Chapter 833: Cut off the route is equivalent to stumbling

(0833)

In the era without radio waves, the transmission of information mainly relies on fast horses. The transmission of information on the ocean can only rely on fast ships. However, the speed of the ship is limited after all. In the case of smooth sailing, it will take at least five or six days to transmit information back to Guangdong from Brunei. Only when smooth sailing is smooth sailing, the speed is more ideal.

However, it is absolutely impossible to have a smooth wind. In ocean navigation, headwinds always account for the vast majority. On average, it will take at least fifteen days for each battle report to be delivered from Brunei to Xu Xingxia. If Xu Xingxia wants to receive the battle report from Nanyang as soon as possible, he can only be as close as possible to Nanyang.

Fortunately, Emperor Taichang has agreed to implement a constitutional monarchy and hand over the substantial power in his hands. The White-Clothed Army has entered Jinling City. All the original Ming army have been dissolved. The original systems of the Ming Dynasty were incompatible with the laws and regulations of the White-Clothed Army and have all been abolished. The new "Ming Law" is being drafted tensely.

Emperor Taichang's abandonment of power means that the White-Clothed Army officially completed its rule over the Central Plains. The integration of various resources, the concentrated mobilization of talents, and the efficiency was greatly improved. This is also the reason why the White-Clothed Army Navy can develop rapidly. If you have money, people, and raw materials, you will not worry about not having warships. As long as Xu Xingxia is willing, many warships can be made.

There are many shipyards in Jiangnan. Shipyards in Jinling, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Quanzhou and other places are quite large in scale. Especially the famous Longjiang Shipyard. The main treasure ship of Zheng He's fleet was built in Longjiang Shipyard. After the implementation of the sea ban policy, many shipyards were abandoned. The same is true for the Longjiang Shipyard. After the White Army entered Jinling City, the Longjiang Shipyard was re-activated to help build large warships.

According to Xu Xingxia's requirements, Longjiang Shipyard will open fifty large docks to be responsible for the construction of "Tianshan"-class warships with a displacement of more than 1,500 tons. At the same time, it is responsible for the experiment and manufacturing of "Yellow River"-class warships with a displacement of 2,000 tons. Due to the need for the construction of the Longjiang Shipyard, more than 30,000 people were recruited near Jinling City.

After a brief identification, the disbanded Nanming army became civilians on the spot and entered the Longjiang Shipyard continuously. Xu Xingxia implemented militarized management of the Longjiang Shipyard. He adopted the method of building a corps in later generations and specially formed a Longjiang Shipyard, which was directly under the jurisdiction of the Shipbuilding Department. The main task of this corps was to build ships. The shipbuilding day and night, day and night, persistently built ships.

In addition to the Longjiang Shipyard, Xu Xingxia has also formed similar shipbuilding corps in Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Leizhou, Yazhou and other places. All the commanders of the corps were selected by Xu Xingxia himself. Incorporating the shipyard into militarized management, the shipbuilding efficiency and quality have been greatly improved, effectively ensuring the needs ahead.

In the spring of the fourth year of Taichang, the Shipbuilding Department had a total of eight large shipyards, including Dengzhou, Longjiang, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Leizhou, and Yazhou. The number of docks in each shipyard was between 30 and 50. The total number of docks in the total number exceeded 300. In other words, construction of 300 large warships can be started at the same time.

Based on the common Wutaishan-class warship with a displacement of 1,000 tons, the construction period is about nine months. If all docks are used to build Wutaishan-class warships, it only takes nine months, and the White-Clothed Navy can obtain more than 300 Tianshan-class warships. Such construction speed and such construction quantity are absolutely unprecedented.

Of course, this is just the most ideal number. In fact, the White Army Navy cannot use all docks to produce Tianshan-class warships, and also produce other types of warships. At the same time, some docks must also undertake research tasks. Therefore, the number of warships obtained by the White Army Navy each year is about 250.

It is absolutely no exaggeration to describe the White-Clothed Navy as a nouveau riche. It took only three years to go from being poor and rich now. By the four years of Taichang, the White-Clothed Navy had more than 200 warships with displacement of more than 500 tons. Such strength can definitely be regarded as second to none on the sea surface in the east.

The only weakness of the White-Clothed Navy is that its software cannot keep up. To be more precise, it is that its talents cannot keep up. The Navy does not mean that it has combat effectiveness with large warships. No matter how powerful the warship is, it needs to be driven by people. The strength of the Navy is often reflected in the quality of personnel. If the composition of combat power, warships account for 50% and personnel also account for 50%. But the weakest part of the White-Clothed Navy is currently the weakest link.

The expansion speed of the White-Clothed Navy was too fast, and it was impossible to find so many skilled sailors. The original Ming Dynasty implemented a policy of banning the sea for hundreds of years, which led to a very shortage of civilian sailors. In the coastal areas, there were not many people with experience in going to sea. Therefore, Xu Xingxia's mission to the Navy was still mainly trained and supplemented by external expansion. The more time the White-Clothed Navy mastered, the higher the level of training and the stronger the combat effectiveness.

In addition to military shipyards, Xu Xingxia also vigorously advocated the development of private shipyards, advocated private shipbuilding, and advocated the active participation of private people in maritime trade. He lifted all restrictions on maritime trade. As long as you have the strength, can afford ships, and can afford sailors, you can participate in maritime trade. The tax on maritime trade is also fixed at around 10. Apart from this tax, there is no other tax.

Obviously, Xu Xingxia's policy is still very exciting for the development of private maritime trade. In the past, maritime trade was controlled by several powerful families, and ordinary people had no chance to participate. Otherwise, they would definitely be attacked by the joint efforts of several major families. But now, this risk no longer exists.

In front of the bayonets of the White Army, all major families, including the Ye family, have been greatly suppressed. Not only have their official positions been lost, their armed servants have been disbanded, and their land has been registered. All properties are also registered as a basis for future tax collection.

According to Xu Xingxia's instructions, the first thing the White Army did after entering Jiangnan was to issue laws and collect taxes uniformly. As long as there were land, no matter who you were, you must pay the taxes truthfully. In this way, those landlords with extensive land could not enjoy the tax exemption. They had to hand over part of their benefits.

Of course, it is okay to not hand over. The consequence of not hand over is that the home is confiscated, the clan is exterminated, and all the land is divided. In Suzhou, Changzhou and other places, some big landlords do not believe in evil, gathered together and tried to fight against the white-clothed army. As a result, with the order, all the big landlords involved in the confrontation were wiped out. Their land was also taken back to the country.

Realizing that the White Army was definitely not a joke, the other landlords obediently counted their land acres and took the initiative to pay taxes in advance to avoid causing death. As a result, the White Army had just entered Jiangnan and collected more than 10 million taels of silver in terms of fields. The taxes collected in the commercial field exceeded 20 million taels of silver. The various taxes paid by Songjiang Prefecture alone exceeded 1 million taels of silver. The taxes paid by Yuegang merchants also exceeded 1 million taels of silver.

"No, right? Oh my god, what have I been doing before?"

The most surprising thing about this number is probably Emperor Taichang.

When the Southern Ming Dynasty was still here, it was really turbulent and the treasury was too tight. Even rats could starve to death. Emperor Taichang practiced ruthless economies and repeatedly reduced expenses, but it was still a skilled woman who could cook without rice. Such a little bit of pitiful income was not enough to pay the salary of officials. In order to raise money, Emperor Taichang wanted to break his head.

Emperor Taichang had thought of collecting taxes from landlords, bureaucrats, and merchants, but his ministers politely rejected them. The ministers below all told him that the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan actually had no money at all. They all said that they were glamorous on the surface, but they were actually rotten inside. The taxes with them were detrimental for thousands of years, and they were to be played with and scolded by future generations. Emperor Taichang, who was not familiar with the people, believed it and put it aside.

As a result, unexpectedly, when the White Army arrived, no means were useful, they earned 30 million taels of silver! If the White Army used some methods, I was afraid that this number could be doubled or even quadrupled. In an instant, Emperor Taichang hated **xing to death, Ye Xianggao and others, and vowed to pay the price.

"This group of bastards! I must ask you to pay the price!"

Sure enough, after Emperor Taichang gave up his power, he was worried that his life would be boring, so he decisively found his life goal. He vowed that for the rest of his life, he would definitely vomit out all their wealth.

Humph, you used to unite and deceive me and make me feel uncomfortable. Now, I just have time to make you trouble. This is something that I am afraid of**xing and Ye Xianggao, and others who never expected.

"What is the dream of a slave?"

"free.

"wrong."

"Isn't freedom the slaves most yearn for?"

"What slaves yearn for the most is that they also own a large number of slaves."

“…”

...

The spring of the fourth year of Taichang is still late.

However, the sea on the South China Sea had undergone great changes. The most important change was that the atmosphere of the war was getting stronger and stronger. Whether it was the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Italians and the French, they could clearly feel that there was a shocking battle between the White Navy and the Dutch Navy.

Under the strong atmosphere of war, some merchant ships who were worried about being affected decisively left the South Ocean Sea and headed to the Indian Ocean to avoid the limelight. Even the Spanish merchant ships made the same choice. Except for the merchant fleet, the naval fleets of all forces were highly concentrated and stared at the surroundings with vigilance, fearing that they would miss any details.

After the news of Seidorf being captured alive by the White Navy spread, the Dutch's prestige suffered a very serious blow. If the news had not been repeatedly verified, I'm afraid no one would believe that the commander of the Dutch Far East Fleet was captured alive by the White Navy. For a moment, the cowardice and incompetence of the Dutch were circulating throughout the South China Sea.

The battle at the port next to Balin made the Dutch feel that there was no other solution besides war. Because the White Navy has fully demonstrated that they did not mean to sit down with the Dutch to negotiate. Even if the Dutch took the initiative to issue a negotiation request, the White Army would not agree. Instead of sending it to the face and being slapped, it would be better to give it a try. The Dutch still has a certain degree of confidence in their maritime military power.

However, the strength of the White-Clothed Navy is also increasing. The White-Clothed Navy not only stood its foothold in the port next to Ba, but also established a solid port in Dernat. At this strategic point of Brunei, the White-Clothed Navy also made nails. The local indigenous royal family also allowed the White-Clothed Navy to dock at the Brunei port.

Of course, the promises of the indigenous royals are not worthwhile. None of the forces on the South China Sea will take any indigenous royals seriously. The indigenous royals at the Brunei port allow the White-Clothed Navy to be stationed has no impact on the strength of the South China Sea. However, there is a very deadly place in politics. This is exactly what the White-Clothed Army seizes.

No matter which country's power is, it has not actually included all parts of the Southeast Asian region into its own territory. This means that, politically speaking, the South Asian archipelago is actually the most powerful. Those indigenous royals are nominally the masters of various places. The white-clothed navy used bayonet methods to force the indigenous royals of Brunei to order the Dutch merchant ships to be banned from docking.

As we all know, Brunei is basically in the center on the map of Southeast Asia. Merchant ships traveling between Manila and Malacca generally dock in Brunei. Dutch merchant ships are of course no exception. However, the White Navy has made such a move that it is to directly block a very important trade route for Dutch merchant ships. Cutting off the route is equivalent to being choked.

The senior officials and directors of the Dutch East India Company were almost mad at the various provocations of the White Army Navy. However, they had no choice. Because, except for iron and blood, no other means could be resolved. However, Esco did not have enough confidence in defeating the White Army Navy.

Fortunately, at the most critical moment, the support of the Dutch finally arrived. At the end of April of the fourth year of Taichang, Dutch Admiral Robben led more than 50 large warships to appear on the Nanyang Sea near Jakarta. The morale of the Dutch suddenly increased.

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