The Red Mansions

Edo, Tokugawa Shogunate

After listening to what several ministers in the shogunate said, Tokugawa Iemitsu said in a deep voice under the gaze of everyone: "Gather soldiers and horses from all vassals, integrate the elites, and fight to the death with the Qing army."

Now, the Tokugawa family has reached a critical stage of life and death, and must accumulate all its strength to drive away the invading enemies.

At this moment, Miura Shoji, a famous minister of the Tokugawa family, looked calm and said: "Shogun, the Qing Kingdom and the Han Kingdom have enmity, so it is better to send an envoy to contact the Han court and drive out the Qing army together."

"We have no contact with the Han court. What can we exchange chips with the Han court?" Abe, another retainer of the Tokugawa family, said again.

"Sir General, the emperors of the Central Plains Dynasty have always been very happy with their achievements. As long as they obey them on the surface, they will definitely receive reinforcements." Abe Tadaki said.

This is also past experience. As long as the Central Plains Dynasty is demoted, the Central Plains Dynasty will ignore the past grudges.

After everyone finished speaking, they all turned their attention to Tokugawa Iemitsu, who was sitting upright.

Tokugawa Iemitsu looked solemn and said in a deep voice: "For now, we will first send envoys to contact the Han people and use Han soldiers and horses to hold the Manchus hostage."

At this time, Tokugawa Tsunazo came out of the train and said: "Father, I am willing to go to the Han Dynasty as an envoy, and I ask my father to do it."

Tokugawa Iemitsu looked cold and scolded: "The Han people are too dangerous, don't act recklessly!"

His elder brother Tokugawa Nobutsuna also spoke to persuade him, saying: "Fourth brother, don't be reckless. What if the Han people have evil intentions and take hostages?"

Tokugawa Tsusushige had a firm look on his face and said: "Father, for the sake of the glory of the Tokugawa family, my son is not afraid of hardships and dangers, and I ask my father to do it for me."

Under Tokugawa Iemitsu's eyebrows, he looked at Tokugawa Tsusushige with complex eyes and said: "Then you will go by boat early tomorrow morning. Be careful on the way."

Tokugawa Tsunashige raised his hand and said yes.

When Tokugawa Iemitsu said this, he paused, looked at the daimyo ministers sitting below, and said: "In addition, I called on the daimyo to gather their troops in Jiangbo and fight the enemy to the death."

It is said that there are three hundred vassals in Edo, and many of the vassal clans in Edo are close to the Tokugawa shogunate. If you put them together now, you can piece together more than 100,000 troops, and you can fight against the Jurchens and North Korea again, laying the foundation for victory. machine.

……

……

Just when the emperors and ministers of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo held a meeting with important ministers and daimyo, they were about to fight the Qing Dynasty.

At this moment, Aobai and Azige, who were stationed in An Yun, were also dispatching troops and generals to lead the Eight Banners Xiaorui to sweep half of the Japanese country at once.

In the seventeenth year of Chongping, it has quietly arrived in the middle of October in the golden autumn. The golden osmanthus is fragrant, the vegetation is withered and yellow, and it is a bleak and desolate scene.

Jia Heng led a group of Tiqi from Jinyi Mansion to Denglai Mansion in Shandong Province. Military orders were first given to Denglai Navy and Jiangnan Navy to summon relevant Hongyi artillery and gather in Denglai. Mansion, the ships are ready to go.

For a time, the war clouds were thick and imminent.

Shandong, Denglai Province

After Jia Heng went to Peiping to inspect the border affairs, he arrived at this coastal city not long after. At this moment, Mu Sheng, the governor of Denglai and the admiral of the Navy, led a group of generals to welcome him out of the barracks in large numbers.

Outside the city, Shui Yu, Wei Che and other Jiangnan Navy generals, who had just arrived from the Jiangnan Navy camp, came out to greet him. They mostly looked at the boy in the python suit respectfully.

"Duke Wei." Seeing the tall and tall young man in python uniform approaching quickly, Mu Sheng and other generals saluted Jia Heng and said loudly.

Jia Heng looked at Mu Sheng aggressively under his sword eyebrows and asked: "Commander Mu, what is the strength of the Denglai Navy at sea?"

Mu Sheng said: "Duke Wei, the Denglai Navy now has artillery and muskets on board, and nearly 60,000 troops. It can fight the Jurchens and the Korean Navy at sea at any time."

Jia Heng nodded and said: "According to the report from the Jinyi Mansion's secret agents, the Qing soldiers and horses have occupied many cities in the Japanese country. They are fighting with the Japanese soldiers and horses day by day and are trapped in the quagmire. I, the Han Dynasty, have the opportunity to use our troops to win decisively." arrive."

Mu Sheng nodded, with a look of joy on his face, and said in a deep voice: "Gong Wei, the Jurchens and the Korean navy are currently at sea, monitoring the deployment of troops along our entire coast, in order to prevent our big men from intervening in the war between the Qing and the Japanese. "

Jia Heng pondered for a moment and then asked: "Have the two sides fought against each other during this time?"

This time, the Jurchens mobilized 60,000 North Korean naval forces to camp in Jeju and explore ships to welcome them, mainly to prevent the intervention of the Han Dynasty's navy from the direction of Denglai.

Mu Sheng pondered for a moment and said: "In the meantime, I sent the navy to approach Jeju. After about three artillery battles, we both won and lost with the Jurchens and North Korea. They relied on their large number of ships to arrive in Jeju one after another. They knew the terrain well, and our army attacked Nothing less."

Jia Heng said: "If the terrain is unfamiliar, the former general manager of North Korea's Jeolla Province, Li Daoshun, has many soldiers and is familiar with North Korea's geography. He can help from the side. After we expel the North Korean navy, we can wait for an opportunity to land in Gwanglua Province." .”

At the beginning, when Duduo led the navy to invade the south of the Yangtze River, he used the Korean Navy as a servant army. This navy was later captured by Jia Heng and now serves in the Han Navy. If you add in the second battle with the Han Dynasty, The number of Korean soldiers and horses captured during the Haug War was probably more than 10,000.

Not long after, Li Daoshun and other North Korean navy generals, led by several generals, entered the government hall and muttered: "The last general has met Duke Wei."

Jia Heng asked: "General Li, are you familiar with the waters of Jeolla Province?"

Since it is to cut off the communication between the Jurchen Eight Banners elite and North Korea, what is better than cutting off military supplies at sea?

Attacking across the sea, it is very inconvenient to transport military supplies and baggage at sea, and the place where the Jurchens stationed troops and food was in Jeolla Province.

Li Daoshun looked respectful, cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, Duke Wei. I have served as the chief naval officer of Jeolla Province for many years, and I am very familiar with the waters of Jeolla Province."

Jia Heng nodded and said: "Little Prince Mu, please immediately summon a group of navy generals to discuss matters."

Mu Sheng received the order and immediately sent out a large number of soldiers and began to notify the generals at the Denglai Navy Camp.

Wei Wang Chen Ran was sitting on the side with a calm expression, looking at Jia Heng's gathering of generals to discuss matters, feeling a little excited in his heart.

After a while, in the official meeting room, the generals were sitting in rows, and it was crowded with people.

A group of military generals were sitting on pearwood chairs, waiting for the orders of the young man in the python suit.

Jia Heng sat behind a lacquered wood commander's table, glanced at the soldiers below, and asked Mu Sheng to hang a sea map on the screen, with mountains, rivers, islands and other terrains outlined on it.

Jia Heng said: "According to Jinyi's intelligence, the Jurchen elite soldiers, horses and navy are mainly stationed in Jeolla Province and Gyeongsang Province, mainly providing food, fodder and ordnance transportation for the Jurchen army. In this invasion, our Han army mainly intercepts These two maritime routes for transporting grain and troops are waiting for an opportunity to capture Jeolla Province."

There are eight North Korean provinces, mainly Gyeonggi Province, Hamgyeong Province, Gangwon Province, Pyongan Province, Hwanghae Province, Chungcheong Province, Jeolla Province and Gyeongsang Province.

Jeolla Province and Gyeongsang Province are adjacent to Japan.

At this time, Shui Yu looked puzzled and asked: "Why don't our troops attack the Korean mainland directly from Gyeonggi Province? This will also prompt the Jurchens and North Korea to send troops and horses to help."

Mu Sheng said: "The main intention of using troops this time is not to attack the North Korean mainland. Otherwise, North Korea has high mountains and dangerous cities, making it difficult to attack. If the war continues for a long time, it is inevitable that the food supply will be lost, and the North Korean navy and Jurchen elites will be cut off from their retreat."

Wei Che nodded and said: "Sending troops and horses to land at Jeju, cut off Jianghan, and fight enemy ships at sea will also give full play to the advantages of our Hongyi artillery."

Shui Yu nodded, understanding.

After seeing the generals finishing their discussion, Jia Heng pondered for a moment and said: "This time our army is not attacking North Korea and engaging in a mountain battle with the enemy, but cutting off the Jurchens and leaving the elite Jurchen Eight Banners isolated and helpless in the Japanese country."

As Jia Heng spoke, he pointed at the location of Jeolla Road and Jeju, indicating that this is where they are.

Jia Heng said: "In the previous battle between the Dengrai Navy and the enemy, it can be seen that many of the navy went to Jeju, where the main force of the Jurchen and brave troops and the majority of the Korean navy were stationed. A lot of grain and ordnance were transferred to the Japanese country from Jeolla Province. "

Shui Yu frowned and thought, and asked, "Duke Wei, how many soldiers and horses are there on the island?"

Jia Heng said: "If you add the Jurchen Han army flag, there will be about 60,000 people. They are mainly divided into two groups, one in Jeolla Province and the other in Jeju. They are the horns of each other."

This time the Manchu Qing sent troops to the Japanese country, almost in full force. In addition to the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, they also mobilized the Eight Banners of the Han Army, the Eight Mongolian Banners, and also mobilized many soldiers and horses of the Korean Navy.

"The main thing is to besiege Jeju and march into Jeolla Province." Shuiyu nodded and said.

Jia Heng glanced at the generals below and said, "Everyone, without further ado, go down and mobilize the soldiers."

……

……

Then, the sailors of the Jiangnan Navy and the Denglai Navy began to prepare ordnance, bows and crossbows, and the Hongyi cannons were installed on the naval guns.

In this battle, the Jiangnan Navy had 40,000 men, the Denglai Navy had 55,000 men, plus the Korean Navy of 13,000 men. If Dingfu and sailors were added, the total would be about 130,000.

At this moment, six hundred warships and five hundred flat ships were marching towards the wide sea of ​​Japan. The army was equipped with 220 Hongyi cannons and mounted on the warships. There are both red barbarian cannons that were taken from the Dutch red barbarians back then, as well as fire blunderbuss made by craftsmen from the Han Dynasty Ordnance Supervision in recent years. It can be said that the cannons and cannons are complete.

After more than half a month of sailing, the mighty Han Dynasty Navy fleet sailed to the sea and headed for Jeolla Province and Jeju.

Jia Heng stood on a flag ship flying the flag of "Jia", holding a monocular telescope in his hand, looking at the islands in the distance. At this moment, the islands were winding and undulating, and in Liao's boundless field of vision, they seemed gloomy. Green, or withered and yellow clumps.

It is late autumn, the autumn wind is bleak and the waves are rising.

King Wei Chen Ran's handsome and fair face was full of curiosity, and he called out: "Zi Yu."

It can be said that this is the first time that the King of Wei has observed a war at such a close distance and watched Jia Heng mobilize his troops and generals to meet the enemy invaders.

Jia Heng said: "Your Majesty, the ships of the North Korean Navy are here."

In fact, he didn't really want King Wei to follow him this time. If something unexpected happened, he wouldn't be able to explain it to Tian Niuer.

At this moment, King Wei, under his sword-shaped brows, followed what Jia Heng pointed out, looking at the azure blue waves and the vast expanse of the sea.

After a while, on the vast sea, a ship could be seen with its sails raised, and on the mast of the wooden deck, Korean flags were hung, swaying in the wind, while on both sides of the ship were A black cannon came out.

The leader of the army was Jurchen Dudu, the eldest grandson of Nurhachi, who was about fifty years old. He had gray hair and a resolute face, and his sunken eye sockets had deep, bright and sharp eyes.

Next to Du Du was the newly appointed North Korean Navy Chief Jin Fanghai. He was in his forties, with a square face and slightly small eyes, but sharp and energetic.

"Your Majesty, the Han gunboats are approaching. The firearms should not be underestimated. How about we ask our men to avoid them?" Jin Fanghai asked, his eyes moving slightly.

This is also the response strategy that Jin Fanghai has come up with in the past few days, which is to avoid its edge, use the special geographical environment of the islands and reefs on the Korean Peninsula, and then maintain an undefeated situation with the Denglai Navy.

Du Du was obviously a veteran general who was used to using soldiers. His face was full of solemnity and he said: "This time the Han people came with many soldiers and horses, so we have to avoid them."

Immediately, on the flag ship, apricot-yellow flags swayed in the wind, and then, a ship raced along the sea and hid towards the islands on both sides.

At this moment, Jia Heng, who was on the flag ship, saw this scene and whispered: "The enemy ships are going to flee to Jeju Island. Let the vanguard send ships to meet the enemy and bombard them with Hongyi cannons."

“Dong dong!!!”

The sound of drums was as dense as raindrops, and at this moment, a chase quickly began as they moved along the water into the distance.

"Boom!"

At this moment, guns and muskets were fired from all ships, and gunpowder smoke filled the air. Amidst the rumbling sound, many North Korean ships were hit by blunderbuss and fled away amid the billowing smoke.

At this moment, looking down from a high altitude, we can see a large number of building ships surrounding Jeju Island.

"Commander, the enemy has built a fortress with earth and rocks on the mountain island." At this time, a resolute-faced general paused slightly and said: "There are also water forts and forts on the island. Relying on the mountains, it is easy to It’s hard to defend.”

Jia Heng pondered for a moment and said: "Get close to the island, bomb it with artillery and muskets, and cover the landing of the infantry."

The enemy gave up the decisive battle at sea and relied on the islands to fight, hoping to use the terrain advantage to make up for the numerical gap in the muskets.

At this moment, Han warships, with flags covering the sky and sun, formed a formation and headed towards the island.

"Rumble..."

As gunpowder smoke filled the air, the sound of Hongyi cannons and muskets could be heard endlessly, while earth and rocks were flying randomly on the island, vegetation was broken, and there was a scene of flying sand and rocks.

Until the evening, the results of the battle continued to gather from various places.

In this battle, more than 20 Korean ships, large and small, were sunk. It was initially estimated that more than 3,000 Jurchen soldiers and Korean soldiers were killed in the battle, but the specific number is unknown.

The Jurchens and the Korean navy moved their naval warships to Jeju Island and used water forts and stone forts to fight back against the Han army.

Because the terrain in front of the island is quite complicated, if the Han army wants to land on the island to fight, but they do not know the terrain on the island, they are bound to suffer heavy casualties.

"Ziyu, the North Korean navy has already arrived on the island. If we continue to attack like this, it will serve no purpose other than increasing casualties." Wei King Chen Ran warned in a low voice.

Jia Heng said: "What the prince said is true. The female leader wants to use the terrain to confront our Han army for a long time and hold us back."

Under the sword-shaped brows of Wei King Chen Ran, his clear eyes sparkled and he asked: "Zi Yu, how will we break the situation next?"

Jia Heng said: "After encircling the island, divide the troops to cut off North Korea's sea food supply to the Jurchen army, and check the situation first."

In this kind of cross-sea war, food supply is actually very important. Once the food is cut off and the enemy is deep inside the border, the morale of the military will easily be chaotic, which will lead to the collapse of the whole line.

Then, Jia Heng ordered Li Shu, the Jinyi bodyguard on the side, and said in a deep voice: "Go and send an order to Wei Che and ask him to send a navy to block the grain transportation between Jeju and Jeolla Province."

Jinyi's bodyguard Li Shu took the order and left.

When night falls, the bright moon is in the sky, the stars are sparse, and the lights in the cabin are brightly lit.

Jia Heng and King Wei sat across a lacquered wooden table. After dinner, they drank tea and discussed the day's attack on the island.

King Wei asked: "Does Ziyu have a strategy in mind to capture Jeju Island?"

Jia Heng thought for a while and said: "Currently, we can only gather heavy troops with artillery and muskets, surround them and attack them, divide the troops and intercept food, and the rest can only wait for the opportunity of fighting."

In maritime wars, sometimes there is not much room for trickery, and more often than not, it is a dull battle. Even in land battles, there are not many classic cases full of tricks like this throughout history.

Many times the only thing you can do is capture fighter opportunities in war. This is the charm of military affairs.

The King of Wei frowned and said in a clear voice: "What if the enemy insists on retreating and our Han army is too anxious to conquer it?"

Jia Heng pondered for a moment and said: "It's impossible. Our army has twice the number of troops and horses as the enemy. Whether we divide our troops or besiege them, we can all decide calmly."

When the king of Wei heard this, he said no more.

Therefore, in the next few days, the Jiangnan Navy and Denglai Navy led by Jia Heng began to bombard the island with Hongyi artillery.

……

……

On the other side, the city of Shenjing is thousands of miles away.

Palace Garden, Wuying Hall, Military Aircraft Department Duty House——

Emperor Chongping sat down on a pearwood chair, holding a memorial in his hand, flipping through it, raised his eyes and asked, "What does Li Qing think?"

Li Zan looked respectful and solemn, and said with cupped hands: "Your Majesty, Duke Wei mentioned sending troops to Korea, and the ministers thought it was feasible. Now the Jurchens are expanding the territory of Japan, plundering property, and using it for their own use. If they are not curbed, they will be destroyed in the future. The consequences are unpredictable.”

"What Li Qing said is true." Emperor Chongping nodded, and then asked: "It's been more than half a year since the beginning of the year. How many provinces have the New Deal been implemented in the country? Ministry of Revenue, what is the national summer grain harvest?"

Qi Kun raised his hands and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, except for Guangxi and Guangdong, the New Deal has been implemented in the land of the country. According to the books compiled from various provinces, the weather in Huguang this year is good and the grain is ripe. After clearing the land, the relevant rice The amount of grain harvested in the granary has doubled compared with previous years."

As soon as he said this, Minister of Military Aircraft Shi Jie looked surprised and asked: "Twice? So many?"

It can be said that just the money and food made the officials of the Han Dynasty feel inexplicable.

Emperor Chongping's thin eyebrows were raised, and he could not hide the joy in his tone, saying: "This does not include the Jiangnan provinces. When it is promoted nationwide, we will see even more remarkable results."

This is the effect of the enhanced version of the "one whip method" and "dividing a small family into an equal amount", which directly makes a man who is used to a tight life suddenly become financially wealthy.

Shi Jie also echoed: "Your Majesty, if we use troops against North Korea, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Emperor Chongping said: "Jia Ziyu is a mature minister who plans for the country, so he should use military strategies. There are still a few months left, and the imperial edict orders local officials in Guangxi, Guangdong and other places to clear their land and collect grain."

Because of the strong clan power in Guangxi and Guangdong, the promotion of the New Deal has been stumbling, and in the first half of the 17th year of Chongping, it was mainly concentrated in the three southeastern provinces, Huguang and Bashu.