Number of People

  Chapter 758 There is someone behind the E-character scroll, written by Xiao Feng Xiu

  Feng Ziying's guest is Shen Yourong.

  Years ago, Shen Yourong came here once, and this time he came back again because Shen Yourong realized the seriousness of the problem after a confrontation with his immediate superior, Wang Ziteng, and came back to find Feng Ziying.

  Shen Yourong had complicated feelings about Feng Ziying.

As a veteran general in his early fifties, if he had no pursuit of official career, he would not have worked tirelessly between his hometown, Fujian and the capital city. It is the station of the Denley Navy Fleet.

  Of course, the pursuit of official career is not to get promoted and get rich, but to realize one's own ambition.

  Shen Yourong felt that although he was over fifty, his physical condition was in the prime of his life, and he was capable of taking on any more arduous and arduous challenges.

   Years of working experience in Liaodong and Fujian made him very familiar with the sea conditions from Jinzhou to Yongping to Denglai to the Yangtze River Estuary and the coast of Zhangzhou, which is an advantage that no one else has.

Seeing that the arrogance of the Japanese pirates on the sea has not disappeared, the Xiyi people have entered East Asia in a large scale. Shen Yourong was always worried about the competition for spices.

   It is no longer feasible for Dazhou to follow the former Ming sea ban policy, especially after Shen Yourong felt the power of Hong Maofan's advanced ships, artillery and firecrackers, this pressure kept him awake at night.

  Although he repelled Hongmaofan's invasion of Penghu, Shen Yourong was soberly aware that if it wasn't for his huge geographical advantage, the Dazhou Navy would not be able to compete with Hongmaofan's superiority in ships and artillery.

If Dazhou does not catch up, the gap brought about by this technological advantage will become larger and larger, and in the end it will overwhelm the geographical advantage. In terms of form, it is even more dangerous.

  If there is no strategy to open the sea, then Shen Yourong will be fine. The imperial government cannot be changed by a mere general.

   But now that Xiao Feng Xiuzhuan proposed opening the sea and received strong support from the court, it means that the differences between the northern and southern scholars on this strategy have basically been bridged, and the implementation has begun, and the whole process has been rapidly promoted.

  The imperial court newly established the governor's yamen of Denglai, and Shen Yourong didn't have any opinion on the appointment of a military official like Wang Ziteng as the governor of Denglai.

Wang Ziteng's many years of experience as a military envoy of the Beijing camp and governor of Xuanda, combined with the fact that he was not only highly valued by Emperor Yuanxi, but also never fell out of favor with the new emperor after entering the era of Emperor Yonglong. It's a bad thing, at least when Wang Ziteng got millions of taels of silver from the imperial court to build the Governor's District of Denglai, Shen Yourong was even very excited and supported.

But I didn't expect that although Wang Ziteng got back so much money, he spent all his time on integrating Denglaiwei Town and Denglai Army, and had little time to take care of the construction of docks, shipyards and naval fleets. Governor Lai's intentions were completely inconsistent.

  Shen Yourong listened to Feng Ziying's introduction that the imperial court had three purposes for setting up the Governor of Denglai.

First, build a powerful and elite navy fleet that can control the entire Bohai Sea, Blackwater Ocean and Western Sea, and ensure that the transport fleet can land and dock anywhere in the Bohai Sea and North Korea. Of course, this landing and docking does not only mean Goods, but also refers to the army.

Second, to find, familiarize with and open up the routes leading to Whale Sea and Ezo Land as soon as possible, and strive to control and master these routes and Whale Sea and Ezo Land, and finally realize the connection of East China Sea Jurchen including Qilie Charming through sea routes , Complete the goal of pinching the Jianzhou Jurchen.

  Third, establish a capable Denglai army as the strong backing of the two towns' armies under the command of the future governor of Jiliao.

The purpose of these three purposes is in order. The first is undisputed to be the first, so the construction from the dock to the shipyard is the first to bear the brunt, and then the construction of the naval fleet, the ship Guns, artillery and sailors are indispensable.

The second and third goals can only be discussed on the premise of the smooth progress of the first goal. To open up routes and control the sea area, a navy fleet is needed. Similarly, the Denglai Army is mainly built through the navy The fleet was transported to any place around the Bohai Bay to land and support Liaodong Town and Ji Town.

But now Wang Ziteng's approach is reversed, and he will go all out to build the Denglai Army first. As for the construction of the Navy, it can be delayed or shrinked. As for the second purpose, it has long been lost. In the back of my head, I don't even bother to mention it.

   This also aroused Shen Yourong's great dissatisfaction.

  He had approached Wang Ziteng in the early stage, but Wang Ziteng didn't spend much time in Denglai. He often returned to Beijing on the grounds that he would report the progress to the cabinet and the Ministry of War, and he often couldn't find anyone.

The building of the Denglai Army is indeed in full swing. At the beginning, the number of the Denglai Army was set at 30,000, and Wang Ziteng had already drawn 30,000 elites from the two town guards of Denglai in a relatively short period of time, and then voluntarily After the recruitment was completed, the methodical training began. I have to say that Wang Ziteng still has a few brushes in these aspects.

However, the 30,000 troops were originally set up by the Ministry of War to gradually complete the formation within three years of the Denglai Governor's Yamen, but Wang Ziteng completed it within a few months, and the consequence of this was that all the money he wanted from the Ministry of War was lost. It was spent on the Denglei Army, and the purchase of the Denglei Navy Fleet, Dengzhou Wharf, shipyards, barracks and even artillery is nowhere in sight.

  Shen Yourong couldn't afford to wait, so he went to Beijing to talk to Wang Ziteng a few years ago, but the effect was not good. Wang Ziteng's mind was on the Denglai Army, and he didn't have much enthusiasm for the construction of the navy.

  No way, Shen Yourong also found Feng Ziying.

   Besides, Shen Yourong is upright and brave, but he also knows that Feng Ziying recommended him to sit on the position of Admiral of the Denglai Navy Fleet, or in other words, Feng Ziying is his sponsor.

  The leader of a fourth-rank general is compiled by a sixth-rank Hanlin Academy, but this is the truth.

  Feng Ziying's energy is not comparable to Shen Yourong.

But Feng Ziying's answer to him was to take the initiative to report to Wang Ziteng and strive to obtain Wang Ziteng's support. After all, the admiral of the Denglai Navy belongs to the Denglai Governor's Yamen, especially during the construction stage. You can't bypass it. Governor Deng Lai's yamen intervened directly, even the Ministry of War could not do so.

"Governor Wang's attitude is just like this. No matter what I say, he refuses to agree." Shen Yourong's face already showed deep fatigue and worry, "As far as I know, Governor Wang even intends to lobby the Ministry of War and the cabinet to The Denglai Army has expanded to 50,000 people. If this is the case, the future navy fleet will not be built in five or ten years, not to mention three years. I, the admiral of the navy, will be meaningless. I might as well go back to Fujian Go be that general."

   "Expand the Denglai Army to 50,000?" Feng Ziying was taken aback.

Although he knew that Wang Ziteng's thoughts were on the Denglai Army, he would definitely not pay too much attention to the naval fleet, otherwise, how could Shen Yourong be appointed as the Admiral of the Navy just because of his recommendation, and he recommended a general in the Denglai Army? give it a try? Don't even think about it, Wang Ziteng still wants to firmly control the Denglai Army in his own hands.

   But expanding the army to 50,000 people is too exaggerated. How could the Ministry of War and the cabinet agree? The Denglai Army was originally used as a backup for Liaodong Town and Ji Town. According to your expansion speed, you will soon catch up with the size of Ji Town, and then the meaning of setting up the Denglai Army will be lost.

  Originally, the purpose of setting up the Denglai Army was to be lean and flexible, so that it could be easily transported by the navy fleet. Now that you are so inflated, how can you transport flexibly?

"Well, the expansion of the Denglai Army is not my concern. As long as the Governor-General can persuade the court, it doesn't matter. However, the imperial court allocates limited money to the Governor-General's Office of Denglei, and it is clearly stipulated that the first goal is to build a powerful naval fleet. I can't accept this putting the cart before the horse and putting the cart before the horse. Now that the construction of the dock is less than half of the stoppage, the construction of the shipyard can only be carried out smoothly thanks to the loan from Haitong Bank. But once it involves the construction of naval ships There are artillery castings, all of which cost a lot of money, Haitong Yinzhuang’s loan is also limited, and if it is abandoned halfway, the loss will be even greater, I don’t understand what the governor thinks, will the court tolerate him like this?”

  Shen Yourong was extremely troubled.

He didn't want to make the relationship stalemate with Wang Ziteng. Although Wang Ziteng's nod was needed for the appointment, Shen Yourong, the admiral of the Denglai Navy, was not something that Wang Ziteng could do. It needed the Ministry of War and the cabinet to decide, but as the governor of Denglai Wang Ziteng has a hundred ways to make you, the admiral of the navy, unable to continue.

  Feng Ziying was not surprised.

What is Wang Ziteng thinking? The bigger the Lai army is built, the more he can place these people down.

  If he can't solve the demands of his subordinates, how will he lead the team in the future?

  As for the fact that he is so eager to build the Denglai Army, it’s hard to say whether he has other deeper ideas. Feng Ziying can only say that I hope he doesn’t, otherwise, the Wang family will either ascend to the sky or exterminate the family.

"So, General Shihong, I will try to find time to meet and talk with Governor Wang, but before that, you have to try your best to advance according to the schedule, especially since the shipyard has basically taken shape, and even some Xiyi If the craftsmen are hired in place, then the design and material selection must be done, even if the scale is small. Originally, three or five ships were planned to be built at the same time, but now one or two ships can be tried, so as to accumulate experience and avoid mistakes in the future. ,..." Feng Ziying encouraged: "Here, I will give you an answer as soon as possible."

  (end of this chapter)