Weakly asked, is there still a monthly pass?

Hearing Zhu Jishi mention the strength of the Russian navy, Zuo Zongtang and Luo Zenan's brows furrowed even tighter, and the two already knew that Russia had vigorously developed its navy since the time of Peter the Great. The move of the capital from Moscow to Petersburg was also to be closer to the sea, closer to Western Europe, and more conducive to naval construction. Moreover, Europe is known as a "century-old navy", which is no better than the army, and without a long period of accumulation, it cannot be smashed just by throwing money.

Seeing that the two of them frowned, Zhu Jishi said again: "Vladivostok is beneficial in my hands, but it is impossible to completely block the Russian Navy from the east. I don't worry about things on land, even if Russia sends 100,000 troops, I have the confidence that I will win. But the sea ...... I don't dare to play such a package. ”

Zuo Zongtang stroked his beard and frowned: "Can the shipyards in Kowloon, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shanghai build Western-style giant ships?" ”

"Ships can be built." Zhu Jishi said, "The cost of a third-class battleship is only more than 100,000 yuan, and it is a first-class battleship, which is about one million, but the century-old navy is not only a ship!" ”

In this era, the navy was still the world of sail battleships, and the so-called "strong ships" were just large wooden ships, and the difficulty of construction was not too high, as long as there were European engineers who could speak Chinese to guide, Chinese craftsmen could build first-class battleships without difficulty. However, it is difficult to say how much power this kind of first-class battleship can exert in the hands of the pirate-born naval officers under Zhu Jishi.

Luo Zenan said with a smile: "You can set up a naval officer school, as long as you train a few thousand naval officers, you are not afraid that you will not be able to defeat Russia." ”

Zhu Jishi nodded. Didn't speak. Zhu Ming's Army Military Academy has been in operation for nearly four years. Thousands of officers were trained before and after. supported the backbone of the Ming Army. However, the naval academy has not been opened, mainly because it does not have enough excellent foreign teachers and lacks qualified students. In particular, the latter became a bottleneck to curb the development of Zhu Ming's navy.

This navy is a branch of the armed forces with extremely high technical content, and it must know astronomy and geography at the top, and must also have rich knowledge of navigation, hydrology, and mathematics. Otherwise, let alone a naval battle, it would be reluctant to drive a ship. Now the Western-style warships of the Zhu Ming Navy are all seafaring officers from Europe. Otherwise, relying on Wang Dehu and Xue Dingyue to drive the boat, who knows if Lu Dao will be lost while driving?

Therefore, the cadets to be recruited by the Naval Officer Academy. You must have a certain foundation in Western studies, at least you must be a graduate of Jishi Academy, otherwise it will take a few years to help them learn Western knowledge. Zhu Jishi's Jishi Academy was officially opened in 1846, and the current standard school system is four years, which means that it will take until the beginning of 1850 to have two or three thousand graduates who meet the enrollment standards of the naval officer school.

Therefore, the matter of opening a naval officer school cannot be rushed, so we can only take our time.

Zuo Zongtang suddenly said: "The naval academy must be run as soon as possible, but after all, it is still far away, and to quench the thirst of the near one, we can only hire foreigners." ”

Luo Zenan said: "Now that Britain and France are inclined to support the Ming Dynasty, can we hire British and French naval officers to help us command the Ming Navy?" ”

"It's going to be a foreigner, and I've entrusted this to Maria and Jones." Zhu Jishi smiled and said.

Zuo Zongtang and Luo Zenan glanced at each other. The eyes meet, and they are all a little complicated.

This Maria. Clementina's big name or "glamorous name". The two of them have heard of it even in China - this is all due to Bai Siwen, whose "Interesting Facts about European Travel" is a big poisonous weed that is widely circulated in China.

However, Zhu Jishi seemed to have a "soft spot" for this woman, entrusted Zhu Ming's diplomatic activities in Europe to her, and seemed to get her to China to be established as a concubine, and also built a villa called Fort Maria at the northwest foot of the Purple Mountain as a gift to this French woman. As soon as they thought of calling a French woman "Concubine Niangniang" in the future, Zuo Zongtang and Luo Zenan had an urge to make a mistake and give a straight advice.

Zhu Jishi knew what they were thinking as soon as he saw the faces of the two, and immediately smiled and said, "Maria must come to Yingtian Forbidden City." She has helped a lot in the great cause of restoring the sight of the lonely king, and even HSBC was started with her help......"

As soon as they heard HSBC, Zuo Zongtang and Luo Zenan sighed and were speechless. HSBC is the number one cash cow in the hands of Zhu Jishi! It can be said that without HSBC, there would be no Zhu Ming's current career. Now the loan owed by Zhu Ming's court to HSBC has exceeded 60 million yuan! And King Zhuda's royal expenses are mainly maintained by the dividends of the four foreign banks in his hands. The most profitable of the four foreign banks is undoubtedly HSBC, with a net profit of more than 15 million silver dollars in 48 years alone - including Maria. Clementina's thirty percent is 6 million yuan! Such a rich woman, how can Zhu Jishi not get it? And for European politics, is there anyone in the whole Ming Dynasty who is more familiar than her? This time, Luo Xiangmei and Liu Peng's European diplomatic activities can achieve such success. Clementina is really indebted.

Seeing that Zuo Zongtang and Luo Zenan were a little discouraged, Zhu Jishi changed the topic and said, "Then let's discuss the matter of sending troops to North Korea." ”

The 100,000-strong army under the command of Prince Gong Yixin of the Northern Qing Dynasty was overwhelming (in fact met with no resistance), and at the end of April it captured the important North Korean town of Pyongyang, and may now have captured Seoul.

Luo Zenan had long been pondering the matter of sending troops to Korea, and when he heard Zhu Jishi mention it, he hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, your subordinates suggest that you use the method of holding heavy and slow progress to recover Korea. ”

"Hold on and move slowly?" Zhu Jishi was stunned and didn't understand Luo Zenan's words. Luo Dajun shook the paper fan and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, it is impossible for King Gong of the Northern Qing Dynasty to stay in North Korea for a long time, and the Northern Qing Dynasty sent troops just to plunder people and livestock to survive the famine year, and when they finish plundering, they will retreat." At that time, we only need to send a few thousand troops to win North Korea. ”

Zhu Jishi listened, and smiled at the corner of his mouth.

What the Northern Qing wanted was North Korea's population, livestock, and grain. These three are of little use to the Ming Dynasty, and what Zhu Ming attaches importance to is the strategic position and resources of North Korea, which Prince Gong cannot plunder. Moreover, it is impossible for King Gong to capture more than 10 million Koreans, and it is already the limit to be able to plunder hundreds of thousands. The rest of the people must have a blatant hatred for the Northern Qing Dynasty, Zhu Ming sent troops at this time, this favor is great, and the hearts of a country may be able to accept it.

Zuo Zongtang said: "Your Majesty, this time to send troops to North Korea, you must send North Korea to supervise the country, and you can't let the North Korean trading company control the country's politics. ”

"Prison Country? Who is going to be? Zhu Jishi hesitated, but still agreed to Zuo Zongtang's suggestion. The Korean trading company did not bring North Korea into its control as expected, and now that it is necessary to dispatch the imperial army, it is natural to send a prison to the country.

"Li Shaoquan can be the prisoner of this country."

"Li Hongzhang?" Zhu Jishi smiled and said in his heart: "In history, Li Hongzhang's life's career was folded on the Korean battlefield, right?" Now Zuo Zongtang recommended him to go to North Korea again, and it seems that Li Hongzhang is really destined for North Korea. ”

"Li Shaoquan is indeed the most suitable candidate." Luo Zenan echoed, "First, Li Shaoquan is a former Qing Jinshi who is proficient in Confucianism, and Korean Confucianism is prosperous and academies are everywhere, Li Shaoquan will definitely be able to accept the heart of Eastern Confucianism (Korean Confucianism is born from Eastern Confucianism)."

Second, Li Shaoquan is a high-ranking lord and has a dignified appearance, which just highlights the majesty of the Celestial Empire.

Third, the Li family still has 20,000 Huaiyong, which is just used to pacify North Korea. ”

Zhu Jishi pondered for a while, felt that what Luo Zenan said was reasonable, smiled obliquely, and said: "That's it, when Li Qing comes back from Hong Xiuquan, I will send him to North Korea." ”

He paused for a moment: "Since you want to be serious, then send troops in July, no matter what, you have to drive King Gong away before the autumn harvest in Korea." As for Cui Apu and Sha Wuzai, they can't let them work hard in vain, the North Korean trading company still wants it, give them fifty percent of the shares, and let the remaining fifty percent be raised by the salt merchants in Yangzhou, they now have no huge profits from selling salt, and they will inevitably have to sit and eat empty, so just toss North Korea for them. ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled bitterly when he heard this, it seems that the salt merchants in Yangzhou will inevitably have to break the bank again, and after this North Korea has made King Gong scrape, I am afraid that he will not be able to recover for ten years.

Zhu Jishi said again: "In addition, Cui Apu will be appointed as the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town, and Sha Wuzai will be the commander of the Beiyang Fleet." Let them go and plunder the coast of Manchuria! (To be continued......)