1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Strength speaks
Li Qingyang is not an official in the local yamen who has never seen the big world. He has lived in the affluent Jianghuai area since he was a child, and joined Jinyiwei after he grew up. He has encountered and seen far more profit transactions than ordinary people. Luo Sheng Dong's words might have a greater effect on other people, but to him, Li Qingyang, it was extremely limited.

The Haihan people are rich and powerful, so it is probably not difficult to control all the private salt business in their own hands, but why would they sacrifice part of their interests and give it to Luo Shengdong, who does not have much strength at all? Division officer?
Li Qingyang's opinion on this is very clear - what the Haihan people want is the signboard of the Yacheng Navy, and use the name of the Ming Dynasty to integrate the private salt market on Qiongzhou Island.

With the general Luo Shengdong transporting smuggled salt outside with a warship, who would investigate them?The private salt business in the entire Yazhou is monopolized by the Navy. Even if someone wants to compete with the Haihan people, the Navy will come to search for their house if they just show up.The Haihan people's private salt business can be as prosperous as it is today, and Yacheng Shuizhai and Luo Shengdong must be "indispensible".

Li Qingyang didn't know what a "vested interest person" was. If he understood the meaning of this word, he would definitely feel that the role used to describe a person like Luo Shengdong could not be more appropriate.Of course, Luo Shengdong's family is probably not the only one who has benefited from it. In the area covered by Haihan's private salt, there must be more people who have gained a lot of economic benefits from it. Otherwise, how could there be so many people from here? A private salt dealer in Guangdong?

Li Qingyang looked at these people who were constantly going through the formalities of buying and selling private salt in the naval court, and suddenly realized why such a rebellious and armed maritime merchant like Haihan was so sought after by so many people, in the final analysis, it was because of money!Those people who came to Shengli Harbor to buy salt, as well as the merchants of the Ming Dynasty who opened various shops here, including officials of the Ming Dynasty like Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping, didn't they all come here for the huge flow of wealth in this place?

Money touches people's hearts, Li Qingyang really has nothing to say about it, what Haihan can give these people, Da Ming really can't afford it now.To expect these people who have benefited from Hai Han to stand against Hai Han and oppose them, the possibility is probably very small.Talking about the idea of ​​being loyal to the emperor and serving the country to these people probably won't have much effect, not to mention Li Qingyang's current situation, it seems that he doesn't have the position to criticize others.

After bidding farewell to Luo Shengdong, Li Qingyang drooped his head and didn't say a word when he came out of the naval yamen.Judging from the situation seen today, in order to overthrow the local rule of the Haihan people, except for the imperial court sending a large army to encircle and suppress, it is probably impossible to rely on the local people.

Seeing Li Qingyang's sluggish appearance, Lin Nan roughly guessed what he was thinking, and asked with a smile, "Brother Li, do you not understand why the people here have so much trust in the Haihan Executive Committee? Do you follow what the executive committee says?"

Li Qingyang nodded and said: "Money is certainly attractive, but it's not enough to make everyone obey the executive committee. There must be some things I don't understand, brother Lin, please clarify!"

Lin Nan nodded and said: "Actually, the reason is not complicated. It is nothing more than a combination of leniency and strictness, so that the people can realize that Hai Han's majesty should not be offended while gaining practical benefits. Brother Li, are you interested in going out to sea?" "

Li Qingyang didn't understand Lin Nan's meaning, but he also knew that the itinerary Lin Nan arranged for him was definitely not malicious, so he clasped his fists and responded, "Then there will be Brother Lao Lin!"

The sailing vehicle prepared by the Security Department for Li Qingyang is the "Lightning" catamaran, but several members of the North American Gang have their own affairs and don't have time to sail the boat by themselves, so the crew who control the boat today are all naturalized civil.

This was the first time Li Qingyang saw such a strange sailing boat, and after getting on the boat, he couldn't help but look around.Lin Nan saw his curiosity and took the initiative to introduce: "This Lightning sailboat is a high-end ship brought by the chiefs from their homeland. Its speed is far faster than ordinary wooden sailboats."

Li Qingyang wondered: "Since they are so powerful, why don't Haihan people build more ships like this?"

"The material used to build this kind of ship is not available locally, and the wood can't meet the requirements of the chiefs..." Lin Nan changed the subject: "This ship is usually dedicated to the chiefs, and it is rare to see it like this today. The opportunity to board is not afraid of brother Li's jokes, and today is the first time I have boarded this ship, to be able to win this honor is also to be honored by brother Li."

Li Qingyang didn't dare to speak, but he understood in his heart how much the Haihan people valued him. Even though he was still just a pawn under the control of the Ministry of Security, this arrangement still satisfied Li Qingyang's vanity a little.

Soon the crew unmoored their sails and slowly left the pier.After the sailboat sailed out of the trestle area, the field of vision suddenly became clear. The crew turned the steering wheel, and the Lightning drew an arc briskly on the sea surface and then turned to the mouth of the Tiandu River in the east.

"Brother Li, please look at the huge ship docked on the coast ahead. It is the ship that Haihan's chiefs drove when they came here." When Lin Nan said these words, his eyes were full of sincere reverence .Although it is not the first time he has seen this huge steel ship docked at the estuary, but almost every time he sees these unimaginable large ships, it still makes him feel excited. They adore.

At this time, Li Qingyang was already speechless from ear to ear by the scene he saw before him. He never thought that such a huge steel ship would really exist in the world.The various rumors about the Haihan iron boat have long been no secrets. Almost everyone who has seen the real thing has the intention of worshiping the big iron boat, but those who have not seen the real thing find it hard to believe that the world is actually real. Such things exist, and Li Qingyang is one of them.Before he saw the real thing, he also thought it was just a rumor spread by fools. Even if the Haihan people could really build an iron boat that floated on the water, it was probably just a monster in the shape of an iron basin, at best, it was only a few feet away. It's all about size.What is a [-]-jin iron boat, do these fools really think that fine iron is worthless?
However, the big iron boat that Li Qingyang saw on the side of the ship with the words "New World" on it was as huge as a mountain.The anchor chain hanging from the bow into the water was thicker than Li Qingyang's thigh.And on both sides of this ship, there are several smaller iron ships, all the same without masts and sails, and the smallest one is about ten feet long.As an ordinary person who is used to seeing wooden sailboats, Li Qingyang could hardly imagine how the Haihan people came across the sea with these steel boats.

"There are really such strange things in the world..." Apart from sincere sighs, Li Qingyang couldn't say anything else at this time.

"If these big iron boats hadn't brought the chiefs here, there wouldn't be the prosperous Sanya today!" Speaking of this topic, Lin Nan obviously became a little fanatical: "Brother Li, do you know In less than three years since the chiefs came here, they have created the place you have seen. If you take time, after five or ten years, can you imagine what Qiongzhou Island will look like at that time?"

Li Qingyang didn't think about whether Qiongzhou Island would still belong to Daming under the governance of the Haihan people ten years later. He had already realized one thing that Lin Nan didn't mention—the shipbuilding level of the Haihan people exceeded There are too many Ming Dynasty, and this gap in shipbuilding technology will not only bring about the prosperity of maritime trade, but once it is applied to the military field, the strength gap between the two sides will be difficult to simply compare in terms of the number of warships up.

Li Qingyang's worries quickly turned into reality. After the "Lightning" sailed past the mouth of the Tiandu River, it immediately turned to the south and sailed along the military base on the east coast of the harbor to Yulinjiao.

I don't know whether it was a deliberate arrangement or a coincidence, but the militia naval fleet stationed in Victory Port happened to be in a state of full rest today. More than a dozen warships docked on the coast in a long row, and the neat row of gun ports on the side of the ship was just exposed in broad daylight.After Li Qingyang was captured in Wanshan Port, he came to Sanya on this kind of warship, so he recognized the "exploration level" warship at first sight, and the "exploration level" warship was a circle larger in size. The ships are also very recognizable. The gun ports and the metal rams on the waterline of the bow have fully demonstrated the identities of these ships.

"Haihan...there are so many gunboats!" Li Qingyang was really taken aback when he saw this posture, and he also understood what Luo Shengdong said earlier, why Yacheng Shuizhai would voluntarily give up Qiongzhou Island The maritime defense in the south was handed over to the Haihan people. With such a powerful fleet, not to mention the Yacheng water fortress, even all the surface forces on Qiongzhou Island combined might not be enough.

"Brother Li, this is just one of the militia naval fleets stationed locally." Lin Nan said ostentatiously: "Our Haihan militia now has three fleets, one of which is permanently stationed in Hong Kong, guarding the west and south of Qiongzhou. The safety of the coastline. Another fleet travels between the Pearl River Estuary and the local area all year round, combating pirates and providing free escort for many commercial and civilian ships. There is also a fleet located on the coast of Annan, guarding many of our coastal ports.”

"Three...three fleets?" Li Qingyang was indeed taken aback by Lin Nan's initiative to reveal the news.If a fleet of this size is replicated three times, let alone the Daming navy on Qiongzhou Island, I am afraid that even the addition of the navy in Guangdong is not enough to see.In this way, the rumors that the Haihan militia defeated the pirates at the mouth of the Pearl River should also be true.

"Wherever my Haihan trade goes, it is under the protection of our militia navy!" Lin Nan continued to show off: "Looking at the entire South China Sea, there is no second force that can rival our militia navy!"

Li Qingyang sighed: "If I were in Luo Shengdong's position, I'm afraid I would have wanted to take off that military uniform a long time ago!"

With such a powerful and uncontrollable sea force around, it must be very embarrassing to be a water village in Yacheng, and it must not be able to fight against the fleet of the Haihan people. .At this moment, Li Qingyang felt that Luo Shengdong was quite open-minded, so he was so shameless that he hugged Haihan's thigh.As for the Yacheng water village, after seeing the Haihan people's fleet, Li Qingyang also had to admit that its existence is of little significance. From a selfish point of view, being a salt dealer is very important for people like Luo Shengdong Maybe it's a better way out.

The "Lightning" quickly crossed the military port and sailed into the mouth of the strait at Yulinjiao.There was no need for Lin Nan to remind him this time, Li Qingyang had already noticed the stretches of coastal defense artillery emplacements on the slopes on both sides of the bank.

Since the distance was already quite close, Li Qingyang could even clearly see the black holes on the artillery emplacements. According to a rough calculation, there were at least dozens of emplacements.Lin Nan asked from the side: "Brother Li, what do you think of the defense level of Victory Port?"

Li Qingyang thought to himself, if I hadn't been locked up in the cabin when I came to Shengli Harbor and didn't see the fort outside the harbor, I wouldn't have spent so long in the cell of the Ministry of Security. If I had seen these things sooner, I'm afraid it's already down!
Li Qingyang had an idea of ​​how much money and manpower it would cost to build this kind of coastal defense fort near the port.On the entire coastline of Ming Dynasty, there are only a handful of places where coastal defense forts have been built, and I have never heard of anyone who built such a thing by himself-even if he had the money to repair it, there was no place to buy so many large-caliber artillery.

This shore defense artillery is not comparable to the artillery used in the army. It can also adjust its position according to the battle, and attack the enemy flexibly.To put it bluntly, the coastal defense artillery is a fixed firepower point. If it cannot completely cover the battlefield, then the significance of setting up the coastal defense artillery is not great.To achieve this combat goal, the only way is to increase the range of the artillery, and the difficulty of casting the artillery will increase accordingly.

Li Qingyang has known for a long time that Haihan people buy and sell guns and firearms privately, but he thought it was relatively simple before, thinking that it was probably at the level of a three-eyed blunderbuss or a small earthen cannon, but now it seems that this is not the case .Being able to cast coastal defense cannons by themselves shows how far the Haihan people's arms manufacturing level has reached.And the continuous forts on both sides of the strait are obviously unlikely to be built by the Haihan people to scare people. The artillery they deployed here is probably really enough to cover the waterway in and out of Victory Port.

Under the covering fire of dozens of artillery pieces, is it possible for the Daming Navy to safely rush through this strait that is only a hundred feet wide?Li Qingyang thought that the chances were slim, not to mention that there was a powerful fleet lining up on the sea to greet the guests with cannons... The scene was so beautiful that Li Qingyang could no longer imagine it.

"Everything here is under the protection of the executive committee!" Lin Nan looked at Li Qingyang's somewhat absent-minded face and said to him meaningfully.

(End of this chapter)