1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 347 Enrique's Experience
The Portuguese Council of Macau was caught in a dilemma as it had to try its best to keep its own air routes safe, but also not easily offend the big business firms.It is basically impossible to persuade "Qiong Lianfa" to voluntarily give up the action at the Pearl River Estuary. After all, anyone with a discerning eye knows that it is the Haihan people who are leading this matter behind the scenes, and the attitude of the Haihan people towards external threats has been passed through them. The two cross-sea battles are fully reflected.What frustrates the council the most is that even if it uses force, it may not be able to defeat the Haihan people, but it may cause them to burn themselves.

So the council could only find the Guangzhou Office again, hoping to resolve the differences in the Pearl River Estuary stronghold through consultation.However, the Guangzhou Office currently does not have an executive committee stationed there, and its authority over foreign affairs is not high. After communicating with the base camp, the Guangzhou Office replied to the Portuguese and asked their envoys to go to Victory Port for more direct consultations with the Executive Committee. That's why Enrique visited Victory Port.

"Mr. Enrique, we already know the purpose of your visit. With all due respect, there is no room for negotiation when your council asks us to withdraw from the Pearl River Estuary!" After entering the formal negotiation process, Tao Donglai accepted He regained his former politeness, and his attitude became tougher.

The executive committee has invested a lot of resources in building this Dawanshan Island base.The cost of various materials and personnel transported to the island in the early stage has already exceeded 3 yuan. According to the plan of the Ministry of Construction, to implement the design plan of this stronghold one by one, it needs to invest at least [-] yuan. The military expenses of the island troops are included.

In addition to economic accounts, this stronghold is more of a military role, and the interests of the Executive Committee in this field are absolutely not to be compromised. For this reason, the Military Committee did not hesitate to send troops to destroy the eastern Dangan Island. The purpose of the pirates is also to allow the Dawanshan Island garrison to have absolute control in the nearby waters.Moreover, Lijiazhuang in Panyu has already begun to build the first immigration center of the Crossing Group in the mainland. The presence of the Dawanshan Island stronghold can not only ensure the safety of the important air route from the mainland to Sanya, but also carry out inspections of Lijiazhuang when necessary. Quick assistance.

"Perhaps we can find a compromise solution to this matter." Seeing Tao Donglai's firm attitude, Enrique tried to persuade him from another angle: "If you need a cargo transshipment point at the Pearl River Estuary, you can actually consider Choose a site in Haojingao."

Tao Donglai smiled and said: "Is that so? If the council can allow our armed personnel to enter Haojingao, then I think Mr. Enrique's proposal can still be carefully considered."

Enrique's face changed: "No, no, I didn't say that armed personnel can also be stationed in Haojingao!"

The reason why the Council is so afraid of the existence of the stronghold on Dawanshan Island is because an unknown number of Haihan armed personnel are stationed on the island, and Dawanshan Island is less than [-] nautical miles away from Macau, which can be reached within half a day at most.An armed force with an unknown attitude and considerable combat power stationed in such a close place cannot but make the council feel jealous.However, the development of this island is operated by "Joan Lianfa" in the name of business. Enrique can only try to persuade Tao Donglai to change his mind from this perspective. It is also a worthwhile deal to exchange a warehouse for Taiping.

It’s just that Enrique didn’t expect Tao Donglai to make it clear that what I’m stationed on the island is the army, if you want me to move the warehouse on the island to Macau, then the army on the island will have to move there too !

The council felt unsafe across the sea, so how could it be possible to agree to this method of luring wolves into the house?Enrique hastily rejected Tao Donglai, and decided to put the matter aside for now, lest the Haihan people go further and directly hit Hao Jing'ao with their ideas.

"President Tao mentioned last time that he is willing to do business with our country, and the council is very interested in this." After much deliberation, Enrique decided to talk about business first. After all, these Haihan people are Starting a business, talking about business should not be as full of gunpowder as talking about the military.

"We are very happy to trade with your country. You will get a list of local import and export commodities later, so you can choose the goods that you Portuguese are interested in." Tao Donglai paused and said: "In addition, I have A special request."

"Mr. Tao, please tell me." Enrique responded quickly with his eyes lit up.He has dealt with Ming people a lot, and he is well aware of the unspoken rules of this oriental nation in various affairs. If the other party makes some kind of personal request, it means that there are many things that need to be discussed-the premise is to meet his request. .

"I didn't make this request for myself, don't get me wrong." Tao Donglai was excited when he saw Enrique, guessing that he had misunderstood his words, he immediately defended himself.

Tao Donglai cleared his throat and said, "During the Tianqi period, Daming recruited some Portuguese from Haojingao to serve as military advisors and train troops for them. Is there such a thing?"

"There is such a thing." Hearing Tao Donglai's question about this matter, Enrique wanted to brag a few words, but Tao Donglai's intention for mentioning this matter was unclear, so Enrique finally suppressed the words that came to his lips go back.

"If others can afford the price, they can hire military advisors from you, right?" Tao Donglai continued to ask.

Although Enrique felt a little strange, he still nodded to admit Tao Donglai's guess.Portugal’s mercenary services are not limited to the existence between Macau and Ming Dynasty. From the 16th century to the 18th century, the whole of Europe was a battlefield for mercenaries to make achievements, and Portugal participated in the deepest and widest range of industries. people.From the Thirty Years' War in Europe to the suppression of the Cossack uprising in Poland, from the American colonies to the battlefields of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, there are Portuguese fighting for money everywhere in the world.

The country that hired Portuguese earlier than Ming Dynasty was Siam. As early as 1511, the Portuguese entered the army of the King of Siam to fight for it, and taught the Siamese how to make and use firearms. When King Palachai of Siam reigned in 1538, his personal guard was actually composed of 120 Portuguese. This foreign mercenary army later participated in the war between Siam and the Toungoo Kingdom of Myanmar in 1545.But what is incredible is that there were also mercenaries from Portugal in the Burmese army at that time, which also proved the professionalism of Portuguese mercenaries from the side.

In order to gain the approval of the central dynasty, the Portuguese who settled in Macau have always been very keen on aiding the Ming Dynasty. Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua and others used Portuguese mercenaries in the late Ming Dynasty.Therefore, Enrique has no need to deny the matter of mercenaries-in the eyes of the Portuguese, there is no essential difference between mercenaries and other goods sales, they are just a business.

"We hope to hire a group of Portuguese military advisers at a reasonable price to help us train soldiers as instructors."

Tao Donglai's words caused Enrique's brain to shut down for a few seconds—the Haihan people are looking for Portuguese mercenaries, what's the situation? ,

"Please allow me to confirm, you mean you need a group of Portuguese mercenaries?" Enrique asked back with his eyes widened.

"That's right. By the way, we only need artillery." Tao Donglai put forward a more detailed request: "As for the cost, I can guarantee that their treatment will not be lower than those who served in Ming Dynasty."

With the gradual completion of fortifications in various ports and the launching of naval warships one after another, the lack of artillery has become the biggest bottleneck restricting the development of Haihan's military strength.There is no regular artillery in the crossing group itself, and the instructors are all non-professionals who have become monks halfway, so the training of artillery has always been a weak point.After Tao Donglai came back from Guangzhou in March, he already proposed to hire military instructors from the Portuguese, but at that time, because of the anniversary, there were too many other affairs, and the attitude of Macau was unclear, so the matter was delayed down.This time, Macao sent envoys to visit, and the Executive Committee thought it would be possible to test the attitude of Macao on this point.

Enrique murmured: "This shouldn't be a big problem...but the council..."

"If your council is full of smart people, then they should be able to think that we don't have any malice towards Haojingao or the Portuguese. It is impossible for us to hire your soldiers and then order them to go Attack your place of residence?" Tao Dong saw that Enrique was a little confused, and he could only help him point out the positive significance of this move.

Enrique really came back to his senses all of a sudden: "Ah! Mr. Tao, you are right! I think this is probably the best way to express goodwill and resolve disputes in the current situation!"

The Macau side is worried that the Haihan people have established a military stronghold at the mouth of the Pearl River, and the Haihan people are not willing to give up this stronghold because of doubts from the Macau side. Establishment of trade relations in.When there is no effective solution in Macau, the mercenary plan proposed by Tao Donglai has actually become a turning point for things.

It is absolutely impossible for Macao to allow the Haihan militia to station there, but the Haihan militia can employ a group of Portuguese military advisers in a reasonable and legal manner.And when Haihan's military system has Portuguese soldiers, if Haihan tries to take any unfavorable actions against the Portuguese in Macau, obviously the difficulty will increase a lot.The stakes are not complicated, and Enrique believes that the people in the council must be able to understand it, and it is difficult to raise objections to it.

But even if the differences between the Haihan people and the Macau Council on the Pearl River Estuary can be resolved, Enrique's mediation task is not over - or to be more precise, his mediation task during this trip is only half completed. .

As for the other half, that is the opinion from South Vietnam.Although the council on the Macau side believes that it is necessary to maintain a peaceful posture with the Haihan people, the Portuguese on the South Vietnamese side don't think so.The bottom line they can accept is that the Haihan people promise not to directly intervene in Annan's civil war. As for the prohibition of arms sales, they have not proposed any regulations. After all, they also know that it is impossible to ban the arms trade.

"Whether we directly intervene, does it make a big difference?" Tao Donglai responded with a smile after listening to Enrique's report: "Whether we directly intervene or not, in the long run, the failure of the South Ruan family is an inevitable result." , the advice I can give is to let your people withdraw from the Annan battlefield as soon as possible, and do business honestly if you have to do business, if you must forcibly intervene, be careful that you will not even be able to do business in Annan in the future!"

Enrique was very uncomfortable with Tao Donglai's soft and sometimes tough attitude at this time. He frowned and asked: "You have a lot of interests in the north of Annan, and you can't just sit back and watch the north lose in the civil war. I can understand this. The south has no real interests, so why insist on taking a hostile attitude towards the Nguyen family in the south?"

"It is true that there is not now, but there will be in the future." Tao Donglai replied succinctly: "The existence of the Ruan family will affect our future interests in the south. For us, a unified Annan will be more beneficial. We do not have any enmity with Nguyen, our attitude and actions are purely for our own interests."

"If the local Portuguese are not willing to back down, they will become our enemies. I hope you can convey this attitude to them as soon as possible." Tao Donglai stood up and said, "It's getting late, we are here for Enrique Mister has prepared a simple welcome banquet, please!"

Enrique could feel Tao Donglai's toughness on the South Vietnam issue. This kind of toughness was different from his attitude on the Dawanshan Island issue. Although the Pearl River Estuary matter was not negotiable, Tao Donglai At least there is no hostility towards Macau.On the issue of South Vietnam, it was not hard for Enrique to feel Tao Donglai's determination - if the Ruan regime in South Vietnam was not destroyed, the Haihan people would not stop.And anyone who helps Nanyue Ruan will be regarded as an opponent by Haihan.Although Tao Donglai did not specify when the next military operation against South Vietnam would be carried out, Enrique had a vague premonition in his heart.

In the next few days, the Executive Committee arranged a rich visiting program for Enrique.Except for the barracks and industrial areas, most places in the local area are open for Enrique to visit.The Executive Committee hopes to use this to let the Portuguese understand that the people who settled in the southeast corner of Qiongzhou Island are not some wild tribes, but represent the most advanced and creative emerging forces of this era.

The focus of Enrique's attention during the visit is also different from that of the past visitors. Although he will also be shocked by the huge iron ship and the speeding train, Enrique has noticed more about these "miracles" "The hidden details behind it, such as the extremely high local child enrollment rate, the advanced financial management system, the pervasive grassroots civil affairs agencies, and the unique land system in the Haihan area, etc.All kinds of details show that this is another society completely different from other towns in Daming.

Under the social system constructed by the Haihan people, everything appears to be in order.Enrique didn't see any beggars, idlers or homeless refugees here. From the moment everyone woke up in the morning, they knew very well what they needed to do today.As soon as the fixed time comes every morning, Enrique can see the people coming out of the residential area in groups, entering government agencies, farmland, construction sites, schools, docks, etc., and completing their duties step by step. There was a sense of order that he hadn't seen anywhere before.

Before Enrique came here, it was difficult for him to imagine how the Haihan people built Victory Port in more than a year, but after coming here, he found that such a miracle is indeed possible, but the premise is that there must be The social management ability of the Haihan people is enough.Compared with the efficiency of the Haihan Executive Committee, Enrique felt that the government of Ming Dynasty was a joke. He had never seen any town in Guangdong Province with such a well-developed infrastructure as Shengli Port. All the roads, residences Districts and living facilities have been carefully planned.

There is no smell of garbage in the urban area, there is no cross flow of sewage, and the roads are flat and straight. Although most of the residential areas are shacks with bamboo and wood structures, their styles, sizes, and orientations are all uniform.Wells, bathhouses, canteens, toilets, and various public facilities have taken into account the covered area to the greatest extent, providing convenience for people's lives.The people living in Shengli Port basically don’t need to worry too much about their food, clothing, housing and transportation. They can devote most of their energy to their work, and this is probably the basis for the limited local people to be able to complete so many jobs. one of the reasons.

Order is Enrique's deepest initial impression of Victory Port.Although he didn't understand how the Haihan Executive Committee did all of this, after only a few days of living, he could feel that the social system here was definitely more advanced and complete than the places he had stayed in before.Whether it is Daming or the distant Europa, they are too far behind this emerging city on Qiongzhou Island.Every two or three days, an immigrant ship arrives at Shengli Port, and thousands of new immigrants come here every month to settle down and participate in the construction of the Haihan people.

The Haihan people did not prohibit Enrique from contacting the local people, so he also learned a lot about the Haihan people from it.When the Haihan people first arrived here, there were only a few hundred people, and it took a year to grow to nearly 2 people, and this growth rate seems to continue to accelerate.Enrique, as a practitioner who came to Asia from far away Europe to open up colonies, of course he can see that this development model of the Haihan people is actually very close to the way Western countries establish colonies - establish a port city, and then use it as a The center radiates outward, building more colonies and strongholds.But the difference between the Haihan people is that their work efficiency is frighteningly high. The work that their Western counterparts may take several years to complete can be completed in one-tenth or even less time. better.

(End of this chapter)