Chapter 267: Zhao Han's Beggar Navy

Over the next few days, the Zheng father and son lingered in Guangzhou, dining and chatting idly with Zhao Han every day.

Zheng Zhilong had brought his fleet this time, so he could do business on the side; his men were busy purchasing all sorts of goods.

On the fifth day after Zheng Zhilong arrived in Guangzhou, the Great Ming Guangzhou Naval Force surrendered completely.

In fact, they had already surrendered long before — because the families of the naval officers and men all lived in the coastal guard stations. Only a few ships had fled; now they had all finally returned, and the warships were taken over by Zhao Han's men.

Zheng Zhilong and his son Zheng Sen accompanied Zhao Han to inspect the naval force. When they reached the military harbor, both father and son could not help smiling.

A very peculiar sort of smile.

"Commander, the Guangzhou Naval Force is all here," Wan Bangyan reported.

Wan Bangyan was a son of a concubine from a great clan in Linjiang. He had previously been the third-ranking figure in the Jiangxi Riverine Force, and now he had brought some riverine officers and men to Guangdong to build a navy for Zhao Han.

Zhao Han sighed: "The burden is heavy and the road is long."

Wan Bangyan elaborated: "The Guangdong Naval Force is divided into eastern, central, and western routes, assigned 600, 1,200, and 104 guard-station troops respectively, and authorized to recruit 500, 1,000, and 500 seamen. The eastern and western routes of the Guangdong Naval Force are virtually dead in all but name; only the central-route Guangzhou Naval Force before us remains. It has three Xinhui ships, plus several dozen wucao boats, tugboats, and other small craft."

The Guangzhou Naval Force laid out before Zhao Han could no longer be described as merely shabby — it looked positively beggarly.

Only the three double-decked Xinhui ships barely looked the part.

As for those wucao boats, commonly called 'bird boats' — damn it, those were originally just fishing boats! Only eleven meters long, a mere 2.3 meters wide, single-decked, usable only for coastal patrols. And there were just thirteen of even these things; the rest were practically indistinguishable from fishing boats.

Zhao Han said: "Have them drill ashore for a month, train their discipline, and dismiss every last one who won't obey!"

"Yes, sir!" Wan Bangyan acknowledged the order.

Zhao Han turned to Zheng Zhilong and said: "Brother Zheng, might I tour your flagship?"

"Of course, my worthy brother, please," Zheng Zhilong said with a smile.

Zhao Han said to Wan Bangyan: "You come too, and learn all you can."

Zheng Zhilong's flagship was also a bird boat — but one bird boat is not the equal of another.

This was a great bird boat with a double-deck, multi-masted forecastle-and-sterncastle layout, with cannons mounted on the forecastle, sterncastle, and broadsides.

"A fine ship!"

Once aboard, Zhao Han could only manage words like that; he understood nothing of the technical details.

"Is this a Folangji cannon?" Wan Bangyan asked.

Zheng Zhilong explained: "An improved version — it fires faster, shoots farther, and hits harder."

Wan Bangyan stared at those Folangji cannons, nearly drooling on the spot. The Jiangxi Riverine Force also had a small number of Folangji cannons, but compared to the ones on this ship, they looked like a ragged grandson meeting his grandfather.

After touring the broadside cannons, Zheng Zhilong led them to inspect the forecastle and sterncastle.

Wan Bangyan gaped: "Th-this... is this a Great Red General Cannon?"

"You could call it that," Zheng Zhilong said with a faint smile.

This was utterly insane — that thing was meant as a coastal defense gun or a city-wall defense gun; no one had ever seen one mounted on a ship!

Amid his shock and awe, Wan Bangyan was also puzzled: "There's no need to mount a Great General Cannon for naval warfare. That thing has a slow rate of fire and poor accuracy; mounted on a ship, it fires even slower and aims even worse."

"It wasn't mounted on ships before, only in the last few years," Zheng Zhilong explained. "These Great Red General Cannons are specially meant for dealing with the red-haired barbarian devils!"

The Portuguese of the present day had very good relations with the Great Ming. Although daily frictions never ceased, they all revolved around the administration of Macao. If a foreign enemy appeared, the Great Ming and Portugal invariably joined hands; even if Portugal did not directly intervene, it would secretly assist the Guangzhou Naval Force.

They were this docile because Portugal had already declined and was also held by the throat over grain supplies by the Great Ming; they had to cling to the Great Ming to survive.

The entire South China Sea region was a contest for dominance between Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong's strategy and tactics all had to be refined with the Dutch in mind.

Zhao Han asked: "Can this kind of great bird boat handle the red-haired barbarian devils' warships?"

Zheng Zhilong laughed: "It is precisely with these great bird boats — I've built over twenty of them in recent years. However many of the red-haired barbarian devils' warships come, that's how many we'll finish off!"

"Why are you so certain?" Zhao Han asked.

Zheng Zhilong explained: "My worthy brother may not know this, but those red-haired barbarian devils' warships are unlike the warships of any other nation. Relying on their sailing speed, they never form a battle line — they just charge forward recklessly. Once they close in, they suppress you with heavy guns and win with fireships or boarding actions. My improved great bird boats are built specifically to thrash the red-haired barbarian devils!"

The decisive weapons of seventeenth-century naval warfare were the first-, second-, and third-rate ships of the line.

However, because of their enormous size, too many guns, and high center of gravity, they were mainly used for coastal operations; deep-ocean voyaging in them was pure suicide.

The Dutch warship was an anomaly — they abandoned first- and second-rate ships of the line and concentrated on building third-rates.

Moreover, they mounted only a small number of heavy guns, thereby keeping the center of gravity low and reducing deadweight, making them highly maneuverable under sail and capable of sailing directly to Asia.

The navies of England, France, and other nations habitually used line-of-battle tactics. When they faced the Dutch navy, the Dutch warships simply charged in a wild rush, suppressed them with heavy guns at close range, and then won by boarding or with fireships.

In a word: the wild punches beat the old master.

Zheng Zhilong's great bird boats were custom-made to cure defiance — their inshore maneuverability surpassed that of the Dutch warships, and the Great General Cannons on the forecastle and sterncastle could suppress the Dutch heavy guns.

Once they closed in, while the Dutch were still preparing to launch their fireships, Zheng Zhilong would already be unleashing rocket-propelled incendiaries.

The two sides had clashed many times; the Dutch had never won once.

Of course, Zheng Zhilong's great bird boats were barely adequate for deep-ocean capability. Once in the open sea, if they encountered complex conditions, their performance immediately dropped sharply.

As the great bird boat sailed out of the Pearl River toward the sea, Zheng Zhilong pointed to a spot on the shore and said: "That is the Humen Fort. It's almost completely abandoned. My worthy brother should make sure to repair it properly."

"Many thanks for the reminder, elder brother." The moment Zhao Han heard the name Humen, he immediately grew vigilant.

Zheng Zhilong said: "Those ruins at the Humen Fort were blown up by the Saxons a few years ago."

"Saxons?" Zhao Han did not understand.

Zheng Zhilong said: "That is what the Folangji people call them. It might be 'Sekexun,' or it might be 'Sakesun' — sometimes they also call it some 'Yin'-something country."

Zhao Han suddenly saw the light — this was England!

But he was even more puzzled: "The Saxons have come to the Great Ming too?"

"They came a few years ago, fought a battle, paid 2,800 taels of silver in reparations, and fled before their cargo holds were even full," Zheng Zhilong shook his head and sighed. "The Western barbarians in the Southern Seas are growing more and more numerous; who knows what country will turn up next."

Zhao Han felt like laughing when he heard this. England had come to Guangzhou to fight, and not only lost, but paid the Great Ming 2,800 taels of silver in reparations?

"Who commanded that battle?" Zhao Han wanted to recruit this man.

Zheng Zhilong's expression turned odd: "You know him. I know him. We've both been offered amnesty by him."

"Xiong Wencan?" Zhao Han asked.

"The very same," Zheng Zhilong nodded.

Zhao Han's expression turned extraordinarily vivid: "……"

During the Wanli years, the Queen granted the English East India Company a monopoly charter for the China trade. At the same time, Queen Elizabeth also wrote a letter to the Wanli Emperor: "Elizabeth, by the grace of God Queen of England and other realms, to the most great and invincible Prince, Your Majesty…"

An accident occurred en route; the English fleet failed to arrive, and the Queen's letter naturally could not be delivered either.

Not until the Chongzhen years did the first English fleet finally reach Guangzhou.

Unfamiliar with China, the English sought out the Portuguese in Macao, hoping they could help make contact with Ming officials.

The Portuguese outwardly agreed, then turned around and spoke ill of the English, slandering them in every possible way before the Ming officials.

When the English saw they were getting no response, they attacked directly with force, seizing the Humen Fort by surprise and compelling the Ming authorities to trade with England.

Xiong Wencan, an official who loved peace, promised that free trade would be permitted in the future so long as England returned the thirty-five cannons taken at Humen.

Both sides had reached an agreement when the English ships suddenly sailed into Guangzhou's inner river, attempting to use force to compel the Ming to sign an unequal treaty.

Xiong Wencan, furious at being played for a fool, dispatched three warships to attack — the very three Xinhui ships now in Zhao Han's hands.

Two English warships were damaged, several dozen English sailors wounded, and the English fleet fled in disarray from Guangzhou's inner river.

The more the English brooded, the angrier they grew. On the way back they burned three Chinese merchant ships and went ashore to steal thirty pigs to vent their rage. Then they blew up part of the Humen Fort; after leaving the Pearl River, they burned yet another Chinese merchant ship.

Xiong Wencan burned with fury, mustering naval forces and merchant ships to prepare a punitive expedition. The English hastily fled to Macao to take shelter.

Under Portuguese mediation, the two sides signed a peace agreement: England paid the Ming 2,800 taels of silver in reparations, and after trading, they were to get out of Guangzhou waters immediately.

Such was the first intimate encounter between China and England.

After hearing this, and looking again at the wrecked Humen Fort, Zhao Han felt England's war reparations had been far too small.

Zheng Zhilong said, "These Western barbarians are all the same — beat them into submission and they'll behave. The Franks used to be just as arrogant; after being dealt with a few times, they now huddle in Macao like a dog kept by the Ming. The red-haired devils have attacked the Ming coast repeatedly — Guangzhou itself has been hit twice — and they still haven't been thoroughly beaten into submission."

"They fear power but do not cherish virtue — all barbarians are like this," Zhao Han nodded.

Zheng Zhilong said, "How about we set a trap?"

Zhao Han smiled. "What sort of trap?"

Zheng Zhilong said, "Announce that the red-haired devils are forbidden from trading at Guangzhou. They will absolutely come to attack — one hundred percent, no mistake, I know the red-haired devils too well. When they do, I'll lie in ambush at sea, and you, worthy brother, will lie in ambush in the inner river. We'll strike from within and without and give the red-haired devils a real beating!"

Zhao Han fell silent, thinking. Once the Dutch were crippled, Zheng Zhilong would have sole dominance over the seas.

Zheng Zhilong suddenly said, "Worthy brother, I can give you some shipwrights. Build your own shipyard and manufacture warships. What do you say?"

"Elder brother shows such sincerity — your foolish younger brother is naturally willing to cooperate," Zhao Han agreed at once.

Their cooperation grew closer still, for Zheng Zhilong had revealed his true intentions.

This great pirate seemed genuinely ready to submit, likely hoping to enter the court and become a high official, or be enfeoffed as a duke or marquis to bring glory to his ancestors.

(End of chapter)