1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 444 Take the initiative to urge
The Ming Dynasty in this era is already like a big ship that is about to capsize, the bottom of the ship is leaking everywhere, the external environment is constantly stormy, and the people on the ship are also fighting each other endlessly, there is no chance to repair the ship at all.However, for the time-traveling group that has just entered the third year of this era and its foundation is not too solid, the Ming Empire is still a behemoth that cannot be resisted for the time being, and in the minds of most of the time-travelers, they do not want to let Daming fell too quickly. After all, Daming was considered Han orthodox, while the wild boars outside the pass were completely barbarians.Therefore, Haihan's basic position is still on the side of Ming Dynasty. If he can help the empire that is about to come to an end through military assistance, the vast majority of people will definitely vote for it—of course, no matter what form it is Aid will certainly not be provided gratuitously.

Regarding the issue of how to continue the life of Ming Dynasty, in fact, it had already been discussed within the preparatory committee at that time before the time travel. The more common view is that the problem facing Ming Dynasty is not just the weakness of military strength, but the whole society. Various social conflicts caused by the backwardness of the system all broke out during this period, and unilateral military assistance could not change the reality that the Ming Empire was declining.However, reasonable means of assistance may be able to help Daming withstand the attack from outside the Northeast Pass, so that the Crossing Group can have more time to make full use of the market and various resources under Daming's rule, and strengthen its own strength.

To carry out military cooperation with the Ming court, all aspects involved are extremely complicated, and there are many issues that need to be considered.But fortunately, there are already some undisclosed cooperations with the Guangdong government and the Fujian Navy, and the relevant departments have accumulated a certain amount of experience, so they won't have to find a way out when things are imminent.

"It's getting too far off topic, everyone, please let me finish talking about the expansion of the conscription first!" Yan Chujie saw that the topic of this discussion had deviated from the original point by a long distance, so he quickly brought everyone's attention back to his proposal Above: "I believe everyone has already understood the necessity and feasibility of troop expansion through my introduction. Next, I will talk about the conscription plan."

The treatment of the Haihan militia has always been good. After enlisting in the army, they can directly obtain the native place of naturalization and enjoy the salary standard of the second-level laborers. Moreover, due to the frequent expansion of the army, there are actually quite a lot of opportunities for the bottom militia to get promoted. Now the middle class platoon leader of the militia The grassroots officers at the same level have all been replaced by naturalized militiamen who joined the army early and performed well. Individuals with outstanding performance will have the opportunity to continue to be promoted in the future. is difficult to appear.

In addition, militia soldiers who are retiring from the army and changing jobs, or who are wounded or killed in battle, will receive very thoughtful aftermath arrangements and care, as well as generous remuneration or pensions. At least [-] mu of low-rent arable land, and go home to farm on their own.To put it bluntly, for ordinary people, serving as a soldier in the Haihan Militia and working hard for the executive committee is still very cost-effective.

It is precisely because of these favorable treatment, coupled with the fact that the Shanghai Han militia has never been defeated in battles, and the results are brilliant. The enthusiasm of the young and strong to join the army in the area under the Haihan rule has always been very high.Every time the military conscripts foreign troops, it can almost recruit the required soldiers in a very short period of time, and often the number of recruits will greatly exceed the original conscription plan.Therefore, for Yan Chujie, there is no need to worry about the source of troops when the next stage of conscription is opened. Although the planned conscription quota may exceed a thousand, judging from the current population size under Haihan's rule, there will probably be a burst of recruits scene.

"There is a small adjustment in the conscription plan, I hope you will pay attention to it." Yan Chujie introduced: "Because of the implementation of the Shilu project, a group of Lidong and Miao villages will gradually move out of the Shilu area in the past six months. There are a large number of young and strong people of the right age, all of whom are good sources of soldiers, so we plan to focus on the area of ​​conscription in Shilu, absorbing local young and strong aboriginals to join the army, which can also play a certain role in promoting local social stability .”

Li Miao youth enlisting in the army is nothing new in the Haihan militia.Although the Li and Miao ethnic groups had relatively deep social relations in the past, the militiamen of the Li and Miao ethnic groups quickly eliminated the barriers in the melting pot of the army and became partners who fought side by side and shared life and death. .And the comrade-in-arms relationship established in the army has gradually affected the outside world. The frequency of fights and even armed conflicts between the two ethnic groups that were common in the past has also dropped rapidly, and the relationship has gradually normalized.

It's no wonder that Haihan gave great support to the Li and Miao cottages who were willing to cooperate, so that they could obtain better economic benefits and living security through labor, and canceled many discriminatory regulations promulgated by Ming Dynasty. All ethnic groups are treated equally.After being able to eat and clothe warmly and gain basic dignity, the Li and Miao people no longer have to fight for living space and production resources. Most of the young and aggressive young people joined the militia as soldiers, and peace naturally came. .

However, in the previous conscription, in order to ensure the interests of the Han people who accounted for the majority of the population, the military generally still mainly recruited Han soldiers. The current proportion of the militiamen from the Li and Miao ethnic groups in the militia is only maintained at close to [-]%.In the military’s military expansion and conscription plan, it is hoped that more young and strong men from the Li and Miao ethnic groups will be recruited into the army, and it is hoped that this will ease the pressure on the resettlement of the Shilu project.

No one raised any objections to the military's arrangement, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs even expressed their appreciation in a clear-cut manner.Ning Qi continued: "That's fine. The Shilu project needs to relocate as many as two to three thousand Li Miao mountain people, half of whom are young and strong. If your army takes those young and strong, it will be easier for us to arrange immigration."

Due to the military's full preparations in advance, the military expansion bill was passed without too much trouble at the executive meeting.However, the plan to provide military aid to Ming Dynasty derived from the proposal of the Armed Forces Expansion Institute did not reach a clear conclusion at the meeting because it involved too many departments and required preparations, and it still needs to be specially selected at another time. research.

After entering July, good news finally came from the Indo-China Peninsula across the sea. After three months of continuous fighting, the North Vietnamese troops finally basically wiped out the main force of the remaining South Vietnamese resistance forces, and they moved from Hue The coastal areas as far south as Nha Trang were also cleared, and a large number of states and counties changed their banners and were reintroduced under the rule of the Thang Long court.Among the four southern ports proposed by the Haihan side before the war, Da Nang and Quy Nhon Ports have returned to the control of the northern court and are ready to enter the development stage.

For the executive committee, this news is both painful and joyful. The happy thing is that these long-coveted coastal areas can finally be brought under their control, but the painful thing is that Haihan does not have enough resources to use In the construction of overseas large-scale engineering projects.At present, almost all the technicians and main construction teams of the Ministry of Construction are concentrated on the road construction site from Changhua to Shilu, and the first phase of this road project will last at least until the end of the year. While presiding over the construction of the port.Although the addition of two new overseas territories makes everyone very excited, the Shilu project is the top priority at this stage, and there is no room for loss. The priority of Annan Port can only be ranked at the back.

But the executive committee is not in a hurry, but some people are starting to be in a hurry.For the development of Da Nang and Quy Nhon Port, An Nanguo sent a special envoy to Sanya to discuss the possibility of cooperative development with the Executive Committee.

The special envoy sent here was not an outsider, but the refugee Zheng Lin who was first rescued by the fleet of Heitu Port on the coast of Qinghua. This person was related to the Zheng family of the North Vietnamese power minister, so the executive committee was asked to communicate with him. The North Vietnamese court established a relationship, and later had all-round cooperation in politics, military affairs, and economy.After Zheng Lin returned to Shenglong Mansion, because he lived in Heitu Port for a period of time and knew the Haihan people better, he was appointed as a special envoy to deal with Haihan-related affairs.After the imperial court of Shenglong Mansion recognized Haihan's actual control over Heitu Port in the name of the concession, Zheng Lin was appointed as an observer and lived in Heitu Port for another year.

Of course, the treatment that Zheng Lin enjoyed during this period was fundamentally different from that when he fled. Basically, the standards of food and accommodation were the same as those of the traversers, and this kind of living standard has exceeded the treatment he received in Shenglong Mansion. .When Shenglong Mansion transferred him back to appoint a new position, Zheng Lin was actually quite reluctant to leave Heitu Port.

The new mission assigned to Zheng Lin by the Annan court this year is to discuss with Haihan the joint development plan for the four southern ports.The main reason why the Annan court actively participated in it was because the economic benefits generated by the three northern ports developed by Haihan led Annan's rulers to see the convenience and potential of maritime trade.However, the most prosperous coastal commercial ports in the south, Donghai, Hue, and Hoi An, have all been destroyed by the war. A large number of Ming merchants chose to leave Annan, return to Daming or settle in Sanya, and the Portuguese temporarily also. Without the ability to independently build a large port on the southern coast, the maritime trade in the southern region has almost come to a standstill, which made the Annan court, which had placed high hopes on the southern maritime trade, very dissatisfied.

The Annan ruler originally planned to let the Haihan people take on the responsibility of building a new port. Although this would place the ownership of the land under the control of the Haihan people indefinitely, it would at least have a chance to save Annan's financial situation and make the already empty The wild treasury can be enriched again.However, the Haihan people did not know what medicine they had taken wrongly. In the past, after reaching an agreement, they quickly started to build the port, lest Annan would go back on his word, and Tushan Port even won the concession rights by negotiating while building.But this time, a few months after the end of the Battle of Hue, there was no further movement from the Haihan side. The coastal area they claimed before the war was still barren, and there was no sign of starting construction at all, which allowed Annan to come to power. The reporter couldn't sit still.

Although the Haihan people occupied the three ports of Heitu, Tushan, and Yong'an in the northern coastal area in the name of the concession, the Annan court still obtained a lot of benefits from the import and export trade of these ports-of course, quite a lot of them Some of them went directly into the pockets of the rich and powerful who monopolized trade.Although the trade between Haihan and Annan is almost entirely a case of the trade scissors between industrial countries and agricultural countries, for the Annan court, which was so poor that it was about to lose its pants, the maritime trade brought by these ports still brought certain benefits. , giving Annan the opportunity to exchange the less valuable local commodities such as rice, timber, medicinal materials, and ivory for better remuneration.

After the collapse of the Hue regime, the Annan court would certainly not be satisfied with the import and export trade limited to only three ports. There are also many good things that can be sold to the Haihan people in the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains in the south, provided that there are large commercial ports in the area.However, after waiting and waiting, the Haihan people who got the land for building the port did not start work for a long time. The Annan court saw that waiting so long was nothing but wasting time, and finally decided to send an envoy to Sanya to clarify the matter.

Zheng Lin didn't have many old acquaintances in the Sanya area, and Wang Tom was one of them. Wang Tom was the commander of the special fleet that rescued Zheng Lin.Therefore, the executive committee also included Wang Tom among the reception staff this time. After Zheng Lin saw Wang Tom, he didn't show any airs as an Annan official.Wang Tom declined for a while before Zheng Lin changed his address to Brother Wang.

In addition to Tom Wang, Schneider was also responsible for receiving Annan's envoy with him.It was precisely because of the presence of a calculating old fox like Schneider that Tom Wang reluctantly accepted this task that should have been undertaken by the foreign ministry.

After three rounds of wine and delicious dishes at the welcome banquet, Zheng Lin took the initiative to bring up the business: "Among the many agreements reached between your side and our country last year, there was mention of assisting our country in rebuilding the southern commercial port after the war and reopening the sea. The terms of the trade, now that the war in the south has been basically settled down, but I don’t know when you will start to implement these terms of the agreement?”

Schneider replied: "Special Envoy Zheng, let me correct you for a mistake. It is not that we are assisting your country to build ports, but that your country has provided these coastal areas to us as a concession in the form of military collateral. As for when the construction of the port will start, there was no clear timetable negotiated at that time, and these contents were recorded as evidence at the time, and they are all well-documented.

(End of this chapter)