Jiapingguan Chronicle

"It takes more than two years to be promoted to deputy general. Even the lowest-ranking deputy general, Mr. Shen has outstanding military exploits." Shen Jiu looked at Shen Zhonghe and said with sincerity on his face, "This promotion speed is very fast. Such a rapid promotion." Look, Lord Shen is not nothing as he said, isn’t that good?”

"That's a completely different concept. Your promotion cannot be compared with that of the navy."

"Why not?" Shen Jiu was puzzled, "Although I was born in the Zhenguo Duke's Palace, I followed my father's wishes and started as a soldier from the lowest level. In more than two years, my accumulated military exploits have only allowed me to I was promoted to a captain in the forward battalion, but I can't be the commander's deputy at all. Even now, the commander's deputy is also the commander of each battalion, and I am just an ordinary pioneer officer in the forward battalion." He said while saying He extended his thumbs up towards Shen Zhonghe, "In comparison, Master Shen is also very powerful, isn't he?"

"What I said cannot be compared is not that our promotion trajectories, but that the regulations for promotion are completely different." Seeing that Shen Jiu was still confused, Shen Zhonghe explained, "The main reason is that the way we accumulate military exploits is different from the way we accumulate military exploits. You are different, not just the Shen family army, but also completely different from the southwest border. Your military merits are accumulated based on the number of enemy troops killed on the battlefield or the enemy's heads captured, right?"

"Yes!" Chen Jiu nodded, "Isn't everyone like this?"

"Of course not. The southern border is completely different, because there are not many opportunities for particularly large-scale wars at sea, and there is no decent naval battle all year round."

"Didn't you say that pirates invaded very frequently?" Shen Jiu was puzzled, "Could the battle reports be false? But Liu Shuai doesn't look like the kind of person who falsifies!"

Shen Zhonghe looked at Shen Jiu's serious and doubtful expression, sighed softly, looked at Xue Ruitian and Shen Haolin who also expressed helplessness, and shrugged helplessly.

"That's right. I have always heard that the southern border has been repeatedly invaded by pirates and Japanese pirates, and the people at the seaside are in great pain." Merlin nodded lightly, "Why did this talk to Master Shen, and it turned into a year-round attack? Not having a decent naval battle? This is not quite accurate!"

"It should be said that it is very accurate." Shen Cha patted Chen Jiu and raised his chin at Merlin, "The so-called decent naval battle in your imagination is that both the enemy and ourselves mobilize several or more than a dozen ships to form a posture. Formation, fight to the death, right?"

"Yes!" Shen Jiu nodded, "Isn't it the same when we fight? Isn't it like this for both sides to draw up their postures, line up their troops, set up formations, and just listen to the order and rush towards the other side?"

"Of course not!" Shen Zhonghe didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He waved his hand towards Shen Jiu and then looked at Merlin who looked confused next to him. "Neither pirates nor Japanese pirates have that many ships. If they have such a huge power, , why bother to rob at sea? Besides, they don’t have the technology to build ships. Although our Liu family army has strong ships and powerful guns, we don’t have so many big ships. The ones that usually patrol are actually small boats, unless they go to very far away places. , If I don’t come back for ten days and a half, I will use a big boat.”

"So, there are few big battles and constant small battles." Jin Jing sneered, "What did the elders at the beach say before? They said that these pirates and Japanese pirates are like those annoying flies and mosquitoes in summer. They can be beaten to death. One group came, and another came in an endless stream. Their strength is not particularly good, but they invade a lot and with high frequency. Sometimes, they even come once every seven or eight days, which makes people feel It's too annoying." "Yes." Shen Zhonghe nodded, "If they can't win, they run away. They run away to rest for a day or two, and then come back to harass. We are also very puzzled as to why they are so annoying."

"Moreover, their ships are just that. They are few and broken. There is no need for us to use big ships to pick them up. This is an insult to the big ships." Jin Jing spread her hands, "That's why Mr. Shen said, Decent big battles are actually very rare.”

"Ah?" Jin Miaomiao heard this for the first time. She poked Jin Jing beside her and asked in a low voice, "Is this really the case?"

"Of course!" Jin Jing took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Of course, those big ships, especially those carrying firearms, will not sail out easily. The cost is too high." He thought about it Thinking, looking at other people, "I want to ask you a question, do you know how much labor, how much money, and how much time it takes to build a big ship, not a big ship carrying firearms?"

Shen Zhonghe heard Jin Jing's words and chuckled. Seeing Jin Jing shaking her head towards him, he nodded slightly, indicating that he would not talk too much.

The other people looked at each other and shook their heads slightly.

"You don't know?" Seeing everyone's confused faces, Jin Jing chuckled and said, "Then let's talk about this. In fact, Liu Shuai's boats are divided into many types, right? "

"Yes." Shen Zhonghe nodded and counted on his fingers, "There are small boats for patrolling. Occasionally, more people go out to patrol the sea. Large ships without firearms are also dispatched. In addition to these, there are also ships with firearms. "Say, as well as the boats attached to the ship." He looked at everyone, "A rough calculation shows that the Navy has almost seven or eight different types of boats with different uses. The cost of patrol boats is relatively cheap. Generally, we will negotiate with the shipyard. , we customize three large ships and two ships with firearms, and then they can provide us with several small boats for daily use."

"Will they agree?" Jin Jing looked at Shen Zhonghe curiously, "Even if it's a small boat, it's not particularly cheap, right?"

"It's not cheap, but for us, we can save money if we can, otherwise the expenditure will be too high, and the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs will be scolded again." Shen Zhonghe shook his head gently, "Sometimes they will agree, but Sometimes they don’t agree, and they will agree to customize a boat equipped with firearms, but for ordinary things, they will only give a discount at most.”

"Then this shipyard is very kind. After all, the most common large ship, the one without firearms, takes ten craftsmen at least twenty or thirty days to build, doesn't it? A ship like this, It also costs thousands of taels of silver. If we send a few more boats, not to mention making money, it’s hard to say whether we can get our money back, right?”