Chapter 338 Zheng Sen

Although Ying Yi's navy was organized and the number of people in the war zone was full, the number of people was sufficient, but the number of warships was insufficient.

The navy of the Ming Dynasty flourished during the Yongle period, and it was at that time that Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, made his voyage to the West.

Later, the sea was banned, and it was not restored until the sea was opened during the Longqing period. However, the sea was banned after Longqing, so the official navy declined and shipbuilding technology was sealed. On the contrary, the private shipbuilding industry is more developed - commercial smuggling activities in the southeastern coastal areas have never been prohibited.

The official ban on the sea and the weakening of the navy made it impossible to take care of coastal defense, which in turn led to the prosperity of commercial smuggling. Officials and merchants along the southeastern coast colluded to gain countless benefits through smuggling, which had nothing to do with the Ming court.

At this time, the shipbuilding industry in the north is completely unqualified compared with that on the southeast coast. Ying Yi established a navy and accepted some of the legacy of the previous Ming court. However, compared with the southeastern coastal areas, both the quantity and quality of warships were inferior.

The naval theater, with a full complement of 48,000 men, has less than 100 large warships. There are more small and medium-sized warships. As for Zheng Zhilong's Fujian Navy, the large warships alone are at least several times that of the Shandong Navy.

This time the navy moved south. Due to the limitations of warship hardware, only half of the force, 24,000 men, was dispatched. Except for some training ships left in Shandong, all the other warships are in the process of relocation.

At noon that day, the navy under Zheng Wu's command arrived at the sea off Yangzhou. In order to avoid being discovered by the Zheng Sen Navy on Chongming Island, they stood still and did not take action until it was dark.

Twenty-four thousand naval forces, nearly a hundred large warships, 300 medium-sized warships, and more than 400 small sea-going ships, surrounded Chongming Island with lightning speed.

Large warships and medium-sized warships blocked the sea outside Chongming Island Water Village, and small ships cruised in all directions. By the time Zheng Sen discovered it, it was already a dragnet.

Although the Fujian navy was tyrannical and repeatedly fought with the Thai and Western colonists in Southeast Asia and wrested profits from them, there were only fifty warships and no more than a thousand men on Chongming Island. Facing the Shandong Navy with dozens of times its strength, Zheng Sen was helpless.

He organized warships in an attempt to clear a way out of the encirclement, but before leaving the stronghold, he was shelled by the Shandong Navy.

The artillery with a longer range and greater power rendered Zheng Sen unable to fight back. The water stronghold was quickly destroyed, and Zheng Sen and his remaining soldiers were forced to retreat to the island.

The water stronghold was destroyed and all the warships were destroyed. Faced with this situation, Zheng Sen was unable to save himself. He was eventually forced to a corner of the island by the landing navy, and all those who survived surrendered.

For the Shandong Navy, this should be the first battle since the establishment of the navy. However, Zheng Wu did not feel much sense of accomplishment in defeating Zheng Sen's troops, which had only a thousand men, with superior firepower, intelligence superiority, and military strength.

Compared with Zheng Zhilong's main naval force, Zheng Sen's here is just an appetizer.

Standing on the cliff next to the island, the sea tide rises and falls, and the waves hit the rocks below the cliff with a loud rumbling sound. The strong sea wind blew the cloak behind Zheng Wu's back.

"Build forts and camps at selected locations on the north and south sides of the island. The former School Division A of the Left Army stayed in Chongming and guarded the outlet to the sea. The rest gathered troops and set out for Tongzhou at the time of You." Zheng Wu ordered: "Bring Zheng Sen up. The governor wants to see him."

Currently, under Ying Yi's command, a war zone has two military levels, divided into left and right armies. Under each military level establishment, there are two captains, divided into front and rear captains. There are four divisions under each captain, divided into A, B, C and D. The three thousand troops stationed on Chongming Island, combined with the fort, are probably more than enough.

As for Tongzhou, this Tongzhou is not the other Tongzhou. There is a Tongzhou to the west of the capital, and there is also a Tongzhou here. Tongzhou is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River Estuary, adjacent to Haimen.

Not long after, Zheng Sen was brought up. He wasn't tied up or anything, so he was still neatly dressed. Twenty-year-old Zheng Sen still has a trace of childishness on his face. He has thick eyebrows, big eyes, sharp eyes, and a faint bookish air about him, which makes people feel quite fond of him.

Zheng Sen was brought to Zheng Wu, his head lowered and silent. Speaking of which, the guards were all far away, and he was standing next to Zheng Wu. If he didn't know it, someone else might have wanted to escape by holding Zheng Wu hostage.

But Zheng Sen didn’t. He was captured alive by Zheng Wu himself - the thirty-year-old Xia Jiang in front of him jumped several feet and was extremely powerful. In front of him, Zheng Sen was like a little chicken, without the slightest resistance.

"I wonder if you have ever remembered that during the seventh year of Chongzhen's reign, I had an encounter with you." Zheng Wu looked at Zheng Sen, with a smile on his face.

When Zheng Sen heard this, he couldn't help but be startled. In the seventh year of Chongzhen, that is, ten years ago, he was only ten years old. Zheng Wu was only in his twenties at that time. Over time, everyone has changed, and it is really hard to see it for a while. But now face to face, Zheng Sen couldn't help but take a closer look, and it turned out to be somewhat familiar.

He recalled for a moment and hesitated: "Back then...Uncle Zheng Yunzhi..."

Zheng Wu laughed: "Ten years ago, I was the master's follower. The master traveled to Fujian to study, and I followed him."

Zheng Sen suddenly realized it, and then sighed: "Sure enough..."

Zheng Yunzhi is now famous all over the world. As the political leader of King Xia Yingyi, who knows? As early as the time of Yingtian, some news came from the north. Zheng Yunzhi's name was known to Zheng Sen. Knowing that he was the uncle of the Zheng family in Jinhua, Zheng Sen also sighed.

I didn’t expect to meet an acquaintance now.

The Zheng family of Zheng Sen and the Zheng family of Jinhua were said to have been of the same clan. Their ancestral home is Gushi, Henan. It's just that they had been separated for a long time, and they didn't get in touch until the Chongzhen period - it was because of Zheng Yuncheng's business.

The business of the Zheng family in Jinhua is mainly focused on raw silk production and trade. The biggest profit from the raw silk trade lies in smuggling. The largest smuggling channel on the southeast coast is Zheng Zhilong.

One stone of raw silk, shipped from Hangzhou, costs about twenty taels of silver. When transported to Japan through sea trade, the value increases dozens of times, reaching a market price of two to three hundred taels of silver. If it is transported to Nanyang and traded in the West, the value will be about the same.

It was when Zheng Yuncheng was exploring business channels that he got in touch with Zheng Zhilong. Later, he found out that they were from the same clan, and they had a relationship.

Zheng Yunzhi visited Zheng Zhilong in Fujian during his study tour. At that time, Zheng Zhilong had been recruited by Xiong Tingbi.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Zheng Wu recognized Zheng Sen.

Zheng Wudao: "Both the eldest master and the Prime Minister have written to your father, but there has been no reply. Now war is unavoidable. Just stay with me and listen to my instructions sooner or later. Don't think too much about anything else."

The eldest master is Zheng Yuncheng. The Prime Minister of the Pastoral Council and the Minister of State Affairs for the whole country are Zheng Yunzhi.

Zheng Sen was silent.

Soon, as soon as Chongming Island was settled, Zheng Wu commanded his troops and headed straight for Tongzhou. At the time of Xu, the naval fleet arrived in Tongzhou and joined Wang Yuan, the king of Yangzhou Prefecture.