Seven Seas Beacon Fire

However, this crown prince has always been known for his composure and benevolence. Especially at such a critical moment, it is more appropriate for him to say certain things. Prince Jin himself also understands that he is most receptive to what his eldest son says at this time, and he hears it most clearly.

That's what a persona is all about. The persona you create in ordinary times is to make your words carry more weight when it matters. Li Renchi is just an ordinary person. Ordinary people have emotions and desires. It's impossible for him not to have any thoughts when faced with the temptation of the emperor's throne.

However, he was more clear-headed. He knew that the emperor's throne was not something to be held for nothing. Li Zongdi was his father, his father-in-law. Although he believed that his father-in-law's political wisdom was sufficient to understand the current situation, he still had to emphasize it.

This is not the era of being emperor hundreds of years ago, or even before the Gallic Revolution... It is the era of being emperor, and in this situation of foreign invasion and political turmoil.

The current court officials and many people are filled with great disappointment with the former Emperor Yongning of the Ming Dynasty and with boundless expectations for you, Prince Jin, Li Zongdi, a war hero. They support you to become emperor in the hope that you can handle the mess at hand. If you handle it well, then everyone will be happy and everyone will sing your praises for your wisdom and martial prowess. You can humbly say that the relationship between the ruler and the people is like fish and water.

If you don't do well, or even if you don't do "good enough" in the eyes of most people, then you're finished.

Li Zongdi seemed to sigh with some frustration. On the battlefield, he was known as Tiger Li, but now this tiger did not seem as confident as he had appeared in front of everyone in the main hall.

He also had concerns and worries.

At this moment, his gaze swept over Li Che, who was standing a step behind Li Renzhi. In Li Zongdi's eyes, the boy's eyes were darting around mischievously.

"Young man, what do you think? Do you agree with what your father said, or do you also want to be the Crown Prince?"

“Grandpa.” Li Che knew that his micro-expression had caught the old man’s attention, so he composed himself and said solemnly, “Please allow me to make a bold guess. The reason why Grandpa is hesitant to make a decision is that you think what Father said is right. In this day and age, being an emperor is not a good job. It is better to be a Grand Commander, who is more flexible in his actions.”

However, I think the root of my grandfather's concern is that we are currently at war with the Allied Powers led by the West. The people's hearts are unsettled and the various forces are intertwined. Even if there are various worries about the future after my grandfather ascends the throne, it is the fastest way to stabilize the domestic situation, unite the people's hearts and the nation's strength, and achieve peace with the Allied Powers led by the West through war.

Moreover, if we were to establish a republic now, how would we manage our relations with the neighboring tributary states that were originally our vassal states? Even though every medicine has its side effects, in my grandfather's view, there is currently no other way.”

Li Zongdi nodded slightly at Li Che's words. He had always been quite fond of his eldest grandson. In fact, since the Prince of Jin's family had held military positions for generations, Li Zongdi, while not exactly disliking his somewhat frail eldest son, did have some personality clashes with him. However, he was extremely satisfied with this grandson born to his eldest son.

Li Che was a child prodigy since he began his education. While retaining his childlike talents, he often displayed a maturity and intelligence beyond his years. In the past, he often made amazing predictions about international politics and military affairs during casual conversations.

For example, at the very beginning of the war, Li Che predicted that the Ursus Empire, the "Gendarmerie of Europe," was nothing more than a weak and ineffective "sick man of Europe." He also predicted that the British would inevitably suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Ottomans at the start of the Dardanelles campaign. At that time, few people in the world had any confidence in the Ottomans, who were known as the "sick man of West Asia."

And what his grandson said today really resonated with him.

"You little brat, you don't understand the bigger picture. You and your grandfather both think that this approach is the most effective in the short term, but what if we really can't win? Are we not leaving ourselves any way out?"

"Why does Father think that practicing republicanism and becoming the Grand Commander provides a better escape route than becoming the Emperor?" Li Che asked rhetorically.

“Because practicing republicanism is like each person investing in a company, how can we not have a better way out?” Li Renzhi’s words revealed his true thoughts. He didn’t mean that as the heir of the Prince of Jin’s mansion, he was a complete republican. He just felt that going through bankruptcy liquidation in this way would make it easier to extricate himself.

But Li Che still shook his head: "Then let me ask Father and Grandfather, if Grandfather is determined to lead this country toward a republic, then can our country still be considered the legitimate successor of the Chinese nation?"

"Of course it's the legitimate Chinese lineage," Li Zongdi and Li Renchi answered in unison, the answer to the question clearly being very obvious.

"Since ancient times, to be a legitimate successor of Chinese civilization on this land, one must bear unlimited responsibility for the human civilization on this land. Just as Lord Cai said today—'One who suffers misfortune for the country is the king of the world.'"

Whether it's a flood or a drought, an earthquake or an invasion from elsewhere, as long as we acknowledge that we are the legitimate successor of the Central Plains, then we must take full responsibility for all natural and man-made disasters that occur on this land.

If we cannot resolve matters or overcome calamities, then we are incompetent and lack virtue, and that destiny is not in our hands; it must be given to a virtuous person.

Since the time of Yu the Great's flood control efforts, the regime in this land has always been a regime of unlimited responsibility. Regardless of whether the disasters and challenges come from humans or non-humans, those who are destined by Heaven must bear the responsibility!

Chapter Eight: Hot Pot is a Must-Try

Li Che's words finally made Li Zongdi laugh out loud. His grandson had impressed him more than once before, but this kid always managed to surprise him.

The Prince of Jin now felt a sense of sudden enlightenment; this was what it meant to have a clear mind.

Faced with the temptation of the supreme throne, was he truly unmoved? How much of what he is doing now is out of public interest and how much is out of personal interest? What choice should this country's future system ultimately make?

Is this something he needs to worry about right now?

If he can win the remaining war, restore the nation's vitality, and forge a peaceful future, then he will naturally be recognized by the entire nation as the one who has inherited the Mandate of Heaven.

He can do whatever he wants—just like the people of Gaul did to Napoleon. If you want a republic, then you are the First Consul; if you want to rule alone, then everyone will send you to the throne!

But if you can't win, if you can't bear this heavy, 5000-year destiny, then don't complain if you're crushed to death and never rise again.

In peacetime, you won't feel the weight of this destiny unless you weigh it, but when it comes to the crucial moment, it will weigh a ton!

Although Li Zongdi had a clear understanding of the situation, the world is ultimately materialistic. To expel the Colombian and Victorian allied forces, as discussed in the hall today, the navy is an unavoidable obstacle.

After laughing heartily for a while, Li Zongdi clearly realized that this problem needed to be solved, and a hint of worry returned to his face.

Prince Jin is recognized worldwide as one of the most outstanding generals. This is evident to all. Li Zongdi, Prince Jin of the Ming Dynasty, along with Marshal Pétain of Gaul, Prince Rupprecht of Letania, and Marshal Brusinov of Russia, are hailed as the most outstanding large-scale military commanders of our time.

However, as the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. The professional gap between the navy and the army is much larger than the technological gap between BYD's electric cars and Toyota's gasoline cars. Li Zongdi can't be said to be completely clueless about the navy; at least he can be said to have a good grasp of it.

Although Li Zongdi did not understand the navy, as one of the top military commanders of the era, he always understood that professional matters should be left to professionals, and that one should listen to the advice of professionals when there was nothing he did not understand.

"Send someone to invite General Sa Dingming here!"

This naval commander joined the army during the era of steam-powered ironclad warships in the Ming Dynasty and has risen through the ranks to his current position. He has experienced the most dramatic changes in naval technology from the late 9th century to the present.

Over the decades, the navy's equipment has evolved from protected cruisers to armored cruisers and then to solid armored cruisers, from centrally armored ironclads to pre-dreadnoughts and dreadnoughts... It has witnessed the rise and fall of more than one era of the navy. It is the living encyclopedia of the navy's evolutionary development.

Under the current circumstances, no one is more qualified than him to offer opinions and suggestions on the current predicament stemming from the sea.

Someone like him might not be able to come up with a way to break the deadlock right now, but with his experience and abilities, he can at least clearly identify which methods are not feasible and which battle plans are absolutely impossible to implement.

Not long after, Sa Dingming arrived again in a hurry. After everyone had left the Wuying Hall that morning, Sa Dingming, without taking a break, went straight to the officials of the Minerals Department under the Ministry of Works, hoping to take advantage of the current time, which was somewhat chaotic but not so chaotic, to see if he could get some high-quality anthracite coal and heavy oil for the fleet in Jinlan Bay.

After the Ming Dynasty removed its sign, the navy's fleets and officers and soldiers stationed abroad were like space stations and astronauts floating in the sky after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At this critical juncture, no one really cared about the navy's current situation. In some remote naval bases that were once known for their generous benefits, the food for the officers and soldiers stationed there was even worse than that of the army's peasants whom they used to look down on.

However, this naval commander has never given up trying to support the navy in various ways. While it is good news that the Prince of Jin is now determined to continue the war, the future of the navy remains uncertain, because given the current situation, it is extremely difficult to turn the tide at sea.

Perhaps the Prince of Jin didn't place any high hopes on the navy at all? Sa Dingming had even prepared to present an extreme battle plan to the Prince of Jin in a relatively private setting—to use the existing destroyers and cruisers as high-speed armed transport ships to maintain necessary supplies and reinforcements to the troops still resisting in Luzon and Yanping under the moonlight.

This operational plan completely subjugates the navy to the army, essentially forcing the navy to grovel and beg for survival.

Therefore, even though he himself jokingly describes what he is doing as as pathetic as a mouse carrying grain into its house, he still has to do it shamelessly.

He dedicated his entire life to the navy; he couldn't just watch the navy starve to death under his watch. That would be the most humiliating way for a powerful navy to die.

Although the current situation is not like that of the Ming Dynasty and the Provisional Government, where various departments hindered each other, focused only on debates or embezzled money, many of the key officials in the departments are now either being temporarily detained by Li Zongdi at the Xiaolingwei Hotel for plotting to sign the "New Era Shaoxing Peace Treaty," or they have been frightened into resigning after hearing rumors. Therefore, although there is no one to hinder the Mining Department, no one can make decisions either.

Just as Sa Dingming was about to grit his teeth and have the navy send two landing ships and sailors to load coal directly, the Prince of Jin sent someone to him saying that he had important matters to ask.

Without hesitation, Sa Dingming immediately drove to meet the Prince of Jin at top speed.

However, when he arrived at the gates of the Forbidden City, he got out of the car and was about to walk quickly inside when he was stopped by the guards on duty at the gate. The guards seemed to have been waiting for him there: "General Sa, the Prince of Jin is not inside the Forbidden City."

"What?" Sa Dingming was slightly surprised. After pressing for details, he learned that the Prince of Jin had no intention of living in the Forbidden City at all.

Today, the Prince of Jin naturally did not accept the support of his officials, but no one took it to heart. After all, China has a long tradition of declining three times, which is a unique aspect of Chinese modesty. It's alright if you refuse; we'll just invite you two more times.

However, whether or not the Prince of Jin resided in the Forbidden City was seen by the officials as a crucial political indicator. Could it be that the Prince of Jin…

"His Highness sent someone to the general's residence, but when they arrived, the general was not there. They later learned that the general had gone to the Mining Department to discuss naval matters. His Highness thought the general probably wouldn't have time for lunch, so he prepared to invite the general to a restaurant at noon, saying that he wanted to talk to the general while eating."

When Sa Dingming met Prince Jin, he saw Li Zongdi ordering his son and grandson to set up a pot for hot pot. This so-called restaurant was actually just one of the few ordinary restaurants open on the streets of Yingtianfu, a Chongqing hot pot restaurant in Yingtianfu.

The restaurant only had two small private rooms. In addition to the Prince of Jin, the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince's grandson, there were several officials and a group army chief of staff accompanying them in the room.

A few years ago, the army still called the Chief of Staff the Commander of the Army. However, during the war, the Prince of Jin led a series of reforms in the army, especially the further refinement and division of the functions of the Commander of the Army, the Protector of the Army, and the Garrison Command, which raised the status and power of the General Staff and also changed some of their names.

Upon seeing Sa Dingming, Li Zongdi warmly invited him to sit down. The hot pot ingredients were almost all served, and the broth was piping hot. After Sa Dingming took his seat, Li Zongdi displayed a completely different demeanor from his earlier appearance in the main hall. He now spoke amiably to everyone:

"Today I just randomly picked a restaurant to treat everyone to hot pot. All of you here are the elite of the country. The future of the country and the heavy responsibility of the War of Resistance Against Japan rest on your shoulders. Let's talk about anything while we eat."

Chapter Nine: The Navy's Past

"Come on! We won't drink alcohol today, everyone just need to eat a couple of bites to settle your stomachs."

After saying that, Li Zongdi actually started eating. It was true that the Prince of Jin had said he liked hot pot. As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly picked up his chopsticks and scooped out the boneless duck feet that had just been blanched in the pot. After being cooked in the hot pot, the skin was soft and the tendons were chewy, making it the most delicious thing.

Half of the people in this room were rough men from military backgrounds. Apart from Sa Dingming, they were mostly wearing army uniforms. For the army, who were used to eating and sleeping in the open during battles, you couldn't expect their food to be particularly refined, even though Prince Jin was a prince of the first rank.

With Prince Jin leading the way, everyone else followed suit and started scooping food out of the hot pot. Almost no one in the room had eaten anything. Although the officials and Sa Dingming were still a bit reserved, those familiar with Prince Jin's personality had already started eating without hesitation. Li Che snatched the last piece of boneless duck foot from the hot pot before his father could and happily put it in his mouth.

"Commander Sa, I have a general idea of ​​the current situation of the navy." After taking a few sips of tea, Li Zongdi gulped down a large mouthful, licked his lips, and finally began the formal discussion:

"Just before dinner today, I sent a telegram to the Northwest. In the coming days, I will select 3000 officials from dozens of garrisons in the north and west outside the Great Wall. These 3000 officials will enter the interior within a week to assume various positions and restart the state machinery that has almost stopped operating."

Li Zongdi's words made Sa Dingming realize what a grand gesture it was. This was not just about removing 3000 soldiers or officers; it was about removing 3000 capable officials and replacing the now largely dysfunctional government with the entire bureaucratic system of the border region.

This gave Sa Dingming hope. In fact, before the Ming Dynasty collapsed, the country was still very powerful. Before the war, steel production exceeded 10 million tons, and at its peak during the war, steel production reached 15 million tons. Although in the later stages of the war, due to various reasons, the operation of the state machinery became slower and slower, and the efficiency of industrial production became lower and lower, the Ming Dynasty was still one of the world's leading industrial powers.

After all, if we only consider steel production, the old Yingzhou Empire in another timeline, which invaded so many surrounding countries and plundered so many resources until it was physically "second-dimensional," had a steel production of at most 600 million tons per year.

If such a country's machinery were functioning properly, it shouldn't have ended up in the state it is in during the later stages of a war.

However, before Sa Dingming could offer any flattery, Li Zongdi continued speaking:

"In the face of the West, we will need to use all the power at our disposal. Whenever I think of the state of our country, I am filled with grief and indignation. Now, I ask you with great grief and indignation, General Sa, if I provide the navy with all the necessary supplies, what can the navy do next?"

Looking at his grandfather, Li Che couldn't help but admire the old man's skill. Although he had guessed that his grandfather's name was Sa Dingming because he wanted to find out the navy's strength, he hadn't expected his grandfather to do it in this way.

No, it felt more like an interview.

His grandfather was now asking Sa Dingming like an HR manager, "What can you bring to the company?" He was asking Sa Dingming, "If the navy can get the necessary supplies and maintenance, what can the remaining combat forces of the navy accomplish? What can you do for the country's current war of resistance?"

Some of the words that Sa Dingming had prepared were now stuck in his throat.

Because he knew that if the Prince of Jin asked him in such a tone, it certainly wasn't a small-scale operation as he had previously suspected. After all, the previous move of mobilizing more than 3000 officials from the border garrisons outside the Great Wall to restore the operation of the entire national machinery was a massive undertaking. It could be said that Sa Dingming was now very certain that the Prince of Jin had high expectations for the navy.

Therefore, his original plan to use fast naval vessels for resupply, like rats transporting grain, would certainly not satisfy Prince Jin's appetite, or rather, would not meet the expectations that His Highness Prince Jin hoped to obtain from him.

Then I should do as the Prince of Jin expects, "loan" the navy's capabilities, and show the Prince of Jin that as long as the navy is provided with sufficient resources to restore the fleet's maintenance and operation, the navy will be able to compete with the Allied naval forces in the Pacific Ocean again.

Or should I swear an oath now, without mentioning what the navy can do, but instead show that the navy is willing to fight to the last ship to demonstrate its determination?

No, Sa Dingming believed that this was not what the Prince of Jin wanted to hear. Moreover, the current state of affairs was also like this. The above-mentioned practices might temporarily gain preferential treatment in resources, but in the end, they were quite irresponsible for the navy and the country.

He noticed the gaze directed at him by the Prince of Jin, and after a moment, a sudden inspiration struck him. So, Sa Dingming put down his bowl, placed his hands on his knees, and earnestly said to Li Zongdi:

"The first thing the navy needs to do is to unite. There are many reasons for the defeat in the Battle of the Java Sea, including intelligence failure, unexpected changes, and tactical choices. But the most critical problem is probably the lack of unity within the navy."

"You know that's good." This was exactly the answer Li Zongdi wanted to hear: "As a soldier, you should know how important it is to be of one mind. Although I don't understand the navy, I think the army and navy should be united in this regard. If the northern and southern factions of the navy could always be united, I think we wouldn't have suffered such great losses in the Battle of the Java Sea."

The former Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy was a very powerful and glorious fleet, hailed as the first in Asia and the third in the world before the outbreak of this world war. In fact, compared to the Leitanian High Seas Fleet, which was long besieged in port by the Royal Victoria Navy and rarely took the initiative to attack throughout the war except for the Battle of Jutland, the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy was exceptionally proactive in the war.

Among the officer factions of the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy, the most prominent were the Lu faction from Shandong and the Min faction from Fujian.

In the early stages of the war, the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy quickly cleared out the Western colonial fleets east of the Strait of Malacca and then swiftly entered the Balat Sea, attempting to open up a passage to the Middle East, and even trying to seize the Suez Canal and establish contact with allies in Europe.

During this period, the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy achieved great victories and adopted an aggressive strategic posture that almost completely severed the connection between the most brilliant jewel in the crown of the British and Europe. The British Bharat Fleet even retreated to the Persian Gulf.

In terms of scale, a batch of newly commissioned capital ships allowed the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy to surpass the Leitanian High Seas Fleet in tonnage, which had basically stopped building most large surface warships after the outbreak of war.

For a time, it seemed that the world's second-largest navy, recognized both domestically and internationally, could take advantage of the British, the long-standing global naval superpower, being preoccupied with other matters, and dethrone them from their position as the hegemon of the five oceans and seven seas.

When the initial battle went smoothly, the conflicts between the Shandong and Fujian factions regarding the navy, from strategy and tactics to personnel appointments, were well concealed. After all, even if there were conflicts over the distribution of the spoils, they could always be covered up as long as the spoils continued to grow.

However, with the Federation joining the war in 17, the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy's ocean fleet had to consider the threat from the Federation Navy in the Pacific and withdraw its forces to the South China Sea. As a result, disputes and conflicts between the two major factions within the navy increased.

Due to the differences in the two factions' focus on the next strategic direction of the navy—one advocating a shift of the main focus back to the Pacific, and the other advocating continued progress in the Bharat Bay—the two factions disliked each other within the navy, especially at the command level, and became increasingly uncooperative in their operations.

This naturally sowed the seeds for the navy's later disastrous defeat in the Battle of the Java Sea.

Chapter Ten: Prelude to Failure

“Your Highness Prince Jin is right.” Sa Dingming also looked heartbroken at this moment: “There are many reasons for the navy’s defeat in the Java Sea battle, but the initial factor was indeed the factional disputes within the navy, which caused us to lose the strategic initiative. We have been living off the country’s resources and have truly let down the soldiers who sacrificed their lives and the people who placed high hopes on us.”

At this point, Sa Dingming's voice even choked up a little. To be honest, some people might think that Sa Dingming's overly sentimental appearance was a bit pretentious, but based on Li Che's understanding of Sa Dingming in the other world, he was indeed a person who devoted himself to the construction of the navy.

In another time and space, when he learned of the capture of Seoul in his old age, he recalled the vicissitudes of the past 50 years and immediately composed a poem: "Fifty-seven years have passed like a dream, the whole country has fallen because of Seoul, the dragon in shallow water should not give up, there will eventually be a day to raise its head and breathe its last."

To be honest, this poem is not very well written, but some poems belong to literature and some belong to history, and this poem is undoubtedly the latter.

"General Sa," Li Che proactively posed a question to Sa Dingming: "After the Battle of the Java Sea, the imperial court, in order to stabilize the morale of the army and the people, was vague about the course of the entire naval battle. Even now, we don't know why the navy, which was clearly unstoppable before the Battle of the Java Sea and even won a victory against the Federation in the Battle of Sulu, suffered such heavy losses immediately afterward."

The question Li Che asked was actually what most people present were thinking. If the navy's performance in the war were viewed as a football match, it would be like scoring three points in the first half and then scoring a lot of goals at the start of the second half. It would give the impression that the match was fixed.

Although the military command during the Ming Dynasty wouldn't produce a series of base reports that even its own people couldn't believe, as was the case on the eve of the fall of the old Yingzhou Empire, it would still naturally adopt the traditional method of reporting when faced with major defeats at the front.

This makes it difficult for many people to understand the details of the Battle of the Java Sea, which can be considered a turning point for the entire Ming Empire in the world war.

Therefore, after Li Che asked this question, everyone turned their attention to Sa Dingming.

After gritting his teeth and gulping down a large cup of tea like he was drinking alcohol, Sa Dingming let out a long breath before finally starting to speak:

"Before the outbreak of the Java Sea naval battle, the situation we faced was that in the early stages of the war, our army had an absolute advantage over the Allied colonial fleets in Asia and the Balat Ocean, so the war progressed extremely smoothly. However, with the Federation joining the war in 17, the Ming Royal Navy Ocean Fleet had to consider the threat of the Federation Navy in the Pacific Ocean."

Faced with the threat from the Federal Navy, the differing opinions between the Northern and Southern factions within the Navy led to a rather passive response for a considerable period. Ultimately, due to the conflicting opinions of the two factions, the Navy's ability to take countermeasures was relatively passive.

"Relatively negative?" Li Che recalled the Navy's previous achievements against the Federation: "But I remember we performed quite well against the Federation Navy?"

"That was simply an early advantage brought about by our superior quality of officers and soldiers and our better basic tactical training compared to the inexperienced Federation personnel." Sa Dingming shook his head repeatedly and said, "It can be said that the Navy's early victories were entirely due to using tactical advantages to reverse the strategic setbacks."

"I understand. It means the counter-attacking strategy was pretty good," Li Che thought to himself.

"This situation continued until the fall of 17, more than half a year after the United States Army entered the war. Although the Commonwealth had suffered some setbacks in a series of small and medium-sized battles during this period, the United States Army was launching an offensive along Australia toward Southeast Asia. In addition, our forces were previously dispersed, so the defensive pressure on the South China Sea and even the entire Southwest Pacific was very high."