Chapter 444: Expanded

The middle-aged man in his forties and fifties scolded him meanly, but this person said "Zhao Liren". This term made the two officers creepy. They did not dare to argue, and they hurriedly bowed and got into the cabin to continue to discuss secretly.

After a moment of stopping, a naval guide ship sailed into the middle-aged civil servant and greeted loudly: "Can Mr. Hou of the Beiyang Affairs Bureau be on the ship?"

The civil servant on the opposite boat replied loudly: "I am here!"

A loud voice on the warship responded: "I dare to call me in front of me, boy Hou is so irresistible!"

Hou Meng quickly stood up and bowed and replied: "I dare not to let Mingsou greet him personally, the boy is offended."

A cable was dropped from the warship. The boatman tied the cable to his boat and dragged the boat into the warship. Hou Meng climbed onto the warship. Wang Mingsou laughed at him: "I didn't greet you specifically. I just went to Changguo to inspect and took back the county lord of Changguo. Passing here, I saw the flag sails hanging on your boat. I guess it's you again. I guess the time is right, and you should come and reach out again."

Hou Meng smiled bitterly: "The Nanyang Affairs Bureau is going to expand eleven fleets in one go, but do you still let people live. Our Beiyang Affairs Bureau has worked hard to build two fleets, but you want to add eight new fleets, which is too bullying."

After Hou Meng boarded the boat, Chen Buting and Sun He watched Hou Meng leave with fear and whispered: "Heaven, it is Hou Meng, the second-ranked person of the Beiyang Affairs Bureau. I heard that Han Xiang was in poor health recently. The Beiyang Affairs Bureau was all hosted by Lord Hou. This Lord looks so fierce."

Xiaozhou next to him interjected in a lazy voice: "What a fierce thing? It's just a Lai Han who begs from the door."

The person who interrupted was a few young people, and the other party also had the official flag on the boat, but the flags were very complicated, and five or six poles were inserted. One of them was the main flag, with a big word written on it: Guo.

Chen Buting narrowed his eyes and looked at the small characters on the flag. Sun He took out a pair of pocket telescopes from his arms, opened them, and while checking, he muttered: "Qin Fenglu Huizhou Commander Guo... Hey, there is still a Zhe Ke military flag, the Zhe family in Shaanxi, and the Zhe family also sent people?! It seems that this time the General Staff Headquarters were formed, and the people who came were really hidden and hiding dragons and burying tigers."

Chen Buting looked at the small telescope in Sun He's hand enviously. He sighed: "The Nanyang Affairs Bureau is really rich. An officer like you can get a pair of glasses. For us, this glasses are only given to the first-level third-rank fourth-rank official of the first-level third-rank fourth-rank official."

Sun He smiled and put away his glasses with care and replied: "Actually, our Fujian Road is also a stepmother's place to raise money in the Nanyang Yamen. All the rations are reduced and then wait. Alas. I heard that in the Hangzhou headquarters, such clairvoyances are all matched with soldiers. Now the officers are holding binoculars of thousands of miles. Hey, people are comparing with others. It's so annoying."

After a while, Sun He shouted: "The brothers on the other side are from Qin Fenglu. Are they also going to the General Staff Headquarters for training? Brothers, I, the commander of the Fujian Road Zhangzhou under the Nanyang Affairs Bureau, also went to the General Staff Headquarters for training. Next to it is Chen Buting, the commander of the Tanzhou Cavalry and Infantry Army on Jinghu North Road. Why are the brothers coming here just by boat? Let's get to know each other."

Among the few people, it seemed that the official surnamed Guo had the greatest rank. He had a sinister face, jumped over the warship, and shouted loudly: "Two, you guys, talk loudly about the railings and tiles on the dock. The sound of the official is corrupt. Wouldn't it be nice if someone heard it!"

Chen Buting quickly defended himself, and Sun He smiled and replied: "We have already whispered, but this voice was made by shouting and practicing. Unexpectedly, he even shouted that he knew about it. I forgive my guilt and forgive me. In fact, the Nanyang Yamen was originally in trouble. Because... Master Taishi, the two brothers of Taishi are the big prodigal sons in Fengyuexing. Can he take care of it?"

As the young man surnamed Guo came over, other soldiers on the boat also climbed onto the ship. After introducing each other to each other, sure enough, the Zong family and some young generals in Shaanxi all sent out disciples to train.

The name of Guo was Guo Guangsheng. He was originally a tribute soldier. When the Xixia people conquered the Zhenrong Army a few years ago, he organized the wing soldiers to resist. After that, he was inexplicably incorporated into the Shaanxi Imperial Army and became a military man. Now he was appointed as the commander of Huizhou by the General Zhe Dian. Since then, the continuous wars have prevented him from letting go of Huizhou's defense and leaving his military status, so he has no choice but to continue to be a warrior.

These people were greeting each other. On the warship, Wang Mingsou replied casually: "Mr. Hou, don't worry. Although the Nanyang Affairs Bureau has a plan to expand its military, the funds are not abundant, and the extra money is used to support the court. He only plans to expand three fleets in advance and then establish some coast guard fleets.

The Nanyang Affairs Bureau now has three fleets, but these three fleets are not enough. Now that the General Chen has gone to Africa, the Second Fleet is in the waters of Nian Country to ensure the General Chen’s logistics. Our third Fleet must stay in the port and remain on standby at any time. From the ocean below Hangzhou to the Jiaozhi, there is no Song army warship patrolling, which is very bad. So I support Zhao Liren’s plan to expand the army.

The plan of the General Staff Headquarters is to expand three fleets, one stationed in Guangzhou, maintain the force on the ocean surface of Guangzhou; one stationed in Quanzhou, ensure the normalization of Quanzhou's maritime transactions, and add another one to inspect the Lion City to ensure our throat to the South China Sea. In addition, the port will maintain at least one rest fleet and one standby fleet. In this way, we can only expand three to four fleets in advance.

I support this plan. The navy costs less money and benefits a lot. In the Song Dynasty, the sea trade is getting heavier and heavier, so we must tilt force towards sea trade. Moreover, Zhao Liren is always famous for training people. After the naval soldiers retire, they can also enrich private merchant ships and increase our overseas trade volume. This move is a bit profitable. Therefore, even if the funds are currently tight, they must first build the fleet."

Hou Meng immediately asked again: "What about the army? You already have the Eighth Army now. I heard that although these eight armies only have 50,000 soldiers, the auxiliary soldiers have reached 200,000. You still have to expand your army. Can you support them?"

After a moment of pause, Hou Meng murmured again: "Isn't the production of new fast guns not high? I finally got five hundred fast guns, but you are going to expand the new army to 200,000 or 200,000. I don't know what you think, can you use it?"

Wang Mingsou grinned: "The so-called expansion is actually a coaxing person, but it is actually a disarmament. The number of wing soldiers in Guangnan is huge. The combat effectiveness is low, which makes people feel cold. This time we plan to lay off most of the wing soldiers, and we will draw some cavalry officers from the Iron Cavalry Army to enter various wings and form cavalry patrol teams. In the future, these cavalry patrol teams will be responsible for local security, mainly equipped with swords, guns, bows and arrows, called the "first-level wing army".

Below the cavalry patrol team is the archer team, which is the second-level wing army. Since then, all county-level armed forces have been abolished. In the future, we will only set up shooting battalions in units at the first-level road, plus a commanding cavalry patrol team. In this way, the local wing army of our Nanyang Affairs Bureau will be enough. In the future, our main force will be on the new army.

There are only eight new troops now. Dali will station two armies to suppress Tubo, and Guangnan will also keep two armies so that they can be dispatched overseas at any time. In this way, only four armies will remain in the north. Overseas will be completely vacant. In the future, we must maintain the habit of stationing troops overseas. The Legion intends to maintain at least three armies overseas to deter the vassals, so the army will also be expanded.

The officers who were dismissed from each army can go overseas to serve. When their service period expires, they will be retired directly. After one service period, all the main force of the Nanyang Affairs Bureau can be replaced with new military and new officers."

Wang Mingsou pointed to the few small boats behind him, and Chen Buting and his official ships were following behind the warships, and sailed to the dock with the help of the waterway cleared by the warships. Wang Mingsou pointed out several figures on the ship and introduced one by one: "Most of those officers were transferred from Shaanxi. This is my suggestion. The Taishi couldn't stay idle and had a strong desire to sharpen the knife. Therefore, I suggest that the Taishi first attack on Xixia. We have a century-old alliance with the Liao Kingdom, but we are just a truce with Xixia. We started from Xixia and first solved the flanks. Then... and then it's your Beiyang Affairs Bureau's affairs. You also need to be prepared to target the great changes in the Liao Kingdom."

Hou Meng found the topic and asked quickly: "Where has Shuai Zi Lian been? I remember Shuai Zi Lian led his troops to fight on New Year's Eve, but there has been no news since then. Now there has been a huge change in the north. The Bohai Kingdom has risen and is fighting with the Liao people. I heard that the Liao people mobilized 200,000 troops. They are fighting hard with the Bohai people. The Bohai people used a powerful weapon. The Liao people guessed that this was our firearm and had already come to our Beiyang Affairs Bureau to complain."

Wang Mingsou shook his head: "I, a civil servant, can't get involved in military dispatch. If you want to ask Yayan, he may know if there is any son in Bohai intervening... Yuangong, I recently heard that someone has discovered a new waterway in the north and found a frozen continent that has been frozen all year round. I wonder what the profits of this continent are? If the profits are good, will the Beiyang Affairs Bureau also expand its army?"

When Hou Meng heard this, he nodded and smiled: "At the moment, the discovery of this continent is due to the Taishi. The Taishi has been sponsoring fleet exploration for many years. A caravan has been sailing north and discovered the frozen continent. Large areas of the continent have been frozen all year round, with only four or five months of ferrotherapy period a year, but the fish production is extremely rich. The ice is ready nearby. After fishing, they are frozen with ice and transported back to Dengzhou. A ship makes a lot of profit, no less than trade with the Liao Kingdom.

Oh, they all fished manatees in the far north (the name of whale land in the Song Dynasty). This kind of sea beef is tender and a boat of sea beef can be sold for tens of thousands of yuan. It takes four months for fishermen to go back and forth, which is much better than fishing in the offshore. Now merchants have gradually established supply points, and the Beiyang Affairs Bureau intends to develop this industry well.

Didn’t Zhao Liren announce the bond law? We plan to use this income as collateral to issue Beiyang bonds, and then use this money to expand the two fleets. I just don’t know if your shipbuilding capabilities can keep up?"

Wang Mingsou smiled and lost his eyes: "Can keep up, keep up. Now Quanzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, Guangzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, and Qiongzhou Shipbuilding Bureau are working at full capacity. The production capacity of the three places has tripled. Three thousand ships can be built every year, and ten ships are launched every day. We can supply as much as you want, but the artillery casting cannot keep up, and I am also worried about this."

Hou Mengyi grinned: "Looking at the world, who else can play cannons except me, the Song Dynasty? We can run around the north by installing two cannons on our ships. It is invincible to install ten cannons. Zhao Liren just made the 100-air gun ship, which is big and unscrupulous. The ships we want from the Beiyang Affairs Bureau are enough to equip each ship with ten cannons. It is already very satisfied that the auxiliary ship can have one or two cannons. As for the secondary warship, it is good to install three or five cannons on it. Why waste money and tonnage?"

Wang Mingsou sighed with emotion, rushed into the cabin, and said, "This time I accompanied Changguo to inspect Zhao Liren's 100-air warship on the sea. Master, the 100-air warship was powerless, just like a cannon mountain, with fire spitting out all over my body. I was wondering, what power can resist this destructive force, is there a need for this power to exist?"

Hou Meng looked around and whispered: "I heard that the Liao Kingdom also began to cast cannons. Now they have moved the cannons onto the city walls, and they are expected to be moved onto warships next. Maybe, in ten years, there will be a scene of hundreds of gunships bombing. Zhao Liren has money and asked him to reserve this technology in advance. My Beiyang Affairs Bureau predicts that the Liao people will not be the opponent in ten years. Ten years later, the ships they purchased now should be scrapped and replaced with a new ship. Maybe this is necessary."

Wang Mingsou sighed, and followed the officer behind the ship with one finger. He sighed and said, "War, the more we fight, the less we look familiar. The power of cannons cannot be resisted by humans. In the future, there will be no use for many people and many people, and it will rely on firearms. I hope that the new type of officers trained by Zhao Liren can make our Song Dynasty stronger and stronger."

The warship was already facing the dock at this time. Hou Meng suddenly remembered and asked, "Why, I heard that Zhao Liren ran away again and went to patrol various places. If he was not here, can the Nanyang Affairs Bureau operate normally?"

Wang Mingsou nodded: "There is no problem with government affairs. We will issue ten laws this month. You come here just to issue bonds in Hangzhou. This is a private matter and we will not participate. In addition, the weapons you want to allocate will follow the normal route. All approvals have been completed, and the rest is the matter of hiring ships. My Nanyang Affairs Bureau will not interfere.

Zhao Liren went to the site this time to review the results of the hometown elders' meetings this year. This month we will announce the powers and recommendation rules of the hometown elders' meetings. Zhao Liren went this time to evaluate the results of the hometown elders' meetings... The Guanxue disciples were so happy that a group of Lumen disciples came from Shaanxi, all shouting to implement the Lantian Convention throughout the world, and they also planned to observe the implementation of the Lantian Convention in various places in detail.

I heard that the officials of the Guan Sect are very proud of the local area. With our support, they try their best to implement the conventions in various places, which are very popular among local gentry. They even forced officials of other schools to promote the hometown association..."

The two were chatting, and the hatch door was opened. The Changguo County Lord accompanied Zheng Juzhong to appear on the deck. Zheng Juzhong waved to Wang Mingsou and asked, "Mingsou, when will we land?"

Wang Mingsou bowed and replied: "After setting up the springboard, landing immediately, it will be a quick thing."

Zheng Juzhong frowned and asked, "Why did we choose the canal wharf? We used the previous few times to get on the shore at Zhaoliren's private wharf? This canal wharf is very far from Jasmine Garden. Now that we are on the shore, the county lord returns to his residence, wouldn't it be dark?"

Wang Mingsou bowed and replied: "The Taishi's private wharf is dispatching warships to escort the Luzon King Jufan, but the canal wharf is free."

Zheng Juzhong nodded: "The King of Luzon (King Jian) ​​can't leave today, right?"

Wang Mingsou replied: "The First Fleet and the Second Fleet are all overseas, and our headquarters still have to stay behind some of the ships, so there are not many warships escorting King Jian south, so he had to dispatch some armed merchant ships. It is very troublesome to reorganize these merchant ships, and it is estimated that it will take one month."

Zheng Juzhong nodded: "That's good."

Hou Meng leaned close to Wang Mingsou's ear and asked in surprise: "Will King Jian be a vassal?"

Wang Mingsou whispered: "King Qiong, King Ryukyu, King Ryukyu, will leave the capital, and go south one after another to the vassal."

Hou Meng asked softly: "There are rumors among merchants that Zhao Hai, the second son of Zhao Liren, is the king of Chameng. Is there any such incident?"

Wang Mingsou shook his head: "How can you say this randomly? I know that Zhao Hai has enfeoffed the Jinlan City Trade Leadership, but that city is a private trading port established by Zhao Liren overseas, which is equivalent to his own manor overseas. How can this be considered the King of Champa? At most, it is just a owner of the Song Dynasty."

Hou Meng whispered to Changguo and said softly: "It is rumored that the King of Ryukyu will leave Beijing and preside over the wedding of Zhao Li's legitimate son Zhao Feng with the mission of giving a marriage. Is this a matter?"

Wang Mingsou whispered a name: "Zhao Yun!"

Hou Meng was surprised: "Why is that stupid guy?"

In the Song Dynasty, "The Three Kingdoms Pingdian" gradually became popular, and the name Zhao Yun was also a household name, but Zhao Xing's son Zhao Yun was an alien in the eyes of the literati. Compared with Fan E, he already had three sons and passed the Jinshi. The five sons under Zhao Xing's name (plus Liao Xiaoxiao's son Zhao Tian) were all well-behaved. The other sons were a little more motivated, and they knew to learn local management techniques from their fathers, and at least they also learned the technology of running a family business. Only this mistress was the least promising and often didn't say that he liked to play knives and sticks. He didn't like to study military tactics the most. It seemed that Zhao Xing had a family-born military tactic, so he cut off his inheritance. This made the children of the generals secretly happy, but made the scholars and officials regret it.

In the eyes of the literati, Zhao Feng was a qualified heir to the Zhao clan. He was steady in his work and followed the rules. His performance greatly relieved the royal family and made the literati feel secretly happy in the shadow of Zhao Xing. Zhao Hai had the title of Lord of Jinlan City and was destined not to develop in China, so the literati did not mind that Zhao Hai inherited Zhao Xing's ability to manage the local area - an overseas small city, even if it was governed to the sky, what could it do? Isn't it still a vassal state of the Song Dynasty? So the literati were all pretending to be confused about the facts that clearly existed. Just as they pretended to be confused about the identity of Zhao Hai's mother Chen Yiyi.

Zhao Shan's mother was a Hu person. Although Hu people in the Song Dynasty could also be a high-ranking official, there was a distinction between Chinese and foreigners. The literati were not afraid of Zhao Shan's rise. Moreover, there were vague rumors that Zhao Shan, a child, would stay abroad when he grew up. Therefore, although Zhao Shan inherited Zhao Xing's cunning and wisdom, the literati were happy to see the land, because the more cunning Zhao Shan, the more beneficial he was to the Song Dynasty overseas.

Seeing Zhao Tian learning the management skills from Zhao Xing, the literati were happy to see this literati, because his identity as a literati was there, and he would probably protect his family for life in the future. For such a businessman who is not threatening, the literati were eager to learn some business skills from him and make their family prosperous.

It seems that Zhao Yun is most suitable to inherit Zhao Xing's military achievements, but this child likes the most is to run away from home and to manage some other people's business on the road that he should not be in charge of. Although he did not oppress good things, his unruly made the scholars and officials feel uncomfortable, so he became a negative example for scholars and officials to educate their children. The scholars and officials often took him to educate their children - look at the mistress of the Taishi family. The children of the generals were able to stand alone in the middle school of the Taishi family for several months and commanded the battle to destroy the country. The boy had such good conditions, but he liked to fight outside and could not be like a mistress.

For these reasons, Wang Mingsou proposed this name and surprised Hou Mengda. After questioning, he saw Wang Mingsou nodding slightly, and then incredibly sought confirmation: "Is the official family willing? Among the great masters, this kid is not a good weapon. Who should marry Changguo, shouldn't he marry a mistress?"

At this time, the object of everyone's discussion was that Princess Changguo looked at the dock. On the dock, Cheng Azhu was holding Zhao Yun on the shore to welcome him. This incompetent child consumed Cheng Azhu's energy, and Zhao Xing's indulgence made Cheng Azhu unable to discipline him. Now, discussing marriage with the royal family has made her feel relieved, so she personally experienced everything and came to welcome her prospective daughter-in-law.

When Changguo saw Cheng Azhu on the shore, she bowed and replied shyly: "How dare I greet Grandma? Changguo is ashamed."

After Changguo said that, he stepped onto the springboard and immediately several women came to support her. Behind her, Wang Mingsou whispered to Hou Meng: "No matter what Zhao Yun said, he was also the eldest son's legitimate mother, the Dazai discussed marriage. The legitimate son Zhao Feng's wife is too famous, and the royal family dared not force her. If you want to settle for the second best, it is Zhao Yun."

Hou Meng pondered for a moment and nodded: "As for this, Zhao Yun is not bad, he is the second son of the emperor, so it is appropriate to serve as the envoy of the family in the future."

Zheng Juzhong welcomed him and sent Changguo ashore. Then he walked to the two of them and sighed, "Are you free tonight, sir? I have finally completed my mission now. We might as well go to West Lake to raft and buy a boat on the lake tonight."

Hou Meng grinned and replied, "I am not as leisurely as Lord Taizai. After visiting the Grand Master, I will return immediately - the situation in the north changes three times a day, and I am so busy here that I have no time to visit West Lake."
Chapter completed!