The Sea Dragon Army, as the most powerful navy in the Tang Dynasty, has always been the king of the sea.

At present, there are three navy soldiers in the Tang Dynasty.

One is the Yellow River Navy, whose main task is to clear the silt, ensure navigation, and maintain the canal transport of the entire Yellow River, as the first line of defense in Luoyang.

For ships, there are basically about a hundred ships of all sizes, and only five or six ships with three hundred materials.

Because it is to clear the Yellow River, there are more than 2,000 people.

Therefore, the Yellow River Naval Master was established separately.

Because he is in Kinki, he belongs to the Governor's Office of the Five Army and is directly under the emperor's direct jurisdiction.

The other one is the Yangtze River Navy.

The Yangtze River does not have much silt, but the rushing river water has great power, so the Yangtze River Navy also works part-time to save flooded villages and fishermen on a daily basis.

There are many tributaries of the Yangtze River and vast waters. In addition to Dongting Lake, there are also giant lakes such as Poyang Lake and Chaohu Lake. Naturally, there are also many water bandits.

Therefore, the task of the Yangtze River Navy is to suppress bandits, continuously suppress bandits, and ensure shipping.

Therefore, the Yangtze River Navy was second only to the Hailong Army, with more than 300 ships, most of which were ships with 300 materials, and there were nearly 20 large ships with 500 materials, which can be said to be an elite army.

The number of troops is 6,000, and the base is located in the two places of Jinling and Jiangling. One is in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the other is in the lower reaches. It can be said that it is like two large pliers that clamp the Yangtze River.

In terms of jurisdiction, Jiangling's navy was led by the Dushi of Hubei Prefecture Army and the governor's office of the Five Army of Luoyang.

As for Jinling, they also have dual leaders, Jiangning Prefecture and the Governor's Office of the Five Army.

The most powerful Hailong Army is directly under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office of the Five Army.

The Hailong Army has three resident locations, one on Hainan Island, the other two, and the other in Mingzhou, Zhejiang Prefecture, which was later Ningbo.

The last one is also the two prefectures of Denglai, which is based in Shandong Prefecture and closely monitors the entire Bohai Sea region and the Yellow Sea.

Therefore, the scale of the Sea Dragon Army is the largest, reaching a huge number of 15,000 people.

Among them, Hainan, Mingzhou, and Laizhou each have 5,000 people.

On the ship, there were more than a hundred ships with eight hundred materials, and dozens of ships with thousands of materials. The total number of other small ships was more than five hundred.

In the entire East, or the world at this time, there is such a huge naval force, and there is only the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, inland waters are useful after all, and whether it is a bandit suppression or something, it will be effective.

But the Hailong Army is not as useful as imagined, but it consumes the most money and food.

An ordinary sea ship with eight hundred materials costs five or six hundred guan. The emperor spent hundreds of thousands of guan on the Sea Dragon Army for so many years, which is not a small amount.

The daily maintenance and military expenditure of the Hailong Army is nearly 100,000 chunks per year.

In the court, many officials made some slight remarks, and were quite dissatisfied with the great consumption of the Hailong Army and even wanted to abolish it.

Naturally, the emperor would not allow it.

It is precisely because of this that Zhou Kui was under great pressure. He urgently wanted to prove himself and prove that the Hailong Army still had a great effect.

Therefore, when the emperor sent a task, he accepted it calmly and even actively.

"I need the Hailong Army to transport five million stones of grain from the three prefectures of Lingnan, Chameng and Annan to Jeju Island for reserve!"

The emperor issued a task: "In addition, four million stones of grain will be transported from Luoyang and also sent to Jeju Island for storage."

"Remember, it's after the summer harvest, not now."

Zhou Kui was shocked when he heard such a large amount: "Your Majesty, there are so many food and grass, I'm afraid there is not too much!"

"Man eats horses and chews, not much!"

Li Jia sighed and then asked again: "How long will it take to end the winter freeze in the Bohai Sea?"

"About about a month!"

Zhou Kui thought for a while and said.

"Okay, there is still one month before the summer harvest. Then from the summer harvest to May next year, there are still ten months left. The Hailong Army must transport all this food to Jeju Island."

Li Jiayu said earnestly: "This is a great task entrusted to you by the court. You must do it well so that those who look down on you can see the power of the Hailong Army."

"No——" Zhou Kui's face turned red, and he left in a hurry as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

Seeing him leaving, Li Jia couldn't help but shake her head.

People in the world have very short-sighted knowledge. In just a few years, they have forgotten the power of the Hailong Army and are eager to reduce the amount of money and lay off the abolition.

Isn’t it? The benefits of 100,000 guan each year are difficult to measure.

However, it is difficult to protect the interests of merchants.

Li Jia thought about it and frowned and said, "It seems that we still have to enfeoff some foreign countries in Southeast Asia. In this way, the Hailong Army is a powerful weapon for the imperial court to maintain the foreign countries and shock the foreign countries!"

Things that are useful are always not so easy to be abandoned.

Zhou Kui left Luoyang in a hurry, and then hurried to Mingzhou in Zhejiang Prefecture, which is the base camp of the Hailong Army.

It is also the most prosperous port in the entire Zhejiang Prefecture.

Due to the expansion of the Maritime Silk Road, from Lingnan to Zhejiang, the coastal generation's trade expanded rapidly, and the shipbuilding industry, handicrafts, and fangs were also constantly developing and prospering.

Especially Mingzhou, which is relatively close to Jiangnan, is a rare deep-water port. It has prosperous business and increased tax revenues, and the transfer makes the official yamen extremely wide and conspicuous.

The Hailong Army Yamen is not much inferior.

The extra income at sea is too much, and you will starve to death by relying solely on your salary.

When he looked up, he saw the tall stone lion, and Zhou Kui walked in with his head raised and his chest raised.

"See the commander!"

Several guards were busy saluting and were extremely respectful.

Zhou Kui nodded, went straight in, and soon gathered everyone.

"How many ships do we have now?"

The dozens of people in the row, when they heard the commander's question, could not help but look at each other.

The Hailong Army uses three hundred material ships as the basic line.

For ships with less than three hundred materials, five are the capital, and the capital is the head.

There are three hundred to five hundred materials, and the commander will be set up to govern five Dutou and several large ships with three or five hundred materials.

As for the 800-material ship, it is basically directly under Zhou Kui. Except for taking out some as flagships, the rest are directly under the headquarters.

Everyone reported the ships under their command one by one.

Zhou Kui carefully estimated and said, "The court has handed us an important task. In the next half year, we will have to transport food and grass for the court and let the brothers stop their work."

"Commander, we are soldiers, why are we sending food again?"

"Bah, I'm using a boat anyway, so there's no difference. You guys do it well for me, don't try to get the benefits."

Zhou Kui cursed rudely, no one dared to talk back.

"By the way, we have ordered a large ship of 1,500 materials. Have we prepared it?"

"Absolutely, it's almost time to test the waters!"
Chapter completed!