At the beginning of May of the first year of Xia Li Longchang, Yang Zhi successively sent three armed fleets to the sea, respectively to the ocean in three directions.

The reason why it was an armed fleet rather than a fleet was that each fleet was small, with only four or five ships and no more than a thousand sergeants. The fleet was loaded with silk, tea, porcelain, agricultural tools, and other supplies, and the ships were not equipped with the latest guns and heavy crossbows.

It's clear that this is a journey of discovery. The memories of the past life, the more than a few feet thick information collected from various caravans in recent years, are only on paper after all. Yang Zhi's order is very clear: everywhere you go, salute first and then soldier. Goods can be sold half-sold and half-delivered, or bartered. There is no need to be greedy for local products to bring back, but the categories must be complete. Each ship must have more than two people responsible for recording the logbook, and the nautical charts must be depicted in great detail along the way, recording the topography and customs of each place.

Yang Zhi knew that according to the existing conditions, the first group of exploration ships would not be able to go far. In the words of Middle-earth, many peninsulas or islands in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the central part of the Pacific Ocean are still un"civilized" wild lands, and the aboriginal population is limited. It is not enough to occupy and conquer by force, if you want to develop and build, and to implement colonial rule, you need someone to do it. Western-style maritime expeditions, as long as the civilization is not as good as everywhere they go, they do not regard the aborigines as inappropriate people, and Yang Zhi disagrees very much. But there is one thing that is not sloppy, and it is strictly ordered that every place must be carved with a stone monument, marked as "the territory of the Yang family of the Chinese Dynasty"!

Not only that, Yang Zhi issued two other edicts: one was to send a fleet to sea. Thereafter, it becomes the law. It is rotated in an orderly manner for a period of one year. Fleet size, manpower, course. As appropriate. The second is to set up a martial arts lecture hall for the military. The duration of study is one year, and the first batch of cadets is an officer at or above the rank of captain. After that, from the captain to the officer above the rank of chief, they participated in the training in turn. Ordinary sergeants can pass the annual special examination and skip the grade. Upon completion of his studies, he was awarded the rank of officer of rank or above.

The fleet regularly rotates to sea for the purpose of training, and its significance is self-evident. As early as the beginning of the occupation of the islands off the coast of Shandong, Yang Zhi had this idea. However, due to the constraints of actual conditions, it has not been able to be implemented. But there is time for these years. I carefully organized and compiled teaching materials. Modern and modern sea power consciousness, military theories, tactics, and examples of warfare are all included. As for whether to teach in person, it depends on whether you have time to see the stitches. If consciousness is ahead, tactics are ahead, and armaments are ahead, who in the world can be the enemy?

Yang Zhi carefully estimated that in the next three to five years or even longer, whether it was to sail to colonize or maintain the status quo. With a strong army of about 20,000 people in hand, it is enough. The number is not large, and there are many officers, but the army must be expanded. Easy to train. The quality is good, the equipment is well-equipped, and it is put into actual combat. It will only be more effective than a large, life-saving army. Due to the fact that the power of the ships could only rely on manpower and wind power for the time being, it was originally equipped with a fleet of 5,000 sergeants. Reducing to 3,500 people is the limit. The construction of four such fleets is enough to ensure that they can be attacked and defended. Advance and retreat with ease.

The annual revenue of the Yang Group has stabilized at between 12 million taels and 15 million taels. Whether it is a small common man or a wealthy businessman, or even in the eyes of the current emperor, this is a terrifying astronomical number. However, since landing in Yizhou, the cost has been equally staggering. Previously, when he was in the islands off the coast of Shandong, he had less than 3,000 men and horses, and tens of thousands of people under his rule were still able to support themselves because they were closer to the shore, so they never had to worry about the silver.

The input and output are not proportional, and the fiscal situation is naturally stretched from time to time. When the three pirates merged, Yang Zhi gave Jiang Chengbi the important task of being in charge of finances and logistics, and even though there was a storm of the Northern Yan prince landing on the island to seize power, he did not appoint anyone else. Jiang Chengbi has always been dedicated and competent, and has won the trust of Yang Zhi and Linglong couple. Even when the old owner Linglong gave birth to a child and Yang Zhi ordered a big reward for his subordinates, this duke still did not forget the clear distinction between public and private, and actually reached out to Yang Zhi to ask for money.

The acceptance and resettlement of tens of thousands of immigrants every month, the military expenditure of 20,000 of the most elite soldiers in the world at that time, the research and development and production operation of more than a dozen craftsman workshops, and the increasing number of government officials and officials ...... all of them are gold-swallowing monsters. The biggest problem is that these are all inputs, re-investments, continuous investments, and in the short term, there are almost no visible and usable benefits.

It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice.

On this day, Jiang Chengbi took advantage of the fact that Yang Zhi had not left Yizhou, and came to complain with a sad face: "Master Hou, the current inventory of cash is less than one million taels, and this month's expenses are only barely enough to meet it. In the long run, it will be difficult to continue. How many sentences are there below, I don't know whether to say it or not? ”

Yang Zhi was relieved: "Sir, I know your difficulties. The customs fee does not need to be paid to the imperial court on a monthly basis, and it should be able to be shipped for your use within the month, and the difficulty is temporarily overcome. The gentleman is dedicated, and there is never the slightest selfishness. If there is any good way, you can speak freely. ”

Jiang Chengbi groaned: "The embarrassment of use is nothing more than opening up sources and reducing expenditures. In the next thought, the so-called open source, one is to expand the business scale of Jinlilai firm's foreign trade, in order to obtain more profits. Second, it is possible to increase the number of patrols of small groups of ships and expand the scope of maritime activities. The third is that we are working closely with the Qin family, and the current expenses are huge, so we can let the Qin family appropriately increase investment. ”

Yang Zhi frowned: "What about Mr.'s so-called throttling?" ”

Jiang Chengbi continued: "The so-called throttling is the use of austerity. The first is to suspend the recruitment of migrants, or to control the number of migrants and lower the resettlement standards. Second, it is difficult to have a major war within a few years, and the standard and scale of the sergeant's salary, weapons and armor, and the material procurement, research and development and production of the craftsman's workshop can be lowered accordingly. The third is the annual dividends of Xiong Zhan and Yingniang in the Jinlilai firm, and the merger of the three is one, what is the difference between you and me? It can be reduced or even eliminated. ”

"In this way, a combination of numbers can not only ensure support, but also a slight savings. In the next shallow view, I don't know if Hou Ye thinks so? ”

Nowadays, the Young's Group is like a high-speed machine, and the cost is huge, which is indeed a very real problem. At first glance, Jiang Chengbi's solution seems to be reasonable and feasible. And his original intention was not to block the progress of this machine, but to suggest that the speed of progress be slowed down appropriately.

Yang Zhi thought seriously for a moment, slowly shook his head and said, "Mr. has indeed put in both effort and effort, and I am very grateful. But I think that the gentleman's words seem to be reasonable, but none of them are feasible. ”

When Jiang Chengbi heard this, he couldn't help but be a little anxious, and said with a bitter face: "Master Hou, I also know that everything has advantages and disadvantages, but don't I have no way?" If you don't have any money in your hand, you may be able to tear down the east wall and make up the west wall for a while, but what if there is no wall to tear down one day? ”

"I originally wanted to do my best to maintain the prestige of the Hou Ye, and I will carry the thankless black cauldron that offends people. But you say none of them work! You've got to give me an explanation, right? Gotta let me do it, right? (To be continued.) )