Yi Zhizu's words would naturally not be aimless. Although Huang Dianyuan established a South China Association to actively collect information from the South China Association to assist in the conquest of the South China Ocean, it still has a close relationship with the World Association of Nanyang, Guangdong, and Fujian. He just hopes to spread the news through the other party's mouth.

The Nanyang Navy has now become the strongest military force in the southeast and the strongest combat power of the imperial court. The news that the troops were pulled out of the South and the Northwest spread, which will inevitably stimulate all forces who are ready to move. He believes that the God worship association of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Heaven and Earth Association, the Qinglian Sect and other gangs with greater power must have close ties.

To be honest, he did not understand why God would choose to start a crime in the past or two years because of a serious natural disaster? Or was it noticed by local governments and forced to start a crime in advance? Or for other reasons? In short, it would be impossible to provide and create conditions for them in a timely manner.

Huang Dianyuan is most concerned about the battle in Nanyang. After all, the success or failure of this battle is directly related to the survival of the Nanhua Society. He does not want the Nanhua Society, which has been formed after countless efforts, to be like a flash in the pan. Seeing that Yi Zhizu was not optimistic about this battle, he shook his head slightly and said, "It was indeed a little hasty. I originally thought that it would take at least seven or eight years to conquer Nanyang... but I didn't expect that in just three years, the shopkeeper couldn't wait to raise his troops to fight in the south. If he delayed for another three years, he would not have enough troops..."

"I'm not waiting for time." Yi Zhizu said with a cigar in his mouth: "I hope I can delay it for a few more years, but this year is the best opportunity."

Huang Dianyuan said curiously: "How do you say this?"

"That's a long way to say it." Yi Zhizu said: "I have never said it to anyone."

After hearing this, Huang Dianyuan was even more excited and chuckled: "Now everything is available. I just wait for the morning to send troops to the next morning, and I am idle..."

Lin Meilian came in with a tea tray at this time and said casually: "Don't go out, you're here to listen."

What did you hear? Lin Meilian was a little puzzled. She stood obediently behind Yi Zhizu after serving tea.

"What are you most afraid of when you conquer the South China Sea? You are afraid of the interference of Western countries, afraid of Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain joining forces, and afraid of France. Citigroup took advantage of the situation to get a share of the pie. After all, the South China Sea Navy is not strong now and cannot compete with the Western countries." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Why can't wait to conquer the South China Sea this year? It is because Western countries are too busy to take care of themselves and cannot share their own concerns with the South China Sea."

"Why is this?"

"Information, we must learn to collect intelligence and analyze intelligence." Yi Zhizu said: "All of a sudden, Yuan Qi has paid great attention to the collection of intelligence, and Western countries are naturally the focus."

After a pause, he continued: "Severe natural disasters have occurred in the central and southern Europe in the past two years. Agricultural harvests have failed, and grain prices have more than doubled. Cotton in southern Citigroup has also failed, and the prices have also doubled. The most important thing is the UK.

In the past two years, the stock market in the UK has been bleak, with stock prices falling by 30% to 40%, and many companies went bankrupt. The most prosperous railway companies in these years have been unable to escape the misfortune. Last year, many railway projects were shut down, and even on the main line, the progress of the project slowed down greatly..."

"Big shopkeeper--." Huang Dianyuan quickly reached out to interrupt his words, "I really know very little about commerce, stocks, railway companies, etc. I don't know what it means. Can you say it simply?"

"What I said is simple enough." Yi Zhizu smiled and said: "In general, since the 23rd year of Daoguang, the British economy, which plays a significant role in the world economy, especially in the Western economy, has achieved a new round of prosperity and development. The fundamental reason lies in the rapid progress and development of metallurgy and machinery manufacturing technology, and of course it also benefits from the development of overseas markets, such as our Qing Dynasty.

This greatly stimulated the development of railway construction and textile industry, and European countries set off a new round of railway construction boom. The textile industry also greatly reduced costs due to the advancement of textile machinery manufacturing technology, thus expanding demand, increasing profits, and able to develop rapidly.

Today, the textile industry and railway construction are facing major crises, on the verge of bankruptcy, coupled with agricultural poor harvests and soaring food and cotton prices, which means that a new economic crisis is breaking out and will cover the UK and Europe, including Citigroup.”

Speaking of this, he smiled, "Do you understand?"

Huang Dianyuan shook his head and said, "What does this have to do with the conquest of Nanyang?"

"Of course, it has something to do, and it has a lot to do." Yi Zhizu said: "As the saying goes, some people are happy and some are worried. When an economic crisis broke out in Europe, the Western countries are worried. Who are they happy? Our Qing Dynasty! This means that the construction of the Qing Dynasty will reduce costs, and that means that the UK will increase its investment in the Qing Dynasty.

As the largest foreign trading country and the most important overseas market, in the case of an economic crisis in Europe, the United Kingdom will not go to war with us because of Spain and the Netherlands. France and Citigroup are also unable to take care of themselves and have no intention of disturbing the South China Sea. Spain and the Netherlands will also not dare to send troops to Southeast Asia on a large scale due to the economic crisis. After all, the war is about economic strength, what kind of war does not have money to fight?"

Huang Dianyuan nodded and said, "Know your enemy and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. No wonder the shopkeeper attaches so much importance to intelligence collection. However, after all, the shopkeeper has the ability to peel off the threads."

Lin Meilian's eyes were filled with bright colors and said softly: "Does the economic crisis mean that the national treasury is empty?"

"The harm is even greater." Yi Zhizu said: "The economic crisis means that many factories have collapsed, projects have stopped working, prices have soared, a large number of workers have lost their jobs, income has decreased, consumption has decreased, and social conflicts have intensified. It is far from being as simple as the emptiness of the treasury."

Yi Zhizu didn't know that what broke out in Europe was not only a large-scale economic crisis, but also a revolution that swept across Europe on a large scale. In January 1848, an uprising broke out in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, Italy. The rebels defeated the government forces and established a liberal government.

Then the February Revolution broke out in France. The insurrectionists seized all important strongholds in Paris and occupied the royal palace. King Louis Philippe was forced to flee to Britain and the Orleans dynasty was overthrown. Subsequently, the revolutionaries announced that France abolished the monarchy, formed a bourgeois provisional government headed by Lamartin, and established the Second French Republic.

In March, a large-scale mass demonstration broke out in Berlin, the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia, which followed, and turned into an uprising.

Subsequently, students and workers in the Austrian capital Vienna also held demonstrations, demanding the implementation of constitutionalism. The uprising forced Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I to remove Prime Minister Metternich, agreed to convene the National Assembly and formulate the constitution. The European Revolution is becoming more and more intense and is spreading rapidly in European countries.

In the early morning, the sky was just white, and the loud military horn sounded around Yulin Port. Naval officers and soldiers who had been raising their energy for many days stood up and worked hard to make the final preparations for sailing.

After Lin Meilian packed up neatly, she hurried to Yi Zhizu's big tent, but saw Yi Zhizu getting up and tidying up his military uniform. She hurriedly stepped forward to help. Yi Zhizu let her sort it out. Thinking of her seasickness, she smiled and said, "Going to sea soon, you are a little bit of aggrieved again."

Lin Meilian smiled and said, "I'm used to going south all the way." Thinking about it, she asked again, "How many days will I sail this time?"

"The fleet is large and there are many transport ships, and the speed is not fast, it will take about seven or eight days."

After hearing that it only took seven or eight days to sail on the sea, Lin Meilian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's not long, just stand up and go."

Yi Zhizuo smiled and ordered: "After a while, I will inform Yan Yangtian, Chen Hongming, Yi Zeng, Chang Bao, and Huang Dianyuan on the 'Zhenjiang' number."

After breakfast, the fleet slowly drove away from Yulin Port. On the deck of the 'Zhenjiang', Yan Yangtian pointed to Yulin Port and said, "Military Gate, the geographical location and conditions of this port are currently pretty good, but if we capture the Nanyang Islands, the importance of this place will be greatly reduced, and there seems to be no need to continue to build on a large scale."

After pondering for a little, Yi Zhizu said: "There is no need for too many ports. Even if you take Nanyang and Annan, this place is an indispensable transit port. In addition, as a military port for training recruits, it is also good. Do not reduce or slow down the construction of ports, and Yuanqi is not short of that little money."

"Yes, my subordinates' destiny."

Yi Zeng smiled and said, "It's still the military's thoughts are far-reaching."

"Take the Nanyang Sea, the navy will also expand on a large scale." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "We cannot learn from Genghis Khan. Every piece of land we have captured must be firmly guarded." As he said that, he pointed ahead, "Mine is not only available on land, but also contains inexhaustible minerals under the sea. If you set off at Nanyang, this South China Sea is the inner sea of ​​our Qing Dynasty."

Undersea minerals? Everyone was stunned and hesitated a little. Yi Zeng said: "Even if there are minerals under the sea, how can I mine them?"

Yi Zhizu said: "It's impossible now, how can you know it's impossible in the future?"

"The military gates of Nanyang are not small. If you want to firmly defend them, you will probably have a large-scale navy." Yan Yangtian said: "Will the court allow it?"

"It's not me who say you, you are now in an era of rapid development and change, and your thoughts must keep pace with the times." Yi Zhizu said with an old ambition: "The railway has changed land transportation, and traveling thousands of miles a day is no longer a big deal. It only takes four or five days to get to the capital of Guangzhou. Don't you realize that the territory of the Qing Dynasty is too small?

Why advocate northwest expansion? It is based on the railway. Now, Xinjiang is far away and the railway is connected in four or five days. No matter how wide the expansion is, the imperial court can easily rule!

The same is true for the ocean. You have seen steamships. In the future, seaships will be replaced by steamships. Now England and France have tried to build steam iron ships, and Yuanqi is also investing a lot of money in research and development. You see, in less than twenty years, navigation will inevitably undergo earth-shaking changes.

In the future, our wooden sail warships will be eliminated and all replaced by steam iron armor warships, and merchant ships will also be replaced by iron ships. In the future, iron ships will not only become larger and larger, but also faster and faster.

Now we see that the Southeast Ocean is very big, and it will take seven or eight days to go from Yulin to Manila. But if the ship is fast, it will be possible to reach Manila in just one or two days. What will it be? By then, one or two fleets can protect all the sea borders of the Qing Dynasty.”

Everyone was collectively stunned. It was not impossible to think about it carefully. After all, the speed of the steamship built by Yuanqi is not comparable to that of a sailboat, and the railway is also a living fact before us.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "Go back to the official hall, let Mr. Huang talk about the situation in Manila in detail."

After the seat of the official hall, Yi Zhizu glanced at everyone and said, "Manila is the political, economic and military center of Spain in Luzon. The Bay of Manila is also very open. We use our fleet to carry out large-scale naval battles. My plan is to attack Huanglong directly, first attack Manila, destroy the Spanish's determination and confidence in resisting, so as to achieve the goal of a quick battle."

Speaking of this, he looked at Huang Dianyuan and said, "Mr. Huang, let me introduce you to the situation in Manila."

Huang Dianyuan was not humble, and coughed lightly, saying, "You all know that since the Ming Dynasty, the Spanish entrenched in Luzon have carried out several large-scale massacres of the Han people. The reason is that they are worried about China's conquest of Luzon. However, Lin Feng, the pirate of the Ming Dynasty, did lead troops to attack Manila.

The Spanish have always been hostile to the Han people in Luzon and strictly guarded against them. The Han people's status in Manila has always been very low and can be said to be the lowest level. This is clearly reflected in the Spanish taxation.

In Luzon, whites were exempted from taxes, local indigenous people needed to pay basic taxes, Han people had to pay twice the basic taxes, and Han people had to pay four times the basic taxes. Even so, the Spaniards strictly controlled the size of the Han people in Luzon.

Since the establishment of the Nanyang Navy, especially after the expedition of Annan and Japan, Spain has been very vigilant. Not only has it increased its troops stationed in Luzon, but its defense against the Han people in Luzon has reached unprecedented rigorousness, making it very difficult for us to spy and collect intelligence."

After a slight pause, he continued: "It has been two years since the intelligence spying and collection of Manila. At present, the Spanish have eight warships in Manila, with about 5,000 troops stationed. In addition, there are about 7,000 indigenous soldiers trained by the Spanish."

The intelligence spy on Manila has been collected for two years. Everyone here felt at ease. As for Manila's troops, they didn't care about it. After all, the total number was only about 13,000, which was far less than the strength of the Nanyang Navy. Yi Zeng couldn't wait to ask: "How are their weapons and equipment?"

"The artillery cannot be observed." Huang Dianyuan said: "As for muskets, we can't tell whether it is a Minni gun. We only know that it is a fire hat gun with bayonets. About half of the indigenous soldiers are equipped with muskets. However, the muskets of the indigenous soldiers are obviously not as good as those of the Spanish."
Chapter completed!