Xinshun 1730

Chapter 367
Raising their wine glasses, the merchants also raised their glasses and made a toast from a distance. After drinking it all, the merchant became more courageous and asked: "My lord said that if the ship of the Dutch is near the country of Wa, It can also be sunk. This... What is the meaning of the court?"

Liu Yu glanced at the businessman, and said with a smile: "This important matter of the court must be justified. I'm not encouraging you to be pirates."

"That is, that is. There is a serious business to do, who will be a thief? But don't worry, my lord, we are full of martial arts. If the Dutch really violate the imperial court's prohibition, as long as the imperial court allows us, we will dare Do it. The Zheng family also fought against the Dutch in the past, and our skills are not bad, and we have a new ship from the shipyard of your lord, so we have no fear."

The businessman repeatedly said that he could be virtuous and obey the law, which sounded new, but Liu Yu didn't expose it. When he was seven or eight minutes drunk, he asked people to remove the dishes and serve tea.

He casually said a few words about the official affairs of the imperial court, that is, the content of transferring food, grass and luggage.Compared with the dispute over the monopoly rights of trading companies, this serious matter is easier said than done.

In fact, there is really nothing to say. I don’t know how many times I have traveled to Nagasaki in the past few years. I have traveled to the Ryukyu route, Songjiang direct flight, and Weihai direct flight.

On the five islands outside Nagasaki, there is even a private port where rice was smuggled, which was relatively closed. Historically, until after the Black Ship Incident, there were still Catholic villages secretly left behind from the Tokugawa Ieyasu era on the island.

Coupled with the great advantage of the navy today, in the eyes of these businessmen, it is no different from the previous trade in Nagasaki.

After all the calculations, there is no business to do since the war will start this year.It is nothing more than paying the expenses of some crew and sailors, which is not worth a lot of money, which is equivalent to winning two years of monopoly power for nothing.

During the tea, the merchants also tentatively asked about the Swedish trading company. Liu Yu only said that there was no rush, and Qi Guogong was in charge of negotiating, and he would notify them when the result came out.

After reassuring everyone, he selected two more people who wanted to enter Beijing with him, and the business of the trading company was settled.

At noon on the second day, another order was issued, calling for all people above the official rank of deputy captain to come to the meeting, and by the way, they went to Jinghai Palace to invite the Seventh Prince Li Yan.

As soon as people arrived at night, the guards closed the door.

The exotic glass chandelier in the room is burning with high-quality whale oil, shining a gaudy temperament in Dashun's aesthetic opinion.

Under the light and shadow, Liu Yu asked Li Yan to sit at the top on the left, and stood at the bottom on the right.

Even though Li Yan is only a prince and has not yet been crowned king, he represents the royal family after all, and he does not want to cause some troubles such as domineering and disrespectful, so he should be careful about such things.

Li Yan repeatedly declined, only saying that he was not crowned king and that Liu Yu was an earl, so he should be at the top. After several times of evasion, some officers below would inevitably curl their lips secretly and find it troublesome.

This is the first time that Li Yan has participated in such a high-level meeting within the navy. He has also lived in Weihai for half a year, and he knows that the current form of the navy is that there are more captains than warships, and those who become regulars from internships are the best in Jinghai Palace.

Originally, Li Yan thought that he could read all kinds of books in the Forbidden Palace, so he must have rich knowledge.After entering the Jinghai Palace official school, and comparing with those novices, he is even more arrogant.

However, he came to know by chance several times that even those trainee captains who can't get on with warships have much higher practical skills than him.

Many of them are the first batch of military cadets in Jinghai Palace, and they have been with Liu Yu for ten years, and they have learned more and more things, but there are people out there, and there are only so many warships, and there is really no way if they don't get their turn.

After this incident, Li Yan also restrained his arrogance, only to know that this place is really Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in terms of practicality alone.

During the time when Liu Yu went to Ryukyu, Li Yan also made up his mind to study hard in Jinghai Palace, and he didn't inquire about the navy.

I also have a sense of proportion, thinking that since my father asked him to come to Weihai, Liu Yu will ask him to participate in the navy when he thinks it is necessary.

He thought that he would have to study in the Jinghai Palace Official School for a year or two, but Liu Yu just came back from Ryukyu, so he invited him to the meeting, which made him very nervous.

He was also afraid that he would be ridiculed for saying the wrong thing, and he was also worried that he didn't understand what Liu Yu said, so he sat at the top and stiffened his neck, for fear of missing something.

I just didn't expect Liu Yu's first words to be frustrating.

"Everyone, the war against the Japanese is a foregone conclusion. However, our navy can only accompany the prince to study this time, and cannot play the leading role. We are not in the Japanese country to make contributions."

Most of them took a trip to Japan with Liu Yu, knowing the situation of the Japanese navy, their hearts were already relieved.

The remaining ones who didn’t go and those who stayed behind learned about it from their colleagues yesterday, and when they heard what Liu Yu said directly and clearly, they all smiled wryly.

A military officer below shouted: "My lord, it is said that raising soldiers for a thousand days is used in one dynasty. I have been raised for three thousand days. I don't know how long the court will keep it?"

"That's right, warships are useless, don't they still have the Marine Corps? Please take someone to do it a few more times for your lord's work in Tosa."

"How about asking the army to confront the main force of the Japanese, and we go to steal Edo instead?"

Sitting there, Li Yan looked at the officers below who were begging for war, and he understood that these officers' intentions in begging for war were nothing more than seeking a military exploit and promotion.

Seeing that the battle achievements are not mixed up now, each of them is naturally impatient.

Thinking about the reason why I came to Weihai, and seeing the enthusiasm of the officers to fight, I secretly reminded myself: If the emperor really asks me to take charge of the navy one day in the future, I need to remember the best generals, so that my subordinates can make contributions. Otherwise, he is not a good general.

He also thought that all the officers and students in the navy could be regarded as Liu Yu's disciples. They were built from scratch, and even if there was no battle to fight, they could still hold on.I don't have this level of status, and I have to fight a battle to win the hearts of the army.

If there is a war, it is inevitable to take a boat, and you still need to practice more.From the present point of view, these naval officers and students will not accept a general who does not know how to sail and dare not board a ship.

Li Yan thought to himself that this time when Liu Yu called everyone here, could it be that he was worried that these soldiers would disobey the transfer order and rush forward in order to seek military exploits regardless of the overall situation?That's why before the start of the war, everyone's desire to fight was suppressed first, so as not to spoil the big event due to greed for merit?
When he was about to learn how Liu Yu would subdue him, he didn't want Liu Yu to suppress his hand and smiled: "Don't think about such crooked ways. Now I am standing here, and the Seventh Prince is also here. Why, do you think you can do it if you make a contribution?" Instead, he will be the admiral of the navy?"

Everyone knew that this was a joke, and understood Liu Yu's meaning, implying that the Seventh Prince would be in charge of the navy in the future. There was a burst of laughter from the audience, and Li Yan felt comfortable listening to it.

Someone in the crowd shouted: "My lord, this is a face. If the army is facing each other in front, I will not only capture Edo, but even a few big Japanese cities. This kind of face is also honorable. If not The navy and the army are not allowed in Japan, but we didn't win the battle, so I'm afraid the army may not accept our favor."

"Besides, if the Japanese pay compensation and we build ships, I'm afraid the army thinks that they have done a lot of meritorious deeds. Why do the navy get the most of the money?"

"That's right, why don't the warriors and merchants who captured the Japanese cities need a redemption fee of 10 taels? When I come back, I can exchange the horses for the red rabbits and build a battleship."

After listening to the yelling for a while, Liu Yu glanced at Chen Qinghai quietly, knowing that he must have listened to what he said in private with Chen Qinghai that day.

Today, no one is shouting about things like feudal Japan, and I don’t know if these people know it’s not good to shout in front of the prince, or if they have reached a certain consensus in the association they organized in private.If some clubs are organized in private, he doesn't want to take care of them, just let them develop.

Although they yelled fiercely, they all revolved around building ships and distributing money, and they didn't say too many thrilling remarks.

It seems that although these people are arrogant, they also know the seriousness, and they still know that there are some things in front of the imperial power, even if they think about it in their hearts, they can't just say it.

Liu Yu held this meeting today neither for pre-war mobilization, because that is meaningless; nor for convincing everyone to prevent rash advances, because there is no chance to advance rashly.

This meeting was held for the prince Li Yan who sat at the top.

After everyone gradually calmed down, Liu Yu said things like starting a war against Japan and asking for a switch. This is not a secret in the navy, and asked instead: "Before a war starts, one must know why. When you start a war, you also need to know what to expect after the fight. You all talk about it.”

This time, instead of chattering like before, the cadets did their job in a very orderly manner, raising their hands one by one to talk freely.

There are various reasons why the war started, and there are even some whimsical ideas, which either make people think deeply, or cause a burst of laughter.

Sitting there, Li Yan listened for a while, and nodded involuntarily to some reasons. It was not until the end that Li Yan suddenly woke up and noticed something was wrong.

Among so many reasons, no one said "because of the Ryukyu incident", "because of not facing the emperor" and other reasons.

Not a word.

On the contrary, there are some reasons such as how to allow others to snore on the side of the couch, what to do if he hits me in the future if you don't hit him, switch to get money, build a ship with compensation, build a practical school with more compensation, and so on.

What surprised Li Yan the most was that he seemed to be assimilated, and he didn't even think of reasons such as righteousness for the first time, but instead thought of some real benefits.

Not only that, but I also feel that these ideas are very agreeable, and I even overwhelmed some ideas that sound a little strange, and I just feel that they have opened the door to a new world.

In particular, a few words spoken by an unattractive officer student made Li Yan completely lost in the way of thinking of a naval officer student.

"I went to Tosa with my lord, and asked about the prices. I only felt that if the switch was made by the Wa country, I would be fine with everything else. There is only one thing to beware of. That is the paper from Korea and Wa country."

"I don't need to mention North Korea. Paper is a tribute, and we are rewarded by His Majesty every year. The quality of Japanese paper is also very good, and the wages are extremely low."

"Businessmen value profits. They know that if Japanese paper enters the country, the domestic paper business will be hard to do, and it will be difficult for them to feed and eat, but they don't care about it. They will do whatever makes money. This needs to be guarded against one or two, or increase tariffs. to protect."

"Only this one, and the rest are benefits."

"I think the silk weaving industry, cotton spinning industry, iron smelting industry, woodware industry, and porcelain making industry in this country will all be finished. Now that the country of Wa is over, those who make a living from it in this dynasty can benefit and sell more."

"Gold is cheap and silver is expensive in the Japanese country. I think the gold in the Japanese country will be gone soon. There are few people who can exchange for gold and silver. The warriors of the Japanese country are also paid by rice. They will definitely find a way to exchange rice for gold and silver. Merchants are a little bit suppressed. Once the price is lowered, the samurai will go bankrupt, and if they cannot survive, they will definitely want to change. If the samurai wants to change, the country will be in chaos."

"If the Japanese people have the heart to eat their courage, they must pay them to build ships. The farmers are extremely miserable. If this is the case, won't they start troubles everywhere?"

"When the Japanese peasants revolt, we may send troops to help the peasants in the name of benevolence and justice; or send troops to help the shogunate in the name of etiquette to quell the chaos. The former nibbles, the latter raises pigs and cuts meat. I think this Japanese country is over. .”

What made Li Yan even more amazed by the speech was that there were no voices of exclaimed opinions. Instead, some people nodded, some smiled and said that they thought so too, and some added the consideration of the confrontation between the feudal clans and the shogunate .

Such thoughts are nothing more than ordinary words here.

Unremarkable.

(End of this chapter)