Feng Ziying's guest is Shen Yourong.
Shen Yourong came here once a year ago, and this time he came back because he had a confrontation with his direct boss Wang Ziteng, which made Shen Yourong realize the seriousness of the problem before he came back to find Feng Ziying.
Shen Yourong had mixed feelings about Feng Ziying.
As a veteran in his early fifties, if he had no pursuit of an official career, he would not work tirelessly between his hometown, Fujian and the capital city. Now he can no longer take care of his hometown, but there is more Dengzhou, where It is the base of the Denglai Navy Fleet.
Of course, the pursuit of an official career is not for promotion and wealth, but for the realization of one's own ambitions.
Shen Yourong felt that although he was over fifty, his physical condition was in the prime of life and he was capable of taking on any more arduous and difficult challenges.
His many years of working experience in Liaodong and Fujian have made him very familiar with the sea conditions from Jinzhou to Yongping to Denglai to the Yangtze River Estuary and the Zhangzhou coast. This is an advantage that no one else has.
Seeing that the arrogance of the Japanese pirates at sea has not subsided, the Western Yi people have entered East Asia in large numbers. The Francois have occupied Sulu and Luzon. The Hongmao Fan is trying to get involved in the East Fan. Shen Yourong was always worried about the constant competition for spices.
It was no longer feasible for the Great Zhou Dynasty to follow the previous Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy. Especially after Shen Yourong felt the power of the Red Mao Fan's advanced ships, artillery and firecrackers, this pressure made him sleepless at night.
Although he repelled the Hong Mao Fan's interference in Penghu, Shen Yourong clearly realized that if his geographical advantages were not too great, the Great Zhou Navy would not be able to compete with the Hong Mao Fan's ships and artillery superiority. .
If the Great Zhou Dynasty did not catch up, the gap caused by this technological advantage would become larger and larger, and in the end it would overwhelm the geographical advantage. Especially since the imperial court's management of Dongfan was still careless, more people would be lost. In terms of form, it is even more dangerous.
If there is no strategy to open up the sea, then Shen Yourong is fine. The imperial government cannot be changed by a mere general like him.
But now that Xiao Feng Xiuzhuan proposed opening the sea and received strong support from the imperial court, this meant that the differences between the northern and southern scholars on the strategy had basically been bridged and implementation had begun, and the entire process was rapidly promoted.
The imperial court had newly established the Denglai Governor's Office. Shen Yourong had no objection to the appointment of an important minister like Wang Ziteng with a martial arts background as the Denglai Governor.
Wang Ziteng had many years of experience as a Jiedushi in the Beijing camp and as Governor of Xuanda. In addition, he was not only highly valued during the reign of Emperor Yuanxi, but also did not fall out of favor with the new emperor after entering the era of Emperor Yonglong. It was not unreasonable for such a person to serve as Governor of Denglai. It was a bad thing, but at least Shen Yourong was very excited and supportive when Wang Ziteng obtained millions of taels of silver from the court to build the Denglai governor-general.
But I didn't expect that although Wang Ziteng got so much money back, he spent all his attention on integrating the Denglai Guard Town and the Denglai Army, and had almost no time to pay attention to the construction of docks, shipyards and naval fleets. Governor Lay's intentions were completely inconsistent with this.
Shen Yourong heard from Feng Ziying that the imperial court had three purposes for establishing Governor Denglai.
First, build a powerful and elite naval fleet that can control the entire Bohai Sea and even the Blackwater Ocean and the Western Sea, ensuring that the transport fleet can land and dock anywhere around the Bohai Sea and North Korea. Of course, this landing and docking does not only refer to Goods refer to the army.
Second, find, become familiar with and open up the routes to the Whale Sea and the Ezo Land as soon as possible, and strive to control and master these routes, the Whale Sea and the Ezo Land, and ultimately connect the Jurchens in the East China Sea, including Qilemei, through sea routes. , to complete the pincer attack on the Jianzhou Jurchens.
Third, establish a capable Denglai army as a strong backing for the future armies of the two towns under the command of Governor Jiliao.
These three purposes are in order. The first one is undisputed and must be placed first. Then the construction from the dock to the shipyard is the first to bear the brunt, and then the construction of the naval fleet, ships , artillery and naval soldiers, all of which are indispensable.
The second and third goals can only be discussed if the first goal is successfully advanced. To open up routes and control sea areas, a naval fleet is needed. Similarly, the Denglai Army is mainly built through the navy. The fleet is transported to any place around the Bohai Bay to land and support Liaodong Town and Ji Town.
But now Wang Ziteng's approach is reversed. He goes all out to build the Denglai Army first. He delays and shrinks the construction of the navy as much as possible. As for the second purpose, he has long since abandoned it. In the back of my mind, I didn’t even bother to mention it.
This also aroused great dissatisfaction among Shen Yourong.
He had approached Wang Ziteng in the early stage, but Wang Ziteng didn't spend much time in Denglai. He often returned to Beijing on the pretext of reporting progress to the cabinet and the Ministry of War, and he often couldn't find him.
The creation of the Denglai Army was indeed in full swing. Initially, the strength of the Denglai Army was set at 30,000 people. In a very short period of time, Wang Ziteng had already mobilized 30,000 elite soldiers from the guards of the two Denglai towns, and then on his own The recruitment and formation was completed, and orderly training began. It must be said that Wang Ziteng still has a few skills in these aspects.
However, the 30,000 troops were originally set by the Ministry of War to be gradually completed within three years by the Denglai Governor's Yamen. However, Wang Ziteng was quick and resolute and completed it within a few months. The consequence of this was that all the money he wanted from the Ministry of War was lost. Spending was spent on the Denglai army, while the purchase of the Denglai naval fleet, Dengzhou wharf, shipyards, barracks and even artillery was far away.
Shen Yourong couldn't afford to wait anymore, so he went to Beijing to report to Wang Ziteng a year ago, but the effect was not good. Wang Ziteng was focused on the Denglai Army and didn't have much enthusiasm for naval construction.
Shen Yourong had no choice but to find Feng Ziying.
Besides, Shen Yourong was upright and brave, but he also knew that he was able to take the position of admiral of the Denglai Navy Fleet because of Feng Ziying's recommendation. In other words, Feng Ziying was his recommender.
The candidate for a fourth-grade general was a sixth-grade Hanlin Academy scholar, but this is the fact.
Feng Ziying's energy was not comparable to that of Shen Yourong.
But Feng Ziying’s answer to him was to take the initiative to report to Wang Ziteng and try to gain Wang Ziteng’s support. After all, Admiral Denglai Navy is affiliated to Denglai Governor’s Office, especially during the construction stage. You cannot bypass it. Governor Denglai's Yamen intervened directly, but even the Ministry of War could not do the same.
"This is Governor Wang's attitude. No matter what I say, he refuses to agree." Shen Yourong's face showed deep fatigue and worry. "As far as I know, Governor Wang even intends to lobby the Ministry of War and the Cabinet. , Expand the Denglai Army to 50,000 people. If this is the case, the future naval fleet will not be built in five or ten years, let alone three years. My position as naval admiral will be meaningless. I might as well return to my He went to Fujian to become that general."
"Expand the Denglai Army to 50,000 people?" Feng Ziying was surprised.
Although he had known for a long time that Wang Ziteng was interested in the Denglai Army and would not pay much attention to the naval fleet. Otherwise, how could he have made Shen Yourong the naval admiral just because of his recommendation? He recommended a member of the Denglai Army. Will you give it a try? Don't even think about it, Wang Ziteng still wants to firmly control the Denglai Army in his own hands.
But expanding the army to 50,000 people is too exaggerated. How could the Ministry of War and the Cabinet agree to it? The Denglai Army was originally used as a backup for Liaodong Town and Ji Town. At your expansion rate, you will quickly catch up with the size of Ji Town, and then the significance of setting up the Denglai Army will be lost.
The original purpose of setting up the Denglai Army was to be strong and flexible so that it could be transported by the naval fleet. Now that you have grown so large, how can you transport it flexibly?
"Well, expanding the Denglai army is not what I care about. As long as the governor can convince the court, it doesn't matter. However, the money allocated by the court to the Denglai governor's office is limited, and it is clearly stipulated that the first goal is to build a powerful naval fleet. , I cannot accept this putting the cart before the horse and reversing priorities. Now the wharf construction has been stopped less than half way. The shipyard construction can only be carried out smoothly because of the loan from Haitong Yinzhuang. But once it involves the construction of naval ships, it is still There are artillery castings, which cost a huge amount of money, and Haitong Bank's loans are also limited. If you give up halfway, the losses will be greater. I don't understand what the governor is thinking. Will the imperial court tolerate him like this?"
Shen Yourong was extremely troubled.
He didn't want to stalemate the relationship with Wang Ziteng. Although the appointment required Wang Ziteng's nod, it would be beyond Wang Ziteng's ability to avoid Shen Yourong, the admiral of Denglai Navy. That would require the Ministry of War and the cabinet to decide, but as Denglai Navy Commander Governor Lai, Wang Ziteng, has a hundred ways to make it impossible for you, the naval admiral, to continue.
Feng Ziying was not surprised.
Feng Ziying had some idea of what Wang Ziteng was thinking. He had no soldiers. As a governor, he was an empty governor. He also had a group of confidant generals under him who had been gradually squeezed out by Chen Jixian and Niu Jizong in Jingying and Xuanda. They needed to be resettled. Only Deng Deng The larger the scale of Lai's army is built, the more he can place these people.
If he cannot solve the demands of his subordinates, how will he lead this team in the future?
As for whether he had any other deeper thoughts in being so eager to build the Denglai Army, it's hard to say. Feng Ziying could only say that he hoped he didn't. Otherwise, the Wang family would have to choose between ascending to heaven or being exterminated.
"In this case, General Shihong, I will try to find time to meet and talk with Governor Wang. But before that, you have to try your best to advance according to the schedule, especially since the shipyard has basically taken shape, and even some Western Yi Once all the craftsmen are hired, the design and material selection must be done, even if the scale is smaller. Originally, three or five ships were scheduled to be built at the same time. Now we can try one or two ships. This way we can also accumulate experience and avoid making mistakes in the future. ,..." Feng Ziying encouraged: "I will give you an answer as soon as possible."
