New Shun 1730

The small door of education reform opened by the emperor was for the navy and artillery. Liu Yu wanted to cheat money from the treasury for education, so he could only focus on these two points.

After inspecting the military manufacturing industry that had begun to take shape in Weihai and asking the Western technicians in the shipyard, Liu Yu wrote a detailed naval development plan.

Weihai's shipbuilding level has started slightly.

The French East India Company sent a message that the Duke of Qi's visit to Paris caused a sensation.

The Duke of Qi's envoys could not return home by ship because of the greater risk, so they chose to return home through Russia.

Liu Yu's letter and the presence of French missionaries such as Bai Jin made the King of France hope to send an envoy to visit the capital by sea.

One reason was that because of the ban on religion in Dashun, France was not as fanatical about missionary work as Spain, and hoped not to cause misunderstandings.

The second reason was that France believed that the empire in the East was very powerful, and the contradictions between France and Russia were very deep, and hoped to establish an ally that could stab Russia in the back. In South Asia and Southeast Asia, France also hoped to gain a reliable ally.

Official affirmation made the French East India Company send enough excellent shipbuilders and engineers with semi-official support.

France's dry dock technology is far ahead of Britain, and the design concept of 74-gun battleships and 28-gun cruisers is also better than Britain. It's just that France has enemies on all sides and has to be a land power country, so its navy can never win Britain, which has sea power and no land threat.

If the money from trade with Japan in recent years is just for shipbuilding, more can definitely be built. But most of the money was invested by Liu Yu in the construction of Weihai Port.

Including a new dry dock for easy maintenance and cleaning of barnacles on the bottom of the ship; a large-scale timber drying storage warehouse. Without timber that is dried all year round, a warship can only be used for six or seven years, while qualified timber that is dried can keep the warship alive for fifty years; a talent pool of nearly 3,000 shipbuilding workers. Since there is no money to build warships in recent years, they are all building cargo ships.

The stockpiled timber ensures that as long as the money is in place, it can guarantee the launch of three to four ships a year. The more than 1,000 sailors and 300 officers recruited and trained before have already had certain combat capabilities. It is not a big problem to expand the sailors in the way of mentoring.

These are all minor problems. The real big problem is how to ensure that the government will not perish with the leader.

The best way to ensure that the government will not perish with the leader is to make the Navy Department independent and become a department directly under the emperor or the Tianyou Palace.

Liu Yu did not want to deal with the group of people in the military government at all. A group of people who did not even understand the Western countries could not guide the navy. Moreover, if the navy wanted to develop in the future, it would not work without people in the court.

The investment in the navy was too large. The special trading characteristics of Dashun, like a money-making beast, made the navy almost a money-loser, because you can collect money by sitting at home, and the navy is a money-loser. Even if a strong navy is built, the goods still have to be sold to Westerners in exchange for silver. If you want to be strong enough to ship goods directly to Europe and open up European tariffs, it is very unrealistic. At least 40 to 50 million taels must be invested.

Fortunately, there is Japan, and fortunately the Austrian king cannot give birth to a son.

This time, Liu Yu could only ask for enough money to enable the Dashun navy to defeat the Dutch East India Company and obtain spices before the upcoming War of the Austrian Succession.

Only then could he let the court know that the navy could really make money.

After thinking about it, he proposed a plan for a navy department that would be parallel to the five military departments of Dashun.

Dashun changed the Five Military Commandery into the Five Military Departments, and now with the addition of a navy department, he was born into a noble family, so he could bypass the annoying military government and be directly under the emperor.

The emperor should be willing to do this, because the emperor had only two purposes for building a navy.

One was to worry about Liu Yu's terrifying prediction, and the other was to defeat the Netherlands to dominate the spice trade income. In the eyes of the emperor, the latter's money was very important, and it would be good to have less constraints for the time being.

Below the Navy Department, there are three departments: the Fleet, the Navy Committee, and the Logistics and Sailors' Disability Pension Committee.

Needless to say, the fleet.

The Navy Committee is responsible for the Timber Bureau, Shipyard, Jinghai Palace Official School, Trainee Officer Selection, Shipbuilding Orders, Gun Casting Bureau, and Practical School Education.

The Logistics and Sailors' Disability Pension Committee is responsible for logistics support and subsidies for sailors after retirement. The emperor needs to use the money from the treasury, such as monopolizing the spice trade, and take out a part of it as the sailors' disability pension.

It took five years to build the entire Navy Department, and the investment was huge.

The Timber Bureau alone requires an investment of 30,000 taels of silver per year to purchase teak, cypress, and oak that is more than 100 years old in the primeval forests of Baishan and Heishui. Transportation and drying require specialized personnel.

The fleet is built at a rate of three level 5 ships per year, and the annual cost is 150,000 taels.

To build two to three 74-gun battleships in five years, the average cost is 80,000 taels per year.

19 fifth-class ships and 2 to 3 74-gun battleships need to ensure sufficient sailors and seamen, at least 10,000 sailors are needed.

10,000 people are paid 2 taels of silver per month, plus enough officers, which requires 300,000 taels per year, no more and no less.

Wear and maintenance are calculated at 20,000 taels per year.

Gunpowder consumption during training is calculated at 50,000 taels per year.

The navy's uniforms, meals, drinks and other supplies are 150,000 taels per year.

Not counting the official school of Jinghai Palace, the subsidies for sailors who retire, and the annual talent training, just to build a one-time fleet, the annual investment is 800,000 taels of silver.

If we guarantee enough practical schools, long-term talent reserves, marines who are not seasick, transport ships, etc., to make the navy large, at least 1.2 million taels of silver must be invested every year, and it must last for at least five years. If you want to form a system, you must continue to invest for ten years or even longer.

It doesn't seem to be much. Dashun has an annual income of about 30 million.

But the emperor's treasury certainly can't afford it, so he must go through the court discussion and ask the treasury to pay. It's really hard to predict whether this money is willing to pay.

Even if Liu Yu has calculated carefully, he can only offer such a price. If the price is lower, he can only train a one-time navy.

It will be rotten after the battle.

As for spending the national treasury's money to train a group of quasi-traitors who are completely incompatible with the existing system, the money must be paid by the national treasury.

However, if the national treasury is really unwilling to pay enough money, he can only make up for it himself, and this cannot be saved.

It is better to build two fewer warships, but the money must be squeezed out.

The most difficult part of asking for money is that the idea of ​​fighting against Japan and the Netherlands cannot be made public.

If it cannot be made public, then any normal person will oppose this plan that wastes money and labor.

What's the point of building a bunch of useless warships?

The most difficult thing is always internal, not external.

With this question, Liu Yu found his father who was about to return to Beijing, hoping that his father, who had been sleeping in the court for many years, would help and ask if it was possible.

However, Liu Sheng did not even look at the plan Liu Yu had drafted, and asked: "If your majesty has no intention of building a navy, why did you ask me to pacify this place? I am your father, and your majesty asked me to come here because he has the intention of building it?"

In the previous communication, Liu Sheng already knew that the emperor had warned Liu Yu, and he was not shocked. Instead, he thought that such a warning was a good thing, proving that the majesty really wanted to use him.

There are many things that Liu Yu did not tell his father, and Liu Sheng did not see that deeply.

But if you just ask about the emperor's mind and the direction of the court, Liu Sheng sees much more clearly than Liu Yu.

He said the key to this matter.

If the emperor did not have the intention of building a navy, it would be impossible for him to transfer Liu Yu to the Western Regions and let his father supervise here at the same time, because he was afraid that someone would mess around.

Liu Yu also thought about this problem, frowned and said: "Father, building a navy costs money. Your Majesty's treasury can't afford so much money."

Liu Sheng was stunned, then took the memorial and looked at it. When he saw the annual military expenditure of 1.2 million taels, he was also shocked.

"So much?"

After scanning the number, he noticed the idea of ​​establishing a navy department.

After pondering for a while, he said, "In fact, the system of the dynasty can always be done as long as Your Majesty agrees."

"Didn't Zhang Juzheng of the previous dynasty make it very clear? He is not a prime minister, but a regent. Whether it is the cabinet or the Tianyou Palace, the power does not come from the cabinet and the Tianyou Palace itself, but from Your Majesty. Zhang Juzheng knows very well that the Ming Dynasty has no prime minister. He can act only by stealing the power of the emperor, but in fact he relies on the power of regent."

"It is the same in this dynasty. Is Tianyou Palace a prime minister? Your Majesty is in power. If you don't care about anything and hide in the inner palace to make elixirs, then Tianyou Palace can be considered a prime minister."

"Now Your Majesty has been leading the army in succession. Since the time of Taizu, this dynasty has also changed the Military Selection Department from The Military Government was separated, and the Ministry of Literature was separated from the Government of Personnel and upgraded to the Ministry of Literature. Do you think that the Tianyou Palace is a group of prime ministers? In fact, everything depends on your Majesty's attitude. "

"It's nothing more than that since Emperor Taizong's counterattack in Jingxiang, this dynasty has compared itself to the Tang Dynasty, and the public opinion is mostly due to the shame of the previous dynasty, so the scholars are more heroic. This point should be clear when you were insulted as a traitor after negotiating with Luosha. "

"But think about it again, if it is not the case, even if the public opinion in the world is bounded by the Great Wall, if your Majesty is determined to march north, will he not march? It's nothing more than bearing the bad reputation of Emperor Wu of Han. "

One million and two hundred thousand taels a year is indeed not a lot, but it is not a completely unacceptable range. Liu Sheng analyzed the situation in the court very clearly, and the final conclusion is actually one.

If the emperor says it's okay, then it's okay.

If the emperor says it's not okay, then it's not okay.

No matter how much the court discusses, at most the emperor will be criticized. Weighing between the criticism and the navy, it depends on which one the emperor chooses.

The Navy Department did not usurp the authority of any existing department, but was a completely newly established department. In fact, there was little resistance. The only problem was the 1.2 million taels of silver per year.

Liu Yu had naturally considered this twist and turn, and asked: "In my father's opinion, as long as His Majesty agrees, this matter can actually be accomplished?"

Liu Sheng smiled and said: "I don't know what you and His Majesty said, and I won't ask. But I know one thing. Although the navy is strong and the ships are powerful, if there is no port, it will be vulnerable. As long as an army is stationed in Weihai, the navy will always belong to His Majesty."

"So there is no need to consider the matter of high birds and good bows hidden. Just ask yourself, can this navy bring His Majesty a million taels of income every year in the future? This is the key."