"So awesome? But what good will building this railway do to me?" Xia Houmin is very insensitive to business as always. Fang Xiaoyu said with a smile: "I plan to build a railway from Tongjiang Prefecture directly to Lushun Port, so that the products produced in my territory
Things can be sent directly to the sea from here, and the profits of shipping will be greatly increased. Besides, the train can also carry passengers at the same time, and we can charge the fare. Do you think there is any money to be made?"
Xia Houmin was not stupid. He finally heard the business opportunities in it and nodded repeatedly: "There must be money to be made. This Port of Lushun, like Quanzhou Port, is fully under the responsibility of our navy. As long as you can transport all the goods in the territory,
If it is shipped to us, the navy will naturally make a lot of money."
Just kidding, even if Xia Houmin doesn't understand economics, he can still imagine that Fang Xiaoyu could earn so much money from a place as small as Lanting Villa. Now that Fang Xiaoyu has a county territory, when it develops, the money will not be like running water.
Come on, as long as he can take a small portion of the profits from the port, it will be enough for the navy, but Xiahou Min has one more thing to worry about.
Seeing the proud Fang Xiaoyu happily explaining to him the benefits after the train was opened, Xia Houmin couldn't help but ask: "Xiaoyu, I've made a lot of money, but it's not good if I can't spend it." Fang Xiaoyu said.
: “Why can’t I spend it?”
Xia Houmin said: "Recently, the Saar Empire has a tendency to support the Japanese country to fight against us. They have accepted orders for several ironclad ships from the Japanese country, but they have shied away from our orders and refused to accept them. What's more, the relationship between the Saar Empire and our country has been tense recently.
It is even more impossible to build ships for us. Now, although the Nantes Empire and the Yaman Empire have also begun to build ironclads, I have inspected their design drawings and found that these two countries have little experience yet, and the ironclads they build are far inferior to those of Sars.
For the good of your empire, I am worried about this matter."
"The relationship between the Saar Empire and us is tense? Why?" Fang Xiaoyu has been focusing on developing his own territory recently and knows very little about outside intelligence. Xiahoumin said: "Many years ago, the Saar Empire sent an ocean-going fleet
, using the southern continent as a fulcrum to invade the Kingdom of Jhansi, I didn’t pay much attention to it because it was far away from us, but now the colonial army of the Sal Empire has gained a firm foothold and has turned most of the coastline of the Kingdom of Jhansi into theirs.
colony."
Fang Xiaoyu nodded. He knew the news. When he came back from the Western Continent, he also refilled coal water at the colonial port of the Saar Empire in the Kingdom of Jhansi. Xiahoumin added: "Two months ago, the Saar Empire and
The fleet of the Nantes Empire suddenly attacked Siam. Siam is a friendly neighbor to us. I originally planned to send a fleet to warn the Sar Empire and Nantes Empire and ask them to withdraw their troops, but the Japanese navy suddenly started military exercises. I
I was afraid that they would raid the coast of the empire, so I could only bring the strongest first fleet here. The remaining two fleets could not compete with the iron-clad ships of the Saar Empire, so I did not send them. As a result, I received a call a few days ago.
According to the news, Siam was defeated. They ceded Tamsui Port to the Sal Empire and Sumatra to the Nantes Empire."
"The Strait of Malacca?" Fang Xiaoyu exclaimed.
An ironclad ship, let alone breaking through the blockade, in a few years it will be very difficult to deal with the Japanese navy."
Fang Xiaoyu smiled and said: "Don't worry about this, I came here this time for this matter." After speaking, Fang Xiaoyu took out a roll of drawings and said: "This is the drawing of the ironclad ship I designed. As long as the marshal looks good, I will
Let’s start work immediately.”
Xia Houmin took the drawing and just looked at it and exclaimed: "It's great. It's better than the warships currently in service in the Saar Empire. But our shipyard has never built an ironclad ship. Can we build one?" Fang Xiaoyu said: "I
I have been renovating the shipyard and it is estimated that it is almost completed now. Besides, I also have two shipbuilding experts recruited from the Western Continent, which is enough to cope with it."
Xia Houmin said: "Great, then I will order two, not three, of these iron-clad ships." Fang Xiaoyu said with a smile: "Marshal, don't worry, the shipyard will start construction soon, I believe it can be launched in two years at most."
Xia Houmin suddenly said seriously: "Xiaoyu, are you planning to build a navy?" Fang Xiaoyu was startled as soon as Xia Houmin's words came out. Fang Xiaoyu said in surprise: "Marshal, why do you think so?" Xia Houmin said: "How many times do you think so?"
I knew what you were thinking when you sent Sun Xiaohu and dozens of half-year-old children to me a few months ago. Although you said you wanted them to adapt to the sea environment, you have a merchant fleet and still need to come to me.
?”
Fang Xiaoyu was secretly shocked after hearing this. In order to keep a low profile, he sent a group of half-year-old children, such as Sun Xiaohu and Zhang Si, to study in the navy. He hoped that after they completed their studies, they could help him create a navy. However, he did not expect that they would be beaten by Xia Houmin.
noticed.
Seeing Fang Xiaoyu's shocked expression without speaking, Xia Houmin comforted him: "Actually, I support you lords owning a navy. The reason why lords were not allowed to own a navy was that I did not want other forces to compete with the Imperial Navy at sea.
Another aspect of the parallelism is that it is not needed. At that time, the Imperial Navy was roaming the seas, and there was no navy around that could compete with us, so there was no need to purchase more navy."
Xia Houmin continued with a bitter look on his face: "You see, some of the warships in our navy have been used for more than forty years now. Because there are no strong external enemies, there is no need to waste time and money on replacing new ships. But things are different now. The strength of the world's navy has changed."
There have been great changes, especially the emergence of ironclads, which has made the Imperial Navy fall behind, but the imperial court only focuses on land power and ignores sea power, so I came to you in the first place."
Fang Xiaoyu said: "Actually, the sea and the land are like two legs of a person, both are indispensable." After listening to Fang Xiaoyu's words, Xia Houmin felt a sense of confidant, and he said: "It would be great if the emperor could think like you do.
Unfortunately, even though we are trying our best to make money and build ships, our financial resources are limited, so I think if you can build a fleet, it can be a supplement to the empire."
Fang Xiaoyu did not dare to tell him about building a seaport on the goblin's territory, so he had to say with a hint of embarrassment: "But Marshal, my territory is inland, and I don't even have a seaport to build a navy?"
Xia Houmin nodded, he was a little impatient. After all, Fang Xiaoyu's territory is not close to the sea at all. Fang Xiaoyu added: "Even if I can expand to the northern subcontinent and occupy the coastal areas in the future, there is no ice-free port there at all."
Xiahou Min pondered for a long time and said: "If I give you a port privately, will you build a navy?" Fang Xiaoyu was stunned when he heard this. It seems that Marshal Xiahou was really pushed into a hurry, otherwise he wouldn't want to do this.
As a rich man, he joined the ranks of shipbuilding, but Fang Xiaoyu knew that he still had limited financial resources, and most of the funds had to be used for territory construction. It was impossible to spare too much money for the navy, a money-burning thing, although the seaport was very attractive.
, but he had no choice but to thank him.
Fang Xiaoyu said: "Marshal, you also know that I have just obtained the territory. The situation there is still very chaotic, and everything needs to be built from scratch. How can I have the funds to spend on shipbuilding? Even if I want to build a navy, it will take several years."
Later." Fang Xiaoyu could only tell the truth now.
Xia Houmin gritted his teeth and said: "If I give Yingkou Port to you and ask the Naval Academy to train fifty naval talents for you every year, will you be willing to build ships?"
Fang Xiaoyu was shocked by Xia Houmin's words. Such generous treatment was like giving him a big gift package for nothing. It can be seen that Marshal Xia Houmin has been under a lot of pressure recently. Fang Xiaoyu thought for a while and said: "There are one hundred places every year, and
I need to share intelligence with the navy, and I want to know the development and basic trends of navies around the world."
What Fang Xiaoyu is most jealous of are the two major schools in the empire, one is the Imperial Army Academy in the capital, and the other is the Imperial Naval Academy in Quanzhou Port, which specializes in training officers for the two services.
Although there is no universal education in the empire, the education level among the nobles is still very high. These two academies mostly train noble students on a designated basis and are not open to others. The Fang family only has five places in the Army Academy every year. If not
It is possible to study there if you become independent as early as possible. So when you have the opportunity to enter the Naval Academy, of course you can't let it go.