When the trial started, Shi Fenglai was still resisting and refused to explain the source of the huge wealth, until Qiao Yunsheng told him that Jin Yiwei had been investigating him and had already entered his residence.
Shi Fenglai's face suddenly became earthy. He understood that it was the emperor, the emperor was preparing to stand in the court, and because he had eyes and no beads, he became the victim of the emperor's power.
Knowing his own situation, Shi Fenglai no longer resisted Qiao Yunsheng's questions. In fact, at this time, even if Shi Fenglai kept silent, he could not escape the sanctions of the law. The source of so much property was unknown. In the final analysis, it was a death.
When Shi Fenglai was detained, he still did not forget to tease Qiao Yunsheng: "Master Qiao, get off the court, no, today is the prison you are waiting for. Since the emperor has placed Jinyiwei by my side, isn't it by your side? Place it? Haha... The prisoner has to take a step first."
Qiao Yunsheng was silent, he waved his hand to let people take Shi Feng away.
The Donglin Party's power in the DPRK is still quite large, but for the hundred officials, they dare not presumptuous in the face of Zhu Youjian, who has established a huge military exploit.
Besides, an astonishing amount of property was indeed confiscated from the Shifu. Shi Fenglai's corruption of ink is a no-brainer. If at this time, if he came to Zhu Youqin to plead for Shi Feng, he might get into trouble.
The ministers gradually understood Zhu Youjian's methods.
The Judicial Yuan quickly issued a verdict on the case of Shi Fenglai's corruption of ink: Shi Fenglai executed a decision because of the huge amount of ink corruption. His family was exiled to Lingbei Province, and all his property was confiscated into the state treasury.
Shi Fenglai’s case also involved many officials in the DPRK, but Zhu Youjian did not want to involve too much, leaving the government in a vacuum. Moreover, many things happened before Zhu Youjian became the throne, and the Judicial Yuan did not open the case again. , But Zhu Youjian summoned the ministers involved in the case to the Qianqing Palace and severely reprimanded them.
When the court meeting was held again, Li Chunye, the director of the National Defense Academy, once again asked the court to discuss the military reform draft. Since three of the articles had been passed by the court, Zhu Youjian only asked the ministers to discuss the issue of military nomination again.
The ministers all looked at each other, and no one dared to talk nonsense. That meant it was obvious. Those who oppose the most fierce one are now separated from yin and yang. Who wants to hit the gun? But we do not support your policy. If you are willing, just sing your one-man show.
After a while and no one answered, Huang Liji proposed a compromise plan: "Your Majesty, the minister suggested that since soldiers can be awarded certain titles according to their military merits, if the ministers can contribute to the country or make special contributions to their posts Contribution can also be crowned."
Zhu Youjian praised that Huang Li is worthy of being a good minister. "Huang Aiqing said rightly. Since they are nobles, civil servants should also have a share, as long as they can serve the country, whether it is to defend the land, open the borders, or be the Daming in an ordinary post. Anyone who makes an outstanding contribution can be knighted."
Daming originally had a knighthood system, but in the past there were only three knighthoods such as Duke, Marquis, and Boss, and the number of knights was relatively small. Except for the clan, the number of ministers who could be knighted was really rare. It was really difficult for ministers to want to be knighted.
Now Zhu Youjian has agreed to Huang Liji's suggestion to extend the fifth-class knighthood to civil servants, and the chances of that civil servant's title will also be greatly increased.
Li Chunye, Yan Mingtai, Qin Yongnian, Cao Wenzhao, and other members of the National Defense Academy first expressed their support for Zhu Youjian. They did not oppose the nominations of civil servants, as long as they did not affect the nominations of soldiers.
Later, Qiao Yunsheng, Tang Jishi, Bi Ziyan and others also expressed support.
Under their leadership, the ministers unanimously supported Zhu Youjian and the National Defense Agency's military reform draft.
Although a few people were still prepared to oppose it, the imperial court passed this reform and it was irreversible. They would no longer stand up against the emperor like Shi Fenglai.
The four elements of the second military reform were all passed in the court. Although Zhu Youjian used the method of investigating corruption and forcing the ministers to agree to this plan, it was a bit invincible, but Zhu Youjian could no longer take care of this. too much.
He must stand up in the court, otherwise he will use troops in places that others don’t pay much attention to, or carry out some reforms that others cannot understand. Those insecure ministers in the DPRK will raise great opposition again. wave.
In the long run, for Daming to establish a modern country, the imperial power must be weakened, but it is not the time yet. It is now necessary to strengthen the imperial power and use the advantages of centralized power to seek greater external benefits for Daming.
Only when the people’s wisdom is fully civilized can the imperial power be gradually weakened, and finally the transition to a constitutional monarchy can be ensured that the Ming Dynasty will not fall forever.
There will be changes in the future, and the country may also have irreconcilable contradictions, but these contradictions are only resolved through political struggles, rather than destroying all social wealth, or even military civil wars that cause the country to split, and their children and grandchildren will not be affected by the new dynasty. Cut the weeds and roots.
On August 1st in the fourth year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty (1631), the imperial court finally decided to take back Taiwan.
When Li Chunye proposed to use troops against Taiwan at the North Korean meeting, the ministers knew very well that this was what Zhu Youjian meant.
Li Chunye emphasized: "The use of troops in Taiwan is to regain the native land of Ming Dynasty on the one hand, so that Xiyi's artillery will not be mounted near the coast of Fujian Province of Ming Dynasty. It is also a test of the combat effectiveness of the South China Sea Fleet. The scale will not be too large, and the army will not be required to participate in the war."
It was heard that the army did not need to participate in the war, and the minister believed that the scale of the battle would not be too large. In addition, Zhu Youjian had just killed Shi Fenglai, and there was not much opposition at the meeting. The sporadic disharmony was quickly overwhelmed.
Taiwan lies in the southeast of Fujian Province, covering an area of about 36,000 square kilometers, about 750 miles long from north to south, and about 300 miles wide from east to west. It is an independent island in the country.
Taiwan is of extremely important strategic significance to Daming, but the entire island is not flat. Five mountains, including Coastal Mountains, Central Mountains, Snow Mountains, Yushan Mountains, and Alishan Mountains, nest in parallel on Taiwan Island from northeast to southwest. Therefore, Taiwan’s terrain is dominated by mountains, with high mountains in the middle, extending east to the sea, and only some plains and basins on the western coast.
The Dutch began to register in Taiwan in the second year of the Apocalypse (1622). In the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624), they established a business hall in Shanwei in southern Taiwan. In the fifth year of the Apocalypse (1625), they were in southern Taiwan. Established Relanzhe City and Chihkan City in Shanwei, and gradually occupied the villages of Xingangshe and Mugaluwan on the Inner Sea Plain of the Taijiang River. In the war with Madoushe, both sides had their own winners and losers, and they are currently in deadlock.
In the sixth year of the Apocalypse (AD 1626), the Spaniards came to northern Taiwan and established the city of San Salva in the chicken coop. In the first year of Chongzhen (AD 1628), they established the city of Santo Domingo on the north bank of the Tamsui River Estuary.
According to the spies sent by Zheng Zhilong, apart from businessmen, there are about 500 Dutch troops stationed on the island of Taiwan, and there are also 300 professional soldiers in Spain.
Zheng Zhilong had been to Taiwan many times in his early years. He was very familiar with Taiwan’s various forces, terrain, and population. He did not bring the entire fleet, but only 20 cantons, 20 blessed ships, and 10 new blessed ships. , One hundred Cangshan boats.
In addition, there are more than one hundred transport ships transporting the Fourth Marine Division. The transport ships follow behind the ships and receive the protection of the ships.
The Canton Ship is a three-masted ship with two decks. There are twelve artillery pieces on the port and port sides, all of which are flares. The crew is 88 people, including 24 sailors and 64 soldiers, except for the soldiers equipped with flintlocks. And battle swords, the ship is also equipped with gunpowder arrows, underwater mines, and fire dragons to go to sea.
The fortune ship is a two-masted ship with only one deck. There are eight artillery pieces on the left and right sides. There are only 46 crew members, including 14 sailors and 32 soldiers.
Although the tonnage of the new Fortune Ship is similar to that of the old Fortune Ship, all commercial cabins are removed from the ship and all are used for the deployment of artillery. A total of 14 artillery pieces are installed on the left and right sides of the ship, which is two more than the Guangzhou Ship.
When it was light, Zheng Zhilong bid farewell to the officials who were seeing off on the shore, and led the fleet to set off from Xiamen Port in Fujian, relying on the compass to navigate, and the fleet sailed eastward.
Between Xiamen and Penghu, there is only about 75 nautical miles, but in the sailing era, the speed of ships is generally very slow, especially for large ships like Guangzhou Shipbuilding, which can only reach seven knots per hour, plus the tailwind, even less than eight knots. Although the speed of the Cangshan Ship is faster, in order to maintain a complete formation, it can only maintain the same speed as the Guangzhou Ship.
After noon, there was no other country's fleet on the calm sea. Zheng Zhilong ordered ten of the Cangshan ships to speed up and arrive at Magang in Penghu first, and merge with the Cangshan ships that arrived at Magang earlier, choosing a docking place for the Cantonese ship and the Fu ship. Send people to land and arrange board and lodging for the following soldiers.
There is only a breeze on the sea, but the sea will still make waves half a foot high. Fortunately, the soldiers have been living by the sea since they were young. They have seen winds and waves bigger than this, and will not get seasick.
Although there are no ships of other countries on the sea, merchant ships can occasionally be seen, most of which are flying the tricolor flag of the Netherlands or the coat of arms flag of Spain.
The Ming army and navy on the battleships have not dared to relax, especially the sentry in charge of the lookout. They dare not care for a moment. These merchant ships are basically armed, and even have artillery hidden in them. Once they find that they are threatened, they will shoot. It's common to fire a gun.
However, the Ming army's fleet was large enough that these merchant ships did not dare to approach at all. As long as the Ming army did not provoke, they would not dare to provoke the Ming army.
In the late autumn weather, the day began to get shorter. Unconsciously, the sky gradually darkened, and the visibility on the sea was greatly reduced. Zheng Zhilong was secretly anxious. Although the battleship had a compass, if it went wrong, this vast sea, this The boundless night, really can't find the way back.
Suddenly, the watchman issued a semaphore: Two small boats were found in front, suspected to be the Cangshan ship of the South China Sea Fleet.
Zheng Zhilong was overjoyed: "It must have come to meet us, but we should not be careless and be careful."
After a while, the watchman in front again slogans: It really is the Cangshan ship of the South China Sea Fleet.
Two Cangshan ships slowly approached the flagship "Nanhai" of the South China Sea Fleet. The soldiers climbed up the "Nanhai" through the gangway and verbally reported the situation in Magang to Zheng Zhilong.