() Yuezhou had gone through wars, with more than half of the population forced to serve as soldiers by Zhang Xianzhong. Nearly two-thirds of the houses in the city were burned down, and there was no government office left. The entire Yuezhou city was in a state of chaos.
Qin Mu sent people to inquire about Yun Qiaoer's mother many times but found nothing. In desperation, he had to post a reward notice, hoping to find someone who knew the truth.
Yun Qiao'er seemed like a different person these days. She no longer cried or made a fuss, but her constant silence made Qin Mu and Yang Zhi even more worried.
Yang Zhi was in charge of comforting the little girl. As soon as Qin Mu arrived in Yuezhou, he was busy with naval training and warship construction. In his previous life, he studied at the Army Academy. To be honest, he was not good at naval warfare, especially since the performance and weaponry of ships in this era were different, so he was even more confused.
After Ma Yongzhen arrived in Yuezhou, he was busy fighting with Jin Shenghuan. The training of the navy was currently in the charge of a commander named Di Zhongxing. Qin Mu went to see him and was very disappointed.
Di Zhongxing's training of sailors seemed to be quite standard, but the thousands of sailors used for training were all simple civilian ships, most of which were small sampans that could only carry two or three people. The tactics they trained were mainly boarding battles, and their weapons included some muskets, rockets, kerosene and the like.
Qin Mu looked at this with deep worry. Relying on such a small sampan and such ancient tactics, they couldn't even defend the Yangtze River, let alone dominate the ocean.
Unfortunately, the Huguang area lacked craftsmen who knew how to build warships. Although Liu Boquan had recruited a lot of craftsmen, the largest ship they had ever built was only a hundred tons, and it was a merchant ship. The people who were sent to the coastal areas to recruit shipbuilding craftsmen had not returned yet, which made Qin Mu feel powerless.
Yan Gaofei had been asked several times by Qin Mu whether the people sent to Macau had returned or not.
As early as Huichang, Qin Mu had sent people to Macau, hoping to obtain some more advanced weapons technology from the Portuguese, as well as to introduce some talents. However, when the sixth Governor of Macau at that time, Shi Luobao, heard that he was just a small county magistrate, he simply disdained to pay attention to him, and the people he sent returned empty-handed.
After Huguang was slightly stabilized, Qin Mu sent people to Macau again. Calculating the distance, they should have returned almost immediately, but there was no news so far. This made Qin Mu very unhappy. Macau, sooner or later I will make Portugal a miserable mess.
As for shipbuilding, Qin Mu had no choice but to wait for the people he sent out to bring back craftsmen who could build warships.
When it comes to naval training, Qin Mu didn't have any good ideas for the time being. After all, there were no corresponding weapons and equipment. Even if a cannon was built, these small sampans could not withstand the recoil of the cannon, so they could only rely on fighting with string.
Therefore, apart from training sailors in boat maneuvering, water sports, and boarding combat skills, it is difficult to carry out other training.
But this was not a solution, so Qin Mu ordered the establishment of a Gun and Artillery Department in Changsha, which was separated from the previously established Armament Bureau and specialized in the research and development of firearms. The original craftsmen from Huichang were also transferred here. The first task assigned to the Gun and Artillery Department was to improve the mines and mass-produce them as soon as possible.
As early as the Jiajing period, the Ming Dynasty had sea mines, which were originally called "underwater mines". This is a kind of anchor mine that is manually controlled and mechanically triggered. It uses a wooden box as the mine shell, putty to seal the seams, and black powder is placed inside. Its triggering device uses a long rope without a knot, and is detonated by a person pulling the fire. Three iron anchors are hung under the wooden box with ropes to control the depth of the mine body in the water.
Later, a floating mine called "Underwater Dragon King Cannon" was invented, which used burning incense as a time fuse and no longer required manual control. In the 27th year of the Wanli reign, a man named Wang Minghe invented the "Underwater Thunder" with a rope as a touch line, which was later improved to a touch line floating mine, which is considered the world's earliest triggered floating mine.
But these types of mines have one thing in common: laying mines is rather troublesome. Qin Mu asked the craftsmen of the Gunnery Department to find ways to improve it and reduce the difficulty of laying mines as much as possible. Only in this way could a large number of mines be laid to block the waterway.
If it really doesn't work, we can lay mines to block the waterway and then fight for our lives on land.
Moreover, Qin Mu felt as if he had fallen into a misunderstanding.
Most of the Manchu Tartars were landlubbers, and it was not their navy that enabled them to sweep across China.
As for myself, the time is too short and the foundation is too weak. I want to rely on the navy to stop the enemy north of the Yangtze River. This idea lacks enterprising spirit and is unrealistic.
In this case, why am I still so obsessed with the construction of the navy? A strong navy is definitely necessary, but it is not the most urgent thing at the moment. After defeating the Qing Dynasty, it will not be too late to consider competing for hegemony over the ocean.
The most important thing at the moment is to protect the Chinese land from completely falling under the iron hoof of the Qing Dynasty. To defeat the Qing Dynasty, the navy is definitely not the decisive branch of the army.
After thinking this through, Qin Mu felt as if everything had suddenly become clear.
Of course, Di Zhongxing still needs to train the navy as well as possible, because it is better to have it than not. In some special cases, the navy can still play a decisive role in the battle, such as the Battle of Chibi commanded by Zhou Yu and the Battle of Caishifan commanded by Yu Yunwen. But these two wars have their own special features, and there is not much value in reference, let alone the possibility of replication.
Qin Mu, who had let go of his ambitions, made a series of adjustments to the army and formulated a more complete training plan. He ordered generals such as Ma Yongzhen and Ning Yuan to intensify the training of the army. At the same time, he once again selected 300 people and trained them personally, just like the training camp in Huichang, so as to further strengthen his control over the army in the future.
In the busyness, several days passed without him noticing. At dusk that day, Qin Mu had just finished teaching a theory class to the newly established training camp and returned to his station in the south of the city. Yan Gaofei hurried in and reported: "Sir, we just received news from Shaanxi that Li Zicheng sent Yuan Zongdi to lead 40,000 troops from the right camp to urgently return to Xiangyang."
"Oh, do you know where Yuan Zongdi is now?"
"Your Excellency, it is difficult to determine Yuan Zongdi's exact location at the moment. Although our bachelor family has infiltrated Shaanxi, the information transmission network is not yet complete. Even if we get intelligence from many places, it will be difficult to quickly transmit it back. Please forgive me, Your Excellency."
Qin Mu smiled faintly and said, "Where is Zuo Liangyu? Did Zuo Liangyu get the news?"
“That’s hard to say.”
"Well, let's do Zuo Liangyu a favor this time. Send someone to inform Zuo Liangyu, just in case Yuan Zongde arrives in Xiangyang and Zuo Liangyu knows nothing about it. Let Zuo Liangyu prepare well and have a big fight with Yuan Zongde, so that this drama will be interesting."
"Yes, I will tell Zuo Liangyu right away."
After Yan Gaofei left, Qin Mu looked even more relieved. With Yuan Zongde's arrival, at least he didn't have to worry about Zuo Liangyu's counterattack against Wuchang and Jingzhou before the two sides decided the winner.
Jinling.
The Wanyuanhao Trading Silver Shop near Wende Bridge had its signboard hung very high, which was very eye-catching. Whether it was called a silver shop or a bank, its most important business was actually the exchange of silver and money.
Due to the large number of private coins, the weight of copper coins varies, the quality varies, and the exchange rates between the coins, private coins, and silver vary greatly. There are huge profits hidden in the exchange of silver and money. Especially in the Jiangnan area, where people's livelihood is relatively affluent and commerce is developed, the silver and money exchange industry is also the most developed area.
Wanyuanhao Tongshang Silver Shop was the largest money house in Nanjing. At this moment, in a side hall in the backyard of the money house, the owners of other money houses in Nanjing were sitting. They all looked indifferent and seldom talked, as if they were waiting for something.
Now, a Huitong Bank suddenly appeared in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Nanchang and other places. It does not charge deposit fees, and it also provides interest for regular deposits. It also conducts cross-regional exchange business. In addition, with the support of Han Zanzhou and many powerful people in Nanjing, the development speed is extremely alarming, and it is constantly swallowing up the living space of the original money houses.
Huitong Bank is financially strong, and backed by powerful people, so it is impossible for the people present to shake Huitong Bank on their own. The cruel reality forces these former competitors to unite and jointly deal with the pressure from Huitong Bank.
With Han Zanzhou's support, it is difficult to suppress Huitong Bank through other means. The only feasible way now is for everyone to unite and destroy the reputation of Huitong Bank.
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