However, Ke Zhiming's next words made the already troubled magnates feel as if their heads were about to explode.
"According to intelligence provided by our brothers in the Heaven and Earth Society, Zhu Zhongqu is merely a puppet emperor pushed forward by the Ruan, Huang, Mei, Dai, and Xu families. Real power is largely held by these families.
"Of course, that's not the critical point. The critical point is that these families likely possess the manufacturing blueprints and documentation for the treasure ships.
"Furthermore, the previous sea ban imposed by the Qing did not completely halt the maritime smuggling businesses of these families, so they are not lacking in shipbuilding technology or the timber required for construction.
"From this perspective, our Great Ming navy is at a significant disadvantage. Neither the Deng-Lai Navy nor the Fujian Navy under Lin Shuangwen currently possesses warships capable of engaging the treasure ships in naval battles.
"The current problem is that we don't know when they will launch the treasure ships. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the brothers of the Heaven and Earth Society are all working to gather more information."
In reality, the news that Zhu Zhongqu might possess treasure ship manufacturing technology gave Zhu Jinsong, the穿越者 emperor, a considerable headache.
As a veteran netizen who had frequented online forums for years, Zhu Jinsong had long suspected that that old dog Qianlong had burned the treasure ship blueprints and documentation and framed Liu Daxia. He also knew that Qianlong was incompetent, but Zhu Jinsong never expected Qianlong to be so utterly useless as to allow the treasure ship blueprints and documentation to fall into civilian hands.
Of course, if the Ruan, Huang, Mei, Dai, and Xu families merely possessed the blueprints and documentation, it wouldn't be as dire. After all, blueprints alone couldn't build treasure ships without pre-prepared high-quality timber.
The critical issue was that the Ruan and Huang families actually had air-dried timber prepared in advance, which was extremely problematic.
During the Qianlong era, the treasure ships were almost an unsolvable threat.
Although the treasure ship technology dated back to the Yongle era, and by Qianlong's time, over three hundred years had passed, even after nearly four hundred years, the treasure ships were not much inferior to the most advanced English "Victory" class battleships of that era.
The Victory was laid down in 1759 and completed in 1765, consuming over 2,000 oak trees and 38 tons of iron. She had a displacement of 2,162 tons, a length of 67.8 meters, a beam of 15 meters, and featured three gun decks armed with 102 cast-iron cannons and 2 carronades.
The treasure ship from the first voyage to the West in 1405 was forty-four zhang and four chi long, and eighteen zhang wide, approximately 140-150 meters long and about 56 meters wide. It carried over 20 broadside cannons and had a displacement of nearly ten thousand tons. Even smaller treasure ships had a displacement of over two thousand tons.
Given the tendency of the common folk in the Central Plains to learn (and replicate), the Ruan and Huang families would absolutely not build treasure ships strictly according to the original blueprints. Instead, they would undoubtedly incorporate the advantages of the European warships they had encountered.
While retaining the watertight compartments and large hulls, they would extensively use steel, increase the number of cannons, add multiple gun decks, and even equip them with specialized weaponry like French cannons, Tiger's Roar cannons, and Fire Dragon Emerging from Water. For long-range combat, cannons would be used. For close combat… given the size of the treasure ships, it was unlikely any other vessel would willingly engage in boarding actions, as the advantage of height and sheer numbers would be too great.
This was precisely Zhu Jinsong's own plan.
Therefore, if the Ruan, Huang, Mei, Dai, and Xu families managed to build the treasure ships first, Zhu Jinsong, the emperor of Great Ming, would likely be utterly vexed.
This was not an impossibility.
Ever since Qianlong adopted his turtle strategy, the families of Ruan, Mei, Dai, and Xu, who occupied Zhejiang, had entered a mode of silently accumulating wealth. Who knew if they had already started building treasure ships?
What was even more infuriating was that neither the Deng-Lai Navy nor the Fujian Navy had any warships capable of countering the treasure ships. The "Victory" class warships ordered from Howard would likely take several years to arrive. Most of the existing warships were small vessels from the Qing's Deng-Lai Navy, and they were no match for treasure ships.
As for building their own…
Zhu Jinsong, the穿越者 emperor, could produce hand grenades, improve flintlock muskets, and was not stumped by the era's machine tools. However, Zhu Jinsong could not produce genuine warships.
Neither the "Militiaman's Training Manual" nor the "Friend of Dual-Purpose Talents" provided methods for building warships. Zhu Jinsong could only offer ideas to the master craftsmen to the best of his ability.
Even building treasure ships according to the blueprints and documentation offered little hope. Shipbuilding not only required skilled artisans and pre-prepared timber and steel but also took years.
For instance, the timber requirements were stringent. Not all trees could be used for shipbuilding. Secondly, after felling, the logs had to be immersed in water for two to three years and then air-dried for another three to four years. It was crucial that it was air-dried, not sun-dried.
Zhu Jinsong's territories did not have a sufficient quantity of pre-soaked and air-dried timber suitable for shipbuilding.
After all, since Emperor Kangxi began his policy of population displacement and sea ban, there were almost no places requiring shipbuilding in the Shandong region. Consequently, there was no pre-stored timber for shipbuilding.
After mentally cursing Qianlong and all his ancestors, Zhu Jinsong looked at the assembled magnates and said, "Whether or not Zhu Zhongqu possesses treasure ships, our Great Ming does not currently have them. And the warships ordered from Howard will likely not arrive for at least another half a year.
"This means that during this period, we will likely be at a disadvantage when facing Zhu Zhongqu's navy at sea. I have called you all here to hear your suggestions."
The navy was completely different from the army. In the cold weapon era, building a formidable land army might take ten years. In the firearms era, it might take even less time. However, in both eras, building a formidable navy required time measured in decades, if not centuries.
Therefore, since the Great Ming navy might not be able to contend with Zhu Zhongqu's navy, they had to find other solutions.
After Zhu Jinsong finished speaking, the magnates present furrowed their brows.
Theoretically, shore-based artillery could be used to defend against these warships. However, it was important to remember that these warships also carried artillery that could engage shore batteries. The only difference lay in range and ammunition quantity. Moreover, warships could move, while shore batteries were fixed in place.
As the saying goes, a thief can operate for a thousand days, but a guard cannot be vigilant for a thousand days.
Without a capable navy, defending a long coastline solely relying on shore artillery would require an amount of manpower and resources that was simply despairing.
Of course, besides building a navy, another way to defend a long coastline was to emulate the actions of Qianlong's grandfather, Emperor Kangxi, and implement a policy of population displacement and sea ban, evacuating coastal residents inland, clearing the areas near the long coastline, and securing crucial checkpoints.
This way, even if Zhu Zhongqu's navy launched amphibious landings, Zhu Jinsong's army could respond with ease.
However, the crucial issue was that after occupying Shandong and Fujian, Zhu Jinsong had already lifted the sea ban, allowing residents to settle by the coast and fish. Currently, there were numerous fishermen residing along the coasts of Deng-Lai and Fujian.
Evacuating civilians in anticipation of naval battles was one thing. But implementing a policy of population displacement and sea ban like Emperor Kangxi would not only require immense manpower and resources but also potentially lead to unrest.
After a long silence, Liu Niu, who was in charge of the Left Army Command, spoke, "The Deng-Lai Navy, even if it has only a single soldier left, will not allow Zhu Zhongqu's forces to break through the Deng-Lai Navy's defense line."
Zhu Erdan also said, "While Zhu Zhongqu's treasure ships have not yet been deployed, I will lead a contingent to Fujian."
Although most of the Deng-Lai Navy soldiers were originally from the Qing's Deng-Lai Navy, after reforms, the current Deng-Lai Navy had undergone a complete transformation. Their claim to fight to the last soldier was genuine.
The Fujian Navy, on the other hand, consisted mostly of veteran soldiers who had revolted alongside Lin Shuangwen from the Great Ryukyu. The entire Fujian Navy was currently under Lin Shuangwen's administration, so Zhu Erdan did not dare to make any rash guarantees. He could only go himself to assess the current situation of the Fujian Navy.
However, Zhu Jinsong shook his head and said, "You have almost no understanding of naval warfare. What good would it do if you went to Fujian? Currently, the Fujian Navy is under Lin Shuangwen's command. Lin Shuangwen has fought naval battles against the Qing forces and is more reliable than you.
"More importantly, since Zhu Zhongqu and his allies intend to jointly attack our Great Ming, their strategy will inevitably be primarily land-based, with naval operations as a secondary support.
"With over twenty allied armies and such a large number of troops, our Great Ming's forces, except for the Rear Army Command responsible for defending against the Qing army in the north, will have to be deployed almost entirely.
Saying this, Zhu Jinsong took a deep breath and continued, "Although Zhu Zhongqu and his cohorts initiated this conflict, we absolutely cannot sit idly in Shandong and wait for them to attack.
"Furthermore, since these rebels have gathered together, it means they will not have many troops left in their rear. This is our opportunity. We must find a way to carry the war into their territory."
As Zhu Jinsong finished speaking, the assembled magnates fell into an eerie silence. Even Liu Huaiwen, who had been clamoring for a larger war earlier, was now quiet.
Deploying all forces and carrying the war into the rebels' territory was easy to say, but the financial and logistical costs involved would be astronomical.
Moreover, no one knew if that scoundrel Qianlong would take the opportunity to send troops south.
After a period of vexed deliberation, Zhu Erdan stood up and declared, "I will lead the Front Army Command directly to Anhui. I would like to see if these allied rebel forces can unite to deal with our advance into Anhui."
Geng Rui, in charge of the Right Army Command, also stood up and said, "I will go to Shaanxi, lead the Right Army Command's troops to march south directly from Shaanxi, recover all of Shaanxi, and then divide our forces into two routes: one towards Sichuan and the other towards Hubei.
"Just as Erdan and Uncle Huaiwen said, if we are to fight, let's fight big. I also do not believe that these hastily assembled allied forces can act in unison."
Zhu Jinsong nodded and said, "Then it is settled! Prepare for war!"
...
The Great Ming court under Zhu Jinsong's rule was like a vast and incredibly precise war machine.
As Emperor Zhu Jinsong issued the order for war, the first to act was the "Great Ming Gazette." Zhu Jinsong published an article directly in the newspaper, stating that the timing of the war's commencement was decided by ambitious individuals like Zhu Zhongqu, but the conclusion of the war should be decided by Great Ming.
Concurrently, various local government offices under Great Ming began preparing supplies. For instance, the government offices and farmer associations in Deng-Lai and Fujian started evacuating coastal populations.
Following this, the Five Army Command also began recalling veteran soldiers who had retired in the past two years. The existing six army corps under the Five Army Command were expanded to a scale of six army corps.