Chapter 299 What do the common people think of me?
Xu Mochen's face was solemn. Because the coastal defense line was too large, it was very inconvenient to defend.
It's just that he hasn't reached a conclusion yet.
After explaining the basic situation, it’s time for discussion.
The board of directors are human talents carefully selected by Xu Mochen. However, Daqian has never paid attention to the navy, so everyone actually has no military experience in this area.
The scene was a bit eerily quiet, and Xu Mochen mused: "I also know the basics of Dagang. I asked you to come, not to blame or shirk responsibility.
So if you have any thoughts, you can say it, and the person who speaks is not guilty."
The emperor has spoken. No matter what you do, you still have to say a few words.
"In a fleet battle," an official from the board of directors said, "according to the data, our ships have an absolute advantage. There is no doubt about this.
The problem is that if the other party disperses its actions, it will be difficult for us to stop them."
"In Danzhou in the south, there is an entrance and exit here," someone said, and others followed, "Can we have a decisive battle with them here?"
"It's difficult. The trouble with naval battles is that there are many choices of routes that can be traveled, unlike land battles where you can rely on checkpoints, mountains, and cities."
"Western foreign countries have more experience in naval warfare than we do, which means they must also have a formation for action.
Assuming that our fleet is exposed in advance, once the strength of the fleet is exposed, they will not choose to fight us head-on."
"Yes, so the best way is to gather the opponent's fleet and annihilate it in one go."
"Then the question becomes, will they act in accordance with our ideas?"
"If we think this way, we will never get the result. How about we are a foreign country and what kind of actions will we take?"
"The first thing we have to figure out is what is the purpose of the foreign country's invasion."
"According to the information we have, the land area and population of the foreign country are far less than that of Daqian. We can believe that their ultimate goal is not to occupy Daqian."
"With more than a hundred warships, even if there are other carrier ships, the number of troops that can be moved here is limited."
"But what needs to be considered is that their weapons are more advanced than ours."
"Assuming they occupy a certain state or county in Daqian, they will need to leave a garrison. From this point of view, the scope of their short-term occupation will be limited."
"I think this is the first battle between the two sides, and maybe they will choose to go straight to Huanglong."
"I also think so. Your Majesty and the capital are symbols of Da Qian, so they may think that directly occupying the capital and forcing your majesty to sign an agreement will be the key to opening the door to Da Qian."
"In this case, is it equivalent to saying that we open the door to the country and let them come in?"
"Then the question is, how do we prevent them from burning, killing and looting along the way?"
"If word spreads about this, I am afraid that people all over the world will panic and the foundation of Daqian will be shaken."
"It has only been a few years since Daqian was unified. Going through such a storm may cause chaos again."
"This is not necessarily true. The world of the ten directions will not allow the retrogression of history."
"How can we absolutely rely on them in the world of ten directions? Look at it now, they don't even express it."
"Retreating without fighting would be an insult to the country's prestige."
"So, do we want to snipe from the beginning? In that case, once our opponent starts a guerrilla war on the sea with us, we will defeat him in any year and month."
"This is military, and it is related to the fate of the country. It cannot be taken for granted."
……
The opinions were not unanimous, and soon there was a bit of a quarrel.
Xu Mochen held the armrest tightly with his right hand. These people's opinions all have their own starting points.
If you want to defend the enemy from outside the country, you don’t have enough troops to control all of such a large sea area.
If you want to lure the enemy deeper, but you are afraid that the opponent will not work hard at the same time, then the coastal states of Daqian will suffer.
Seeing that it was difficult to decide, Xu Mochen suddenly laughed: "My dear friends, please tell me what the common people think of me."
The emperor suddenly said this, and everyone was stunned.
"Your Majesty..." After a moment of silence, Mu Nanyi asked tentatively, "Your Majesty, are you asking about Feng Ping?"
Xu Mochen nodded.
"Of course he is wise, powerful, and talented." Someone immediately stepped forward to salute. "They say that your Majesty is a wise king who only appears every five hundred years."
"Come on," Xu Mochen was still very self-aware, he waved his hand, "I don't need to listen to these lies.
Of course, some people have me in their hearts, but here I want to know the true evaluation of most people.
I forgive you for not being guilty, please feel free to say it."
"This..." Sweat broke out on Mu Nanyi's forehead, "Your Majesty, the opinions of the people cannot be generalized. This governance..."
"What I said, you must listen to the truth!" Xu Mochen interrupted, "You guys tell me one by one. If you can't tell, all of you will go to Dali Temple Prison and report it."
If you say harsh words, everyone will be helpless.
"Your Majesty, the people actually have mixed opinions about Your Majesty. The one I heard the most is that since Your Majesty unified the world, you have been obsessed with the harem and have no intention of going to court..."
"Some people say that His Majesty is the emperor who confiscated his family and killed batch after batch of meritorious officials..."
"It is also said that His Majesty has wasted people and money and built many useless projects, all to satisfy his selfish desires..."
"Your Majesty pays special attention to merchants in order to make money..."
"The promotion of medicine, the purchase price is high, and all the income goes into His Majesty's private treasury..."
"Some people think that the purpose of creating hybrid rice is to force good people to cultivate wasteland. It is all a lie..."
"Abandoning the liberal arts of saints and opening up official careers of three religions and nine streams, the country is on the verge of great chaos..."
"Your Majesty attaches great importance to eccentric and obscene techniques, and the electric lights he makes are useless and a waste of national power..."
……
The officials in the board of directors all spoke with trepidation.
Yes, what these people said is true.
Among the people of Daqian, many people do view Xu Mochen this way.
Reforms, especially changes that transcend the times, are not acceptable to everyone.
If Xu Mochen hadn't implemented it and it had indeed achieved great results, there would have been more rumors like this.
Everyone was cautious, but as they talked, the smiles on their faces grew bigger and bigger as they watched Xu Mochen listen.
"This..." I can't help you.
The voice of reporting gradually became quieter.
Xu Mochen came back to his senses and looked at everyone: "Say, keep talking.
I was listening with great interest, why didn’t you say anything?”
"Your Majesty," even though Mu Nanyi had a different relationship with him, he did not dare to say anything more when he discussed the emperor's affairs so arbitrarily, "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
Taking the lead, everyone saluted with a roar.
Xu Mochen slowly stood up.
"You are not guilty," he said in a relaxed tone, "and they have their reasons.
It's just that these truths are only a small part of the truth, not the truth that I want everyone to have."