Volume Five Chapter 108 There is someone behind the scenes, written by Xiao Fengxiu
Feng Ziying’s guest is Shen Yourong.
Shen Yourong came here once before years ago, and this time he came back because he had a confrontation with his immediate boss, Wang Ziteng, which made Shen Yourong realize the seriousness of the problem before he came back to see Feng Ziying.
Shen Yourong has very complicated feelings about Feng Ziying.
As a veteran in his early fifties, if he had no pursuit of an official career, he would not bother to travel between his hometown, Fujian and the capital city. Now he can no longer take care of his hometown, but there is more Dengzhou, where It is the base of the Denglai Navy Fleet.
Of course, the pursuit of an official career is not to get promoted and make money, but to realize one's own ambitions.
Shen Yourong felt that although he was over fifty, his physical condition was in the prime of life and he was capable of handling any more arduous and difficult challenges.
His many years of working experience in Liaodong and Fujian have made him very familiar with the sea conditions from Jinzhou to Yongping to Denglai to the Yangtze River Estuary and the Zhangzhou coast. This is an advantage that no one else has.
Seeing that the arrogance of the Japanese pirates at sea has not subsided, the Western Yi people have entered East Asia in large numbers. The Francois have occupied Sulu and Luzon. The Hongmao Fan is trying to get involved in the East Fan. Shen Yourong was always worried about the constant competition for spices.
It was no longer feasible for Zhou Dynasty to follow the previous Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy. Especially after Shen Yourong felt the power of the Red Mao Fan's advanced ships, artillery and firecrackers, this pressure made him sleepless at night.
Although he repelled the Hong Mao Fan's interference in Penghu, Shen Yourong clearly realized that if his geographical advantages were not too huge, the Great Zhou Navy would not be able to compete with the Hong Mao Fan's ships and artillery superiority. .
If the Great Zhou Dynasty did not catch up, the gap caused by this technological advantage would become larger and larger, and in the end it would overwhelm the geographical advantage. Especially since the imperial court's management of Dongfan was still careless, more people would flow. In terms of form, it is even more dangerous.
If he didn't have a strategy to open up the sea, it would be fine with Shen Yourong. The political affairs of the imperial court could not be changed by him as a mere general.
But now that Xiao Feng Xiuzhuan proposed opening the sea and received strong support from the imperial court, this meant that the differences between scholars in the north and the south on this strategy had basically been bridged and implementation had begun, and the entire process was rapidly promoted.
The imperial court established the Denglai Governor's Office, and Shen Yourong had no objection to the appointment of an important official like Wang Ziteng with a martial arts background as the Denglai Governor.
Wang Ziteng had many years of experience as a Jiedushi in Beijing and as Governor of Xuanda. In addition, he was not only highly valued during the reign of Emperor Yuanxi, but also did not fall out of favor with the new emperor after entering the era of Emperor Yonglong. It was not unreasonable for such a person to serve as Governor of Denglai. It was a bad thing, but at least Shen Yourong was very excited and supportive when Wang Ziteng obtained millions of taels of silver from the court to build the Denglai governor-general.
But I didn't expect that although Wang Ziteng got back so much money, he spent all his attention on integrating the Denglai Guard Town and the Denglai Army, and had almost no time to take into account the construction of docks, shipyards and naval fleets. Governor Lai's intention is completely inconsistent with this.
Shen Yourong heard from Feng Ziying that the imperial court had three purposes for establishing Governor Denglai.
First, build a powerful and elite naval fleet that can control the entire Bohai Sea and even the Blackwater Ocean and the Western Sea, ensuring that the transport fleet can land and dock anywhere around the Bohai Sea and North Korea. Of course, this landing and docking does not only refer to Goods, more importantly, troops.
Second, find, become familiar with and open up the routes to the Whale Sea and Ezo Land as soon as possible, and strive to control and master these routes, the Whale Sea and Ezo Land, and ultimately connect the Jurchens in the East China Sea, including Qili Mingren, through sea routes , to complete the pincer attack on the Jianzhou Jurchens.
Third, establish a capable Denglai army as a strong backing for the future armies of the two towns under the command of Governor Jiliao.
These three purposes are in order. The first one is undoubtedly the first. Then the construction from the dock to the shipyard is the first to bear the brunt, and then the construction of the naval fleet, ships , artillery and navy soldiers, these are indispensable.
The second and third goals can only be achieved on the premise that the first goal is successfully advanced. To open up routes and control sea areas, a naval fleet is needed. Similarly, the Denglai Army is mainly built through the navy. The fleet will be transported to any place around the Bohai Bay to land and support Liaodong Town and Ji Town.
But now Wang Ziteng's approach is reversed. He goes all out to build the Denglai Army first. He delays and shrinks the construction of the navy as much as possible. As for the second purpose, he has long since abandoned it. In the back of my mind, I didn’t even bother to mention it.
This also aroused great dissatisfaction among Shen Yourong.
He had approached Wang Ziteng in the early stage, but Wang Ziteng didn't spend much time in Denglai. He often returned to Beijing on the pretext of reporting progress to the cabinet and the Ministry of War, and he often couldn't find him.
The creation of the Denglai Army was indeed in full swing. Initially, the strength of the Denglai Army was set at 30,000 people. In a very short period of time, Wang Ziteng had already mobilized the elite 30,000 people from the guards of the two towns of Denglai, and then went on his own. The recruitment and organization was completed, and orderly training began. It must be said that Wang Ziteng still has a few skills in these aspects.
However, the 30,000 troops were originally set by the Ministry of War to be gradually completed within three years by the Denglai Governor's Yamen. However, Wang Ziteng was quick and resolute and completed it within a few months. The consequence of this was that all the money he wanted from the Ministry of War was completed. All the money was spent on the Denglai army, while the purchase of the Denglai naval fleet, Dengzhou wharf, shipyards, barracks and even artillery were nowhere in sight.
Shen Yourong couldn't afford to wait anymore, so he went to Beijing to report to Wang Ziteng a year ago, but the effect was not good. Wang Ziteng was focused on the Denglai Army and didn't have much enthusiasm for naval construction.
Shen Yourong had no choice but to find Feng Ziying.
Besides, Shen Yourong was upright and brave, but he also knew that he could take the position of admiral of the Denglai Navy Fleet because of Feng Ziying's recommendation, or in other words, Feng Ziying was his candidate.
The candidate for a fourth-rank general was a sixth-rank Hanlin Academy graduate, but this is the fact.
Feng Ziying's energy is not comparable to that of Shen Yourong.
But Feng Ziying's answer to him was to take the initiative to report to Wang Ziteng again and try to gain Wang Ziteng's support. After all, Admiral Denglai Navy is subordinate to Denglai Governor's Office, especially during the construction stage. You cannot bypass it. Governor Denglai's Yamen intervened directly, but even the Ministry of War could not do so.
"This is Governor Wang's attitude. No matter what I say, he refuses to agree." Shen Yourong's face showed deep fatigue and worry. "As far as I know, Governor Wang even intends to lobby the Ministry of War and the Cabinet. , expand the Denglai Army to 50,000 people. If this is the case, the future naval fleet will not be built in five or ten years, let alone three years. My position as naval admiral will be meaningless. I might as well return to my He went to Fujian to become that general."
"Expand the Denglai Army to 50,000 people?" Feng Ziying was surprised.
Although he had known for a long time that Wang Ziteng was interested in the Denglai Army and would not pay too much attention to the naval fleet. Otherwise, how could he have appointed Shen Yourong as the naval admiral just because of his recommendation? He recommended a member of the Denglai Army. Will you give it a try? Don't even think about it. Wang Ziteng still wants to firmly control the Denglai Army in his own hands.
But expanding the army to 50,000 people is too exaggerated. How can the Ministry of War and the Cabinet agree to it? The Denglai Army was originally used as a reserve for Liaodong Town and Ji Town. At your expansion rate, you will quickly catch up with the size of Ji Town. , then the significance of establishing the Denglai Army would be lost.
The original purpose of setting up the Denglai Army was to be strong and flexible so that it could be transported by the naval fleet. Now that you have grown so large, how can you transport it flexibly?
"Well, the expansion of the Denglai army is not what I care about. As long as the governor can convince the court, it doesn't matter. However, the money allocated by the court to the Denglai governor's office is limited, and it is clearly stipulated that the first goal is to build a powerful naval fleet. , I cannot accept this putting the cart before the horse and reversing priorities. Now the construction of the wharf has been stopped less than half of the time. The construction of the shipyard can only be carried out smoothly because of the loan from Haitong Yinzhuang. But once it involves the construction of naval ships, it is still There are artillery castings, which cost a huge amount of money, and Haitong Bank's loans are also limited. If you give up halfway, the losses will be greater. I don't understand what the governor is thinking. Will the imperial court tolerate him like this?"
Shen Yourong was extremely troubled.
He didn't want to stalemate the relationship with Wang Ziteng. Although the appointment required Wang Ziteng's nod, it would be beyond Wang Ziteng's ability to avoid Shen Yourong, the admiral of the Denglai Navy. That would need to be decided by the Ministry of War and the cabinet, but as Denglai Navy Commander Governor Lai, Wang Ziteng, has a hundred ways to make it impossible for you, the naval admiral, to continue.
Feng Ziying was not surprised.
Feng Ziying had some idea of what Wang Ziteng was thinking. He had no soldiers. As the governor, he was an empty governor. He also had a group of confidant generals under him who had been gradually squeezed out by Chen Jixian and Niu Jizong in Jingying and Xuanda. They needed to be resettled. Only Deng Deng The larger the scale of Lai's army is built, the more he can place these people.
If he cannot solve the demands of his subordinates, how will he lead this team in the future?
As for whether he had any other deeper thoughts in being so eager to build the Denglai Army, it's hard to say. Feng Ziying could only say that he hoped he didn't. Otherwise, the Wang family would have to choose between ascending to heaven or being exterminated.
"In this case, General Shihong, I will try to find time to meet and talk with Governor Wang. But before that, you have to try your best to advance according to the schedule, especially since the shipyard has basically taken shape, and even some Western Yi
Once the craftsmen have been hired, the design and material selection must be done. Even if the scale is smaller, we originally planned to build three or five ships at the same time. Now we can try one or two ships. This way we can also accumulate experience and avoid making mistakes in the future.
,..." Feng Ziying encouraged: "I will give you an answer as soon as possible."