Chapter 714: The first ring of the navy reform

There is still a lot of room for the development of the armed forces of merchants in Chu, because the trade between Qin and Chu has just begun, and the demand for slave trade is extremely strong, especially after the large-scale commercialization of food production. This demand becomes extremely strong.

Bashu has always been Qin's reserve granary. The State of Qin has always maintained his concern for food production in Bashu. This kind of attention makes food production in Bashu especially important. However, the special geographical location of Bashu makes it impossible to carry out large-scale agricultural planting with the large amount of agricultural machinery provided by the China Industrial Economic Belt like Guanzhong. These agricultural machinery cannot enter Bashu. Transshipment is extremely troublesome. And the roads are difficult to repair.

However, after the land annexation in the Bashu region, more and more laborers are required to enter the farm to work. In the absence of machinery, the farmers in Bashu began to refocus their attention on cheap slaves. And slaves are easy to transport. In this way, Bashu became one of Qin's new slave demand markets. And this market has the potential for continuous and strong demand. This demand will affect the development of subsequent events.

The native merchants of Qin also began to pay attention to this demand for slaves. But the number of slaves they provided was far from the number needed. And as more and more land is reclaimed. This demand is getting bigger and bigger. Bashu fell into a state of great labor shortage. In particular, there has been a new breakthrough in agriculture. This is the double-cropping system formed by planting two crops of wheat and rice. After wheat is planted in winter. Rice is then planted. After the rice is planted, the wheat matures and the wheat is harvested. When the wheat is harvested, the rice maturity period is approaching. Although this kind of double-cooking a year is not strictly speaking, it is not double-cooking a year. But it has greatly increased the yield of crops. But it also increased the demand for labor. Qin State lacks the necessary labor to complete this balance.

Qin's mercenary armed forces entered the southern region. But to the west of Bashu is a high mountain, and to the south is today's Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The road is extremely difficult to follow. This natural geographic barrier made it difficult for Qin's hired armed forces to do much.

In comparison, it is much easier for Chu to rely on shipping to carry out the slave trade. And it is very mobile. They can travel frequently in various places. It's easy to take a hit and run strategy.

However, an important issue needs to be resolved before the slave trade can escalate. That is the water theft problem.

"Did you find it clear?" Xiang Yan asked a general of the Chu army.

"Report to the general, it has been found out." General Chu Jun said.

"Water pirates mainly come from fishermen in Jiujiang, Wu Yue, etc. They have lived by the water for generations. They are familiar with water. Therefore, they are very proficient in water warfare," said the general of Chu Jun.

"Well, I also know this. Among these water thieves, the unemployed people occupy a large part." Xiang Yan said.

"What the general said is extremely true." The general Chu Jun said.

"So, here is the difficulty of suppressing bandits." Xiang Yan said.

"However, there is one thing the subordinates think should be extremely important." General Chu Jun said.

"Say." Xiang Yan said.

The general Chu Jun nodded.

"General. At the end it will be discovered that in the local garrison of the Chu Army navy there are a large number of officers and navy gangs colluding with each other. They wantonly rob merchants of property, and then the two families divide the loot on the spot." The Chu Army general pointed out the Chu navy navy. An important reason for the ineffective suppression of bandits.

"Oh." Xiang Yan asked with a surprised expression.

"This has indeed happened." The general Chu Jun affirmed.

"En." Xiang Yan nodded. In fact, Xiang Yan had known about such things for a long time, but he thought it was not the main reason, but he did not expect that his subordinates discovered that this was the reason. Then this makes things a bit tricky.

Because the order he received was to resolve this matter quickly. Because Qin is a country that is not easy to mess with. However, these problems lie in front of Xiang Yan. The first thing he has to face is a water army that has been corrupted internally. This navy can basically rule out the possibility that it still has combat effectiveness. Because they can collude with the water thief, it has proved that they are specifically for the purpose of making money. Once excessively superstitious about property, such an army is basically no different from those water thieves who know to rob.

At the same time, he has to resolve this matter quickly. In fact, Qin has already adopted strict diplomatic measures. This measure is that they sent a special envoy with a letter written by King Qin and Shang Wen to ask Chu to deal with the water theft quickly. If Chu State cannot deal with it in a short period of time, then Qin State will send its own ide armed forces to protect the safety of its merchant ships.

However, this letter will take some time to communicate. Because the road traffic conditions in Chu State are really bad. There is no telegram between the two countries to communicate with each other. The worst thing is that Qin's ambassador to Chu was driven back.

With this in mind, Qin decided to post the special envoy of Qin as Qin's ambassador to Chu after the special envoy was dispatched. And dispatched military attachés in Chu State, civil and military officials such as counsellors. In order to strengthen the fast contact between the two countries, Qin also issued a special proposal. The content of the proposal is to establish a telegraph line in Chu to solve the problem of unsatisfactory contact between the two countries.

Xiang Yan didn't know this happened, but he knew that Qin Guo would definitely take the opportunity to step in. Because this country is an idle country, as long as there is a chance, especially in matters related to him, he always intervenes. And look for a very suitable reason. The result is exactly the same, Qin has already begun to intervene in these things.

"We sent a special envoy and chased after his Qin State ambassador to Chu State, but this is far from enough." Shang Wen said at a small cabinet meeting.

"Our merchant ship supply problem has not been solved. Especially our merchant ships will be built and bigger in the future. The small ports of Chu can't put our merchant ships at all. Especially when the last incident happened, it was because of our merchant ships. What happened on the wharf of Chu State not being able to dock. If our merchant ships arrive in Chu State again, such things will still happen." Shang Wen stopped.

"Therefore, we have to build our own wharf or even a military base on the territory of Chu State, so as to ensure that our merchant ships can be supplied and safely docked on the shore to carry out commercial trade activities." Shang Wen said.

"Then what shall we do next?" the security consultant assistant asked.

"We need to take this as an opportunity to enter the Chu State, and build our own port in the name of building ports and concessions for free," Shang Wen said.

Everyone nodded. Agree. In fact, the State of Qin has always started trading in the name of establishing a commercial concession. In South Korea, Zhao and Yan all have such concessions. These concessions are rooted in various countries like the cities of the Qin Kingdom, where people of the Qin Kingdom, especially merchants, gather. There, Qin State carried out various commercial activities on this basis. These activities have spurred the development of the surrounding areas of this country. Especially the development of industry and commerce.

Qin also plans to spread this kind of concession to Chu this time. These concessions mainly appear in Chu, so the trade between the two countries will be intensively developed. The occupation of the State of Qin is the trade activity carried out by this kind of traffic arteries.

This may be the first stage of Qin's trade activities. Extensively occupy a series of key points of traffic arteries. And a large number of commercial outlets are arranged along the way. base. The layout of these commercial outlets and bases converged into a major commercial move by Qin.

Qin Guo thought so, and did so. The Qin State Navy has organized and registered a large number of merchant ships launched into the water. Then conduct military training. Let them understand the meaning of military operations as much as possible. In addition, the General Staff and the Admiralty have all issued an exercise requesting them to organize large-scale merchant fleets. At the same time, the upper class of Qin State also began to actively send out invitations, inviting the upper class of Chu State to come to Qin State to discuss some key things. These things are the establishment of complete terminal facilities.

Just when the State of Qin launched a new strategy on a large scale. Xiang Yan also adopted a new strategy to reform the navy. Moreover, this reform mainly starts with how to suppress bandits.

Xiang Yan believes that compared to attacking Chu from land, the Qin army is more likely to launch a sudden attack from the waterway and attack the capital of Chu State Shouchun from behind. Qin's naval power is becoming stronger step by step. This threat is very obvious, and it is also very deadly. You know, Qin's ships are getting bigger and bigger. Xiang Yan believes this. First of all, the deadweight of the ship is very unusual. On land, a heavy artillery requires a lot of horses and even cows to pull it. This towing method causes the artillery to be less maneuverable. But the power is huge enough. But for the defensive side. But you can have a long enough time to prepare. Because it takes a long time to mobilize heavy artillery. Especially in Chu State, which has unsound roads, there is no railway, and roads provide its mobility.

But the waterway is different. Once the cannon is loaded on the ship. The ship can easily maneuver to any position, and at the same time, the ship can carry powerful artillery. These artillery can cover the landing of soldiers, and can easily destroy any fortifications. Most importantly, these artillery cannot be destroyed. Because Qin's ships are made of iron, there is currently no weapon that can penetrate such iron ships. Only the artillery made by Qin State can do it. Chu State has no such ability. Even explosives need a lot of explosives. This possibility is very small. In this way, Chu's navy will face new threats. In order to respond to the threat, military reforms must be carried out. This is Chu's navy reform. The purpose of the reform is to adapt to the challenges on the water from the powerful Qin State Navy.

But the first part of the reform of the navy is the reform of the navy's main body for the purpose of suppressing bandits. This reform is mainly to improve combat power. That is the determination to fight.