When it comes to Lushun, there is nothing that Chinese people don't know. In later generations, Li Hongzhang, the minister of Beiyang in the Qing Dynasty, had prepared to build the Beiyang Naval Division here, expanded the channel in Lushun, dredged the harbor, reclaimed the sea, built forts, and built harbor pools, making Lushunkou a world-famous military fortress at that time, and one of the five major military ports.

Li Hongzhang operated in Lushun for nearly 16 years, and it was not until the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War that Lushun was occupied by Japan and Russia in the following decades.

However, in the Wei and Jin dynasties, Lushun was still a barren place, known as "Ma Shijin", belonging to Xi'an Ping, a very inconspicuous small place, and no one realized her importance to Liaodong. However, Wei Shuo, who came from modern times, knew the importance of Lushun and arranged the construction of Lushun as early as possible.

As soon as the war ended, in order to speed up the construction of the port, Wei Shuo sent all the 20,000 Goguryeo people captured after the war to Lushun as laborers. In addition, the more than 30,000 people from Daifang and Lelang counties who have migrated here have temporarily solved the problem of youth and strength needed for port construction.

"The county commander of the Yu family, do those Goguryeo captives work honestly on weekdays?" Looking at the Goguryeo captives who were busy on the docks, Wei Shuo asked casually.

"There is a large army guarding on the side, which Goguryeo person dares to be dishonest? Fortunately, we captured 20,000 Goguryeo Qingzhuang, otherwise we only rely on the local Qingzhuang in Liaodong, and I really don't know when this so-called million-ton port will be put into operation. At present, he is the person in charge of the construction of Lushun, and he naturally knows how big the scale of Lushun Port will be in the future.

Wei Shuo was very satisfied with the work of the Xiake family, and only casually advised: "I will leave it to you here, don't be careless, if you have any questions, you can come to me directly!" You also know that we are going to face a big war next, and I hope this battle will not affect the construction of the port. ”

"It's impossible not to be affected at all, but it doesn't seem to be too severe. There should be about three months left before the enemy attack, and the first five berths under construction will be completed in three months. The next batch of works can be arranged for post-war work, and the five berths can temporarily meet immediate needs. ”

As soon as he heard that the construction of the first batch of five berths had started, Wei Shuo felt that the progress was too slow. But he also knows that with the current strength of Liaodong, it is not easy to build five berths at the same time, and he is afraid that he will not be able to cope with it.

Wei Shuo said with a reluctant face: "Alas, Liaodong still lacks labor, if we have hundreds of thousands of people, it is estimated that it will not be long before Port Arthur can be completed." ”

Seeing this, the Xiake hurriedly comforted: "The lord doesn't have to be like this, with the help of cement, it has saved a lot of time and trouble." It's just that the cement must be transported from Laoshan for the time being, if the cement workshop in Xi'an Pingnei can be built as soon as possible. ”

"I'm afraid I'll have to wait a little longer, the craftsmen in the city are learning from the technicians from Laoshan, and I am afraid that I can't count on it in a short time." Wei Shuo also knows the importance of cement, but if the problem of technical talents is not solved, it will not be possible to expand the output of cement.

Since the end of March, Port Arthur has entered the fast lane of construction. Horse-drawn carriages and ships brought large quantities of cement, pig iron and other building materials from all sides, and a large number of young and strong people were recruited by the government from all over Liaodong at the price of one stone of grain per month, and then joined the construction of Port Arthur.

According to the previous plan, Port Arthur is not only the most important trade port in Liaodong in the future, but also the future location of the Liaodong Naval Division. As the largest port in eastern Liaoning in the future, Lushun will have 60 berths and can berth 60 ships of 5,000 materials at the same time.

Of course, the current Port Arthur is just a blank sheet of paper, and it still needs to invest a huge amount of money and manpower to realize the plan on paper.

In order to save resources and speed up the construction of the port, Weishuo directly built a new cement kiln in Xi'an Pingnei to provide the cement needed for the port construction on site and reduce the pressure on the Laoshan cement workshop.

At this moment, Wei Shuo and Yu Shi Xiake saw several warships slowly sailing into the nearby waters, and Mr. Liu, who was standing on the bow of the ship, was waving his arms in this direction.

Yu Shi Xiake said with a smile: "Lord, it seems that you are right to transfer Liu Senjun to the Navy, do you see how much he likes his current life?" ”

In view of the lack of talents in the water division, Wei Shuo transferred General Liu to the water division after the war to serve as the military commander, responsible for the construction of the Liaodong water division. At first, Mr. Liu was reluctant, but among the people, he was the only one who followed the sailor in this battle, and his performance was not bad, and after some persuasion from everyone, he reluctantly accepted the new position.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Mr. Liu took office, he immediately fell in love with the life of floating on the sea. Besides, the strength of the Liaodong Water Division should not be underestimated, and Wei Shuo deliberately divided the Laoshan Water Division into two in order to quickly form its combat effectiveness, which also caused the dissatisfaction of Wang Wei, the commander of the Laoshan Water Division.

Now, after the balance of Wei Shuo, the two naval divisions each have 600 naval divisions and 30 large and small warships. However, Wei Shuo also set a goal for Wang Wei and Liu Zong, hoping that the two of them would expand the two naval divisions to 3,000 people in the next two years, and there would be at least more than 100 warships.

Although this goal is a bit ambitious, Mr. Liu and Wang Wei were very excited when they learned about it.

"Lord, are you here to check the port construction again?" Mr. Liu jumped off the boat and came to Wei Shuo and asked.

"Yes, the construction of Port Arthur is related to the development plan of Liaodong in the future, and I have to pay attention to one or two. By the way, Liu Sima, are you still complaining that I threw you to the water master? After Wei Shuo saw Mr. Liu, he still didn't forget to make fun of the other party.

Mr. Liu smiled and said, "Lord, this is all about the Year of the Monkey and the Moon of the Monkey, why do you still take it out to laugh at people?" Didn't I realize the importance of the sailor at the beginning? Now that you're trading a cavalry commander, I don't want to leave the sailors. ”

"Hahahaha......" Wei Shuo laughed when he heard this, he pointed his finger at Mr. Liu and smiled: "It seems that you really like the life of a water master!" Alas, in order to persuade you to join the sailor, I and the others almost wore out the skin of the mouth. Now that you are willing to be the commander of the sailors, then do a good job and strive to leave a name in history in the future! ”

"Please rest assured, the last general will live up to the expectations of the lord!"

"Well, yes, let me ask, how many new people have you recruited as a sailor now?"

"Speaking of recruitment, I was about to discuss it with my lord. There was a shortage of young people in Liaodong, and most of them were consumed just by recruiting infantry, cavalry, and building ports. Our sailor can't recruit any new people at all, so his subordinates want to ask the lord for an order. ”

"Oh? What will order? Let's hear it. ”

"I want to go back to Qingxu Erzhou to recruit people, especially in the eastern coastal area of Xuzhou, which has a large population and is still the main public district, which is suitable for recruiting new soldiers. And because Port Arthur is still under construction, even if our sailors are stationed here, there is no guarantee for training, so it is better to temporarily move to the coastal area of Qingxu. Not only can you recruit new soldiers, but you can also have a place to train, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone! ”

Wei Shuo said thoughtfully: "Liu Sima is reasonable, okay, even if I agree to this matter, you can do it immediately!" ”

"Yes!" Mr. Liu left happily.

Waiting for Mr. Liu to leave, the Xiake of the Yu family looked at the dangerous Port Arthur and sighed, "My lord, my subordinates really admire you so much that they actually chose this place as the residence of the sailor." You look at the whole Port Arthur, the port gate opens to the southeast, the east side is the majestic Golden Mountain, the west side is the Tiger Tail Peninsula, the southwest is the towering Lao Tie Mountain, the whole Port Arthur Port situation is dangerous, by the two mountains confrontation into the sea. It can be described as a one-man affair, and it is not open! ”

Hearing that the Xiake of the Lushun clan praised the terrain of Lushun so much, Wei Shuo was inevitably overjoyed, if it were not for the inability to mass-produce artillery. Wei Shuo wanted to concentrate firepower on the mountains on both sides of the channel, and once an enemy attacked, 10,000 artillery guns would be fired in unison, and the firepower on both sides would cross into a network to support each other, which would definitely make it difficult for enemy ships to approach.

"It's a pity that there is no artillery support, otherwise this place will be even more dangerous and difficult to attack!"

"My lord, what is artillery?"

"Artillery? Artillery is a cannon that fires, and it is a very powerful weapon of war! It's a pity that we can't make it yet! ”