Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 341: Chapter 330: Sea Area Forces

”Hmm, it is said that the Li Sheng Dynasty dispatched tens of thousands of Navy Soldiers, over a hundred warships, and in the end, only a dozen small boats returned!”

”This very defeat led to turmoil within the Li Sheng Dynasty; starting from the year before last, many rebel armies emerged within the dynasty, and the Li family’s Royal Family suffered loss after loss, nearly losing half of their territory. But as for the current situation, I’m not quite clear!”

Sun Cheng said.

Recently, for most of the past half year, he had stayed in the Tenglong Guard, with very little understanding of the changes in the outside world. Naturally, he also didn’t know what the situation has been like in the Li Sheng Dynasty during this half year.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, ”Indeed, the outside world is fascinating—pirates, dynasties, rebel armies, haha, it truly is lively!”

Sun Cheng chuckled and said, ”Speaking of lively, the Southeast Sea Domain is the liveliest!”

As he spoke, he unfolded the lower part of the sea map, revealing the Da Rong Southeast Sea Domain.

Yang Zhenshan had seen the sea maps around Da Rong and had many impressions of the Da Rong Southeast Sea Domain, with the biggest impression being that there were many islands.

In the Da Rong Northeast Sea Domain, the Li Sheng Dynasty and the Desheng Dynasty dominated, which also had many islands, but mostly those near the coast.

However, the Da Rong Southeast Sea Domain was different; islands big and small were connected like dots in a starry night sky, countless in number.

”My lord, here is the Lv Sheng Dynasty, here is the An Nan Dynasty, and here is the Jinlong Dynasty!”

Both the Lv Sheng Dynasty and the Jinlong Dynasty were located in the Da Rong Southeast Sea Domain, with their territories situated like two pieces of broad beans next to Da Rong.

The An Nan Dynasty was not an island dynasty but a land-based one, located to the south of Da Rong, with a long coastline, and also considered a dynasty of the Da Rong Southeast Sea Domain.

”Besides these three dynasties, the Southeast Sea Domain also features Star Moon Island, Divine Wood Island, Earth Fire Island, Jiuxing Island, and others, all harboring their own forces. They claim to be Sects instead of pirates, but behind the scenes, they have dealings with many pirates, and many pirates are supported by them!”

”Star Moon Island, which is also known as the Star Moon Sect, has many connections with the Lv Sheng Dynasty. It is rumored that the Star Moon Sect has always wanted to replace the Lv Sheng Dynasty and establish their own dynasty!”

Yang Zhenshan slightly gaped; he naturally knew of the Star Moon Sect, as he had previously dealt with the Yuheng Star Hall of the Star Moon Sect.

He didn’t expect that the Star Moon Sect had such grand ambitions to establish their own dynasty.

”Besides these Sect forces, the rest are composed of pirate and sea merchant forces. The relationships among pirates and sea merchants are intricate and difficult to sort out.”

”This densely populated array of islands harbors hundreds of pirate groups; the strong ones boast tens of thousands of members, part merchants and part pirates, while the weaker ones may only consist of a few hundred, extremely brutal!”

Sun Cheng spoke slowly.

After listening, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but exclaim, ”No wonder the court has always been unable to eliminate the pirate problem, how could they possibly eradicate it?”

Sun Cheng showed a bitter expression, ”How difficult is it to eliminate the pirate issue?”

”My lord might not know, but some pirates are likely supported by these dynasties. A hundred years ago, during the era of Emperor Dezong, pirates invaded the southeast coast of Da Rong more than a dozen times each year!”

”In those days, Emperor Dezong built sixty-seven fortresses along the coast, established nearly a hundred garrisons and Inspection Bureaus, and formed a Navy force of a hundred thousand to quell the pirate disturbances. It took ten years to suppress the pirate turmoil!”

”However, quelling the pirate disturbances greatly weakened our Da Rong’s national power. Having lost the court’s support, the hundred thousand Navy force quickly deteriorated, and now our Da Rong Navy is only confined to coastal waters, with no strength for long-range expeditions!”

Sun Cheng shook his head regretfully.

Da Rong had been through ups and downs for over three hundred years, facing many critical moments.

Today, inside Da Rong, there are numerous corrupted and degenerated areas; Emperor Chengping is like a paperhanger patching up here and there, barely preventing such a great ship from sinking.

Indeed, the more Yang Zhenshan knows of Da Rong’s history, the more he feels that Emperor Chengping has not had it easy.

When Emperor Chengping ascended to the throne, the condition of Da Rong was precarious.

On the court, because of Emperor Chengping’s somewhat illegitimate ascension, it was tumultuous and fraught with crises, taking him several years to gain control of the court’s situation.

In the North, the Hu Clans watched eagerly; the East Sea Hu Clan and Wuliang Hu Clan invaded year after year until the Black Cloud Mountain battle weakened the East Sea Hu Clan’s primordial Qi, finally bringing tranquility to the Northern border.

The rebellions of the Southwest chieftains took ten years to suppress.

In the Southeast Sea Domain, pirates frequently harassed coastal areas.

In recent years internally, Da Rong faced frequent natural disasters, with severe droughts in Chongshan Town and Hengshan Prefecture, and severe flooding in Kui Prefecture, and so on.

With one issue after another, if it were a different Emperor, today’s Da Rong might be in a chaotic era, but it is only Emperor Chengping stabilizing the court, patching up for the Da Rong Dynasty.

...

In the following two days, Yang Zhenshan stayed on the ship, either consulting Sun Cheng about the distribution of maritime forces or observing Yu Tonghai training the Navy.

This naval outing was not merely for transporting goods or escorting merchant ships, but also for training.

Thus, during the voyage, the Navy Soldiers were constantly busy, incessantly changing formations and coordinating under the commands of Yu Tonghai.

The flagship issued commands through flag signals, drum sounds, and horns, and the surrounding warships changed direction and formation accordingly, coordinating with each other.

This was a test for every ship’s captain because communication at sea is relatively cumbersome, and sometimes the messages passed were not very accurate, requiring captains to interpret the flagship’s commands according to their own judgment.

They also needed to observe the surrounding friendly ships, ensuring no collisions occurred and that they could coordinate well.

For these reasons, the captains of the Tenglong Guard were mostly novices, although they had learned and trained near the coast for some time, venturing into the deep sea required gradual practice.

Yang Zhenshan stood behind Yu Tonghai, watching the warships vary their formations and noticing the clumsiness and panic in the soldiers’ maneuvers.

The most critical issue was that many ships in the rear were unable to receive orders.

”What should we do if the rear ships cannot receive commands during a storm?” Yang Zhenshan suddenly asked.

Yu Tonghai replied with a helpless tone, ”Then the captains will have to take charge and act freely!”

Whether signals are conveyed through flag signals or drum and horn sounds, neither method guarantees accurate transmission of information.

If this were on land, one could send a messenger, but at sea, one obviously cannot send someone swimming over. Sending a small boat is also impractical because of timeliness.

Once a battle begins, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. By the time the small boat delivers the order, the battle situation may have already shifted dramatically.

Yang Zhenshan frowned and looked up at the clear sky.

The departure day was chosen by him to coincide with the best weather, although his weather sensing has its limits. Yang Zhenshan has not specifically tested the range of his weather sensing, but he knows it should be quite extensive, possibly covering several hundred kilometers.

With the weather clear now, if even the rear ships fail to see the signals from the flagship, what if the weather turns stormy?

Passing commands down the line?

That wouldn’t work either!

Because the Navy doesn’t operate strictly on a hierarchical system. Aside from the flagship, the other ships are pretty much on the same level.

This is simply because different ships serve different purposes during combat.

For example, the scout ships are ahead scouting, the Hai Cang Ships are around the flagship acting as guard ships, while the deployment of Eagle Ships is much broader, some being on the periphery for alert, and others guarding close to the flagship.

Sequential command transmission is not feasible.

Yang Zhenshan continued to observe, his brow furrowed, when suddenly he saw Yu Tonghai shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, a look of astonishment appearing.

”Don’t you have a telescope?”

”Telescope? What is that?” Yu Tonghai asked, puzzled.

Yang Zhenshan facepalmed, feeling something was amiss. He always felt something was missing in Yu Tonghai’s hands, but it hadn’t come to him until Yu Tonghai shaded his eyes from the sun.

There are no telescopes!

”It’s something that allows you to see farther!” Yang Zhenshan explained.

Yu Tonghai shook his head blankly, ”What is that?”

Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment, then said helplessly, ”Never mind, we’ll discuss it later!”

The principle of manufacturing a telescope is simple, but producing the glass lenses is a bit troublesome.

He knew the main ingredient for making glass was silica sand, along with many auxiliary materials like soda ash, baking soda, and lime.

Making glass should not be too difficult, but achieving high transparency in glass is challenging.

Yang Zhenshan thought that when he returned, he could have someone experiment with this. It needs to be tested slowly and cannot be rushed.

...

After sailing for three days and two nights, by the evening of the third day, the fleet arrived in the coastal waters of Songhe Prefecture.

There had been no incidents along the way, and Yang Zhenshan was keen to encounter the pirates of this world, but to his disappointment, they had not met any.

The Jiangnan referred to by Da Rong includes Suzhou Prefecture, Hangzhou Prefecture, Sangzhou Prefecture, Hai State, Songhe Prefecture, and several other areas.

Among them, Songhe Prefecture is located in the southernmost part, and it’s the least prominent in Jiangnan.

However, their destination for this voyage was Songhe Prefecture.

After entering the coastal waters of Songhe Prefecture, Sun Cheng, along with a dozen guards, took a small boat to shore.

Around midnight, Sun Cheng came back on a small boat, but he was not alone; Luo Shang had returned with him.

”Greetings, my lord!” Upon boarding the Da Fu Ship and seeing Yang Zhenshan, Luo Shang immediately showed a delighted smile.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, ”When will we dock?”

”Tonight is possible!” Luo Shang pointed towards the southwest, ”The dock I bought is over there, not far from here!”

Though these warships and merchant ships belong to the Tenglong Guard, Yang Zhenshan can’t just openly take these ships to major ports.

It’s not that he can’t lead troops abroad privately; it’s normal for the Navy to conduct drills at sea. Since Da Rong doesn’t have clearly defined maritime boundaries, venturing a bit far doesn’t really matter. However, significant losses would be a different issue.

Yang Zhenshan primarily wants to avoid dealing with the Market Shipping Department. Going to those major ports would inevitably lead to inquiries by the Market Shipping Department, so it’s better to avoid them to prevent unnecessary trouble.

Under the guidance of Luo Shang, they soon arrived at a bay.

The bay was not large, surrounded by hills, with a rather small dock sufficient only for the merchant ships, but clearly inadequate for the Da Fu Ship.

Nevertheless, this place was secluded enough that, although the Da Fu Ship couldn’t dock, it could still enter the bay, which was hard to spot from surrounding areas.