1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2255
Although this is what he said, He Xi also understands that when Xu Xinsu's strength grows to a certain level, he may not be able to maintain the status quo forever.Even if Xu Xinsu can endure loneliness, his family and subordinates may not be able to restrain their ambitions.

Regarding the historical direction of this area of ​​Fujian, it has already deviated from the original track, and Haihan has no way of predicting how its relationship with Daming will change in the future.Therefore, in recent years, Haihan has also taken some preventive measures, such as increasing contacts with key members of the Xu family, using subtle ways to influence their choices, and trying to avoid a situation where "Fujian" and Ming Dynasty stand side by side in the southeast coast in the future. .

Xu Yuzhuo and Xu Jiaqi are Xu Xinsu's most valued and trusted juniors. They are respectively in charge of the navy and army under Xu Xinsu's command. According to Xu Xinsu's family history, he is very likely to pass on the power to those who hold the military power in the future. posterity.Therefore, Haihan put the most effort into these two people, so that if one of them takes over the military and political power in Fujian in the future, the current stable situation can be maintained.

Of course, Xu Yuxing is also regarded as one of the key figures in the Xu Xinsu Group, but he seldom leaves Fujian, and Haihan has limited opportunities to contact him, and he can only take advantage of the rare opportunity of the other party's visit to Sanya, and He Xi will go out in person. Reception, by the way, also test the other party's views and attitudes on some important matters.

However, Xu Yuxing is obviously also a figure in some city government. After several days of contact with He Xi, he basically did not reveal any flaws.It wasn't until the possibility of the Ming court naming Xu Xinsu king that Xu Yuxing's mood fluctuated slightly.

Regarding this matter, in fact, in the early years, the executive committee executives and Xu Xinsu had discussed it and reached a basic consensus.Under the circumstances at that time, Xu Xinsu's goal was only to seek to establish an armed force in Fujian that could only obey his own orders, and he had no ambitions for the unattainable goal of becoming a king, so he did not hesitate on this issue. He strongly agreed with Hai Han's opinion - if the imperial court really has a move to confer a king in the future, then it will accept this kind of reward.

And the symbolic meaning of this choice is to voluntarily give up the practice of dividing the territory and establishing a separate family.But Hai Han didn't know whether Xu Xinsu told his most important nephews and younger generations about it, let alone whether these younger generations would agree with Xu Xinsu's choice back then.

Based on his own experience, He Xi deduced that Xu Yuxing either didn't know about it, or he didn't agree with Xu Xinsu's position, which caused his emotional fluctuations.

"Zheng Zuo is here." He Xi originally wanted to talk about this topic, but when he saw Zheng Zuo walking towards him, he gave up his original idea and reminded Xu Yuxing first.

Zheng Zuo walked closer, first nodded to He Xi and said, "Master He."

Then he took the initiative to turn to the unremarkable Xu Yuxing standing beside him: "Master He, why don't you introduce us?"

He Xi smiled and said: "Since the little prince has already recognized it, why bother me?"

As soon as his words fell, Xu Yuxing had already opened his mouth and said: "My servant Xu Yuxing, I have met the little prince!"

"Lord Xu, I've seen you for a long time!" Zheng Zuo saw that the other party no longer concealed his identity, so he said straight to the point: "I heard that Master Xu has arrived in Sanya, but he has never been able to meet him. Today I finally met through this banquet. It's really a pleasure to meet you." Good luck!"

"What's your virtue, what's your ability? I'm ashamed to be so concerned about laboring the little prince!" Although Xu Yuxing seldom showed his face in public, his social skills were actually not bad, at least he didn't lack experience in dealing with dignitaries.

Zheng Zuo said: "Master Xu, you don't have to be too modest. Didn't the brilliant achievements of the Xu family army in various places overseas over the years all rely on the military information provided by Master Xu?"

Xu Yuxing said seriously: "It's because my father strategized, commanded well, and the three armies used their lives, and with the help of a powerful allied force like Haihan, we can achieve a pretty good record. It's not the work of one person, little prince liked!"

Zheng Zuo tried it out, saw that his reply was impeccable, and knew that this character was by no means a simple one, so he changed the subject immediately: "It's rare to have the opportunity to meet in Sanya, and I would like to invite the two of you to have dinner together at a convenient time these few days." Let’s have a light meal, and I invite the two adults to give you face!”

He Xi already knew that Zheng Zuo had plans to invite Xu Yuxing to meet privately, so he didn't refuse immediately: "Since the little prince is the host, I'd rather be respectful than obedient."

Xu Yuxing hesitated for a moment, but also agreed: "Then bother the little prince!"

"Okay, then it's a deal! Later I will order someone to send invitations to the two of you."

After Zheng Zuo finalized the matter, he didn't delay here any longer. Most of the things he wanted to talk to He Xi and Xu Yuxing were about military affairs, and it was not suitable to talk about it in the current environment.Moreover, there are still many people that Zheng Zuo wants to deal with in this occasion. He must seize the time to contact as many people as possible to obtain more information.

After Zheng Zuo left, Xu Yuxing asked: "This little prince wants to invite us to meet in private. What exactly does he want to talk about? Does Mr. He have any idea?"

He Xi said: "Everyone knows that this little prince is most concerned about two things, one is military affairs, and the other is trade. He definitely cannot invite us to the banquet to discuss business, it can only be military affairs. In my opinion, they probably want to propose a joint attack on a certain place!"

"To send troops together... that also needs to have enough oil and water. Is there such a target around An Nanguo?" Xu Yuxing replied dubiously: "I know that Annan has been fighting with Siam and Lancang in the west, but the problem Because their battlefields are all inland and mountainous, it will be very difficult for us to send troops to participate in the war, and we may not get any benefits."

He Xidao: "I don't think Annan would have such a plan. They know that if there is no expected common interest, we will not send troops easily...at least we will not send troops into the inland mountainous area to participate in the battle. If from It is still possible to go around the sea to the south to attack the coastal areas of Siam."

Xu Yuzhuo was not as familiar with the geography of the South China Sea and the international situation as He Xi. After hearing this, he recalled the topography of the Indochina Peninsula in his mind, and then slowly understood what He Xi meant.

Most of the east coastline of the Indochina Peninsula belongs to the territory of Annan, and the southern end is the Champa Kingdom bordering it.On the other hand, Annan Kingdom's west borders the Kingdom of Lancang and Siam respectively. The borders are mostly in the mountains, and there are many disputed areas. Several countries have been fighting endlessly for this reason.However, in recent years, as Annan's military strength has gradually increased, the border war has been developing in a direction that is beneficial to Annan.

Bypassing the coastline of Champa from the southernmost tip of the Indochina Peninsula, it enters the Gulf of Siam, which is later called the Gulf of Thailand.If you want to launch an offensive against Siam from this sea area, you will be facing a large area of ​​coastal plains. This will indeed be a good direction of attack.

Xu Yuxing sketched out a general sea route in his mind, and then shook his head and replied: "The distance is too far. If we want to send out an armed fleet to Siam, I think it will be difficult for An Nanguo to maintain the sea supply line of the combined fleet. Allowing fleets to go to war to take unnecessary risks."

The voyage from Fujian to Sanya is more than 2000 miles, and the voyage from Shengli Port to the south, bypassing the Indochina Peninsula and entering the Gulf of Siam is more than 4000 miles.If this distance is a trade route, it will be fine, but if it is an armed fleet, the supplies needed for combat are far from comparable to civilian ships.

Of course, this kind of long-distance expedition cannot rely entirely on the participating fleets to organize their own supplies. In that case, the size of the supply fleet would probably be several times larger than that of the armed fleet.Most of the supplies must be organized and transported by An Nanguo nearby, and according to Xu Yuxing's knowledge, Annan's sea transportation capacity is obviously still far from the implementation of such a combat plan.

For distances like this, or even longer, Haihan has organized coalition expeditions. For example, last year the fleet set out from Sanya to aid North Korea, and its voyage was more than [-] miles.However, in this type of operation organized by Haihan, there are multiple ports along the way that can provide supplies, and there is a huge maritime capacity available for deployment. The situation is completely different from Annan's situation.

Haihan's organization and transportation capabilities have passed the test of combat operations over the years and have a trustworthy strength. On the other hand, Annan has no achievements in this area in the past, so it is no wonder that Xu Yuxing raised doubts.

"Maybe we don't need to rush to guess the real purpose of the Annan people. Wait patiently for a day or two, and he will tell us." Although He Xi also felt that Xu Yuxing's words were reasonable, after all, there was no basis for this kind of speculation. It's just talk on paper.

Moreover, he does not think that the target of the Annan people is Siam. In fact, part of the reason is the details mentioned by Xu Yuxing just now. Since Annan has already dominated the inland front, it is not enough to launch a large-scale attack from the sea. , In this case, there is actually no need to open up a second battlefield, and spend a huge price to invite Haihan and Xu Jiajun to send troops.

He Xi thinks that Zheng Zuo may have bigger plans, but at the moment he doesn't have a definite concept in his mind, he just has such a feeling.After all, with Haihan as a successful example of rapid expansion in front of them, it is impossible for the Annan people to watch Haihan occupying the surrounding territory bit by bit without being indifferent.

Now that Annan is in power as a military general, the scale of the outward expansion of force will only increase, and the geographical scope will also become wider and wider.Sooner or later, the small Indochina Peninsula will not be able to accommodate the ambitions of the Annan people.

Of course, if it's just like this, it's not enough to make Hai Han feel nervous about it.As Haihan gradually recommends industrialized production in China, the gap in national and military strength between the two countries will only increase in the future. The most sensible choice for An Nanguo is to temporarily sit as the second in command in the international alliance organized by Haihan or The position of the third in command, rather than treating Haihan as a competitor for his external expansion.

But no matter what, at the moment when Haihan is still in control of the Annan coastline, if the country wants to expand externally by sea, it must first obtain Haihan's approval and support.And if Haihan didn't get enough benefits in this process, or even had the risk of his interests being damaged, then Annan's first step would definitely not be possible.

He Xi has another reason. He thinks that Zheng Zuo made an appointment with himself instead of a military general. It should not be discussing military operations, but intelligence matters in other fields.

Zheng Zuo didn't know that these two were thinking about himself behind his back. After finishing his conversation with the two intelligence officials, he found Li Nai and expressed An Nanguo's intention to set up a permanent trade organization in Guangzhou.

"As we all know, the third young master has great influence in Guangzhou. I hope that the third young master can help our country and choose a good place in Guangzhou to build a guild hall. Of course, we will not let the third young master help for nothing. In return, our country will also be in the capital. Provide Furuifeng with a good piece of land for the expansion of the warehouse." Zheng Zuo expressed his wishes to Li Nai succinctly.

Looking at the other party's posture, Li Nai obviously hoped to get his own answer on the spot, and smiled and said, "The little prince has a heart! I don't know when your country plans to start it, so I can inform Guangzhou in advance and make corresponding preparations." .”

Zheng Zuo said: "I plan to go to Guangzhou in person after this martial arts competition is over."

"Oh? The little prince wants to handle this matter himself?" Li Nai realized that the other party attached more importance to this matter than he expected.

"I heard that Guangzhou is the most prosperous city in the south of Ming Dynasty, but I have never been able to see the real face. This time, I will use the pretext of going abroad for business to see the customs of Guangzhou." Zheng Zuo replied: "If the third young master can arrange time, It would be best to go to Guangzhou together, and it will save my eyes from getting dark when I get there.”

Li Nai smiled and said: "It is my honor to accompany the little prince to visit Guangzhou. But... I still have some things to do in the near future. I want to go to Danzhou after the martial arts competition. If the little prince is not in a hurry, then you can go to Sanya or go to Haikou and wait for me for two or three days, how about returning to Guangzhou together after I finish my work?"

"Okay, then it's a deal!" Zheng Zuo was very straightforward, and he could afford to wait for two or three days.Just after the contest, he also needs to stay in Sanya to handle some diplomatic affairs.

As one of Haihan's most important trading partners in Daming, Furuifeng actually opened the air route between Guangzhou and Annan long ago, and set up business warehouses in its capital and other places to carry out long-term trade.Of course, most of the trading posts are still located in the various ports controlled by Haihan for safety reasons.

The scale of Fu Ruifeng's store in Annan City is not too large. Since Annan is willing to offer land to help the store expand, Li Nai is also willing to give him a favor.As for the good land, Fu Ruifeng has encircled a lot of land outside Guangzhou in recent years, and it is okay to sell ten or eight acres of land at the market price for the Annan people to build a guild hall.

(End of this chapter)