When the two learned that the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire had arbitrarily divided the earth into two, one to the west and the other to the east, and wantonly divided up colonies. Now they have circled the world and met in the South Seas. They forced the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute to them, and those who did not obey were directly destroyed by them, you can imagine the anger in their hearts!

This is an infringement on the authority of the Celestial Empire and an invasion of the Ming Dynasty!

Any Han man who hears this will stamp his feet, stand on his haunches, and shout for war with red eyes!

How can we allow the red-haired barbarians to be so rampant and treat our great Ming Dynasty as nothing?

Fuck him!

Therefore, Jin Ke and Wang Rulong can fully understand Zhao Hao's ambition. This is due to the dignity of the proud people of the Celestial Empire!

Zhao Hao pressed the straw hat on his head and sighed, "Actually, this should be the court's business, but I'm sure you two feel the same way. We should be thankful that the court is not dragging its feet. But if we expect the court to build a strong navy and fight overseas, I'm afraid it's just a foolish dream."

"Hmm..." The two nodded dejectedly. How were they and Zhu Jue kicked out of the military camp?

Isn't it that Marshal Qi dislikes the arrogance and laziness of the northern soldiers, and wants to transfer the Zhejiang soldiers to Beijing as model soldiers, and transfer some of his former subordinates to help him train together? In the eyes of the civil service group, this is simply treason and treason! If it weren't for Zhang Xianggong and Tan Zhongcheng's protection, I'm afraid the Marshal would have gone back to his hometown to fish!

Civil officials were wary of military commanders like thieves, so how could they agree to use the whole country's strength to build an invincible fleet that could sail thousands of miles and disappear without a trace? Was that to scare them to death?

Besides, how many troubles are there in the Ming Dynasty? In the eyes of the dignitaries in the court, which one is not more important than building a navy? After all, the Ming navy is still invincible in the Beiyang. Who really cares about the sea and sea power?

"Since we can't rely on the imperial court, we can only do this ourselves." Zhao Hao made it clear for the first time: "But there are too many constraints at home. Even in Jiangnan, there are many eyes watching us, looking for faults everywhere, so we can't do it in a big way."

"Besides, it's not a good idea for us to keep hiding things! If the name is not right, the words will not flow, and if the words are not flowing, the things will not be accomplished!" He waved his hand and pointed to the blue bay below the mountain.

"It's so good here, the sky is high and the birds fly freely, the sea is wide and the fish jump freely! We can do whatever we want, we are the king of this Jeonra Island! The army trained in such a place will have the domineering spirit of no one else but us, instead of being cautious and restless like in China!"

"Yes." Jin Ke nodded heavily. This was also what he had been worried about.

An army must have a clear identity, but the security guards have always been confused about this. What is their identity? Guards? Bodyguards? Private armed forces? But in order to avoid attracting attention, the group always hides this aspect and never has a clear definition.

This made Jinke very worried.

Right now, the security team members have been subjected to strict military regulations and devilish training, causing them to lose their ability to think and become fighting machines that obey orders.

But people's adaptability is terrible. When they become veterans and get used to military rules and training, they will regain their minds and start to think that they are just soldiers who earn a salary, so why should they risk their lives? No matter how high the salary is, you have to live to spend it. If you die or become disabled, what's the point of giving a pension?

Once this kind of thinking spreads in the army, the fighting spirit of the security team will decline sharply. In that way, when fighting a favorable battle, they can still maintain a high combat effectiveness. But when encountering an unfavorable battle, the army will be weakened faster than anyone else!

This is the mentality of the soldiers that leaders hate but cannot eradicate.

In this regard, Marshal Qi's prescription was to instill the idea of ​​national integrity and defending the country into the minds of officers and soldiers, so that the soldiers knew why they were fighting and for whom they were fighting, and were proud of their sacrifices.

But obviously, the security group cannot follow the same prescription, because it is not the right medicine - how can the security guards of Jiangnan Group realize that they are fighting for the nation and the country? It is too much to ask.

Brainwashing that fails to resonate with people will not only fail, but will also have side effects.

Jin Ke couldn't think of a good solution, and neither could Wang Rulong. But since Master Zhao had already realized the importance of legitimacy, I believe he had a plan to deal with it!

~~

"I am optimistic about Chengshanpu." Zhao Hao said to the two people firmly: "This place is good, the pattern is large enough, eagles fly in the sky, fish swim in the shallows, and all kinds of creatures compete for freedom in the frosty sky!"

He paused and said, "As for the problem of sheltering from the wind that Brother Jin mentioned, it is not difficult to solve. We have a magical tool like cement, and the stone materials on the island are inexhaustible. If two meters are not enough, we can build three meters. What's the big deal?!"

"As long as you are willing to spend money, any problem can be solved naturally." Jin Ke smiled embarrassedly.

"Don't worry, this investment will not be a loss." Zhao Hao smiled faintly, turned to look at Wang Rulong and said: "As for Brother Wang's question, why can't it be done in Dajing County and at the same place as the transit port? First of all, confidentiality and security cannot be guaranteed!"

"Yes." Wang Rulong also figured it out now. He scratched his head and smiled awkwardly, "If we share the same port with civilian ships, then people will be able to see clearly how many ships we have, how many guns and people we have on board, how many ships are out and how many ships are in the port. And it will be difficult to prevent spies from infiltrating and sabotaging us."

"Yes, the location of the naval base is very particular. First of all, it must be located in a strategic location. Chengshanpu faces Japan and controls the gateway for the Japanese pirates to enter the west. If something happens, the reaction will be two days faster than from the west of the island! So its strategic position is far better than Dajing."

"At the same time, it must also be a natural harbor. In addition to being free from freezing and unaffected by natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis, it should also have numerous islands as natural barriers, forming a natural harbor surrounded by mountains and water with calm winds and seas. The so-called 'surrounded by mountains, reliable defense'."

Mr. Zhao is now more powerful, and his words are more precious. It is very rare for him to talk so freely as he is now. It is obvious that he has been brewing these words in his heart for a long time, and he must get them out.

"But the coastline of Tamra Island is too straight, and a port like Seongsanpo with two mountains as gateways is already the most suitable place on the island. Fortunately, the conditions at Sunrise Peak are so good that it can greatly make up for the weakness of not being surrounded by mountains."

"Furthermore, various supporting facilities such as military ports, dry docks, barracks, and military farms will occupy a large amount of land and excellent commercial ports, which will seriously restrict the development of civilian ports and even restrict each other." Zhao Hao finally said in a deep voice:

"Of course, if the military port is located in Dajing County, the logistical pressure will be much smaller. However, it is less than 20 miles away from Jingyi County, so basic logistical support is still available. But I also don't deny that the soldiers' lives will be more colorful if they are in Dajing County." Zhao Hao finally asked back, "But is this something our fleet should consider?"

"You shouldn't think about it." Wang Rulong shook his head like a rattle and said, "As a soldier, you have to stay away from the bright lights and the night life. The simpler the life, the better."

"Well, that's right. This Jeonra Island is a place for war preparation. You can enjoy it after returning home. We will have plenty of vacation time for the soldiers." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "With a rotation every six months, they won't get homesick, right?"

"Half a year is too short..." Wang Rulong was just halfway through his sentence when he suddenly realized that this policy was actually for training soldiers in rotation to train more qualified security guards. He nodded and said, "I understand."

After all, the Japanese pirates are just a whetstone for Mr. Zhao to train his troops, and the real opponent is in the south!

~~

"Why do you think so highly of Japan?" Jin Ke was concerned about another question. Zhao Hao set up the base east of Jeju Island. Obviously, the main focus of this fleet in the future will be on Japan.

"Because our future fleet will all depend on them to pay for it." This was another topic that Zhao Hao was very interested in. He smiled and said to Jin Ke, "A medium-sized Wuwei ship costs 800 taels of silver, and we paid a premium of 2,000 taels. Add in various cannons, and the total cost is 4,000 taels. Many people already think this is a waste of money. But do you know? In the Portsmouth shipyard in the UK, a double-deck light galleon costs 80,000 taels of silver. This is just the price of the empty hull, plus 55 main guns, and countless Portuguese and swivel guns, the total price exceeds 100,000 taels of silver."

"Ah..." Jin Ke and Wang Rulong almost dropped their jaws in shock. Only then did they understand why a Portuguese warship could repel Zeng Yiben's fleet.

Because one of their ships costs more than his fleet. If they can't beat his fleet, why would they spend so much money to build a large warship? Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to build a dozen of them?

"The Spanish treasure ship of the Spanish Empire costs as much as 200,000 taels of silver." Zhao Hao sighed. He had not yet told the two the cost of the third-level, second-level, and first-level ships that would appear in the future.

In the future, the cost of a first-class ship will generally be more than 300,000 taels of silver. The cost of a third-class ship, which is the main force of the fleet, is also more than 150,000 taels of silver.

The high cost of shipbuilding is enough to bring down any empire, let alone a mere Mr. Zhao from the Jiangnan Group?

"But these huge ships must be built!" The two only heard Zhao Hao's deep voice: "There is no morality on the sea, it's just the law of the jungle! If we want to go out in the future, we will inevitably conflict with the two great empires of Portugal and Spain. And in a few years, the fleets of the Netherlands and Britain will also come in droves and break into our golden sea full of endless wealth!"

"Although I don't want to destroy my own prestige and boost others' ambitions, I have to tell you a fact. Thanks to the civil officials, our shipbuilding technology has fallen behind Europe. The only thing that can compete with the galleon is the galleon, so we must also master the same warships, otherwise all our grand ambitions will be empty talk!"

ps. Only two updates today.