A small fishing village three miles away from Penglai Water City, a radius of ten miles, has been encircled by Su Tiancheng, this small fishing village, after encountering the invasion of Dolgon, there is basically no human population, and the village has also been burned, such a place, no one said that they would pay attention, and no one understood what Su Tiancheng would circle here.

This place is under the direct jurisdiction of the Governor's Office.

In Su Tiancheng's plan, this is the largest shipyard in the Ming Dynasty.

Once upon a time, the Ming Dynasty had the world's largest sailors, 1,350 warships, 1,350 patrol ships, 400 large ships, 400 transport ships, and a total of 3,800 large and small ships, building a powerful fleet, no one can match and no one can compete.

It's a pity that the decline of the sailors, the speed is also amazing, less than a hundred years, the huge fleet no longer exists, the reasons for this are many, mainly in three aspects, the ceremony of the Ming Dynasty to the emperor, down to the ordinary people, do not understand what the sea power is for, let alone the maintenance of the road, the second is the prevailing Chinese centrism, that the Ming Dynasty is the center of the world, here is the richest and most powerful place, the third is that the cost of the water division is too huge, the court is a little unbearable.

Even when Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, the fleet led by Zheng He was only based on treasure ships, this type of treasure ship was not a warship in the strict sense, and the purpose of going to the Western Ocean was also to show off the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

In the Wanli period, the sailor was even more neglected. At that time, there had been rebellions in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, and with the establishment of the Houjin regime by Nurhachi, it was impossible for the imperial court to take into account the construction of the water division, and was busy confronting the Houjin and suppressing the internal rebellion. Needless to say, during the Chongzhen period, the imperial court could not maintain the salary of the sergeant, whether it was cavalry, foot soldiers and sailors, the treatment was meager, and it was even difficult to support the family.

The officers and men of the naval division were transferred at will. Either they entered the ranks of cavalry or foot soldiers, or because of the needs of the war, they became part of the armies of other guards, and the remaining sailors, more than seventy percent of them became military cantonments, busy with farming, and a small number of sailors and officers also lost their combat effectiveness.

Within a short period of time. The sailors of the Ming Dynasty existed in name only, and the coastal guards were empty. In fact, the naval division was low, the fleet was drastically reduced, the ships were damaged, there was no silver to maintain and repair, the coastal defense line gradually shrank, and the coastal defense strategy retreated in great strides. It was under such circumstances that the Ming Dynasty began to plunder, but unfortunately the Ming Dynasty's strategy of guarding against the Japanese was still based on land warfare.

The rise of Zheng Zhilong is an exception. But Zheng Zhilong's sailor, strictly speaking, is not a Ming sailor, such a huge fleet, belonging to Zheng Zhilong and the Zheng family, does not completely obey the orders of the imperial court, the entire fleet, control the trade at sea, for the Zheng family to gather a lot of wealth, so far, the Zheng family from the sea to obtain trade income, even more than the Ming Dynasty tax income for the whole year.

In Su Tiancheng's impression, the total annual tax of the Ming court is 32 million taels of silver, but this is only data on paper, because of famines, wars, etc., it is far from possible for the imperial court to get so many taxes, and it can reach 20 million taels of silver, even if it is very good, but the Zheng family obtains the trade tax from the sea is as high as more than 20 million taels of silver, in fact, the Zheng family is much richer than the imperial court.

Su Tiancheng is ready to start building a naval division, the starting point is different, his standards are extraordinary, it is carried out according to the highest standards, the naval division he established must be invincible in the world, whether it is a warship, a patrol ship, or a merchant ship, it must be able to dominate the sea area and become the real overlord of the sea.

But the difficulties faced by Su Tiancheng are also huge, the formation of naval divisions, the construction of warships, patrol ships, and merchant ships requires silver, among which the warships and patrol ships cannot be returned in a short period of time, and the merchant ships can be sold, and they can directly get silver taels, and there is one of the biggest problems in this, that is, the problem of talents.

In the Ming Dynasty, the outstanding sailor general, Liao Ruoxingchen, really left a name, in Su Tiancheng's mind, that is, Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Chenggong is the son of Zheng Zhilong, born in 1624, and is only seventeen years old now, far from the time to make contributions.

Although there are many difficulties, Su Tiancheng is confident, he knows the huge role of the water master, and he knows that if he wants to become the overlord of the world, the water master is indispensable, and with the water master, he can achieve all the goals.

A day later, the generals above the commander of the Jiangning battalion guard, the prefects and counties of Dengzhou and Laizhou, all gathered at the governor's mansion located in the capital city of Dengzhou.

This is the first time that Su Tiancheng has gathered everyone after coming to Dengzhou.

The purpose of this meeting is to clarify the task, half a year of restorative construction, the results have been reflected, the next focus will begin to shift, and spring ploughing is imminent, the construction of various places, will inevitably affect the spring ploughing production, some ordinary people, there is a short-sighted view, that doing things in the prefecture, the state and the county, can earn silver, than farming at home is more cost-effective, and even ready to temporarily not cultivate farmland, want to eat grain, spend silver to buy it.

The role of silver is mainly manifested in circulation, if there is no physical object to support, silver can not be eaten, can not be heated, what can be done with silver, support up the sailor, or support Dengzhou, Laizhou, Qingzhou, and even the Ming Dynasty, or need to have sufficient items, all of which require the people to work.

"Today's meeting in the Governor's Mansion is very important, and I need to emphasize the construction of Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Qingzhou, including the construction of sailors and wharves."

"Dengzhou and Laizhou, in the process of construction, a large number of craftsmen and ordinary people, are busy, but spring ploughing is imminent, now I have heard some discussions, saying that it is to follow the government to do things, can get silver, do not farm for the time being, anyway, earn silver, you can buy grain, salt, etc., I am afraid that among you, there are also people who have such an understanding, when the time comes, according to the amount of arable land, the tax is levied, there will not be much of a problem."

"This kind of understanding and practice, is completely wrong, you think about it carefully, if there is no food, what is the role of you piling up silver, Dengzhou and Laizhou are in the process of starting, spring ploughing production, is absolutely not delayed, from March, to May within two times, unless it is a very important construction project, can not be stopped for the time being, the rest of the temporary stop, the people all go back to farming, the government must check, to see if there is any free arable land, if someone is unwilling to cultivate, The government can take back the land. ”

"After the land is cultivated, the construction can continue on a large scale."

"What I need to emphasize is the construction of the water division, many people are skeptical about the construction of the water division, thinking that the role of the water division is not great, so many years, the imperial court once had a strong water division, but there is no substantive role, so the water division slowly declined, to this day, in addition to General Zheng Zhilong in Fujian, there is also a strong water division, my Ming Dynasty water division, in name only."

"Over the years, the rebels have rebelled, and the Houjin harassed, on the surface, the sailor has indeed not played a great role, and the consumption of the sailor is very large, patrolling on the sea, it needs silver support, some people think that I proposed to build the sailor, the purpose is to prevent the sailor of the Houjin."

"Yes, this is a purpose, but the main purpose is not in this place, you all have to be clear about one thing, that is, the water division is strong, can support my Ming Dynasty, with a strong water master, we have countless wealth, why do I say this, now I don't want to explain, even if it is explained, you may not be able to understand, but you have to remember one thing, in the future, the construction of the water division is the most important thing in the Governor's Mansion, and having a strong water division is the first task of the Governor's Mansion, You must spare no effort to support the construction of the water division. ”

"Xiong Zijian is in charge of the construction of Weihaiwei Wharf, the time is half a year, no matter what is needed, even if it is opened, the officials at all levels in Dengzhou and Laizhou must be unconditionally satisfied."

"Sun Chuanting is responsible for the construction of a small fishing village near Penglai City, which will be the largest shipyard in my Ming Dynasty, and the warships of the sailors will all be manufactured from there, you may not have half a year to build, give you three months, and at that time, a large number of craftsmen and technicians who are specifically responsible for shipbuilding will come in and start building my Ming warships."

"The construction of the shipyard and wharf is the most important task at present, and most of the soldiers and newly recruited sergeants of the Jiangning battalion can devote the necessary time to it."

"Last time I was in Wendeng, I already said that the officials of Dengzhou and Laizhou, the salary is too low, and it must be adjusted, this matter will be implemented now, and the government will continue to pay as usual, according to the rules of the imperial court, the monthly silver, the prefect is one hundred taels per month, the Tongzhi and Zhizhou are eighty taels per month, the general judgment and the county are seventy taels per month, the county and the lord are sixty taels per month, the canonical history is fifty taels per month, the officials of the prefect's yamen are thirty taels per month, the warden is twenty taels per month, the secretary is ten taels per month, and the rest of the officials are five taels of silver per month, Dengzhou and Laizhou are implemented according to this standard, and as for Qingzhou, they will not be implemented for the time being, and will be implemented after the imperial court adjusts officials. ”

"If you don't follow the rules and do things, you will be severely punished, most of you have followed me for many years, if there are people among you who are neglecting political affairs, conniving at subordinates, or even greedy for ink, don't blame me for being ruthless." (To be continued......)