1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2456
The landing operation of the Haihan army in the Shilia area went very smoothly. There was no big city in the area, and no army could organize to resist the foreign invaders. In just two days, the Shilia area had completely fallen under the control of the Haihan army.

After hearing the news, Boni State sent envoys to negotiate. Qian Tiandun met with him and stated Haihan's position, hoping to buy or lease the Shilia area from Boni State at a "reasonable price".Of course, if the Boni State does not agree to such a transaction, the Haihan Army will not retreat and return this place to the Boni State. It is more likely that another larger-scale war will happen, and even the Boni State will be destroyed. The whole country is involved in the war.

Qian Tiandun would not mind threatening the other party with such cruel words. Haihan is bound to win the underground oil fields in this area. If Bo Niguo refuses to submit, then what awaits them will only be a battle to destroy the country.

Fortunately, with the increase in trade between countries in the South China Sea in recent years, the Boni Kingdom is no stranger to Haihan, and even many dignitaries have been to the South China Sea to sell golden caves on Unbuna Island.Therefore, regarding Haihan's national power and military strength, the rulers of the Boni Kingdom also had a relatively clear understanding, and did not resort to military confrontation rashly, but started negotiations honestly.

The final result of the negotiation was not surprising. Shilia still belonged to the Boni Kingdom in name, but the area would be leased to the Haihan Kingdom for long-term use.The so-called long-term refers to the fact that Haihan Kingdom has the right to extend the lease indefinitely.As a side condition of the cooperation between the two parties, Boni Kingdom will also receive military protection provided by Haihan, and there will be no need to worry about armed invasion by European colonists in the future.

This condition is simply irresistible for Boni country. In the past two centuries, they have been invaded many times, and the western colonists will not sit down and negotiate like the Haihan people. What they want is absolute Submit, or kill and plunder.For Boni Kingdom, if long-term peace and stability can be obtained with the Shilia region alone, then this deal is actually very cost-effective.

As for what the Haihan people would use this place for, Bo Niguo didn't care too much.The local coastline is straight and there is no natural harbor, so it is not suitable for building a trading port or a military port. The nearby inland is full of virgin forests, and there are no particularly valuable products. There is no loss at all, not to mention that the rent that Haihan promised to pay is several times higher than the tax paid to the treasury here.

Accelerating the occupation and development of mineral and energy locations in East Asia is the keynote set by the Executive Committee for the next development direction.The precious resources obtained through these places will become the necessary guarantee for Haihan to take the lead in entering the industrial society in this world.In particular, mineral resources like the Shilia Oilfield, which are located in the shallow layer of the surface and are easy to exploit and utilize, have naturally become the priority for development.

Although the steam engine will still be the pillar of Haihan's industrialization at present and for a long time in the future, with the increasingly mature manufacturing technology of internal combustion engines and the rapid development of the chemical industry, Haihan's demand for petrochemical products is also increasing. The production capacity of Taiwan's Miaoli Oilfield alone can no longer meet the demand, and the development of new oilfields is also the general trend.Haihan's petrochemical industry is two centuries ahead, which will also accumulate more advantages for Haihan's global rise in the future.

In January 1641, Li Zicheng assembled tens of thousands of peasant troops to attack Ruzhou, Henan.But he failed to conquer the goal as smoothly as in the original history, because waiting for him and his subordinates here were the Guanning cavalry secretly transferred back to the Central Plains from the northern border.

Five thousand experienced and well-equipped cavalry attacked in the early hours of the morning and broke through the camp of the Peasant Army in one fell swoop. Li Zicheng's troops were defeated before they had time to organize resistance, and suffered countless casualties under the impact of Guan Ning's iron cavalry.

Li Zicheng, who was in a hurry to fight, failed to escape as he did in the past few years. There were still tens of thousands of Ming troops chasing and intercepting him outside Ruzhou. In the end, Li Zicheng was overtaken by the Ming army in a ravine twenty miles away from Ruzhou. Without reason, he stubbornly refused to surrender, and all the soldiers under his command died under the random arrows.Most of the leaders under Li Zicheng's command were also killed in this raid. The peasant army he formed dispersed after a few days, and there was no chance of a comeback since then.

Almost at the same time, Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of another peasant army, was intercepted by the army in Kai County, Kuizhou, in the hinterland of the southwest. Yang Sichang, Minister of the Ministry of War, personally sat in the nearby Yunyang County to direct the encirclement and suppression.

For this battle, Yang Sichang mobilized tens of thousands of troops from Sinan and Tongren prefectures in Guizhou, Baoning, Kuizhou, Shunqing and Chongqing prefectures in Sichuan, Hanzhong in Shaanxi, Jingzhou and Xiangyang in Hubei, and other places. Make every effort to complete the work in one battle.But the actual situation was just as he wished. Zhang Xianzhong's troops were trapped in the mountains and forests of Kaixian County. Although they tried to break out of the siege many times, they all failed due to the disparity in strength.

In late February, as the encirclement gradually tightened, the scope of activities of Zhang Xianzhong's troops became smaller and smaller, and more than half of the troops were consumed in constant small-scale battles. Finally, his subordinates rebelled at night and killed Zhang Xianzhong and his staff. The head of the confidant, please surrender to the Ming army.

Since then, the two main peasant armies that had plagued the Ming Dynasty for many years were destroyed, and the civil strife in the peasant army that had worried Chongzhen had finally come to an end.

Haihan did not directly participate in the process of dealing with the civil strife in the Ming Dynasty, but the thousands of muskets and more than [-] artillery pieces sold to the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty played an obvious role in the two wars.For well-trained firearms troops, the peasant army's way of charging is equivalent to death. As long as the three conditions of fine weather, open terrain, and sufficient ammunition are met, the victory rate of Ming army firearms troops against the peasant army is basically hundred percent.

Although the trouble in his heart was finally resolved, Daming's luck did not seem to improve immediately because of this.In the summer of that year, there were large-scale droughts in Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang, Huguang and other places in Daming, and then a plague of locusts broke out.And Shandong has experienced major disasters for the third consecutive year, and most of the state capitals have been involved.The government was unable to provide relief to so many places, causing a large number of people to flee to survive.Fushan County in Dengzhou and Ningbo, Zhejiang, controlled by Haihan, have become areas where refugees flock to because of relatively complete resettlement institutions and measures.

Many local governments in Dengzhou fell out of control during this round of catastrophe. Chen Yixin took this opportunity to gradually bring the nearby Fushan County, such as Mouping, Wendeng, Rongcheng, Rushan, Haiyang, Qixia, Laiyang, Zhaoyuan, etc. In Dengzhou, only Dengzhou City and the adjacent Huang County were left in the area directly controlled by Daming, and Ming's rule over Dengzhou began to exist in name only.

(End of this chapter)