng Zhilong leave. He just listened silently to the biggest secret in history.
"Your Majesty, since the Spaniards also take this route, it is obvious that the feudal kings' feudal rule in North America will not be hidden from the Westerners." Zhong Jinwei first expressed his opinion to Emperor Chongzhen.
Previously, Dongchang's agents were specially sent to keep an eye on various vassal kings, just because they didn't want the news to leak out. They didn't realize that this was actually just a cover-up.
Yang He, the Minister of War, followed Zhong Jinwei closely. As soon as he finished speaking, he said: "The warships of the Western Yi are so much more powerful than the Ming Dynasty. Once they covet the fleet of the Ming Dynasty, what should they do?"
Zhong Jinwei felt a little uncomfortable. He thought for a moment and then reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I suggest that we call Westerners separately in the future, which will help us treat them differently. For example, this time the Hongyi people are actually called Holland and Buddha.
Langji people are actually divided into Portuguese and Spanish..."
He gave many different names and finally said: "The West, that is, Europe, is equivalent to China's Warring States Period. It was divided into many countries and they were fighting against each other. Now they are carving up the world and there are conflicts between them.
Therefore, if we can distinguish who is who, it will help the Ming Dynasty to use different countermeasures against different Westerners."
Emperor Chongzhen nodded repeatedly after hearing what Zhong Jinwei said. After Zhong Jinwei finished speaking, he agreed: "Master Zhong is right. In the past, I didn't know much about Ming Dynasty and couldn't distinguish between them. Now that I know it, I will do what Master Zhong said."
"
After the Dutch Rebellion in the south of the Yangtze River, these ministers no longer looked down upon Westerners. Therefore, no one denied the suggestion put forward by Marquis Zhongxing.
When Zhong Jinwei saw that his proposal was approved, he was very happy. He planned to let "Ming Pao" publish more reports about Westerners to popularize the world situation among the people of Ming Dynasty.
After Zhong Jinwei thought of this, he turned to Yang He and said to him: "Master Yang's concerns do need to be considered, but in this battle in the south of the Yangtze River, many Dutch warships have been captured. As long as our Ming Dynasty carries out large-scale imitation, in terms of warships
Then we won’t be too far behind Westerners.”
The chief minister of the cabinet, Wen Tiren, nodded. He agreed with Zhong Jinwei's words and said: "What Zhongxing Hou said is reasonable. Now that the major shipyards have undergone early recovery, the shipwrights, carpenters, and blacksmiths are almost full. It's just that the wood needed for shipbuilding may not be enough."
We can’t provide a lot at once, but we will definitely be able to provide them within the next two years.”
At this point, he turned to Emperor Chongzhen and said: "I suggest that we first concentrate our financial, manpower and material resources to build a batch of imitated warships. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty will have no deterrent power on the sea."
Before Emperor Chongzhen could nod, Xu Guangqi, Minister of Industry, spoke: "Warships are easy to build, but where do the water camps to operate Western warships come from?"
As soon as he said this, he aroused the approval of the officials in the palace. The operation of Western warships, combat, etc., were all new things.
Zhong Jinwei's eyes lit up when he saw Zheng Zhilong standing in a corner of the palace, and he immediately suggested to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty will need a large number of sailors. And to train a large number of sailors, the best way is to establish corresponding schools and train them systematically.
Sailors. In this way, sailors can be continuously produced for use by the Ming Navy."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he thought this was a good method, but there seemed to be no precedent in this regard.
Therefore, he said to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Zhong, this has never happened in the past dynasties. There is no regulation on how to operate this matter. I'm afraid it won't be easy to do it?"
When the officials in the Wenhua Palace heard Emperor Chongzhen's words, "This has never happened before in all dynasties," they couldn't help but look at Zhong Jinwei.
They were thinking in their hearts, among the things that Marquis Zhongxing did, were there few that had never happened before in all dynasties?
But it seems that the results of those things have been very good. For example, the state-owned enterprises, road yamen, various research institutes, etc., all of which have brought countless benefits to them and the people of the Ming Dynasty.
Just listen to Zhong Jinwei's answer to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I have an idea. You can first build a school to try, with Yan Yingyuan as the chief and Zheng Zhilong as the deputy, and then hire Westerners as instructors, and use the elite naval forces from various places as students.
Teaching. There are at least three benefits to doing this.”
If other schools were to be established, it would be impossible for people like Yan Yingyuan and Zheng Zhilong to serve as the principal and deputy principals. But now in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty's monarchs and ministers, the Navy only played a supporting role and only trained sailors.
They are far from realizing that the navy is a military unit that is as important as the army.
"Master Zhong, what are the three benefits?" Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhong Jinwei with a hint of curiosity and asked.
Zhong Jinwei immediately replied: "First, the students are drawn from the elite of the original navy and have the foundation of naval warfare. They only need to be familiar with the unique operations of Western warships, which can save a lot of time."
"Second, if Westerners teach, their professionalism is beyond doubt and they can teach students how to use Western warships as quickly as possible."
"Third, having Yan Yingyuan and Zheng Zhilong who are familiar with maritime affairs supervise the Western instructors can prevent them from fooling the Ming Dynasty and teach them conscientiously."
After Zhong Jinwei finished speaking, he looked at Emperor Chongzhen and waited for him to make a decision.
In fact, there is another advantage that has not been mentioned, which is that with Yan Yingyuan overpowering Zheng Zhilong, there is no need to worry about loyalty issues.
Wen Tiren was most worried about the Spaniards sharing the route to North America, and worried about the impact on the lord's feudal North America. At this time, following Zhong Jinwei's suggestion, he should be able to form a powerful Ming navy as quickly as possible to escort the lord's feudal North America.
, stood up and echoed: "Your Majesty, this method of Marquis Zhongxing can build our Ming Dynasty's navy as soon as possible, which is enough to compete with the Westerners."
The proposal of Marquis Zhongxing and the endorsement of the chief minister of the cabinet already carry considerable weight. If it were not a serious conflict of interest, no one would object.
Seeing that all the ministers agreed, Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said: "Okay, let's follow what Master Zhong said and establish the naval academy as soon as possible."
Zheng Zhilong was overjoyed when he heard this. Originally, he had been a little worried that the court would settle his account afterwards.
After all, the Fujian Navy was almost completely wiped out in name, and the crime was still very serious. Although in fact, most of the navy was actually his own men.
With the imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen, his future path has been determined, and he will at least be the second in command of the Ming Dynasty Naval Academy.
Others may not know it clearly, but as a pirate, Zheng Zhilong understood the importance of the Ming Dynasty Naval Academy.
When he was overjoyed, he immediately knelt down to thank him and said something to Emperor Chongzhen, which made everyone in the Wenhua Palace, including Zhong Jinwei, both surprised and happy.