1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3630

Tokugawa Ietsugu had a strong desire for war and was willing to spend money to purchase military equipment, even if it meant borrowing money by mortgage. But this was not something that could be achieved unilaterally, as there were objective difficulties that were difficult to resolve.

Even if Hai Han did not consider the need for checks and balances and was willing to take the order according to Tokugawa Ietsugu's purchasing intention, it would still have to wait for a long delivery period.

"I think Lord Tokugawa should also know that our country's shipyards are now in a state of saturation production and can no longer deliver quickly. Forty ships, even if the shogunate pays and places an order immediately, I estimate that all construction work will not be completed until the year after next at the earliest."

Shi Diwen did not immediately indicate whether he would take on this big deal, but instead explained to Tokugawa Ietsuga the inevitable delivery date issue.

Shi Diwen pretended not to notice Tokugawa Ietsugu's ugly expression and continued, "My suggestion is that the shogunate doesn't need to be so anxious. It can wait until we complete the last batch of shipbuilding orders, so that there will be enough time to train the navy. Forty warships require a lot of sailors, and I guess the shogunate doesn't have that many staff yet."

What Shi Diwen said was indeed one of the shortcomings of the shogunate. The formation cycles of the navy and the army were very different, and the replenishment and expansion of the navy could not be as fast as that of the army.

The training of army musketeers can even be compressed into one month, which can turn a peasant soldier into a basically qualified musketeer. The training cycle of navy sailors is much longer than that of army troops. A novice sailor has to stay on the ship for at least a year and a half, and the weapons and equipment he needs to learn to use are not just muskets.

To form truly usable combat capability after receiving the warships, even by the standards of the Hai Han Army, it would take years.

In Shi Diwen's opinion, the shogunate army may not have enough professional personnel to take over the warships that are currently under construction. It would be meaningless to buy another batch of ships at this time if there is no one to operate them in the end.

Although the shogunate's naval fleet was larger than the Kyushu coalition, it had suffered heavy losses in the frequent battles over the past six months. It was extremely difficult just to replenish these losses, let alone expand the organization.

But Tokugawa Ietsugu remained unmoved and responded firmly: "It is better for ships to wait for people than for people to wait for ships! The combat fleet must be expanded. This is the attitude of the shogunate!"

Tokugawa Ietsugu's idea was different from Shi Diwen's. He was not only considering increasing the military strength of the shogunate, nor was he just showing Hai Han the shogunate's determination to conquer Kyushu, but also wanted to use this to achieve internal political influence.

He hoped that through this astonishingly large military procurement order, he could effectively deter local forces that were ready to make moves in the country, and let everyone know what kind of military pressure they would face if they confronted the shogunate.

At the same time, he also knew that Hai Han would definitely inform the various vassal states in Kyushu of the details of this arms purchase. This was exactly one of his goals, to use continuous large-scale arms purchases to bring down Kyushu’s finances.

If the feudal lords of Kyushu want to follow suit, they can only increase local taxes and at the same time desperately cut spending in other areas, and most of the time they will have to borrow money from Hai Han.

At the same time, such a large order would squeeze Hai Han’s limited production capacity for export warships. Even if the Kyushu vassal states gritted their teeth and followed suit, their delivery dates would have to be scheduled for the more distant future, and they might not be able to wait until the time when the ships were received.

If they did not follow, the gap in military strength between the two sides would widen further. Even if they continued to resist, in one or two years, the shogunate army would be able to redeem all the warships of the Kyushu coalition even if they fought hard. Therefore, even if he had to sell everything he had, Tokugawa Ietsuga insisted on buying another batch of warships from Hai Han. He was sure that Shi Diwen would not reject this lucrative deal. At most, he would deliberately set more transaction conditions.

The firm attitude shown by Tokugawa Ietsuga did make Shi Diwen hesitate. He originally wanted the other party to give up and temporarily give up this plan, which would also reduce some pressure on the Kyushu feudal lords.

But since Tokugawa Iematsu is not so urgent about the period of forming an army, it seems there is no harm in taking the deal first.

However, there is no need for the two of them to discuss in detail how the transaction will be implemented. They just need to confirm the general intention first, and the people responsible for related matters will follow up and finalize the details.

After discussing this matter, Shi Diwen also deliberately expressed his concern about the unrest in Kyoto, asking Tokugawa Ietsugu whether the local situation would develop into a situation similar to that in Kyushu.

Of course, Tokugawa Ietsugu firmly denied this: "The so-called chaos in Kyoto is just the misconduct of a very small number of ronin samurai, and the shogunate has suppressed it. Kyoto has now returned to stability, and the refugees will soon be arranged to return home."

Of course, Tokugawa Ietsugu knew that the situation in Kyoto was not as optimistic as he said, and he also knew that Shi Diwen had his own information channels, but he must not show weakness in front of the other party, and he had to say some polite words to get through it no matter what.

Shi Diwen smiled and said, "As far as I know, in recent days, Nijo Castle in Kyoto has been issuing orders in the name of Lord Tokugawa... This clone technique is really amazing!"

Seeing that Shi Diwen had seen through his plan, Tokugawa Ietsugu smiled and said, "Master Shi, you are too kind! It is precisely because the situation in Kyoto has stabilized that I can return to the front line with peace of mind."

Shi Diwen thought that it might not be so easy to stabilize Kyoto. The shogunate was now finding it difficult to take care of both ends. As long as the royal family had the intention to resist the shogunate, there would be another large-scale civil unrest.

But he would not go to wake up the other party. The shogunate was not prepared enough, so Kyoto would be in a good position. By then, even if Tokugawa Ietsugu went to Kyoto to supervise the battle again, it would probably not be as easy to resolve as the previous civil unrest.

What surprised Shi Diwen was that Tokugawa Ietsugu did not take the opportunity of the meeting to ask him about the attitudes of the Kyushu vassal states. Shi Diwen believed that this showed that Tokugawa Ietsugu had no intention of starting a ceasefire and peace talks with the Kyushu vassal states.

It seems that the previous unfavorable battle situation did not have much impact on Tokugawa Ietsugu's confidence, and defeating the opponent on the battlefield was still his first choice.

Shi Diwen couldn't help but look at Tokugawa Ietsuga with some admiration. Considering his current age, he remained calm after encountering such a series of setbacks and still confidently insisted on his goals. He indeed had some leadership qualities.

If Hai Han had not intervened and launched this protracted civil war, in time, Tokugawa Iematsu might have become a powerful ruler of Japan.

Of course, the current situation of the shogunate is becoming more and more dangerous, and no one can predict how long the Tokugawa family's rule can last. And the difficulties that Tokugawa Ietsugu will face will only increase. Whether he can pass these tests depends on his own luck.