Zhu Youzhen suddenly paused when he said this, glanced at the people sitting at the long table, and then continued to open his mouth and say: "However, today, the boundary of the world that the Chinese ancestors once thought had been broken, and a broader new world has appeared in front of us.

We should realize that in this new world, we are no longer the center of the world. Why do I say this, because in this new world, there is the Celestial Cult civilization that occupies the edge from the South Seas to the Mediterranean; There are also Christian civilizations that occupy most of Europe, North and South America, and the coast of Africa.

Compared with the above two civilizations, China's Chinese civilization only occupies a corner of East Asia. In this situation, if we still want to claim to be the center of the world, I am afraid that we will be suspected of being arrogant. ”

Zhang Xie finally couldn't help it, he didn't like the emperor's statement of exalting the Christian civilization and the Tianfang civilization.

"Your Majesty, is it too presumptuous? Even though the two civilizations mentioned by His Majesty occupy an extremely vast land. But the minister also heard that neither the Christian nor the heavenly religion were united in a complete empire.

Comparatively speaking, although our Chinese civilization occupies less places than the first two, all the countries of East Asia admit that only our Ming Dynasty is the orthodoxy of China, and they are just vassals attached to our Ming Dynasty.

In addition, the Celestials and Christians observed by Israel in the country were very humble in their daily lives, and they did not have the habit of being fierce and aggressive, and they were able to live in harmony with the people of our country. I don't think that even if we know about each other's existence, there will be a fight.

Moreover, no matter what religion overseas countries believe, they need to import silk, tea, porcelain and other goods from our country. If they want to have bad intentions, our country can cut off trade with this country and use commercial interests as a means of containment. ”

Zhu Youzhen was not unhappy about Zhang Xie's voice, he thought for a moment and then said: "Are Christians and Tianfang Christians really amiable? I can't see it. The existing Tianfang Sectarians in our country are mainly from the descendants of the Semu people who gave in to Meng Yuan back then.

You should all know how the Semu people helped the Mongols to oppress us Han Chinese. Not to mention, the Great Song Dynasty gave preferential treatment to the Celestial Sects from Arabia, but when the country declined, the Great Song Dynasty royal family was slaughtered by the Celestial Sects in Quanzhou.

The above incident shows that the kindness of the Celestial Cultists is nothing but a cover-up. They are amiable only when they are weak, but once they have achieved a strong position, they will show a vicious face compared to their own weaker nation or country.

And Christians, who always want to save the souls of others, are also burdened with all kinds of black history. I think everyone should have read the first and second volumes of the history of the rise and fall of great powers that I asked people to send.

But if you have read these two books, you should know that the indigenous peoples of the American continent helped the Christians who had crossed the ocean to the Americas, but those Christians reciprocated them with swords and shackles.

The Spaniards and Portuguese divided most of North and South America, wiping out not only the indigenous kingdoms of the continent, but also their land, wealth, and hope.

In the 31st year of Wanli, the Spaniards slaughtered nearly 30,000 Chinese in Manila. Do you still think that these foreigners who believe in Christianity are here to save the souls of our Ming Dynasty? ”

The emperor's words silenced Zhang Xie, but the young staff officers behind him were angered by the Spanish atrocities.

These young staff officers have just graduated from a closed and strictly disciplined military academy, and their more than two years of study at the military academy have not only enabled them to develop operational command ability and various knowledge. The most important thing is to let them form a sense of community.

Many people were indignant about the Manila massacre when they were in school, and now, under the guidance of Chongzhen, they have channeled this hatred and hatred of the same enemy.

Soon, a staff officer boldly interjected: "Your Majesty said that you want to establish order, does it start with those Spaniards?" It's time to get justice from the murderers. ”

"If Your Majesty wants to conquer Manila, please let the ministers be the vanguard..."

"The minister is also willing..."

Seven or eight voices came out one after another, causing some confusion in the room. Under the angry eyes of Zhang Xie and Yu Zhigao, the young staff officers finally slowly regained their composure.

When the conference room was quiet again, Zhu Youzhen continued to speak: "In the current situation, the Spaniards are not the primary goal of the Ming Dynasty to establish order, so you will be disappointed. ”

Zhang Xie stared at his students sternly, seeing that they were still dissatisfied, and couldn't help but say: "Since Your Majesty said that you want to establish order, then my Ming Navy will inevitably surpass the strength of those barbarians one day. At that time, it is natural that justice will be sought from the Spaniards. What are you anxious about now? ”

Seeing that these staff officers had finally become honest, he turned to the emperor and asked, "Please also tell Your Majesty about the new order for your ministers, what is the new order that Your Majesty is talking about?" How can we assist Your Majesty in accomplishing this new order? ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and asked everyone, "Before talking about the new order, I want to ask you a question first. What do you think is the most important thing for the Navy? ”

Chongzhen's question was a little unexpected, but after a short hesitation, someone replied: "The most important thing for the navy is naturally the ship, without the ship, we can't even get out of the sea." ”

Someone immediately retorted to him: "Although the boat is important, I think the person who operates the boat is more important, and if there is no person who operates the boat, even if there is a boat, it will not be able to go to sea." ”

Some people also think that since it is a navy, it is natural to be able to fight at sea. Therefore, artillery should be the most important, and ships without artillery may not be able to resist the big ships of the Europeans.

After a controversy, Zhu You's whistleblower stopped the argument and said: "I think what you said is a little bit less meaningful. For the Navy, the most important thing is, naturally, money.

A warship of five or six hundred tons, equipped with about 30 guns, costs plus a year's operating costs, about 50,000 yuan, and such a warship is still the lowest level in our design.

Based on the calculation that a basic fleet is equipped with 12 large and small warships, we need to invest 900,000 yuan, not including the annual maintenance and overhaul costs in the future. Without money there are no ships, people and artillery, and with money you have everything. ”

Zhang Xie subconsciously turned his head to look at his students, and found that they had no objection to the emperor's statement, but were all nodding their heads again and again. Although Zhang Xie was a little difficult to accept that the emperor talked about money so openly, he was familiar with maritime trade, but he could agree with the emperor's statement.

Zhu Youzhen paused, then continued: "Since we all agree, the most important thing for the navy is money. Then the new order we are going to establish is, first of all, to ensure that our overseas trade can be carried out safely.

Because it is only through tariffs drawn from overseas trade that we can afford to build a huge investment in the construction of the navy. Therefore, the first task of the new order was to maintain the overseas trade of the Ming Dynasty.

Secondly, as I have just said, this vast new world is now divided into three parts: the Christian civilization, the Tianfang civilization, and our Chinese civilization. Maintaining the inheritance of Chinese civilization is the second task of the new order. ”

When Zhu Youzhen wanted to talk about the third point, he suddenly found that he couldn't take it for a while, so he coughed and changed the topic.

"Today, the main sources of silver for our overseas trade come from two places, one is Japan and the other is Manila. It is the inflow of silver from these two places that can maintain the prosperity of my Ming market.

Manila's silver is not produced locally, but from the silver mountains of the Americas. So until we had the ability to cross the Pacific, we had to preserve the Spanish presence in Manila to avoid cutting off this trade route.

Moreover, among the European colonizers in the South Seas, the most powerful were the Dutch and not the Spaniards. If we had dealt with the Spaniards first, not only would we not have established a new order in the South Seas, but would have opened the way for the Dutch to develop their power northward.

The other European colonizers would also be worried about our dealings with them, so they chose to turn to the Dutch, in which case the South Seas would become chaotic.

Returning to Japan, the Japanese archipelago produces not only gold, silver, copper, and sulfur, but also the materials that Japan needs. Its location also determines that we must not leave this place to the control of others.

By controlling the Japanese archipelago, we are controlling the Tsushima Strait. Starting from western Japan, we will be able to control the entire Northeast Asian continent, and we will continue to ignite the fire in Houjin's back, leaving him exhausted.

And from Edo Bay to the east, it is the best route to the North American continent, and as long as we can gain a foothold on the Pacific coast of the North American continent, we will have the ability to control the North Pacific. And the Spanish and Mexican colonies were exposed to us.

And as long as the Japanese archipelago can be controlled by us, the European colonizers will lose a base from which they will attack our country from Northeast Asia. In the waters off Northeast Asia, Japan is the only East Asian country that can challenge Japan.

Although Japan is an overseas barbarian, it has been learning Chinese civilization since the Tang Dynasty. From a cultural point of view, it is not an exaggeration to call them vassals of Chinese civilization. Therefore, from the perspective of maintaining the inheritance of Chinese civilization, it is also a matter of course to include Japan in the new order of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the first step in the new order to be established by the Navy is to establish the East Asian order, and the most crucial of the first steps is to make Japan submit to our Ming Dynasty and become one of the pillars of the East Asian order. ”