1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 593
In fact, Shibazhi’s development model has some similarities with Haihan. They also occupied overseas islands to establish strongholds, made their fortunes through maritime trade, and expanded both commercially and militaryly.But Shibazhi does not have the black technology in the hands of the traversers, and cannot obtain huge commercial profits through its own production. In order to expand rapidly, it can only use force to plunder.

When the wind is downwind, this method will naturally bring in money very quickly. In the original time and space, Zheng Zhilong even relied on this method to defeat the Fujian Ming Army, and finally went ashore by himself and successfully laundered it.But after this time and space was intervened in the battle of Fujian by Haihan traversers, it was difficult for Shibazhi's pirate methods to achieve good results. Attacking Zhangzhou and Quanzhou was also a loss. A state of subsequent fatigue.

On the other hand, for Xu Xinsu, after a series of victories, his sea trade business has been better guaranteed, and the annual increase in income is enough for him to arm an army of modern hot weapons that are not weak in combat power, and he still has the power to go to sea. Han ordered more advanced and more expensive weapons and equipment, which can be said to have embarked on a virtuous circle of development.Even if Haihan does not increase support, the balance of victory will gradually tilt towards Xu Xinsu's side with the development of time.Maybe two or three years later, with Xu Xinsu's own strength, he would be able to wipe out the Eighteen Pirates entrenched in Penghu and Taiwan Island.This time point is basically in line with Haihan's expected naval development speed. At that time, the Haihan Navy, which is more powerful than it is now, will also move northward to take over Shibazhi's strongholds in Penghu and Taiwan, and use this as a base. Haihan's sphere of influence extends to Northeast Asia.

However, the existence of the Dutch is obviously an unpredictable variable. The executive committee and the military have regarded the Dutch as a hostile force from the very beginning, and all preparations are based on the premise of possible armed conflicts in the future.Compared with Shibazhi, which has begun to decline, the Dutch entrenched on the island of Taiwan seem to pose a greater threat to Haihan.And this time Shibazhi took the initiative to ask for peace talks, and there seemed to be a Dutch figure behind it.

"One of the purposes of our fleet is to let Xu Xinsu take a good look at who is stronger between us and the Dutch, and which thigh he should choose to hold tight to." Ning Qi said proudly.

The fact that Haihan built the "Majestic Class" large warship is not a secret to the Fujian military. As early as the construction period, the news was sent back by Fujian students studying at the Shengli Port Military Academy through various channels.And Haihan did not deliberately block the relevant news, and even invited representatives of the Fujian military to participate in the commissioning ceremony of the "Majestic Class" warship at the end of 1629.The last time Xu Xinsu visited Guangzhou, he also proposed to see the legendary Haihan main battleship with dozens of cannons. However, at that time, the two "Majestic-class" warships were performing blockade missions in the Qiongzhou Strait, and there was no time to go there. Go to the Pearl River Estuary to let Xu Xinsu open his eyes.

And in the plan of visiting Fujian this time, there is a link to invite Xu Xinsu to visit the ship. If the conditions are suitable, it may also arrange to go for a lap in the sea, so that Xu Xinsu can experience the terrifying power of steam propulsion.

Regarding Xu Xinsu, Maliko could provide the mission with limited information, but he had found a few sailors for the fleet in advance who were familiar with the sea conditions along the coast of Fujian, which came in handy.Although Haihan has a lot of satellite map data in his hands, the time difference is hundreds of years, and the terrain and landforms of many coastal areas are still quite different from those of later generations, especially the state of ocean currents under the water surface and the distribution of hidden reefs. Only old sailors who are familiar with sea conditions can know.

The people under Xu Xinsu obviously also considered this point. Dong Yanyun also specially sent four boatmen to Zhennan Port to take orders, and then set off for Fujian with the fleet.

The mission fleet only rested for one night at Zhennan Port. After completing the supply of supplies and ingredients, they left the area the next day and continued eastward.

Going east from Hong Kong Island, you will reach the boundary of Huizhou Prefecture, and after passing Chaozhou Prefecture eastward, you will enter the coast of Fujian.Daming originally set up a lot of guards on this coastline, such as Pinghai Station, Jiesheng Station, Jiazimen Station, Jinghai Station, Haimen Station, Jieshiwei Station and so on.It's just that the garrisons of these guards are basically army establishments, and they can't effectively defend the sea area at all, which has led to the situation of pirates raging in the past few years.

However, the mission fleet didn't want to show off on the way, so the route has always been kept at a distance of more than ten or twenty nautical miles from the coast, and it no longer stops at ports along the way, and sails directly to Fujian.

"Nan'ao Island is ahead. After passing Nan'ao Island, we will arrive in Fujian." Shi Diwen introduced the itinerary to Ning Qi while making navigation notes.When leaving Hong Kong, Ning Qi had already moved from the "Lightning" to the "Wei Signal", coordinating and commanding the fleet with Shi Diwen.

The fleet did not rush on purpose, so it took almost two days to travel from Hong Kong Island to Nan'ao Island in Chaozhou Prefecture, which was nearly [-] nautical miles.However, this speed is already relatively fast compared with the contemporary Chinese sailboats.

Nan'ao Island is located in the sea at the junction of Guangdong and Fujian provinces, less than 1575 nautical miles away from Chaozhou, and less than 50 nautical miles away from Zhangzhou, Fujian.In the third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, that is, in [-], more than [-] years ago, the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty set up the post of Deputy Chief Soldier of South Australia here, that is, "Vice Chief Soldier Stationed in South Australia in Assistance with Zhangchao and other places", and also assigned Guangdong In other words, during the reign of the Ming Dynasty, Nan'ao Island was a public area jointly managed by Guangdong and Fujian provinces.

There are many harbors on Nan'ao Island that are suitable for the construction of deep-water ports, so they are also one of the targets coveted by the military. However, the Ming army has always been stationed on this island, and it is too far away from the Haihan control area. They want to take it here. There are many objective difficulties, at least at the present stage, it is still impossible to implement.Therefore, Shi Diwen could only look at the big island through the telescope and drool.

After passing Nan'ao Island, you can already see Dongshan Island in front of you through the telescope.This butterfly-shaped island is the second largest island in Fujian and is currently under the jurisdiction of Zhao'an County, Fujian.When you get here, you have already entered the border of Fujian.

"Xu Xinsu's attitude is quite correct, and he sent someone to meet us." Not long after, Ning Qi also saw several sailboats docked on the sea outside Dongshan Island through the binoculars. It is a circle larger than Haihan's "Explorer-class" sailboat, and it is close to the appearance of "Explorer-class". The tonnage is at least four to five hundred tons, which must exceed the standard by the standards of civilian ships.

Of course, with Xu Xinsu's status in Fujian, even if his ship was twice as big, no one would hold him accountable.There was a big flag on the mainmast, and a five-foot-square Xu character was unfurled in the sea breeze, very eye-catching.

"This ship is not bad! It seems that Fujian's shipbuilding industry is really well developed." Although Shi Diwen is not a shipbuilding professional, he has also played sailing for many years, and he knows much more about ships than Ning Qi, a passer-by. The focus of attention is naturally on the ship.

When Shi Diwen was admiring, the people on the lucky boat opposite were really surprised.Xu Yuzhuo, the fourth son of Xu Xinsu, who was sent to Dongshan Island to meet the Haihan Mission fleet this time, served as a general in the Fujian Navy. He also went to Shengli Port Military Academy for four months of military training in the early days. It can be regarded as seeing some people in the market.A few days ago, Guangdong sent a letter back, saying that Haihan sent a mission fleet to visit Fujian, and there will be the latest Haihan giant ship accompanying it.Xu Xinsu didn't dare to be scornful here, so he naturally arranged for a fleet to come out to meet him at sea.When the Haihan fleet arrived here, they had been waiting for nearly a day.

However, because the military's behavior is too easy to attract attention, Xu Xinsu did not arrange warships to participate in the reception this time. For this reason, he specially dispatched a big blessing boat to show up, so as not to weaken the momentum when the two sides meet.But Xu Yuzhuo suddenly found that compared with the huge warship in the opponent's fleet, the ship he was on was just a small one.

"I used to see the big iron boats of the Haihan people in Shengli Port, and thought that those things were just decorations, something made by the Haihan people to scare people. But now it seems that the Haihan people are not incapable of building big iron boats, but they are really like them. As you said, the time has not yet come!" Seeing the Haihan warship approaching slowly, Xu Yuzhuo couldn't help expressing emotion.

On the undulating sea, the ships of the two sides naturally couldn't stay together, not to mention that the hull of the "Wei Signal" was much taller than Xu Yuzhuo's ship, approaching rashly would lead to the danger of collision.

Xu Yuzhuo didn't have any pretensions, so he immediately ordered people to put down the boat and change boats by himself.

A moment later, Xu Yuzhuo boarded the "Prestige Signal" along the lowered gangway with a sense of awe.He was born in a family of maritime merchants, and now he is serving in the Navy. Naturally, he has a good understanding of ships. The size of this "prestige signal" is so huge, even if he can't see the structure inside the ship, he can still think that this big ship is under construction. The difficulty of going up is by no means something that Fujian's shipwrights can overcome.Moreover, the sail system of this ship is also a unique Haihan-style structure, which has a completely different appearance and operation method from the Chinese-style sailboats we usually see.

What made Xu Yuzhuo feel a little relieved was that he happened to recognize the two heads of the Haihan Mission this time.When he was receiving training at the Shengli Port Military Academy, both Ning Qi and Shi Diwen happened to be teachers.Ning Qi taught Haihan culture, while Shi Diwen taught weapon maintenance and maintenance. Xu Yuzhuo had to call them teachers.

Xu Yuzhuo stayed in Shengli Port for a while, but he also knew that Haihan people don't like to kneel and worship even between masters and apprentices, so he bowed deeply and said: "Student Xu Yuzhuo, I have met Teacher Ning and Teacher Shi!"

"Oh, it's you!" Ning Qi saw that the acquaintance was also relaxed a lot, and couldn't help but joked: "Your father sent you to receive us, it seems that you are very important at home. !"

Xu Yuzhuo said with shame: "Teacher Ning, don't make fun of me."

The three exchanged pleasantries for a while, Xu Yuzhuo ordered someone to present some gifts, and then returned to his own boat in a small boat.

"Is this playing the family card?" Shi Diwen asked with a smile.

Ning Qi shook his head and said, "I don't think it's very likely. After all, when we notified the Fujian side, we didn't give our names."

Haihan consciously concealed the candidates for the chief and deputy of the mission for the time being, in order to prevent Fujian from making targeted preparations in advance.But it was such a coincidence that the envoy sent by Xu Xinsu happened to recognize them.Of course, it is also possible that Xu Xinsu was thinking of trying his luck. After all, Xu Yuzhuo had stayed in Sanya for a while and knew quite a few Haihan people. It was indeed easy to get acquainted.

"No matter what, we still have to talk to the master when we get to the place." Ning Qi quickly returned to a serious state from the previous relaxed state: "Their boat has moved, let's follow."

The voyage from Dongshan Island to Zhangzhou was still about [-] nautical miles away. Since the speed of the leading ship was relatively slow, the Haihan mission slowed down accordingly and followed behind slowly.From early in the morning until it was dark, I finally saw Jiahe Islet where the Zhongzuo Office is located in front of me.

"Here we are in Xiamen!" Ning Qi's face was a bit complicated. He had also been to Xiamen before crossing, and he also traveled to Gulangyu Island.However, the brightly lit Xiamen in my impression is completely different from the dark island in front of me. When I came to Xiamen Island again, it seemed like a world away.

"Their ship has sent a signal and is going to dock here." Shi Diwen had never been to Xiamen, nor did he have as much literary and artistic feelings as Ning Qi, and he had been paying attention to the signal of the pilot ship.It was his first visit to this sea area, and it was indeed very unfamiliar. He had to record all the routes and port conditions in person. These were first-hand information that were difficult for the Ministry of Security to collect.

Ning Qi nodded and said: "It's definitely not convenient to enter the river in Zhangzhou, so late at night, I guess I have to arrange to rest here for a day or two. When I came to Xiamen before, I also saw Zhongzuo City The ruins, but it was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty, this time you can see the original appearance of the Zhongzuo City in the Ming Dynasty."

According to historical records, in the 20th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Zhou De, the Marquis of Jiangxia, built the Zhongzuo City, which was a corner with Kinmen City, Gaopu City, Yongning Wei City, and Zhenhai Wei City, and became an important coastal defense area along the coast of Fujian.In the 15th year of Yongle, Yuecheng was added outside Zhongzuosuo City, and the city wall was raised to two feet and two feet.In the eighth year of Ming Zhengtong, four more enemy towers were built.In the 20th year of Wanli, the Fujian South Road ginseng will be stationed here.In the fourth year of Longqing, [-] sentry ships were added here, and the garrison became an amphibious force.

(End of this chapter)