When Wei Zuo met, Dong Shuheng was having a long talk with Peng Yulin. He planned to train Peng Yulin into a military and political talent who could stand alone.
"Xueqin, do you know what a good general needs to learn first?"
"Isn't it the art of war?"
"No, it's arithmetic. Do you know Napoleon?"
"It seems to be an emperor of France."
"Yes, it is Napoleon Bonaparte, uncle of the current French Emperor Napoleon III. The current Napoleon III is far behind his uncle. He is just a political speculator who likes to play with people's hearts. And Napoleon is a
A hero like Caesar.”
"I think back when Napoleon was at his peak, he led the French army to single-handedly challenge a coalition of European countries, and ended up winning."
"He became the commander-in-chief of the French army in his twenties. It was he who first invented the method of centralized use of artillery. Since then, artillery has become the god of the battlefield. Before every battle, he will calculate the number of his own troops.
Every detail is down to how many mills are needed to march the troops to where, and how many pack horses are needed for the march."
"Before a battle, he would calculate the enemy's firepower, down to every cannon. Once he went to attack a fortress, and the scout reported to him the layout of the fortress' artillery. Finally, he told the scout to stop talking.
The two artillery pieces on the back of the fortress. You know, there are thousands of artillery pieces in a fort."
"When Napoleon was in military school, his favorite thing to study was mathematics, followed by biographies of various historical figures."
…
"Your Majesty, you are telling me this because you want to tell Xue Qin, has the current war model changed?" Peng Yulin listened to Dong Shuheng's talk about Napoleon for a long time and benefited a lot. He used to admire Confucian generals like Sun Wu and Zhuge who were full of wisdom and scheming.
, dreaming that one day I can wear a feather fan and a silk scarf, and while talking and laughing, the oars and oars will disappear into ashes.
But after listening to what Dong Shuheng said so much, Peng Yulin felt that his thoughts were really out of date.
Following Dong Shuheng these days, he also gained some intuitive understanding of the Huai Navy. When all guns and artillery are used, there is no trick at all in the decisive battle between the troops. It is purely a competition between the firepower output of both sides and the battle of the soldiers.
Skills and will to fight.
If he wants to lead troops to fight in the future, he must understand the parameters of various weapons. He has never paid attention to these before.
"Yes, Xueqin, times have changed. Our ideas and concepts must also change accordingly. Remember, 'If you fall behind, you will be beaten.' In the future, wars between countries will be based on industrial production capacity, population quality, and mobilization capabilities.
"Dong Shuheng continued.
"President, what is mobilization capability?" Peng Yulin asked doubtfully.
"For example, our Huai navy now all uses breech-loading rifles that are easier to load. It only takes one to two months to train a soldier to master shooting skills, some basic tactical skills, and tactical instructions.
"
"This means that it is very easy for us to train soldiers. Then we do not need to maintain a large standing army, as long as all young people participate in training for a period of time every year."
"When the war breaks out, we can quickly mobilize and organize these people. In this way, the army in our hands can increase rapidly. Of course, we have to establish many military schools and reserve a large number of officers, because officers cannot be trained in a short time.
."
"I understand, President, this is why the Huai Navy is now divided into field troops, garrison troops and militia." Peng Yulin said. It turns out that the president had already planned to set up the army in this way.
"Well, Xueqin, our current model is just a temporary transitional model. It is best to implement a national service system and pass a law that stipulates that all adult men must serve in the military for two years, then retire and change jobs, and then return to the local area to become a reserve or
Militia. If this cycle continues, all citizens will become qualified soldiers. We now have a population of 300 million, and the number of young people of appropriate age should be close to 100 million. When our industry catches up, we will reserve hundreds of millions of rifles and millions
artillery……"
"Hiss..." Peng Yulin took a breath. If he didn't know Dong Shuheng well, he would have thought he was a madman. But after hearing what Dong Shuheng said, he felt that it could be achieved.
…
Within three days, Dong Shuheng went to see Prince Adalbert again. Seeing that the prince's condition was under control, he comforted the prince to take good care of himself in Yu Garden.
In the middle, he took a boat trip to Haimen. Liu Qingbei was very efficient. Maybe he was really worried about his elder brother Shutong. The fleet to Peru was quickly prepared.
Dong Shuheng went to see off the fleet in person. This was the second ocean-going fleet sent by Dong Shuheng after Bai Qiwen's North American fleet. The fleet carried a lot of goods, including silk, tea, ceramics and other Chinese specialty products. In addition, there were also other goods on board.
Some daily necessities produced by Huaihai Group.
Dong Shuheng came here not for these goods. This time he went to Peru. There was a diplomatic liaison on the ship named Cai Qiming. This man had worked in a foreign company since he was a child and was proficient in Spanish. This time he would serve as a diplomat in the fleet. After arriving in Peru, he
He was responsible for establishing an embassy in South America. Although his documents were issued by the Governor-General of Liangjiang, transportation and communications were inconvenient in this era, and the other party had no way to verify it with the Qing court.
The other is a squadron's special operations team. The captain is Tian Fang, who also has the identity of a military attache of the mission. These special operations members are all single men selected so that they can serve overseas for a long time.
Dong Shuheng is still not sure what will happen when he goes to Peru this time, so he must prepare for the worst.
The fleet sailed to South America under Dong Shuheng's gaze. These two fleets symbolized that China had officially become a member of the global ocean trade.
…
After leaving Haimen, Dong Shuheng hurried back to Yangzhou, where he had been away for nearly a month.
In just one month, great changes have taken place in Yangzhou, which made Dong Shuheng lament the hard work of the Chinese working people.
Many of the plans he made when he left have been realized. The biggest change is the appearance of the city of Yangzhou. Yangzhou was originally one of the largest cities in the country. After Dong Shuheng's simple planning, the city became more modern.
In particular, many former gardens have had their walls removed and turned into open parks, integrating the gardens with the city and making the entire city look like one large garden.
The mental outlook of the people in Yangzhou City has also changed a lot. The confusion on their faces is gone, replaced by a longing for a better life in the future. Everyone in this city has hope for progress.
In addition, by participating in engineering work and earning wages, people have money in their pockets, which promotes consumption, and people's consumption stimulates the development of business, and the entire city enters a virtuous cycle.
Huaihai Company imported a large amount of grain, which lowered grain prices and allowed people to spend their money in more areas of livelihood after having enough to eat.
Stimulated by the favorable conditions of the large canal market in the east of the city, some businessmen have invested in and built factories in Yangzhou. The government of Yangzhou City has prepared to set aside a piece of land in the south of the city to establish an industrial zone. The wealthy businessmen who originally came to Gaoyou have invested heavily in cooperation with Dong Shuheng.
After making profits, they also set up branch factories in Yangzhou.
It is foreseeable that Yangzhou will become China's light industry center in the future.
This plenary meeting of the Huai Navy System will be held by the Slender West Lake. Participants include the Huai Navy Field Army, representatives of officers at the local garrison camp level and above, officers at the militia level and above, the Armed Forces Department, the Logistics Department, the Military Affairs Department, and various naval vessels.
Officers above the commander level, and officers above the battalion level of the Marine Corps.
In terms of civil affairs and commerce, there are key personnel from the General Administrative Office, directors of various local government salary offices, courts at all levels, public security, the Supervisory Yuan, and key personnel from Huaihai Group and Yangtze River Group.
There are also members of the Renaissance Association represented by Wei Yuan.
…
Before the meeting, Wei Yuan introduced Zuo Zongtang to Dong Shuheng. This caused Dong Shuheng, who was preparing meeting materials, to stop.
Dong and Zuo talked all night. No one knew what they talked about, but they saw the light in Dong Shuheng's study was on all night.
Of course, Zeng Guoquan, as the representative of Zeng Guofan, was also received by Dong Shuheng. The two discussed some cooperation matters. In the end, Dong Shuheng agreed to sell two hundred muzzleloader artillery and three thousand muskets to the Hunan Army, which made Zeng Guoquan very happy.
, the price given by Dong Shuheng is much cheaper than that given by foreigners.
Zeng Guofan had also sent people to Guangzhou to purchase artillery before, but the quantity was not only small but the price was extremely expensive.
After negotiating with Dong Shuheng, Zuo Zongtang went to bid farewell to Wei Yuan and planned to return to Hunan with Zeng Guoquan.
Wei Yuan was greatly puzzled. He originally thought that Zuo Zongtang would stay in Jiangsu. With his ability, he would undoubtedly develop better in Jiangsu.
Zuo Zongtang did not tell the reason and only asked Wei Yuan to ask his apprentice.
A few days later, Zuo Zongtang accompanied Zeng Guoquan on the Yangtze River Navy's gunboat Shuojiang River. Following the navy were several freighters carrying arms purchased by the Hunan Army. He did not even attend the meeting of the Huai Navy.
He just used these few days to visit the main military camps, factories, and even important places like the arsenal of the Huaihai Navy under the guide arranged by Dong Shuheng. Dong Shuheng made an exception and gave Zuo Zongtang permission to participate.
Through on-site observation, Zuo Zongtang became more confident in Dong Shuheng's plan. Unknowingly, Zuo Zongtang was bribed by Dong Shuheng's drawing of China's future and boarded his warship.
Soon after returning to Hunan, Zuo Zongtang's adviser Zhang Liangji was promoted to the governor of Huguang by the Qing court. Zuo Zongtang followed Zhang Liangji to Wuhan and formed the Chu army in Hubei under Zhang Liangji's order. He appointed his old friend Liu Mingji, who was a martial arts examiner from Hunan, in the army.
As well as Fang Yousheng, Wang Kailin, Wang Kaihua, Wang Kailai, Liu Dian, Liu Ao, Liu Jintang, Zhu Mingliang and others who recommended their friends to Zhang Liangji in the civil affairs field.
Zhang Liangji had great trust in Zuo Zongtang, and asked him to raise funds to go to Shanghai to buy guns. In fact, Zuo Zongtang purchased them from Huai Haijun. Later, Zhang Liangji's trust in Zuo Zongtang reached the point where Fan Jigao recommended all the guns.
By the time Zhang Liangji left Huguang, Zuo Zongtang had basically taken control of the military and political power in Hubei.