The coordination meeting of liaison officers from all parties in the capital was held in Jimingguan. Because the matter was of great importance and Zhao Ran personally sent out the invitation letter, the top leaders of each family came in person. Wei Chaozong of Lingji Palace, Tang Yaozu of Xianling Palace, Chao
Lu Xixing from Tiangong, Li Dayin from Yuanfu Palace, Zhao Zhixing from Daolu Department, and even Lu Yuanyuan from Lecture Hall were invited to participate.
The coordination meeting was very successful. Everyone was extremely indignant at Ling'ao Island for daring to provoke Daomen ships and privately blockade the sea route, especially selling traffic flags at sea, which directly challenged Daomen's bottom line. Therefore, the meeting was quickly reached
unanimously and decided to take the following measures immediately:
First, an official document was issued to Shandong, South Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi to strictly investigate smuggling ships on Ling'ao Island, requiring officials and citizens in the above-mentioned coastal areas not to have private dealings with Ling'ao Island ships. Once discovered,
Punished for smuggling.
Second, announce bounties to the above-mentioned provinces, and offer heavy rewards to the leader of Ling'ao Island, Taoist Wutong, his four generals, and leaders at all levels. Those who arrest people or provide important clues will be rewarded with up to five thousand taels of silver.
This reward will be announced to overseas monks at the same time.
Third, write a document to the Ministry of War, recommending that the Denglai, Songjiang, and Dinghai naval divisions be reorganized and the port defense be strengthened.
Fourth, set up a maritime inspection fleet led by Jimingguan to crack down on the Lingao Island smuggling group.
In the coordination meeting, the only point of disagreement was how to characterize Ling'ao Island. According to the suggestions of Lu Xixing and Tang Yaozu, Ling'ao Island should be designated as a national traitor, which also represents the views of Leixiao Pavilion and Sanqing Pavilion.
But Zhao Ran and Wei Chaozong do not want to make the matter a big deal, especially Zhao Ran believes that once it is determined to be a national traitor and rebellion, the nature is different. When attacking the forces on Ling'ao Island, it is an act of war and requires the leadership of the Zhenshi Hall.
, the impact is too great, and things are more troublesome.
Zhao Ran's suggestion is that this is a joint anti-smuggling operation and it is a case handling. In this way, the leading power lies in the hands of various agencies in the capital. It does not even need to be reported to the Zhenshi Hall, so it can be handled efficiently and quickly.
He emphasized that the Ling'ao Island forces are very good at naval warfare. Don't think that the Ming Dynasty Navy will be foolproof after it is dispatched. The Navy has not fought for many years, and no one knows its combat power or the condition of its ships. If something goes wrong, it belongs to
Compared with military failures and case-handling mistakes, the time of accountability is very different.
After this analysis, Lu Xixing and Tang Yaozu were speechless and agreed to characterize it as a joint anti-smuggling operation.
After the coordination meeting, all parties began to work at full strength. "Junshan Notes" and "Inside and Outside the Imperial City" took the lead in detailing the harm caused by maritime smuggling to the Ming Dynasty, using various detailed examples and figures to illustrate its harmful effects.
It can be summarized in three points: it is the chief culprit who plunders the wealth of Taoists and the imperial court for private enjoyment; it is the source of evil that causes the separation of wives and children and even the destruction of families; and it is a place where the murderers of various robbery and murder cases go free.
At the same time, Jimingguan began to prepare for the establishment of a maritime inspection fleet.
When planning to build a maritime inspection fleet, Zhao Ran's first idea was to examine the current navy's tactics and ship types, and use this as a template to build a fleet.
The first navy barracks selected was the nearest Songjiang Town. This inspection was led by Lu Xixing, who was from Leixiao Pavilion. It was natural to inspect the barracks. Zhao Ran accompanied Lu Xixing to inspect the barracks.
The inspection process made both Lu Xixing and Zhao Ran very disappointed. The entire Songjiang Guards Navy was rated at more than 5,000 people, and the actual number was more than 4,000. This ratio of empty pay is still within the acceptable range, but with
From the perspective of the accompanying commander of Longtan Guard Niu, 800 to 1,000 of them did not look like sergeants.
If what Commander Niu said is true, the actual strength of Songjiang Town is only 60%. Well, as a navy that has nothing to do in the rear all year round, 60% is understandable.
What makes Zhao Ran most dissatisfied is that the navy only has three sea-going ships with a cost of 500 yuan, and the remaining 38 ships with a price of less than 200 yuan, nearly 70% of which are less than 100 yuan.
The commander of the guard cried and complained that Songjiang Guard had not added a new ship in twenty years, and it was not easy to maintain the current scale.
Next came the navy drill. The commander set up a long snake formation, and then... there was no more, the exercise ended successfully! To be able to put up such a formation, this is the best that Songjiang Wei can do.
Zhao Ran had a lot of chats with the commander, who told him that there had been no water battles for hundreds of years, and the navy had always been like this. The so-called warships were used more for fishing than for drills - drills were of no use at all.
Just to show their presence. Their furthest patrol distance is twenty-four miles from the coast.
At this point, Lu Xixing and Zhao Ran finished their inspection of Songjiang Guard, and also decided not to go to Denglai Guard and Dinghai Guard. The sea has been peaceful for hundreds of years, and the navy has little use. The conditions of Denglai Guard and Dinghai Guard must be very poor.
Same thing.
Lu Xixing said: "Fortunately, we didn't plan to use the navy before, otherwise we would be making a fool of ourselves."
Zhao Ran said: "From another perspective, it might not be a bad thing. If not, who would have thought that our Ming Dynasty would be defenseless? It would be better to have it revealed in front of us in advance than to find out when there is a real war in the future."
Lu Xixing said: "Where can there be a war? For thousands of years, I have never heard of any war on the sea."
Zhao Ran said: "Maybe in a few decades or hundreds of years, hey, I'll scare you!"
The inspection of Songjiang Wei gave Zhao Ran some preliminary ideas about what type of ship to buy. In mid-July, Zhao Ran came to Longjiang Shipyard to inspect the development and production status of the ship type.
Longjiang Shipyard is the largest shipyard in the Ming Dynasty. It was founded during the Taizu period. It has jurisdiction over the civilian shipyard and Xinjiangkou Shipyard. Among them, the civilian shipyard includes Ma Shipyard, Ping Shipyard, Huang Shipyard, etc., while Xinjiangkou Shipyard specializes in building sea-going ships.
and warships.
What Zhao Ran inspected this time was the Xinjiangkou Shipyard. The new ship designed by Hubo Taoist and the others two months ago was built here. Now, a keel has just been erected on the slipway, and the surrounding wood is piled up like a hill. The boatmen came
Coming and going, very busy.
Because this ship is a "Taoist" ship, Taoist Amber, as a monk, naturally became the main designer of this project - other craftsmen do not understand Taoism and can only rely on his opinions.
Taoist Hubo introduced to Zhao Ran: "A total of 460 pieces of wood were used. According to the abbot's classification, it belongs to 056. The compartment layer is used underwater, absorbing the practice of flat boats, and canceling the building on the deck. The deck is flat.
, each row can hold four large wooden cabinets weighing ten stones. There are twelve rows of storage slots, which can be stacked on two levels, and six large wooden cabinets can be placed in the middle. If rice is loaded, it can be carried according to the two-layer regulation. If it is larger,
For heavy ores, only one layer or one and a half layers can be stacked."