In the following months, Zhang Yanling concentrated on her work and no longer dwelled on this matter.
Although Empress Dowager Zhang had never met Zhang Yanling, and Zhang Yanling's requests for an audience were always rejected, she did not refuse when Zhang Heling, Duke of Shouning, and Xu Wanyi and others came to the palace to ask for an audience.
Zhang Yanling also learned that Yang Tinghe and the Queen Mother had no contact with each other anymore, and they stopped for a long time. Of course, Yang Tinghe knew that the matter had been exposed, and he did not dare to cause trouble in the court, and basically walked around when he saw Zhang Yanling.
However, Jiang Bin has been going smoothly recently and is quite favored by the emperor. Jinyiwei solved a major case in July. The case of Huang Yu, the deputy general of Yansui Town, reselling military supplies, involving as much as 300,000 taels of silver. This matter was
The Jinyiwei Yamen uncovered the case and implicated dozens of generals and officials in Yansui Town, shocking both the government and the public.
With this achievement, Jiang Bin was even more proud of himself. Zhu Houzhao also praised Jiang Bin for his shrewdness and ability in front of Zhang Yanling. He said that it was a wise move to hand over the Jinyiwei Yamen to him.
Zhang Yanling had no intention of caring about these matters. His mind was focused on the upcoming opening of the channel.
The ironclads and supply ships of Nanjing Longjiang Bao Shipyard were launched one after another. Basically, the construction period of one pond is two months. In two months, the speed of launching an ironclad ship on the 1st, 23rd and 3rd ponds at the same time is quite amazing.
At the end of July, six armored treasure ships and three supply ships were launched. Together with the previously built Star, all ten large ships have been launched.
Outfitting operations also take time, but what restricts outfitting is not lack of manpower or lack of motivation, but the construction and transportation of the Tiger Roar cannon and the bow cannon on the ship.
Zhang Yanling pushed everyone in the Yegouling Cannon Casting Workshop almost to the limit. The craftsmen worked day and night with sweat in the summer. In order to catch up with the progress achieved by Zhang Yanling, they worked hard.
Zhao Laoji mobilized manpower from the blacksmith workshop to help. The focus of the entire arsenal was on the casting of cannons. No one complained about being tired, except for the fact that the salary had been greatly increased, and the Duke often came to express his condolences.
, everyone also understands that Mr. Hou wants to do something big and there can be no delay.
Zhang Yanling actually didn't want to be in such a hurry. In fact, it wasn't a big problem to go to sea one day earlier and go to sea one day later. But in mid-July, news came from Guangzhou that the Folangji people had sailed a fleet from Champa to raid the settlement at night.
Mendao, and robbed all the hundreds of soldiers and civilian prisoners of the Franco Kingdom captured in the castle on the island.
Not only that, they massacred on the island, killing hundreds of people who immigrated to the island after the maritime ban was lifted. They also kidnapped the women who settled on the island again. After that, they also showed off their power all over Guangzhou Bay.
Looking for fishing boats to kill, more than a dozen fishing boats were sunk, causing dozens of fishermen casualties.
If Wang Hong had not deployed a fort at Humen before, and the defenders bombarded the Fo Langji men when they tried to enter the Pearl River Estuary, and they did not dare to enter the Pearl River Estuary, it is estimated that these Fo Lang Ji men would have sent their ships to the Pearl River.
On the pier, the city of Guangzhou was bombarded.
When such news came, Zhang Yanling was very angry. Wang Hong also cursed after hearing the news.
The Fo Langji fleet in Champa is part of the Fo Langji Eastern Fleet. They suffered losses in the battle on Tuen Mun Island and refused to rest. This time they actually dared to go deep into the coast for a sneak attack.
It is said that their ships were cruising off the coast of Guangzhou, and when they found a Ming Dynasty fishing boat, they opened fire and sank it. Now people all over the coast of Guangdong are panicked. Some people even began to complain that when the Marquis of Jianchang came to Guangdong to seize the island, he offended the Folangji people.
, which led to revenge.
The Folangji people even sent people ashore to deliver letters to local officials, asking them to report to the court and ask the court to apologize, cede offshore islands, and open up franchised trade rights. Otherwise, they would harass and bombard the Ming Dynasty every day. In the future, the Folangji fleet will
They also have to drive to the Yangtze River and enter the interior to cause nuisance and so on.
Naturally, there were voices of dissatisfaction in the court. Some people complained that Zhang Yanling had caused trouble. They said that the country of Folangji used to be at peace with the Ming Dynasty, but now it had an enemy.
Of course, such words were immediately stopped by Zhang Yanling. In the court, Zhang Yanling mercilessly scolded the person who said such words as a weakling. He was bullied to the point of being bullied and still wanted to be safe.
With the majesty of the Protector, he started to get angry, and naturally no one dared to speak anymore. But this kind of suppression is not the solution to the problem. Only by driving away the Francois and defeating them can these people truly be shut down.
Mouth.
Wang Hong was anxious to sail the Xingchen to Guangdong to fight the Folangji people. But Zhang Yanling stopped him. It was not that he was worried that the Star was not their opponent, but that it was only a small number of ships belonging to the Folangji Eastern Fleet.
That's it. If you want to destroy them, then destroy them completely. There is no point in injuring or maiming them. Instead, it will reveal your intention to build an armored warship and go to sea.
This is highly confidential. When the fleet goes to sea, there must be a battle with the Folangji people. But now the enemy is in the open, and we are in the dark. The Folangji people have no idea that the Ming Dynasty now has iron-clad warships. Once this information is known to them, they will definitely
Will make preparations.
Therefore, once you take action, you cannot allow them to escape or give them a chance to pass on the news. To completely sink them, you need to completely crush them with strength. A Star cannot prevent the other party from escaping.
Under such circumstances, the most important thing is to seize the time to build the gun outfit and prepare for going to sea. It is also the only correct way to ultimately solve the problem.
In addition to the preparations for the ships and firearms, a carefully selected 5,000 navy troops have also been formed. They are equipped with 2,000 war horses, 500 blunderbuss, 1,000 steel crossbows, and fine iron knives.
All soldiers must pass several tests, including equestrian skills, water skills, resistance to wind and waves, basic combat, and excellent combat skills and physical fitness.
These are the equipment that Zhang Yanling personally presided over the assessment and selected. In terms of equipment and combat effectiveness, these five thousand navy troops are definitely the top of the Ming Dynasty. All the equipment on them is the best.
This was of course expensive. In fact, the money in Zhang Yanling's pocket was spent like water in the past few months. Building ships and cannons, equipping soldiers, and purchasing various supplies were all huge sums of money.
If Liu Jin hadn't contributed a huge sum of money before his death, all of this would have been impossible. Speaking of which, this can be regarded as the greatest contribution Liu Jin made to the Ming Dynasty in his life.
Of course, the orders from Longjiang Bao Shipyard are like snowflakes. The order for sea-going ships has been scheduled for two years. The deposit paid in advance is as high as 300,000 taels. This also relieves some urgent needs.
Even so, the more than one million taels of silver Zhang Yanling originally had on hand was still close to being exhausted.
This is simply unimaginable to ordinary people. Even people around Zhang Yanling, including Xu Guangzuo and other distinguished nobles, feel that this matter is getting bigger and bigger. Zhang Yanling spent so much money, and according to him, he borrowed money to do so.
, now we are heavily in debt. Can it be said that the capital will really be repaid in the future? If a huge sum of millions of dollars is invested, it will be in vain in the future. What should we do?
Where does Zhang Yanling take care of these things? Intense preparations continue.
I also started to prepare some necessary things for going to sea.
Navigation equipment such as compasses and compasses did not cost much money. Zhang Yanling was able to copy the charts of the voyages based on his memory and the sea route maps drawn by Zheng He during his voyages to the West.
Naturally, this matter required Xu Wanyi to help with the drawing. This time, it needed to be waterproof and fireproof, so special pigments were needed. It took Xu Wanyi a lot of energy.
Needless to say, food and water are all things that are always on hand and can be purchased in large quantities. But
It is necessary to prepare some special things for sea voyages. For example, some commonly used medicines. First-aid wind oil essence is available at home, and some commonly used medicines for preventing colds and colds need to be purchased in large quantities. Several medical clinics in the capital have directly bought out the goods.
In addition, another essential item for a long voyage is to prevent septicemia caused by lack of fresh vegetables. It is said that the solution for Zheng He's fleet was to send mung bean sprouts on board. Zhang Yanling had other ideas.
In August, before the tangerines were about to fully mature, Zhang Yanling ordered tens of thousands of kilograms of green tangerines to be shipped to the Nanjing Shipyard. These green tangerines will effectively solve this problem. Eating one per person per day will ensure that septicemia will not occur.
.Although unripe green tangerines are extremely sour, this is the most effective method.
Time flies by and it’s already mid-August.
As all preparations are nearly completed, the day for Zhang Yanling to leave for sea is approaching.
Everyone understands this. Therefore, in addition to sweetness, the smiles of the wives and concubines of the Zhang family are also mixed with a touch of separation sadness.
On August 15th, Zhang Yanling decided to have the last day of reunion before leaving. The Zhang family held a banquet in the back garden and had a good reunion.
At the banquet, Zhang Yanling announced that he would leave for Nanjing in the near future and board a ship at Jiangpu Pier to go to sea.