Yu Zhong's few words were very effective, and Zhang Yuxiang was soon sent back to Tianjin again by Kangxi, on the one hand, he announced the deposition of Gao Wenyi and Huang Xiangxin, and the use of the new general army to reorganize Tianjin's defense; On the other hand, it is called to play in Beijing.

And after he left, Kangxi discussed it with the four ministers in the upper study.

……

"With Yu Zhong this time, this is the third time that someone has pointed out the importance of coastal defense to me!" Kangxi walked down from behind the imperial case, and his tone was a little dull, "This is the weakness of my Qing Dynasty......"

"The third time? Your Majesty, who else has spoken to you before? Tong Guowei asked.

"The first time it was Mader! It was he who played the Vladivostok Water Master, have you forgotten? Kangxi asked the four of them.

"It turned out to be that time. This minion remembers. That time, there were pirates who intended to rob the Heilongjiang Customs on the way, and later they were found to be trying to attack Ningguta, but they didn't want to, but they turned out to have their own calculations, but they just wanted me to make enemies with the Netherlands, Russia and Japan! ......," Tong Guowei said as if playfully.

"Yes! Fortunately, I listened to Ma De's advice that time, otherwise, the Fujian sailors would have been burned, and I really don't know when I would be able to enter Taiwan this time! Kangxi sighed.

"Your Majesty, the slave thinks that Ma De is meritorious, and Yu Zhong is also meritorious. It was Ma De's suggestion to build a port in Vladivostok, but the Vladivostok Water Master was built brick by brick and wood with people in Vladivostok, and now he can have such combat power, which shows that he has really worked hard! Ma Qi said.

"Makes sense. Both of them deserve to be rewarded. Kangxi nodded.

"Your Majesty, Ma De was the first to point out to you the importance of coastal defense, and Yu Zhong was the third, so who is the second?" Tong Guowei asked again.

"The second one is Fengtian Mansion Yin Ferdinand!" Kangxi replied.

"Ferdinand?"

"That's right. Ma Qi, do you remember that you felt a little too busy last year, so you resigned from your part-time position as the secretary of the Imperial Academy! Kangxi asked Ma Qi.

"Minions remember!" Ma Qi nodded. Although being able to enter the study has proved that he is a person with excellent ability, but while dealing with so many national affairs, he has to go to the court to manage the domain, which makes him feel a little unbearable, so he asked Kangxi to resign during the Chinese New Year last year.

"Ma Qi is not the secretary of the Imperial Academy, so I naturally have to choose another person to come out, and as a result, after thinking about it, I thought of Ferdinand!" Kangxi smiled slightly, and then continued: "But I never thought that Ferdinand actually told me about the conditions!" ”

"Talking about conditions? This Lord Fei is really bold, admire, admire! Gao Shiqi joked with a smile, blocking back the rebuke that Tong Guowei was about to export.

"Haha, yes, now that I think about it, I also admire this Ferdinand's foresight!" Kangxi smiled.

"Your Majesty, Weichen is a little curious, what conditions did Ferdinand put forward for you?" Gao Shiqi asked with a smile again.

"Hehe, speaking of this, I still remember it vividly today! …… On that day, I asked him if he would like to be the secretary of the Imperial Academy, and Ferdinand said that he could be the general secretary of the Imperial Academy, but I must build a sailor who could threaten the world, so that he would have enough confidence to speak. After hearing this, I said that he was talking nonsense, talking wildly, and the Qing Dynasty was powerful and powerful in the world, how could he lack confidence? However, he also said that if there is no strong naval division along the coast of the Qing Dynasty for 20,000 or 30,000 miles, the warships of a small European country can also make our whole country uneasy, and even if it can be defended, it will be difficult to counterattack. I said that no other country in the world dared to offend my Qing Dynasty, and as a result, Ferdinand said, "There are no absolutes in everything, and no country dares to offend the Qing Dynasty during my reign, but after a hundred years, if I become an incompetent king, what will happen if my national strength declines?" If he is in charge of the domain, he will make friends with all the states in the world for the Qing Dynasty, so that all the countries will come to the court, if at that time one or two countries feel that the Qing Dynasty is easy to bully, and they will attack us by boat, disturb our Qing Dynasty, and damage the foundation of our country, will not let him manage the court for many years of hard work and ruin? Maybe some people will blame him for luring wolves into the house, and even call him 'a criminal for the ages', so he will never do such a thankless task. I said that he was worried about the sky, and he said that he was prepared for danger in times of peace. …… I said that my Great Clear Water Division is already strong enough, as evidenced by the Fujian Water Division's sweep of the Taiwan Strait. But he also said that it was just a loach in the creek filled with sharks, and two small shrimps were beaten, nothing remarkable......"

"The Emperor...... Your Majesty, that's what Ferdinand really said? Gao Shiqi looked at Kangxi in amazement, he couldn't believe it. Old man Fei has always given them the impression that he is relatively calm, although sometimes he is a little radical in doing things, but he will only do it after he has a great deal of certainty. can listen to Kangxi's description, his words that time were "rushing" enough. It's almost equivalent to pointing at Kangxi's nose and saying, "The Qing Dynasty is still far away"!

"That's right, although he said it more tactfully at the time, but, that's what it means." Kangxi smiled.

"Then Your Majesty, you let Ferdinand talk like this?" Tong Guowei asked with wide eyes.

"Of course not. I was very angry at the time, saying that he was talking nonsense, and he simply didn't take me and the Qing Dynasty seriously; But he was not afraid, and said that this is the case, the Great Qingshui Division is difficult to go to sea for 100 miles, less than 1% of the Westerners, and if a big war breaks out, it will inevitably only be beaten. I said he deserved to die, and he said that if I didn't kill Guo Xiu back then, I wouldn't kill him...... In the end, going around and around, I had no choice but to tell him that the water division cost a lot and it was difficult to achieve it quickly; And guess what he said? He said that if he was the secretary of the Ministry of Works, within 15 years, he would not spend half a penny of silver in the national treasury, and he would definitely be able to add a ...... to the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Ministry of Justice? This Ferdinand has to look at Shu, it is simply arrogant! It's just, the emperor...... Did he really say that? Tong Guowei shouted first, but he really felt that something was wrong, and couldn't help but ask Kangxi.

"Why, I still can't lie to you?" Kangxi glared at Tong Guowei.

"Then how did you reply to him, Your Majesty?" Gao Shiqi then asked, this is big news, I haven't even heard of a little wind before!

"Reply? I blasted him back to Fengtian as the Mansion Yin on the same day! Kangxi smiled.

……

"Your Majesty, the servants feel a little strange, this Ma De, Ferdinand, and Yu Zhong are all so concerned about maritime affairs, is it because they are together?" After talking for a while, Tong Guowei raised a little "question". However, before Kangxi could speak, Gao Shiqi picked up his words and said to him: "Prime Minister Tong's question is very reasonable, and Gao also thinks that it is precisely because Ferdinand and the three of them returned from the West together that they are all so concerned about maritime affairs!" ”

"Gao Xiang, what do you mean by that?" Tong Guowei asked unhappily.

"Hehe, Tong Xiang, have you forgotten that Gao has been to Europa before!" Gao Shiqi smiled at Tong Guowei and said: "Seriously, if you don't go to Europa, it's really hard to understand why the three of Ferdinand are so concerned about maritime affairs!" ”

"Why don't you explain it clearly?" "Stuffy gourd," Zhang Tingyu asked.

"Hehe......" Gao Shiqi smiled, arched his hand to Kangxi, and said: "The emperor must have already understood the meaning of Weichen's words just now, in fact, the meaning of the minister can be taken as an example by England, the Netherlands, and Portugal!" ”

"I understand! These small countries of Europa can compete with the big countries in the region, and they have been strong one after another, precisely because their ships are strong and their guns are powerful, and they are powerful at sea! Kangxi said.

"The emperor is wise!" Gao Shiqi praised Kangxi, looked at Tong Guowei again, and no longer spoke, but raised his head slightly, with a posture of being angry and not paying for his life, as a result, Tong Guowei scolded "Gao Fart" again and again in his heart!

"Your Majesty, not to mention what Ferdinand and others have said, but coastal defense is the weakness of my Qing Dynasty, and Cai Yinzhu's rebellion can run rampant across the territory with only dozens of sea ships is ironclad proof! Therefore, the minister thought that after the pacification of Taiwan this time, no matter what, a few more sailors should be built! Zhang Tingyu said.

"Not bad. It's just that in this way, according to Ma De's recital, Vladivostok, Liaodong, Jiaodong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong should all have sailors. Moreover, there must be at least three sailors capable of fighting in the ocean. The number of ships should not be less than hundreds, and the number of guns of the main warships should not be less than one thousand and five; In addition, artillery should also be available in various styles, and the same should be true for artillery shells, in case of various naval battles. …… Moreover, coastal defense batteries should also be built in some important places, equipped with powerful firepower! …… Adding up to these, I'm afraid that the imperial court will have to tighten its belt again and live a hard life for a few years! Kangxi sighed.

"Your Majesty, this is for my Qing Dynasty, even if it is hard, I have to do it. What's more, for several years, the country and the people have been safe, and the annual income of the imperial court is about 50 million taels, and the cost of shipbuilding in Manchuria is very small, so the servants think that there should not be much difficulty in building these sailors. Mazzi said.

"Hehe, Your Majesty, and all of you, why sigh? Didn't our Fengtianfu Yin say it? He can build a sailor without spending a penny of money from the imperial court! In that case, why not summon him for counseling? Gao Shiqi smiled.

……

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has an urgent official report of 600 miles from the Governor of Gansu!" After Gao Shiqi brought it up, Kangxi and the others were thinking about when to call Ferdinand to Beijing, when the imperial guards suddenly came in to report.

"Oh?" Kangxi took the official document that was submitted, opened it and looked at it, and his face suddenly changed! I saw him throw the official letter to the ground violently, and then two words burst out of his mouth viciously:

"Traitor-thief!"