Volume 1 Tigers in Southeast Asia Chapter 63 Deadly Threat
The Tea King had lived under the feet of the Filipinos for decades, so he developed a habit of being cautious, fearing that he might offend others without being careful. In this respect, he was very similar to Chen Jingui, but Chen Jingui spoke very fluently, while the Tea King spoke hesitantly.
Liu Daming disliked such timid people the most. Seeing that he was half-hearted, he immediately became angry and slammed the table fiercely, saying angrily: "Old Wang, the people in power now are not the Filipinos, but us Chinese. What are you afraid of? Just say it if you have something to say!"
The Tea King was shocked and apologized repeatedly. Then he said, "I lived in Guangdong in my early years. There was a civil uprising in our village. The people took hoes and shovels, smashed the county magistrate's office, killed the county magistrate's family, opened the granary, and looted all the grain inside..."
Lin Fei frowned when he heard this, wondering why Lao Wang said this? What on earth was he going to say? Lin Fei was puzzled and didn't say anything. Liu Daming slammed the table again and said angrily: "Lao Wang, why are you nagging about this?"
The Tea King said, "I was just trying to say how terrible the civil uprising is. Oh my, it's even more terrible than a flood."
Liu Daming said angrily: "What does this have to do with us?"
The Tea King said, "Just now the Lord Mayor said that our agricultural population is 140,000 and our industrial population is 40,000. Every three farmers have to support one craftsman. The burden on farmers seems too heavy. If this continues, it will sooner or later provoke a civil uprising."
Everyone then understood what the Tea King meant and frowned. Lin Fei nodded and said, "Old King is right. This is indeed a problem."
Liu Daming asked: "Then how should we solve it?"
Lin Fei said: "There are two solutions. One is to improve agricultural technology so that each farmer can produce more food. The other is to expand the territory and obtain more land and farmers. The former way is not feasible, so we can only take the latter way."
Lin Fei was right. To improve agricultural technology, on the one hand, we need to produce fertilizers. However, there are no minerals for fertilizer raw materials on the island, so fertilizers cannot be produced. On the other hand, we need to improve crop varieties and increase crop yields, but this requires higher technology. The current Chinese Empire does not have these technologies at all, so it can only expand its territory.
At this time, Guan Shanyue said, "City Lord, if we take the latter path, Mindanao is a good place to go. I have been to Mindanao before. There are many minerals and fertile land on the island. If we expand our influence to Mindanao, we will not have to worry about not having enough food."
Lin Fei sighed and said, "Mindanao is indeed a good place to go. It is rich in various minerals. Another key point is that there are large cotton planting areas in the western part of Mindanao. Cotton is an important textile raw material. In order to make a lot of profits, the Spaniards let the locals grow a lot of cotton."
"Cotton is also very important to us because our propellant is nitrocellulose and cotton is the raw material for nitrocellulose. The cotton we bought from Taiwan before is running out and we really need the cotton on the island."
Guan Shanyue said: "Then let's send troops to attack Mindanao."
Lin Fei shook his head and said, "You may not know much about the situation on the island."
Guan Shanyue asked hurriedly: "What's the situation on the island?"
Lin Fei said: "There was originally the Sultanate of Mackindanao on the island, but later the Sultanate was annexed by the Spaniards, who then occupied large areas of western and central Mindanao. Due to the obstruction of the mountains and the resistance of the locals, the Spaniards were unable to attack areas such as Surigao in eastern Mindanao. Surigao is where we occupy. If we want to attack central and western Mindanao, we will inevitably run into the Spaniards."
Liu Daming said loudly: "Let's fight! Who's afraid of who? Back then, when we were on Ibayat Island, we didn't have our own weapons, but we still beat the Spanish army into a pulp, didn't we?"
After Liu Daming finished speaking, he looked at Li Mingbai and said mockingly, "Are you army members afraid of the Spanish?"
Li Mingbai felt embarrassed after hearing what Liu Daming said, and argued: "Who said we are afraid of the Spaniards..."
Lin Fei cleared his throat, stopped the two people from arguing, and then said: "When we attack Mindanao, the biggest obstacle is not the army, but the navy!"
Li Mingbai showed a smug look on his face. Liu Daming couldn't hold back his face anymore and said angrily, "Old Lin, you are talking nonsense! Our navy's warships can't sail to the land. What does attacking Mindanao have to do with the navy?"
Lin Fei frowned and said, "The obstacle I'm talking about is not our navy, but the Spanish navy!"
Everyone was stunned and started to discuss: "Why is it related to the Spanish Navy?", "Isn't the Spanish Navy in Manila? What does it have to do with Mindanao?"
Lin Fei explained: "Our industrial base is on Samar Island. All ammunition and supplies must be shipped from Samar Island. There is a sea between Samar Island and Mindanao Island. We must establish a sea transportation line for the transfer of materials. The Spanish Navy is a fatal threat to our transportation line!"
"Mindanao is connected to the Visayas and Luzon by submarine telegraph lines. Once we attack the Spaniards on Mindanao, Luzon will get the news, and then the Spanish navy will be dispatched in large numbers to assist in the battle at sea. The current Spanish fleet has a protected cruiser, three unprotected cruisers, and five gunboats. These warships are more than enough to attack our transport ships."
"We looted the plantations on Ibayat, Batan and Babuyan, plundered a lot of property, and killed a large number of Spaniards. The Spaniards have long hated us. If they find us on Samar along the transportation line, they will send a large number of troops to attack. By then, our Huaxia Empire will be in danger!"
After Lin Fei finished speaking, everyone fell silent, with worried looks on their faces. The Chinese Empire was now facing a dilemma. If it did not expand its territory, the peasants would be overwhelmed, and once a civil uprising broke out, the Chinese Empire would be in danger. If it expanded its territory, it would encounter the Spanish Navy, and then the Chinese Empire would also be in danger.
In the silence, Ling Xue's clear and pleasant voice rang out: "City Lord, can't we build our own warships?"
"We can't build warships now!" Before Lin Fei could speak, a gentle and soft voice sounded, and the speaker was Chiyomika.
Ling Xue rolled her eyes at Chiyomika and said unhappily, "Why not? You don't understand the technology, so how do you know it's not allowed?"
Chiyomika said: "Although I don't understand the technology, I know that building warships requires a lot of raw materials. These raw materials have to be purchased from mines and factories. Purchasing them costs money, so we have to print a lot of money..."
Ling Xue rushed to say: "Print money if you want. Anyway, the printing press is in your hands. Can't you print as much money as you want?"
Chiyomika frowned and said, "We can't print too much money. If we print too much, the money will become worthless. Then the people will feel that they have been deceived by us and will oppose us. This is much more terrible than a peasant uprising!"
Ling Xue wanted to say more, but Lin Fei waved his hand and said, "Stop talking. Chiyomika is right. Our current economic strength does not allow us to build warships. Not only does our economic strength not allow it, but our technology is also immature."
Ling Xue's expression darkened, and she lowered her head and stopped talking. Lin Fei continued, "There are many things needed to build a warship. If I were to talk about them one by one, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to finish until tomorrow. Now I'll talk about one thing first. The Ministry of Industry will build it. This thing is the slipway. In the future, warships will need to be built on the slipway."
Ling Xue nodded, took out a pen and wrote down Lin Fei's words in a small notebook. Lin Fei said, "Although we don't have warships now, we have to do naval education. It's better to let people wait for warships than to let warships wait for people. Lao Yu, you prepare for this matter. Let's build a naval officer school."
Yu Xier asked: "Who teaches in the military academy?"
Lin Fei said: "It's still the people from the Zhiyuan ship. Everyone will take turns to teach."
Yu Xier nodded and agreed. Seeing everyone's worried faces, Lin Fei knew that they were still worried about the Spanish Navy. Suddenly, Lin Fei came up with a solution. He smiled and said to everyone, "Don't worry, I have thought of a solution. As for what the solution is, please stay, comrades in the navy, and I will talk to you alone."
Everyone then walked out, leaving only the navy in the room. Everyone looked at Lin Fei, waiting for his solution. Lin Fei smiled leisurely and said, "My solution to the Spanish attack is very simple, that is - take the initiative to attack and destroy their battleships!"
Yu Xier was stunned for a moment and didn't say anything. Liu Daming laughed and said, "How can we destroy their battleship? Should we go to the Spanish Navy's base in Manila Bay?"
Liu Daming was obviously being sarcastic, but Yu Xier didn't hear it. He said seriously, "We can't go to Manila Bay. Spain once fought a war with Britain. In order to defend against the British fleet, the defense of Manila Bay is very strict. To use a Chinese idiom to describe it, it is 'impregnable.' With the limited number of troops we have now, going there is just seeking death!"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "Of course we can't go to Manila Bay. We are going to another place."
Liu Daming and Yu Xier asked in unison: "Where are we going?"
Lin Fei took out a map, pointed at it, and said, "Please look here!"
Liu Daming and Yu Xier took a closer look and said in unison: "Hele Island? Why go there?"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "It is now December 15, 1894. In a few days, the Spanish naval fleet will go to Hele Island to escort the army to fight against the local Muslims. We can take advantage of this opportunity to fish in troubled waters and destroy the Spanish navy's main battleship to eliminate our deadly threat."
