Xianmen Pass, the residence of the Ming Mission.

Lin Zexu and Lin Dashangshu, who had just finished observing the Dajin Heavenly Soldiers' Oath Ceremony, were sitting in their study, holding a stack of electronic newspapers and reading there. These telegrams were all forwarded from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, and the contents were all related to the "1,000-ship plan."

After the news of the "Thousand Ships Plan" reached Europe, it really caused an uproar, especially after the Ming Dynasty really began to formulate a large-scale dock subsidy program, the British Empire was really a little anxious - this is going to be real! Although the shipbuilding capacity of the British Empire was not weak, the financial resources and heavy industry capacity of the British government were much worse than those of the Ming Dynasty. If you really want to compete with Daming in shipbuilding, sooner or later you will have to spend the last penny in your pocket.

However, the British Empire has also been an empire that never sets for more than a hundred years, and after defeating Napoleon, the national strength is even more vigorous, and the British also has a trump card in its hands, that is, India!

The population and financial resources of Britain are not comparable to those of the Ming Dynasty...... The difference in population between the two sides is more than ten times! But with the addition of more than 200 million Indians, Britain's waist is much harder. Although India is still mainly an agricultural country at present, India has a large population and a large area of arable land, and India is hard-working and hard-working, and the various lords who press on the heads of the three untouchables are particularly good at exploitation and enslavement, so as long as the British Empire is a little ruthless, a little more ruthless, it can always squeeze a lot of wealth from India to fight with the Ming Dynasty.

In order to maximize India's financial, material, and human resources, British Prime Minister Earl Liverpool recently announced that he would set up a Hindustan shipbuilding company, and was ready to invite the princes of India's princely states to invest in the opening of a large shipbuilding company in India comparable to the Daming Jiangnan Heavy Industry Shipbuilding Company (a subsidiary of Jiangnan Heavy Industry). India's cheap labor combined with the shipbuilding technology of the British Empire...... It worries Lin Zexu very much!

When Lin Zexu was worried, he heard a knock on the door of the study.

"Lin Zhongtang, Xiaguan Zhuge asks for a meeting for Dao and Zheng Shenshan." Zhuge Weidao's voice came in.

"Come in!" Lin Zexu put down the newspaper in his hand and greeted him.

The door of the study was pushed open, and there was a creaking sound, and then I saw Zhuge Weidao and Zheng Guoxian coming in one after the other. Zhuge Weidao also held a folder, and after coming in, it was placed on Lin Zexu's desk.

Lin Zexu glanced at the folder, and then motioned for Zhuge Weidao and Zheng Guoxian to sit down, and then handed a telegram in his hand to Zhuge Weidao with a smile, "Daozi, look at this...... The British declared that they would fight with us to build ships, and they were also preparing to open the Hindustan Shipbuilding Company in India! ”

"Really?" Zhuge Weidao took the telegram and read it carefully through the light emitted by a dim oil lamp on the desk, and then said with a smile, "Lin Zhongtang, it seems that the British have begun to follow up...... That's a good thing! ”

Lin Zexu glanced at Zhuge Weidao and said, "Daozi, do you know how much Indian workers in Kolkata and Mumbai earn a month?" How much does my Daming worker make a month? ”

"I know," Zhuge Weidao said with a smile, "the wages in India are cheaper...... However, our shipyard has good equipment, high efficiency and new technology, and is matched with steel plants, engine factories and arsenals. Therefore, the cost of shipbuilding must still be relatively low for us! ”

Of course, the wages of workers in Daming are high!

How can wages not be high in the leading industrial countries?

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty also controlled the supply of cheap labor through equalizing and restricting land - ordinary peasant households in the Ming Dynasty had dozens or hundreds of acres of land, and the average annual income of a rural strong laborer who owned land was above sixty or seventy silver yuan (referring to cash income alone).

Since the peasants' daily expenses are relatively low and their lives are relatively comfortable, the rural population will not be transformed into workers without three times the income. Historically, the US imperialists have almost given less money in this way, so the European immigrants should go to farm, anyway, there is the "Homestead Law", and it is not difficult to get some land.

Therefore, the average annual average of 200 silver yuan for the workers of the Ming Dynasty is stable, and the shipyard workers are almost 300 silver yuan a year because of the high labor intensity and the high efficiency of the shipyard.

At present, the average salary of British workers is about 30 pounds a year, that is, 120 silver yuan, which is only about 60 percent of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the average annual income of Indian workers, I am afraid that it is a fraction of the British workers, or twenty silver yuan...... Daming's wages are ten times that of theirs!

However, under the multiple oppression of the British Empire and various reactionary forces in India, India's labor force is low-cost and low-quality, and almost all workers are illiterate. The drawings that could be understood by ordinary shipbuilders in the Ming Dynasty would have to be seen in person by an engineer of the Kshatriya or Brahmin caste who had received a higher education in the English genre. The salary of this engineer is 8,000 a year...... And it's hard to say how many of these old engineers are.

Therefore, in Zhuge Weidao's view, what Hindustan shipyard is, it must be the propaganda war of the British, and they will not play real at all.

To be serious...... There's going to be a lot of interesting stuff going on after that!

And if the British really want to build low-cost ships, it is more practical to open a shipyard in Prussia - Prussia's compulsory education is very good, almost as good as the Ming Dynasty, so their workers are of high quality, and the engineers are also good, but the salary is only half of that of the Ming Dynasty. It's still very competitive!

However, if Britain invests heavily in Prussia and makes Prussia strong, it will become the German Empire......

Thinking of this, Zhuge Weidao smiled and said: "The British Hindustan shipyard is just bragging and engaging in propaganda, but this also shows that they have been tricked!" ”

Lin Zexu nodded and said, "Your family's group of military advisors and those officials of the Zheng family also see it this way...... They were going to ask Nicholas I to come forward at the right time to set the rules for the ship-building contest, so I would go back to Peking to discuss the matter with the courtiers. ”

As he spoke, Lin Zexu looked at Zhuge Wei seriously and said, "Daozi, your family's military advisors and Zheng family's officials may not care about the Hindustan Shipyard, but they will definitely stare at how Daoguang touches the tiger's butt of the British!" ”

Those old people are still a little cowardly - they are all old men, they have been stable for so many years, and they are used to it.

If Daoguang Printing is smashed, then they will not dare to provoke the British Empire. But if the British Empire had been a paper tiger, then they could no longer be afraid.

After all, the current military technology and the industrial strength of the Ming Dynasty have developed to the point where they can support a global war.

Moreover, the domestic industrial capital of the Ming Dynasty is now increasingly feeling that the market is insufficient - the domestic demand of the Ming Dynasty is certainly not comparable to the United Kingdom! But now, overproduction is inevitable.

And to solve this excess, the best way is to export infrastructure - Daming has now passed the time when a large number of textiles can be developed.

In order to export infrastructure, it is necessary to establish some vassal states that can undertake infrastructure and have enough resources to pay for it...... This requires the Westerners to hand over some good colonies!

Zhuge Weidao smiled and pointed to the folder on the table, "Zhongtang, this is the Dajin Navy Heavenly Soldier Preparation Plan formulated by Xia Guan and Zheng Shenshan together...... As long as Daoguang is willing to follow this plan to form the Dajin Naval Celestial Army, he can touch the British tiger's ass as much as he wants! ”

"Celestial Marine? Dropping bombs on the ground with an airship? Lin Zexu asked as he flipped through the folder.

"Not only drop the bomb," Zheng Guoxian took the question and said with a smile, "but also let the Dajin Eight Banners jump down from the airship in the sky!" ”

"Jumping down from the sky?" Lin Zexu was stunned, "How high to jump down?" It doesn't hurt to fall, does it? ”

"A few hundred meters and a thousand meters," Zheng Guoxian said with a smile, "It won't hurt." With a parachute on his back, this parachute opens smoothly, so it lands smoothly and doesn't hurt at all. If it doesn't open...... I don't know it hurts. ”

It turns out that the naval heavenly soldiers of Zhuge are the naval airborne troops, and this is a heavenly soldier specially prepared for Daoguang printing!

They could fly directly in airships and parachute behind the British and Indian troops. Although the only ten airships could not carry many naval airborne troops at one time, fortunately, they could be taken by surprise and catch the British and Indian troops by surprise. In particular, there are many mountain passes on the border between Afghanistan and India, and as long as the British troops can be introduced into Afghanistan and then parachuted to capture a pass, it will be a great pleasure.

So after determining that the quality of the Dajin Eight Banners was good, Zhuge Weidao immediately found Zheng Guoxian, and then the two of them took the lead in coming up with this "Navy Heavenly Soldier Plan" - this airborne soldier can be eaten by sea and land! Zheng Guoxian has a resume in founding the Airborne Forces, and when he returns to China, he will be able to find a senior position in the Army Airborne Airborne Forces.