Ji Zi Volume Chapter 99: Peeling off the cocoon (asking for 300 monthly votes!)
Of course Feng Ziying would not have thought that the idea she gave Yuan Chun to help her solve her trouble would arouse Yuan Chun's emotions.
Of course this sentiment is not directed at himself, but at the Jia family and the Wang family, but it is true that Wang Ziteng's movements are worthy of attention.
Xue Biao has asked someone to formally make an engagement to the Fang family. The person who came forward was Jia Zheng, and Fang Youdu's father was also on the way to Beijing with his daughter. Once Xue Biao got engaged, Xue Biao would rush to Denglai. , ready to prepare for his own future development path.
From Shen Yourong's letter, it can be seen that Wang Ziteng's main focus is still on the formation of the Denglai Army.
The inspection of Denglai by Shou Wang Zhangchi and Youdu Yushi Liu Yishui only temporarily allowed Denglai Governor's Mansion to promote the construction of the naval fleet, but Feng Ziying knew very well that as long as Wang Ziteng's mind did not change, there would be adjustments sooner or later. After returning, the Denglai Army will still be Wang Ziteng's most important concern.
However, Shen Yourong took this opportunity to accelerate the construction of the naval fleet. The first batch of thirteen ships has been assembled, and now he has begun to install artillery on the ships as originally discussed with Feng Ziying, and It must be carried out exactly according to the way the Xiyi people formed their fleet.
Putting down the letter, Feng Ziying handed it to Wang Wenyan who had not yet left.
Wang Wenyan couldn't help but clicked his tongue after reading it, "Sir, Master Shen wants to build it according to the method of the Xiyi warship. The investment is not small. The configuration of various large and small guns alone is far better than what we originally built on the ship." Ships, and there are higher requirements for the range, power and quality of artillery. Not only will this cost a lot, but the method of water warfare will also change a lot, right?"
"Well, this is what I discussed with Mr. Shen at the beginning. He served as a staff general in Fujian and was in charge of the Fujian Navy. He fought against the Hong Mao Fan in Penghu. Although he won, he thought that if the Hong Mao Fan had not come from far away, there would be no Preparation, coupled with the fact that the strength is far inferior to ours, it is hard to say who will win in this battle. Just in a competition with the same size of ships and the number of sailors, the Dazhou Navy is no match at all. It is for this reason that Master Shen has been worried. Our coastal defense is weak..."
Feng Ziying’s face also looked a little heavy.
According to the news from Guangzhou, the situation in Nanyang is becoming increasingly complicated. The Franji people are becoming more and more entrenched in Sulu and Luzon. The Hongmao people are operating vigorously on the territory of the Xuanwei Division in the old port of the Ming Dynasty, and the British are also Having arrived in this area, they began to compete with the Red-haired Fans for spices, minerals and other interests.
Although from the current point of view, there is no sign of the large Western Yi forces going north, Western Yi merchants are all-pervasive. More or less Western merchant ships have appeared in Zhou Dynasty, Japan, and Korea, such as Guangzhou in the Great Zhou Dynasty and Japan's Nagasaki became a gathering place for Western merchants.
Feng Ziying did not think that the Xiyi people would stay calm for too long. When the Xiyi people discovered that the coastal defense of the Great Zhou Dynasty was so weak and the naval fleet of the Great Zhou Dynasty was so backward, I am afraid that their ambitions would be slowly exposed.
Because of this, he has been urging Shen Yourong to quickly build a naval fleet. Not only must he have a naval fleet that imitates the Western Yi ships, but he must also build a shipbuilding company in Denglai that can produce Western Yi ships. Only in this way can we truly support the future needs of the navy.
However, this did not suit Wang Ziteng's taste. He wanted to build the Denglai Army into a frontier force like the Xuanfu Army or the Jizhen Army. Wang Ziteng also misappropriated a large amount of funds that should have been used by the naval fleet, but just For now, Feng Ziying has nothing to do.
Prince Teng has this power as the governor of Denglai, but the imperial court obviously does not have a deep understanding of the urgency of building a naval fleet, and there is even little interest in exploring the waterway through Ezo Land and into the Whale Sea to reach the Jurchen territory in the East China Sea. , which made Feng Ziying very speechless.
This is determined by historical limitations. The princes in the DPRK and China were completely unaware that the world was in an era of great changes, and they still looked at the so-called Western merchants with disdain.
At this time, the Western colonists had already begun to experience the accumulation of science and technology after the Renaissance, and were in the preparatory stage for the early industrial revolution. They were sharpening their knives and competing for any land under the sun in the world. If the Zhou Dynasty did not keep up, they would still If you are satisfied with the status quo, even if you actually win the war against the Jianzhou Jurchens or Chahar people in the future, you will still face invasion from the western sea, just like the Opium War two hundred years later in the previous life.
“Sir, are you worried that the Xiyi people will go north and even pose a threat to our great Zhou Dynasty?” Wang Wenyan was keenly aware of Feng Ziying’s worries.
"In Wenyan, the Xiyi people are actually no different from the Jurchens and Chahar people in Jianzhou. They bully the weak and fear the strong, and are guided by interests. They are even more vicious. It's just that they are limited to geographical reasons and are not able to reach out for the time being. But you should know that the Xiyi people The advantage of people on ships is that our merchant ships are more suitable for offshore navigation, and Nanyang is our limit, but do you know how many times the distance to Nanyang for the Xiyi people is equivalent to how many times it is for us to go to Nanyang?"
Feng Ziying said calmly: "I tell you, ten times! But the Xiyi people still came unyieldingly. Not only did they come, they also occupied Sulu, Luzon, and the territory of Xuanwei Division in Jiugang, the former Ming Dynasty. Now they almost control the entire In the spice trade in Nanyang, even we Han people there have to submit to the control of the Western Yi people, and these Western Yi people transport the spices to our territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty and sell them at a good price, and the supply exceeds the demand..."
Wang Wenyan was silent.
"They brought spices and silver. Where did the silver come from? It came from the more distant Americas. The distance was about ten times the distance from us to the South Seas. The natives there were killed by them or became their slaves.
, they forced these natives to mine for them, and then smelted the silver, or embraced the spices grown by the Nanyang natives for them, and finally exchanged them with us for porcelain, silk, tea, and shipped them back to the Western Yi mainland..."
Feng Ziying's breath was filled with a deep flavor, "After all, one day they find that it is more cost-effective and faster to use artillery and blunderbuss to force us to hand over porcelain, tea and silk than to adopt this trade method, they will use their warships
and artillery to force us,..."
Wang Wenyan was shocked. Although he felt that he was already a leader in terms of knowledge, such an idea, which sounded like a fantasy, still made him feel unbelievable and unacceptable.
How many of those Xiyi people could there be? And they were far away from their home country. Even if they had some ships and artillery guns, would they dare to invade the Great Zhou Dynasty?
Moreover, most of the Western Yi people who came to Nanyang and the Zhou Dynasty were merchants. The merchants were seeking profits, so how could they use guns and cannons to force the Zhou Dynasty?
Seeing that even Wang Wenyan couldn't believe it, Feng Ziying also felt a little uninterested for a while.
Indeed, no matter how much power the Western Yi people have now, it is impossible to provoke the Great Zhou Dynasty, so no one will believe that the Western Yi people can bring any disaster to the Great Zhou Dynasty.
"Forget it, Wen Yan, these situations are just an assumption of mine, but I think this assumption will turn into reality if we are unable to respond in time, especially when the size of the ship and the number and strength of the artillery are seriously insufficient.
Reality." Feng Ziying answered firmly.
"But Governor Wang obviously didn't take this situation seriously." Wang Wenyan also understood Feng Ziying's worries.
"I think his plan is very likely to bring disaster to his family. What is the purpose of so painstakingly building the Denglai Army?" Feng Ziying curled her lips contemptuously, "Greed is insufficient, and profit makes you stupid..."
"Sir, do you think Governor Wang's Denglai Army is going to join the fight between Prince Yi Zhong and the Emperor?" Wang Wenyan always felt a little incomprehensible, "It's hard to say how strong the Denglai Army is when it is newly built, but it must be.
It cannot be compared with the Xuanfu Army and the Jizhen Army. I feel that he is more like building a force that he can control as his own talisman?"
Feng Ziying thought for a while, "Maybe he has this consideration, but I think he is playing with fire at both ends. He is not willing to draw a clear line with Prince Yi Zhong, but he is not very optimistic about Prince Yi Zhong.
I want to stir things up inside and observe the situation in order to get the maximum benefit for myself."
“Sir, there is nothing wrong with this. It is related to the rise and fall of a family. No matter how cautious you are, it is normal.” Wang Wenyan thought it was understandable. After all, the Wang family is a martial artist, and they are different from civil servants. If you make a wrong step, there will be no room to look back.
"Forget it, let's not talk about Denglai. I think there is some news from Concubine Jia that I can take a closer look at. By the way, I can analyze, firstly, the emperor's physical condition, and secondly, what preparations Prince Yi Zhong is making.
The third is the attitude of the Supreme Emperor. Changes in these factors will affect the entire court situation. As you said, no matter how cautious you are, we must be prepared to deal with it."
Feng Ziying took back her words: "As for Yongping Mansion, do you have any good suggestions?"
“Sir, I am not familiar with the situation in Yongping Mansion. Yao Qing should be able to come up with better countermeasures. As long as you give him a chance, you can trust him.” Wang Wenyan said seriously.
While Feng Ziying and Wang Wenyan were talking about Wu Yaoqing, Wu Yaoqing was also waiting quietly in a tile house beside a brick kiln outside Zhenzi Town.
About half an hour later, a figure emerged from the field behind and quietly approached the tile house. After looking around at the door for a while, he entered the courtyard.
“I’ve met the adults.”
Wu Yaoqing waved his hand, "No need to be polite, what about the matter I asked you to investigate?"
"It's quite complicated. I asked a few people to find out more about it. According to the issue of war horses you mentioned, the sources of war horses in this area of Zhenzi Town mainly come from two sources. One is Xingzhou Youtunwei in the north, but here the main sources are farming and military craftsmen.
Lord, there are quite a few horses, but like the war horses you mentioned that can be ridden, shot and chased, it would be difficult to dispatch so many at once without anyone noticing."
The visitor was hiding in the shadows, "There is also the garrison in Kaiping in the south. The situation is the same, both are unlikely. Excluding these two, the only thing we can do is the camps in the north."