1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1010 Founding Ceremony ([-])
It is precisely because the navy made great contributions in the process of Haihan's expansion that it was able to have two opportunities to appear in the military parade of the founding ceremony.Not only did he participate in the army parade in the morning, but there was also a separate navy parade in the afternoon. In terms of treatment, he actually surpassed the army, which made Wang Tom quite proud.

Originally, a phalanx of foreign troops was arranged in the military parade, but the senior officials of the Ministry of National Defense dismissed this idea after seeing the drills of foreign troops. Except that the Annan army, which copied the Haihan military system in its entirety, was still a bit decent, the troops from other countries The performance of the army in the parade is not even comparable to the level of the Haihan militia. If it is insisted on going to the military parade, it will really affect the overall perception.After watching the whole process of the military parade on the viewing stand today, the dignitaries of various countries believe that they will have similar feelings.

The naval phalanx was the last unit to appear. The entire military parade took over an hour, and it was already noon here, and today's founding ceremony came to an end here.However, the people in the viewing area were still reluctant to disperse after hearing the news that the event was over. Many people were still very excited about the scene of the military parade they saw today.

"The prosperity of Haihan is just around the corner!" A middle-aged man in a black silk robe in the front row of the viewing area exclaimed: "On the day of the founding of the country, all countries in Southeast Asia came to worship. This kind of majesty can only be achieved by our Haihan Kingdom." enjoy!"

After finishing speaking, the middle-aged man turned his head and said to several teenagers next to him: "If you have the opportunity to study in Sanya, you should work hard. If you can serve in the court in the future, it will also be the honor of your family!"

One of the teenagers asked: "Master Shan, can we really study in Sanya?"

"Of course, I will go to Shengli Fort to see Chief Ning in two days, and apply to him face to face." The middle-aged man called Shanchang is Zhang Jinbao, the head of Danzhou Qiongxi Academy. During the inspection in Danzhou, he visited the academy run by him, and gave a relatively high evaluation of the teaching situation of the academy.Zhang Jinbao is also a person with a more active mind. After the inspection team left, he thought about the rare opportunity and found a way to climb this high branch.After much deliberation, Zhang Jinbao decided to bring a group of talented students to Sanya to participate in the celebration, and then find an opportunity to apply to Ning Qi for some places for further studies.

Zhang Jinbao believes that Ning Qi is a high-ranking official who values ​​talents. The students he brought here are all outstanding students in the academy, but limited by the level of teachers in the academy, the skills they can learn can at most enable them to find jobs as technicians at the grassroots level , but if there is an opportunity to study in a professional institution in Sanya, then the future may be different.Zhang Jinbao's plan is very clear, if these students can get the opportunity to further study, then sign employment contracts with them early, and return to the academy to be a teacher after finishing their studies, so as to improve the teaching level of the academy, and by the way, do some work for the academy Advertising increases visibility.

At Zhang Jinbao's level, he still couldn't receive an official invitation letter to sit in the high-level auditorium opposite, so he could only bring the students to line up early to get a good seat in the front row.Looking at the nearly two-hour celebration, Zhang Jinbao couldn't restrain the excitement in his heart, he yelled together with the students, very excited.Although Zhang Jinbao's main purpose of running the academy is to make money, after witnessing the prosperity and strength of Haihan, he has more confidence in the work he is doing.Originally this time I just wanted to send a few students to Sanya for further studies, but now I feel that if I can train students to become officials in the court, it seems to be a good way out, and it may even be more useful to my academy than training a few teachers.

The shortcomings of private educational institutions like Jonesy Academy are the teachers and the background.Because of the different directions of education, very few people in Jonesey Academy get the opportunity to become an official through more orthodox methods such as the imperial examination. An orthodox educational institution like Bailu Academy can boast how many candidates it has produced in the past ten years. How many people have entered Haihan's official institutions to work, but Jonesy Academy does not have this kind of capital.But the last time Ning Qi came to investigate, Zhang Jinbao realized Haihan's desire for technical talents, and he could also become an official in Haihan's technical department. There is hope for success.

After seeing the heads of state and guests on the stage leaving one after another, the excited people finally felt a little hungry.Most of them came to the viewing area early in the morning to wait in line, and they stood there for several hours, and the crowd was already exhausted.Although there were vendors offering snacks and drinks hawking back and forth in each viewing area, most people watched the whole ceremony hungry, and at this time they planned to find a place nearby for lunch.

However, if so many people rush into the commercial area of ​​Shengli Port at once, it will cause congestion without any suspense. The organizer has foreseen this situation and has prepared several temporary catering supply points near the port area in advance. People serve fast food.People who are not so rich in their pockets can choose to eat nearby, instead of going to restaurants in commercial districts to bear the relatively high cost of meals.Of course, under such a large flow of people, don’t expect any tables and chairs. All customers can only hold bowls or wooden plates and squat in an open place to eat.

The guests on the viewing platform will not have such worries, Haihan officials have prepared a special dining area for them.After lunch, you will take a boat across the estuary of the Tiandu River to the naval base on the east bank of Shengli Port, and visit the naval parade that will be held in the afternoon.For those countries that are far away from Haihan and do not border Haihan's territory, the strength of Haihan's army is not their primary concern. After all, Haihan's soldiers cannot fly to their countries with wings.The strength of the Haihan Navy is the most concerned issue for these countries.

And people like Zheng Zuo, the young prince of Annan, and unofficial people Xiong Xin, Dong Yanyun and others who represented Daming were more concerned about what new Haihan's surface armed ships were included in the arms sales list.For these Haihan allies, the advantages of Haihan's military strength outweigh the disadvantages. The military equipment they can buy from Haihan over the years also depends on the upgrade of Haihan's own equipment, and the appearance of new equipment is often in the calendar year. In the military parade, this means that it is very likely that a large-scale replacement of equipment by the Haihan Army will follow.Only in this case, Haihan Ordnance will open the purchase qualification of some "new arms" to foreign countries.

And for businessmen from various countries who came here specially to join in the fun, the short luncheon is also an excellent place for communication. If you seize this time, you can get to know a few more customers, and you may be able to negotiate a few deals.After many businessmen ate something casually to fill their stomachs, they toasted around with wine glasses to make connections.

Of course, the high-level personnel of the Haihan Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also very busy during this time period. After watching the military parade in the morning, many guests gathered around when they heard that the Haihan military has a military training program specially provided for foreign troops. Inquire about specific implementation methods and prices.For those countries that lack advanced weapons manufacturing capabilities and do not have sufficient financial resources to purchase Haihan-style arms, it is probably a relatively cost-effective option to improve the combat effectiveness of the existing army through military training.

Regarding the methods and methods of military assistance, Haihan has accumulated many years of successful operation experience, and there are successful precedents such as Daming, Annan, and Champa, which can be used as a reference for new customers, and the persuasion is quite strong.As for whether the client wants pure military training, or a package deal that includes arms trade, this is not a big problem for Haihan.

Even if the customer only wants the simplest package at the starting price, the Ministry of Defense has at least a hundred ways to make the other party obediently pay for arms.It doesn't matter if you think it's too expensive, the fear is that you don't ask the price at all, as long as you open your mouth to ask the price, then you don't want to easily get rid of Haihan's military assistance.However, in order to negotiate a military deal, a lot of details need to be communicated slowly in the follow-up, and it is definitely not something that can be done in a meal.At present, at most, we can exchange each other's wishes and see if we can reach a cooperation intention first.

There were also many more cautious guests who were not in a hurry to reveal their military needs to Haihan, because it was very likely that they would expose their shortcomings, and they could only admit that they were not as good as Haihan's military power displayed in today's military parade. However, in this situation of unequal military strength and mediocre diplomatic relations, if the other party knows its own shortcomings, the risk will be quite high.

The noon meal arrangement was relatively simple, and there was no special feast. After a brief meal, the staff began to arrange for the guests to board the ship and go to the military parade in the afternoon.The reason why the military parade site was changed to the naval base was not because the military was worried that the naval ships would be exposed to the public, but mainly because there were too many ships calling at Victory Port during the celebration, and it was impossible to clear out a large enough area. Come to hold a military parade at sea, so it can only be a little troublesome to build the stand on the military pier of the naval base.

Because of this, the military parade in the afternoon will no longer have a special viewing area for ordinary people.However, this problem is not difficult to solve. People who are interested in watching the naval parade can go to the harbor area that is separated from the naval base by themselves to watch it. However, due to the distance and the blocking of sight by ships on the pier, the impression is definitely not as good as in the morning. The army parade is so comfortable.

Zhang Jinbao brought seven or eight students here on a special trip from Danzhou. The board, lodging, and transportation expenses for this journey were all borne by him. It was already very painful, so naturally he would not take the students to some restaurant at this juncture. restaurant.After the game ended, I found a stall selling fast food, bought a RMB [-] yuan lunch for each of the students, squatted on the side of the road and ate it whole, and urged everyone to finish eating and go on the road.

A student asked: "Shan Zhang, the military parade is over, and the fireworks show will have to wait until night, so where are we rushing to?"

Zhang Jinbao said impatiently: "There will be a naval parade in the afternoon, don't you want to go and see it?"

The student smiled wryly and said: "Shan Zhang, I'm going to watch the military parade. I went straight to the pier to take a seat when the show was over just now. We'll go there after dinner. Where can I see it? It’s already full of people.”

What the student said is true. When the military parade was over and the event was over, many people who had been watching near the southern port area immediately went to take up seats on the nearby pier. When the people in the viewing area left, the port area pier There is no front row seat there.It's only passed now, and most of them can only look at the back of the head.

Zhang Jinbao scolded with a smile: "What you can think of, my boss can't think of? I already hired a boat yesterday, and I'm waiting in the port area!"

The student still didn't believe it: "Shan Zhang, isn't Shengli Port banned from sailing today? Even if you hire a boat, you can't leave the port. Otherwise, if you are caught by the navy, won't you be punished as a spy?"

Zhang Jinbao said: "You boy... you are so brainless! Who said that you have to go to sea after hiring a boat? Can't I just park on the pier after hiring a boat?"

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately, and they understood Zhang Jinbao's intentions.Although the Haihan military implemented a no-sail order for the afternoon military parade, and all ships were not allowed to enter and leave the port before and after the military parade, but these ships were parked at the pier, and it was not difficult to find a good place to watch the military parade at sea.A shrewd ship owner has reserved a seat at the pier seven or eight days or even longer in advance, and waits for the day to sell the viewing seats on the ship.Zhang Jinbao had long thought that there would be so many people that he might not be able to get a good seat at all, so he found a boat owner at the pier in advance, paid a deposit and chartered a small boat.

Several students heard that there was a show, so they swallowed their lunch in twos and threes, then got up and rushed to the pier with Zhang Jinbao.Sure enough, when they arrived at the pier, it was already crowded with people. If they were under eight feet tall, they could only look at the backs of the heads of the people in front of them.On the pier, almost all the places where people go, whether it is the walls, roofs or containers, have been occupied by people who arrived early, and only a few narrow passages are left in the direction leading to the pier trestle to maintain order The military and police come in and out, and by the way, this is also used to separate the crowd, so as to avoid the danger of too many people crowded together.

The boss of the boat contacted by Zhang Jinbao had been waiting at the entrance of the passage, and when he saw him leading the students, he said in relief: "Boss, if you don't show up again, my boat will have to be subcontracted to someone else. There were four or five calls just now." People came to ask, but I didn’t answer.”

Zhang Jinbao smiled and said: "The deposit was paid yesterday, why didn't I come? Hurry up and lead the way!"

After the boat boss explained the situation to the military police on duty, he took Zhang Jinbao and his party up the trestle from the passage.It was only then that Zhang Jinbao realized that there were quite a few people who had the same idea as him, and the decks of almost every ship were overcrowded.

(End of this chapter)