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Calant, who survived the artillery fire, never thought that he would be defeated so badly. In his opinion, no matter how bad the defeat was, more than half of the warships would be able to escape from the battlefield.
He never expected that he would be defeated by a group of "angels". When he saw the wings flying in the sky, for a moment, he really felt like he saw an angel.
Maybe the same is true for others, otherwise they wouldn't have been wiped out.
After all, a hang glider cannot make a dive at a very large angle. When bombing an enemy ship, it actually has to fly almost level with a slight dive.
In this situation, if you get too close to the enemy ship, you may easily be shot and killed by the enemy on the ship.
Unfortunately, the enemy was so shocked that no one dared to raise their guns to shoot the "angel", so they were defeated and their entire army was wiped out.
The small ships of Sulu, Bonni and Zheng that were fleeing from the battlefield were caught by Di Zhongxing and Zheng Sihai who came from the south. Only one in ten of them managed to escape.
This massive naval battle between the East and the West is destined to go down in history.
Although it was not the first naval battle between the East and the West, it was a war that rewrote the pattern of maritime hegemony in Southeast Asia, and it can even be said to be a war that rewrote the human warfare model.
When the news of the great victory reached Nanjing, the whole city was in an uproar. People exaggerated the story of this miraculous war based on hearsay. On the streets, in restaurants and teahouses, people were telling each other and discussing it endlessly.
Qin Mu in the palace of the Qin Dynasty could not help but breathe a sigh of relief when he received the victory report. Compared with the Tusi rebellion in Guangxi, the invasion of Norbu and Qitate in the south of the desert, the invasion of Batur in Hexi, and even the invasion of Gushri Khan in Lanzhou, what Qin Mu was most worried about these days was whether the navy could win.
The southeast coast is the essence of the Qin Dynasty, and maritime trade has become one of the main sources of wealth for the Qin Dynasty. What's more, the navy is not like the army, where you can just recruit some young and strong people to go to the battlefield.
It takes time to rebuild the ships and it also takes time to retrain the navy. So the victory or defeat of the navy this time is what worries Qin Mu the most.
Just imagine, once the navy is defeated, the gates of the southeastern coast of Qin will be wide open, and for a long time, the enemy will be able to come and go as they please, as if they were in an empty land.
It was precisely because of this concern that Qin Mu did not immediately join the army in person, but instead let Su Jin and his men lead the troops first.
On the day when the good news came, Qin Mu specially convened a noon court session.
In the court, the ministers congratulated in unison, their voices shaking the sky.
Qin Mu issued an edict in court to commend the navy.
Di Zhongxing was ordered to return to the court, and Gu Rong was ordered to rest in Quanzhou nearby. He treated the wounded and repaired the warships. Zheng Sihai was ordered to return to Luzon, and then a sea-going fleet was formed with the captured Spanish warships as the main body. Jin Hairufeng was appointed as the admiral of the sea-going fleet, and the expedition was to the Dutch headquarters in the Far East - Batavia City.
Furthermore, the three fleets of the East, South, and North suffered heavy casualties in terms of personnel and warships. Taking advantage of the great victory, Qin Mu ordered the recruitment of another 10,000 naval soldiers to make up for the losses of the navy.
In addition, he placed orders for five treasure ships and twenty clippers with major shipyards. Of course, these were not enough. All the large warships of the Qin army combined were not as many as Zheng He's fleet at the time.
However, this is the amount of money that the national treasury can allocate to the navy this year. Five treasure ships and twenty clipper ships will cost nearly 200,000 dragon coins, or about 170,000 taels of silver.
If the navy wants more warships, it can get the money itself. The more money it gets, the more money it will allocate to the navy.
If you bring back a mountain of gold, you can have a hundred treasure ships.
In addition, Qin Mu once again announced that he would tour Xijing that day and ordered the cabinet grand secretaries Sima An, Li Yuan, and the left vice minister of the Ministry of War Gu Jun'en to accompany him.
Crown Prince Qin Ye was left in Beijing to govern the country, and Minister of Personnel Yang Tinglin and Minister of Revenue Liu Boquan were given the title of Grand Secretaries of the Dongge, and together with Cabinet Grand Secretary Lu Zhenfei, they assisted the crown prince in governing the country.
Liu Meng, the commander-in-chief of the central army, Li Chen, the Marquis of Yongjia, and Qin Liangyu were appointed to lead the garrison troops in the capital to guard the city of Nanjing inside and outside.
After arranging all this, after the court meeting, Qin Mu summoned Yan Gaofei, the deputy commander of Ye Bu Shou, and He Ningzong, the chief assistant, to the Jianjia Palace, dismissed their attendants, and gave them detailed instructions.
After Yan Gaofei and He Ningzong left, the eunuch outside the palace shouted, "The Queen has arrived!"
Qin Mu quickly stood up and went out of the hall to greet him.
Yang Zhi was pregnant with a big belly. She was going to bow with Momo, Ruoruo and a few palace maids. Qin Mu held her and said, "Queen, I have told you many times that you are not in good health. You don't have to bow."
Yang Zhi smiled gently and said, "I heard that the Royal Navy had a great victory, so I came to congratulate Your Majesty."
Qin Mu knew what she was doing, and he couldn't help but feel a little sorry. This virtuous wife had given birth to their eldest son, Qin Ye, when he was on the battlefield. When she gave birth this time, he would probably be thousands of miles away again.
After helping her into the hall and sitting her down, Qin Mu squatted down, put his head on her belly, and listened carefully. Yang Zhi smiled and hugged him gently.
"Empress, I..."
"Your Majesty, please do not worry about me. Just go ahead and fight. I and my baby are waiting for your triumphant return."
Qin Mu sat down beside her, hugged her and whispered, "I will. I will definitely use a great victory as a gift to our unborn child."
Yang Zhi leaned against him and said coquettishly, "Your Majesty's great victory should be left to the people of the whole country who are eagerly waiting. Your Majesty only needs to calculate the date and send a letter home when the child is born. This concubine and the child will be satisfied."
"The war has been going on for three months, and a letter from home is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Well, I've made a note of it and will definitely send it back home when the time comes." Qin Mu gently stroked her shoulders and comforted her, "Queen, don't worry. I said I will lead the army in person this time, but I may just stay in Xijing to coordinate the troops. If the war goes well, I will return to Nanjing soon."
"Your Majesty, will you promise me one thing?"
"Well, tell me what it is, Queen. I will agree to it."
"Your Majesty, please take Xiangjun and the others with you. Your Majesty has been on horseback all the way. If there is no one who understands your feelings and serves you, how can I rest assured?"
It was common for the emperor to bring his concubines with him when he personally led an expedition. When Emperor Yongle personally led an expedition to Mongolia, he brought his favorite Korean concubine with him. Qin Mu thought that he might just go to Xijing, so he agreed.
As the couple was talking, someone came in to report that Huang Lianshan was asking to see them outside the side door.
Yang Zhi stood up and said, "Your Majesty, state affairs are urgent. I will take my leave now."
Queen Yang Zhi was particularly cautious. When Qin Mu was dealing with military and political affairs, she would usually take the initiative to avoid being accused of interfering in politics. Qin Mu knew this. This was due to her nature, and the Ganzhou incident was also a very important reason.
"Then Queen, please go back and rest first. I will go to Kunning Palace tonight to have dinner with the Queen."
"Well, I will wait for Your Majesty."
Qin Mu escorted her out of Jianjia Palace before calling Huang Lianshan in.
"Your Highness, I am Huang Lianshan. I pay my respects to your Majesty."
"Go ahead. What's the matter?"
"Your Majesty, I just received news that Gu Xiancheng incited the prisoners who were building the road to revolt. Fortunately, the spies planted among the prisoners learned about it in advance, so it did not cause a major rebellion. Currently, there are 400 rebels, and the military is encircling and suppressing them."
"It's this guy again?" Qin Mu looked at her unkindly.
Huang Lianshan pleaded guilty uneasily: "I am incompetent, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Qin Mu once ordered Ye Bushou to arrest Gu Xiancheng, but this guy was like an immortal cockroach. Not only did Ye Bushou fail to arrest him, he also jumped out from time to time to make trouble. Although he didn't cause any big trouble, it always made people uncomfortable.
“How much will the road construction project be affected?”
"Your Majesty, the engineering has been restored to its original state, and the impact is not great. The military has also strengthened monitoring. Gu Xiancheng and several hundred rebels are trying to escape back to Guangxi, and have been trapped in the mountainous area around Wugang Shiben Pass. The military is stepping up the encirclement and suppression."
"Any news from Guangxi?"
"Your Majesty, at present, the Cen Yin Rebellion has been basically controlled in the Si'en Prefecture, Qingyuan Prefecture, Tianzhou, and Sicheng Prefecture. Ai Nengqi, Ma Liuliang, and Cui Feng from Yunnan have basically completed the encirclement of the rebels and turned from defense to offense. If nothing unexpected happens, the scope of the rebellion should not continue to expand."
"That's good."
Qin Mu also knew that the prefectures involved in the rebellion in Guangxi were all mountainous, so it was not realistic to suppress them quickly. What's more, Cui Feng was actually just returning to deploy troops to prevent the rebellion from spreading to the eastern part of Yunnan; and Ai Nengqi was defending the line of Nanning, Binzhou, and Liuzhou to prevent the rebellion from spreading eastward to central Guangxi and then slowly advancing westward. At present, the only one who could really go all out to suppress the rebellion was Ma Liuliang's troops.
But in his heart, Qin Mu was still unsure about the pros and cons of this rebellion in western Guangxi.
In terms of timing, the southern part of the desert and the western part of the river were being invaded by powerful enemies, which was definitely not favorable to the Qin Dynasty. But in the long run, once this rebellion was quelled, it would also be an opportunity for the Qin Dynasty to implement the policy of changing the natives to officials in the entire Guangxi.
At present, Qin Mu’s requirements are not high. As long as the rebellion can be prevented from spreading, he is not very anxious as to when it can be completely wiped out. The focus of the Qin Dynasty should still be on the south of the desert and Hexi.
"Your Majesty, according to the news from Guangxi, the Jiaozhi Mo clan has sent people to Nanning Prefecture many times to ask General Ai for help."
If God wants you to perish, he must first make you crazy. Now Zheng of Jiaozhi is quite crazy. He not only sent his navy to join the joint fleet led by the Dutch, but also tried to annihilate the Qin navy.
At the same time, after receiving artillery support from the Dutch, they also joined forces with the Dongwu Kingdom in the west to attack on two fronts, attacking the Nguyen clan in the south and the Mo clan in the north.
The Mo family only had one prefecture, Gaoping, with a small territory and sparse population. If it had not been for the intervention of the Ming Dynasty, it would have been destroyed by the Zheng family long ago. Now facing a pincer attack from the Zheng family and the Dongwu Kingdom, it was expected that it would not be able to withstand it.
Qin Mu thought about it. The army was busy suppressing the rebellion in western Guangxi. Although the navy won, it suffered heavy casualties. Moreover, the priority now was to capture Batavia (Jakarta) and control Malacca before the Dutch could send new troops to support them. Close the door to the entire South China Sea. As for Zheng, let him go crazy for a while.
Qin Mu said in a deep voice: "We can't take care of him for now. If the Mo family can't hold on, let him go into exile in Daqin first."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"After you leave the palace, send someone to bring Xu Yongshun here. I want to see him immediately."
“Yes.”
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