More importantly, there are no naval bases of other European countries in these places. Currently, the only ones with colonies in the Southeast Asia are the Netherlands and Spain.
The top leaders of the empire have decided to purchase the Luzon Islands, and Spain cannot keep the Luzon Islands whether it wants to or not, so Spain can exclude it.
As for the Netherlands, they are very determined to defend the Spice Islands. Without a real fight, it is estimated that they will not be able to give up the Spice Islands and Batavia.
But the Dachu Empire can still rely on Singapore Port to conduct maritime operations with them.
But it's not easy to do in India and the Americas.
In India, although the Chu Empire also had some colonies, they were mostly strongholds and had relatively few large territories. At the same time, all kinds of ammunition had to be transported from the country.
The Americas are even more troublesome. The distance is too far. Although there are many islands controlled by the empire in the Pacific region along the way, such as the Sandalwood Islands, the long distance makes the supply of materials and the mobilization of warships very long. .
But... even in India or the Americas, if the Chu Empire is determined, then as long as it prepares a period of time in advance, transports ammunition supplies and transfers warships in advance, then there will not be a big problem.
To put it bluntly, war is about comprehensive national strength, and when it comes to competing for national strength, no one in the Chu Empire is afraid.
To put it bluntly, all the energy consumed can kill those competitors.
Looking at the overall situation of overseas expansion, it is not really difficult. What is more serious is that it is too expensive to organize official immigration...
But if you just defeat the enemy and establish a few trade and military strongholds, the difficulty is actually limited.
Although subsequent official immigration costs money, it can also be done slowly... When you have money, organize more official immigrants, and if you are financially strapped, organize less official immigrants.
The military expenditures that need to be spent in the short term are still relatively limited, especially with the assistance of the two trading companies directly controlled by the government, the Western Trading Company and the Eastern Trading Company.
At the same time, after increasing the intensity of overseas expansion, it will be possible to expand the export of the empire's industrial products and the import of industrial raw materials and agricultural products, which will be of great benefit to the empire's domestic industrial and commercial economy.
Overseas expansion and colonization have the advantage of plundering the economic value of the indigenous people to supplement the domestic market.
Finally, the senior officials of the empire took out their abacus and made calculations. Instead of losing money, these three major plans would make money, and a lot of it.
This is also the fundamental reason why the empire's senior officials have no opinion on the overall strategy of the three major plans.
If the army proposes a fourth Western Expedition, going all the way to the Kazakh Khanate and even the Ural Mountains, the empire's top brass will be very entangled and hesitant... pondering one thing over and over again: Spending so much military spending to conquer Central Asia has What's the use? Is it a good deal or not?
But there are not so many opinions on the Navy's overseas expansion plan.
After several days of repeated discussions, the top leaders of the empire came to a unanimous conclusion: Overseas expansion can be carried out, and the intensity can also be appropriately increased. The more territories directly occupied, strongholds controlled, and colonies, the more...
but……
The navy mentioned after the three major plans that it had applied for a total of 20 million yuan in additional military expenditures but not even a penny!
In a word: your military can fight whatever you want, but if I give you a penny for extra military expenses, I will lose!
Several senior naval generals on the Navy side were so angry that they almost vomited blood. They shouted that they would drive a battleship ashore and kill those civil servants at their homes, stuff these shameless civil servants into the barrels of naval guns, and then shoot them. Go into the Pacific Ocean.
I have seen shameless people, but I have never seen such shameless people. Seeing that the civil servants had such a good attitude, they agreed to the three major plans from the beginning. The navy thought that even if it was less than 20 million, it would be worth half the price. Ten million Chu Yuan should be fine. Even if it doesn’t work, you have to give me three to five million yuan...
As the saying goes, ask for a high price and pay back when you land. In business, haggling is normal. The Navy has expectations. Even if it is a 10% discount, they can actually accept it for only two million...
However, you can’t give me not a penny!
However, the civil service group really didn’t give a penny!
For more than ten years, the civil service group of the Great Chu Empire has never let go of the issue of additional military expenditures!
If you want them to provide additional military spending, you really need aliens to come over to make this possible.
"You only think about cows working and don't let them graze. You are all a group of traitors. Sooner or later, the good situation of our empire will be defeated by you!" At the staff meeting, the Minister of Staff, Imperial Marquis Zhong Lianggong, Admiral He started spraying without any hesitation.
But who are the civil servants of the Chu Empire?
All of them are shameless old guys. No matter how much the navy scolds you, but you don’t want money...
Even if you lowly warriors really come to fight, it will only cost you money and your life.
When it comes to playing rogue and beating up bachelors...the top civil servants in the Chu Empire are all peerless masters, otherwise they wouldn't be able to climb to such high positions.
The leader of the civil service, Guo Quanshu, the Minister of Counselor, was able to calm down and drink tea even when General Zhong Lianggong was spraying saliva on his face!
Therefore, in the end, the Navy, under the leadership of Admiral Zhong Lianggong, was extremely angry, but there was nothing they could do...
After all, this is not a discussion about conventional military expenditures, but about additional military expenditures.
In terms of regular military expenditure, it is difficult for the civilian group to attack. Without the military, the military will really come to the door.
But it’s really hard for the military to come up with extra military expenditures... This thing is meant to be paid temporarily when necessary. Once extra military expenditures are used, they have to squeeze money from other administrative departments. To put it bluntly, it is tantamount to Let the civilian officials pay for the military to fight the war.
Civil servants would not do such stupid things.
Over the years, the military has never received so-called additional military spending.
In the past, the Northern Strategy was shouted out loud by the Army during the three Western Expeditions, but the civilian clique never paid a penny.
Guo Quanshu's words are: Unless there is a danger of annihilation of the country, otherwise you can't count on it. I would rather die on tofu than give you an extra copper coin for military expenses!
In short, the attitude of the civil servants of the Great Chu Empire is very tough. Unless His Majesty personally orders it, no matter how loud your army and navy are, they will not be given a dime of additional military expenditures.
And can Luo Zhi learn to issue orders?
I'm sorry, but since the end of the Eastern Capture War, Luo Zhixue has never issued an order to grant additional military expenditures to the army and navy.
Why?
This is the Chu Yuan's regular military expenditure of 40 to 50 million yuan every year. Regardless of whether there is a war or not, it must be paid every year... This is so much money, what kind of additional military expenditure is needed.
In the past, the Army and Navy used to find ways to get money every day when they had nothing to do. They were like rabbits in the grass building.
Luo Zhixue personally refused in the early years, but later simply asked civilian officials to come forward. After all, refusal has been said before, and it can easily cause the military to be dissatisfied with Luo Zhixue himself.
Therefore, the civil service group is actually a scapegoat.
Without Luo Zhixue's hint, if they dared to give him a copper, Luo Zhixue would dare to kick him out of the imperial study that day.
Not to mention these, it is said that after Zhong Lianggong, the current boss of the navy, took the people away angrily, and returned to the naval staff, the navy generals no longer had the same anger as before.
"These iron roosters are really too difficult to do. They can't even get them to pay for things like the three major plans. It seems that the development of large battleships will have to be slowed down. The first batch of six ships will not be completed. First, Let’s build four ships, and wait until the year after next to build the other two.”
"I originally thought about getting some money from them, but it's a pity. I heard that they are planning to launch a high-tech industry support project. The first batch of funds has been prepared for five million. Next year, they will also support domestic enterprises. When major ports are upgraded and expanded, tens of millions of dollars are invested, and they have money."
"Oh, this is also expected. It has not been possible for so many years before, so it is normal that it cannot be done this time."
"But we won't give you this extra military spending. Just let us have a free hand!"
“This extra military expenditure cannot be found domestically, but we can still get it from the local people!”
"We got a lot of them during the great expansion in Nanyang. In addition, I heard that many indigenous temples in India like to hoard large amounts of gold, silver and jewelry. When we get a few votes, we can cover the cost of modifying the steam engine. If you're lucky, maybe you can get the money for a few more large battleships!"
"But we still need to go to His Majesty's side first to confirm the truth, so that those guys who fall into the eyes of the money will not come over to take our trophies again. It's okay to take some of them, but I'm afraid they are too greedy and take them all!"
At this time, Zhong Lianggong said: "Huh, at most it is the same as during the previous Nanyang expansion. It is reasonable for them to share part of the profit, but if you want to take it all, be careful to satisfy their appetite!"
"Tomorrow I will enter the palace to meet the Holy Spirit. No matter what, we must ensure our navy's share of the spoils!"
When Zhong Lianggong met the emperor the next day, he indeed mentioned the issue of the share of spoils during overseas expansion. Luo Zhixue only listened to Zhong Lianggong's words and basically knew the true thoughts of the navy.
The so-called additional military expenditures before were probably just smoke bombs used to confuse the civil servants. Their real goal was to share the spoils of war.
Think about it, the army and navy have not received even a single copper in additional military expenditures in the past ten years. Why would the navy think that civilian officials would be kind enough to pay them additional military expenditures for this overseas expansion?
Navy brass are not so naive.
Their real purpose is to first use the 20 million additional military expenditures to silence the civilian officials so they can win a share of the spoils.
In this regard, Luo Zhixue didn't say much, nor would he directly finalize the share of the spoils. He just nodded slightly to show that he understood.
It is considered as acquiescence to the navy's approach, and it can share part of the profits from the direct benefits of overseas expansion such as loot and compensation.
However, the specific proportion still requires internal negotiations between the Navy, the Army, and the civil service group.
The civil servants will definitely not give up. No matter how much or what money, they want it... Even if they can't take it all, they will still take a big bite.
As for the army, it is because overseas expansion also requires the army to cooperate in operations, especially large-scale landing operations and inland operations after landing, which require the cooperation of the army.
Although the navy itself also has an organic marine force specifically used for ground combat, its current size is only about 20,000 to 30,000 people, and it is also dispersed to garrison in various places. It is mainly used for daily small and medium-scale landing operations.
When it comes to large-scale landing operations, especially when it is necessary to control large overseas territories, the cooperation of the army is indispensable.
If you want the Army to work, you certainly need this money.
The three parties were noisy for several days, and finally referred to the old practice of early Nanyang expansion. The war proceeds from overseas expansion mainly included three categories: combat seizures, administrative confiscations, and war reparations.
Military supplies are delivered directly to the military, and civilian officials do not interfere. As for how to divide the army and navy, they negotiate internally.
As for ordinary supplies and gold and silver, they are currently divided according to a ratio of 46%, 60% for civil servants, that is, 60% is directly turned over to the national treasury, and belongs to the unified financial allocation; 4% for the military, but 40% also needs to be turned over to the treasury first. Then it will be returned to the military in the form of temporary war expenses...
This limit is only a proportion. The more war revenue, the more the military will distribute!
This distribution model is very similar to giving commissions to salesmen when doing business and making money. The higher the performance, the greater the commissions.
Whether it is military supplies, ordinary supplies or cash, the distribution within the military is done in this way, and the civilian officials do not care, and the army and navy negotiate and handle it themselves.
In general, even if the military argued hard, the civilian officials still directly took the lion's share... Of course, it is not appropriate to say that the civilian officials took the majority. Instead, it was said to be directly turned over to the central fiscal treasury and included in the general ledger together with ordinary administrative revenue, taxes, etc. It is used for all aspects of the empire's expenditures, and these expenditures actually include conventional military expenditures.
The distribution ratio within the army and navy is more complicated. There are different distribution rules according to different enemies in different areas.
After the three parties reached an agreement, they formally signed a memorandum and then respectfully invited the Holy Judge!
After Luo Zhixue reviewed it, Zhu Bian said: OK!
The monarchs and ministers of the Chu Empire have always been very serious and serious when it comes to dividing the spoils.
In order to prevent all parties from regretting the dispute in the future, it is normal to make a memorandum and ask Luo Zhixue to give instructions.
Without Luo Zhixue's accurate words, all parties are worried that the other two parties will go back on their word and pocket their own war gains.
When the most important matter of dividing the spoils is finalized, the next step is simple... The civilian officials said that your army and navy are doing whatever they want overseas, except for the Netherlands, Spain and other large European colonial countries. For other small indigenous countries, if you want to fight whoever you like, our civil service group will definitely cooperate vigorously and order the governors of various places to cooperate with you in issuing a declaration of war.
In the political system of the empire, the military has the power to fight, but not to declare war. The power to declare war lies in the center of the empire. In addition, there are two overseas governors who also have the power to declare war against the indigenous countries in specific regions. The Nanyang governor can declare war on the indigenous countries in Nanyang. , the Indian governor can declare war on the Indian peninsula and the garrison in West Asia.
Without the central government or the two overseas governors declaring war, the military in the overseas territories cannot attack these indigenous countries without authorization.
But the Eastern Trading Company and the Western Trading Company are exceptions... They beat whoever they like outside the territory of the empire and vassal states... because strictly speaking, this is the behavior of a small group of Da Chu Empire citizens on foreign territories. Whether it is doing business or fighting with the indigenous people, or simply using artillery to bombard the indigenous cities, these are all things that happen on the territory of other countries.
And imperial laws have no control over foreign territories!
Of course, if the people of the empire are bullied by the indigenous people abroad, then the empire cannot ignore it.
To put it simply, the imperial official's attitude towards the actions of these two major armed trading companies overseas is that they have won the battle. If the natives come to complain or file complaints, they will pretend they didn't see it. However, if they lose the battle outside, the imperial official will think about it personally. Help at the end...
In short, what stands out is that he is shameless!
Of course, although the civilian officials said nicely that the military would attack whomever they wanted, the final decision-making power still rested with the Jinling Central Committee.
Therefore, in fact, the military's military operations still have to comply with the empire's overall strategy.
The empire's overall overseas expansion strategy is to first secure Fuso and the Luzon Islands to create an absolute defense circle.
In addition, solving the Luzon issue first can also avoid serious conflicts with the Spanish during the expansion of the Americas. Then the Spanish will not sell the Luzon Islands to the Dachu Empire. Although they can be conquered by then, It costs a lot of money, and it is difficult to fully accept the Spanish's numerous strongholds in the Luzon Islands and the indigenous information.
Therefore, the Luzon Islands must be bought before large-scale expansion in the Americas.
The military side, on the other hand, will first make comprehensive large-scale preparations. In particular, the navy will first build a batch of steam ships and refit some warships and install steam engines.
At the same time, we will establish overseas bases and so on.
Then we need to prepare a large number of transport ships. For overseas expansion, warships alone are not enough. We also need a large number of transport ships to transport soldiers, immigrants and various strategic supplies.
Otherwise, if a fleet of battleships rushes over, it will be difficult to obtain supplies. Even if the stronghold is captured, it will be difficult to hold it for a long time.
At the same time, we need to deal with Fuso first, not by annexing it directly, but by acquiring a few overseas territories and the like, and then continue to control the penetration of Fuso, and mix up the water first.
Prepare for full annexation in the future.
Under such circumstances, both the civil and military parties started planning separately.
The civil servants asked the Department of Confucius Affairs of the Ministry of Rites and Education to find the Spaniards and restart a new round of negotiations on the transfer of the Luzon Islands.
The military side is preparing to start filming in Fuso...
However, the scale was not expected to be very large, and the empire did not intend to send too many warships there. It randomly sent four warships, along with a group of cruisers and frigates.
Thousands of Marines accompanied him.
The Navy's mission is very simple. First, find a foothold in Fuso, and then use this foothold as a base to fully control and penetrate Fuso.
However, these military operations are trivial. The real war preparations are the navy's own equipment improvement preparations.
The Navy placed orders for more than 30 military transport ships of various types to major shipyards in one fell swoop. These transport ships are all motor-driven ships starting from 1,000 tons.
At the same time, Jiangnan United Power Company, Tianjin Machinery Company, Dangtu Machinery Company and other domestic manufacturers with the ability to produce high-pressure steam engines are jointly established by Guangzhou Machinery Company, Luohua Shipyard, Songjiang Naval Shipyard and other shipyards. A large number of orders for various types of steam engines were placed.
On the one hand, it is used for the construction of a large number of motor sailing ships in the plan, but more is intended to be used for the steam transformation of existing pure sailing warships.
The purpose of modifying these sailboats is not to hope that these modified ships can use steam engines for ocean voyages, but to use them as a backup power.
It can provide additional power to the battleship to speed up the battleship during combat, or seize the T prefix to enhance the battleship's maneuverability.
This is also the greatest benefit that steam engines at the current technological level can bring to the navy.
As for relying on steam engines for ocean voyages, to be honest it's not very reliable...it might end up anchoring at sea.
What supports the Chu Empire Navy's large-scale plan to build new and modified motor-sailing ships is because there are already four domestic manufacturers of high-pressure steam engines.
However, it is worth noting that except for Tianjin Machinery Company, which solved a series of technical problems on its own and became the second domestic manufacturer to develop a high-pressure steam engine, and bypassed a series of unique patents of Guangzhou Machinery Company, other Jiangnan United Power and Dangtu Machinery Company both use the limited-time patent authorization from Guangzhou Machinery Company.
And even the installation targets are restricted.
Jiangnan United Company doesn't care about this. They are the product of strategic cooperation between several shipyards and Guangzhou Machinery Company. This strategic cooperation is purely to bypass the very cheating agreement signed between Guangzhou Machinery Company and Guangzhou Shipyard. Pre-order and first-look purchase agreements…
Strictly speaking, this factory is actually a holding production base affiliated to Guangzhou Machinery Company.
However, when Dangtu Machinery Company accepted the patent authorization from Guangzhou Machinery Company, it was a forced and helpless choice.
As Guangzhou Machinery Company's high-pressure steam engine quickly seized the market, and Tianjin Machinery Company successfully developed a high-pressure steam engine, among the three major domestic steam engine manufacturers, only Dangtu Machinery Company was still unable to develop it... For this reason, they They were all anxious.
They were originally planning to continue immersing themselves in research and development.
However, the navy, the two major armed trading companies, and major shipping companies have a huge demand for high-pressure steam engines, and the production capacity of Guangzhou Machinery Company and Tianjin Machinery Company is not enough.
Therefore, under their leadership, Guangzhou Machinery Company and Dangtu Machinery Company reached a technology licensing patent, allowing Dangtu Machinery Company to use these patents to produce high-pressure steam engines specified in the contract for a limited time and in limited quantities.
In this regard, Dangtu Machinery Company is actually unwilling!
You can’t make much money from technology licensing, and you still use other people’s technical standards. Once the patent authorization is over, you can’t use it... and it won’t affect the production of the high-pressure steam engine you are developing.
But people have made it clear that they need more high-pressure steam engines. If a factory as big as yours is idle, you might as well become a foundry to produce Guangzhou Machinery Company's steam engines for a while, and wait until your own high-pressure steam engines are produced. , you can also take advantage of the situation to produce your own high-pressure steam engine!
In this regard, although it was unwilling in its heart, Dangtu Machinery Company could only compromise.
