General Discussion on Maritime Planning, Part IV

After the initial twenty ships are completed, construction should continue successively until a total of one hundred ships is reached to ensure they are sufficient for use. This is a long-term strategy for the maritime frontier 海疆 (haijiang): the coastal defense zones of the Qing Empire, and it is advisable to plan and organize 籌辦 (chouban): a term often used for state-led industrial or military projects this as early as possible.

If it becomes necessary to engage in battle on the ocean before these ships are finished, the only viable strategy is to hire "Grass-Bird" ships 草鳥船 (caoniaochuan): swift, maneuverable coastal vessels common in Fujian and Guangdong, named for their lightness or perhaps a corruption of a local term from Chaozhou in this province, as well as from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian. We should likewise aim for a fleet of one hundred of these vessels.

The men, the ships, and their weaponry should be hired together as a complete unit. We must provide them with generous funding and allow them to pursue and attack the barbarian ships Referring to the British Royal Navy vessels during the First Opium War on the open sea of their own accord. They should not be led by regular military officers, so as to avoid the hindrance The author suggests that the rigid bureaucracy and cautious nature of regular Qing officers would stifle the aggressive, unconventional tactics of these private sailors of official oversight.

Instead, we should dispatch officials to high and distant mountain peaks to serve as lookouts and report on the situation. If a victory is indeed achieved, rewards should be granted according to merit. Those who prove most effective should be rewarded with promotion to officer ranks 弁職 (bianzhi): lower to middle-tier military commissions and integrated into the regular army units.

The reason for this is that the people of the three prefectures of Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Chaozhou These regions had a long history of seafaring, trade, and occasionally piracy; their inhabitants were known to the Qing state as being particularly hardy and difficult to govern are fierce and hardy by nature, and are willing to exert themselves to the point of death. Since they can gain both profit and social status, they will surely compete to be the first to charge. This stands in stark contrast to the local officers and soldiers 弁兵 (bianbing): the professional standing army who are too concerned with protecting their own lives and families; the difference between the two is vast.