Regarding the blueprint described by Zhu Youzhen, Yu Zhigao didn't have much feeling. Although he was the chief military officer of Fujian, he was also the supreme commander of the Fujian Naval Division.

But the supreme commander of the Fujian Navy Division stayed on land most of the time, and the farthest place he ever went by boat was perhaps the Penghu Islands.

Therefore, Yu Zhigao couldn't imagine how big this world was, and what a magnificent scene the ports spread across the four oceans were.

In Yu Zhigao's mind, the lands in this world other than the Ming Dynasty are inhabited by either wild people who drink blood and hair, or barbarians whose moral concepts are similar to those of beasts.

Even if they can build big ships and cannons, the country where they are located is very short of materials, otherwise they don't have to take a huge risk at sea to travel thousands of miles, just to buy raw silk, cotton, tea, porcelain and other items of the Ming Dynasty.

However, in Xu Xinsu's ears, this is a grand blueprint that makes people worship with great effort. The Daming port that covers all the oceans means that the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty will become the master of the sea, which is a dream that several generations of maritime merchants and pirate kings of the Ming Dynasty have not been able to achieve.

At this moment, Xu Xinsu had even forgotten his hatred for Zheng Zhilong. After only a moment of trance, Xu Xinsu shook his head and said: "Your Majesty's idea is certainly wonderful, but the overseas natives are cruel, and the merchants are even more suspicious. The people of our Ming Dynasty are generous and simple, and the court does not allow them to hold swords, soldiers and firearms, and they are often oppressed by the natives and merchants outside the territory. I think that even if I build ports, it will be difficult to keep them. ”

"Then the ban on the possession of firearms and swords will be lifted, and at this maritime conference, I am about to propose that ships going to sea for trade can be equipped with the necessary weapons and equipment to protect the ships after paying a certain amount of security, and artillery, muskets, swords, guns, bows and crossbows can be released." Zhu Youzhen responded quickly.

Yu Zhigao suddenly became a little panicked, and he hurriedly admonished Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, most of the traders who go to sea are outlaws. Even if there is a ban on weapons, they still have to secretly hide their weapons. Now that the ban has been lifted, wouldn't it be even more difficult to control these traders, not to mention how militaristic weapons such as cannons and muskets can be lightly given to others.

And overseas trade is not a profitable business, if you are unlucky to encounter a storm, or encounter pirates, these desperate maritime merchants will often fall into the grass for thieves, with these cannons, muskets, I am afraid that it will be in the overseas vassal country or the coast of the Ming Dynasty, set off a greater disaster than the Japanese invaders. ”

Zhu Youzhen replied disapprerovingly: "Only large-scale manufacturing of weapons such as artillery and muskets can reduce costs and improve the level of craftsmanship. General Yu should not always think about it, and the maritime merchants are not allowed to have this weapon or that weapon.

If my Ming ban can really be banned, there will still be so many smugglers on the southeast coast? What the prohibition order of the Ming Dynasty can restrain is only those honest people who are willing to obey the orders of the imperial court, and can they be restrained by those profiteers and overseas people?

The arms ban on maritime merchants will only cheapen those Ming profiteers who privately manufacture weapons and overseas fans. And the imperial court could not grasp the number of weapons in the hands of those maritime merchants and the size of the armament.

Let the maritime merchants buy weapons from the imperial court, first, so that the imperial court can control the power in the hands of the maritime merchants; Second, it can train the craftsman skills of the imperial court to manufacture artillery and muskets, and it can also cut off the market for privately manufactured weapons.

As for what Mr. Yu was worried about, I felt that it was really unnecessary. The army provided by the imperial court is trained every day for the purpose of fighting, and if even a group of thieves who are halfway through the house are afraid, what is the need for such an army.

As for whether those maritime merchants were causing trouble in overseas vassals? If the vassal states could not protect their own citizens, then the Ming navy could be stationed on their territory to help them protect the people, and of course the military expenses of the vassal states themselves would have to bear their own expenses.

If they are unwilling to bear the military expenses of the Ming Navy, then the Ming can only help them. As for those countries or regions that have not submitted to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty has no obligation to protect them, but we can sell weapons to them to protect ourselves. ”

Zhu Youzhen's words completely subverted Yu Zhigao's moral concept, but Xu Xinsu was extremely appreciative.

However, as a military general, Yu Zhigao does not need to rely on moral speech to maintain his status. On the contrary, as a martial artist, he also needs to avoid his moral prestige being too high.

The civilian clique is not afraid of the military generals' greed for money and lust and the corruption of their personal morality, but on the contrary, they are always on guard against those famous generals.

Wang Yangming is like this, and Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou are not killed by the central defense of the imperial court.

Therefore, for Chongzhen's conversation, which completely violated the moral concept of the Ming Dynasty, Yu Zhigao could only express his silence.

And Xu Xinsu couldn't get past Yu Zhigao to express his support, so he could only euphemistically turn the topic back to the question of how to build a navy.

Zhu Youzhen threw out the idea that he had been thinking about for a long time, "Select capable officers and experienced sailors and captains from the Fujian Naval Division, and then select a part of the Cao Army based on the Denglai and Tianjin Naval Divisions to establish the North Sea Fleet, and at the same time set up a naval academy in Tianjin to train navigation talents." ”

Xu Xinsu asked suspiciously: "Based on Denglai and Tianjin Sailors, the army will naturally become a rapid army. However, I heard that Yuan Jiehuan was the governor of Denglai for three years, and he had 4,000 warships and more than 50,000 sergeants.

However, after Governor Yuan left Denglai, most of the Denglai sailors were abandoned, and only the ships carrying grain remained. His Majesty wants to build the North Sea Fleet on this basis, and I am afraid that it is not far from rebuilding a naval division.

And in the future, if the North Sea Fleet still has to take on the task of transporting grain on the Liaodong Sea, I am afraid that the combat strength of this fleet may not be much left. And there are few wood, shipbuilding materials, and craftsmen who build ships in the north, where does Your Majesty plan to build ships?

And after His Majesty transferred the lowly people and left Fujian, there was no income from overseas trade, so the construction of ships could only rely on the imperial court's appropriation. I want to ask for advice, how does Your Majesty plan to raise this huge expense? ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and said: "I have Shandong Linqing Weihe Shipyard, Nanjing Longjiang Shipyard, and Huai'an Qingjiang Shipyard, which can build inland river boats, ocean-shading ships, and ships for various voyages at sea.

However, today, the Weihe Shipyard and Longjiang Shipyard have been abandoned, and the Qingjiang Shipyard can only build and repair inland river boats. Therefore, in order to build a navy, it is necessary to rebuild shipyards that can build sea ships.

Nanjing's proximity to the mouth of the Yangtze River makes it easy for built ships to go to sea, and the Yangtze River can transport wood suitable for shipbuilding from Sichuan and other places, so it is imperative to restore the Longjiang shipyard.

Although Linqing has an old factory as a foundation, this place is not suitable for building sea ships, and there is also a lack of wood, so I don't want to restore it. I thought it would be more appropriate to build a new shipyard in Tianjin, where timber from Liaodong and Korea could be transported to Tianjin by sea.

The future North Sea Fleet was only responsible for battles, and was no longer responsible for transporting grain to Liaodong, and the work of transporting grain from Liaodong should be entrusted to the merchant fleet.

As for the cost of shipbuilding and the formation of the North Sea Fleet ...

Zhu Youzhen suddenly turned his gaze to Yu Zhigao, "Next, I want to talk to Mr. Xu alone, Mr. Yu and the others will go out and wait." ”

Under Zhu Youzhen's gaze, Yu Zhigao didn't dare to say a word, and obediently withdrew from the room with Wang Chengen and other eunuchs.

However, although Yu Zhigao went out of the room, he didn't dare to stay away, he pulled Wang Chengen and said worriedly: "Princess, although Your Majesty has asked us to avoid it, but this Xu Xinsu is a contemptible foreign minister after all. ”

Wang Chengen looked left and right, and called Lian Shanxiang over, "Lian Qianhu, you are guarding the door, if there is anything wrong, go in to protect Your Majesty." If there's any trouble, I'll take care of it. ”

Lian Shanxiang hurriedly nodded yes, he quietly pasted to the door, Wang Chengen couldn't put his mind at ease, and stood opposite Lian Shanxiang. Yu Zhigao was only one step away from the two of them, and the three of them nervously paid attention to the movements in the room, lest there be any accidents.

Zhu Youzhen beckoned to Xu Xinsu and said, "Mr. Xu, come up, and it's easy to talk when you walk in." ”

Xu Xinsu walked to a distance of 3 or 4 steps from Zhu Youzhen with some trepidation, and did not dare to move forward.

"Do you know the charts of Japan, Korea, Liaodong, Ryukyu and other places?" Zhu Youzhen motioned for Xu Xinsu to continue to step forward, and continued to ask.

"I know a thing or two." Xu Xinsu replied cautiously. Immediately, at Zhu Youzhen's suggestion, he used teacups, jade pendants, sweat towels, silver taels, copper coins and other objects to put out a rough topographic map of East Asia on the coffee table beside Zhu Youzhen.

Looking at the graphics posed by Xu Xinsu, Zhu Youzhen made some slight modifications according to his own memory, adding terrain such as the Kamchatka Peninsula, Sakhalin Island, and Hokkaido.

Afterwards, Zhu Youzhen said: "The cost of raising the navy, I thought that it would still depend on overseas trade. ”

Xu Xinsu was very puzzled and said: "Your Majesty, all the things used in the capital come from the south, and there are no products from the north that can be used for overseas trade. Korea was barren, Japan had a lot of gold and silver, and the bulk goods needed in these two places were generally raw silk, cotton cloth, iron and other things.

Whether it is raw silk or cotton cloth, it is preferable in the south, and the quantity is relatively sufficient. However, the dynasty has always strictly forbidden iron weapons to go to sea, so the minister really couldn't think of what kind of materials to trade in the north, and he could raise enough money to build a fleet. ”

"Although Songjiang is clothed in the world, cotton is the best and most abundant in the north, especially Shandong and Henan are the top of the northern provinces. In the past, cotton cloth was transported from the south to the north, while cotton was transported from the north to the south.

I have ordered people to find skilled weavers from the south, and offer a reward to solve the problem of broken weaving threads in the north, so that cotton will no longer have to be transported to the south to be woven into cloth. Cotton cloth will also become a product of the north, which can be supplied for overseas trade. ”