After hearing the decree, Zhang Pengchong and Ma Qi immediately understood that the reason why Bao Fuquan came to pass the decree in person was to deliberately ask the four of them to meet in advance. After the four of them bowed and received the decree, Ma Qi asked in a deep voice: "Has the Beiyang Fleet returned?"

Bao Fuquan said nothing, but just smiled slightly, and Zhang Penghong bowed and said, "I'm sorry, Eunuch Bao reported to the emperor on his behalf, and the four people went to the study to ask for a meeting."

"This is a servant's duty, so you guys don't have to be polite." Bao Fuquan returned a tribute and said with a smile: "The Emperor is in the Ganqing Palace." After that, he turned around and left quickly.

As soon as Bao Fuquan left, Zhang Penghu and the other four were busy sorting out the court uniforms. Xiao Yongzao hung the court beads and said, "Everyone, since the emperor urgently summoned a group of princes and nobles for the American ban, the Beiyang Fleet brought back is probably not good news."

Zhang Penghong said lightly: "The American feudal states are not only related to the implementation of overseas feudal states, but also a long-term battle between our Qing Empire and European countries in the Americas, and are related to the fate of the Qing Dynasty. It is reported that returning from the Americas can arrive in Tianjin in March, which is faster than coming from Europe."

After hearing this, Ma Qi and the other two understood that Zhang Penghong was reminding them to stand firm. The three of them were silent. Zhenwu was so anxious to summon everyone. The Beiyang Fleet was afraid that it would be in big trouble, so it would be better to figure out the whole story first.

When he heard that Zhang Penghong and Ma Qi and the other four were handing out signs to ask for a meeting, Zhenwu immediately ordered: "Xuan and the others come in."

After the four people came in to see the ceremony, Zhenwu gave him a seat to appreciate tea as usual. After waiting for the four people to sit down, he spoke: "The Beiyang Fleet has returned to Tianjin, and Yande has also returned to Beijing. The Beiyang Fleet has made its first cross-ocean voyage and opened a route from the Qing Dynasty to the Americas. It can be said that it has completed the mission successfully. The Port of Acapulco is under the control of the navy. The only one who lacks the beauty has suffered too much loss. Eight ships were destroyed during the long voyage, and the ships were destroyed and people were lost, with more than 1,700 people."

The loss was so heavy that Zhang Pengchong and Ma Qi were all stunned. A long voyage caused such a huge loss. What's the benefit of opening a route to America? Even the court could not afford such a huge loss, let alone a group of princes and nobles?

The four of them immediately understood the purpose of Zhenwu summoning everyone. The American feudalism is of great importance, and Zhenwu would never give up. The purpose of his convening everyone was nothing more than to encourage everyone to expand the American feudal states. However, the losses were so great, who would be willing to take this risk? After all, the prospects and benefits of the American feudal states are still unknown.

After a moment of pondering, Wang Shu said first: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, the world is bustling, all comes for profit. The world is bustling, all goes for profit. The Americas are voyages with such great risks. However, the results are very slow, and the benefits are even more unknown. I am worried that all the princes and nobles will retreat in fear of difficulties."

Xiao Yongzao was a Han army's white bannerman. After hearing this, he immediately said: "I have a proposal to make a voyage to the United States. The loss will be so huge. The price is really unbearable. Not only will the princes and nobles be afraid, but the people of the banner will regard the sea as if they are afraid. I beg the emperor to make a slight weighing the pros and cons of the long voyage in America."

"The arrow is not turned back. How can we weigh the matter now?" Yinzhen said: "Now the route has been opened, the port of Acapulco has been occupied, and the first batch of explored ships have gone north and south to find a foothold. Could it be that it will be withdrawn? Besides, there will be losses when withdrawing."

After being robbed by Yinzhen, Xiao Yongzao said without showing any weakness: "The Americas is vast, and it is useless to scatter two or three thousand people. If it becomes a climate, it must be millions of people. If it continues to lose like this, the court will not be able to bear it."

Seeing the two of them fighting each other, Zhang Pengchong couldn't help but frowned slightly. After pondering for a moment, he said in a deep voice: "How can everything be generalized? Although the loss was a bit unexpected, this was the first voyage after all. The Qing Dynasty's maritime trade has been limited to a corner of the South China Sea for nearly a hundred years. It is reasonable to have a little more loss. If you accumulate more experience, the losses will naturally be reduced."

Ma Qi hurriedly followed, "Slaves' proposal that the American franchise is related to the fate of the country. How can we retreat when we encounter setbacks? Isn't this a waste of food? Slaves secretly think that the size of the long-distance fleet can be slightly controlled to minimize losses, and at the same time, strengthen the training of sailors and gradually increase the size of the long-distance fleet."

Zhenwu glanced at the four people, pondered for a moment before speaking: "The American feudalism is related to the prosperity and decline of the Qing Dynasty and the national policy. How can we change the orders every day? There is no need to discuss the pros and cons. As for interests, fertile land and vast grasslands are endless wealth, not to mention the rich mines and slaves in the Americas, how can we just look at the front of us?"

Speaking of this, he glanced at Zhang Pengchong, Ma Qi, and then continued: "The voyage from European countries to America is much closer than that of the Qing Dynasty. Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain, and France have successively explored overseas territories in the Americas. The reason why they have not expanded greatly in the Americas is that Europe is busy with war and has no time to take care of it.

To explore the Americas, the Qing Dynasty was far behind the European countries and could not wait any longer, because the opportunity passed in a flash! As soon as the European war ended, European countries would transfer their troops to the Americas, explore the Americas in large quantities, and plunder the Americas to make up for the losses caused by the war.

Now it is the best time for the Qing Dynasty to explore America, but there is not much time left for the Qing Dynasty. If the South China Fleet can prolong the war in Europe, it may win us three or five years. If we do nothing, the European war will end in just one or two years. In this case, how can the Qing Dynasty wait?"

After hearing this, the people here were shocked. Zhenwu meant that he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of European countries to take into account the Americas and expand the American ban? But where did this force come from? Where did the immigration come from? Are you immigrating to Australia on a large scale now? Besides, how can you bear the losses of long-distance voyages on the sea?

After pondering for a moment, Ma Qi said, "Emperor, hasteness is not achieved. Although it is an excellent opportunity to expand the American vassal state, there are currently no soldiers to adjust and no people to move. Moreover, the loss is quite amazing. Now there is a very short population, so it is really impossible to afford the losses. In addition, with such a great risk, the slave is also worried that no one of the Eight Banners' children is willing to take the initiative to go to America. If there are no Eight Banners' children willing to go, wouldn't this American vassal state be a wedding dress for others?"

Zhenwu nodded and said, "Today, we are summoning you to come, and we must work together to find ways to encourage the Eight Banners' children to go to America. As for the troops, we must stay in America and then reconcile them year by year."

The few people here couldn't help but complain that the casualties of the ocean sailing were so high, and there was no huge profit in front of them. How could those Eight Banners who were pampered and lived in poverty? What's more, the Manchus were born with a fear of the ocean, otherwise there wouldn't be so few Eight Banners in the navy. How could it be easier to encourage the Eight Banners to go?

After a while of silence, Zhang Penghui said, "Master, can the casualties of ocean-going voyages be strictly sealed?"

Block the news? Ma Qi frowned slightly and didn't even speak. Wang Yu said first: "Master, blocking news is just a temporary measure. If you want to vigorously expand the American ban, you need to continuously deliver personnel every year. After all, the paper will not be able to cover the fire. Once the losses are too large or the news is leaked, it may cause public grievances."

After hearing this, Zhenwu couldn't help but feel sank. The news can only be blocked for a while. If there were few casualties during the later voyage, it would be easy to say. If there were many casualties, the Eight Banners children would inevitably feel resentful and dissatisfied with the court. If they wanted to take back the ban on the country in the future, it would be a big problem. Moreover, the families in the capital would inevitably be excited. It seems that the road to block the news would not work.

Ma Qi said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, it is not difficult to ask the Eight Banners' children to go to America, it is just fame and fortune. If the vassal states cannot recruit enough people to go there, the court can come forward to recruit soldiers from the Eight Banners' children, build new troops, and go to America to expand territory."

"Your Majesty, the cost of building a new army is not expensive, and the court cannot afford it." Zhang Pengheng hurriedly spoke out against it.

Zhenwu nodded slightly. America is no better than ordinary islands. Putting a flag and erecting a monument can declare sovereignty. North and South America gathered colonies of several European powers, large and small. It must have regimes or troops stationed for a long time to effectively consolidate. Raising an army of more than 100,000 people in the Americas is too much, and the court really cannot afford it.

The imperial court did not have to bear any expenses for the implementation of American feudalism. He ignored the general small conflicts. If there was a big conflict with European countries, it would be the opportunity to take back the feudalism and send a large army to the Americas to fight. It can be said that promoting overseas feudalism would be completely unsubstantiated. However, the expenditure of troops stationed in the Americas is not a small part, and at least hundreds of millions of dollars a year is really unaffordable.

It was neither left nor right. Everyone frowned and thought, silently.

Seeing that the few people were helpless, Zhenwu slowly spoke, "There is no turning back. Since the American feudalism has been implemented, there is no reason to give up halfway. No matter how great the difficulties are, they must be overcome.

According to Yande's reply, all the losses at sea were small boats below 1,500,500,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00

There are vast grasslands in the Americas, a large number of horses and buffaloes. It is the ideal battlefield for the children of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty to restore their former glory. Even if they suffer great losses, I will never give up on America!”

{Piaotian Literature www.piaotian.net Thank you for your support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Chapter completed!