1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1012 Founding Ceremony ([-])

Compared with the simpler lunch arranged to save meal time, the scale of the dinner after all the military parades is grand.In order to be able to conveniently watch the fireworks display on the Yulin Peninsula at night, the relevant departments arranged the dinner venue at the naval base, so that there is no need to move the guests on a large scale.Because this is a military controlled area, there is no need to worry about idlers mixing in. The dinner venue is set in a playground in the base.

The dinner adopts a dual mode of banquet and self-service. The big names are concentrated in the banquet area, and those businessmen who need to travel around for public relations exchanges, gourmets who like to taste various delicacies, and people who do not want to be bound by banquet etiquette , you can choose a richer buffet dining area and enjoy a more free dining environment.Although the number of guests attending the dinner was more than 800 people, it did not appear crowded because of the proper layout of the venue.

However, for the rulers of Haihan, this dinner is not a time for them to enjoy it with peace of mind. This occasion can be used to have informal contact with representatives of envoys from various countries and exchange some personal opinions.

At this moment, Bai Kesi, the person in charge of Haihan Ordnance Industry, was surrounded by five or six foreign envoys, all of whom came to inquire about Haihan's arms export policy.No matter how good something is, it is not as good as a good advertisement. The publicity effect achieved by the two military parades today is very obvious, attracting many interested new customers.

Facing the various questions raised by the crowd, Beks had no choice but to respond in a more official way: "About the arrangements for the export of arms, we will arrange a special display of weapon performance in two days. The weapons on the export list will be shown for everyone to understand. Questions about technical parameters and use training will also be answered by special personnel."

Someone asked: "As long as the money is paid, anyone can sell it?"

Of course, Beks understood the meaning of this question, and responded cautiously: "In principle, we only sell standard arms to the government in bulk. If private individuals want to buy arms from us, then we will first confirm their legal use, and second, we will buy them for what they can afford. restrictions on the quantity and type of munitions available.”

Haihan has been engaged in the arms trade for so many years, so he is very familiar with the various scruples that foreign officials have when buying arms.For these potential buyers, what they consider the most is not the price of arms, but the security issue at a higher level.Since Haihan sells these arms and equipment publicly, it means that anyone who is willing to pay can buy these weapons. may threaten the current ruler.

Bex's answer was also to reassure these envoys.Of course, how to operate specifically and how to limit the sales object still needs to be discussed slowly by both parties.Having said that, if Haihan wants to support the opposition in his country with peace of mind, a piece of paper will certainly not have much restrictive effect. Haihan will naturally have other ways to export military fire to the local area through unofficial channels-such as the recent The Portuguese who acted as an arms broker for Haihan for two or three years is very suitable for this kind of shady job.

As for selling arms to private individuals, Haihan's control is indeed relatively strict. Most of the so-called private armed forces are similar to the "Golden Shield Escort" under Li Jifeng in Guangdong, an organization that Haihan has certain monitoring and commanding powers.Although such control measures still cannot completely prevent the flow of weapons from civilian channels, at least there will be no major disturbances.On the contrary, the bulk of arms sold to Daming, Fuguang, Guangxi provinces and the Annan military, more or less some of them flowed into private hands, but most of these arms flowed to the country's military and political dignitaries, even if Haihan knew it, Also pretends to be deaf most of the time.

Of course, the military industry department also foresees that there will be a wave of arms sales peak during the founding ceremony, so it has made some targeted preparations for this.In addition to the demonstration of weapons and equipment at the military parade, a full-day performance display was specially prepared for interested customers, as well as a package of arms sales, skill training, military assistance and other packaged packages. Discuss with Haihan about forming a military alliance.

At this time, Schneider was surrounded by a large group of businessmen. This year, Haihan's development plan in the two key areas of the South China Sea, Anbuna Island and Xingdao, had already released official news before that. People who smelled business opportunities Naturally, they would not let go of this opportunity to make a fortune, and asked Schneider about the specific situation one after another.

"I personally suggest that you invest in Ambuna Island first, because the infrastructure here is better, so that the projects you invest in can get returns in a shorter period of time. In addition, the future development of Abuna Island The projects are mainly for leisure and entertainment. You choose the industry you invest in, and you will have the opportunity to enjoy it yourself in the future." Schneider held a wine glass in his hand and talked to everyone: "As for Xingdao... I can only Let me tell you that the return on investment will not be too fast, but the long-term benefits will be considerable. The long-term I am talking about is not a span of ten or twenty years, but five times, ten times, or even longer.”

Someone asked: "Chief Shi, I heard that Xingdao is thousands of miles away from Sanya, and there are not even Nanyang natives on the island. With such a deserted island, what kind of projects should we operate to make a profit?"

Schneider said: "It's true that the island is a deserted island, but the reason for the desertion is not because the place is too remote, but because the surrounding countries regard it as a must-fight, and the wars continue, so it becomes barren. Of course, after I, Haihan, set foot on Xingdao, there will be no more frequent wars. As for why this place attracts competition from various countries, interested friends can check the map by themselves to see where this place is. Naturally I understand. As for the profit... I think the problem is not how to make a profit, but how to make a more profitable profit. But for this, everyone needs to brainstorm and work together.”

Schneider only said half of what he said on purpose, just to leave a little suspense for these curious businessmen to find out the news by themselves.Relying on their understanding of the geography of the world and the development trend of international trade centuries later, the traversers have already determined to control some maritime throat areas, but not everyone can understand this advanced vision, especially Ming merchants who were not familiar with the geography of the South China Sea found it difficult to understand why the Haihan people went to occupy a deserted island thousands of miles away and planned to invest resources in its construction and development.

Except for the western colonists from Portugal and the Netherlands, there are probably only a few countries around the Strait of Malacca who can really understand the intentions of the Haihan people.However, Haihan has already stationed an established army there. If other countries want to seize the island, they must first consider whether they can beat the Haihan people.

However, Schneider is very aware of the profit-seeking psychology of businessmen. As long as they realize the importance of Xingdao's geographical location, they will naturally think of the purpose of Haihan traveling thousands of miles south to seize the island. At that time, people who are willing to actively spend money and invest will definitely be indispensable. .

At another banquet, Tao Donglai accompanied Dong Yanyun and Xiong Xin, who represented Fuguang and Guangxi provinces to participate in the celebration.Although Fuguang officials did not attend the celebration in order to avoid suspicion, they still sent representatives in private, which can be regarded as a appeasement measure.Haihan is very clear about the mentality of the high-level officials of the two provinces. Anyway, the purpose of both sides is to maintain the current peaceful situation. On the surface, temporarily suspending official exchanges is not a big deal.Haihan has dealt with the local government of Daming for several years, and there is still a tacit understanding of this level.

Dong Yanyun and Xiong Xin came here on behalf of Xu Xinsu from Fujian and Xiong Wencan from Guangdong and Guangxi respectively. Haihan still gave due courtesy according to his status as a VIP.After the two arrived in Sanya, they did not specifically hide their whereabouts and stay behind closed doors. They also attended the activities they should participate in and showed up as usual. Haihan officials are quite satisfied with their attitude.Of course, Haihan also knew that the governments of the two places were not so relieved about the future development of the situation, so they specially sent envoys to participate in the celebration in order to confirm whether Haihan would change his diplomatic strategy.

"With all due respect, Mr. Xiong's worries are a little unnecessary." Tao Donglai said with a smile: "I, Hai Han, have always been friends with Daming, and the investment in Guangdong alone has at least several million taels of silver. If Hai The relationship between Han and Daming has undergone a bad change, isn't it us Hai Han who are the first to be unlucky?"

Xiong Xin repeatedly said yes, but he still felt something was wrong.Although the Haihan people have many industries in Guangdong, most of them are concentrated in the territory they control, and they are often stationed with armed guards. The local government has no jurisdiction over them.

Leaving aside places like Hong Kong Island and Panyu County, Haihan's Guangdong Office was originally located on a small piece of land not far from the Pearl River outside Guangzhou, and now it is built like a city outside the city.The Sanjin house that I bought at the earliest time has been expanded into a manor covering an area of ​​more than [-] mu, and high-walled watchtowers and ditches have been built on the periphery that stretch to the riverside. The level of fortifications has definitely far exceeded what ordinary folk manors should There are levels.Not only that, the headquarters of the Golden Shield Escort is also located in the local area, with hundreds of armed personnel stationed all year round, and all of them are equipped with weapons made by Haihan.

The reasons of the Haihan people are also very good. These armed personnel not only have to protect the safety of the Guangzhou Office, but also the safety of the Guangdong head office of Haihan Bank, which is also in this place. There is too much gold and silver stored there, and they must be strictly guarded to prevent There are thieves thinking about it.For such a reason, the government naturally couldn't criticize it. After all, even most of the officials' family properties were stored there, so there was really no way to be tough.

This office in Guangzhou is like an extrajudicial place outside the city of Guangzhou. The Guangzhou government can only pretend to be deaf and dumb to what happened inside.If it was said that Haihan had turned against Daming, would the government dare to search the Guangzhou Office?Can the Haihan people be caught without a fight?If we really want to work with the Guangzhou Office, the reinforcements from Panyu County can arrive within two hours, and the warships from Hong Kong Island can reach the outside of Guangzhou in only one day.Although Tao Donglai's words are beautiful, it is still uncertain who will suffer the greater loss.

Without waiting for Xiong Xin to figure out the mystery, Tao Donglai turned to Dong Yanyun and said, "Master Xu has cooperated with us for so many years, and the relationship between the two parties has always been very harmonious. The matter of Haihan Jianguo will not It will affect the relationship between us and Mr. Xu, the previous cooperative relationship and cooperation conditions, and we will not unilaterally make changes in the future. The peaceful situation in the Fujian Strait is very important to us in Haihan, and we also need Mr. Xu's words. We are a sincere partner. This year we will start to open up the northern route, and we will need a lot of care from you."

Dong Yanyun said: "Could it be that your country is going to continue going north to the Denglai area?"

Tao Donglai avoided answering, and changed the topic: "This year, the development of Taiwan Island still needs a lot of immigrants. I hope that after Mr. Dong returns, he can convey our needs to Mr. Xu and help organize the immigration."

Dong Yanyun quickly responded, thinking that it might be troublesome to say goodbye, but it is not difficult to immigrate.In the past year, the civil strife in Ming Dynasty continued, and the peasant army attacked everywhere. Except for the coastal areas, which were not directly affected, a large number of refugees appeared in other places, and many of them chose to flee to the coast to avoid the war.Although Fujian is a bit out of the way, there are still thousands of refugees pouring in from Jiangxi.These refugees are completely a burden to the government, but throwing them to the Haihan people can return some rewards.

However, Tao Donglai also mentioned the development of Taiwan Island, which made Dong Yanyun a little vigilant. He was not worried about what kind of tricks the Haihan people were playing on Taiwan Island, but because he was afraid that he would miss this wave of market again. When Haihan stationed in Taiwan in 1632, the Fujian side was slow at every step. It was overtaken by its counterparts in Guangdong, and almost didn't even drink the soup.

Dong Yanyun immediately asked: "What new projects are there on Taiwan Island, can Chief Tao reveal one or two things?"

Tao Donglai was also vague about this question, he didn't answer directly, he only said that he would know when the time came.Dong Yanyun wanted to continue asking, but Tao Donglai invited them to watch the fireworks show that was about to start.

This fireworks show is a batch of fireworks that Haihan specially invited craftsmen who made fireworks to Sanya more than half a year in advance, and the military industry department provided various gunpowder for this celebration.Compared with contemporary fireworks, these Haihan-made fireworks fly higher, explode louder, and burn brighter, which is by no means seen in other places.Those who can watch this fireworks show in Sanya are also very lucky.

(End of this chapter)