New Shun 1730

The officers drank a lot of wine, but their minds were still clear. Liu Yu used the means of conferring titles on his wife and son, and conferring titles and promotions as a means of boosting morale, which was the most direct and effective in such occasions.

However, the officers also knew that whether there would be opportunities for titles in the future did not depend on the future, but only on the next year.

The Japanese lost a lot of money in this war against Japan. If the court really wanted to go to Southeast Asia, it would definitely invest money to build ships. Warships are not something that can be built within a year. It takes at least three years to prepare the wood and dry it in the shade.

The money the Japanese paid was far from what Liu Yu said, "A total of 400,000 tons of warships from Britain and the Netherlands." They were already familiar with the unit of ton, and just saying that two thousand catties was one ton was also convenient for internal communication within the navy.

The cost of building a ton of warships was between 100 and 150 taels. The tonnage of the first two battleships built by Dashun cost more than this price. It was the first time for a young lady to get married, and she wasted a lot of money, which was equivalent to buying experience with krypton gold.

The 74-gun battleship that was favored by officers and soldiers had a displacement of about 1,500 tons, and the cost of building one ship alone was 200,000 taels of silver. This was still using iron cannons. If the pursuit of perfection was to use more rust-resistant copper cannons, the cost would continue to rise.

The crew was 650 people, and there were 750 people including interns who boarded the ship under the intern system. The average salary of officers and sailors was 30,000 taels of silver a year. Add in the food and drinks of the navy, and another 20,000 taels.

The gunpowder, shells, broken canvas, and masts used for training every year; the annual docking and repairs, and the barnacles and mussels scraped off the bottom of the ship; if the existing system remained unchanged and the training volume did not decrease, it would cost nearly 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver a year.

To put it in perspective, building a battleship would cost about 350,000 taels of silver in the first year, and tens of thousands of taels of silver would be needed for maintenance, training, and military pay every year in the future.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Yuan Chonghuan had four towns, 150,000 soldiers, and 80,000 horses, which cost only 4.8 million taels a year. The money spent on shipbuilding, raising troops, and training in Weihai over the years would exceed the Liao military pay, and now there are only two battleships, and the rest are cruisers.

Even if all the money from the war against Japan was invested in the navy; even if the taxes from the monopoly of trade were used as naval pay every year, it could actually only support 6 battleships, plus a bunch of necessary cruisers, communication ships, and troop transport ships.

If the navy does not fight, it will lose money.

The more it builds, the more it loses.

Moreover, this thing is not like the army, which can suck the blood of soldiers. If it sucks too much blood of soldiers, sailors will riot. When they go out to sea, they can kill officers directly and become pirates to live a carefree life. It would be wonderful to build a 74-gun battleship and become a pirate.

As long as it is built, the court will have to keep investing money, not a penny less.

Whether there is still a future for the navy will be known within a year.

Rumors were flying all over the sky a few days ago, and people were panicking. Some said that Liu Yu was detained when he returned to the capital because the court believed that the navy was useless and abandoned, some said that the reason for the replacement was that they were afraid that the navy would become a vassal, and some said that the navy would be disbanded after the battle with Japan.

Today's meal finally clarified these rumors.

Since Liu Yu expressed his attitude, the officers were relieved. Even if they had other ideas, they had to wait a year to see.

It doesn't matter how the court tosses, they don't understand.

But if there is no large ship on the slipway within a year, some people are already thinking about finding a way out.

After the banquet, Li Xi thanked Liu Yu for helping him stabilize the morale of the navy, and invited Liu Yu to drink tea privately, saying that he was asking for advice, but in fact he was explaining some things to Liu Yu to avoid misunderstandings.

I have drunk too much these days. Japan still uses the tea foam method of brewing tea in the Tang Dynasty. Drinking a cup of tea today is indescribably refreshing.

Liu Yu did not take the initiative to speak. Since Li Xi invited him to taste tea, there must be something, so there is no need for him to ask first.

"My father intends to rebuild the Andong Grand Commandery, but he is afraid that the vassal states will be surprised, so he changed the name to the Protector General of the Domain. He will be stationed in Busan and will be in charge of the defense of Busan, Tsushima, Japan, and the whale sea."

"Relaxation and tension are the ways of civil and military affairs. The kingly way is too gentle and the hegemonic way is too tyrannical. Therefore, this Protector General of the Domain is also one civil and one military. The civil one handles the etiquette reception of Korea and Japan; the military one is responsible for monitoring Korea and Japan and guarding against the resurgence of the Japanese pirates."

"The army does not need to be stationed in Busan permanently, only a small number of guards will be left to guard the bastions and artillery positions. The navy is mainly responsible. My father believes that the sea borders are thousands of miles long, and we cannot only be stationed at the gates of the capital. Therefore, we must redistribute the jurisdiction and set up the Capital Coast Defense Commander to manage the affairs of Tianjin, Lushun, Weihai, etc. Lushun and Weihai are the gates to lock the Bohai Sea, which is also an important place. As for Busan, Whale Sea, and Japan, we also need to select someone who understands maritime affairs and trade, so as to avoid the people in the government who do not know maritime affairs and trade, but only know the way of the king, which will cause losses. "

"Moreover, my father also said that this time we really know what tribute is all about. We have been hiding our ears and stealing bells for too long. After receiving Zhao Baiquan's letter, we know that there are two Koreas in the world. One is the Korea imagined by everyone standing in the capital, and the other is the Korea that is actually in the old land of the four Han counties. They are completely different. "

"If there are only civil officials, most of them will accuse this of being unruly and that of being unrighteous, which will easily make the vassal frightened, thinking that they are going to control Korea, and they will be unable to sleep and eat. Therefore, the post of the Protector General of the vassal state should be a military officer as the main one and a civil officer as the deputy one. Keep a close eye on Japan and supervise Korea. "

These decrees were given directly to Li Huan, and Liu Yu could also understand their meaning. It's just that now that the navy is going to be formalized and have official positions, the grace of nomination and selection should be given to Li Huan, not Liu Yu.

When the time comes, the friendship between teachers and students, and the kindness of being acquainted with others, will be able to take away some of Liu Yu's prestige in the navy.

As for splitting up the navy, it really should be split up.

The important areas in the capital city need to be guarded. The Jinghai, Jiangnan, Guangdong and other places also need to be guarded by the navy. It seems that the emperor is really desperate for the old navy, and he is really uneasy about keeping the imperial court's financial and taxation center closest to the Westerners. The south was guarded by the old navy.

The governor of Gyeonggi Coastal Defense, no need to think about it, must be left to Li Han. It uses Lushun and Weihai as door locks and its headquarters is in Tianjin. It has enough brains.

As for the envoy who was stationed in Busan to protect the vassal, it seemed that he also wanted to hand over the kindness of Jian Ba ​​Zhiyu to Li Huan. After thinking about this, Liu Yu put down the tea cup and said with a smile: "Your Highness will decide this matter. Your Majesty is asking about His Highness, not me."

Li Han also smiled and said: "Although this is the case, I don't have enough experience after all. When it comes to simple matters, it is only based on talent. Among the officers, there are only a few who are talented enough to convince everyone."

"I am stationed in Busan, with a pleasant climate, and I am in charge of trade matters. It is a good job. In terms of talent and morality, I originally wanted to recommend Mi Ziming to my father. But Ying Sabo also said that good steel should be used on the blade. This is He is extremely talented and rigorous in military management. He is also an old friend of Ying Suo Bo and has been with him since childhood. "

"Although Ying Saobo has entered Beijing, he still has the heart to explore Southeast Asia. If he goes to Nanyang in the future, Ying Saobo will definitely be used in the court. And I know that when Yonzi went to Sweden in the Ming Dynasty, Ying Saobo also sent people there. Guangdong inspected the seaports and recruited many Fujian and Guangdong sailors."

"In view of this, I did not recommend Mi Ziming to be the guardian of the vassal, but recommended him to Guangdong."

Li Han gave a brief explanation. If some things are not explained clearly, it is easy to create some barriers.

Stationed in Busan is indeed a good job, with merchants doing business and a pleasant climate. If the imperial court had not decided on a civil and military order, and the warriors would first be selected from the navy, I am afraid that the DPRK and the Central Government would be the first to compete for the job.

On the contrary, in the land of Fujian and Guangdong, everything was created first, and the vast majority of the navy were from Gyeonggi, Jiaoliao and other places. The climate in Fujian and Guangdong is hot, and there are no military ports now, so it is really not as comfortable as in Busan.

Mi Ziming is Liu Yu's confidant, and his recommendation represents Li Huan's attitude. This is why he is afraid that Liu Yu will misunderstand him. If he doesn't talk about it, there will be estrangement in the future, which will be bad.

But beyond what can be said, there are deeper considerations.

Li Han himself also has his own staff. Although he has not yet been crowned king, there are still many staff who are willing to serve, and there are also many capable people.

After discussing this matter with Li Huan, the staff and confidants felt that this matter was more of a test than the emperor's trust.

The governor stationed in Busan is indeed a good job, but precisely because it is a good job, he will lose a lot of credit in the future.

In fact, the most suitable person for this position is Angui Miziming.

In this way, firstly, it shows that the emperor trusts and the monarch and his ministers are in harmony, and he gave the fat job to Liu Yu's confidants; secondly, it also shows that Li Hao is magnanimous and will not have any distrust of Liu Yu's old troops; thirdly, it can also be done Slowly eliminate Liu Yu's power in the navy, give him a good job, and have no chance to make great contributions again. Just slowly replace him in the future.

But this is considered from the perspective of internal intrigue.

The staff analyzed it and felt that if this was the case, in order for Li Huan to control the navy, the emperor could directly ask Li Huan who he thought was suitable for a certain position.

This can not only ensure that the kindness of knowing and meeting will be with Li Han, but also avoid any accidents.

But the emperor did not do this. Instead, he directly asked Li Han to recommend him, without suggesting any names.

Or, if you want to completely eliminate Liu Yu's influence in the military, there is another more secure way.

Now we only need to build a large navy, and those in charge of the army will still be Liu Yu's disciples after all.

No matter who you choose, there is no way around it, unless you no longer want the navy and hire a group of people with imperial examination background to manage it, then it is better not to invest money at all, just burn down the fleet and shipyard, and save maintenance costs.

So if you want to remove the impact, the easiest way is to drag.

Transfer Liu Yu to the capital, and send all Liu Yu's confidants to the Privy Council Staff Department to support themselves in old age. When some of the subsequent officer cadets no longer had anything to do with Liu Yu, and were all disciples of the emperor, just like the imperial examinations. They were awarded swords by the emperor and then joined the navy, then Liu Yu's influence had completely dissipated.

But the imperial court's intention was probably not that. Instead, it revealed the idea that the navy was useless and the navy could replace it, and it was very anxious.

Then there is only one possibility.

The emperor has a great heart, but he is getting older and wants to continue to develop before he grows old. As for Liu Yu's prestige, power and influence in the army, the emperor is confident that he can control it.

Since the emperor is ambitious, the commander of the navy, the weapon of ambition, must not be a coward who only thinks about intrigues, but must show an attitude of serving the public.

Li Han does not have the right to inherit. Let Li Han take charge of the navy. He should still hope that Li Han will be aggressive and enterprising. Balancing and other matters should not be considered by Li Han.

This attitude must be reflected in this recommendation.