"In fact, in the eyes of the cabinet and the military, the Weiyi Islands are not as important as they imagined." Niu Yi, deputy commander of the Weiyi Detachment and lieutenant colonel Ling Lu, stood at the bow of the battleship "Kataha", looked at the faint column of smoke in front of him, and sighed softly.

"That's what the chief said." Fu Youlin, the captain of the Captain Xuanjie (major), nodded and agreed: "At the peak of our Weiyi fleet, we had 16 large and small ships and more than 2,500 officers and men, including the entire western Pacific waters, where our fleet cruised. But now, our Weiyi detachment has only three or five kittens, and the number of officers and men is less than 400. With this sea power alone, where can we cover the waters of the western Pacific Ocean? Well, even against the Spaniards' Pacific Fleet, it may not be able to occupy an absolute advantage. ”

"Oh, with the strength of the Spaniards, they shouldn't mess with us. It is estimated that it is precisely because of this that the bigwigs above feel that the entire Pacific Ocean is basically not a threat, so they have repeatedly reduced the strength of our Weiyi squadron. Niu Yi shook his head and said: "A great civil war broke out in Japan, and in order to strengthen the response force in the region, the headquarters of the Ryukyu Fleet will transfer two ships of the detachment back to the waters near Japan. In this way, there are only three warships left in our Weiyi fleet, how can we still take care of such a large sea area. ”

"Who's to say it isn't? In the future, routine cruises at sea can only be carried out by single-ship cruises. Fu Youlin sighed and said: "Three warships, one is cruising, one is in the port for maintenance, and one is ready for combat mobility. Ha, if something goes wrong with any of these warships, I'm afraid our Weiyi Squadron won't be able to function! ”

"I still remember that when Emperor Taizu was alive, he attached great importance to the Weiyi Islands, saying that he wanted to build them into the largest naval base of our Qi country, so as to control the entire Pacific Ocean, and then lock the key to the Americas and Yinzhou." Niu Yi said, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "But now, in our naval structure, except for the South Pacific Fleet, our Weiyi Squadron is the least valued. ”

"That's right, the meaning of the existence of our Weiyi Squadron is probably to maintain a symbolic military deployment and prove that this sea is under the control of our Qi country. If you want to make a contribution, most of them have little hope. Unless, let's fight Spain again. At that time, our Weiyi detachment will have a bright future. ”

"If you want to fight the Spaniards again, it's impossible in the short term." Niu Yi glanced at Fu Youlin and knew what he was thinking, "In the war against Britain that just ended, Spain was also a de facto ally of our Qi country, and they fought the English together, but they couldn't turn their faces with others in the blink of an eye." In the near future, our two countries are planning to build a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama in order to connect the two oceans and accelerate trade and people-to-people exchanges. Under such circumstances, the Cabinet and the military will not allow any incident to undermine the stability of relations between the two countries. Besides, not everyone is like the deputy commander of the Japanese Hengguan garrison, relying on the close and deep friendship with His Majesty, and doing something out of the ordinary without receiving any substantive punishment. ”

The "person" mentioned in Niu Yi's mouth is none other than Li Yanliang, deputy commander of the Hengguan garrison, and the "out-of-the-ordinary matter" refers to Li Yanliang's secret dispatch of more than 100 officers and soldiers of the Qi Army to participate in the battle of Hagi Castle that broke out between the shogunate army and the Sacho alliance, most of whom are professional artillery officers and tactical staff officers. In this battle, the Sacho coalition army smashed the shogunate army with accurate and ferocious artillery fire, and achieved a hearty victory.

In the ensuing war tug-of-war, the shogunate army jumped in anger when they learned this information after interrogating the prisoners of the Sacho coalition army. The general, Tokugawa Yoshimune, immediately summoned the envoy of Qi to Edo and questioned whether Qi wanted to intervene in the internal affairs of the shogunate, and openly sided with the rebels.

Naturally, the envoy of Qi tried his best to deny his involvement in Japan's internal affairs, saying that the Qi soldiers who appeared on the battlefield were civilian armed volunteers employed by the Sachang coalition army, and had nothing to do with Qi. Qi has always cherished the friendly relations between the two countries and will categorically not interfere in the situation in Japan.

Although he prevaricated the shogunate authorities at the diplomatic level, the actions of the deputy commander of the Hengguan garrison still made the minister of Qi dissatisfied, thinking that his rash actions had made Qi fall into a certain degree of passivity.

It is true that in terms of the overall strategy, our Qi country will not allow Japan to be de facto unified, and we are happy to see the current situation in Japan in which there are many vassal states and each of them is doing its own thing.

But you, a small deputy commander of the garrison, did not report to the Qi Legation in Edo in advance, and sent troops to intervene in the war against Japan without authorization, do you still understand the rules and talk about "politics"?

It is reported that because of this incident, the Cabinet Foreign Affairs Department and the military quarreled fiercely. One side demands that this act of "going alone," which amounts to a private military action, be severely punished in order to set an example. On the other hand, Li Yanliang was protected and shielded on the grounds that the military enjoyed the right to make small-scale and cheap military movements in overseas governors' territories.

In the end, in order to appease the dissatisfaction of the cabinet, His Majesty the young emperor dismissed Li Yanliang from his post and made him the shortest-serving deputy commander of the Hengguan garrison.

In addition, His Majesty the Emperor did not punish him more, but ordered the military to transfer Li Yanliang to the Xuanzhou Governorate (present-day California and Baja California) as the deputy commander of the garrison to temporarily avoid the limelight.

Many of Qi's overseas territories are too far away from the mainland and inconvenient to communicate, and each has a lot of autonomy, causing some minor frictions, and even provoking armed conflicts in the surrounding areas, whether it is the cabinet or the military, they basically adopt a tacit attitude.

As long as local affairs are not messed up, but the territory is expanded and wealth (or resources) is harvested, it will be of great benefit to the country and the people.

Otherwise, where did the empire come from to increase so much territory over the decades?

However, the situation is different in each overseas territory, and it is not always so conniving with local trouble. A mature country like Japan, which has a well-organized political regime, is still a large regional power with a population of more than 20 million, so it must not be cautious and must not allow Qi to be unnecessarily plunged into a violent regional conflict.

In addition, the young Emperor has just succeeded to the throne, many political affairs at home and abroad have not yet begun, and many policies are also being gradually adjusted, so it is all the more necessary for the domestic and foreign countries to be as calm as possible, and not to make some messy things out, so as not to affect His Majesty's decision.

Although the military did not agree with the somewhat conservative strategy of the cabinet, it did not openly oppose it, and still less did it want to leave the new emperor with the image of an unruly army, so it issued a directive to the navy and army stationed in various localities that they should not provoke border provocations without authorization, except in response to external threats of force or in the normal defense of Qi's overseas territories and commercial interests.

Well, the crown prince and Emperor Taiping passed away one after another, and the grandson succeeded to the throne, in addition to the drastic changes in the cabinet, the military forces will inevitably usher in a wave of reshuffle. In this period of political transition, everyone should not make any moves, and perhaps they will end up with the truth, giving people an excuse to be dismissed from their posts and fall victim to political disputes.

However, with the strength of the Weiyi Squadron, even if it has the intention to provoke an incident, it is not enough.

Anyway, with the only three warships on hand - oh yes, two of them are still traditional sail warships - go to touch the porcelain Spain?

According to the detachment's routine patrol mission, after sailing out of Huaiyang Harbor, the battleship "Kawa" sailed 60 degrees east-south, sailed to Huining (present-day Vancouver Island), Pengzhou Governorate's District, and then went south along the coastline to reach the Xuanzhou Peninsula (present-day Baja California Peninsula), and then turned around and headed westward to return to Weiyi Island.

Now, after less than two days of sailing with more than a dozen merchant ships, the old sail warship was left behind, and slowly walked in a zigzag shape with several merchant ships that were also pure sails, catching the faint wind and moving in the direction of the Kuroshio in the North Pacific.

In the mainland of Hanzhou and the waters of the Indian Ocean, even commercial iron ships of several thousand tons have begun to crisscross the sea, but in the North Pacific, as the Imperial Navy's Weiyi Squadron, it is still operating this kind of "outdated" sailing ships, which can not help but make people lament.

Weiyi Islands, the so-called strategic places claimed by Emperor Taizu in the past, are these situations? ——

"Weiyi Island is still very important to us."

In the early morning of December 25, in a two-story building on the East Side of Huaiyuan (present-day San Francisco), a group of shopkeepers and directors of a trading company stood in a row respectfully and listened attentively to the lecture of a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothes.

"There is an abundance of sandalwood there, and there is a huge market demand in the mainland Qin country. In addition, the Weiyi Islands are located in the tropics, and the environment is hot and humid, which is the best place to grow sugar cane, and if it is not used, it will not be cheaper for the local merchants. Qi Siyi paced back and forth in the house, and said with a flying expression: "Recently, the Weiyi Governorate has given us a letter of approval, as long as our Yizhou trading company goes to invest and set up factories, the land on several islands can be enclosed at will, and some indigenous labor can also be provided. After the sugar factory is completed and put into operation, taxes and fees will be exempted for three years, and only 50% will be levied for the next three years. ”

"If you think about it, there are more than 200,000 people in the entire Yinzhou Dingkou, and if you add Mexico, Lima, Upper Chile (present-day northern Chile), and Qingguo Zezhou (present-day southern Chile), I am afraid that there are millions of people. What a sizable market size this is! Therefore, we must seize the opportunity to occupy the pit while the local businessmen have not yet arrived on a large scale. This time, when I go to Hanzhou itself, you will discuss it and recommend a few capable people to follow me over and take care of everything on Weiyi Island first. At that time, I will recruit some skilled technicians and workers from the local area, and strive to set up the sugar factory as soon as possible. ”

When the shopkeeper and the principal present heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other.

Why, more than ten years ago, I ran from Yizhou to Xuanzhou, and now I want to get people to Weiyi Island?

Do we Yizhou Trading Company want to stretch our hands so long?

"Okay, now bring me the account book for the second half of the year." Qi Siyi didn't pay any attention to what kind of thoughts the people below would have, turned around and sat down behind a bookcase, casually pulled the abacus placed next to him a few times, and then waited for the account book to be presented.

"Grandpa, the ledgers are here. Among them......"

"Needless to say, I'll see it myself." Qi Siyi waved his hand, interrupting the other party's words.

Several shopkeepers watched with apprehension as the man sitting behind the bookcase kept looking through the ledger, and they didn't dare to come out, for fear of sparing the nobleman's thoughts.

"How come the income has decreased so much in the past few months?"

However, after Qi Siyi flipped through for a while, he became a little impatient, so he simply jumped to the end of the account book to check the business results in the past six months. After confirming the numbers, his face couldn't help but sink, and he closed the account book and threw it directly at the feet of the shopkeeper and the principal in front of him.

"Back to Grandpa, the income in this half year has not decreased, and it has even increased slightly compared with the first half of the year." Gao Wanliang, the treasurer of the Yizhou Trading Company in Huaiyuan, clasped his fists with both hands, bowed slightly, and said carefully: "However, the Xuanzhou Governor's District announced four months ago that the mining tax and fur tax would be doubled on the original basis, and at the same time, a port management fee of two percent would also be levied on ships entering and leaving the port. In addition, the processing and refining of gold is subject to a special product tax. All these add up to wipe out the profits that grew in the second half of the year. Grandpa, this information has been sent back to Yizhou a few months ago......"

"Huh? ......" Qi Siyi closed his eyes and thought about it, it seemed that he had received such a letter, but he didn't take it to heart at the time, thinking that with the prestige of their Yiwang Mansion, the Xuanzhou Governor's District would not really dare to collect taxes from the Yizhou Trading Company.

"What a bastard! The previous business was doing well, and the taxes and fees were never increased, what did they want to do in the Xuanzhou Governor's District? Oh, these taxes and fees, you said you would pay them? Do they know that this trading company is the business of our Yiwang Mansion? ”

"Grandpa, the Xuanzhou Governor's District said that it was planning to build a railroad from Wuding (present-day Oakland on the east bank of San Francisco) to Guangfeng (present-day Sacramento), so it increased these taxes and fees to raise funds for construction." Gao Wanliang replied with a bitter face: "As for the collection of taxes and fees, the Governor's Office issued a document that people of all colors, regardless of country, must pay taxes and fees in full. My Yizhou trading company has existed in Huaiyuan City and even the entire Xuanzhou for more than 20 years, and the Governor's Mansion is naturally ...... Naturally, it is to know who we are. ”

"How daring!" Qi Siyi said hatefully: "My Yizhou is a relative of the royal family, a relative of the empire, and the Xuanzhou Governor's Mansion doesn't give any face!" ”

"Grandpa......" Gao Wanliang hesitated for a moment, but still said stubbornly: "It is reported that when the local tax audit was conducted last year, the crown prince ordered the General Department of Taxation to send personnel to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the Royal Trading Company. Thinking about it, the news reached Xuanzhou, so ......"

"Therefore, the Xuanzhou Governor's Mansion is holding chicken feathers as an arrow, and it doesn't give us the face of Yiwangfu at all?" Qi Siyi's face turned pale.

Since the first year of Shaoning (1685), the king of Yi was demoted to Yizhou, because it is the lineage of Taizu, has been a transcendent existence in the entire Yinzhou region, not only has a vast fief and independent "food yi" income, but also in the state of Rinzhou (now Alaska), Pengzhou (now Canada and Washington state, the United States), Xuanzhou and other viceroyalties to purchase furs, mining minerals (gold), also enjoy the privilege of exempting from paying various taxes and fees, so that the Yiwang Mansion in just a few decades, has accumulated countless wealth.

But I never thought that today I would be swept wool and taxed in the Xuanzhou Governor's District.

How is this not annoying!

However, what does this move of the governor of Xuanzhou mean?

Could it be that he received a secret decree from the new emperor, or the cabinet instructed to suppress and warn King Yi?

(End of chapter)