The Grand Governor Qi Gangyi saw both the prince and the cabinet ministers.
When they heard his speech, they all showed a fleeting surprise.
They understand everything, they just pretend not to understand.
Qi Gangyi's speech just now was to find reasons for the army's external expansion.
The civil servants of the empire were very wary of the military. This was because since the Song and Ming Dynasties, the civil servants had always been aloof and suppressed military generals.
Hundreds of years of thinking inertia cannot be completely reversed by the empire's decree on the separation of civil and military affairs.
In the early days of the empire, the army's treatment was very good, and soldiers held their heads high wherever they walked.
Because they had military exploits to prove themselves, many people jumped from civilians to nobles.
Since ancient times, when ordinary people wanted to improve their status, they had two options: imperial examinations and joining the army.
If a soldier wants to be promoted quickly, there is only one way, and that is to obtain a large number of military merits.
However, as the empire's strategic direction shifted, the western inland areas were on the defensive.
The north, east and south of the empire are all covered by the sea, and the empire can only expand in the west.
With the end of the Sino-Russian War, the Royal Army's footsteps have stopped at the Ural River and Ural Mountains.
As for the grasslands of West Asia, it is only the militia occupying the territory, and the army relies on solid castles for defense.
This is because the empire's ability can only guarantee continued expansion in a certain direction.
Because the navy has made technological breakthroughs such as ironclad ships, sea trade also accounts for nearly half of the empire's income.
Driven by various forces, the empire chose to expand to the ocean.
The military expenditure of the Imperial Royal Army last year was only equivalent to the expenditure of three battleship fleets.
The empire no longer has sufficient military supplies, and the Imperial Royal Army needs to save money to maintain its current size.
The Imperial Royal Army's desire to expand abroad can only be a wishful thinking.
The income brought by maritime trade is too great. Even if Qi Gangyi is interested in the army, when he allocates military expenditures, he must allocate the vast majority of the expenditures to the navy.
There was no strong navy to protect merchant ships for trade on the oceans.
These merchant ships are the golden bread for pirates and coastal countries.
It is precisely because the Imperial Royal Navy escorts major routes, combats pirates near the routes, and deters countries along the way.
Only in this way can the empire's maritime trade develop and grow year by year.
The Imperial Royal Army had some appointments during this time, but he has never forgotten his glorious time.
The Imperial Royal Army also has its own ambitions.
The Imperial Royal Army has always wanted to find opportunities for the empire to continue to expand on land, even if it means cutting off a chain that is tied to the Imperial Royal Army.
The wish of these army veterans was fulfilled.
They don't want to see the Imperial Royal Army continue to deteriorate.
There are still many officers and soldiers in the army who have gone through several wars.
In another five to ten years, a large number of soldiers who have experienced the war will retire.
The Imperial Royal Army, which is composed entirely of new recruits, will inevitably experience a sharp degradation in combat capability.
Qi Gangyi did not want this situation to occur that would inevitably destroy the Imperial Royal Army.
He and the army generals had been waiting for an opportunity, and had previously set their sights on Russia.
Russia suffered successive defeats and suffered many casualties. The little emperor was unable to obey, and the situation was very chaotic.
It is very difficult for Russia to maintain the current situation. They have no ability to take the initiative to provoke, and there are few frictions on the border between the two countries.
The southwestern borders of the empire were all small countries. Seeing the strength of the Great China Empire, they quickly thought of ways to pay tribute and did not dare to take the initiative to provoke the empire.
The Royal Imperial Army holds the most powerful force in the world, but he has no way to exert it.
Qi Gangyi had already accepted his fate before, and he accidentally learned about the empire's oil shortage.
In particular, oil production has been closely related to food production.
Qi Gangyi knew that the era of the Imperial Royal Army had come again.
The Imperial Royal Army must seize this rare opportunity to turn around.
When Grand Governor Qi Gangyi heard Prince Su Shu's question, he showed a proud smile.
He can become the Grand Governor and manage all affairs of the imperial military.
The main reason is that His Majesty the Emperor wants to check and balance the navy.
The navy has developed too rapidly, and this is only one of the reasons.
Qi Gangyi believed that the most important reason was that the navy and the prince were too close.
If he, the governor-general, wants to live a stable life, he must not get close to the prince. It is best to have some conflict with the prince.
Qi Gangyi also disliked the prince Su Shu who loved the navy.
He is willing to become a pawn in the hands of His Majesty the Emperor.
Grand Governor Qi Gang stood up and gave a standard military salute to Emperor Su He.
Then he requested: "Your Majesty, I need a world map to explain Mingchen's thoughts."
Emperor Su He waved his hand, and the agile eunuch Zhou Fangzhi immediately directed the young eunuch to bring in a glass screen with a world map.
Grand Governor Qi Gangyi stepped forward and immediately took out the small flag with a rubber suction base from the bag next to the screen.
He posted small flags of different colors and lengths at different locations on the map.
Prince Su Shu looked at where the Grand Governor Qi Gangyi had posted his flag.
Shaanxi posted a very long flag.
Nanyang and Luzon each posted a medium-sized flag.
Cai Guo and Persia posted a short flag respectively.
When Prince Su Shu saw this situation, his eyes widened and he realized what Governor Qi Gangyi wanted to say?
As he expected, the length of the flag represented the depth of the oil well.
Once the government and the public were made aware of Persia, the neighboring country with a weak empire, they had a large amount of oil that was easy to exploit.
When Prince Su Shu closed his eyes, he could imagine what would happen?
Since the founding of the empire, its territory has expanded several times.
This cannot be explained by his father's great success.
We, the various forces in the empire, are all expanding their territory and have gained a lot of benefits.
Whether they were officials or ordinary people, they supported the expansion of the empire in large numbers.
The empire's outward expansion is no longer a matter of using military force to waste money and people, as Confucianism calls it.
Mongolia and other northern parts were included in the empire's territory. From then on, the empire no longer lacked mutton and beef.
Many people in the empire can even afford cheese, and their children can afford milk powder.
Cochin Nanyang and other places were included in the imperial territory, and there was a great harvest of grain and sugar.
There are no records of major famines anywhere in the empire.
You must know that more than ten years ago, this land was still fed with a bag of rations, and you could sell your own children.
Starved people can be seen everywhere in the city and on the roadsides.
Grand Governor Qi Gang stood up straight and looked at everyone with confident eyes.
"The information collected by the military shows that the oil in the interior of the empire is buried extremely deep.
There is a small oil field in Shaanxi, and the early incendiary bombs of the Empire used the oil produced in this oil field.
The reserves of the oil fields are very small, and the depth of the oil wells is deeper.
It has already reached a depth of thousands of meters, and only a small amount of oil can be extracted with a machine.
Oil wells in Nanyang and Luzon do not need to be drilled that deep and can produce oil within a few hundred meters.
For our oilfield drilling technology, the most suitable depth is a few hundred meters to ensure safety and production.
The State of Cai is rich in oil, as His Highness the Crown Prince also said just now.
But many people don't know that the oil fields in Cai Guo are very shallow, and local people can dig wells to get water, and they can even drill a well that spurts oil.
Persia, across the sea from Cai Guo, is also rich in oil, and the oil wells do not need to be drilled too deep.
Some of the oil we purchased before came from Persia.
I heard that the oil wells there gush out in large quantities directly, and there is no need to drill wells at all.
At least for this oil field, according to the results predicted by the military, it is definitely a large oil field with an amount of more than 100 million kilograms.
This oil field is very close to the border, and it only takes more than two hours by horseback.
I think there are too many variables in purchasing oil from Cai Guo.
No matter which sweet potato country owns oil, it is inferior to the empire personally controlling large oil deposits with rich reserves."
After Qi Gangyi finished speaking, there was an immediate noise in Qianqing Palace.
The navy generals looked at the Governor Qi Gangyi, and they understood what the Governor was thinking.
For this occasion, they did not want to voice any objection.
The Grand Governor did not like the navy very much, but he never used his power to do anything detrimental to the navy.
The Governor's character is very outstanding, and they cannot get into a dispute on this occasion.
In front of the eyes of the civil servants and His Majesty the Emperor, the profound contradiction between the army and the navy was revealed.
No matter who does this, they will be ostracized by everyone in the Metropolitan Government.
The reaction of the civil servants was even greater, especially the ministers of the cabinet. They all looked at the Grand Governor Qi Gangyi.
As civil servants, what they always want to do is to overpower the generals.
Both the previous prime minister and Qian Mingyi had been petitioning Emperor Su He to restore the Ministry of War.
What is the Ministry of War? The cabinet controls the yamen responsible for managing military commanders.
As long as the Ministry of War is established, the cabinet can use various methods to seize the power that should belong to the Metropolitan Governor's Office.
Just like in the previous Ming Dynasty, the civil servants took advantage of the Tumubao Incident, and the Ministry of War directly abolished the Governor's Office of the Five Armies and became the superior of all generals.
The ultimate goal of the civilian officials cannot be achieved, and they can only find ways to suppress the development of the military.
Civil servants cannot influence the Metropolitan Government in other aspects. The only thing they can influence is the military budget.
They strictly scrutinized the military's budget and tried their best to weaken the Army's budget when the Navy's budget was unstoppable.
Controlling the military budget is not a problem in normal times, but there is a risk that the empire will fall into war.
During the war, the empire had special funds to invest in the military.
The investment in a war is almost three to five years of overall military expenditure. Comprehensively improving the strength of the military is to enable the military to win the war.
Prime Minister Qian Mingyi thought hard. He wanted to prevent the outbreak of war, but he didn't know why.
The empire currently has too few oil fields, and its oil resources are extremely important.
For the sake of huge oil resources, His Majesty the Emperor will definitely not care about the life and death of the small country of Persia.
When the Imperial Army attacks Persia, there is almost no risk of failure.
The only possible risk is to fall into an endless security war.
There are many ways to solve this problem. The simplest way is to sell all the local population to the Americas.
With the local indigenous people gone, the problem no longer exists.
When Prime Minister Qian Mingyi was thinking, he saw Honeysuckle, the cabinet minister in charge of agriculture and water conservancy.
He secretly said something bad, the unified stance of the civil servants was about to end.
The civil service is divided, and it was originally difficult to check and balance the military. Now it has become impossible to check and balance.
The only hope is to see what His Majesty the Emperor thinks?
Cabinet Minister Honeysuckle is doing this for her own political achievements, but also for her recent personality.
That is, whatever Prince Su Shu supports, he will find a way to oppose. On the contrary, whatever Prince Su Shu opposes, he will try his best to support.
Of course, he would not object stubbornly to something that seemed right at first glance, but would just keep silent.
Honeysuckle coughed twice and said in a very excited tone: "The empire must try its best to get the large oil fields in Persia.
The output of the oil fields in Imperial Nanyang and Luzon is really too low.
These oil outputs, even if they are not used to produce diesel but are only used to synthesize urea, are not enough to meet the minimum standards for land use in the empire.
The empire must purchase oil from countries such as Cai Guo.
The empire has limited oil fields in its hands, and it purchases a large amount of oil from Cai Guo. This will definitely be controlled by Cai Guo.
In order to appease Cai Guo, the empire must provide additional help to Cai Guo.
It is more likely that as the empire's demand for oil increases.
But in order to sell oil at a high price, Cai Guo only carried out small-scale production because it manipulated the price of oil.
The empire only wants oil and cannot fight a war with its vassal countries.
In order to prevent this most undesirable thing from happening, the empire had better hold the bargaining chip in its hands.
As long as the oil fields owned by the empire can provide at least half of the empire's oil.
If the remaining half of the oil is outsourced, what I mentioned will not happen."
Honeysuckle talks about the impact that relying entirely on vassal states for oil on the empire might have.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Cabinet Minister Qu Xiangyang agreed: "What Mr. Jin said is right, once the oil supply is controlled by a certain force.
The Empire will pay far higher prices for oil than it does now.
Why should the empire pay this unjust amount of money? It is better to use this money as military expenditure, so as to solve the problem once and for all.
The rich oil fields are in the hands of the empire. This is the most advantageous method for the empire."
Cabinet Minister Han Cuibai stepped forward as expected when he saw Honeysuckle.
Qu Xiangyang was a little surprised to stand up, but he thought of Qu Xiangyang's characteristics, which is that he doesn't deal with people but things.
Qu Xiangyang generally doesn't care who people are. He only expresses opinions on specific matters and always puts the interests of the empire first.
There were many officials similar to Qu Xiangyang in the imperial court.
They put the interests of the empire first without involving their own interests.
Han Cuibai knew that if he didn't question it, he would have no chance.
He stood up, bowed his hands to the Grand Governor Qi Gangyi, and asked: "How did Governor Qi know that Persia is rich in oil?
If this information is false or wrong.
The empire paid a heavy price for false information, which is extremely undesirable.
We need to first confirm that Persia is rich in oil, and then we have the opportunity to discuss diesel."
Han Cuibai resorted to the official Tai Chi method to avoid matters, which he usually looked down upon.
But what should we do in order to buy time and give them a chance to discuss what to do next?
He could only use dragging tactics to capture Qi Gangyi's experience.
Governor Qi Gangyi ignored Cabinet Minister Han Cuibai.
He turned to look at Emperor Su He and saluted: "Your Majesty, I have sufficient evidence in my hands.
Request to install a projector in the Qianqing Palace.
The real can not be fake, the fake can not be real.
I am willing to guarantee that this matter is accurate.
If there is any falsehood, Your Majesty will directly dismiss me from my post."
"permit!"
Emperor Su He agreed to Qi Gangyi's request.
He was the person in the Qianqing Palace who had the highest trust in the fact that Persia was rich in oil.