1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3154
Undoubtedly, if you only look at the data on paper, the combat effectiveness of the Glory-class battleship is no longer at the same level as the sailing warships built before.

If the Zhoushan Shipyard can solve the problem of the high cost of the Glory-class warships, then this new type of warship is likely to replace the flagship status of the Majestic-class warships in various fleets.

However, judging from the current situation, the goal of reducing costs may be more difficult than letting the Zhoushan go to the battlefield to prove its strength.

Even so, the senior officials of the Executive Committee still spoke highly of the construction achievements of the Zhoushan.

This is not just a battleship, but a collection of industrial technology development achievements in the past 30 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, representing the highest level of Haihan's industrial works, and it is also the most advanced warship in the world.

Regardless of whether the Glory class will be mass-produced in the future, its appearance already means that industrialization is accelerating the change of Haihan's military strength.A powerful navy built on an industrial basis is a necessary condition for Haihan to achieve its goal of global hegemony.

In the afternoon of the same day, Chen Yixin's fleet arrived at Dinghai Port about two hours earlier than expected.

Compared with the executive committee fleet going north from Hainan Island, the fleet going south from the Shandong Peninsula is much smaller.

In addition to Chen Yixin's ship, there were only two expedition-class warships serving as escort missions, and two supply ships accompanied them.Not to mention the members of the executive committee, even by the standards of regional consuls, Chen Yixin's honor guard is relatively low-key.

Although Chen Yixin is nearly fifty years old, he is a junior in the executive committee.After Tao Donglai and others met him, they still used to address him as "Xiao Chen".

Chen Yixin also brought two pieces of news that surprised everyone: "Man Qing learned that we were going to hold a National Day event in Hangzhou, and sent an envoy, who was on my boat."

"In addition, the North Korean mission should be able to arrive in Zhoushan tomorrow, and there are two missions, one from the south and one from the north."

Like the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu Qing also signed an armistice agreement in 1654 and bowed their heads to Haihan.Subsequently, border trade was gradually opened up between the two countries, and business exchanges were maintained.

However, the relationship between the two sides will not be normalized so quickly, and small-scale armed conflicts will still occur in border areas from time to time.

During Beks' inspection of Liaodong last year, there was an incident where Manchu tribes robbed Han Chinese caravans by armed forces at Qingyangbao on the border.If it wasn't for the Man Qing's quick action to clean up the troubled tribes and compensate Hai Han for his losses, this incident would likely become the trigger for a new round of war.

The Manchu Qing sent envoys to participate in Haihan's National Day celebrations, and they came with Chen Yixin. This should be understood as an attitude of showing goodwill.

As for North Korea sending missions, this is what it should be, but this time it is divided into two missions, the North and the South. It is obvious that the small court in the north is getting more and more wings, and the tendency is to break away from the control of the south.

Yan Chujie asked: "Who did the Qing Dynasty send here? Does the word have weight?"

Chen Yixin replied: "It's Geng Zhongming's eldest son, Geng Jimao. The Manchu Qing sent him to Fushun to negotiate with our country on the Qingyangbao incident last year."

"In the Qing Dynasty, Geng Jimao should be regarded as a Han official who is more trusted by the little emperor. At this stage, many affairs related to our country are in charge of Geng Jimao. He can speak in front of the little emperor."

Geng Zhongming defected from Dengzhou, Shandong Province to join the enemy more than 20 years ago. Not long after, he was named Huaishun King by Huang Taiji, as a symbol of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's "respectful and virtuous corporals, and kindness to Han officials".After the little emperor Shunzhi succeeded to the throne, he also gave his son Geng Jimao the same trust, allowing him to inherit the Zhenghuang Banner of the Han Army originally in charge of Geng Zhongming, and to be in charge of foreign affairs related to Haihan.

The Qing government arranged for Geng Jimao to go to Haihan, probably because he wanted to make full use of his Han nationality and maintain a smooth communication channel with Haihan.

"The visitor is a guest. When we get to Hangzhou, arrange to meet him." Tao Donglai made a soft-spoken decision.

The Qing Dynasty and Haihan did not establish formal diplomatic relations, so whether the envoy sees or doesn't see him doesn't matter to the overall situation.But because of Chen Yixin's face, it's okay to meet him for a while, and it's easy to do business after the other party goes back.

Chen Yixin asked, "What about the North Korean mission?"

Tao Donglai said: "Since they are divided into two missions, let's meet separately."

Ning Qi interjected: "Apart from the envoys of these two countries, did Daming not express anything?"

Chen Yixin said: "The officials of the Ming Dynasty have kept silent, but there are many people in the local area who want to join in the fun. But the court didn't say anything, and the people below didn't dare to mess around. At most, they sneaked here for a while in their own name."

Tao Donglai said with a smile: "Personal name... I think there may be some people who come under the banner of private name, but actually come here on behalf of the imperial court to find out the direction of our side."

Shi Diwen also answered with a smile: "Da Ming will not admit that he is the weak side, so he has to continue to put on airs. He will definitely not send people to celebrate our country's National Day in the official name. But if someone comes in a private name, then It won't embarrass Daming anymore."

"But it's okay just to inquire about the direction of the wind. I'm afraid that some people are pretending to join us, but they are actually looking for opportunities to sabotage from within us!"

When Daming first signed the armistice agreement with Haihan, he was rather disheartened. Not only did he cede all the passages to the sea, but he was also forced to surrender to Haihan.

Under such circumstances, every diplomatic contact with Haihan can be said to be a slap in the face of Daming.If it is not necessary, Daming will definitely not take the initiative to send officials to visit Haihan, let alone participate in Haihan's National Day celebration.

Although both Hangzhou and Sanya have official institutions sent by the Ming Dynasty, these diplomats obviously will not disagree with the imperial court. Most of them will keep silent during the Haihan National Day as in previous years.

But the Ming Dynasty will definitely not be monolithic, with different interests and demands, it will naturally be divided into multiple camps, and they have various ideas about the relationship between the two countries.If there is no movement on the official side, these people will use their own methods to achieve their goals.

In recent years, there have been quite a few people in the Ming camp who have come into contact with Haihan in various ways, and the representative of them is Prince De of Shandong.Today, the two descendants of Prince De's Mansion are working in Haihan, one is serving in the army under Chen Yixin, and the other is an official in Hangzhou after passing the imperial examination held by the East China Sea Region.

With the successful samples of Dewangfu, there are many imitators. At the same time, there will also be people with ulterior motives who pretend to join Haihan, but actually want to collect information and buy contacts.

(End of this chapter)