Just when Zhao Xu and the others were walking in the Jiangnan Navy Division camp, they suddenly didn't know that a group of Song troops came out of there to surround Zhao Xu and others, and a captain led by him said: "Who dares to break into the Navy Division camp, take it for me." \ "Bold, His Majesty the Emperor is here, I see who dares to be so presumptuous."
Tong Guan stood up and said.
The lieutenant said: "His Majesty the Emperor pretending to be His Majesty is a capital crime, and if there is nothing to prove your identity, I can correct you on the spot." ” Tong Guan took out a spirit card from his body and put it in front of the captain, and after carefully distinguishing it, the captain immediately knelt down and said: "Humble Li Bao to see His Majesty the Emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live." ” "Who are you?"
Zhao Xu asked the lieutenant.
The lieutenant immediately replied, "Captain Li Bao." ” "Li Aiqing, take me to your camp to have a look."
Zhao Xu said.
Li Bao said to Zhao Xu: "Your Majesty, please come to your humble post." ” In the depths of the sailor camp, Zhao Xu saw Li Bao's camp, although Li Bao is a captain of the sailor, but there are not many soldiers and horses under his command, only a few hundred people, but the whole camp is very neat, and there are sentries standing guard, which makes Zhao Xu rush to a trace of relief, the army of the Great Song Dynasty in the south has not been completely rotten, which is good news for Zhao Xu, after coming to Li Bao's military tent, Zhao Xu's heart rose a thought.
This is a very simple military tent, there are only a few stools made of wood in the military tent, there is an armory rack, there is a chair, a bookcase and a bookshelf and that's it, Zhao Xu walked to the bookshelf and saw that there were all kinds of books on the bookshelf, except for the art of war, most of them were some history books; Zhao Xu asked Li Bao: "Li Aiqing, are these all the books you usually read?"
"Your Majesty."
Li Bao said; "I once went to a private school and took the imperial examination, but unfortunately I didn't pass the exam, so I chose to join the army."
Zhao Xu sat down on the chair and asked Li Bao: "Li Aiqing, you have a similar opinion about the water master, but it doesn't hurt to say it, I won't blame you." ” Li Bao saluted Zhao Xu and said: "Your Majesty, to put it bluntly, now the battalions of the naval division in the south of the Great Song Dynasty can be said to be rotten to the home, and all the things involved in the battalions are involved in deducting military salaries, eating empty salaries, residual smuggling, etc., and the ships of the naval division are old, the personnel are not complete, the training is not in place, and the combat effectiveness is low, and the current Great Song Dynasty can be said to have a sea but no defense. ” "Li Aiqing, has the sailor of the Great Song Dynasty reached such an unbearable situation?"
"Your Majesty, in fact, it's not just the sailors, but even the other armies south of the Yangtze River."
Li Bao continued; "The army south of the Yangtze River has been peaceful for a long time, and in the prosperous place south of the Yangtze River, the sharpness of the army has long been polished; Moreover, due to the lack of strong naval inspections, smuggling was rampant in the southern coastal provinces of the Great Song Dynasty, and if we were able to crack down on these smugglings, the financial and tax revenues of the Great Song Dynasty should be greatly improved. ” Zhao Xu nodded and said; "Li Aiqing, then how do you think this matter should be handled, how many naval divisions will be needed in the Great Song Dynasty to be able to re-establish coastal defense, and how many ships and soldiers and horses will be needed?"
Faced with Zhao Xu's question, Li Bao did not answer directly, but said: "Your Majesty, the humble position is just a small captain, and this kind of thing is not something that the humble position should consider. ” "I tell you to say it, and you say it, don't have any worries."
Zhao Xu said to Li Bao.
"Your Majesty, if you want to re-establish a complete set of coastal defense, you need at least 100,000 sailors and tens of thousands of sea ships to protect the entire sea frontier of the Great Song Dynasty.
It was not an overnight task to build such a large sailor, and the training of sailor soldiers was much more difficult; After the completion of the sailor, the daily maintenance alone will cost a lot of money, and the cost of going to sea once will be huge, and if it is added to the construction, it will be an astronomical amount; More importantly, the rebuilding of the Sailor will touch the interests of a large part of the people, including the officials of the court and the central government, as well as the local gentry and wealthy families, they are the cornerstone of His Majesty's stability in Jiangnan, and the slightest carelessness may cause turmoil in Jiangnan."
After listening to Li Bao's analysis, Zhao Xu nodded and said: "Li Aiqing is reasonable, it's a pity that such a big talent is here to serve as a naval captain, I will promote you to the guerrilla general of the naval division from now on, and I want you to retrain a new Great Song Naval Division for me." ” "Humble thanks, Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live" From the captain of the naval division to the guerrilla general of the naval division, Li Bao was promoted by one level, from an officer to the ranks of generals, although he is only a guerrilla general, but the power in Li Bao's hands is not small, the newly built naval division is to be formed by Li Bao, which has a lot of oil and water, and as a new army, Li Bao's influence as the first commander can be imagined.
"Your Majesty, the last general thinks that it is better to form a new naval division than to expand it on the basis of the Jiangnan Daying Naval Division, although there are many drawbacks in the naval division now, but the dismissal of the old and weak can still leave a lot of elites, after all, they have the energy to go to sea, have been trained, and they are much better than the recruits."
Li Bao said to Zhao Xu.
Zhao Xu thought about it for a while and said, "Well, since that's the case, let's do what Aiqing said."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Li Bao is actually selfish in doing this, and now the Jiangnan Navy Division Battalion can be called an army, and it is Li Bao's hundreds of people, these people are rolling over with Li Bao, and now Li Bao is promoted, and these former subordinates are also promoted, these people are Li Bao's descendants, and with them as the basis for the expansion of the Sailor Division, Li Bao will be able to master this Sailor Fleet from the beginning.
Although Li Bao did not say it, but the importance of the naval fleet is still very clear, it is no exaggeration to say that the Jiangnan naval fleet is the lifeblood of the Great Song Dynasty, is the gateway of the Great Song Dynasty, although Li Bao is a little selfish, but for the Great Song Dynasty royal family, for Zhao Xu is still very loyal, after all, it is Li Bao promoted by Zhao Xu, and Li Bao can be regarded as Zhao Xu's descendant strength.
But it is not so easy to rebuild the Jiangnan Water Division, today's Jiangnan Water Division is rotten to the bones, if it is to be reborn, there is only one way, that is, to scrape the bones and cure the poison; After Zhao Xu went back, he began to send people to investigate the whereabouts of the 300,000 taels of silver, and at the most critical moment of the Great Song Dynasty, the emperor took out 300,000 taels of silver to expand the camp of the sailors, but this money was swallowed up and embezzled, and of course Zhao Xu would not just forget it.
In fact, this matter is also very easy to investigate, the person who embezzled military salaries is none other than the commander of the Jiangnan Water Division, this person should not be taken down immediately, and his family was raided and exterminated, there are many people who are related to this matter, but Zhao Xu is very wise not to continue to investigate, because this matter is too wide, and Zhao Xu is just using this matter to make an example to everyone, and it is also to establish his own emperor prestige in Jiangnan.
The second is to continue to ask for support: