unclear

Chapter 1014 Halftime 3
Moreover, in addition to these, a large number of young and strong people are needed to repair roads, riverbanks, and cities. More than 100 million people may sound like a lot, but there is still a big gap if we want to take care of all these tasks.

But ignoring food and cash crops is very dangerous. No matter how strong the industrial product research and development and production capabilities are, the people will still rebel if they cannot get enough food. They don't care about national planning and long-term development.

What to do? Four words: division of labor and cooperation. Specifically, it means planning the empire's homeland, overseas territories and dependent states into one system, and then coordinating and dividing the work according to various parameters.

For example, the empire's homeland will definitely focus on developing high-tech industries; Luzon, Annan, Mongolia, and Yarkand are more suitable as agricultural and animal husbandry bases, as well as processing of related raw materials and products.

The Korean Peninsula, the Southeast Peninsula and some islands in the South Pacific will also be incorporated into the Ming Empire as vassal states in the future. They will be positioned as mineral, chemical and energy bases, continuously providing the empire with coal, oil, timber and various minerals.

This basically covers most of the links in the industrial chain. If there are still deficiencies, any place in Asia that has the corresponding conditions will become a vassal state or affiliated force and join the industrial chain.

But the most critical link in the industrial chain is the market. It is useless to just produce it. It is only complete if it can earn more value. Who will consume these products? Some of them must be supplied to various links in the industrial chain, and the rest will be supplied to Asian countries.

Japan is so close, why doesn't Hong Tao occupy it as well? This is the reason. That archipelago is not a place with rich resources. What it has is available in all Asian countries and is easier to obtain.

At that time, Japan had a population of more than 10 million, which must be ranked in the top three in Asia. It was a single nation and religion, and was very difficult to rule and manage. Therefore, Hong Tao positioned it not as a vassal state or an overseas territory, but as a product dumping site.

Aren't you tough? Well, let's not fight hard, let's play soft. What soft? Economy is the most useful soft knife, the kind that kills without bloodshed. Using the advantages of technology and production capacity, we will carry out all-round large-scale dumping in the Japanese market.

From rice to fertilizers, from raw silk to cotton cloth, from matches to sugar presses, from horse-drawn carriages to ships, in just a few years all industries and sectors would be shattered by the massive flow of high-quality and low-cost industrial products.

Then, these more than 10 million people all became sweat slaves. They worked hard all their lives, but most of the value they created was taken away by Ming Dynasty enterprises. They had to tighten their belts and save money to raise the next generation, and continue to work like slaves.

What if there are wise men in the shogunate who see through this trick and resolutely resist it? This possibility exists, but it will not have any effect. Because behind the economic war, there is also a huge fleet and military strength to support it.

No matter who was the shogun, they would have chosen to compromise when faced with the possibility of the end of their regime and rule. Besides, it was only more than 10 million Japanese people who suffered, and the rulers and nobles did not suffer. They could even use the economic invasion of the Ming Empire to set up joint ventures to make money more conveniently and quickly. Why not?

As for Japan's national destiny, it's too far-reaching, and most people can neither see nor understand it. Even if there are a few geniuses who can see this step, the Military Statistics Department and the Royal Advisory Office will not allow such people to survive, and they will commit suicide as soon as they show up.

Countries and regions such as the Indian Peninsula, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Ottoman Empire, and Egypt were positioned similarly to Japan. The Ming Empire would not occupy them directly, but would demonstrate its military strength and then wage economic warfare, gradually incorporating them into the system by cutting their flesh with a soft knife, destroying their original economic model, and gradually reducing them to product dumping grounds, making them unable to extricate themselves.

According to Hong Tao's estimation, it will take at least 20 years for the Asia plan to show initial results. Before that, try not to proactively provoke European countries to turn their attention to Asia.

Hong Tao also has plans for America. He will not touch it for the time being. When the Europeans wake up and cannot stop their steps towards Asia, America will be invaded by the Imperial Navy to distract Europe's troops and attention.

At the strategic level, the empire would adopt a strategic defensive posture in Asia. The north of the Eurasian continent, that is, Russia and Central Asia, is the northern route, Ottoman Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula are the middle route, and the Cape of Good Hope is the southern route. Defending these three routes can keep the enemy out of the country without much impact on the economy.

A strategic offensive was to be launched on the American continent. From Central America to the west coast of South America, all European colonial cities and ports were to be the main targets of the imperial fleet.

At the same time, we must find several larger local indigenous forces, provide them with weapons and equipment and military training, and help them rise up in resistance and fight the European colonists to the end!
As for North America, forget it for now. For a long time, there will be no European colonists in the western part of North America, and the Ming Empire is too lazy to develop the west. At most, they can build a few coastal warehouses, have appropriate contact with the local indigenous people, and make some preparations for possible occupation in the future.

"Your Majesty, the preliminary battle report has been summarized." While chatting, Jie Ji came back in a small boat, holding a summary of the information just collected from various ships.

In this battle, a total of 5 enemy ships were sunk or destroyed, 6 were damaged or captured, and more than 470 people were captured. The remaining enemy ships all fled under the cover of night. Two of our warships received minor damage, mainly to the sails and rigging, 11 crew members were injured, and 2 were killed.

"Gather all the prisoners on these six ships and send two warships to escort them back to Table Bay and place them on Seal Island first. Send rocket flares every two hours to notify the Kosa cavalry to launch an attack. The remaining ships will reorganize and spend the night 6 kilometers west of Table Bay. Do not hang navigation lights or drop anchor, and prepare for battle all night."

Hong Tao could understand the minor damage, after all, the enemy also had artillery, and in principle, being hit was a matter of probability. But defeating the British fleet was just an appetizer, the Spanish fleet was the main enemy, and the final outcome would depend on the next two days.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

There was no conversation that night. The two warships guarding the captured ship kept cruising around Seal Island, firing two large rockets every two hours. But until dawn, there was no response from the shore, and it seemed that the Kosa cavalry had not arrived yet.

Hong Tao was not in a hurry to launch an attack on the land. He sent ships to approach and patrolled around, blowing up several small boats anchored on the shore. Then, facing the rising sun, the fleet formed a straight line from east to west in teams of two, 50 kilometers apart, and conducted a dragnet search to the south.

(End of this chapter)