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Chapter 922 Navy Problem 2
"…The Navy does have some land in Liaoyang Province for the resettlement of disabled soldiers. I wonder if it can be used as collateral?"

Zhu Haiou was no longer surprised by Wang Sheng's behavior of getting rid of burdens. After thinking hard for a while, he actually came up with a solution: use the land as collateral.

In the navy, the two of them had already had a division of labor. The chief of staff was responsible for training, operations and logistics; the governor was responsible for personnel appointments and dismissals and foreign negotiations. After all, as relatives of the emperor, most people were unwilling to offend them easily, but they were not afraid of offending others.

"If I were Prime Minister Oyani, I would definitely not agree to it!" This answer obviously did not suit the emperor's mind. Liaoyang is now a military control area with basically no residents, and the land is worthless.

"...How about the land of Annan and Luzon?" Seeing that the emperor was not fooled, Zhu Haiou gritted his teeth and let his thoughts fly further. He had been accustomed to answering questions like guessing riddles since he was a child, and knew that he would be rewarded for giving the correct answer, and would not be punished for answering incorrectly.

"If you are like this as the chief of staff, you will be doomed to hard labor. Those lands are explicitly allocated to disabled soldiers, and no one is allowed to touch them. Do you want to change the military law?" As a result, the emperor's face turned black, and he did not punish him, but criticized him.

"Well, I really can't think of it. Your Majesty, please enlighten me!"

Zhu Haiou grinned and decided not to guess anymore, mainly because he couldn't guess it. He went through all the belongings of the navy in his mind, but couldn't find anything valuable that could be mortgaged.

"After serving as the Navy Chief of Staff for so many years, you haven't made much progress. Let me ask you, does the Navy General Staff have the authority to formulate combat plans?" Facing the best of the early graduates of the Haihu Division, Hong Tao made a heartbroken expression.

"Yes..." Zhu Haiou was still at a loss. He did have the power to formulate operations, but would Sun Moon Bank dare to accept it? What would it be for? Could it help the Navy formulate combat plans? Isn't this a joke!
"But I haven't seen your battle plan yet!"

"…Your Majesty, tell me where we should attack. Chief of Staff Zhu and I will make a plan immediately!" Seeing Zhu Haiou dumbfounded by the emperor's question, Wang Sheng quickly stepped forward to rescue him.

"What's the point of waiting for me to think of everything? As the highest commander of the navy, you should have a strategic plan in mind, whether it is right or wrong. If you have it, you should take the initiative to show it to me. Don't always wait, move when I poke you, and don't move when I don't poke you.

Look, look, these memorials are waiting for me to review. Sooner or later, I will review them all! Even the smallest matters have to wait for approval. What should and should not be done is clearly written in the law. This is called lazy politics!"

Unfortunately, the emperor was in a bad mood today, and even the eldest brother-in-law didn't give him face. Instead, he slammed the table and exploded. He talked about everything from the navy to the government, and no one knew what the topic was, but he cursed everything.

"…I am guilty!"

Before the emperor finished his roar, Wang Sheng stood up and prepared to listen to the lecture. Zhu Haiou wanted to explain, but when he saw Wang Chengen winking at him, he stood up as well, lowering his head, ready to face the storm.

"It's not a crime, just be careful in the future. There will be more and more affairs in the court, and I can't be expected to do everything myself. At this time, each of you needs to do your job well. Don't be afraid of mistakes and dare not act. Go ahead and do it boldly. If you make mistakes, the General Staff and I will check.

Okay, sit down and listen to me tell you how to get a loan from Sun Moon Bank. Just this once, if you don't make any progress in the future, be careful to be thrown into Enniao Port to guard the warehouse."

The reason for his anger was not entirely because of Zhu Haiou and Wang Sheng's laziness. In fact, they were both quite diligent. Instead, some officials in the court still held the old idea that doing less meant fewer mistakes, and doing nothing meant no mistakes.

More than half of the memorials reviewed every day were in this situation. Even the most trivial matters had to be sought from the emperor, and they would act slowly and wait for the court's decree, and would not do anything more.

These two high-ranking naval officers were just unlucky. They happened to catch up with the opportunity to vent, and they happened to fail to answer the correct answer, so they were used as sandbags. "The expedition to the Western Regions has used up all the treasury savings, but I still need to send troops to the three southwestern provinces as soon as possible to clean up the local chieftains who are not very obedient and have distracting thoughts, so as to make the government orders smooth. It is unlikely that military expenditures for the navy will be increased in the short term.

But the navy can't just sit there. Warships have a lifespan, and they must be profitable. Now you should think about how to share the worries of me and the court.

When Yuan Keli raided Thang Long Prefecture and brought back a large amount of wealth, the construction of warships was accelerated exponentially, which solved my urgent need. Now that we have learned from the past, is it still so difficult to build the Nicobar Naval Base?"

After roaring and letting out his frustration, Hong Tao returned to normal and began to patiently explain the solution to the two generals. However, his habit of lecturing had become incurable, and he turned to asking questions while talking.

“But Thang Long Prefecture is already a territory of the Ming Dynasty…” Wang Sheng seemed to understand, but didn’t quite understand. Could it be that the emperor wanted to instigate the navy to rob the wealthy families in Annan Province?

"Just listen to it! What about you?"

Hong Tao almost lost his temper again. How could a dignified admiral of the navy come up with such an unreliable answer? How could an emperor order the army to seize his own city? Then he turned his eyes to Zhu Haiou. If this chief of staff was also unreliable, it was time to consider replacing the navy's top brass.

"Your Majesty, are you saying that we should find another place similar to Shenglongfu for a surprise attack, and then use the looted property to borrow money from the Sun Moon Bank?"

"Do you still need a loan if you have already robbed it?" Although this answer also has logical flaws, the general direction is correct, and Hong Tao continued to guide.

"…Your Majesty wants the students to take the battle plan to the Sun Moon Bank for a loan?"

Zhu Haiou was not stupid at all, otherwise he would not have been able to rise to the position of Navy Chief of Staff step by step among thousands of Haihu Division graduates. But no matter how he thought about it, he could not come up with such an incredible collateral.

It was not unusual for the emperor to instigate his army to rob other countries' property, as the northern nomadic peoples had always done so. But it was unprecedented for him to borrow money with a battle plan before he could rob them.

"Why not? Loans require credit, and mortgages are to guarantee credit. The Ming navy is invincible, which is credit in itself. As long as the battle plan is properly formulated, it should be safer than mortgaging land.

I think Prime Minister Oyani will also understand this. You can go to her first to test her opinion. It will not be too late to formulate a battle plan after confirming the feasibility. "

Hong Tao did not think this method was incredible. In the future, even if there was no detailed battle plan, the intention alone could drive the stock market up and down. Although the Ming Empire did not have a stock market, it could still have investments in the future.

In fact, this matter can be done in a much simpler way. For example, let the Sun Moon Bank issue war bonds. Ordinary investors probably won't even have a chance to get involved, as they will be snatched up by big capital with better information.

But Hong Tao didn't want to make the matter known to everyone, and he didn't want to start another war. If he fought when he had money and fought when he had no money, it would be like a war of attrition.

Now that the navy has a need, it is just right for the navy to propose it, and then make a good plan, without dragging down the central finances. I just signed to express my agreement, and the responsibility and impact would be much smaller. It is estimated that except for the military minister and relevant military personnel, not many people would know after the war.

(End of this chapter)