"Push?" Wu Haogu picked up another imperial examination paper, frowned and looked at it. While reading the paper, he was also talking to his son. "Where are you going to push Jingchu?"

"Or let Jingchu form his own family, or push Jingchu into the Eastern Song Dynasty."

Wu Haogu just shook his head slightly when he heard this. Wu Sanro is just a legal expert and has a considerable understanding of economic issues. Moreover, he also has a group of followers from the Umdae Academy of Law School, who can also get advice from senior executives of the Republican Bank and Tianjin Bank. This allows him to handle internal affairs of the Republican Republic with ease.

However, he didn't know much about the "internal communication issue", at least he had not studied it in depth. He only saw that the Western Song Dynasty had 200,000 to 300,000 military households, with a large area and a large population, so he thought that the Western Song Dynasty was a powerful enemy of the Zhou Kingdom. The Eastern Song Dynasty was just a loose United States of more than a dozen states, and Wu Meiniang was in power, so he took it for granted that the Eastern Song Dynasty was not harmful.

And this understanding is quite wrong!

"Jing Chu should enter the Western Song Dynasty!" Wu Haogu's tone was quite serious, "Because the Western Song Dynasty was not worth worrying about, and the Eastern Song Dynasty was the country's major trouble!"

"The Eastern Song Dynasty is a big problem? How is it possible?" Wu Yijiu was stunned, "I'm the eldest sister in charge of the Eastern Song Dynasty's court!"

"You sister can't be enemies with you?" Wu Haogu asked back, "Remember, the most ruthless imperial family! Mei Niang is now in the imperial family... and the strength of the Western Song Dynasty lies in the inland and farming. The Qin, Han and Tang dynasties relied on farming and fighting, which was military merit and title. But the future is on the sea, but in business. For the future, Jingchu is still acceptable, but Guanlong cannot do anything to the Eastern Song Dynasty. Neither Guanlong nor Jingchu can do anything to the Eastern Song Dynasty, and the two are not opponents."

"How could it be?" Wu Yijiu shook his head and said, "Since ancient times, Pingjiangnan has been built from the upper reaches of Bashu, and the middle reaches of Jingxiang, and downstream along the river. If Jingchu enters the Western Song Dynasty, then the middle and upper reaches of Jiangnan have enemies."

"Haha, do you think it's time for Wang Jun to go down to Yizhou and Jinling to recover his kingly spirit? Now is the era of artillery warships. What's the use of tower ships? The navy of the Eastern Song Dynasty across the South and the West would lose to the landslides in Guanlong? Moreover, with the width of the Yangtze River, it can be completely blocked with heavy artillery. The Eastern Song Dynasty only needs to build a river defense bastion in Jiangzhou (Jiujiang area) and lay 24 kilograms of cannons, which is enough to deal with the upstream tower ships. With the financial resources and construction capabilities of the Eastern Song Dynasty, it can completely block the Yangtze River waterway with the bastion group.

In addition, in the hands of the Eastern Song Dynasty, their navy can conduct comprehensive surveys and clear out the waterways for heavy gunboats to enter and exit, and can also specially design and manufacture Yangtze-type gunboats.

Therefore, the Yangtze River waterway will inevitably be firmly grasped by the Eastern Song Dynasty in the future! Without the Yangtze River, the Western Song Dynasty could not threaten the Eastern Song Dynasty at all."

Wu Haogu’s view is based on later experience. Although the Southern Song Dynasty in history was destroyed by the Mongolian and Yuan army that flowed down from Xiangyang. However, the Southern Song Dynasty at that time was completely different from the Eastern Song Dynasty, which has now become a bourgeois United States!

The Huangshui Navy of the Eastern Song Dynasty can confront the New Zhou Navy! The artillery cast by the Eastern Song Dynasty and the New Zhou artillery can be said to be inconsistent with each other. There may be a gap in field artillery, but in terms of heavy shore defense artillery and naval artillery, they are almost exactly the same.

How could that kind of big and slow tower ship withstand the bombardment of the bronze cannons of the Eastern Song Dynasty?

As for the battle on the water, let alone. If the opponent has no advantage of the big ship going downstream, how could the highly professional Dongsong Navy lose to the landlady in Guanlong?

If the Yangtze River cannot be controlled, the Western Song Dynasty will not be able to conquer the Eastern Song Dynasty by land.

In this era, Jiangnan was not developed enough, and all cities relied on waterways for transportation. Later, railways and expressways were built, and many of them were still forests and hills. They were not suitable for large army access!

In other words, whoever controls the main stream of the Yangtze River can control a series of tributaries connected to it and also control the entire water transportation system in the south of the Yangtze River. By controlling this system, the troops can be quickly and quickly transported to any stronghold that is subject to attack, and there is no need to worry about logistics transfers.

The cost of water transportation in Jiangnan is negligible compared to land transportation!

If the Western Song Dynasty, which had no water transportation capacity, was really going to invade the east in large quantities, it would definitely be dragged to death by its poor logistics system.

"But the Eastern Song Dynasty could not threaten the Western Song Dynasty even more." Wu Yijiu said, "The Western Song Dynasty could also build a fortress on the Yangtze River. Although their artillery was not as good as the Eastern Song Dynasty, if they worked hard, they could cast giant cannons of more than 20 kilograms. Even if they did not form a huge river waterproof army, it would be enough to block the Eastern Song Dynasty's fleet from the downstream.

In addition, the Western Song Dynasty had more populations than the Eastern Song Dynasty and had more military households. Compared with the Song Dynasty, the East was weaker and the West was stronger.”

"How can the east be weak and the west be strong?" Wu Haogu shook his head, "Sanlang, now is the era of navigation! You cannot ignore the help of the ocean to the Eastern Song Dynasty. The industry and commerce of the Eastern Song Dynasty, which is supported by the sea, is enough to compete with the industry and commerce of our Great Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, the fertile soil of Jiangnan can also support people. Although the population of the Eastern Song Dynasty is less than that of us and the Western Song Dynasty, in time, it may surpass us.

In addition, the Eastern Song Dynasty was closer to the South and the West, and was more conducive to making profits from trade between the South and the West. With enough interests, only a strong navy can be maintained. The strength of the navy can promote the development of Southeast industry and commerce. In the long run, the Western Song Dynasty was not worth worrying about, and the Eastern Song Dynasty was the biggest concern!

If I want to get involved in the country, I must first annex the Eastern Song Dynasty!”

Wu Haogu's view is completely opposite to China's historical emphasis on the north and the west and the east.

However, it is inevitable that it will be correct in the context of the bourgeoisie's infancy and growth and the future industrial revolution.

It is almost certain now that the industrial revolution will inevitably occur in the New Zhou, the Eastern Song Dynasty, and the Western Song Dynasty... It is impossible to carry out the industrial revolution in Guanlong regardless of costs and rely on the official industry to forcibly promote it.

It would be nice if the Western Song Dynasty did not become a serf-domestic country like Tsarist Russia. Moreover, the Western Song Dynasty did not have as broad development space as Tsarist Russia, nor did there be an outlet like St. Petersburg.

Its space for development to the east was banned by the Eastern Song Dynasty and the New Zhou Dynasty. The only possible development direction was the West... and the more we went west, the further the Western Song Dynasty was from industrialization.

"Dad," Wu Yijiu frowned, "If the Eastern Song Dynasty is a big trouble, how can we ensure that the Great Zhou can defeat the Eastern Song Dynasty in the future?"

"First of all, we cannot let the Eastern Song Dynasty take over Jingchu!" Wuhao Ancient Road, "Jingchu is vast and relies on the Yangtze River, Han River and Xiangjiang River waterways, and it is easy to become a part of the Eastern Song Dynasty. If Jingchu enters the Eastern Song Dynasty, the population of the Eastern Song Dynasty will inevitably reach tens of millions in the future!

And how many people can our territory support? The Central Plains, Hebei is broken, Goryeo has too many mountains, and it is too cold north of the Liaohe River Basin. Those who can support people are Liao Province, Shandong, and north and south. They cannot support millions of people no matter what!”

"How can we push Jingchu into the Western Song Dynasty?"

Wu Haogu said: "I'll do this! Mei Niang is my daughter. No one knows her daughter is better than her father. I know what she wants?"

"Okay!" Wu Yijiu nodded, "Then please dad."

Wu Haogu said again: "It is not enough to just promote Jingchu into the Western Song Dynasty. We also need to annex Japan!"

"What?" Wu Yijiu was stunned, "Dad wants to annex Japan?"

"Yes!" Wu Hao Ancient Road, "From the current situation, Japan produces a lot of gold and silver, and its citizens are similar to the Han people, and they also use Chinese characters. The upper class also speaks Chinese and believes in Chinese Buddhism. Moreover, its country is broken and the system of enfeoffment of the manor is implemented, making it difficult to form a joint force.

With just tens of thousands of Bohai people, they can occupy the land of Northeast Japan, let alone the strength of our Great Zhou Kingdom?

Moreover, Japan's territory is not small, no less than that of Liaodong and western Liaoning. Although it is an island country, there are also large plains. Japan calls it the land of Sakadong and is no less than that of Nanzhili. The Bohai Island (Hokkaido) owned by the Bohai people also have plains and black soil, which is no less than that of Liaodong.

If we have Japanese islands, we can colonize them in large quantities. The barren lands in the Central Plains can also take a breath... With the soil of Japanese islands, it is not a problem to raise 15 million to 20 million people. Japan also has gold and silver deposits and good ports, so it can develop industry and commerce.

With Japan, our Great Zhou will not be overshadowed by the Eastern Song Dynasty!”

Wu Haogu's purpose of conquering Japan was not entirely to use Japan's land to raise more Chinese population. But in his opinion: if you want to conquer the world, you must first conquer America; if you want to conquer America, you must first conquer Japan.

The reason for this view is to look at the map. If you don’t take Japan, where will the fleet heading to the New World in the future start?

It is bound to be taken from Japan as the starting point! It is more than 6,000 kilometers from Japan to Vancouver Island in North America. It is less than 5,000 kilometers away from England to Malacca, but not much farther. If you want to bypass Japan and start directly from Goryeo, it will be more than 8,000 kilometers away. It is even further from Jiangnan, and there are 9,000 kilometers.

Don’t underestimate these two or three thousand kilometers. At a speed of five knots, you have to float for more than ten days. The fresh water consumed in these ten days is nothing on land. On the sea where there is no supply, the crew and cargo of sailboats will be severely reduced.

So once a new continent is discovered and East Asia enters the Age of Discovery, Japan will become a very critical region.

And no matter where you start, as long as you walk to the North Pacific, there is no way to avoid the waters near Japan.

It can be said that those who win Japan will win the oceans and America!

Now that the war on the East Asian continent has come to an end, the three-legged momentum has been established, it should be impossible to break it before the era of the industrial revolution.

Therefore, the competition at sea will determine the future of East Asia.
Chapter completed!