The Rise of the European Emperor

"Burn them all?" Wang Hung was taken aback. Then, he hesitated:

"Benefits, these seven ships are all big ships that are extremely strong and fearless of arrows and stones. If they are repaired and rebuilt, they can be used by the Guangdong and Guangxi navy. If they are burned like this, it would be a pity? The big deal, We just send Fangui prisoners of war to the capital."

Lu Feng cupped his hands and said:

"Dong Weng, don't think so! This ghostly deck ship is so huge, it's too eye-catching. Moreover, the imperial court has spies from factory guards scattered all over the place. If they find out, report it to His Majesty. With His Majesty's character, I'm afraid It will force the navy to send these ships to the capital."

"At that time, if His Majesty takes a fancy to it, he will definitely order a great deal! At that time, the plans of Mr. Dongshan and other princes in the court will be in vain?"

Wang Hung was startled when he heard this, and he also remembered that this was the Ming Dynasty, and the factory guards were everywhere. If they knew of the existence of the big ship, they would definitely report it to the emperor to please Zhengde. And what kind of virtue is Emperor Zhengde? He once ordered the whole country to offer rare and interesting things for his entertainment. And the western deck ship, isn't it just a rare and interesting thing? If those factory guards know about it, they will definitely report it.

Then, he hesitated:

"However, if it is burned now, the factory guard may know about it. Maybe there are factory guards' eyeliner in this army..."

Lu Feng laughed and said:

"Dong Weng, if you ordered the burning of the ship tomorrow, you will definitely give someone a handle. But what time is it today? The battle is in full swing! The burning of the ship at this time is in wartime. If you order the burning of the deck ship before noon, At best, it can be regarded as improper command before the battle."

"But then again, this battle was won by your command, Dong Weng. During the war, what's wrong with ordering the enemy ships to be burned?"

"The supplies on the ship?"

"Of course it will be unloaded, and then the ship will be burned!"

"Okay, come! Pass down the order and order Lin Tianhai, the admiral of the navy, to immediately transport all the property on the captured 7 ships. Then, before noon, set fire to the 7 ships!"

After a pause, Wang Hong said again:

"In addition, tell Lin Tianhai in private that the 380,000 taels of gold, silver and copper coins on the ship must be shipped back in full..."

This is Wang Hong's hush money to Lin Tianhai,

10,000 taels of silver is enough to seal Lin Tianhai's mouth. You know, this is not the end of the Ming Dynasty when maritime trade was prevalent. At this time, in the Ming Dynasty, 10,000 taels of silver was definitely a huge sum of money. Only a powerful eunuch like Liu Jin can reach this amount by accepting bribes. Lin Tianhai eats empty salary and drinks soldiers' blood, and can earn one or two thousand taels a year, which is scary. After all, he is only the battalion officer of Nantou Water Village, so he has limited resources.

But Wang Hung didn't know that Lin Tianhai lost 10,000 taels for ink before. Give Lin Tianhai another 10,000, Lin Tianhai has made a lot of money this time...

But in this era, a small courtyard in the capital is only worth a few dozen taels. Lin Tianhai got 20,000 taels at once, and he could buy hundreds of small courtyard houses in the capital. If Liu Jin is still in power, the 20,000 taels will be sent over, and a general soldier can be returned...

However, Lin Tianhai will definitely not take the 20,000 taels of silver all by himself, and will definitely distribute some of it to his subordinates as a hush money. And Wang Hung specially criticized the 10,000 taels he was greedy for ink, and he would give Wang Hung at least two or three thousand taels as kickbacks...

Sure enough, with the incentive of money, Lin Tianhai asked people to unload the materials on the seven Portuguese warships, including artillery and ammunition, and transport them ashore before noon. Then, he ordered a fire to burn 7 ships.

Only then did Lin Tianhai formally order Ming Jin to withdraw his troops. And Mingjin's retreat also means that the battle is officially over. In this way, no one will be able to trouble Wang Hung in this matter in the future. Because the burning of the boat was done before Mingjin, so it is not considered a violation.

Moreover, the seasoned Lin Tianhai, sure enough, pocketed two thousand taels from the 10,000 taels of silver that Internet celebrities had specially approved for him to embezzle, and quietly gave it to Wang Hung. When the silver was delivered, Wang Hung didn't say anything, didn't even look at the white silver ingots, but stared at the book case in a daze. But Lu Feng went on with a wink, and then asked Wang Hung's reliable servant to put the silver ingots into the book box, and the servant took care of it himself.

When Lin Tianhai's soldiers were about to leave, Wang Hung slowly said:

"Lin Tongzhi's command is good this time, and the credit must be seen in the memorial. Let him prepare and prepare for promotion..."

Lin Tianhai's soldiers walked away with joy on their faces. Generals like Lin Tianhai were no longer popular in the Ming Dynasty when civil servants had already started to rule. Although it hadn't reached the point in the late Ming Dynasty where high-ranking generals had to kneel and salute when they saw low-ranking civil servants, they were also suppressed in various ways.

For example, this battle, although Lin Tianhai specifically commanded it. However, in Ming Dynasty, where culture was more important than military affairs, courtiers would often give the main credit to Wang Hung, who "strategically planned". How much credit Lin Tianhai deserves depends purely on what is written in Wang Hung's memorial. If Wang Hung's memorial wrote more about Lin Tianhai's contributions, then Lin Tianhai would benefit more.

Although Wang Hung will take the most of the credit in the end, but as an unfavored general, it is considered lucky to follow Wang Hung to drink some soup.

When writing the memorial at night, Wang Hung frowned, and Lu Feng hurriedly asked why. Wang Hung sighed and said:

"Yizhi, I said in the memorial that Frangji's boat is strong and powerful, but my boat has been burned. How can I convince the court that Flangji's boat is strong?"

Lu Feng thought for a while and said:

"My lord, the students think that it is better to change the word 'ship strong and powerful' to 'cannon powerful'. In this way, His Majesty will not pursue the problem of the ship after reading it. In addition, the results of the Humen Fort's repelling enemy ships , the memorials will not be magnified. Then, the adults can also suggest that more forts should be set up in important towns along the coasts and rivers to resist the boats of bandits. In this way, neither His Majesty nor the courtiers will pay attention to the problem of the boats... ..."

"However, setting up forts in various coastal towns costs a lot of money. Isn't it similar to His Majesty building a large ship to sail to the West?"

Lu Feng shook his head and said:

"It's not the same, my lord. Regardless of whether we build big ships or not, important coastal towns, such as Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou, etc., must be protected. Now, Westerners have discovered this place. Today is Frangji, who will come tomorrow?" Do you know who is here? The students heard from Dongfan Island that there are hundreds of countries in the West. Except for the Beihai country, which is more submissive to Ming Dynasty, most of the other countries are states of thieves and bandits who like to plunder. Like Flangji, he is good at sea robbery There are quite a few countries that have been plundered in Thailand and the West. Today is Franji, who knows who will come tomorrow? Moreover, Japanese pirates from the East may also come to plunder. Therefore, it is necessary to set up forts in important coastal towns. Although It is a helpless act to waste the country's money. It is unnecessary to build a big ship to go to the West..."

Lu Feng's words are very in line with the Confucianism's thought of the mean. Wang Hung was also very satisfied after hearing this, so he specially erased the "ship strong" in "ship strong and cannon sharp". Then, only "cannon power" remained in the memorial...