1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 601 Morgan's Proposal

According to the current military expenditure standards of the Haihan Militia, even if a battalion-level unit stationed abroad does not perform combat missions, the military expenditure required for a year is about 18 to [-] yuan.Because a considerable part of the military supplies has to be transported from Sanya to the local area by sea, the farther the station is from the base camp, the higher the corresponding maintenance costs.Fujian is willing to bear this considerable expense, and Haihan's attitude is definitely happy to see the result.

After this force is deployed to Fujian, it can effectively change the current slow response of the base camp to the situation in Fujian.In the past, the base camp could only passively accept information from Fujian, and most of the time it was seriously lacking in timeliness. However, the garrison can respond to changes in the local situation more quickly, and even take proactive actions to guide the situation. Strengthen Haihan's influence in Fujian.

As for the local main fighters in Fujian, the news announced by Ning Qi played a stronger role in boosting the heart than the sale of new warships.After all, there is still a long distance between buying new warships and forming an effective combat force. It will take at least a year or two to realize the latter step. However, the final decision on whether to cease fighting must be made in a short period of time. It is definitely too late to buy a ship from Haihan.The Haihan militia stationed in Fujian sounds much more feasible. If there is an invincible Haihan militia in Zhangzhou, the difficulty of destroying Shibazhi will undoubtedly be greatly reduced.Moreover, the scale of the Haihan militia stationed in Fujian is very limited, only one battalion, and it seems that there is no need to worry about how much trouble this small force will cause in Fujian.

Immediately, some people repeatedly spoke out, praising Haihan for his urgency and righteousness. This move will save the people in Fujian who have suffered from banditry for many years.Some people also expressed their attitude that as long as the Haihan militia dared to go to sea to fight Shibazhi, they would advance and retreat with the militia.And some people who advocated peace talks in the past have now shut their mouths knowingly—the Haihan people made it clear that they wanted to start a fight with Shibazhi, even if Xu Xinsu could be persuaded, could they still be able to persuade the Haihan people?

Of course, there is no need for in-depth discussions on the specific implementation details of these things on this occasion.As long as the top figures on both sides have expressed their attitudes, the rest of the matter can be handed over to the people in charge and then negotiated slowly.

After the banquet that day, no other activities were arranged. The residence that Xu Xinsu arranged for the mission was very close to the Xu Mansion, just across the street.And Xu Xinsu's influence in Zhangzhou was indeed not built. He directly ordered people to temporarily close the street, and then sent a team of guards to send the Haihan Mission there.

Although Ning Qi drank a lot at the banquet, after arriving at the residence, he drank two cups of hot tea, and his spirit became clearer, so he asked his followers to invite a few people from the mission to discuss business matters.

After a while, the people he notified arrived. One was Morgan, who was in charge of the military, security and medical treatment of the mission, and the other was Sun Jin, a naturalized cadre affiliated to the Ministry of Security.

"Sun Jin, have you contacted our people today?" Ning Qi pointed to the chair in the room, motioning for him to sit down and answer.

Sun Jin sat on the edge of the chair with half of his buttocks, and responded respectfully: "Report to the chief, the mission has already had contact with our people when it entered the city, and will come here tomorrow to report to the chief face to face."

Sun Jin was also one of the immigrants who fled from Guangdong to Sanya a few years ago. He was only in his early twenties.When I first arrived in Shengli Port, I was assigned to work on the pier. Later, because I was able to read and read, I was recommended to teach literacy classes in Shengli Port Primary School.At that time, after the establishment of the Ministry of Justice, there were not enough internal clerical personnel, so Sun Jin was transferred to serve part-time. Later, when the Ministry of Security was separated from the establishment, he was seconded to the Ministry of Security to do internal affairs.However, the special nature of the security department did not allow personnel to concurrently serve in other departments, so Sun Jin changed his staff from three to one, becoming a full-time employee of the security department.

After becoming a full-time job, Sun Jin's job is not just internal affairs anymore. After all, young people like this with a clean background, a solid foundation in culture, and clever work are considered scarce resources in the security department, and it is reasonable to be valued to a certain extent. among.This time Haihan sent a mission to Fujian, and the Ministry of Security appointed Sun Jin to accompany them. He was responsible for contacting the personnel stationed in Fujian after arriving here, and collecting various local intelligence information.

Prior to this, the Ministry of Security deployed a small number of personnel to Zhangzhou and Quanzhou. Their public identities were all affiliated to certain companies under the Haihan Ministry of Commerce. Therefore, when the mission entered the city, these agents had already had a grandiose interview with Sun Jin. touch.

Ning Qi nodded and said, "About Shibazhi, does the Ministry of Security have any news?"

Sun Jin responded, "Our people have already obtained some information, but today's time is too short, and we have to wait until tomorrow for them to come to clarify the specific situation."

What Ning Qi asked was not Shibazhi who was entrenched in Penghu, but the representative sent by Shibazhi to Zhangzhou to negotiate peace with the Ming army.The Haihan Mission came all the way to Fujian to disrupt the situation, and its main purpose was to try to stop the negotiations between Shibazhi and the Ming army.In addition to working on Xu Xinsu's side, the mission also tried to find the peace envoy sent by Shibazhi to see if it was possible to solve the problem from the root.

After Ning Qi asked a few more words, he sent Sun Jin to rest first.Sun Jin knew that the two leaders had something to discuss separately, so he immediately got up and said goodbye, not forgetting to close the door behind him.

After Ning Qi watched Sun Jin leave, he turned his head to Morgan who was sitting opposite him: "Morgan, tell me what you think after you get here."

Morgan organized his language, and then said in Mandarin with a strong "wrong nut kernel" accent: "I think the situation is better than we expected before. The main combat faction in the Ming army still occupies the majority. I will pay attention to observe today. After a while, there was not even a single member of the military who advocated peace talks at the banquet."

Ning Qi nodded and said: "That's true. I also paid attention to it at the time. Most of the peacemakers are businessmen or literati, and the military generals are very eager to fight. But it's no wonder, after all, soldiers rely on accumulating military merits to get promoted. For them, if they do not fight, they will cut off their chances of advancement.”

"So you see, when it comes to such important decisions, the literati are often the ones who hold back..." Seeing that Ning Qi's face was a little unhappy, Morgan quickly added: "Of course, I didn't mean to be sarcastic, just Express your views on the situation in Fujian."

Every time the executive committee discusses military plans, the voices of opposition are indeed basically from a few civil officials, and Ning Qi is naturally one of them.Of course, he is much better than the pacifist Gu Kai. At least most of the time, he will rationally weigh the interests between war and non-war, instead of blindly opposing war like Gu Kai.Although Morgan is a doctor by profession, he is more inclined to the military, so his attitude is also on the side of the military, and it is inevitable that he will have some criticisms about the phenomenon of civilian officials holding back.

Ning Qi didn't want to argue with him on this issue either, he just waved his hands and said, "It's okay, let's continue talking about the business."

"Speaking of business..." Morgan nodded and said: "I think it is worth noting that the city defense level of Zhongzuo and Zhangzhou City is quite good. It is said that this is the result of the guidance of our military adviser. After returning I want to suggest that the Military Commission check the records to see who was in charge of this task at that time, and such talented people should be promoted."

"Then how do you feel about the local Ming army?" Ning Qi continued to ask.

"You can't see the result just by watching them stand in line." Morgan shrugged: "I hope to have the opportunity to see their drills, of course, the actual combat is the best, so that we can truly see the combat level of an army How. But I noticed that the Ming army here has a large number of Type [-] matchlock guns, and about one-tenth of the proportion of Type [-] flintlock guns. With these weapons we provide, I believe their combat effectiveness It must be higher than other Ming armies of the same period, but this also needs further confirmation."

"You mean to suggest that the Ming army organize a military exercise during our visit to Fujian?" Although Morgan's words were twisted and twisted, Ning Qi still understood what he wanted to express.

Morgan nodded and said, "We can take the initiative to suggest a joint military exercise in the near future. It just so happens that we also have three warships here. Taking this opportunity, we can also show our strength to the high-level officials of the Fujian military."

"That's a good proposal." Ning Qi responded while rubbing his chin.

A joint military exercise with the Fujian military is actually not part of the mission's plan for this visit.However, the mission has two very clear missions. One is to sell new types of arms to the Fujian military, and the other is to show them the strength of the Haihan Militia Navy.However, organizing a joint military exercise can accomplish these two tasks at the same time. By the way, it can also invite Xu Xinsu and other local dignitaries to observe the scene, so that they can see the power of Haihan's black technology with their own eyes.

As the saying goes, seeing is better than hearing a hundred times. Even if Ning Qi can blow the performance of the Haihan warship to the sky, it is better to pull these people on board and see for yourself how this new type of warship can crush it at sea. All opponents encountered.Buying a ship is one thing, but it can also give these people a little more confidence and let them understand the huge gap between the Shibazhi and the Haihan militia in terms of maritime armed strength.

"According to the schedule, I will have a separate meeting with Xu Xinsu tomorrow, and I will mention this to him then." Ning Qi felt that this plan was feasible, so he immediately decided to try it.He believes that Xu Xinsu should and will not object to this proposal. After all, for these Ming troops who were originally trained in the Haihan model, it is not easy to get a chance to cooperate with the Haihan militia. Yes, how could I miss such a good opportunity delivered to my door.

"Apart from the meeting with Xu Xinsu tomorrow, do you have any other travel plans?" Morgan asked.

Ning Qi thought for a while and said: "I want to go out and wander around Zhangzhou city. After all, we are going to send troops here, so it is better to understand the local environment first. In addition, the scale of the Fujian office may also need to be further enlarged. The small yard arranged for expatriates probably won’t be able to accommodate future institutions, and we have to buy another local property.”

"Okay, that's it, see you tomorrow morning." Morgan got up and left after finishing his business a few times.

"What is your urgent matter?" Ning Qi asked curiously upon seeing this.You must know that Morgan, who had nothing to do on the way a few days ago, spent almost every day chatting with Ning Qi to pass the time, but now he seems to be a different person.

Morgan spread his hands and said, "My friend, I am a very knowledgeable person, I think I should leave some private time for you to enjoy the hospitality of the host here."

Ning Qi heard Monk Zhang Er puzzled: "Morgan, what are you talking about?"

Morgan put his index finger in front of his mouth in a silent gesture, and went out.When Ning Qi was puzzled, a woman's voice came from outside the door: "The little girl was sent by Mr. Xu to serve Mr. Ning..."

Ning Qi got up and walked to the door, seeing his personal guards blocking a little girl outside.The little girl looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, her appearance was beautiful, her skin was rare in Lingnan, and her figure was a little thinner.Seeing Ning Qi open the door, the little girl hurriedly bowed and blessed her, but she didn't dare to stare at Ning Qi.

Although Ning Qi was born as a scholar, he was not a sage or gentleman. Although he had never been to places like Dongguan to see the big world before traveling, he basically understood the common sense that he should know. Just looking at this posture, he understood the meaning.

Ning Qi coughed dryly and said, "I drank a lot of wine just now, I didn't eat too much, go to the kitchen and get me something to eat."

The little girl responded, then turned and left.Ning Qi told the guards again: "It's getting late, you should go and rest too."

The personal guard responded, but he didn't really leave. He just retreated far away to the porch on the other side of the yard and patio, and stood silently.Ning Qi knew the working regulations of these personal guards, they couldn't be completely assured that they were alone in a room with a stranger, so they returned to the house without saying anything.

After a while, the little girl came back with four-color cakes and a bowl of milk.Seeing this, Ning Qi also felt a little surprised: "There is still milk here?"

The little girl replied: "Mr. Ning, the steward told all the masters in Haihan to drink milk before going to bed, so today's fresh milk has been prepared in the kitchen, and it has been kept in hot water. The masters come back anytime. You can drink it all."

"Corruption, it's really too corrupt!" Ning Qi criticized this never-before-experienced way of enjoying in his heart, but after criticizing, it would not prevent him from continuing to enjoy.When I was in Sanya, I also had special milk, but the ones who brought the milk were usually the guards, not the delicate little girl in front of me.

(End of this chapter)