1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 487 each with their own minds

For ordinary people in Victory Port, as long as they have been naturalized for a long time, most of them have seen the launching ceremony of warships a few times before. Therefore, although the hull of the "Majesty" is much larger, it does not surprise them too much. After all, in their consciousness, sooner or later, bigger and stronger militia warships will appear in Victory Port, and the "Majesty" just verified their conjecture.And those naturalized citizens who have not long been naturalized are extremely excited about this situation, because such a large ship has exceeded the range of most of them's knowledge of sea ships, not to mention that this is a ship that is banned by the imperial court. Battleship!

However, people in the imperial court may not have the same thoughts as ordinary people. For example, Luo Shengdong and others who are sitting on the viewing platform now have very calm faces.Of course, they were sitting in the second row on the stage, and they didn't wear official uniforms, so they weren't particularly conspicuous.

Wei Ping beside him slowly turned his head and said softly, "Brother Luo, what do you think of this boat?"

Luo Shengdong replied softly: "This boat is big, but it may not be easy to use."

Wei Pingqi said: "Brother Luo, why did you say that? This is a warship that the Haihan people took more than a year to build. With the habits of the Haihan people, this thing is not just a decoration."

"I didn't say this ship is a decoration, you misunderstood me." Luo Shengdong explained: "In terms of appearance alone, this ship is larger than the existing Ming army warships. Look at the gun ports on the side of the ship. The number and firepower far exceed that of Ming warships, so it is definitely not a display."

"Oh? What does Brother Luo mean?"

"The ship built by the shipyard before, although there are some regulations, but it is not too far from the ship of Daming..." At this point, Luo Shengdong pointed to the "Majesty" docked on the pier: " But if you look at this ship again, it’s too conspicuous! I’m too embarrassed to pretend not to see such a big ship on the sea. Except for the port wharf controlled by Haihan himself, who in the Ming Dynasty would dare to let it go? Does it dock in port?"

After hearing this, Wei Ping looked thoughtful, and seemed to understand where Luo Shengdong's worries came from.

Luo Shengdong continued: "Now that we are out of Qiongzhou Island, how many ports are there for the Haihan people? With such a big ship, the Lijiazhuang and Wanshan Ports in Panyu probably won't be able to stop. The port in Xin'an County is still under construction. I know when it will come in handy, so this ship can only be placed in Victory Harbor."

"It's scary enough to just put it like this!" Wei Ping sighed: "I heard that the largest gun on the warship built before is actually the smallest on this new ship. This ship is equipped with large and many guns. In two or three months, the sea merchants who come in and out of here will spread the news to all over Guangdong, Guangxi and even farther places, will there be anyone who is not long-sighted and intends to verify it for himself?"

Luo Shengdong sighed: "In another three months, the second ship will probably be ready for service. As far as these two big ships are concerned, I am afraid that my Ming Navy will not be able to beat all the warships from Guangdong and Guangxi together. I heard that The Haihan people have also used new technology on this big ship, and the speed is faster than the ships built before, so I won’t mention it if I can’t beat it, and I can’t even escape!”

Wei Ping smiled lightly and said, "Fortunately, you and I have recognized the situation early on and did not make Haihan an enemy, otherwise, with the few warships before Shuizhai, there would be no need to fight at all, and they would be scattered if they were hit by this big ship! "

Luo Shengdong didn't take it seriously when he was teased by Wei Ping, and he responded casually: "Crash? It would be great if he could touch it! Let me tell you, last month I had the honor to go to the shooting range with Mr. Yan to watch the latest naval gun test firing." , the range of this thing is almost as fast as that of the cannons on land, if you want to rush over to hit this ship, you are afraid that you will be smashed into scum after a hundred or so feet away."

After Luo Shengdong said this, his face was slightly gloomy: "If I, Da Ming, can build such a powerful warship, why worry about the seas and borders being restless!"

"My little brother has seen through it. As long as it has anything to do with war and weapons, I, Da Ming, really can't compare with Haihan. Look at the guns they made, the cannons they made, and this big ship. They are better than Da Ming in everything! Wei Ping sighed and said: "It's a good thing they don't have any bad intentions towards Daming, otherwise if they really want to fight, I'm afraid the court really has nothing to do with them."

"The imperial court can't do anything about them, but it can do about us!" Luo Shengdong continued: "If it's true that the Haihan people are going to make trouble, the imperial court will issue an imperial decree, not to mention you and me, even the gentlemen in Qiongzhou's prefectural city will be punished." By what..."

"get out of class is over!" Wei Ping reminded, he still remembers this kind of Haihan buzzwords more familiar.

"Yes, yes, get out of class is over!" Luo Shengdong nodded and said, "Anyway, the guards on Qiongzhou Island will have nothing to do when Haihan makes trouble. At that time, the imperial court may have nothing to do except dismiss these officials on the island. Ways. As for the soldiers in Guangzhou Mansion, they would probably be discouraged when they heard the name of the militia, and they probably can’t be counted on.”

"If you don't push them into a hurry, the Haihan people may not tear their faces and make trouble." Wei Ping replied: "You see, they have been here for more than two years, and they have kept the government in Yazhou unmoved. You and my brother How to be an official or how to do it. I heard that Lingshui and Wanzhou are almost the same as Yazhou now. The orders of the Haihan people are more effective than the notices posted by the government. If this continues, it is only a matter of time before Qiongzhou Island changes its surname to 'Haihan'. At that time, it is not impossible for the whole island to hide from the imperial court and name it Daming, but actually be Haihan."

If it was more than a year ago, the two of them might not have dared to discuss such a topic in such a public place. However, today, in their view, Haihan's foundation is already unbreakable, and the upward trend is becoming more and more obvious. Whether it is Whether it is politics, economy, culture, or military affairs, Haihan is expanding rapidly in almost all directions.Only relying on the power of Ming Dynasty in Qiongzhou Island, Guangdong, Guangxi, and even the entire South China region, it is already difficult to prevent the rise of Haihan. Now even the Jinyiwei sent by Nanjing are sitting on the viewing platform to watch the Haihan people show off their force. What are the magistrates afraid of?

Of course Li Qingyang couldn't sit in front of the Haihan people calmly like Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping. He disguised his identity locally as a pharmacy tent, and of course he couldn't sit on an equal footing with the court officials, so he sat in a more important position than the other two. It is the people's representative seat on the back and side.In this place, he was basically invisible from the audience watching the ceremony, and almost all the people on the stage were Haihan's own people, so it was not easy to reveal his identity.

Of course, Li Qingyang also saw the two Ming officials sitting in the front row. He was a little worried at first what would happen if these two people came over to talk to him out of nowhere, but this kind of worry soon proved to be unnecessary. Although the man saw him, he just nodded his head indifferently as a greeting, and had no intention of coming over for a chat.

Sitting next to Li Qingyang was He Qiang. In fact, he was attending the warship enlistment ceremony in the name of He Qiang's entourage.Of course, this quota was also specially designated to him by the Ministry of Security. The purpose was to simply and roughly show off Haihan's military power in front of him, and let him receive a shocking education like Haihan's.

Li Qingyang was not confused, he knew very well what the Haihan people wanted to pull him to watch their warship enlistment ceremony.However, he didn't intend to refuse the invitation, because he really wanted to see how powerful the Haihan people's surface armed forces were, and they dared to hold such a blatantly large-scale ceremony.

However, the reality gave him a heavy blow. The huge hull of the "Majestic" and the powerful firepower equipment that can be seen directly without boarding the ship almost made Li Qingyang's jaw drop.Such a large warship is said to have appeared in the history of the Ming Dynasty. When the Sanbao eunuch led the Daming fleet to go overseas, the treasure ships in the fleet had such a large tonnage.Of course, the military force is definitely not as good as the gunboats of the Haihan people, and the treasure ships from 200 years ago have long since disappeared, and the blueprints for shipbuilding at that time were all destroyed. Not likely anymore.

Based on what Li Qingyang knew, the Daming navy in the entire south of the Yangtze River probably didn't have a warship of the same level that could compete with Haihan's gunboat.Moreover, I just heard the situation introduced by the officers of the militia. There are not only warships of this level in front of me, but another warship of the same level is also in the final stage. Li Qingyang really can't think of any coastal state capital in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. The navy stationed there can compete with these two warships.

Li Qingyang really wanted to go to the front row to ask Luo Shengdong, a professional, for his opinion, but he restrained his actions rationally.Talking to other Ming officials without the permission of their superiors is considered a violation of the rules—it is not a violation of Jinyiwei's rules, but the internal personal code of conduct set by the Haihan Security Department.

That's right, after Li Qingyang was semi-forced into the Haihan Security Department's establishment, there was another set of rules that he had to follow.But anyway, he can be regarded as a professional from the disciplined army, and it is not particularly difficult to adapt. Besides, when Hao Wanqing formulated this set of rules for him, he was actually quite liberal. I hope he can gradually understand through daily life. Accept Haihan's social system, and slowly abandon the idea of ​​imperial power, and stand in Haihan's camp.

Li Qingyang had already sent the first report to Nanjing two months ago. Of course, the contents of this report were all reviewed by the officials of the Ministry of Security.As for the delivery channel, it was also very simple. Li Qingyang sealed the written report, then handed it over to the Security Department, and told them how to deliver the report to the Jinyiwei Yamen in Guangzhou.

Although Nanjing has not yet received the next step instructions from Nanjing, at least Nanjing will not send a new batch of people to Sanya to perform latent tasks in a short time.And this is exactly one of the goals that the Haihan Security Department wants to achieve. After completing this task, Hao Wanqing also loosened the chain for Li Qingyang, allowing him to go out of the business district and go to the Shengli Harbor Wharf at ordinary times.Although the expansion of the scope of activities was not too large, it was still a big benefit for Li Qingyang who was confined in the business district.

Today, it was the first time he had entered the sensitive area of ​​Haihan when he was brought to the military port pier on the east side of Shengli Harbor to observe the ceremony.According to He Qiang, not everyone can come to this kind of place, either they are naturalized people, or they are businessmen who have a deep foundation of cooperation with Haihan, such as the "Furuifeng" Li family. partner.

Similar to Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping, when Li Qingyang saw the "Majesty", he already had the idea that Haihan was invincible. Although he also knew that this idea was really ashamed of the court, the reality was In front of our eyes, there is no doubt about the strength of the Haihan people in the military field - they don't just have this big ship, but a whole fleet.

As for the statement of "cooperate with the imperial court, protect the environment and the people" that the naval commander Wang Tom said, of course Li Qingyang did not believe it.The force of the Haihan people has far exceeded the troops deployed by the imperial court in this area, so it is not easy to say who should cooperate with whom.

After Wang Tom's speech, the Navy's military parade followed.Three phalanxes of different sizes, composed of naturalized civilian officers, ordinary sailors and sailors, walked in front of the viewing stand in neat steps, their mental outlook was much better than that of the Ming army that Li Qingyang had seen before.Moreover, the leather boots on the feet of these militiamen, the leather armed belts on their bodies, the neat dark blue military uniforms, and the rifles on their backs all show that this army is not only capable of fighting at sea, but is also an army after landing. A mighty army.

The marine corps of the naval force is an idea jointly proposed by Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun who is far away in Annan.Its purpose is to increase the combat skills of the naval forces under the current situation where the military strength of Haihan is still relatively tense, so that the combat personnel of the navy can also have the basic capabilities of landing operations.

Of course, the requirements for these soldiers' ability to fight on land will not be exactly the same as those of the army, but the basic gun formation and land warfare theory still have to be mastered.When necessary, these sailors and militiamen can conduct small-scale military operations near the shore without asking for the assistance of the army.Take the "Majesty" as an example. Among the nearly 400 people on board, more than 300 people will receive new combat training in order to have amphibious combat capabilities.And if all these people landed, they would basically have the strength of two reinforced companies. With the obvious advantages in weapons, they could deal with at least four to five times the Ming army.If coupled with naval guns for fire cover, then the combat effectiveness in the near-shore environment can at least double.

However, there are also some problems in this kind of training. First, the time to become an army will be prolonged due to the increase in training content, which may affect the time for the "Majestic" to truly form combat effectiveness.Secondly, this also requires the purchase of a large amount of army weapons and equipment for the naval forces, which is also a considerable expense.

(End of this chapter)