1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2432
Shi Diwen's mention of the military exercise was naturally not a temporary idea, but a long-awaited plan. It's just that due to various reasons, he has not had time to submit a formal written application to Sanya.Now that he had the opportunity to explain his plan to Tao Donglai, Shi Diwen naturally tried his best to seize this opportunity.

Different from similar operations in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the past, Shi Diwen's plan this time is more radical and bold. What he envisions is not only a unilateral show of force, but also to make the Daming Guards in the surrounding areas of Zhoushan The military also sent troops to participate in a joint military exercise between the two countries.If the executive committee allows, then after the operation is over, a batch of arms will be sold to the generals of the Ming army who participated in the military exercise.

"A joint military exercise with the Ming army? There is no precedent for this!" Tao Donglai was a little shocked when he heard Shi Diwen's bold idea.

This is not the case. Of course, Haihan also held military exercises with the Ming army, and not once or twice.The Xu family army that can participate in the exercise is inherently special in nature and cannot be generalized with the Ming army in other places.Tao Donglai's questioning like this shows that he did not regard the Xu family army as part of the Ming army at all.

Shi Diwen did not correct the loopholes in Tao Donglai's words, but continued to explain his plan: "Ningbo, Shaoxing, Jiaxing, and Songjiang, the state capitals closest to Zhoushan, the commanders and thousands of households of the garrison guards, Most of them have private interests with our country. After our trade channels are affected, they will also cause losses. Therefore, if we can organize joint military exercises, it will definitely serve as a warning to some people in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang government who cannot see the situation clearly. , let them not stretch their hands too far!"

Tao Donglai said, "About the joint military exercise, have you exchanged opinions with these military attaches of the Ming army?"

"Of course I did." Shi Diwen replied without hesitation: "If I didn't get their approval, I definitely wouldn't propose this as a solution to the current problem. In fact, I started doing this last year. For this matter, the majority of people agree with me and are willing to participate, and we all believe that under the current general environment, this may be the most peaceful means.”

Tao Donglai said: "Then can you roughly talk about who are the military officers of the Ming Dynasty who are currently supporting you?"

Shi Diwen seemed to have been prepared for this, and immediately pointed his fingers and said: "Chang Guowei Commander Yan Guowei, Shipu Station Qianhu Ma Ling, Linshan Guard Commander Wei Shan, Guanhai Guard Commander Huang Tao, Dinghai Guard Commander Cui Hongfang... ..."

Shi Diwen mentioned the names of more than a dozen military officers of the Ming Dynasty in one breath, and the lowest was at the level of a thousand households. It is not easy for Shi Diwen to convince so many people to accept his idea.

Tao Donglai confirmed to him again: "These military attaches you mentioned have made it clear that they are willing to participate in the joint military exercise?"

Shi Diwen nodded, and replied in a positive tone: "If the matter is completed, they will each benefit, so they are willing to participate."

"But for such a big matter, they can't decide by themselves?" Tao Donglai still had doubts about this.According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, if the garrison at the level of the guard wanted to leave the garrison for military exercises, they would definitely have to report to the higher-level yamen for approval. Hu also would not risk his official career for this.

Shi Diwen was full of confidence: "I have already prepared for this. Last year, with the help of Hangzhou Tongjuan Wang Yuan, I connected with Zhejiang Metropolitan Commander Liu Feng. He has already nodded and agreed to this matter."

"It took a lot of money, didn't it?" Tao Donglai knew that there should be no serious problems with the government when he heard this, so he relaxed a little, and joked with Shi Diwen.

Shi Diwen nodded and acknowledged Tao Donglai's guess, but did not specify the specific amount: "Whether the money is worth spending depends on whether the exercise can be held in the end!"

What he implied was that all the money to bribe high-level officials in Zhejiang had already been spent, and if this exercise was not held in the future, then the money would be thrown into the water.

Doing so is undoubtedly a bit of a cut first, but if Shi Diwen can't get through the high-level first, it will be completely impossible to carry out follow-up operations to persuade the commanders of the various guards to accept his plan.And if he did not get the approval of these military leaders, he would not be able to apply to Sanya for this special military exercise.So from this point of view, Shi Diwen’s self-assessment to buy the commander of the Zhejiang Capital is also a bit desperate. If the military exercise fails to get Sanya’s approval, then the money spent can only be used as making friends with Liu Feng the price.

Tao Donglai couldn't understand what Shi Diwen meant, but he had to consider more factors, not just the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.If such a military exercise is held, how it will affect the relationship between the two countries in the future is also a factor that he must consider now.What's more, what he has to deal with this time going north has a lot to do with Daming. Even if he approves of Shi Diwen's idea now, new variables may arise after a while.

"You should know about my mission to go north this time, right?" Tao Donglai suddenly changed the subject.

Shi Diwen nodded and said, "I know roughly."

Tao Donglai said: "Then you should also be able to imagine that there may be some changes in the diplomatic relations between our country and Ming Dynasty. Even if you have opened up all the joints now, this joint military exercise may not be able to be completed. You understand Do I mean?"

"I understand, but have we ever been 100% sure of what we have done in the past ten years or so before doing it?" Shi Diwen's attitude was very firm, not because of Tao Donglai's warning. And shaken: "If the joint military exercise is to be completed, it is equivalent to pulling a large number of military attachés from the Ming army onto our ship. The benefits to us are far more than immediate benefits. I think that even if there are some risks and twists and turns, Still worth a try."

Shi Diwen thinks that Tao Donglai's attitude is a little too cautious, but he can understand it. After all, Tao Donglai has been in Sanya for a long time in recent years, and in such a comfortable and peaceful environment, he will inevitably slack off , will not be as aggressive as in earlier years.Even if Tao Donglai's mission to go north will lead to changes in the diplomatic relations between Haihan and Daming, in Shi Diwen's opinion, it may not have a substantial impact. Local officials in nearby state capitals are not willing to abide by the court's regulations. Such a situation could not be changed by Emperor Chongzhen's few imperial edicts.

He didn't want to mention the long-term impact of the joint military exercise at first, so as not to be considered by Tao Donglai as bragging and asking for credit, but Tao Donglai still seemed to have doubts about this, and his attitude was a little vacillating, so he could only put all the favorable conditions first. Put it out and try to persuade the other party to accept your idea.

Shi Diwen believes that at this stage, it is not enough to do some smuggling business with these military leaders. He wants to pull these people into Haihan's camp through joint military exercises, so that their interests and futures will be tied to Haihan's. Han is firmly bound together.In this way, when Haihan wants to take action in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the future, the resistance he will encounter will be much smaller.

Of course, even if they disagreed, he would not argue with Tao Donglai about the right or wrong of this matter, and he believed that Tao Donglai's attitude was the same.At their level, they will no longer simply judge whether a matter is right or wrong to decide whether to choose or not. They will only examine whether this matter is in Haihan's interest and in their own interest.As long as the benefits are large enough, bearing a certain risk and paying a certain price are all acceptable conditions.

Tao Donglai thought for a long time, and finally made a certain compromise: "You can continue with this matter, but don't rush to make a specific timetable, wait until I have the preliminary results of my trip to the north. In addition, I have to leave You should go through the formalities according to the rules, don't try to save trouble and be lazy."

The "procedures" mentioned by Tao Donglai naturally means that Shi Diwen should first report the plan of the joint military exercise through normal channels.Of course, it would be more troublesome to do so, but rules are rules. Although Shi Diwen has military power in his hands, he still has to abide by the existing system.

After inspecting the arsenal, Shi Diwen took Tao Dong to visit the local shipyard.The person in charge, Zhang Qianxiang, had worked with his father Zhang Tiangui in the Shengli Port Shipyard for several years, so he naturally recognized Tao Donglai. He was surprised and delighted to see him suddenly appear in Zhoushan, and quickly put down what he was doing to greet Tao Donglai.

Zhang Qianxiang was the second eldest of Zhang's brothers, and his father's shipbuilding skills had been passed on from his father. That's why he was appointed as the person in charge of Zhoushan Shipyard, and he was also a serious Haihan official.When Tao Dong came to see his old friend, he naturally wanted to encourage him with kind words.

"Tell Mr. Tao about our shipbuilding situation in Zhoushan." Shi Diwen ordered: "Whatever Mr. Tao asked you, just answer it truthfully."

Zhoushan has been a sea distribution center for smuggling trade for a long time, and the nearby sea area is extremely rich in fishery resources, so the local shipbuilding industry had a certain scale long before Haihan came here.However, most of the sea-going ships that could be built at that time were ships with a small displacement, and there was not much technical content. It was not until the Zhoushan Shipyard was built after Haihan occupied this place that the local shipbuilding industry level was raised to a level. new steps.

The local government-run shipyard is divided into two shipyards according to the difference between military and civilian uses, but in fact, because it is located at the junction of the military port and the commercial port, if you look down from the air, the two shipyards are actually connected, but the shipyards are respectively located in the military port and the commercial port. In the commercial port, in order to ensure that the idlers will not spy on the manufacturing technology of the Haihan warship.

This layout is naturally to facilitate the deployment of materials and personnel in the shipyard. Currently, the shipyard has more than [-] employees. Last year, the total displacement of ships launched from here exceeded [-] tons. No other peers in the same industry can achieve such an achievement within a thousand miles. .

The focus of Tao Donglai's concern is of course military ships. He also talked about this topic with Shi Diwen before, so he is very concerned about the technical capabilities of local shipyards.If the shipbuilding technology here is not up to the level of manufacturing warrior-class warships, then he will probably reconsider Shi Diwen's request.

"Master Tao, during my tenure in Zhoushan, the shipyard has delivered two Navy Majesty-class warships, six Expedition-class warships, twelve Exploration-class warships, eight troop carriers, ten comprehensive supply ships, fast reconnaissance Four ships. Two of the Majestic-class warships have completed the installation and commissioning of the steam system locally, and are currently in normal service in the navy. In terms of shipbuilding technology, Zhoushan Shipyard is not inferior to Sanya Shipyard. If If you have the opportunity to build a warrior-class warship, you must do your best and live up to your trust!"

Zhang Qianxiang obviously had a good relationship with Shi Diwen in advance and knew the wishes of his immediate boss, so when Tao Donglai asked about the current technical level of Zhoushan Shipyard, Zhang Qianxiang seized the opportunity and boasted unabashedly.And he is indeed sure that the shipyard he manages has enough technical force to build warrior-class warships, so his tone is very confident, without any timidity.

Of course, Haihan's shipyards in overseas territories are not limited to Zhoushan, and there are many places where warships can be built. However, majestic warships are a hurdle, and most shipyards do not have the ability to manufacture such large warships.The difficulty of building a majestic warship equipped with a steam propulsion system is one level higher. After this set of equipment is shipped from Sanya, the shipyard must have mechanical engineers who have been trained for many years to complete the assembly and commissioning work. And such engineers are all treasures at present, and it took Shi Diwen a lot of effort to win two places for the shipyard in his jurisdiction.

Theoretically speaking, being able to build steam-powered Majesty-class warships basically has the ability to build Warrior-class warships, but there are still many specific problems in actual operation.For example, most of the non-wooden parts on the Warrior-class warships, Zhoushan does not have the corresponding manufacturing capabilities, and all have to be transported from Sanya for assembly.For such assembly work, for Zhoushan Shipyard, which has no experience in building such special warships, there are quite a lot of technical details that need to be dealt with in the middle.With Zhoushan Shipyard's own technical strength alone, it is estimated that it is difficult to build a second Warrior-class warship as it is, let alone modify and upgrade the original design plan according to Shi Diwen's intention.

Although Tao Donglai is not an expert in shipbuilding, he has been to the shipyard many times over the years. Of course, he is very clear about the difficulties in building warrior-class warships.Although Zhang Qianxiang's statement was very confident, Tao Donglai did not immediately accept his opinion.

"The two rotating turrets on the front and rear of the Warrior-class warship are composed of nearly a thousand parts. Are you sure that the local shipyard can successfully complete the assembly and debugging according to the drawings without seeing the real thing?" Tao Donglai asked him casually. a problem.

(End of this chapter)