After Jiang Shang finished talking about the abolition of the magistrate office, Ouyang Shuo looked around and said, "Then, let's discuss the replacement of the Pacific Fleet."
The officials on both sides looked at each other with sparks in their eyes.
There was a huge disagreement between the officials and the military on this topic. Both sides had not reached a consensus until the meeting.
The cabinet's opinion was that the empire should look at the long term and rebuild its navy as the technology tree of the second revolution was unlocked. It should not be in a rush to build a large number of ironclad warships.
Based on the ironclad warships, they had to be subdivided into battleships that were the main force, cruisers that were responsible for scouting and ocean patrol, destroyers that were responsible for alerting, escorting, and laying mines, frigates that were responsible for escorting the fleet, and submarines and other vessels.
It was not an exaggeration to say that it was rebuilding the navy.
But it would take a long time. It would not only change the fleet but also the navy. They had to train and familiarize themselves with the new warships. In the future, other than the Marine Corps, there would be no possibility of close combat.
A conservative estimate was that even if the empire concentrated its resources to rebuild the Pacific Fleet, it would still take one and a half years, or even two years. And this was the result of Gaia's vague handling of industrial construction.
The advantage was that the Pacific Fleet would not only be on par with the Dark Night Fleet, but it would also be able to suppress the Dark Night Fleet and regain control of the sea.
Jiang Shang made it even more clear. "As the technology tree of the industrial revolution is unlocked, the dynasties all over the world are on the same starting line. If the empire wants to maintain its current hegemony on the sea, it must have the courage to heal its wounds.
"The earlier we take this step, the earlier we can take the lead."
The military naturally could not wait. They wanted to get back at the Dark Night Fleet after being suppressed by them. They suggested investing a large amount of resources to build six to eight ironclad warships in a short period of time.
Zheng He said, "Losing control of the Pacific Ocean might cause a chain reaction that will challenge the empire's global maritime hegemony. It will also be a heavy blow to global trade."
"How can there be industrialization without the support of trade?" Zheng He retorted.
Both sides had their own arguments, and no one could convince the other.
Seeing that the two sides were in a deadlock, Bai Hua suddenly stood up and said, "The construction speed of ironclad warships is mainly limited by the empire's level of industrialization. My suggestion is for the Empire to concentrate its resources and prioritize the development of a few cities while the Empire is fully industrializing. That way, we can walk at the forefront of industrialization. "
"For example, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta can be prioritized by the Imperial Court. This way, we can avoid blind construction and shorten the time it takes for the Pacific Fleet to take shape, striking a balance between the two. "
Bai Hua's suggestion made Ouyang Shuo's eyes light up.
In fact, industrialization didn't have high requirements for land. Otherwise, the British Empire wouldn't have conquered the world with just three islands.
Japan and Korea were the typical representatives of small countries that were strong.
Instead of blindly spreading industrialization throughout the Empire, it would be better to concentrate their efforts on developing the coastal cities first, forming industrial clusters, and concentrating their efforts on great things.
"This suggestion is feasible." Ouyang Shuo said, "The Cabinet can study it and make Shen City in the Yangtze River Delta and Zhenhai City in the Pearl River Delta as the first priority cities for industrialization."
"Its priority is even higher than the capital."
Everyone was shocked by his words.
Jiang Shang replied, "Your Majesty, won't that shake the capital's position as the economic center?"
Ouyang Shuo smiled. "I have never said that the capital should be the economic center. As the capital of the empire, the capital has to be the political and cultural center, but it doesn't have to be the economic center."
"With the wave of industrialization, the geographical location of the capital has determined that it will be very difficult for it to shoulder the burden of the empire's economic center. Forcefully developing the capital will only result in a waste of resources. "
When the ministers heard this, they fell into deep thought.
In history, there were countless countries whose political and economic centers belonged to different cities. It was not a strange phenomenon.
Inspired by Bai Hua, Ouyang Shuo said, "Shen City and Zhenhai City can be the first priority cities. In addition, Edo, Pusan, Binhai, Haijin, Jiaodong, Zhoushan, Quanzhou, Yinan, and Shicheng can be the second priority cities. "
"Inland, Huining, the capital, Luoyang, Xianyang, Chengdu, Jianye, and Dali can be the third priority cities. At the same time, the southern region and Africa can also be given priority to develop one or two cities. "
Ouyang Shuo's words drew a new blueprint for the empire's industrialization.
With the advancement of industrialization, the fate of the cities and even the provinces was about to usher in a new reshuffle. For example, Shen City, which used to be a prefectural city, was about to rise to the same level as Jianye City.
In the future, it might even surpass Jianye City and become the new economic center of the empire.
Two-thirds of the cities in the second priority cities were unknown. In the next few years, they would rapidly soar through the wave of industrialization and become the new dazzling pearl of the empire.
The development of new cities would also become a new growth point for the empire's economy.
In order to appease the military, Ouyang Shuo made a decision on the spot. "While we are doing our best to develop Shen City, we will build a brand-new world-class shipyard called Jiangnan Shipyard. It will be independent of the Huaxia Shipbuilding Group and directly under the management of the Asset Management Department."
"Before the end of the year, the Pacific Fleet must complete the upgrade." Ouyang Shuo even gave a firm order.
Only then did the military officials relax a little. It wasn't that they didn't have foresight, but because of the glory of the soldiers, they couldn't bear the humiliation of being defeated by the enemy.
The Great Xia army hadn't tasted such humiliation for a long time.
The cabinet didn't say anything else. Under the circumstances that industrialization wasn't fully spread, it would be much easier to allocate resources by concentrating on the development of coastal cities.
One year was enough.
"In the eighth year of Gaia, I'm afraid the empire's ocean trade with South America will be affected," Jiang Shang said.
This reminded Ouyang Shuo. "In response to the request of the Indian Empire for arms trade, I mean to sell all the obsolete matchlock guns and cannons to them. What do you think?"
"It's feasible."
Du Ruhui was in charge of the Privy Council and naturally had the most say. "According to the statistics of the Privy Council, there are about 500,000 matchlock guns and more than 1,000 cannons in the warehouses. The Combat Readiness Department doesn't know what to do with them. They are left idle in the warehouses, and the maintenance costs alone are not cheap. If we sell them, we can kill two birds with one stone. "
A conservative estimate was that this batch of arms could be sold for at least 12 million gold coins.
Ouyang Shuo nodded in satisfaction. "Then hurry up and transport this batch of arms to South America before the war in Hawaii ends and the sea route is smooth. In addition, half of the transactions with the Indian Empire will be paid in gold coins, and the other half will be converted into rations. All of them will be hoarded in Hou County. "
"Understood!" Du Ruhui understood tacitly.
Six million gold coins worth of rations was enough to support the American theater of operations for a year.
"In addition, take this opportunity to build a number of military factories in Hou County, especially those that produce bullets and cannons. Before the Indian Empire establishes an industrial system, we can still make a lot of money, "Ouyang Shuo instructed.
Du Ruhui nodded. She had a deep understanding of Her Majesty's "greed."
"Also …"
Ouyang Shuo wasn't done yet. "Test them and see if they have any plans to buy warships. Some of those obsolete warships can be sold, and the rest can be transformed into supply ships. "
Du Ruhui noted them down.
From the looks of it, Her Majesty wanted to take the opportunity to drain the Indian Empire's treasury.
Du Ruhui felt a little sorry for the Indian Empire. Even if they won the war with the Spanish Dynasty, they would probably be greatly weakened. At that time, would they still be able to stop the empire's expansion in South America?
Based on Du Ruhui's understanding of Her Majesty, although this time he agreed to the Indian Empire's request to purchase arms, they would only be selling obsolete weapons. Making money was secondary. Her Majesty's real intention was to let the war between the two countries continue like this, to maintain an undefeated situation.
If the Indian Empire successfully settled the Argentine region, would the Indian Empire still be able to complete the expansion of Great Xia in South America?
Therefore, for the empire, this was the best result.
It seemed that the Indian Empire's repeated "insubordination" had made Her Majesty quietly remove them from the list of allies. In the future, they could only be regarded as partners.
They might even become rivals in South American affairs.
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