marquis of jingan

Chapter 396 Shen Yi's Plan

The emperor asked about politics, which was one of the daily tasks.

However, the people they ask about politics are usually big shots in the court, such as Prime Minister Zhongshu, or senior officials like Da Jiuqing. For things like Japanese pirates, they should have asked the officials of the Ministry of War, and they would never ask To Shen Yi's head.

Shen Yi sat down cautiously, lowered his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty, I am young and inexperienced, and my position is low, so I dare not discuss government affairs indiscriminately."

"Young and inexperienced..."

The emperor frowned, looked at Shen Yi, and said lightly: "If I remember correctly, I am the same age as you, Shen Qing, only two months older than you, so I am also young and inexperienced? "

"Don't dare..."

Shen Yi quickly stood up, bowed his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty's talent is naturally different from that of a humble minister..."

"Don't come here, don't be like those old guys, full of empty words."

"Let's just sit and talk."

Shen Yi sat down as he said.

The emperor looked at the document in front of him, and said calmly, "I'm just asking what you think, not a serious question about politics. You can say whatever you think of, don't worry about it."

Shen Yi was silent for a while, then bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, if you want to calm down a matter, there are two ways to treat the symptoms and the root cause. The connection of these pirates."

"I have read in detail the records of the Japanese pirates' rebellion over the years."

"Some Japanese pirates plundered merchant ships at sea. After the commercial roads were blocked, Japanese pirates plundered the coast. After these pirates entered villages and towns, they could quickly find local wealthy households, and even kidnap the family members of local wealthy households very accurately. to extort property."

"That is to say, these Japanese pirates are on the coast, belonged to informants, and even belonged to their masters..."

Speaking of this, Shen Yi paused, and said: "As far as I know, the commercial routes along the coast have not been completely cut off, and there are still some people who are doing business with foreigners from Dongyang, Nanyang and other overseas countries, that is to say, some wealthy businessmen , not worried about Japanese pirates."

The emperor frowned.

He looked at Shen Yi and said, "You mean, these businessmen are in league with Japanese pirates?"

"Probably not just hookups."

Shen Yi said in a deep voice: "If you speculate, I even suspect that some Japanese pirates are raised by these businessmen!"

The emperor frowned again, he looked back at Gao Ming, and eunuch Gao also showed a thoughtful expression.

The emperor didn't speak for a long time, and only after a while did he speak: "Shen Qing, if what you said is true, how are you going to cure the root cause?"

"Your Majesty, the Minister's Mansion News Agency is opening branches in various places, and now it only exists in some big cities. I feel that I can send them to these coastal cities to open branches. Firstly, to expand the influence of the Mansion News Agency, and secondly..."

Shen Yi lowered his head slightly and did not continue talking.

Some things are hard to say too clearly.

Secondly, it is natural to secretly check whether anyone has linked up with the Japanese pirates.

The emperor was silent for a while, then looked at Shen Yi, and continued to ask: "Then tell me how to treat the symptoms."

The so-called palliative treatment is to eradicate the Japanese pirates.

Shen Yi said without hesitation: "Build ships, build guns!"

Da Chen has cannons, and Shen Yi has read about cannons in more than one book, and there are many cannons in Liquan Building.

Not only Chen Guo has artillery, but also Northern Qi.

When Chen Guo founded the country more than 100 years ago, artillery was used in large-scale military applications, but this application is currently only applicable to land warfare, and there is no artillery that can be well adapted to warships.

Even if there is, it is the kind of land artillery that is towed to a large ship, and its adaptability is extremely poor.

However, I heard that there are several warships in the Huaihe Navy that have cannons, but I don't know what they look like, and there is no record in the books that Shen Yi has read.

The emperor frowned, looked at Shen Yi, and said in a deep voice: "Shen Qing's solution to the root cause is very insightful, but the solution to the symptoms is a bit vague."

"Whether it's shipbuilding or artillery building, it can be as short as a few years, or as long as ten years or even decades. What I want is to solve the Japanese pirates in a short time, preferably within three to five years."

"Moreover, building ships and guns requires a lot of money. It's not that there is no such money in the treasury, but the prime minister of Zhongshu and the officials in the household department may not be willing to spend money on ships and guns."

Shen Yi said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, what I said is the method of Jingping Coast, which is a long-term solution. If you want to solve the Japanese problem in a short time, you can only ambush the Japanese pirates on land. You only need to defeat them four or five times." , they will not dare to come in a short time.”

The emperor was expressionless, and said: "As soon as the officers and soldiers arrive, they will flee when they hear the news, how to ambush?"

"That's the intelligence gap."

Shen Yi lowered his eyebrows and said: "There are informants of the Japanese pirates in the imperial court, and there are also rich merchants along the coast, so an ambush cannot be done. I am confident that I can use the mansion to report to the secretary to pull out these people who are connected with the Japanese pirates, and then ambushes among the Japanese pirates." Informant, this way we can ambush Japanese pirates, as for His Majesty saying that the Ministry of Households is not willing to allocate money for this..."

Shen Yi said in a deep voice: "I heard that those merchants along the coast are very rich. If you can confirm that they are connected with the Japanese, you can immediately search their property and use it to strengthen coastal defense!"

The emperor's eyes flickered, obviously moved.

He sat in his seat, stared in a daze for a long time, then looked at Shen Yi, and took a deep breath: "I have approved the expansion of the Dibao Division to the coastal state capital, and you go down to do it immediately. I will make up for you, as for the rest..."

He whispered: "I need to think about it, you go down first."

Shen Yi stood up respectfully and exited the Ganlu Hall.

After Shen Yi left, the emperor turned his head to look at Gao Ming next to him, and asked, "What do you think?"

Eunuch Gao thought for a while, and said thoughtfully: "Your Majesty, what Shen Qi said seems to make sense, especially the word "sea defense" he said, exactly corresponds to His Majesty's desire to form an army along the coast..."

"Then let him do it first..."

The emperor murmured, "It's just that the rich merchants on the coast he mentioned are many local landlords. Not only do they have deep roots in the local area, but many wealthy merchants have backers in the imperial court..."

"Even, some of them are simply family members of court officials."

"There are many obstacles to get this matter done well. He is an eighth-rank official and a mansion newspaper secretary with no real power..."

Eunuch Gao smiled and said: "Then when the time is right, send a person of weight to inspect the coast, and let this person of weight take Shen Qi along with him, it's a matter of name and fact."

The emperor frowned: "Which important person in the court is willing to listen to Shen Yi's words? Not to mention him, but I, those people think that I am young and shallow!"

In the imperial court, the civil servants were very powerful, and most of these civil servants, after reading the sage books, were assigned to various yamen to take charge of various industries.

So these civil servants have a problem that almost everyone has.

That is, I like laymen to command experts.

It seems that as long as his grade is high enough, he can understand everything.

If a high-ranking civil servant was sent to work with Shen Yi, Shen Yi would not have any chance to speak.

Eunuch Gao poured out a cup of tea for the emperor, and said with a smile: "I have a very suitable candidate here, my maidservant, who has weight and can get along well with Shen Qi."

"Don't be too tight-lipped."

The emperor frowned: "I have something to say."

Eunuch Gao bowed his head deeply and said four words.

"The prince of Jin..."

""

(End of this chapter)