1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1747 Profitable
How big is the role of the navy? Haihan has set the best example for the countries in the Far East with his own history of prosperity.From being unknown to being powerful, Haihan’s every foreign expansion almost always involves the participation of the navy, and now the many overseas colonies under the rule of the Yellow Sea in the north and Malacca in the south are the best manifestations of the role of the navy.

The countries in the South China Sea that have personally experienced this process are naturally determined to follow this proven extremely efficient development path.But this road is not so easy. To achieve this goal, you must first establish a powerful navy, which is enough to discourage many relatively weak countries.

However, Haihan provides another more convenient solution for these countries and local forces. Even if they cannot build warships with excellent performance and cannot form naval combat troops, it doesn't matter. As long as they are willing to spend money, Haihan Han can even provide a full range of services from custom-made warships to personnel training.And An Nanguo and Fujian Ming Army, who are at the forefront on this road, have indeed begun to have a formed naval establishment.

Of course, in order to build a naval force belonging to one's own country, only the parties themselves know how much money was paid and the diplomatic conditions compromised.Buying the warships built by Haihan in batches does not mean that they have a powerful navy. On the contrary, this is just the beginning.

For example, the East India Company, which spent a huge sum of money to buy a batch of Haihan warships last year, began to have a headache about how to use these warships to form combat effectiveness in the future.Haihan only provided them with basic piloting training for the crew, but the corresponding tactical system was not included in the money to buy the ship—even if the Dutch were willing to pay extra for the purchase, Haihan did not intend to teach them exploration Tactics related to super warships.

Therefore, the batch of ships bought by the Dutch not only had to find a way to equip them with naval guns and other weapons and equipment, but also had to explore their own tactics and tactics in order to transform the batch of warships they had finally bought into combat effectiveness.Compared with the full set of services that buyers like Annan can enjoy, this is naturally much less efficient.

In short, if you want to quickly form combat power, you have to come up with conditions that can satisfy Haihan, and the Netherlands is regarded by Haihan as the main global competitor in the next few years. This is the birth defect that the Netherlands cannot make up for. .Even if he is willing to pay, it is difficult to obtain certain important skills from Hai Han.So Su Keyi knew that there was nothing to do in this link, so he left angrily first.Of course, if the Haihan people are willing to relax the conditions for the Netherlands and give them the same treatment as Annan, then he probably won't be able to drive him away.

And Fei Cexian could only look at the Fujianese enviously. Although Haihan sold a batch of weapons and equipment to Daming according to the agreement after the establishment of diplomatic relations last year, this did not include sea warships.In fact, Haihan didn't even sell a sampan to Daming. This has nothing to do with the price, it's simply that Haihan didn't want to let Daming have a sea weapon with relatively strong combat effectiveness.

Among them, only Fujian is an exception. The Fujian navy can not only buy warships in batches from Haihan, but even let Haihan train officers and sailors on their behalf.Of course, this kind of treatment is only limited to the troops under Xu Xinsu's command. If the garrisons in other places of Ming Dynasty want to come and follow the glory, or let Fujian resell the Haihan warships in their hands, those operations are not allowed by Haihan.

The Ming court is well aware of the tricks in the middle, but Fei Cexian also knows that if he asks Haihan not to export weapons or provide military aid to Fujian, or to convert the target to the Ming court, most of them will have to do so on their own. Take its shame.The Haihan people's support for the Fujian garrison originally had ulterior motives, but they seemed to intend to win over the Ming court's attitude, but they were actually extremely wary, and they would definitely not agree to such a request.

Fei Cexian didn't know about these methods in the arms trade when he was on duty in the capital, and he only came into contact with the inside story after he came to Haihan.As for whether the dignitaries in the court, or even the emperor in the Forbidden City, realized that Hai Han was constantly suppressing Daming from various aspects, Fei Cexian was not optimistic.

After all, in the eyes of many people, Haihan does not seem to have the intention to invade Daming on a large scale, and since last year, there has been an argument in favor of Haihan in the capital, thinking that Haihan's various actions on the coastline of Daming are actually for the sake of A sea passage from Sanya to the Liaodong Peninsula can be opened up, so that troops can be dispatched to the northeast to defend Daming against the Houjin offensive, and use military exploits to offset the sin of cutting Qiongzhou Island from Daming.

This kind of statement that a discerning person would find absurd at first glance, actually has a market in the government and the opposition. Many people are puzzled by it, thinking that Hai Han has no hostility towards Daming.Although Fei Cexian didn't believe that the people of Haihan were so kind, he also thought that Haihan might send troops to Liaodong in order to let Ming completely loosen trade restrictions.But when he came to Sanya, after getting more information in the library and various occasions, he gradually realized that Haihan's purpose was not as simple as the outside world thought, at least when Haihan people were promoting their own arms But it is not less used as a means of propaganda.

Not counting Hainan Island, there are already seven or eight colonial ports operated by Haihan near the coastline of Daming, and more than half of them have the function of military strongholds, with a certain number of naval and land troops stationed all year round.From the north to the south, the coastline of Daming is actually under the supervision of Haihan as a whole, and being able to control the sea area of ​​thousands of miles is also one of the proofs that Haihan uses to promote the power of its navy to the outside world.

Even the largest and most powerful Ming Empire, its sea area is under the control of the Haihan Navy. Can there be a more convincing advertisement than this?An Nanguo, who has been the most active in this regard, has been sending fleets to frequent activities in the Beibu Gulf under the banner of joint cruises or military exercises in recent years, as if treating the sea area that originally belonged to Ming Dynasty as its own back garden.Annan's confidence in being so arrogant is precisely because they established their own navy with the help of warships and training methods provided by Haihan.Although the scale is small, it is enough to hold down the Guangxi Ming army whose navy has been basically abandoned.

The Fujian Navy is even more aggressive. In the past two years, the Haihan Navy has frequently operated in the Liaodong waters. It is said that ships and personnel from Fujian have always been involved in the fleet.And the last time Haihan sent troops to attack Manila, it seems that Fujian also sent troops to join the battle.These actions of not saying hello to the capital are, on the one hand, a manifestation of Fujian Xu's disobedience to the imperial court, and on the other hand, they show the combat effectiveness of the Fujian navy with the help of Haihan-now they are able to send troops to Liaodong and Hebei. This is the only Daming navy that performs military missions in Manila.

Although Fei Cexian didn't like Haihan deliberately supporting Fujian and artificially creating a separation between the imperial court and the local government, he also had to admit that Haihan's strength in maritime armed forces was indeed far superior to that of Ming Dynasty.And if Da Ming wants to use his own efforts to narrow this gap in strength, I'm afraid that the longer it takes, the less likely it will be to succeed.

Because according to the information Fei Cexian found in the library, Haihan produces a new fleet on average every two years or so, and the speed at which the navy's strength expands can be described as astonishing.However, the situation in Ming Dynasty was just the opposite. In order to have enough military expenditures to support the suppression of bandits in the Central Plains and defend against the enemy in the north, the imperial court had to reduce the expenditure of naval forces in various places, and even canceled the establishment of naval forces in some places in name only, so as not to let some unscrupulous As a general, he continued to guard his establishment and eat empty pay.Nowadays, there are very few naval units on the coastline of Daming that can patrol the sea with a fully equipped fleet.

Under the ebb and flow, the power gap between the two sides at sea is increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and Fei Cexian can't think of any solution to this situation.There is no need to fight. The Haihan Fleet not only has strong ships and powerful guns, but also has been constantly fighting with people from all walks of life in recent years. This is not an object that the Daming Navy, which has been idle for many years, can match.Except for the fruitless protest, Daming has almost no other means of counterattack that can act on Haihan.

Fei Cexian sat under the stage, numbly listening to Bai Kesi's report of Fujian's order for warships, and he became increasingly optimistic about Daming's prospects.Although he is not a military strategist, he has received more information in Sanya, and his vision has long been better than that of civil and military officials in Ming Dynasty. It is not difficult to judge the difference in military emphasis between the two countries and the future trend of change.The Ming army will continue to work hard to pacify internal and external troubles. The expensive war expenses will make it difficult for Ming to find resources to form a maritime armed force to restore its disadvantages. Haihan will continue to expand its advantages at this stage and further control Daming's long history. There will only be more and more cases of people along the coast secretly communicating with Haihan or blatantly seeking refuge like Fujian.

After Fei Cexian came to Sanya, he learned a truth. Some problems cannot be solved with money, and some problems cannot be solved without money.But today's Daming is really out of luck, and he has encountered both of these problems.Of course, Fei Cexian knew that the root cause was not Daming's luck or the solution to the problem, but Haihan's attitude.

Although Zhang Tiangui had indicated to the buyers that the delivery date might be delayed, the representatives from various countries present showed high enthusiasm for buying as before, as if the high price and long delivery time were not a problem.Annan and Fujian alone have finalized orders for a total of [-] exploration-class ships and six expedition-class ships. According to the current cost, the total price of these warships and their weapons and equipment has exceeded one million. It does not include the cost of hull customization, weapon upgrades, crew training, price increases, etc. that will be included separately later.

"How come Annan people are so rich!" Fei Cexian couldn't help being a little jealous of the magnanimity shown by Annan's young prince Zheng Zuo.In the past, Annan had always been a character in the backcountry in Daming's eyes. Except for the unique geographical environment that made the country's grain production higher, it seemed that there was nothing else.Moreover, before Emperor Chongzhen came to the throne, this neighboring country had been in the midst of a civil war. In just a few short years, there were faint signs of prosperity. This was by no means good news for Daming.

"There are mines in Annan!" The Champa envoy sitting next to Fei Cexian heard his complaint, and explained the truth: "Iron, coal, and a kind of aluminum ore that the Haihan people are quietly mining are enough. Let the Annan people become nouveau riche!"

The envoys of Champa knew so much about Annan's situation, so they naturally put in a lot of effort.Near the port of Vung Tau, which borders Champa in the south of Annan, there is an iron mine that has only been officially mined and operated by Annan in the past two years. Although its production capacity is far less than that of Shilu Iron Mine, which has already started to operate mechanized mining, it is in An Nanguo is already considered top-notch.Of course, to be able to find this mine, Haihan's guidance is naturally indispensable, so there is also Haihan's shares in it, which can be regarded as a joint operation between the two countries.

Although the bauxite mines located in the inland north of Annan are not on a large scale, the extracted aluminum is basically supplied to Haihan, which also brings a lot of benefits from Haihan.

Compared with Haihan selling high-tech weapons and equipment, Annan's income from relying on the sky is much easier, and the profits are quite generous.Moreover, these minerals also digested tens of thousands of prisoners of war and prisoners after the Annan civil war, and used a large number of these cheap labor forces to keep the cost of mining mines at a very low level. In just a few years, they accumulated for the Annan treasury. A lot of wealth, so that Annan spared no expense in buying arms from Haihan to arm himself every year, and at the same time maintained frequent small-scale battles with Siam on the western front.

"It turns out that there is a mine at home!" Fei Cexian got this information by accident, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart that God has no eyes, why should An Nanguo have such a cornucopia that can be obtained without any effort.

Fei Cexian also thought that Haihan had also exploited a copper mine in Shandong. It was said that the output was quite large, but it was obviously a mine of Ming Dynasty, so why did the Haihan people monopolize it.The imperial court should order the Shandong government to intervene in this matter. Even if they can't get it back, at least they have to set a share ratio with the Haihan people, and they can't let them take advantage of this in vain.

Of course, Fei Cexian didn't know that the Shandong government didn't take any action, but was beaten back by Haihan's troops as soon as it made an action, and lost a group of soldiers in Fushan County because of this.But this kind of rubbish battle that is destined to be blamed by someone dares to be reported to the court. The Shandong government saw that the Haihan people had no intention of taking the opportunity to start a war, so they decisively concealed this embarrassing incident.

As for Haihan's local mine development, Dengzhou pretended to be deaf and dumb after suffering, and stopped meddling in other matters.Instead of sending troops to Fushan County to ask for trouble, it is better to send some people who know business to do business with the Haihan people. You can easily earn thousands of taels of silver, compared to the costly and deadly war , Wouldn't it be flattering to make a fortune.

(End of this chapter)