As the expedition was about to take place, the ocean-going trading fleet returned to Liaodong without incident, bringing back bad news about the sudden change in the situation in the South Seas.

After listening to the detailed reports of Zhang Fang and Liu Zong, Wei Shuo immediately summoned Pei Wei, Mo Han, Gao Zhan, Wen Qiao and others to discuss countermeasures, but fortunately, the cavalry and infantry in Liaodong had completely stopped fighting and transferred to training, so that Liaodong did not need to start a war at the same time by sea and land.

"Let's talk about it, how should Liaodong deal with the threat from the ocean next?"

Wen Qiao stepped forward and looked at Mr. Liu and asked, "Dare to ask the two commanders Liu and Wang, if the sailors fight with all their might, can they completely grasp the victory in the battle?" ”

"Taizhen has just joined Liaodong, and he doesn't know much about the strength of the water division. Zhixuan, you introduce him first, and then tell you in detail about the Funan National Water Division. ”

"No! At present, the Liaodong Naval Division has two fleets under its jurisdiction, namely the Laoshan Water Division Fleet and the Liaodong Naval Division Fleet, with 12,000 personnel and hundreds of large and small ships. However, in view of the fact that most of the naval warships were only Mengchong, fighting ships, and sand ships suitable for navigation in rivers and shallow seas, only two county-class Fuchuan warships and 100 medium-class sand ships could really be used for ocean-going operations. ”

"If the Liaodong Naval Division forms an ocean-going fleet, it can only send about 5,000 troops at a time, which is quite a big gap compared with the Funan Naval Division, which has nearly 30,000 troops. Besides, Funan occupies a favorable geographical position, and it is very convenient to replenish personnel and materials, on the contrary, our Liaodong Naval Division will have to fight in the absence of supplies. ”

"Therefore, if Liaodong really starts a war with Funanhai, the outcome of the war is extremely unpredictable!"

As soon as Mr. Liu's voice fell, everyone at the scene suddenly felt quite troubled. Speaking of Gao Zhan, Mo Han, Pei Wei, Wen Qiao, Lu Chang, Han Shou and others are all top talents of this era, but as traditional scholars, they are all good at dealing with all kinds of complex situations on land, and they are completely blind to maritime affairs.

"Ahem......" Wei Shuo coughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention to himself. chuckled: "Traveling thousands of miles to fight, not to mention on the unpredictable sea, even on land is not a simple matter. However, overseas trade is related to the success or failure of Liaodong's hegemony, and Liaodong cannot make any compromises and concessions. ”

"Does the lord have a solution in his heart?"

Hearing this, Wei Shuo got up and paced to a huge map of the sea frontier, he pointed to the southeast sea frontier of the Great Jin Dynasty and said, "Look, it is above the southeast sea frontier. There is a big island in the east of Jin'an County, Yangzhou, which is called Yizhou Island; There is still a big island in the south of Hepu County, Jiaozhou, which is called Zhuya Island. ”

"Yizhou is the choke point for the sailors to go down to the South Seas, and Zhu Yazhou can be used as a logistics base for the sailors to conquer the South Seas. Therefore, I intend to divide the conquest of Nanyang into two steps, one of which is to start today, and the Liaodong Navy Division will hit all its forces and strive to bring Yizhou and Zhuyazhou into our Liaodong system before the first half of next year. ”

"Once you have these two islands as your backing, you will have the strong combat power of the Liaodong Naval Division. It may not be impossible to fight with Funan! ”

Gao Zhan, Pei Wei and the others suddenly lit up, they rushed to the map, looking at the two inconspicuous islands of Yizhou and Zhuyazhou, and the more they pondered, the more they felt that the strategic location of the two islands was important, which completely made up for the shortcomings of the Liaodong Navy Base being far away from the South Seas.

"Lord, it's okay to say that Liaodong runs Yizhou, after all, since Soochow, few people have paid attention there. But Zhu Ya is different. It is a subordinate county of Jiaozhou, and if Liaodong dares to land on the island. will definitely be detected by the Jiaozhou Assassin History Department, in case it reports to the King of Langya, won't my Liaodong provoke his suspicion again? ”

Pei Wei did not object to the Liaodong Navy Division going south to the two places as the foundation, but he was worried about arousing Jiangdong's suspicion. The situation facing Liaodong is not good, and all parties regard Liaodong as a major problem, and every move in Liaodong may cause unnecessary speculation from the outside world.

Liaodongnan marched down to occupy Zhuya and Yizhou. Jiang Zuo would never believe that Liaodong was fighting with the Nanyang barbarians for what reason, but would think that Liaodong was copying Jiangzuo's back road. In the future, once a conflict breaks out between Liaodong and Jiangzuo, the Liaodong Navy Division can start from Zhuya and Yizhou and directly threaten Jiangzuo from the rear.

Wei Shuo waved his big hand and said categorically: "Wen Ji's worries are not unreasonable, just to conquer the South Seas as soon as possible." It doesn't matter so much! ”

If it was a few years ago, because Liaodong relied on Jiangzuo's grain import, Wei Shuo would never dare to offend Jiangzuo easily. However, today, thanks to the promotion of high-yield crops for six consecutive years, Liaodong has achieved self-sufficiency in grain, and its dependence on Jiangzuo materials has been reduced to a minimum.

It can be said that at present, Liaodong's expansion in the Central Plains, Guanzhong, and Hebei has reached its limit, and because of the increase in Hulu under the rule, Liaodong urgently needs time to naturalize. Therefore, at least in the short term, it is unlikely that Liaodong will launch a large-scale expansion on land. ”

"After several years of expansion, the strength of the naval division has increased greatly, and in the second half of the year, there will still be two Fu ship warships in service, and it will not be long before the Liaodong Navy Division can hand over small warships such as Mengchong and fighting ships to the inland river water division for use, and the Liaodong Navy Division will be equipped with Fu ships and sand ships suitable for the ocean."

"With the warships, the sailors can continue to expand their scale, and they will be able to complete the plan to conquer the South Seas and seize the trade rights between the East and the West in the next few years!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to open up the Western Regions, opening up the land transportation from the east to the west, and creating the land Silk Road. Today, Liaodong is going to open up a new Silk Road on the sea, and once the sea communication between the East and the West is opened, it will bring greater benefits than the land Silk Road. ”

"As we all know, most of the interests of the land Silk Road have been divided between the countries of the Western Regions, Persia, Kushan and other countries, but as long as Liaodong has mastered the maritime hegemony, it can dominate the interests brought by the maritime Silk Road. In the future, even if you face the enemy at the same time, Liaodong is not afraid! ”

Since the recovery and annexation of the state, Wei Shuo has been thinking about the development of Liaodong in the next few years. He was not willing to be silent, but the reality forced him to restrain his Liaodong troops. On land, no matter which direction it expands to Guanzhong, the Central Plains, Hexi, and Monan, Liaodong is likely to be strongly rebounded by the other side.

When Wei Shuo was in a dilemma, the news from the sea brought by Zhang Fang and Mr. Liu suddenly brightened his eyes. Since Liaodong's expansion on land was curbed, why not turn around and turn to the sea? Moreover, he had long intended to open up the road between the sea and the west, but in the past, Liaodong's center of gravity was all on land, and he had no energy to support expansion on the sea.

At present, it can be described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the sworn enemy Shi Le is being firmly trapped in Hebei by the separatist forces such as Liaodong and Li Ju, Cao Wei, Shao Xu, and Zu Ti. If Liaodong turns its attention to the sea, it will not only be able to temporarily eliminate the vigilance of Sizhou, Yongzhou, Qinzhou, Jiangzuo and other forces, but also vigorously rectify the interior, which can be described as killing three birds with one stone.

"The lord suggested that Liaodong turn to the sea for expansion, and it was a clever move! As long as it can conquer the South Seas and win the right to trade between the East and the West in the next few years, Liaodong will surely gain huge benefits from it, and Liaodong's strength will be greatly expanded. As for the conflict with Jiang Zuo because of this, this risk is not worth mentioning at all compared to obtaining benefits. ”

Mo Han, who was born as a merchant, quickly realized the importance of the trade rights between the East and the West, and he strongly supported Wei Shuo's suggestion, "Ladies and gentlemen, as the lord said, the current expansion of Liaodong in the Central Plains is greatly restricted, and no matter which direction the expansion is made, it may lead to unpredictable consequences. ”

"For example, in the south of Yongzhou, although we all know that Suo Qi, Lu Yun, Song Zhe, Hua Ji and others are vulnerable, but Liaodong just doesn't dare to do it. Why? It's not that I'm worried about a political catastrophe because of this. I bet that as long as Liaodong moves towards Chang'an, no matter how good Zu Ti is with the lord's private relationship, he will not hesitate to stand on the opposite side of Liaodong! ”

"Now Liaodong can gather Li Ju, Zu Ti, Shao Xu, Cao Wei and others under the banner of Liaodong, not only because Liaodong is strong, but also because Liaodong has always adhered to political correctness, attacked Hu Lu many times, and saved the imperial court from danger. Otherwise, Zu Ti, Shao Xu, Li Ju and other loyal and upright people, who are not even afraid of Hu Lu's coercion, how can they be willing to be driven by Liaodong? (To be continued.) )