Chapter 780: Navy Military System

"Your Highness, during this period we have annihilated over twenty thousand Dongying soldiers, seized spoils worth eighteen million taels, and captured over ninety thousand able-bodied men."

Upon returning to the temporary residence on the island, Gong Ying reported the recent battle results to Zhao Xu.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction, secretly thinking that southern Dongying was indeed wealthy.

Although they had circled Dongying and raided over ten cities, the spoils their party had seized were only worth over fifty million taels of silver.

Among them, there was only a little over three million taels of white silver, not even as much as one Changqi.

However, it did not matter; these looted goods were enough for Jiangbei to consume for a period of time.

Moreover, with the strength of the Yanzhou Fleet, neither Britain nor Sam Country would ever be able to reach their hands here again.

Dongying was effectively a fat sheep he had penned up; this wealth could not run away.

Once the wool grew longer, it could be sheared again.

"Well done. Because of your actions, the Watanabe case did not send troops to the North Territory, which will certainly incur the dissatisfaction of the northern feudal lords. Next, we only need to let some feudal lords declare independence," Zhao Xu said.

After a pause, he said to Zhou Yi, "Starting from today, a fleet needs to be stationed at Wufeng Island long-term to patrol the Eastern Sea and guard against the arrival of the Western Fleet."

What he was worried about was not Britain.

Because in terms of distance, Sam Country was closer to Dongying.

Furthermore, Sam Country had already controlled many islands in the Eastern Sea, including Hawaii Island.

It would take four months for the British fleet to reach Dongying from their homeland.

It would take less than two months for the Sam Country fleet to head to Dongying.

Moreover, according to the intelligence he possessed, Sam Country in this period could no longer be underestimated.

In fact, more than thirty years after the contemporary Second Opium War, the industrial output of America had already surpassed that of England.

Even the current Sam Country likely had half the industrial strength of Britain.

Therefore, one must be wary of the next move of Sam Country.

"Let Gong Ying command twelve Steamships and thirty Sailing Warships to be stationed at Wufeng Island," Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said.

Zhao Xu nodded; he also quite appreciated this general, Gong Ying.

However, because there were too few warships in the navy previously, he had not carried out a military reform for the navy, only letting the general Zhou Yi command the entire army, while promoting some captains and first mates.

But now, as the fleet grew stronger by the day, he felt it was necessary to standardize the navy's military system.

So he said, "There is no time like the present. Today, I shall establish a military system for your navy just like the Army. The highest commander of the navy shall be the Great General, under which there shall be Captains, under Captains shall be Commanders, under Commanders shall be Colonels, under Colonels shall be Dutongs, and under Dutongs shall be Flag Leaders."

With this setup, it basically meant the Great General was equivalent to the Navy Marshal, Captains were equivalent to Navy Commanders, Commanders were divided into three grades equivalent to General, Lieutenant General, and Major General, Colonels were also divided into three grades equivalent to Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, and Major, Dutongs were equivalent to Captain, Lieutenant, and Second Lieutenant, and Flag Leaders were equivalent to Sergeant First Class, Sergeant, and Corporal.

While speaking,

he explained to Zhou Yi and the other naval officers, who nodded one after another, also looking forward to the titles they would soon receive.

After all, since ancient times, no dynasty had placed much importance on the Navy.

Yan Wang had established the naval military system; this was the first step toward glory for the navy.

"Zhou Yi, I announce you as the Great Song Navy Marshal!" After explaining the military system, Zhao Xu said to Zhou Yi.

After a pause, he looked at Gong Ying, "I appoint you as Navy Upper Captain."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Zhou Yi and Gong Ying were both overjoyed and gave a military salute to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu nodded and looked at the other expectant officers, "You are all very excellent, but Gong Ying's position is temporarily set because of his ad-hoc appointment. Next, I will have Zhou Yi submit a list to me to set your positions. However, these positions are not fixed; they will be promoted or demoted based on your merits and faults."

"Yes, Your Highness." Hearing this, the other naval officers had joy written all over their faces.

After settling this matter, Zhao Xu ordered Gong Ying to hand over the able-bodied men to Wang Yanzhong.

He then had the navy transport the seized spoils back to Yanzhou, and he prepared to return as well.

The next focus was to stir up the internal affairs of Dongying.

Therefore, he needed to make these northern feudal lords submit.

After resting on the island for a day, the next day Zhao Xu took a Steamship toward Yanzhou.

After three days of tossing on the sea, he arrived at Jinghai, and one day later, returned to Yancheng.

Beitiao Chuanqing and the feudal lord Ono also arrived in Yancheng with him.

However, they both wore shackles on their hands and were still treated as prisoners.

Arriving at the prince's mansion, Zhao Xu took a bath, changed into fresh clothes, and immediately gave an order to the officers guarding the Dongying feudal lords.

He told them to lead the feudal lords on a tour of the various Workshops equipped with Steam Engines.

Afterward, they were to be taken directly to Jinghai, and the navy was ordered to send them back to their respective domains.

"Your Highness, the Army officers are going to drool with envy."

Just as Zhao Xu's order was sent out, Chang Wei and Liu Fu arrived.

As soon as he entered the study, Chang Wei wore a sour expression.

The matter of the navy's benefits naturally could not be hidden from him.

As the highest commander of the Army, he naturally had to fight for benefits for his own officers and soldiers.

Zhao Xu glanced at him sideways, "It's not like the whole army wasn't given rewards after the Gaoli war, so don't be insatiable."

"Your Highness, that bit of reward money is far worse than the navy's one-tenth share. Everyone says that this time, every naval soldier can earn at least a year's worth of pay," Chang Wei said with a covetous face.

Zhao Xu shook his head helplessly; he knew the Army officers would be envious.

So he said, "What's the rush? If you have the ability, your Army can also seize spoils worth hundreds of millions of taels for me, and I will give you one-tenth as well."

Hearing this, Chang Wei's eyes lit up, "Your Highness, that's simple. Conquering Jiangnan would yield far more than a hundred million taels of silver."

"Are you proud of looting your own things?" Zhao Xu glared at him, "The navy looted Dongying, which is the enemy's property. Jiangnan is a traitor, that is the Great Song's asset."

"Pfft." While Zhao Xu and Chang Wei were bickering, Liu Fu could not help but laugh out loud, "Chang Wei, His Highness has his own logic. I can't even argue with His Highness, so how could you?"

Hearing this, Chang Wei rolled his eyes at Liu Fu, feeling somewhat disappointed at the same time.

However, what Yan Wang said also made sense; this looting back and forth was still the Great Song Dynasty's property.

But Zhao Xu's next sentence made him excited again, "Do not be anxious, there will be a time in the future when your Army goes overseas to campaign, and at that time, there will be benefits for you as well."

"With His Highness's words, this general can rest easy," Chang Wei said.

At the very least, Yan Wang was treating their Army and the Navy with equal fairness.

He would also be able to appease the officers when he returned.

Of course, even if Yan Wang did not give them benefits, they would only complain a little, and still do what they had to do.

These words were nothing more than two children in a family asking an adult for candy.