Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 519: The Fifth Year of Chuli
In the fourth year of the Chuli period, the wool textile industry of Wei State began to flourish, which caused some shock to the linen textile industry of Chu State.
However, under the joint implementation of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Rites, a series of calming measures were taken, from increasing official procurement, to assisting reemployment, to promoting craftsmanship, easing employment pressure, and improving the quality of workers... the "shock" did not continue to affect the State of Chu.
At the same time, the State of Chu also began to allocate troops and military funds, organizing fleets to cruise around the Bohai Sea and the East China Sea, and occasionally landing on the Chaoxian Peninsula to fight with the slave-hunting teams of the State of Wei overseas and on land...
The so-called "East China Sea" at this time is actually the Yellow Sea in later generations, the sea that "controls Qi and Lu in the north and screens the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers in the south" - it was only called the Yellow Sea after the Yangtze River took over the Huai River in later generations.
As for the East China Sea further south in later generations, it is now habitually called "Yi Sea" by the Chu State because of Yizhou. As for the sea area south of Yizhou corresponding to Jiaozhou, it is naturally the South China Sea.
After the Chu Navy was retired, the warships traded to the Wei State are still in the improvement stage. Although there are a small number of finished products, it is not the turn of these aristocratic families!
The most luxurious fleets of these wealthy families only have one or two real warships, and the rest are cargo ships that have been converted into warships.
In comparison, no matter in terms of quantity, quality or the quality of sailors, it could not compare with the Liaodong Navy of Chu.
In Bohai Sea, seeing the flag of the Chu Navy, these slave-hunting teams had no choice but to flee.
The State of Chu already had its own national flag - a blue flag with a golden four-pointed star in the middle, symbolizing "scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans ". The navy flag moved the four-pointed pattern of the State of Chu to the upper left corner, and then added a white pattern similar to a seagull in the middle.
Although Lu Bu disliked the pattern for not being intimidating enough and Gan Ning disliked the pattern for not being gorgeous enough, Bai Tu still chose this pattern because it looks more peaceful.
After all, the Chu navy was already strong enough, and what needed to be done next was not to intimidate with force, but to emphasize peace and closeness - especially when opening up a new continent, seeing sharks or some ferocious beasts as flags would inherently give people a sense of aggression.
When force is needed, there is no need to intimidate, just defeat them directly...
For the Three Han, Buyeo, and even the Xianbei tribes who were oppressed by the captured slave teams, the naval flag of the Chu State, or the Chu State itself, was increasingly endowed with unusual emotions.
Many fleets, and even tribes on land, began to hang banners imitating the patterns of the Chu Navy to deter the enemy, but... the effect was not good.
After all, there was a huge difference between the warships of the Chu Navy and the small boats of the Three Han and Zhouhu peoples. No one could fail to see the difference. It was impossible for them to get away with it just by hanging a flag.
same……
Some fleets of Wei State also began to shamelessly fly the flag of Chu State. On the one hand, it could make the target relax their vigilance, and on the other hand... it could also easily put the blame on others.
Although the authenticity can be determined from the size of the fleet and the shape of the warships, it also brought certain negative impacts to the reputation of the Chu Navy.
Although Ling Tong was angry about this, he could not overreact and could only report back to Jinling first.
After all... some ordinary Wei merchant caravans, which seemed honest and well behaved at least on the surface, were also flying the Chu military flag to prevent thieves. Although they would be warned after being discovered, they could not be sunk as well, right?
As for the East China Sea, those who needed to be intercepted were mainly slave-hunting teams heading to the southern part of the Chao Seafood Peninsula. Most of them were navies from Zhouhu Port and the coastal ports of the Chu State, which were conducting routine patrols and interceptions.
The port of Donglai County in Qingzhou is usually mainly on guard against the Marquis of Qi and rarely goes out in groups. As for the port of Yizhou... it is only responsible for its own surroundings - so the survival rate of enemy ships approaching Yizhou, or enemy ships that want to land from Zhouhu, is currently zero!
After all, Yizhou Port is still the secret shipyard of the Chu State. There are also many secret workshops on the island. The level of confidentiality and security can be imagined. The fleet that dared to visit Yizhou has chosen the wrong place.
Similarly, Zhou Hu and the southern part of Danzhou were hardly affected by the slave-hunting teams because they had the Chu navy docked there.
In March of the fifth year of the Chu calendar, the Marquis of Yan sent envoys to Bai Tu on the pretext of paying tribute to the State of Chu to protest against the Chu navy's breach of contract and entry into the "State of Yan".
Obviously Gongsun Kang has realized that Wei State has only reduced its prestige among those ethnic minorities, making them feel that the Marquis of Yan is unreliable, and the behavior of Chu State is even more dangerous - the Chu State navy is making those ethnic minorities think that Chu State is more reliable than Yan State!
Gongsun Kang could tolerate Wei's slave hunting. After all, even if he was helpless against Wei, it would indeed reduce his prestige. However, it also forced these foreign races to rely more on him...
Even if Gongsun Kang does not confront Wei State head-on now, these foreign races can only approach him with a hypocritical attitude and full of hatred towards Wei State. If there is a chance in the future, they can raise their arms and call for action... Gongsun Kang's ambition is not limited to Liaodong!
However, the situation became different after the Chu State intervened. As the hatred of the foreign race towards the Wei State was maximized, the prestige and appeal of the Yan State plummeted, while the reputation of the Chu State soared and it became the final winner.
This threat to Yan State is even stronger than that to Wei State!
However, the State of Chu also acted tough on this. The Ministry of Rites directly emphasized that the Chu navy had not violated any contract - it had never entered Liaodong and was mainly active at sea and in the central and southern parts of the Peninsula.
Indeed, the Chu navy only played a marginal ball and never entered the area where the Yan army was stationed. At most, it was just the "influence diffusion zone" of Yan.
Moreover, the State of Chu took the initiative to condemn the State of Yan for its inaction in the face of the Wei bandits, and proposed to cooperate with the State of Yan, or for the State of Yan to give way and allow the Chu army to land and go to the north to fight the Wei bandits!
The Yan envoys were naturally strongly opposed to this, and at the same time they did not care to condemn the Chu navy's skirting of the rules...
The changes in Wei State gradually attracted the attention of Han princes such as the Marquis of Qi and the Marquis of Zheng.
After all, Central and Yongliang were also the dumping areas of Wei's wool textile industry, and a large amount of resources flowed into Wei. After being harvested by the Wei court in the form of workshop taxes, Wei's national strength began to increase. After making a profit, Wei also invested a lot of funds in the research and development and construction of warships.
The shipyards under the jurisdiction of the Skilled Craftsmen Camp have built more and more new warships, and even... Ma Jun feels that if it weren't for the purpose of "appeasing" those high-ranking officials in the court, and building too many ships and vehicles with low cost performance, the effect would have been even more significant!
Then, in April of the fifth year of the Chu calendar, a major event occurred in the State of Wei...
A noble family poached the core craftsmen of the Craftsmen Camp and was exposed!
For a time, the power boundary between the imperial court and the aristocratic families became sensitive, and different voices appeared in the court due to different interests...
In response to this, the King of Wei secretly ordered the imperial guards to enter Yecheng overnight, and the garrisons in various places also went on alert. For a moment, all the horses of Wei were silent, as if the prelude to a bloody storm had already sounded...
