When Li Ruolian heard this, he quickly reminded Emperor Chongzhen: "The grain fields along the coast of Fujian, within the Zheng family's sphere of influence, almost all belong to the Zheng family. Those places must also be cleaned up according to the tax situation, and the Zheng family almost also
No one pays taxes!”
As soon as he heard this, Emperor Chongzhen of course thought of it. He had put some thought into this matter and asked Zheng Sen to do it.
The reason why I did this in the first place was because I was worried that Zheng Zhilong would be resentful when he found out.
This is true. If Zheng Zhilong used this as a reason to pretend to be dissatisfied with the Ming Dynasty and collude with the Japanese country, it seems to be a reasonable reason!
While he was thinking, he heard Li Ruolian continue to tell him: "The general is worried whether this Zheng Zhilong will fake it and really collude with the Japanese country!"
Once Jianlu and the Japanese collude, their strength will definitely become very strong. Once the imperial court reaches a stalemate in the war against them or there is a possibility of defeat, Zheng Zhilong may really betray the imperial court.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard his worries, he laughed and said: "No, I am sure of this!"
Because of the rectification of the place, I was worried that Zheng Zhilong would be resentful, but I was just worried that he would be resentful and would not sincerely serve the court with all his heart. As for his betrayal of the court, Emperor Chongzhen and Liu Weichao discussed it, at least Zheng Zhilong was not
It will.
If not for anything else, it was because Zheng Zhilong had no ambition to dominate the world. Otherwise, in the original history, he had a powerful navy and Emperor Longwu controlled him, and he was fully capable of competing with the Manchus.
However, Zheng Zhilong did not. Even though there were rebels everywhere fighting against the Manchus at that time, he chose to surrender to the Manchus.
In addition, Zheng Zhilong had already seen prototypes of steam paddle-wheel warships. Both Emperor Chongzhen and Liu Weichao believed that with Zheng Zhilong's many years of experience at sea, he would definitely know that the Ming Navy would definitely dominate the sea in the future.
If he dares to betray the imperial court and chooses to truly collude with the Japanese country, then the imperial court may be relatively passive at the beginning. However, the imperial court will soon be able to follow Liu Weichao's words, use the power of technology and technology to defeat the enemy.
He has the comprehensive national strength to crush him.
As Liu Weichao said, Zheng Zhilong is actually a businessman and he definitely knows how to get the most bang for his buck!
At this time, after he finished speaking confidently, he picked up a letter from the imperial table, and then said to Li Ruolian: "This is my personal letter. You can just give it to Zheng Zhilong. As for what you do in the end, I don't care.
Let’s discuss it ourselves!”
Having said this, Emperor Chongzhen paused and reminded: "However, how to do things should still be based on Zheng Zhilong's opinion, because he knows the situation of Japan best! Please show him the information and let him
Deepen your understanding of Japan. I believe you can handle things well!"
"General, I will obey your orders!" Li Ruolian heard this and quickly agreed.
Although Emperor Chongzhen said that no matter what they did, in fact, the arrangements were almost complete and a lot of conditions were created for them. He just didn't interfere in the specific details.
After listening to Emperor Chongzhen's words, he held a stack of information in his hand. Not to mention, although Li Ruolian didn't know the specific method of doing things at this time, he already had strong confidence and felt that he could complete this task.
After Emperor Chongzhen finished explaining, without further ado, Li Ruolian immediately packed up his things, selected some elite soldiers and generals, and left the capital the next day, taking a train to Dengzhou, where he prepared to go to sea to join Zheng Zhilong.
The construction of the railway has been in full swing. The railway from Beijing to Dengzhou is a relatively important railway in the future plan, so it is given priority. However, some sections of the road have not yet been repaired, and only some sections of the road have been opened for trains.
In Li Ruolian's itinerary, besides taking the train, he still has to travel quickly.
Let’s not mention the matters on his side for now. Let’s just say that after Song Yingxing received the decree, he rushed back to the capital for an audience the next day.
When Emperor Chongzhen saw him, he was not in a hurry to talk. Instead, he was concerned about the affairs at the Tianjin Shipyard and asked Song Yingxing: "Is the transformation of the steam armored warship going well?"
Song Yingxing originally thought that Emperor Chongzhen summoned him probably for this matter. Therefore, he was naturally prepared and quickly said: "Your Majesty, all types of warships have modified prototypes. What will happen next?"
Large-scale transformation is no longer a problem. What Weichen is doing now is how to transform Fengzhou according to His Majesty's requirements, and is currently experimenting."
Among the ships of the Ming Dynasty, the largest was Fengzhou.
In the sixth year of Chongzhen's reign, the imperial court wanted to enthrone the king of the Ryukyu Kingdom and built a sealing boat, which was 47 meters long, 12 meters wide, 16.5 meters deep, 4 meters deep, and 12.5 meters high. It was the largest warship in the West at the same time.
"Sea King" is comparable.
For such a large ship to be transformed into a steam-armored warship, the technical requirements are even greater, which is why Song Yingxing rushed to the Tianjin Shipyard.
In fact, the main reason why such a large seal boat was built was to show the country's prestige. The Naha Port on the Ryukyu Kingdom was unable to dock, so it needed to be towed by a small boat.
Another thing, such a big ship can easily break its sails at sea. Gu Jin
Now, in order to renovate this Fengzhou, not only to cover the whole body with iron sheets, but also to install a steam engine and a corresponding paddle wheel.
Where should the steam engine be installed on the boat? How big should the paddle wheels be? Is one pair enough? If several pairs of paddle wheels are needed, how should they be modified?
These issues cannot be discussed with just empty talk, they require experiments.
Also, heavy artillery should be installed on the sealing boat. How many guns should be installed? It will be powerful without affecting the normal navigation of the sealing boat, etc.
These questions can't be figured out just by sitting around thinking about them. They need to be experimented.
Therefore, even if Song Yingxing started to transform a small warship into a steam paddle-wheel warship and had a lot of experience in transformation, the transformation of Fengzhou was still very troublesome.
At the beginning, Song Yingxing actually did not want to modify the Fengzhou. He felt that such a huge ship was originally just to show the country's prestige and was used when the king of the vassal country was canonized. It was impossible for ordinary navy to equip it.
However, Emperor Chongzhen was determined to rebuild it, and he also told Song Yingxing that the future would be the era of giant ships and cannons, and he would rebuild ships larger than Fengzhou, not to mention Fengzhou.
It is said that in the future, the Ming Dynasty's navy will also have aircraft carriers, which are very large warships that can carry tens of thousands of people on each ship. They can go to the ocean to deal with countries on the sea, and one ship of soldiers can destroy a country.
.
If one such ship is not enough, then get two. Each giant is equipped with warships of different sizes, forming a navy of the Ming Dynasty, which can be sent to the north and south of the ocean.
At that time, when Song Yingxing heard what Emperor Chongzhen said, he was stunned: What is the emperor doing? Why spend so much money and manpower?
Emperor Chongzhen did not explain this to him.
Through Zheng Zhilong's incident, he finally realized how profitable the sea is! Just by controlling the southeastern coast, he can earn tens of millions of dollars a year! This is really simple!
For this reason alone, Emperor Chongzhen was bound to vigorously develop the navy.
Not to mention, there are so many gold and silver mines overseas waiting for him to dig. There are also these vassal kings in the country who want to be enfeoffed. Therefore, having absolute control of the navy at sea is something Emperor Chongzhen must do.
something.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen listened to Song Yingxing's words and was naturally very concerned about Fengzhou's transformation. He asked some more questions and received answers. He knew that Fengzhou's transformation could not be remembered and it would take at least a year before there would be any results.
, he stopped asking any more questions.
He just said to Song Yingxing: "The construction of the navy will be the focus of the future Ming Dynasty. And this warship is the top priority. Don't be afraid of spending money. Just tell me in advance how much you want!"
Although the Tianjin Shipyard is currently only renovating the original warships, it is still spending money like water. Fortunately, he now has the confidence, otherwise, he really would not be able to do this!
"Wei Chen accepts the order!" Song Yingxing was naturally not polite. For him, the more funding for scientific research, the better!
After talking about this matter, Emperor Chongzhen finally mentioned the signal tower to Song Yingxing. He also gave Song Yingxing information on the spot and asked him to see what the signal tower looked like and what combination represented the numbers from zero to nine.
Song Yingxing watched and listened. After he understood everything, he couldn't help but said happily: "Your Majesty, this is a good idea. With the help of a telescope, as long as the signal tower is built high, it can be seen from a long distance. If the weather is good,
Maybe the summons from Dengzhou to Dongjiang Town will suddenly be shortened!"
There is no obstruction at sea, and if the islands are dense enough, you can see further than on land.
As for signal towers, as long as they can be seen, they can transmit information.
At this time, Song Yingxing and Emperor Chongzhen discussed for a while, and they were both very happy. They felt that although this method of communication had various disadvantages, it was still necessary.
But at the end, Song Xiance showed a troubled look and said: "Your Majesty, Wei Chen is busy with the renovation of the boat, and the signal tower needs to be inspected on the spot in person. I am afraid Wei Chen cannot do without it!
"
Emperor Chongzhen naturally knew this. When he thought about this before, he lamented that there were too few talents in the field of study, and he hoped that there would be unexpected surprises in this special scientific examination of study.
With this in mind, he said to Song Yingxing: "Of course I know. You don't need to do this yourself. You will assign the matter to whoever you think is more reliable. From the capital to Dengzhou, from the capital to Shanhaiguan, and from the capital to Nanjing."