The World of Yellow Sky

"Where is the United Fleet now?"

Xu An thought for a while, thinking about Jia Xu who was beside him and asked.

There are many affairs, the military newspapers he has to read every day, and more than hundreds of news received from various cities, many things he has no way to remember clearly.

The joint navy he mentioned refers to the new fleet formed by the Liaozhou Fleet and the Haidong Provincial Fleet. Most of the Haidong Provincial Fleet has returned to the Haidong Provincial Fleet.

"Report to Duke Ming, the United Fleet has arrived at the Zhoushan Islands in Yangzhou."

Zhoushan Islands is the place named by Xu An. It was originally called Yongdong.

It didn't make sense for Xu An to change his name, and even Jia Xu thought it was a good name change.

There are mountains with wings like Mae, which rests on the sea, and is gathered by boats, so it is named Zhoushan.

I have to say that naming is really a science.

"According to Duke Ming's instructions, civilian husbands have been recruited from Xuzhou to build a military port in Zhoushan."

Jia Xu bowed his head slightly, reporting in detail.

He is also considered an old man in the mansion, Xu An basically only needs to ask the first question, and he can guess what Xu An wants to know.

Jia Xu had discovered that Xu An seemed to be particularly concerned about matters at sea before, and he planted his hands in Liaodong early.

He originally thought that Xu An was going to use the power of the sea to target Qingxu and Xuzhou. After conquering Qingxu and unifying the world, he should relax his emphasis on the sea and close the shipyard.

In Jia Xu's view, the innovation of sea opening and shipbuilding technology will bring considerable harm.

With the development of maritime trade routes, turmoil at sea has also begun to take shape.

Although it hasn't happened yet, Jia Xu can foresee some things that will happen in the future.

The sea is vast, and he has never heard anyone say that it has a boundary. He has also boarded a ship with Xu An, and he can feel his own insignificance when sailing on the sea.

Nowadays, maritime commerce and trade are very developed.

Money touches people's hearts, and there will always be people who take risks.

It is that the Ming Court is now politically clear and has a strong military force, but there are still some desperadoes in the country who rob and kill people, but they dare not occupy the mountains and become kings like in the past.

Crime is inevitable in this day and age.

Jia Xu is worried about whether the prosperity of the sea route will make pirates rampant and cause havoc along the coast.

Those scattered islands in the sea are the best hiding places.

"In the matter of opening the sea, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

Xu An knew what Jia Xu was thinking, he and Jia Xu had discussed this matter.

"There is almost infinite wealth in this vast sea, and the sea is the way out for the future."

"The world is far bigger than we thought..."

Xu An's voice was low, but his gaze was firm.

"The reason why I continue to expand the sea is not because I want to be famous in history, nor is it because I want to show off my achievements, and it is not because I want to become the so-called emperor through the ages."

"In my opinion, it's all just passing by."

Jia Xu's expression was serious, and he had never seen such a serious expression on Xu An's face many times.

He didn't think that what Xu An said was a lie. Today's Xu An didn't claim the title of emperor, but his achievements have indeed surpassed all the emperors in the past, and he is destined to go down in history.

Even if the history books of later generations do not boast of Xu An in any spring and autumn style, but simply record Xu An's life, it will definitely be a soul-stirring epic.

After following Xu An for many years, Jia Xu knows that Xu An is not a poor soldier who does not care about people's livelihood, but only cares about his own achievements.

He was also very puzzled, he felt that Xu An's heart was like a bright mirror, as if there was a ledger stored in his mind, and there were endless ideas in his mind.

Fighting wars is a waste of money, especially when expanding the territory, it is a waste of money and people, but Xu An carefully calculated the accounts after expanding the territory, but actually made a lot of money.

Beijiang defeated Xianbei and collected hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep from the two tribes of the northern lands, and even got hundreds of thousands of free labor and military power at once.

After the Liaodong and Western Regions defeated those countries, those captured soldiers were directly used as labor to build foundations. Now a large number of roads have been opened up in the Western Regions and Liaodong, and various foundations have also been improved.

The military expenditures used were basically seized to offset.

In the battle of the Western Regions, half of the Dawan Kingdom fell, the king was killed, and Guishuang had no choice but to stop the army. That war cost a lot of military resources, but according to Xu An's request, they sent envoys to Guishuang to demand compensation for military expenses.

As a result, Guishuang was caught in a fierce battle with the Anxi Empire in the west at that time, and was unable to do both. It could only save money and avoid disasters. It paid military compensation to the Western Regions every year, which offset most of the military expenditures. All countries came to contribute, almost no money in Mingting's treasury was spent, but a lot of food was consumed.

It turns out that this battle can still be fought like this, and such a request can be made after the war...

"Some things, if you don't seize them, the enemy will occupy them, and then we will be the ones who suffer."

"How future generations will develop, no one can predict."

Xu An's expression was solemn, and he lowered his voice as he recalled the things recorded in the book.

"The world is like a gamble, and every country is a gambler."

"Now we have won the top spot, seized the opportunity, and achieved far higher achievements than other countries and others, but there is no way to win forever, and we may lose sometimes."

"This gamble has gone through almost 2000 years, and the gamblers on the gamble have changed from batch to batch."

"The history of their existence will only be recorded in the history books, or even there is no record. Their descendants will be assimilated, or even perish. There will be no place for them in this world..."

"And what we have to do, what we can do, is to allow our country to have more chips and more experience in this gamble."

"Being able to sit on the gambling table all the time, and finally win this game..."

Jia Xu's eyes flickered with brilliance, Xu An's words made him realize something in his heart, he had a faint feeling that he had grasped something, but he also felt blocked by something, making it difficult to fully understand.

"Don't think too much about it. People in each era have missions that people in their era should fulfill. As long as we travel our own missions, we will be worthy of future generations and worthy of our ancestors."

"For 2000 years, we've been winning..."

"In the future, there will be no exception."

Xu An turned his attention to Dongyi Island on the map.

Controlling Japan in the east, connecting Denglai in the north, stretching Ou and Fujian in the south, and connecting Wuhui in the west, it is a huge obstacle in the middle of the sea, which is enough to prosper the country.

The Eagle Wolf Guard first entered the Yamatai Kingdom to search for news and information. Lu Sheng was currently recruiting soldiers. When the weather got warmer, the expeditionary force would board ships and go to Dongyi Island to help the Yamatai Kingdom.

The previous news from Yinglangwei confirmed that there are really only two big countries on Dongyi Island, one is Yamatai, which is asking for help, and the other is Dog slave country, and the rest of the countries are not strong, they are still very weak.

After occupying Dongyi Island, the mountains of gold and silver on it will flow into the Ming Court continuously to supplement nutrition for the Ming Court.

With this large amount of income, it is easy to open up the Silk Road on the sea.

Chapter 9 and Four

It is only a matter of time before the matter of taking over the five states in Handi, and the various influences of those aristocratic families will slowly be revealed later.

Now for the country, the top priority is still financial issues.

Financial issues can even be said to be the most important issue in a country, even more important than the military.

Because only a financially stable and wealthy country can support a large number of troops, and have enough ability to train and arm the army to improve its combat effectiveness.

Finance is the pillar of a country, the cornerstone of a country.

Without a good finance, even the mightiest empire is nothing but a castle in the air.

In the era of cold weapons, nomadic tribes are an exception. Their financial situation is not good, and their systems are also very backward. However, although they are powerful, they are only temporary.

Looking at the history of the world, although nomadic tribes had their times of prosperity, most of the time the protagonists were farming countries.

In ancient times when productivity was low, only an agrarian society could truly support an enduring empire.

In ancient China, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business was actually the policy that was most in line with that era. However, with the change of the times and the progress of society, such a national policy is no longer suitable for the Ming court today.

"How is the problem of the joint fleet turning to the south handled?"

Xu An asked the question he was most concerned about.

Although the national treasury now has a lot of surplus money, this wealth is accumulated by powerful families for hundreds or even thousands of years.

In fact, the annual fixed revenue and expenditure of the country's finances are actually extremely unbalanced, and the expenditure is far higher than the income.

Not counting the military garrisons, the number of garrisons in various places, as well as military regions and armies directly under the central government, has exceeded 30, as well as police forces and township officials in various places.

The imperial power does not go to the countryside, not because it does not want to go to the countryside, but because it cannot afford such a huge cost.

Xu An increased his control over Xiangting and dispatched more officials, but he could not send officials to every settlement.

And even if it is limited to this, it will consume a lot of money and food.

The output of the gold mines and silver mines that Ming Ting now owns was enough when it only occupied Bingzhou, but it is completely insufficient now, and all the output is just a drop in the bucket.

Solving financial problems is nothing more than two points, one is to increase revenue, and the other is to reduce expenditure.

There is no need to consider throttling, because all current policies and institutions have been tested repeatedly, and the best solution that can be thought of so far.

After the world is stabilized, Xu An plans to gradually reduce the number of troops in the interior.

However, the directly-administered army will naturally not be reduced in the slightest, and the five states of Hanting will also ensure that they can suppress the local standing army enough to prevent any troubles caused by those aristocratic families.

Having a knife without using it and not having a knife in hand are completely different things.

Turning the combined fleet to the south is the first thing to do when opening up the Maritime Silk Road.

The only two countries with navies in the north are Gonu and Yamatai, and the ships of these two countries can be easily solved by relying on the existing part of the Haidong Fleet under Lu Sheng's command. After all, there are only a few dozen ships. It's just a boat.

In a real war, you don't even need to use the ballista, you can knock it over if you just sail the boat over it, and taking down Dongyi Island is just a matter of finding something.

Liaozhou and Haidong Province do not need to keep so many warships now, so moving them to the south is a must.

"Most of the officers and soldiers have been persuaded. The soldiers belonging to the Haidong Fleet have fully agreed to the relocation plan, but there are still some Liaozhou people who are unwilling to leave their homeland or move south."

"Approximately how many people are there?"

"Three thousand and five hundred people."

The statistical work is done by Eagle Wolf Guard, so it is very detailed.

Xu An frowned slightly. Although he had expected it long ago, people in this era still look back at their homeland more than he expected. After all, it is hard to leave the homeland.

The conditions he offered are already very favorable. He plans to build several new ports in Jiaozhou and Yangzhou. As long as those soldiers are willing to go south with the fleet, even their families will be taken to the south. Clans are willing to relocate, and there are various preferential treatment policies, which treat them the same as clans willing to go to expand their territories.

"Let's try to persuade you again. You don't need to worry too much about the impact of diseases and acclimatization. With the migration of the fleet, there are also many medical students among the first batch of residents who settled in the port. There is no need to worry about safety. The four ports will Guard heavily."

"The four port cities have supporting facilities for schools, factories, and squares. It's not a wild place. Explain clearly, understand it with emotion, and move it with reason."

Xu An rubbed the position of his temples. These soldiers have experience in naval warfare and sea navigation. They must be kept as far as possible to the south, so that they can proceed with the plan to open up commercial routes.

There are many undeveloped islands and places near the equator. Whether you go east to the Southeast Asian archipelago, or go west all the way to the Middle East and Africa, you can harvest a lot of specialties.

All kinds of spices, specialty products, and rare animals and plants can be transported back to the country for a lot of money, and they can be sold to foreign countries for huge profits.

"promise."

Jia Xu responded. He saw Xu An's reaction, and he attached more importance to this matter in his heart. He was thinking in his heart, and he was already thinking of a plan.

"How is the recruitment preparation for the ocean-going fleet going?"

"The ten warships of the ocean-going fleet have been selected. According to Ming Gong's instructions, all the new soft-sailed warships were selected. Among them, two large ships are [-] miles long, and the rest are [-] miles long. The flagship is [-] miles long. Material, it's just..."

Jia Xu's face showed embarrassment. To be honest, the tasks Xu An assigned to him were more difficult than each other.

Ocean voyages involve crossing the oceans, and the time is often measured in years. The risks are extremely high, and there are very few sailors who can be recruited. Only now are there three sailors on board.

"Now only sailors for three ships have been recruited, and the rest are still being recruited."

Jia Xu pondered for a while and made a suggestion.

"There are many fishermen in Jiaozhou and Yangzhou. It is better to recruit fishermen and people who are proficient in water as supplements, and then use our army officers and soldiers as commanders to fulfill the task of crossing the ocean when they are mature."

"This is a way..."

Xu An hesitated for a moment, but quickly realized that Jia Xu's suggestion was really good.

In this way, there should not be too much shortage of manpower, and many plans can be implemented.

He formed the ocean-going fleet for those special crops as far away as America.

America is really a continent that is under the influence of the sky. High-yield crops such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn are all in the Americas, and most importantly, the rubber that is exclusively produced in the Americas is now urgently needed by Ming Court.

With this crop, he can turn southern Xinjiang into a rubber farm and use it as a pillar industry in southern Xinjiang, and bring together the tribes in southern Xinjiang with the rubber industry, so that they can get rid of the backward production methods of the tribes.

Moreover, rubber can be used in many ways. Rubber can be used as tires, as well as some buffers, closures, and sealing materials. Then Mingting's current industrial technology will be rapidly improved.

"Exactly, I'm worrying about how to arrange Yang and Jing's sailors."