In terms of money business, since Luo Yuan does not have the final say, the two parties can only roughly determine their intentions. In terms of price, the final negotiated result was 55,000 taels per new large fortune ship and 30,000 taels per new small fortune ship.
The price reduction of the Dafu ship is not that big, and it still remains at the price of an armed transport ship; however, the small Fu ship is indeed too small, and its armament level is really not that good in Luo Yuan's opinion, so the price is compressed a little more severely. The price dropped from 40,000 taels to 10,000 taels. In the end, each ship was 30,000 taels, which was not cheap at all.
Of course, another key to why Luo Yuan dared to agree to such a deal was that the Toyotomi family was the real big buyer. The intention reached by both parties was that Jinghua would deliver twenty large fortune ships and forty small fortune ships every year, with a total value of A whopping 2.3 million taels of silver!
Although Luo Yuan himself is not very clear about the final cost price of these two new large and small ships, judging from Jinghua's past shipbuilding business profit margins, it is definitely no problem to earn one million taels a year. Yes, in this era, Jinghua's shipbuilding business is so profitable.
During the discussion, Luo Yuan raised a question. He asked the Toyotomi family what their intention was in buying so many warships. Toyotomi Hidenaga replied: My brother intends to subdue all Japanese naval forces and complete true unification.
Luo Yuan actually didn't believe it at all, especially when he thought of his master's various arrangements in Japan. According to his habit of preparing in advance, he should think that Japan's movements are very noteworthy.
What trends are worth noting? Of course it is a military trend, and Toyotomi Hidenaga's proposal for such a huge warship order this time is obviously a typical military trend.
However, because the master has explained this before, Luo Yuan thinks that the master probably does not think that these maritime armaments can bring much harm to Jinghua. As for the reason, on the one hand, it is of course that the Beijing and China fleets are strong enough; on the other hand, it may be because they bully the Japanese navy and have no experience in fighting a decisive battle.
To be honest, Luo Yuan has been in Japan for a few months now. During this time, he has actually studied some of the more outstanding battles of the Japanese navy. However, even in the famous "Battle of Itsukushima", the navy only carried out a troop-carrying surprise attack in the storm, and no serious decisive battle at sea took place.
In short, in Luo Yuan's view, Japan's various naval forces only engaged in some petty fighting. In most battles, the Japanese navy was relatively just an armed troop transport.
Not to mention whether Toyotomi Hideyoshi has the ability to take over dozens of Japanese naval forces under his command in a short period of time. Even if he really has this incredible ability, there are still many differences between these naval forces that are not under each other's control. Hehe, it is not easy to complete the real integration and reach the level of using one's fingers like an arm.
Luo Yuan couldn't help but wonder about the master's intention. Could it be that he would do business with the other party for a few years first, and then when the other party becomes stronger, he would find an excuse to kill them all? If that were the case...that would be wonderful!
However, Luo Yuan never expected that Gao Jingshi was a cheater. He didn't even need to "find an excuse" because Toyotomi Hideyoshi would take the initiative to stir up trouble. What he didn't even expect was that Toyotomi Hideyoshi didn't actually understand the navy, and he had no idea or even idea of a "decisive battle at sea." The reason why Toyotomi Hideyoshi bought warships was actually for escort.
Yes, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was stimulated by the powerful maritime power of the Maritime Trade Alliance and believed that if he launched troops against North Korea in the future, he might provoke interference from the Maritime Trade Alliance. But Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not understand the navy. In his eyes, the role of the navy was to transport the army to the other side, and then ensure that part of the grain and grass was transported (the other part was forcibly collected by North Korea).
The limitations of the times will always exist. Just like in the original history, when the decisive battle in the ocean became the dominant idea of the British Royal Navy, the Second German Empire still imagined the role of the fleet.
By the time of the Third Reich, because the navy was unable to detonate troops, it first thought of engaging in sabotage warfare, and after that failed, resorted to tricks such as unrestricted submarine warfare. Although it was indeed possible to achieve momentary glory, it could not escape defeat after all - the famous Sea Wolf tactics had almost no effect on the entire war in the last year or two.
The major premise on which all the existence value of the navy depends is to be able to win the decisive battle at sea! In Gao's pragmatic eyes, if the navy wants to develop, it must be number one, because only number one is decisive, and being number two has no effect at all - unless you can ensure that you will never fall out with the number one navy.
But that is obviously impossible, because the navy itself is an offensive arm, and the value of its existence is to gain control of the sea through offense. If you are second, can the first navy come to attack you and nip the danger in the cradle?
Unless, like the American empire after the disintegration of the Northern Red Empire, it maintains a strength that can overwhelm all other navies in the world combined for a long time, then there is no need to fight second.
Of course, the development of weapons in that era was very different from what it is now. There was a situation in which "big powers did not go to direct war with big powers." This situation has a lot to do with the "asymmetric advantage" in weapons and equipment. For example, no one dares to try the anti-ship capability of hypersonic missiles, so when the other Second Navy started At a time of rapid rise, the US emperor, as the boss of the navy, seemed to have no good solution.
In short, in Luo Yuan's view, even if the Toyotomi family's naval forces bought ships according to the current specifications for ten consecutive years, they would not be able to defeat the Beijing and China fleets. This idea did not come out of thin air, but was supported by internal top-secret information.
After Luo Yuan became the commander of the Guandong Squadron, he received the "Vision for the Establishment of the Beijing-China Two-Ocean Fleet in the Twenty-Year Years of Wanli" personally planned by Gao Jingshi. In this "vision", Gao pragmatically made detailed arrangements for the scale of the two-ocean fleet two years later.
There is no need to elaborate on the stationing situation of the main fleet and each squadron for the time being. Just talk about the total quantity and you will know why Luo Yuan believes that the Toyotomi family cannot defeat the Beijing and China Fleet even after ten years of buying ships:
"By the end of the 20th year of Wanli, the Dongyang Fleet will have one first-class battleship, three second-class battleships, eight third-class battleships, twelve first-class cruisers, twenty-four second-class cruisers, and one hundred armed transport ships Forty ships.
The Nanyang Fleet needs to have four first-class battleships, seven second-class battleships, seventeen third-class battleships, 28 first-class cruisers, 36 second-class cruisers, and 280 armed transport ships. "
In this vision, only armed transport ships are closest to the target, and the total shortfall is only thirty-four ships. Cruisers (including high-speed reconnaissance ships) have the largest total shortage, but since enough construction experience has been accumulated, they only need to expand production.
The problem lies in the battleships. Not only is the total amount of first-, second- and third-level battleships less than the big one, but Jinghua’s side, let alone first-level battleships, does not even have a single second-level battleship in service. Only one has just been launched and is in Zhuchi ( Beibu Gulf) for sea trials.
Of course, there are many reasons for the slow construction of battleships. First, Gao Pragmatic is very concerned about this kind of expensive battleship, so much so that the two major shipyards bid against each other and the design drawings were changed again and again. The technical representatives of both sides were red-faced in front of Gao Pragmatic. It’s not just once or twice;
Secondly, the wood needed for battleships cannot be cut from the mountains and needs to be dried properly for many years. Although Gao pragmatically started making large quantities of preparations when he was in Guangxi, and the inventory is sufficient, there is no shortcut in terms of time - the biggest The shortcut is to transport it to the inland of southern Xinjiang (the coast is too tidal) and dry it in the shade in a high temperature environment (but not exposed to the sun)... In short, it is just ready for use now.
Fortunately, when all conditions matured, the speed of shipbuilding in this era was much faster than that of large warships in later generations. After all, the displacement is many times smaller, and the ship does not have extremely complex circuit equipment, electronic equipment and other high-tech equipment - for example, on an aircraft carrier in the 21st century, the total length of wires and cables alone is as high as a thousand. It is more than 2,000 kilometers long and has more than 2,000 telephones installed. It can almost be said to be a steel city on the sea.
In this era, building warships is much simpler. Basically, you only need to build the body of the ship and install the cannons. Most of the processes are carpentry, and the Ming Dynasty... really has no shortage of carpenters. It can even be said that ancient times China has never been short of carpenters.
According to Luo Yuan's estimate, the two major shipyards in Jinghua and the third shipyard under construction in Dingnan may significantly reduce the production of armed transport ships in the next two years, thereby fully shifting production capacity to warship construction. As for what to do with Ming's domestic market gap after the production capacity of armed transport ships drops, Luo Yuan doesn't know, but he believes that the master must have a plan.
In fact, Gao Pragmatic does have a plan, and the plan is "maintenance outsourcing." That is to say, Jinghua's three major shipyards (including the soon-to-be-built Dingnan Shipyard) will only be responsible for construction, and the previously lucrative maintenance work of armed transport ships will be transferred to the people he intends to win over as profit distribution.
After the money and business are settled, political matters can begin. Toyotomi Hideyoshi first made a point, asking the Maritime Trade Alliance to clearly express its support for Guanbai Toyotomi Hideyoshi's unification of Japan, and submit a letter of credence to the Ming Emperor on his behalf, asking the Ming court to recognize Japan's "Toyotomi Gongyi".
Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself has always underestimated the strength of the Ming Dynasty, especially in terms of military strength, but he was aware of the political influence of the Ming Dynasty, especially its political influence on Japan. The reason why the Maritime Trade Alliance was asked to submit credentials on its behalf was precisely because of political influence.
There is no other way. In the past, every shogunate had to negotiate with China for recognition. Let’s not talk about the distant ones, let’s talk about the Ashikaga Shogun family of the Muromachi shogunate. Aren’t they also the “Kings of Japan” canonized by the Ming Dynasty?
Whether you like it or not, no one can ignore China's influence in East Asia. It doesn’t matter what Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself thinks. What’s important is that if the Ming Dynasty recognized and enthroned him, Japan would definitely be quieter. Although everyone seems to be quite obedient now, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would definitely know it as long as his mind was not confused. Many famous names only tolerated it temporarily, but in fact many were dormant and waiting for the opportunity.
If the Ming Dynasty canonizes it, Toyotomi Gongyi will be considered stable. At least no one will dare to directly say that Toyotomi Gongyi is not orthodox. The blame that Oda Nobunaga brought to Toyotomi Hideyoshi when he expelled the shogunate Ashikaga Yoshiaki was officially removed.
Luo Yuan agreed to this condition conditionally. "Conditional" means that Luo Yuan promised Toyotomi Hidenaga that his master would agree to submit this letter of credence on behalf of Toyotomi's family, but Luo Yuan did not dare to blindly agree to the emperor's reaction after seeing the letter of credence - —Whether he admits it or not is a matter for His Majesty the Emperor. No one else’s words count, so no one can guarantee it.
This answer was also given by Gao Jingshi in advance, because Gao Jingshi had made plans for the most likely reactions of the Toyotomi family and told Luo Yuan how to deal with them one by one.
Toyotomi Hidenaga had no objection to this, and even thought it was "so smooth", and then put forward another point: Since the Maritime Trade Alliance recognizes Guan Bai's orthodox status, it should immediately cut off cooperation with the "rebellious public enemies" Hojo family. , take back the Marines and no longer provide any form of support to the Hojo family.
Of course Luo Yuan wanted to bargain. He correspondingly proposed that it was okay for the Sea Trade Alliance to interrupt cooperation with the Hojo family and stop supporting, but there were three major prerequisites:
First, Toyotomi Hideyoshi needs to recognize that the Misaki Castle lease contract signed between the Sea Trade Alliance and the Hojo family is legal and valid in his capacity as samurai Kanhaku, and ensure that this contract can be successfully completed in the future;
Secondly, Ninja City, as "Mrs. Ru's natal territory", should not continue to be attacked. Guan Bai needs to withdraw his troops from Ninja City immediately, and ensure that the Narita clan will not be held accountable after this battle, and ensure that the Narita clan's " independent legal status."
Thirdly, Misaki Castle is the first port established by the Sea Trade Alliance in the Kanto region. Doing business in any area in the Kanto region is a reasonable and legal normal trade behavior. The Japanese court and local governments are not allowed to impose additional taxes and must unify various tax rates. After the taxes were paid, the Japanese imperial court (actually the Toyotomi family) and the various daimyo did not care how to divide the accounts of the maritime trade alliance.
Regarding Luo Yuan's request, Toyotomi Hidenaga readily agreed to the first and third items, but he had different opinions on the second item.
Toyotomi Hidenaga stated that Guan Bai had decided before the war that after the Hojo clan was eradicated, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Tokugawa Ieyasu, would be moved here. Since the location of Ninja Castle was surrounded by the Tokugawa fiefdom, it was actually impossible to maintain the so-called "independent and legal ruling status", so he proposed that the Narita clan also move the fiefdom.
Luo Yuan asked where the Narita clan would be transferred to, and Toyotomi Hidenaga said that Guan Bai had not yet decided. Luo Yuan said: "In that case, please move the Narita clan to Yusheng City north of Misaki. If Guan Bai can agree, the matter will be settled."
Toyotomi Hidenchang pondered for a moment and said, "Your Highness, please rest assured. I will definitely convince Lord Guan Bai."
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