1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1004 Founding Ceremony ([-])
Regarding the many advanced methods Hai Han adopted in politics, economy and trade, although Fan Dimen can also make some interpretations based on the actual situation, but most of the time he strongly feels that he cannot keep up with Hai Han's rhythm.When I was still struggling to figure out the means and purpose of Haihan's use of the newspaper as a medium, he had already taken this step and gone a long way.The speculations and predictions made just now, maybe Haihan is already in the process of implementation or even completed some of them, even if all of them are expected, it is difficult to have an impact on Haihan.

Of course, Van Diemen also understood that the purpose of Su Keyi showing himself these commercial newspapers was not to dampen his confidence, but to let him notice that these newspapers were not only a sharp weapon in Haihan's hands, but could also be used by the East India Company.

There are all kinds of advertisements in this kind of commercial newspaper. Obviously, the scrutiny is far less strict than the newspaper. Basically, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can publish commercial information in the newspaper. This is difficult for Daming in Batavia. For the East India Company, which conducts self-promotion, it is indeed a pretty good publicity platform.

The handicrafts from Europe and the Middle East that Dutch merchants transported to Batavia for thousands of miles actually still have a certain market in the Far East, and they cannot be replaced by mass-produced industrial products like Haihan. Davia is too far away from the largest market of Ming Dynasty, and the friction between the two sides has been constant, and the trade has not been smooth.After Haihan took control of the Fujian Strait, the trade organization deployed by the East India Company in Dayuan basically lost its function, making life even more difficult.If not, Van Diemen probably wouldn't have agreed to join the South China Sea Trade Alliance led by Hai Han so easily. After all, the grievances were for the sake of continuing the business.

If the goods hoarded in Batavia are transported to Sanya, and then advertised for sale in Haihan's commercial newspapers, there will definitely be merchants who know the goods to place orders for purchases. If this is done slowly, it may be possible to gradually import goods from the West. The goods entered the market of Daming again.In addition, the East India Company can also publish information on the various commodities that the East India Company hopes to purchase from Daming in newspapers, so that perhaps some suppliers will come to the door by themselves.

But within a short time, Fan Dimen had already thought of several ways to make use of this business newspaper, and he felt that Haihan's method was even more remarkable when he was delighted.If someone in the East India Company could have figured out this method in the early years, maybe the trade situation with Ming would be different?
But Van Diemen immediately overturned his own idea. Haihan's ability to use this method to influence and regulate the trade situation in the market was based on its existing political influence, military support, trade scale, and the fact that it was the same ancestor as the Ming Dynasty. Based on the same cultural foundation, these are almost all the shortcomings of the East India Company. Even if such a newspaper can be barely produced, it is unlikely to achieve the same effect.Moreover, the bank under the name of Haihan has opened offices in the main ports and cities of Fuzhou and Guangzhou, so that the merchants who trade between the two countries are basically separated from the transactions using gold and silver currency. countries cannot provide.

Although financial institutions such as banks are no strangers to Van Diemen from Europe, the Venetians had already established banks to engage in financial business as early as the 12th century, but after he visited the operation of Haihan Bank in Sanya, he had to admit that The operation level and business scope of the Haihan people are far superior to those of their European counterparts. If they want to introduce Western banking institutions to operate in the areas controlled by Haihan, it is tantamount to humiliating themselves, and they are likely to be deceived by more sophisticated means. The Haihan people used financial means to play until they collapsed.

If you want to establish a trade relationship with Daming, you have to bypass the barrier of Haihan, and you must use the business promotion platform, financial settlement means and entrepot trade port provided by Haihan.The combination of these conditions is undoubtedly a big pit that cannot be climbed out after jumping in. However, if the East India Company wants to break through the previous trade barriers, it really has to jump.

From a rational point of view, Van Diemen also knows that if the East India Company is allowed to jump in, it can certainly earn some benefits, but more is to help Haihan, and the commercial channels it can control have increased. one.But if you don’t jump in, the East India Company’s market share and influence in the Far East will continue to be compressed, especially after the establishment of the South China Sea Trade Alliance. If you are excluded, it is basically equivalent to losing most of the market in the Far East. .

In addition, there is another factor that forces Van Diemen to make a choice, that is, the competitor Portuguese.The Portuguese, who followed suit, reached a cooperation agreement with Haihan as early as 1628, and their position in the Haihan trade system was beyond the reach of the current East India Company.Because of this, the Portuguese obtained a lot of commercial resources from Daming and Haihan. In recent years, the trade volume has surpassed that of the East India Company, whose trade situation has been declining year by year, ranking first among European countries entering the Far East. one.

Portugal, supported by Haihan, not only opened up the situation in terms of trade, but Haihan also provided military support to it in secret.As far as Van Diemen knows, Portugal has significantly improved its armed forces in the Strait of Malacca and even its colony in Goa, India, and the weapons it equips are most likely from the Haihan Arsenal located in the inland of Sanya.If the East India Company continues to stand on the opposite side, it is very likely that the next attack on the city of Batavia will not be the Matalan people, but the coalition forces of Portugal and Haihan who are armed to the teeth.

There are many reasons for Van Diemen's determination to jump into the pit, including political and economic factors, as well as military pressure.If a more suitable solution can be found, Van Diemen is actually unwilling to make such a choice. He also knows that once he obeys, it will be difficult for the East India Company to stand up again. He has more options.

Fan Dimen shook his head helplessly, dispelled some unrealistic thoughts in his mind, and told Su Keyi: "After the celebration, the countries will continue to negotiate on the agreement of the trade alliance. At that time, the affairs of Da Ming and Annan will be settled. I leave it to you to handle."

Su Keyi knew that this was Van Diemen's delegation of power to himself, and it should be regarded as a test. How much benefit he could win for the East India Company during the negotiation was probably the standard for Van Diemen's scoring.At that moment, Su Keyi quickly responded, and began to think about the negotiations after the celebration.

March 31, the eve of Haihan's founding ceremony.Starting from this day, all production units will have a three-day holiday to create an atmosphere of national celebration. Many units also issued bonuses or in-kind rewards in advance to celebrate.For the people of Haihan, the three-day holiday is even more lively than the Chinese New Year. The restaurants in Sanya, large and small, are almost fully booked. Various wedding banquets, celebration banquets, reunion banquets, and business and diplomatic banquets continue one after another. The local catering business owners are simply happy.

During the celebration period, there were as many as [-] people pouring into Sanya, and most of them came here for consumption with cash, which quickly stimulated the local service industry market. Even tour guides who do not have much business on weekdays are now It became a fragrant bun.Many local people who are at home on vacation also choose this as a part-time job, collecting money to take foreigners to visit Sanya City.

Similar to the service industry, the military and police personnel who are responsible for security and security tasks are very busy during the celebration.A large number of armed personnel, including the army, are deployed in the form of patrol teams to densely populated areas such as docks and stations, constantly patrolling the streets to prevent possible security incidents.

In addition to the duty personnel who took to the streets, the army base on the Luhuitou Peninsula also gathered various troops who were going to participate in the military parade the next day.The military parade at the founding ceremony is currently the top priority for the Ministry of National Defense, which has recently changed its name. Yan Chujie has already given instructions that he must use the opportunity of this military parade to show the image of the world's invincible Haihan Army in front of the world.Therefore, these troops under review have been undergoing training at the base recently and marching in the drill queue.

Haihan's current army is getting bigger and bigger. In addition to the thousands of troops stationed on Hainan Island, many overseas colonies also have troops of different sizes stationed there.In relatively concentrated garrison locations, a small number of elites were basically selected and sent back to Sanya to participate in this celebration parade.

The special warfare battalion in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province is naturally one of the teams that must show up at the military parade. However, considering that the local situation has not yet stabilized completely, Qian Tiandun did not choose to lead the team back to Sanya in person, but took this task Handed over to the young officer Chen Yixin.The team that returned to Sanya with Chen Yixin was only a temporary platoon, with a total of nearly 50 people, more than half of whom made great achievements in the battle of Danshui and Chicken Coop last year, and the battle of going north to Zhejiang to attack Zhoushan.Giving them the opportunity to go back to Sanya to personally accept the award from the top military is also an extra reward for Qian Tiandun to his subordinates.Some of these soldiers joined the army in other places and came to Sanya, the "capital" for the first time, and Sun Zhen was one of them.

Sun Zhen was born as a refugee in Shandong. After arriving in Penghu the year before last, he chose to join the army and eat food. His good physical condition and bravery were quickly noticed by his superiors. Gao Qiaonan transferred him to a special warfare camp for training. .At the beginning of last year, Sun Zhen, who was still a recruit, participated in the battle of the Haihan Army to attack the Spanish stronghold in Taipei.Afterwards, he went northward with the army and went all the way to the outer seas of Zhejiang. Wang Jialin, the boss of the Zhoushan Ship Gang, was discovered and captured alive in the cellar of the mountain village.Although Sun Zhen had been promoted to be the squad leader for a long time since this achievement was fulfilled, but because he had been fighting abroad and had never set foot in Sanya, the award order issued by the Military Commission at that time had not yet been awarded to him.This time it can be considered that the battalion department specially gave him this opportunity to come to Sanya to "receive patriotic education" considering that he had never been to Haihan's own base camp after enlisting in the army.

Sun Zhen's hometown is Denglai, and he can be regarded as a person who grew up by the sea, but he has never seen such a prosperous port city like Sanya before.After arriving in Hong Kong, his boss, Chen Yixin, spent a whole day looking for them. He led Sun Zhen and other soldiers who came to Sanya for the first time around the urban area and the commercial area of ​​Shengli Port, and introduced the local situation to them.After witnessing the row upon row of shops and the crowds of people on the street, Sun Zhen was convinced that the "Paradise in the South China Sea" mentioned by the former company political commissar and veterans was indeed true.

Haihan’s construction achievements in Sanya, even the dignitaries from all over the world are amazed after seeing it. Sun Zhen is a farmer’s son, and even entering Dengzhou City feels fresh, let alone the feeling of coming to Sanya, a world of flowers.Sun Zhen was amazed that there was such a prosperous country in the sea at the southern end of Ming Dynasty, but he couldn't help but feel lucky for himself and the immigrants who were lucky enough to be assisted by Haihan.The living conditions here are obviously more affluent than those in their hometown in the north. To be able to move from a war-torn land on the brink of death to this stable South China Sea paradise can only be described as lucky to describe the experience of the refugees.

As for the fact that the original Ming nationality will become a Haihan nationality in the future, Sun Zhen doesn't care. He was automatically naturalized when he chose to serve as a soldier.Every time he thinks of the disasters in his hometown and the culprit who killed the villagers and their elders is the Ming army, Sun Zhen can hardly bear the resentment in his heart. If one day the Haihan army wants to invade Denglai, he will definitely stand up and act as the guide of the army.

The scale of the Luhuitou Peninsula military base is much larger than the military camp in Penghu. After Sun Zhen moved in, he had more confidence in Haihan's military strength.And in just a few days here, he has met many comrades-in-arms from all corners of the country, including Shandong fellows, and some from Nanyang islands that he had never even heard of before. From the discussions of these people, Sun Zhen gradually realized He realizes that his army has been guarding the frontiers and opening up new territory for this country, and the size of Haihan Country is simply beyond his imagination.

From Zhejiang to Sanya, Hainan, Sun Zhen already felt that the voyage was very far away, but this was only the middle part of the Haihan territory. Some of the comrades who trained with him were stationed thousands of miles south of Sanya. Overseas, nearly ten thousand miles away from distant Zhoushan.It was hard for Sun Zhen to imagine that such a large country would pop up in the South China Sea silently within a few years.

Of course, Sun Zhen couldn’t imagine that Haihan’s territory is dominated by islands and seaports. Hainan Island and Taiwan Island are already the largest single areas, and there is no such thing as the land of thousands of miles and the huge population base of Ming Dynasty. .He simply thought that since the sea area controlled by Haihan was thousands of miles wide, the territory would naturally be too big. It would be a special honor to be a soldier in such a powerful empire.

(End of this chapter)