Han Shizu

Chapter 1649 Overseas expansion
The autumn is high in August, and it is gratifying that the great man ushered in another bumper harvest, and the people of all states rejoiced and welcomed the bumper harvest. Even at the moment when the treasures were opened, for the people of Qianshou, there is nothing more worthwhile than a bumper harvest in the fields. happy.Even in the city of Tokyo, it seems as if you can smell the rice fragrance that overflows in the air, which represents fullness and hope.

In Qionglin Garden, on the bank of Jinming Pool, Emperor Liu walked slowly on the sparse and yellowed lawn leaning on a bamboo joint.

There are still more than a dozen warships moored in Jinming Pond. This is a navy stationed in Tokyo. Naturally, it is not comparable to the giant ships and large ships in the Han Navy, but the rank is not low. After all, all officers above the commander in the Han Navy All promotions require training in the middle of the capital, and the place of training is the Jinmingchi Navy. Although it is somewhat unreasonable, political considerations have led to such a rule.

If the court wants to ensure the control and influence of the navy, it will naturally not play much training role in the Jinming Lake. After all, the navy of the Han Dynasty has completed the transformation from the inland navy to the navy. Therefore, more "political review" and Loyalty and patriotism education.

Today's Han navy is basically self-contained. The main ships are basically anchored in several major military ports in Henan, Jiangnan, Fujian, and Guangdong, including Koryo, Liuqiu, and Annan. It consists of seven large and small fleets.

Among them, there is also great autonomy in the recruitment, selection, training and training of officers and soldiers. In recent years, the development of the navy or navy has always shown a high-spirited upward trend. Even in the reform of the military system, it has not been affected too much. Impact.

The navy is an offensive arm, and the imperial court maintains a professional navy of this size, not only for the purpose of defending the territory. Although the great Han has thousands of miles of sea territory, there are almost no threats from the sea.

Therefore, the Han navy was actually prepared for expansion. Since the empire's land strategy changed to shrinking defense, Emperor Liu encouraged and cultivated the pioneering spirit for many years, and put it on the navy.

Looking at the development of the Dahan Navy in the past 30 years, it has indeed lived up to his expectations, not to mention the important role it played in previous civil wars involving water warfare and naval warfare. From the perspective of the past ten years, The rapid rise of overseas trade and the vigorous development of the Maritime Silk Road, behind these prosperity, the Han Navy is the most basic support and escort.

Today, apart from those maritime merchants, the main force of spreading the civilization and glory of the Han Dynasty to Nanyang is the Han Navy land.Three years ago, Guo Liangping, the commander of the Annan Navy, organized the army and conducted an ocean voyage. On the one hand, he did long-distance voyage training, and on the other hand, he showed the might of the Han to overseas barbarians.

The Han Navy has developed for so many years, and it is also constantly being updated. The heroes of the older generation, such as Guo Tingwei and Zhang Yanwei, have already retired to their homes.

Today, Haining Marquis Liu Guangyi and Lin Renzhao are in charge of the naval military. Haining Marquis Liu Guangyi even holds the title of Deputy Privy Envoy, which is regarded as a sign of the advancement of the navy's status.

However, the children and protégés of the older generation of admirals still fill the large system of the navy, like the Guo family, there are dozens of them, serving as commanders and officers at all levels.

As the eldest son of Guo Tingwei, Marquis of Hai'an, Guo Liangping's future is naturally guaranteed. Regarding his ocean-going plan, there are some objections in the imperial court, especially the "Continental Army faction" who is vigilant about the rise of the navy, and directly expresses it as a waste of money and waste of money. be opposed to.

However, Emperor Liu highly recognized Guo Liangping's suggestion and praised it greatly. If Emperor Liu approved it, the resistance from below would not be a big problem.

After three months of preparation, with the support of the center, the formation of the ocean-going fleet was completed. Starting from the Camlan Port in the Annan area, Emperor Liu personally named it: the Henghai Fleet.

The formation of this Henghai Fleet originally did not intend to go to war, but in the process of formation, adding a little to the left and a little to the right, the scale suddenly increased.

Initially, according to Guo Liangping's plan, only a part of the Annan Navy was dispatched, with a dozen or so ships, and two to 3000 people would be enough.However, after some discussions in the Central Committee, they felt that it was too stingy, so the Privy Council ordered that warships and officers and soldiers be transferred from various military ports. Only 52 combat ships were mobilized, and the rest of the auxiliary ships were more than [-]. Twenty thousand.

In addition, the shipping companies in the coastal cities also set up their own caravans, which were full of Han's porcelain, silk, tea and other commodities to accompany the voyage. After hearing this news, some dignitaries with maritime trade industries also joined in. , As for private maritime merchants, they are also very active. The income from going to sea has never been low, but they often face various risks.

However, if you go on a long-distance trade with the Han Navy, the risks outside of nature are almost reduced to the minimum. With such a mighty and majestic naval escort, can the business still be difficult?
Therefore, when Guo Liangping led the "Henghai Fleet" to set off, it would become a huge fleet composed of more than 400 military, official, commercial, and civilian ships. It is not too much to say that it is for an expedition.

That voyage turned out to be a success. The horse infantry of the Han Empire was invincible and swept the invincible opponents in East Asia, but the navy was dispatched and galloped across the ocean, which was also unrivaled.

The team was led by an active expansionist like Guo Liangping. The fleet went back and forth for a year and a half, "visiting" more than 20 countries and regions, and the farthest reached the Persian Gulf. Talk directly.

This is extremely difficult to achieve from land. For example, the Ghaznavid Dynasty, which ruled most of Persia at this time, had to get in touch with the Black Khanate first, or even the still powerful Samanid dynasty.

When they returned to Annan, the Han Dynasty had more than a dozen vassal states, and all the big ships were almost full. In addition to goods, gold, silver and jewelry, there were also some captives and beauties, and the other was the envoy of the newly surrendered Zhuyi Kingdom .

The process and content of the voyage are obviously rich and tortuous, but compared with the results, they are really nothing.The investment of the imperial court before is not worth mentioning in front of the fruitful harvest, and there is no need to calculate it carefully. Only through the calculation and experience of officials, it can be concluded that the income of this ocean-going is several times the investment.

Not to mention anything else, just those hundreds of beauties, this kind of exotic style, full of novel temptations, is very popular among the rich and powerful.

And after the Henghai Fleet returned with a full load, the imperial court also had a newer and deeper understanding of foreign countries, and even those diehards who opposed business and maritime trade had to admit their interests.

From the government to the private sector, another wave of going out to sea broke out again. After all, the "small fights" in the past are not as shocking and exciting as the harvest brought by this large-scale operation.

As the initiator and executor, Guo Liangping received a generous reward. Emperor Liu bestowed the first-class Zhiyuan Bo.While arousing envy and hatred, it also attracted more honorable children to join in. When honor and benefits beckoned to them at the same time, not many people could resist the temptation.

At the same time, the value of the navy was once again reflected, its status was once again consolidated, and the strategic transformation of "going south" was officially launched.

In the past, no matter whether it was maritime trade or naval development, the focus was on the north. First, there were two relatively mature countries in the north, Korea and Japan. The origin and development of the Han navy started from the north.

However, time has changed, and only Korea and Japan can no longer meet the increasing demand for maritime trade of the Han Dynasty. The internal development needs of the Han Navy are also forced to move south.

Staying in the north is just complacent, but looking around the big Han, there is only Nanyang, which is a vast world with great potential.After years of development, many people have realized that although the barbarian areas in Nanyang are uncivilized, the places are really good and the products are really fragrant. Those gold, silver, spices, pearls, agates, corals, including food, melons and fruits, are really delicious. It is of great value.As long as you can successfully bring it back, you will definitely not lose money, and most of the time you will earn something.

Moreover, it is natural for the citizens of the empire to have privileges when doing business. In a big man, they may be just a poor man, but outside, they are uncles and masters.

By the 20 years since Kaibao, Dahan had established gathering points in various places in Nanyang, among which 37 were marked on the map, and there were even more unnamed points.

After the voyage, Guo Liangping returned to the court to report on his work, and proposed to build a naval base on the Puluozhong Island of the Three Buddhas, as a fulcrum for the Han in the Nanyang region, so as to control the Nanyang trade routes and maintain the Maritime Silk Road. Road trade, and at the same time protect the merchants and people of the Han Dynasty, and exert influence on the local area at any time.

Emperor Liu didn't know where Puluo Zhongdao was, but compared with the map and Guo Liangping's explanation, he found that it was at the entrance of the Strait of Malacca, and it was not clear where it was, so he decided decisively agree.

Emperor Liu was very satisfied. Compared with the kind of plan that required him to personally order and forcefully promote it, he was even more pleased with the proposal proposed by the officials below according to the needs of the development of the situation.

Whether it is a long-distance voyage or setting up a naval base in Nanyang, Guo Liangping has won the sacred heart, which is probably the reason why Emperor Liu gave the Earl such a generous reward.

Puluozhong Island is the territory of the Sanfoqi Kingdom, and now it is also a "big country" among the indigenous countries in Nanyang. Many small countries and forces around it are all vassals of it, and they rely on the golden waterway of East-West trade to make profits. Quite a lot.

It is obviously difficult for the Three Buddhas Qi Kingdom to accept such a request from the big man. What is a little too much is that after the Han envoy made the request, the compensation he gave was only a reduction or exemption of his one-year tribute to the big man.

This matter has been arguing for 20 years at Kaibao, and there is still no result. The Sanfoqi always insists on not agreeing, and the relationship between the two countries will inevitably deteriorate, and even affect the normal business activities of Han merchants and Han people who went to Nanyang.

On the other hand, the imperial court was getting impatient. The task given by Emperor Liu had been delayed for so long, and they were also under pressure.The Naval Group is even more dissatisfied. Seeing that diplomatic channels cannot solve the problem, the first reaction is naturally to resort to force. The Naval Department of the Privy Council is already formulating a plan to conquer the Three Buddhas, and it is still Guo who is actively promoting it. Ryohei.

(End of this chapter)