Zhao Bing knew that the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty's expeditionary forces seemed to be destroyed by storms, and from the perspective of a ship engineer, he should be said to be destroyed by the ship's own problems. Kublai Khan ordered the mobilization to attack Japan, giving only one year of preparation. In just one year, more than 4,000 ships were built. For ancient craftsmen who had not yet formed large-scale production technology at that time, no matter how skilled the shipbuilding technology was, there was no possibility of achieving the goal.

In order to achieve the number, we have to make shoddy and even fill in the numbers. Shrunk and build is to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of progress, mainly because the installation seat of the main mast is inaccurate and fixed and unreliable. Such a ship is inherently unbalanced and will shake continuously as long as there is a little wind and waves. Filling the numbers means using the inland river to fill in the numbers. Flat-bottomed river boats cannot withstand the waves in the sea and are easy to capsize.

From the Battle of Xiangyang to the Battle of Yashan, the Yuan army captured more than 6,000 warships in the Southern Song Dynasty. In addition, from the surrendered Southern Song Navy, the Yuan army also took over many warships. Even though many of them were damaged and sunk, as of the second expedition to Japan, the number of warships captured from the Southern Song Dynasty was still large. At that time, the main battles of the Southern Song navy were in the inland rivers and near seas. The Southern Song navy was familiar with river wars but did not resolve naval battles. Therefore, most of the equipment of the Southern Song navy was flat-bottomed ships.

This kind of ship was invented around the Tang Dynasty and was widely adopted after the Song Dynasty. Its ship is structurally convenient for cabin division, which is conducive to the army's management and loading and unloading of military supplies during navigation. However, the cabin structure replaced the process of adding ribs, simplified the main structure, and weakened the overall lateral strength of the ship. Due to the slow horizontal waves in the inland river, this ship is very competent, but in the vast ocean, this ship is not so strong.

In addition, all the warships used by the Goryeo Army to go to war are built by themselves, while the Goryeo is poor and has to undertake the task of building more than 900 warships, which is an extremely heavy burden for them. In addition, the construction period is tight, so of course it is inevitable to cut corners when building ships. It is said that even repairing scrapped old ships is used to replenish them. The quality of these ships can be imagined.

Therefore, among the medium-sized warships this time, some of the medium-sized warships were newly built as ocean-going ships, ships confiscated from maritime forces, merchant ships confiscated from the civilians, and sea ships taken over by the former Southern Song Navy, which can still be used for long-sea combat. However, small warships, landing boats, were taken over by the Song navy, with shallow draft and weak wind resistance, and the number was large, reaching more than 3,000. When a hurricane hit, this warship with a lack of draft and no ability to break waves seemed to have only ending up capsizing. This may have caused the large fleet of Jiangnan Army gathered on Eagle Island to be wiped out overnight, and the use was probably one of the fundamental reasons.

Of course, in terms of strategy and tactics, Kublai Khan made a mistake. First, he chose Fan Wenhu as a general. This kid was the son-in-law of Lu Wende, the commander in front of the Southern Song Dynasty and the guardian of Xiangfan. He was afraid of the enemy in the battle to rescue Xiangyang and "flee first"; then when defending Anqing, where the city was strong and food was sufficient, Yuan general Boyan came to attack. Fan Wenhu immediately surrendered and transformed himself into the governor of the two Zhejiang Grand Principal of the Yuan Dynasty and the right prime minister of the Eastern Province. He climbed to a high position with nepotism and was timid and beat the fool who had no victory in the battle. But he didn't know how he caught his eye.

There is also the lack of difficulties that Kublai Khan faced. In theory, if he was hard-working, the Mongolian soldiers at that time were unmatched. If necessary, they could survive by eating raw horse meat and drinking horse blood. The Mongols were the first to be mobility when fighting, and generally only brought a small amount of supplies. The soldiers' food and clothing problems were mainly solved by plundering civilians in the war areas. However, during this war, the Mongols were unable to play their strengths. They had never been able to break into the residential areas of the mainland. It was impossible for civilians to be plundered, so that the Jiangnan army arrived ten days late, and the Western Route Army that arrived first would be out of food.

In addition, Kublai Khan underestimated the enemy too much. He did not learn from the lessons of the last failure. He thought that he could fight in one battle this time. The Yuan army warships that he was determined to win were even loaded with a large number of farm tools and seeds to solve the difficult problem of a large number of surrendered troops in the Song Dynasty. Because he could not afford to raise them, he was afraid that these more than 100,000 troops would cause trouble. Conquering Japan and garrisoning these large number of surrendered troops in Japan, which not only solved the problem of surrendered troops, but also used the garrisoned troops and immigration to turn Japan into a part of the Yuan Empire.

Of course, there are also statements such as the Yuan army's weapons that are not as good as the Japanese army. The failure to carry a war horse for the sake of baggage issues, which makes the Yuan army difficult to exert its combat effectiveness, and the lower combat effectiveness of the surrendered troops. However, Zhao Bing thought this was no longer an important reason. You should know that 200,000 troops were mobilized by conquering Jiangnan. If it weren't for a strategic mistake, it would be impossible for the Yuan army to land in another time period and destroy Japan. But Kublai was not a time traveler and had no chance to come back. This battle also became a turning point in the history of the Yuan Dynasty. Kublai Khan's conquest of overseas finally stopped.

However, Zhao Bing also benefited from it. The heavy loss of the Yuan army's military strength in Jiangnan caused the pressure facing Qiongzhou to be reduced on the one hand; on the other hand, it made him understand that in the face of the threat of a strong country, it did not have to defeat a strong country, but only made the strong country realize that the invasion of it would be more than worth the loss. However, he wanted to restore the country to occupy a large tract of land, but to annihilate the living forces of the Mongolian Yuan, weaken their economic strength, and make the speed of replenishing their troops unable to keep up with the speed of consumption, and ultimately win the victory of the War to Restorate the Country...

"Master Zheng, is there any news over there?" Zhao Bing summoned Zheng Huchen, Zhuang Shilin and Zhou Xiang to the palace to ask about things. After the ceremony, he asked Zheng Huchen first.

"Your Majesty, Fan Huchen has been beheaded in most of the capital, all his family's capital has been fired, and all his family members have been appointed as officials and slaves!" Zheng Huchen replied.

"It's not this matter, I'm asking those Otu merchants!" Zhao Bing waved his hand and said. Zheng Huchen's ending had already determined his fate when he abandoned the army.

"Oh, Your Majesty is asking about this!" Zheng Huchen said a little embarrassedly, "Your Majesty, those Otu merchants were anxious since they set out to conquer the Japanese army. After learning that their entire army was wiped out, they felt like they were losing their parents. Now the Fengfeng Ji is coming again, and they have sent people to contact us many times. Your Majesty has an order first, so his subordinates have not replied to them!"

"Well, what do you think of the owner of the manor?" Zhao Bing nodded and turned to Zhuang Shilin and asked.

"Your Majesty, I think the time is ripe, and they can accept it even if the price is higher!" Zhuang Shilin said.

"I want to reduce the price, as long as their tariffs are fine!" Zhao Bing smiled.

"Your Majesty, I finally waited for the opportunity, but why didn't I add it?" Zhuang Shilin looked at the other two, and he asked in surprise.

"Your Majesty, the opportunity is rare now, we can't let it go!" Zhou Xiang also knew that Your Majesty was a mess of money, but today he missed the opportunity to make money, which made him feel that he was wrong today, so he said such words.

"Your Majesty must have a reason for this, so don't think about it!" Zheng Huchen said with all the time, and said.

"This... Master Zheng, what do you mean? Do you know how much money this craftsman has to consume every day? It's like flowing water, relying on the internal warehouse to fill it. I feel distressed when I see it. Master Zheng, don't you?" Zhou Xiang stood up and said dissatisfied.

"Your Majesty, you have spent 3 million yuan on the construction of a new army and supplying firearms shops alone. If you don't fill it, you will be deficit." As the chief financial officer of the young emperor, Zhuang Shilin naturally knew the financial situation of the inner treasury. Although the young emperor always looked at the fact that he had to spend no money on what he had determined, he had to think about His Majesty. Now he finally had a fortune, but he regretted it, so he didn't have to worry.

"When the salt tax and tariffs are allocated this year, it will be better. I have calculated that it will be enough. When the new army is converted to the Ministry of War next year, it will save some expenses." Zhao Bing said. He also knew that the expenses this year were large, and most of the profits that the Affairs Bureau should pay were used to form and strengthen smuggling teams and support Mrs. Xu's copycat. He didn't have much left, and the two of them were worried that they were not contradicting themselves.

"Your Majesty, according to the court's laws, the revenue of the Maritime Warehouse Department is all included in the inner treasury, but the expenses of the Maritime Warehouse Department are also very large. In the past two years, they all rely on the subsidies for the internal treasury, and this year it has improved a little, but the income is only 300,000 yuan, and 400,000 yuan!" Zhuang Shilin said with a complaining look on his face.

"You are right, but have you ever discovered that someone in the Maritime Bureau embezzled or blackmailed merchants?" Zhao Bing smiled.

"This has never been discovered?" Zhuang Shilin looked at His Majesty, then looked at Zheng Huchen and said.

"That's it. In the past, the officials of the Song Dynasty were the most corrupt officials. Pu Shougen controlled the Quanzhou Maritime Bureau for more than ten years and had a wealth that could rival the country. Where did his money come from? It was just for public welfare and embezzlement of public funds. The court knew this but could not do anything!" Zhao Bing said.

"Your Majesty is right!" Zhuang Shilin nodded. Of course, he knew what the Maritime Warehouse was like in the past. From the promotion to the inspectors, to even the loading and unloading soldiers, they all asked for money. However, these things are extremely rare in the Maritime Warehouse Departments in Qiongzhou, and the officials are even more honest.

"That's it. As long as we stick to the holes in corruption, we will get more of it in the future. We must also learn to fish for big fish with long lines!" Zhao Bing said with a smile. He knew that corruption is an incurable disease of traditional Chinese politics. There were officials who were not corrupt in history, but there were no yamen who were not corrupt. However, he had heard of one in his previous life - Wanqing Customs, and it was difficult to find a second one.

Everyone today knows that in the Qing Dynasty, corruption became a trend. Three years of Qing magistrates, 100,000 snowflakes were not just a joke. After the Second Opium War, the Qing court agreed that the British would take charge of China's customs and wrote it into the "After-of-Contract Treaty: Customs Tax Rules" signed with Britain and the United States and other countries. In this environment, the Chinese customs under the control of the British Hurd basically eliminated corruption and was considered "one of the miracles in the history of world administrative management."

The highest customs officer of the Qing Dynasty said that the "General Taxation Department" was actually fully responsible for managing customs affairs. Faced with the corruption of customs, Hurd did not want to use the anti-corruption storm to change the customs. What he wanted to do was to completely update the system and remove the burden on corruption. He insisted on eliminating the traditional old Chinese inventory and establishing a "strict, detailed and absolutely reliable" accounting system. The new system has records of the remittance and retention of customs taxes that are easy to query.

In conjunction with the accounting system, Hurd also established a new audit system. He specially established the Audit Account Taxation Division, as an independent agency, supervises the financial accounting of each customs, and goes to each port to check the books and accounts at least once a year, and is a random check. Because the customs does not know where the Audit Tax Division is inspected and does not inspect, his inspection makes everything more careful. The Audit Tax Division has great power and has the right to stop any tax department or customs officer once it is found that there is any improper behavior.

In cooperation with the above-mentioned system reform, Hurd also carried out wage system reform. He believed that in order to make customs reform effective, high salaries must be maintained. However, the premise is to be open and transparent, and the income of customs officers is exposed to the sun. Although the salary of positions mainly Chinese is lower than that of foreign employees, compared with the salary standards in China at that time, it was almost twice that of administrative agencies in other countries. In addition to basic annual salary, customs officers also enjoy annual bonuses and welfare allowances. The longer they work in customs, the higher their salary, which invisibly increases the cost of their participation in corruption.

The side effect of high salary and maintenance of integrity is the significant increase in customs funds. Before Hurd, Guangdong Customs only spent more than 10,000 taels of silver a year, but after he took over, the funds reached more than 3 million taels a year. Hurd's reason was: if you do not give enough funds, you cannot expect them to remain honest. But officials believe that these funds are worth it: under Hurd's management, customs revenue increased rapidly, and customs tax revenue increased from the initial 4.9 million taels to more than 11 million taels in ten years. By the time Hurd left, it had reached more than 32 million taels, more than six times the original one. At the same time, customs tax revenue increased from about 10% of the Qing government's fiscal revenue to 40%.

Of course, Zhao Bing knew that Hurd was not a good person, and he also made great profits from it. But the value of this matter lies in that it tells us that corruption is not an incurable disease. It is possible to succeed in anti-corruption in China. The key is institutional construction. Institutional construction is not difficult - there are successful experiences that can be learned from ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad. What is difficult is whether we have the sincerity to formulate a scientific anti-corruption system and the mechanism to implement the system. Because in the end, anti-corruption is not difficult to know, but difficult to do.
Chapter completed!