Xinshun 1730

Chapter 412 Self Awareness

The reality that Japan has locked the country for a hundred years and the Dashun Navy has been secretly built for ten years makes it difficult for Mantou to say desperate slogans such as "the empire will rise and fall, this is one action" to boost morale.

The naval officers also had no interest in a possible naval battle with Japan, because a slap couldn't be slapped.

If you want to boost morale, you can only talk about the significance of the navy in the war against Japan from a strategic perspective.All in all, for the future of the Navy.

The military officers who were able to hold a meeting behind closed doors here were all influenced by Liu Yu, and naturally heard the weight of Mantou's words.

After the great chaos in the late Ming Dynasty, there were lessons learned from the disaster of the Eastern Captives, the improvement of productivity, the large-scale use of firearms and actual combat experience.

In this case, no matter who is replaced as the emperor, as long as it is not at the level of Emperor Hui of Jin and Emperor Gaozong of Song, he will follow an almost inevitable route.

The assimilation ability of the Orthodox Church, a large number of Tungus and Mongols in the Cossacks, and the reality that the Torghuts followed Tsarist Russia as soldiers would force any emperor to take Khalkha Mongolia and ensure the safety of the north.

Khalkha Mongol conquest, it is necessary to fight Junggar, in order to avoid the reunification of the Mongolian tribes.

While fighting Junggar, it is necessary to take down the Snow Mountain, the holy land of the Yellow Sect, so as to facilitate control and completely solve the scourge in the north.

This is what anyone who becomes an emperor must do. Even if Zhang Xianzhong succeeds, his descendants will complete this path.

It relied neither on the so-called blood relationship nor the so-called blood relationship, but on the muskets, cannons, population, taxation, wealth, and logistics that gradually matured in the war at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

And the traditional memory of the threat to the north that has been engraved in the bones since the first emperor.

Before killing the Japanese, everything that Dashun did could be said to be almost inevitable, and it was inevitable for everyone to do it.

From the beginning of the war against Japanese to the South Seas that the navy has always wanted, it has already jumped out of the inevitable category, and this needs to be promoted and fought for.

And all of this must be won in the battle against the Japanese.

Liu Yu is trying to let the court see that everything that Japan has experienced, if Dashun does not have a navy, will also happen to Dashun in the future.

The navy is trying to let the court see that thousands of miles of blue waves are not a natural barrier, and the emergence of the navy can make it easier to fight in places that were previously out of reach.

The maritime merchants are trying to show the court that money does not necessarily have to be obtained from the land, and that the monopoly fee paid for a year in foreign trade alone can compete with the mu tax of one or two provinces.

This is the process of history, and personal struggles are reflected in the personal future of naval officers if the navy is strong.

When personal interests are closely related to national strategies, it can be said that a new group with its own strategic goals has emerged.

The spokespersons of the upper class are Liu Yu, a group of nobles who have shares in maritime trade, and a group of nobles who need war to maintain their status.

The Gun Barrel is a group of officers, including the Army, who are eager for military exploits and pursuing a future.

Qiandaizi is a group of maritime merchants who began to think about making money as second-hand dealers.

The reserve force is a group of students from the Xin Xue Practical School who are not qualified for the imperial examination and can only go to sea or serve as military officers.

At this time, this interest group can feel its own weakness deep in its heart.Therefore, people in this group, intentionally or unintentionally, enhance the power and voice of this group.

Everything the navy is doing at this time is intentional.

Being in this group, one can only follow this wave and drift with the current.

…………

Hokkaido, Matsumae Fukuyama Castle.

Du Feng was sitting in the previous seat of the feudal lord of Matsumae, with a large pile of gold and silver, whale oil, dried fish, etc. piled up in front of him.Several accountants who can do abacus calculations are quickly picking up the abacus, preparing to divide the spoils.

Many years ago, he tried to rob Liu Yu from Yongning Temple, and now it is the first time for him to lead an army alone, such skills will never be forgotten.

In addition to the marines who came here from Weihai, those who participated in the capture of Fukuyama Castle in Hokkaido also included a group of soldiers from the Songhua River, islanders on Sakhalin Island who received the seal of Dashun, and some tribal people at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River.

Some people on Sakhalin Island have exchanges with the Ainu people and understand the local dialect.

There are a total of six tribes on the island, and the surnames are transliterated, probably Tao, Duwaha, Yadan and so on.

A tribe also has a hundred people, and each tribe has transferred five people, a total of 30 people.

There were not many people, but firstly, it was for the convenience of translation and contacting the Ainu people; secondly, this matter was their attitude of the people of Dashun, and they had to abide by the recruitment of the Whale Sea Festival.

This time, it was not Liu Yu's personal relationship with them when they fought against Tsarist Russia, but the official status of Jingdushi Jinghai.

Most of these people had contacts with the Ainu people in Hokkaido. This kind of trade was called "Sandan trade" in history.

The imperial court of the Central Plains gave rewards to the islanders at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River and on Sakhalin Island. The most important reward was the tribute mink fur, and it was also a symbol of tribute and submission.

The islanders on the island then sold the rewarded silk and cloth to Hokkaido.The Einu people in Hokkaido sold them to Japanese merchants.

Because the rewards from the imperial court cannot be too low-level, "Ezo Nishiki" is very popular among the upper class in Japan.

As for the bitter cold places like Ezo, no one will investigate why brocades are produced in places further north.

At the beginning, the Matsumae clan agreed to some people from the navy to live temporarily on the island. Their purpose was to pretend to be confused and hope to expand the trade of "Ezo Nishiki", but they did not inform the shogunate.

Now I regret it, but it's too late.

Du Feng came out of the recruited government soldiers, so he knew all too well that they were a group of virtuous people.

Going out to fight a battle, if you go back empty-handed, you will be ridiculed by the fellow villagers in Zhechong Mansion as "trash" and "incompetent".

It's just that Du Feng also knew that Liu Yu didn't want the marines to get into the habit of robbery, so he wisely didn't choose robbery, but used blackmail.

Robbery and extortion are not the same thing.

The former has no technical content, while the latter must be guaranteed by discipline.

Liu Yu set the time for him to attack Fushan City in August.

When the time came, he couldn't wait to surround Fukuyama City and let the tribesmen from Sakhalin Island contact the Ainu people in Hokkaido in the local language.

After conquering Fushan City, following the method used by the Emperor Taizu who came to Beijing in the past, the king of Wuwei County, who was later crowned, tortured and looted the capital, and squeezed out about 8 to [-] taels of silver.

The reason is also justifiable.

The Matsumae clan implemented a contracting system, contracting land plots, fisheries, trade, etc. to businessmen and charging contract fees.

This is similar to the tax system. Naturally, these businessmen are also very ruthless. Anyway, they don't have to give too much money to the Ainu people, and squeeze them hard.

The money obtained from the robbery is naturally the people's fat and people's anointing, and it is only natural that they should be returned.

After getting the money, Du Feng is also a trustworthy person. After being tortured, they were all released and told them that they might be able to do business in the future.

Seven or eight people who claimed to be familiar with the surrounding sea conditions and terrain were kept, and they were not copied, and they were kept as guides.

The reason why he insisted on blackmailing and looting instead of disorderly robbery was because he knew very well that the marines trained in the small station camp in Weihai would not rob at all.

If you vote with the Fubing brothers who came to help the battle, you will be able to do anything, and that is not allowed by Liu Yu.

Torture, blackmail, this is an orderly robbery, in Du Feng's view, this is acceptable, at least discipline is guaranteed.

The Fubing brothers have come all the way, and when fighting, they rush forward desperately, just to make a fortune.Since the Fubing promised Du Feng not to rob, Du Feng promised to share the accounts with the Fubing brothers afterwards.

After the city was broken, the lord of the Matsumae clan was arrested, and the sons were detained. The work is done, and now is the time to divide the money.

The accountant was making plans there, and several military officers looked at the piles of gold, silver, whale oil and other short-selling goods, and couldn't help but said: "If you want me to say, let's go to the Sendai Fan to grab it. As early as in Weihai When I was growing up, I ate Sendai’s tamarind, dried abalone and sea cucumber, etc. It is said that many of Nagasaki’s tamarind and seafood are from Sendai.”

"I often hear adults say that this place also built a Galen ship to cross the Pacific Ocean. The merchants also said that the Sendai Domain has copper, and they minted their own money. It is a place where they can extort more money."

Although I also know that the Date clan of the Sendai Domain is a great family, and it is said that there are [-] direct samurai and nearly [-] subordinate samurai, which can be converted into a field force of more than [-] people.

Nominally, the feudal lord of 60 shi was actually strong at the time, and he was regarded as the kind of foreign daimyo who listened to the tune but didn't listen to the publicity. In fact, he was the most powerful feudal clan at this time.

However, Sendai Fan and Mutsu Kingdom also have local characteristics.

Unlike the other small feudal clans, those small feudal clans and samurai all lived in the castle town.One city can control a land of hundreds of miles.

The Sendai domain is much larger, and the samurai lived everywhere, not all of them lived in the castle town of Sendai.

It is true that there is one country and one city, but the towns, townships, etc. outside the city, as well as the copper mines in Sendai, are all scattered.

Follow the example of the Japanese pirates back then, return the same way to others, go ashore when you have time, blackmail some samurai and businessmen and leave.

When the army comes, it runs away. Anyway, it has command of the sea.Before the army came, they continued to blackmail in an organized way.

Du Feng scoffed at this idea, thinking that his vision was too low.

He is wholeheartedly looking for a title, because he wants to do something big.Extorting money is just to share the profits with the brothers, so that the brothers can support themselves in the future. In addition, he knows the virtues of those soldiers too well. Anyway, if he wants to rob, it is better to blackmail in an organized way.

Now I have been released to take charge of one side, with warships in my hands, more than 500 marines, more than 500 government soldiers, four to five hundred miscellaneous soldiers from various places, and some civilians who have a military foundation in reclamation.

With such a force, it is impossible to fight against Sendai, which claims to have [-] direct subordinates and [-] subordinate warriors.

But what if the soldiers in Sendai are mobilized?
After crossing the Tsugaru Strait, there was the Hirosaki Domain, a weak chicken, who surrounded and did not fight, inducing the Sendai Domain to send troops to rescue.

Or go out of Mutsu country, occupy some towns in the north, and use it as a base to force Sendai to send troops to attack.

While it is dispatching troops, with the advantage of the navy and the speed of troop transport, go straight to Sendai!
He has already asked the businessmen who took refuge in the Sendai domain to implement the "rice monopoly system", which transported from Ishinomaki Port in Sendai to Edo, and almost half of the rice used by non-samurai in Edo City came from Sendai.

Sendai is equivalent to Huguang in the Celestial Dynasty.

The sea route from Ishinomaki Port to Edo is equivalent to the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal.

Ishinomaki Port is roughly equivalent to the Huai'an of the canal, or Zhenjiang.

Mobilizing the troops of the Sendai clan, finding the right opportunity, capturing Ishinomaki Port in one wave, burning grain and rice, and threatening Sendai, this is also a major contribution to the entire war against Japanese.

Even if Sendai City cannot be captured, it is enough to make the Japanese feel lingering fears, and they have to gather heavy troops nearby to ensure the supply of rice and grain.

If he wins the bet, regardless of the merits and rewards in the future, he has at least proved that he has the judgment of the main battle.The general school is not its top, or handsome.

While thinking about it, someone hurriedly came from outside and said in a low voice, "Lord Du, a letter from the Navy."

Du Feng opened the letter and glanced at it, took out a white phosphorous match made in Weihai, burned the letter to ashes, and put his idea of ​​"making great contributions" behind him.

"Send the order, seize the time to build defenses, and just station here. Immediately send someone to Vladivostok and tell them to send some trained civilians there, and the money will be kept. The navy will send out to support here."

(End of this chapter)