Li Pinglang followed the young eunuch and walked towards Qianqing Palace nervously.
During these days in the capital, he also knew about the conflict between the army and the navy during this period.
As a naval general, his position must be on the side of the navy.
When Li Pinglang learned about this situation, he broke out in cold sweat.
He is a little person who came back from outside.
He almost became a pawn of the Army and the Navy to undermine the prestige of the Navy.
This time the fleet heads to Europe, if the ironclads are defeated.
What are the consequences?
Li Pinglang simply could not imagine that the worst outcome would be for the navy to remain dormant for several years.
The ironclad battleship plan is affected and is likely to be shelved.
None of this has happened now. He fought this battle very well.
Li Pinglang speculated that the outcome of this war would inevitably lead to more neutral people suppressing the navy.
He stood in front of the Qianqing Palace, the center of power of the Great China Empire.
It is a great honor for a small person like him to have the opportunity to decide the direction of the empire.
Li Pinglang was waiting for the summons from His Majesty the Emperor at the Navy Hotel.
His former friend came to meet him secretly and had already passed the gas in advance.
Now the fate of the army and navy is reaching a crossroads.
When the empire is not at war, the annual military expenditure quota is similar.
The Navy wants to move forward with its plan to build ironclad battleships.
Each battleship formation requires at least ten million taels of silver coins.
If the Navy truly implements the armored battleship plan, each additional battleship fleet will squeeze the Army's military spending.
The army has a strategy of comprehensively advancing into the Eastern European plains, Iranian plateaus, and Indian regions.
Once the national strategy of the Great China Empire shifts towards the navy, the strategies of the army will inevitably be affected.
The promotion of army generals will be extremely slow without the promotion of war.
This situation is something the Army absolutely cannot tolerate.
Once the navy is allowed to develop, it will inevitably snatch the army's right to speak, causing them to lose their status as the big brother.
The Army will inevitably try its best to limit the development of the Navy.
The two armies have no room for maneuver.
Li Pinglang approached the Qianqing Palace and saw that sitting on both sides of the Qianqing Palace were important ministers who decided the fate of the empire.
Emperor Su He sits on the top dragon chair.
Li Pinglang immediately bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, Li Pinglang, pays homage to your Majesty. Long live your Majesty! Long live! Long live your Majesty!"
Emperor Su He smiled and ordered: "Li Aiqing's body is flat.
This time Li Aiqing led the ironclads to Europe, suppressed all dissatisfied countries, and signed the Treaty of London.
I am very relieved. Li Aiqing will tell the rest of the court about his experience of this war and your thoughts."
Li Pinglang bowed again and said: "I obey your order."
He then used concise language to tell a brief story of the battle between the fleet and the combined fleet composed of European countries.
Focus on highlighting the capabilities of ironclad ships.
After hearing this, Army Minister Qin Xiangkun questioned: "General Li, I think the important reason for the victory in this naval battle was not the ironclad ships, but the powerful naval guns.
Without powerful artillery, you cannot win quickly.
The importance of artillery is far greater than that of ironclad ships."
Qin Xiangkun only thought of this one counterattack point in a short period of time.
There were not many generals from the Governor's Office who could come to Qianqing Palace to attend the imperial meeting.
Most of the people in the Governor's Mansion uphold neutrality, even if it is biased neutrality.
As a radical of the Army, Qin Xiangkun must express his views in order for others to support the Army.
Before Li Pinglang could finish speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by Army Minister Qin Xiangkun. He wanted to refute, but closed his mouth again.
Due to the unequal status, his speech had little effect. He could only look at Navy Minister Li Guofeng with questioning eyes.
Navy Minister Li Guofeng knew he had to speak.
If the navy behaves submissively today, it will not be able to gain support from other forces.
"Minister Qin, you are also a veteran, why are you avoiding the important and taking the easy?
The main gun of an ironclad ship is indeed powerful, but the warship must be able to carry such powerful artillery.
If you use a sailing ship with a wooden keel, the keel will be shattered by one shot.
Only ironclad ships have enough strength and stability to carry such powerful artillery.
If warships want to carry stronger artillery and further improve the strength of warships, they must develop battleships.
The high speed and powerful armor of the ironclad are also important conditions for victory in this war.
If it were just a sailing ship, it would be impossible to turn defeat into victory given the huge gap in scale."
Qin Xiangkun did not refute, and he also knew that the angle of his refutation was not very convincing.
Li Pinglang glanced at Minister Li Guofeng gratefully and continued: "Your Majesty, the empire won this war and completely established the reputation of ironclad ships.
When we returned, we passed by the Mediterranean Sea and the navies of European countries saw us.
They immediately hid far away, very afraid of our army. This is the prestige of the ironclad ship.
When the fleet passed by the Suez Canal, Fujian officials and people looked at us differently.
There was a look of fear and admiration in their eyes.
I believe that only ironclad ships can protect the empire’s overseas interests.”
After Li Pinglang finished speaking, Minister of the Navy Li Guofeng immediately added: "Your Majesty, these European countries are afraid of power but not moral.
Let me be disrespectful, but the contemporary king of the vassal country can still maintain relations with the empire because of his friendship with His Majesty.
After a few generations, we must carefully consider whether the relationship between the vassal states and the empire has deteriorated.
If you open the map, you can see that the vassal states and the main enemies of the empire are all isolated overseas.
We also have wealthy territories in Nanyang and other places.
Once an enemy is encountered, these places will bear the brunt, and a strong navy is necessary to protect the interests of the empire.
The empire needs tools to suppress the country and suppress all disobedient forces."
Emperor Su He's constant action was to support the navy.
The army is all old brothers who follow him to conquer the world.
During this period, old brothers kept complaining that the development of the Army had stagnated.
Emperor Su He did not change his mind.
Now is the Age of Discovery, and most overseas areas are empty areas of influence. Whoever has greater strength will own these territories.
If the Dahua Empire wants to maintain its industrial development, it cannot do without overseas raw material origins and markets.
Emperor Su He wanted to quickly mature overseas raw material production areas and markets.
He chose to enfeoff the country, which was the fastest way.
The territory close to the mainland was developed by the Dahua Empire personally, while the territory far away was left to the old brothers who conquered the world together.
For the benefit of their own family, they will definitely develop all these wild lands into mature areas.
If the Great China Empire wants to maintain its interests overseas, it must have a powerful navy.
Emperor Su He's greatest wish is to make the Great China Empire an empire on which the sun never sets.
At this time, Spain had just abdicated from the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets.
England will later become the new empire on which the sun never sets.
Emperor Su He's wish is to replace Yingji's position and make the Great China Empire an empire on which the sun never sets.
To achieve this wish, a powerful navy is necessary.
An army with a strength of two million, all equipped with breech-loading guns, has no rival in the world.
Emperor Su He believed that the current development of the army should not take the path of continuing to increase numbers.
With the advent of artillery and machine guns, the size of the army is no longer a necessary condition for determining the outcome of a war.
The Army of the Great China Empire must take the path of quality development and improve the quality of its equipment and personnel.
Even if Emperor Su He forcibly arranged this more difficult road, there would be complaints within the army.
But if the Army loses the competition with the Navy, it will be forced to take this path.
In order to accumulate strength and come back for revenge, they will have very strong subjective initiative.
Emperor Su He had a preference in his mind, but he did not express his opinion. Instead, he asked: "My dear friends, what do you think?"
He is more proficient in the imperial power. As a chess player, he has to remove himself from the chessboard, only then can he see the overall situation clearly.
Just moving a chess piece can change the entire situation.
Cabinet Minister Qian Mingyi had already figured out Emperor Su He's direction from the clues about Emperor Su He.
As a weak party, the navy did not have the secret support of Emperor Su He. Under the suppression of the powerful army, they had no chance to develop and grow.
Qian Mingyi also represents the interests of the industrial sector, and behind him stands a large group of factory owners.
The factories of the Dahua Empire are mainly concentrated in coastal areas and railway hub areas.
It is in these places that raw materials can be purchased from outside at low cost, and the price of product transportation is also very low.
Qian Mingyi stood up and said: "Your Majesty, if you don't have long-term worries, you will have immediate worries, and the same is true for the country.
Born from sorrow, begins with happiness.
Just because the world is stable now does not mean it will remain stable in the future.
During the Ming Dynasty, Spain and the Netherlands were able to reach coastal areas.
If the empire was content with the status quo, European countries were stimulated by this defeat and they rushed to catch up.
These European countries were able to cross the ocean and come to us a hundred years ago, which shows the maritime heritage of European countries.
Once the naval strength of these European countries exceeds that of the empire, they will inevitably choose revenge.
At that time, the overseas provinces will not be protected by strong naval protection, and they will simply not be able to defend them with the army alone."
Qian Mingyi's words revealed that officials with important interests overseas had formed, and they all spoke out to support the navy.
The army of the Great China Empire is powerful, but now the army only wants to attack other places and gain meritorious service.
Officials did not believe that the countries surrounding the empire were capable of attacking the empire from land.
Besides, there is great depth on the road, and it is impossible to attack the hinterland of the empire in a short time.
The urgency of the empire itself could not be compared with that of the overseas provinces.
Prime Minister Wei Shiming stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the scale of both the army and the navy has reached its limit.
If war does not break out, there is absolutely no need to continue to increase the size of the army and navy.
The huge scale of the Dahua Empire's army has overwhelmed the empire's finances.
The Ming Dynasty suffered financial bankruptcy due to continuous natural disasters and wars.
The Great China Empire must not repeat the same mistakes and must leave sufficient money to deal with possible crises.
It is not appropriate for the army to expand its size now, but to strengthen its weapons and equipment.
A hundred thousand soldiers armed with cold weapons will never be able to defeat a thousand Route Army armed with machine guns.
The Army should complete its transformation into a mule-horse, improve its weapons and equipment, and enhance its strength through this equipment.
The navy must develop iron-clad battleships to maintain its strong deterrent power.
I agree more with what Minister Li Guofeng said. The empire does need a weapon to control the country and deter other forces.
Weapons such as armored battleships perfectly meet this requirement.
But it can be seen from the European naval battles that sailing ships no longer have any role and must be eliminated.
The Navy should eliminate the old sailing ship fleet and increase the ironclad fleet.
In this way, the imperial court only needs to pay additional funds for the construction of ironclad ships."
Prime Minister Wei Shiming's opinion is very clear. He supports the upgrading of military equipment, but does not support an increase in military spending.
Prime Minister Wei Shiming cut off the Army's idea of expanding its military and also cut down the Navy's old warships.
He knew Emperor Su He's attitude, and by using this kind of rhetoric, he could achieve his own goals without making Emperor Su He feel disgusted.
Army Minister Qin Xiangkun and Navy Minister Li Guofeng glared at each other.
Indeed, they are the most powerful enemies of the imperial military. These civilian officials are changing their ways to weaken the military's power.
The two of them turned their attention to the senior officials of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion.
Because it involved the dispute between the army and the navy, they had not spoken before.
In an occasion like the imperial meeting, if the preference is obviously for the army or navy, it will be difficult to do the subsequent work.
Governor Feng Sanqiu, Chief of General Staff Wang Shiyuan and others did not speak.
They have realized that the navy won this dispute, but it did not benefit the military as a whole.
Their previous idea was to show the battle between the Army and the Navy.
By showing the indispensable status of the army and navy, the court allowed the court to allocate more military expenditures.
As long as enough military spending is allocated, there will be no need for disputes between the army and the navy.
They made peace at the end, and the army and navy remained as usual.
The plans of the senior officials of the Metropolitan Government were directly seen through by the cabinet.
The cabinet's attitude is obvious. They don't care about the dispute between the army and the navy. There is no way to increase military spending.
The cabinet not only refused, they also proposed a solution, which was to reduce the size of the army.
The Grand Governor Feng Sanqiu had to speak at this time. If he didn't speak, he would have no chance to speak.
"Your Majesty, the army is in a period of development and military expenditures should not continue to be reduced.
Every penny the empire invests in its military will receive huge returns.
Without a strong army, the empire cannot maintain its vast wealth.
The navy needs tools to control the country, and the army also needs tools to control the country.
The navy's weapon to control the country is the battleship, and I believe that the army's weapon to control the country is train artillery."
The navy mainly develops battleships, and this has reached a consensus within the Metropolitan Government.
The Army consensus is mobile artillery.
In the cold weapon age, the most powerful unit was the cavalry. They were extremely fast and could use powerful weapons like bows and arrows.
In the era of hot weapons, they wanted to find a unit comparable to the cavalry. The governor's office spent several years researching it, but they only thought that the train gun was more suitable.
It just requires rails, which is too restrictive.
But now they have no choice but to propose something that His Majesty is interested in and ask for more military spending from the military.
Emperor Su He understood the needs of all parties, and he settled the dispute between the army and navy.
Military expenditures are allocated in proportion to quotas and taxes.
The higher the taxation of the imperial court, the greater the share allocated to military expenditure.
Let the interests of the military and the empire be deeply bound.
The Navy was the big winner, receiving more military spending, while the Army's military spending remained the same.
In order to appease other forces, Emperor Su He took the advice of Prime Minister Wei Shiming and cut off many inappropriate military projects. (End of Chapter)
