Chapter 209: Wei Yuan, the First Person on the Maritime Silk Road and the Promoter of the Chinese Navy

Chapter 209 The first person on the Maritime Silk Road and the promoter of the Chinese navy—Wei Yuan

This grand shipping took more than half a year to prepare and is an unprecedented feat.

Looking at the sea, thousands of merchant ships, led by naval officers, gradually sailed out of the Great Zhou Sea.

For Fan Chunren, his mission in the southeast has been successfully completed.

"I have nothing serious to do. After the three batches of shipping are completed, I will request an order to return to Beijing. I wonder when Brother Wei will return to Beijing?"

Wei Yuan hopes to return to Beijing as soon as possible more than anyone else, but he still has some important matters that have not been dealt with.

"At the earliest, we have to wait until August."

Fan Chunren smiled and said: "So, Brother Wei's wedding will be in September at the earliest?"

After returning to Beijing, there are still a lot of things to do.

It will be at least September until the processing is completed.

On a building ship.

"Put my words in the Yizhou County Chronicle so that future generations can remember this."

Some civil servants also praised him, saying that he was a Confucian general.

The former cupped his hands and said, "That's the best."

Wei Yuan nodded, "Remember, no matter where and whenever, Yizhou Island is our inherent territory of Great Zhou, and we must not take advantage of others."

The implication is that if the city defenses in various places cannot be improved as stated in the draft of the map, promotion will not be allowed. The officials have already focused on this matter.

By then, the meaning of collecting and compiling sea maps will no longer exist.

Wei Yuan was also worried that the money he finally applied for would be embezzled by these local officials.

Confucian scholars are in front and military generals are in the back. They are Confucian generals.

After the opening of sea transportation, Wei Yuan left Fuzhou and inspected the coastal states again.

As long as they build according to their own ideas and cooperate with the prosperity of the navy, they can ensure that the coastal area will be worry-free for hundreds of years.

Otherwise, it would be bad if those people mess around after he leaves.

At the same time, he also met with many local officials and regimental envoys, and told them:

"Although the navy has been established, coastal defense construction still cannot be careless."

The two of them can be considered as working together, so there is no need to take the civil and military concepts too seriously.

Simply, Wei Yuan asked the Imperial City Secretaries from all over the country to keep an eye on this matter.

Wei Yuan stood at the end of the deck, feeling the sea breeze blowing and feeling comfortable.

Guo Hao said: "In accordance with your suggestion, after the navy establishment is officially full, two thousand navy officers will be dispatched to guard Yizhou for half a year."

However, Wei Yuan didn't care about this.

Wei Yuan responded calmly.

However, after all the local officials said, Wei Yuan had no idea how things would turn out in the end.

Today, the people living in Yizhou are not only Zhou people, but also some "immigrants" from overseas countries.

Soon, Hu Yanzhong, standing behind him, asked:

"Yizhou is about to arrive. Would Commander Wei want to go to Yizhou to have a look?"

If you don't have the status of a scholar, it is probably difficult to do this.

Wei Yuan said nothing, and Fan Chunren continued: "At that time, I wonder if I can go get a wedding drink?"

Wei Yuan stared at the silent and deep sea in front of him, speechless.

The generals praised Wei Yuan and talked about his guarding the frontier.

For fear that they would pollute the blood of the people of China.

As the envoy to recruit and pacify the southeast, he can also take care of many matters in Yizhou.

With their answers, Wei Yuan could feel relieved.

"We, Yongjia County Coast Guard, will do as Commander Wei said, so I hope Commander Wei can rest assured."

"not going."

"."

Once they heard that it was linked to political performance, officials from various places expressed that they would build coastal defense to the greatest extent possible.

"I have just finished reading Commander Wei's sea map in the past few days. Please rest assured, Commander Wei, Mingzhou will build coastal defenses according to the map."

Besides, now Wei Yuan can be regarded as having both sides. He has good connections with both civil servants and military officers.

"In the future, this will be part of your political achievements."

Guo Hao and Hu Yanzhong accompanied him.

Guo Hao and Hu Yanzhong bowed together.

However, the officials in Quanzhou, Fuzhou and other places strictly prohibited them from living on land in the Zhou Dynasty.

After all, with the development of the times, new books on sea maps and chronicles will also be updated.

For this era, the chart compilation of Chaohai is definitely ahead of its time.

After settling this matter, Wei Yuan set off from Quanzhou and took a boat to approach the Penghu Islands.

On this trip, he wanted to tell the people of the world the importance of Yizhou.

After returning to the shore, he sent someone to call Cai Xiang to Quanzhou and told him:

"I will go to the imperial court and formally incorporate Yizhou into the territory of Fujian Road from now on. I hope that you, a feudal official, can govern Yizhou well."

"If there are bandits who attempt to invade Yizhou, there is no need to report it. You can make your own decision."

This can be regarded as giving Cai Xiang power.

Later, Wei Yuan went to inspect the warships manufactured in the capital or elsewhere.

This batch of warships happened to be sent to Quanzhou.

Because Guo Hao's new training location was decided here.

Most of them are built according to the styles of warships of previous dynasties.

At that time, because of Zhou Taizu's words, the development of China's navy was delayed for a full hundred years.

If the dynasty had continued to develop its navy over the past hundred years, it would be hard to imagine how far the Zhou navy would have grown today.

When Wei Yuan was about to leave Quanzhou, the folks in Quanzhou wanted to ask Wei Yuan to write an inscription.

You can ask any question.

They just hope that people of the time or later generations who travel to Quanzhou will know that a powerful general and hero once inspected Quanzhou's city defense, coastal defense, and sea areas.

If an ordinary civil servant is invited by the Quanzhou elders to write an inscription, no matter what, he will have to rack his brains to come up with a poem.

But Wei Yuan was not good at this and had no intention of writing poetry. After all, the construction of navy and coastal defense in various states had just begun.

There are too many things to deal with, and there are so many things to worry about. Where can I find the time to write poems and rhymes?

But he couldn't refuse the invitation from the Quanzhou elders. After thinking about it, he simply left a sentence,

[If you want to bring congratulations from all the kingdoms, you must build a naval army]

[If you want to start shipping without any worries, your family and country will be prosperous, you must develop a navy]

[If you want to make your people happy and have no fear of overseas countries, you must build a naval army]

Just a few simple sentences.

However, this made Quanzhou an important military base for the development of the navy in later generations.

Almost all the powerful naval forces in later generations came from Quanzhou.

Even the folks in Quanzhou erected a statue in front of Wei Yuan's words.

It is a stone statue of Wei Yuan.

He was three or four people tall, standing on a high platform, staring at Yizhou across the sea from Quanzhou.

Later, when the people of Yizhou heard that Wei Yuan was inspecting the strait, they talked about the importance of Yizhou on the ship.

The people of Yizhou also built a stone statue of Wei Yuan, with a sentence written on the back of the stone statue:

[Yizhou is the inherent territory of China]

The two stone statues looked at each other, affectionately expressing the expectations and high hopes of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The three words Wei Yuan said in Quanzhou were also called "Three Words on the Prosperous Navy" by later generations.

But in every navy camp in this land, these three sentences must be spread.

Simple and clear, people can understand the importance of building a navy army at a glance.

Some famous historians and writers of later generations also praised Wei Yuan without hesitation as "the promoter of the Chinese Navy".

Of course, at this moment, Wei Yuan did not think about how future generations would evaluate him.

He just hoped that, standing in this position, he could fan his meager wings and change some things and the world's inherent concepts.

The cavalry will be banned sooner or later, but the navy will not.

The state's emphasis on the development of the naval force should not be any worse than its emphasis on the development of the cavalry.

A few more days.

The first sea shipment has ended.

Fuzhou is busy with the second batch of shipping, but this has nothing to do with Wei Yuan.

Now, all his focus is on the construction of coastal defense and the establishment of the navy.

Fuzhou was the first town to rebuild coastal defenses. The construction of coastal defenses here was all built according to Wei Yuan's wishes.

Wei Yuan invited all the governors and regimental envoys from the coastal states in the southeast to come and appreciate the construction of Fuzhou's coastal defense, and also delivered an important speech to everyone,

"Some people say that after the navy is established, there is no need to strengthen coastal defense. It will waste people and money, and it will hardly be effective, so why bother."

"What I want to say is that the reconstruction of coastal defenses is to prevent disasters before they occur. If in the future, these coastal defense structures can serve a purpose and save the lives of people along the coast, then no matter how much money is spent, , it’s all worth it.”

"Let's not talk about faults but only merits. When the First Emperor connected the Great Wall between the seven countries to help future generations resist the invasion of foreign invaders, it can be said that he made a great contribution."

"Now that the officials have personally issued an order to build the coastal defense line, is it not an act to consolidate the Great Wall? Those overseas countries that intend to do evil things to me, the Great Zhou, will naturally feel timid when they see the majestic coastal defense construction of our Great Zhou. "

"The Great Wall keeps the foreign races outside the pass at bay, but this coastal defense will bring congratulations from all the nations of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

"."

He knew he might have said something he shouldn't have said.

He also knew that it was not appropriate to put the First Emperor and Zhao Zhen together.

But the construction significance of coastal defense is no worse than that of the Great Wall.

Moreover, the coastal defense line built according to Wei Yuan's wishes can also be useful in the future era.

For example, the observation tower he painstakingly designed can be easily transformed into various forts.

As long as future generations are not stupid.

After speaking, the governors and regiment envoys from all over the country praised him.

They thought to themselves that there was nothing wrong with praising the emperor's achievements together with Wei Yuan.

After doing these things, Wei Yuan made a special trip to Liangzhe Road and Fujian Road Shibo Division.

When he saw the envoys from the two cities and towns, he said to them with great sincerity:

"At that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty started the Silk Road and made great contributions to the trade between the Han Dynasty and foreign nations, making the Han Dynasty prosperous for a while."

"Moreover, the Silk Road back then also brought war horses from foreign races, laying the foundation for the subsequent construction of cavalry in the Han Dynasty."

"Today's maritime transportation can be said to be the Maritime Silk Road. I hope that you can not only transport Dazhou's goods overseas."

"If there is an opportunity, we should bring back some of the better materials from overseas countries, such as their smelting technology, military means, etc."

"Only in this way can I, the Great Zhou Dynasty, absorb the leaders of hundreds of schools and become dominant in the world."

Naturally, the envoys from the two places did not dare to disobey Wei Yuan's orders, and they also took it seriously.

For example, the development of iron cavalry in the Persian Empire is of great value for study.

After Wei Yuan finished speaking, they naturally started praising Wei Yuan.

"Sea transportation is the Maritime Silk Road. It's wonderful. In this way, Commander Wei, you can be the first person to open the Maritime Silk Road!"

"Commander Wei's achievements in various parts of the southeast will surely be recorded in history forever."

"."

Wei Yuan shook his head towards them and said:

"You are wrong. The first person to open the Maritime Silk Road was your majesty, not me."

"Your majesty's achievements in opening up maritime transportation should be recorded in the history books and highlighted."

It is reasonable and proper for small officials to flatter their superiors and for superiors to flatter even bigger "officials".