Chapter 632 The Tiger Army’s Marine Strategy

The Hu Ben Army captured Dengzhou City, and all subsequent work began immediately.

The most important one is to restore the port outside the North Gate. Dengzhou City has a very special geographical location, located at the northeastern tip of the Shandong Peninsula, and is very short from Liaodong, North Korea, and even the capital. Therefore, this has always been an important port for the Liaodong. In the past, most of the logistics supplies in Dongjiang Town were transported from Dengzhou City. The former home port of Dengzhou Navy was also set up in Dengzhou City.

If the Hu Ben Army wants to counter Liaodong in the future, Dengzhou City will definitely be indispensable. Dengzhou City's original port had only fifteen berths, which obviously could not meet the needs of the Hu Ben Army. If the Hu Ben Army countered Liaodong from the sea, the logistics transportation task would be very heavy. The Hu Ben Army's navy has a large number of ships, and fifteen berths are not enough.

“Extend the berth to thirty!”

Zhang Zhun made the decision on the spot and said affirmatively.

Immediately, Zhang Zhun allocated 10,000 taels of silver as a special fund for the expansion of the wharf, and appointed a dedicated person to be responsible for it, and it must be completed before the first month of next year. Zhang Zhun estimated that one year later, that is, the first month of next year, he might have to use the new wharf in Dengzhou City.

In addition to the berths at the docks, various advanced loading and unloading tools, such as gantry cranes, pulley sets, etc., are all required to be installed. In the past, without these tools, it took three days to load the cargo of an ordinary merchant ship. With these tools, it only takes one day. Gantry cranes and pulley sets are particularly useful for loading large and heavy goods. These goods are the most troublesome and time-consuming things that were previously loaded by manual loading. This is equivalent to increasing the berths to the original triple, greatly increasing the utilization efficiency of the docks, and the transportation volume can naturally be increased in large quantities.

It is not enough to have a dock berth alone, and more warehouses need to be built to store more materials. Whether it is going to Liaodong north, North Korea east, or the capital west, or the south south, a large amount of materials need to be allocated at any time. The speed and efficiency of sea transportation are much stronger than land transportation. If the front line needs it, it is too late to transport it from various places to Dengzhou City. Therefore, a large number of warehouses must be built here to reserve enough materials.

"The more warehouses, the better."

Zhang Zhun said cautiously.

He called Zhou Yi over and appointed him to be responsible for the construction of the warehouse. The two also studied the size, type, location of the warehouse, and the connecting roads between the warehouses. Zhang Zhun attached such a small matter so much that the accompanying staff were a little puzzled, but they had not asked for it for the time being.

"Sir, please rest assured, we will improve the warehouse facilities as soon as possible."

Zhou Yiming said affirmatively.

"good!"

Zhang Zhun nodded and said.

He allocated 10,000 taels of silver on the spot and was responsible for the construction of various warehouses.

Many people present, including Gao Hongtu and Zhang Shenyan, didn't understand Zhang Zhun's big investments. They didn't understand why Zhang Zhun was so anxious about the construction of the wharf and why he invested so much money to build ships. In their opinion, the Hu Ben Army now needs a lot of money, and Brigadier General Zhang invested too much money on the ocean.

Not to mention anything else, the silver in Xue Zhidie's shipyard alone has almost never been missing. The cost of the silver in the shipyard is like flowing water. This is jealous. In fact, not only Gao Hongtu and Zhang Shenyan are jealous, but many senior commanders of the army are also jealous. In their opinion, if the same silver is thrown on the army, how many troops can be added and how many weapons and equipment can be added! But all of these silver has been gone to the Navy!

Zhang Zhun obviously felt everyone's emotions. He knew very well that he had to deal with this issue carefully. On the surface, this issue seemed to be about the amount of funds allocated, but in fact, the core was a dispute between land and sea. Since the emergence of the navy in this world, the competition between the army and the navy existed in any country and any strength. Even in the 21st century, it also existed.

The Hu Ben Army has developed to the present day, with an army, a navy, and a marine. It is impossible to compete with each other without being fierce. The commander of any military branch hopes that his troops will be strengthened. To grow, of course, he must obtain more military support. Without military expenditure, where are the soldiers? Where do we get weapons and equipment?

When the last time they attacked Dengzhou City, the two commanders of the Marine Corps, Fang He and Liu Dong, tactfully stated that the number of Marine Corps was too small and might not be able to bear the heavy responsibility of siege. Obviously, the two of them implied that they were not unable to siege the city, but wanted to take this opportunity to expand the Marine Corps and have more personnel and weapons and equipment.

It is unconcealed that such thoughts exist in every military branch, but whether they have the courage to express them in front of Zhang Zhun. Among these disputes, the dispute between the army and the navy is obviously the most important and the most troublesome. If we cannot understand it uniformly, there may be conflicts between the army and the navy in future battles.

During World War II, the conflict between the Japanese army and the navy was very deep. The two argued and fought each other, and eventually ruined themselves. The situation in the United States was similar. Nimitz and MacArthur never urinated together. Britain has always been the leader of the navy, and the army was raised by the stepmother, so the situation was better. Of course, Zhang Zhun didn't want his troops to be like a little Japanese, fighting each other on land and sea, and finally ending up together.

That night, Zhang Zhun summoned relevant officers from the Hu Ben Army, including the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and internal affairs system officials to give a speech on marine strategy. This speech was something Zhang Zhun wanted to hold for a long time, but he had no time and no appropriate opportunity. But now, the speech must be held immediately.

If he continues to delay, everyone will have a great misunderstanding about his capital allocation and his future strategy. The development of the Hu Ben Army is somewhat different from other historical armies. Due to Zhang Zhun's personal reasons, the development of the Hu Ben Army pays more attention to the maritime strategy. In other words, the development of the Hu Ben Army mainly relies on the ocean.

But the people of this era have no clear understanding of marine strategies. Even Gao Hongtu, Zhang Shenyan and others do not have a deep and accurate understanding of the ocean. At most, they only know that maritime trade is more profitable. However, the risks are also great. There are pirates at the sea and there are wind and waves. If they are not good, they will be the result of ships being destroyed and people being killed. Yes, even if they are great scholars of the times, their understanding of the ocean is at this level. And their level just represents the general understanding of the ocean by officials from the Ming Dynasty.

The most obvious example is that Taiwan, an important island, is not within the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The small Penghu Islands are all stationed by the Ming army, but the huge Taiwan Island cannot see the shadow of the Ming army. Even later, the red-haired ghost entered Taiwan Island, but the Ming army did not react at all. Only when the red-haired ghost tried to enter the Penghu Islands did they face a counterattack from the Ming army.

As long as the Penghu Islands and not Taiwan Island, it is obviously very abnormal.

In the final analysis, people of this era only focus on land and not on the ocean. Zheng He's voyage to the West was to show off the force of the Ming Kingdom, not to gain benefits. I don't know when it started, but the Chinese were always ashamed to talk about interests in front of outsiders. Especially the interests on the ocean, they were even more ashamed to mention them. Or, they didn't think there was any interests at all.

"In this world, there was once a country like this, whose land area was only slightly larger than our Northern Zhili. It was surrounded by oceans and no land could be connected. Its own population was not large. If we followed our usual thinking, such a country would definitely not be able to compete for world hegemony."

"But it is such a country that has become the overlord of the world for two or three hundred years. Its colonies are spread all over the world. The colonies it has are more than two hundred times its own land area. Its army fights almost every corner of the world and can win almost all."

"This country has a special title, called the Empire of Sun Never Setting, which means an empire that will never decline. Its rise is incredible in itself. Its most powerful army is its navy. It has the most powerful fleet in the world and can reach every corner of the world's ocean."

Zhang Zhun's opening remarks were very interesting and immediately attracted everyone's interest. In fact, Zhang Zhun's ability to tell stories was not very good. However, the courage of the British Empire back then still made many people talk about it. Especially its maritime hegemony did make many people yearn for it. In fact, in terms of national strength, the Ming Dynasty was not inferior to Britain at all, but in the end, the division of maritime forces in the world did not have the share of Ming Dynasty. This is a huge sadness.

"Marine consciousness is the soul of a littoral nation."

"The strength of the ocean consciousness directly determines the strength of a country's maritime power and the rise and fall of a country. The rise of the empire of the sun never sets is precisely because its citizens have a strong ocean consciousness. The territory of land is of course important, but the territory of the ocean is equally important."

"That's right, the ocean is also our territory. Bohai Bay, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, South China Sea, and South China Sea, all of these belong to our territory. We should not just see Liaodong, just see Mongolian grasslands, or just west of Yumen Pass. We should also see that there are a large number of sacred territory around us."

Zhang Zhun paused slightly and continued to say passionately.

Obviously, his words aroused strong response from the audience below. The ocean is actually part of the territory? This is the first time they have heard it! In the past, almost everyone believed that the ocean was public and that anyone could freely interact. Since it was public, there was no need to care too much. However, if these oceans were also part of the territory, it was necessary to pay attention to it.

Zhang Zhun, who came from later generations, certainly had a deep feeling about this. We Chinese have never lost anything. We have always been the leader of the world for thousands of years. Only in the past two hundred years have they been bullied. This bullying began with the ocean. The defeat of the Beiyang Navy is a deep pain for any ambitious Chinese.

If we summarize and reflect on the reasons for the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, we can list many items, such as the decline of the feudal system, the closed and backward small peasant economy, the incompetence and corruption of the Qing government, and the closing of the country. However, for a long time, it has been a closed continental consciousness and has not formed an open ocean consciousness. China's feudal period has been deeply rooted in the mainland consciousness, which is the crux of the huge difference in the concepts of the East and the West.

In my country's traditional economic thinking, it emphasizes agriculture and suppresses commerce and has almost always occupied a dominant position. From the standpoint of small private owners of farmers, Lao Tzu advocates a small country with few people and a self-sufficiency agricultural economy, opposes commodity economy, and opposes the idea of ​​exploitation brought by commerce.

Lao Tzu believes that "there is a person who is willing to eat, the best of his clothes, the peace of his life, the enjoyment of his customs, the neighboring countries are close to each other, the sound of chickens and dogs is heard, and the people do not interact with each other until they die of old age." The most natural and ideal living environment is the most ideal living environment. A small country and the few people are the reappearance of the "Tao" that Lao Tzu refers to in society.

As the founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu opened up the spiritual connotation of China's advocacy of nature for thousands of years, striving to unite with nature, and strive to make life transcendent, free and free. Especially in the Song Dynasty, Confucianism and Buddhism and Taoism, Lao Tzu's Taoist thought was more rooted in the hearts of the Chinese people and formed a part of the Chinese character.

Lao Tzu's idea of ​​valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce has a great influence on later generations. Since Emperor Wu of Han "deposed all schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone", Confucius' theory has become the orthodox of feudal culture for 2,000 years. Confucius, known as the role model of all generations, has one of the main contents of his economic thoughts, which is "righteous and profit" that "focuses righteousness and neglects profit".

The agricultural-based idea and the concept of shame and profit respected by Confucianism provided an important theoretical basis for the development of the idea of ​​valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce in the future. Shang Yang, an outstanding representative of the pre-Qin Legalists, rewarded farming, fighting, enriching the country and strengthening the army, was the first person to implement the policy of valuing agriculture and suppressing commerce.

Shang Yang regarded agriculture as the "center industry", industry and commerce as the "last industry", and advocated the implementation of a policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing commerce. The new law he formulated stipulated that those who produce too much grain and cloth could be exempted from labor and taxes; those who abandon agriculture and business should be reduced to their entire family as slaves to the government.

Han Fei, the master of the pre-Qin Legalism, developed a step forward in the idea of ​​emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce. In the famous "Five Worms", he listed merchants as one of the "Five Worms" that harmed the country and society. Xu Guangqi, a famous scientist in my country in the Ming Dynasty, was known as "the first person to introduce Western learning", also vigorously praised the agricultural-based idea, believing that agriculture is "the source of people's cultivation and the foundation of prosperity and strength of the country."

The above discussions on the agricultural-based thoughts by important historical figures played an important role in the prosperity of my country's idea of ​​emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce; in addition, they were bound by feudal ethics such as "Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues" and "Parents are not traveling far away", the formation of marine consciousness characterized by openness and enterprising is greatly restricted.

The emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce has become an economic idea that runs through the entire feudal society, and a cultural concept deeply rooted in the feudal economic foundation, which directly affected the Chinese nation's move towards the ocean and the formation of the capitalist market economy. In the late feudal period, the Ming and Qing dynasties implemented maritime bans and closed-door policies for hundreds of years, which almost destroyed the Chinese nation's precious ocean consciousness.

“How much do we know about the ocean?”

"Zheng He's seven voyages to the West looked majestic, but did he really know the ocean? What was his purpose in voyage to the West?"

"I believe that many of you here may think that it is nothing great if you don't pay attention to the ocean! The sea is empty and there is nothing, which is far less important than the land! But I want to say, you are wrong! You are completely wrong!"

"The ocean is very important to us! Even about life! If we control the ocean, the Japanese pirates will not have the chance to go ashore at all! If we control the ocean, Japan will not have the chance to land in North Korea at all! If we control the ocean, the Western fleet will never be able to appear in the South China Sea!"

"A friend comes from afar, and an enemy comes from the sea! In the past, our understanding of the world was too closed, too self-centered, too noble, and believed that we were the country of the heaven and the core of the world. Everyone else had to rely on our breath to exist. However, I must tell you coldly that you were wrong again!"

"In this world, there are many nations and many countries! What is connected to our land is only a part of it. There are also quite a few parts that are not connected to us. Only the ocean can connect all nations and countries together. In other words, the ocean is the bond that connects the whole world!"

Zhang Zhun introduced his topic step by step to the core without hesitation.

Yes, the thoughts of the Ming people were indeed more conservative and closed. However, you cannot say that the Ming people were stupid. You cannot say that the Ming people do not understand the interests of the ocean at present, nor do you understand the huge interests of the ocean in the future. In fact, the Ming people were very smart. Once their minds were open, they would accept new things very quickly.

For example, after receiving various scientific and cultural knowledge from the West, Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua, Zhao Shizhen and others were able to learn it for their own use. The most famous examples are the sights, gates, and scales of the Red Cannons, which were all invented by Xu Guangqi. Sun Yuanhua even copied the Red Cannons with more advanced performance.

However, sometimes, intelligence is mistaken for cleverness. Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, in addition to showing off his military power, also brought a huge consequence, that is, he was convinced that there was no maritime force around Ming Kingdom that threatened Ming Kingdom at all. From East Asia to the coast of Africa, there was no country that could pose a maritime threat to Ming Kingdom.

This is a huge misunderstanding. A misunderstanding that determines the head. The first thing the rulers of the Ming Kingdom at that time, under the influence of Emperor Jianwen, thought of was to consolidate their own rule rather than to obtain benefits. When they felt that their rule was already very stable and would not be violated, they ignored the ocean.

If a person is too smart, it is easy to go to the wrong path. The same is true for the country. If the Zheng He fleet had not gone to the West for some purpose, but had actually wanted to get rich, the place where he passed would have long become a colony of the Ming Kingdom. With the power of the Zheng He fleet at that time, it would have been effortless to capture the countries along the way!

"Now, what I want to explain are some of the most basic ocean theories. Everyone may sound a little unfamiliar, but I believe that with everyone's intelligence, they will eventually understand it."

Zhang Zhun talked in a daze.

What he wants to elaborate is indeed some of the most basic theories, some basic ocean theories that can be accepted by everyone present. Only the Hu Ben Navy understands it, but everyone present also needs to understand this. Otherwise, the army will always desperately obstruct the development of the navy and fight for the military spending of the navy, and Gao Hongtu, Zhang Shenyan and others will not understand his decision.

Human beings’ understanding of the strategic status and value of the ocean is a process of deepening. From ancient times to the fifteenth century, people who come into contact with the ocean were mainly residents living in coastal areas. The activities of using the ocean mainly were picking shellfish and fishing small fish, using seawater to make salt, and sailing along the coast. The practice of eating the sea and sailing nearby has enabled human beings to form the understanding that the ocean has "the benefits of fish and salt and the convenience of boats".

In ancient China, the idea of ​​"experienced the heart and the country is rich", and the "official mountains and seas" emerged, that is, the policy of state management of mountainous areas and oceans (mainly sea salt production). This was the basic understanding of the value of oceans by humans before the fifteenth century. It must be admitted that the understanding of Gao Hongtu, Zhang Shenyan and others were all at this stage.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, everyone's understanding of the ocean was actually basically at this stage. Most of the coastal people in the Ming Dynasty only knew how to use sea water to cook salt and use sea to fish, but basically didn't understand the others. For example, when Zhang Zhun just arrived, Yangjiatun was like this. Maritime trade was something that few people were qualified to carry out.

Since the late fifteenth century, the era of world navigation has arrived, and a new continent has been discovered, new routes have been opened, around the world has been sailed, the world market has been expanded, modern colonial plunder has begun, and the development of European capitalism has been promoted. The discovery of the Americas, the sailing around Africa has opened up new places of activity for the emerging bourgeoisie.

The markets of East India and China, colonies in the Americas, the increase in trade, exchange means and general commodities for colonies led to unprecedented rise in commerce, navigation and industry, thus causing the rapid development of revolutionary factors within the collapsed feudal society. However, the Ming people's attention to maritime interests was far from enough, especially the northerners.

The inertial thinking of the northerners riding horses and the southerners riding boats started. I don’t know when it started, but it has penetrated deeply into everyone’s blood. When Zhang Zhun was in Hejian Mansion, he also made a special investigation. It turned out that there was really no big business in Hejian Mansion that had conducted maritime trade. It can be seen that their resistance to the sea is obvious.

"Why is Jiangnan richer than the north?"

"The very important reason is the developed maritime trade in Jiangnan!"

Zhang Zhun continued to talk.

He explained that most coastal areas in the world have formed a superior geographical environment due to their borders to the ocean, with warm and suitable climate, suitable for human habitation, and economic and social development, becoming developed regions. China's coastal areas are close to the western Pacific Ocean and are in the mid-latitude area, with pleasant climate, rich resources and convenient transportation. In theory, it should be the region with the largest population density and the most economic, cultural and technological development in China.

However, the Ming Dynasty has not yet formed a coastal economic belt, and even the population is not the largest coastal area. The most populous area in Ming Dynasty is the Central Plains. Although Shandong is surrounded by the sea on three sides, it is actually not very large and its commercial trade is not developed. It has to be said that this is very regrettable and is inconsistent with the development of the world.

"I said before that now, in the distant Europe, the Western powers are rising rapidly."

"On the contrary, our country is still self-contained on the ocean."

"Why? Where did our Zheng He fleet go?"

Zhang Zhun said deeply.

This was his first shot to formally question the court.

Yes, this is the first time that Zhang Zhun has completely accused the court of wrongdoing in public.

The rulers of the Ming Dynasty implemented the ban on the sea against the historical trend. From an objective perspective, it was related to the prevalence of pirates at that time, but from a deeper perspective, there were profound internal reasons. First of all, for the feudal ruling class, the promotion or ban on navigation can only be based on whether feudal rule can be maintained. Once navigation activities damage or even shake the foundation of their feudal rule, ban on the sea and cessation of navigation will inevitably be inevitable.

The purpose of advocating navigation was to pursue the grand occasion of all nations and the extravagance of rare treasures, as well as to show the strength and stability of national strength. However, when navigation promoted the development of social commodity economy and the prosperity of the market, promoted the liberation of people's thoughts, and brought about new social ethical and moral concepts, making feudal rulers unable to control people's thoughts and endanger feudal rule, they were firmly prohibited.

Commercial activities, especially maritime trade, are not fixed in one place and are "hard to control" like agricultural producers, and businessmen do not act in a dispersed but relatively concentrated manner, and are prone to "rebellion". They are not as easy to control as agricultural producers, have active thoughts, "not obey moral education, and are incompatible with barbarians, which endangers education."

In this way, the development of navigation activities and other industry and commerce exceeded the limits that the feudal order based on the small peasant economy could tolerate, shook the natural economic foundation of "agricultural-oriented", and it became inevitable to ban it.

From this we can see that Zheng He's voyage to the West was stopped, and the pace of China's maritime development in the early Ming Dynasty was suddenly interrupted. The essential reason was that the feudal rulers felt the potential threat of maritime activities to the feudal regime. From this perspective, Zhang Zhun's maritime strategy was incompatible with the policies and policies that the Ming court had always adhered to. Even if the maritime ban was lifted, the Ming rulers were still careful to block the influence from the ocean.

Secondly, the implementation of the monopoly of commercial and restrictive business policies by the feudal regime has prevented the smooth development of industry and commerce in feudal society. Judging from the process of human social development, a nation can only obtain the broad space necessary for the development of capitalist mode of production by placing itself in the world market. On the contrary, if a nation is isolated from the world market, it will lose the climate that is most suitable for the growth of capitalist mode of production.
To be continued...