1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 603 Touring Zhangzhou City
Ning Qi saw Xu Xinsu's response and then fell silent. He could roughly guess the other party's psychology, and immediately threw out another preferential condition: "Considering the long-term cooperation between our two parties, in this joint military exercise, Our military expenses will be borne by ourselves, so Master Xu doesn't have to worry about expenses."

"How can this be done!" Xu Xinsu was told by Ning Qi, and quickly objected: "This joint military exercise is of great benefit to the Ming army, and I also wish for it, so we should bear the cost."

Ning Qi waved his hand and said: "Master Xu, there is no need to argue, the cost of the military exercise is a trivial matter, you just need to promise me another thing."

"Mr. Ning, please speak!" Xu Xinsu saw that Ning Qi's attitude was firm, so he didn't continue to argue about it, and planned to listen to Ning Qi's conditions before speaking.If Ning Qi wants to use this to threaten himself to give up the peace talks, then he has to think again.

Then I heard Ning Qi say: "I plan to invite Master Xu to our flagship 'Wei Signal' to co-direct this joint military exercise. I wonder if Master Xu will show his face?"

Xu Xinsu was stunned and said: "This is Mr. Ning's condition?" He originally thought that Ning Qi would definitely put forward some embarrassing conditions for him, but he never thought that he would just invite himself to the ship to observe the military exercise.When the "signal of prestige" appeared at Zhongzuo's port, Xu Xinsu and his navy generals were already drooling. Although they wanted to take the opportunity to ask for a visit, they felt that the warship was Haihan. Most of the big killers will not allow outsiders to visit, fearing that they will lose face if they are directly rejected by the Haihan people, so this matter has never been mentioned.Never thought that he didn't ask for it, but Ning Qi offered the invitation first.

Ning Qi smiled and said: "Although I have no intention of raising conditions, it doesn't matter if Mr. Xu understands this as our condition."

Xu Xinsu knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, so he had to force a smile to pass it on: "Mr. Ning invited me warmly, but the old man would not be respectful. May I ask Mr. Ning, when is the best time for this joint military exercise? How many troops do we need to participate in? corresponding plans?"

Ning Qi turned his head to Morgan and said, "Now it's your turn."

Morgan coughed dryly, and then said: "Master Xu, our maritime military exercise planning will take two to three days. The main training content is maritime patrol, coordinated attack, and sea rescue. If there is enough time, we can also practice a series of amphibious landing operations. But first of all, I need to know how many troops and warships you can dispatch without causing a major impact on Fujian's coastal defense, and then we can formulate a corresponding exercise plan. This link includes preparing materials and mobilizing personnel. It will probably take four to five days."

Xu Xinsu pondered for a while before answering: "How about agreeing with your side? How many people and horses you send to participate in the performance, we will do as well. As for how many boats to send, this old man is talking big, as long as you need it, two or three hundred A sea-going ship can still be dispatched at any time."

Morgan emphasized: "I'm talking about warships, not ordinary civilian ships."

Xu Xinsu smiled and said: "The ships under the old man's command, even the merchant ships, carry a few earth cannons and a few bird guns. They can also be used as warships when necessary. Although they are not as good as Haihan's ship guns It is beneficial, but it is barely enough to deal with Shibazhi's attack in the offshore."

What Xu Xinsu said was true. Due to the rampant pirate activities along the coast of Fujian, unarmed merchant ships did not dare to go to sea at all. Generally, some melee firearms were prepared on board.Of course, these weapons are completely different from the shipborne weapons equipped by the Haihan Navy. The weapons of the Haihan Navy are designed to damage and sink enemy ships, with powerful firepower and a long range.The firearms on these ships are aimed at killing the opponent's crew members at close range. As for the attack on the ship, the power of these firearms is slightly smaller.

Perhaps Xu Xinsu deliberately did not mention the weapon configuration of the Ming Navy's warships, but in fact, although the Ming Army's navy is equipped with a lot of firearms, their power is not strong, especially in terms of range and shooting accuracy. There is a relatively large performance gap with the Haihan naval gun.And this gap is not a secret. Most of the officers of the Fujian Navy who went to Sanya for training in the past few years have seen the power of the Haihan Navy's artillery with their own eyes. To equip a warship with double-digit artillery, for the current For the Fujian Navy, there are still many technical obstacles.Of course, Haihan's restriction on the purchase of various types of artillery is probably one of the root causes of the stagnant combat readiness of the Fujian Navy. Prioritize meeting the needs of city defense.

Although the warships under the command of the Fujian Navy are limited, Xu Xinsu's personal name still has many sea-going ships with initial armed forces.As he said, these ships can be temporarily requisitioned as warships during wartime. Even if the combat performance is average, the opponent's ships are not much better.However, if Shibazhi wins, he will win at least two or three times more than Xu Xinsu's side. Under the situation that the individual strengths of both parties are similar, Shibazhi can gain an overwhelming advantage in terms of numbers.

But this advantage is only for old-style sailboats. The "exploration-class" warships purchased by the Fujian Ming Army from Haihan have greatly surpassed the performance of old-style sailboats. It can carry out unilateral bombardment to the enemy at a relatively safe distance. Even if there are more opponent ships, the "Explorer Class" can safely escape by virtue of its speed advantage.The tricks such as sticking, blocking, and intercepting that Shibazhi used to plunder at sea in the past are difficult to use in front of "exploration-class" warships.

Being able to personally participate in the military exercise organized by the Haihan military obviously made Xu Xinsu very excited. During the next discussion with Morgan about the details, Xu Xinsu almost responded to every request. Morgan even proposed that Haihan should take command of the fleet after it went to sea. , Xu Xinsu also agreed.

Ning Qi and Morgan also deliberately did not mention the peace talks. They did not plan to exchange the military exercise for Xu Xinsu's compromise, but wanted to use their strength to tell Xu Xinsu who he should hold tightly. Put your thighs.

The two sides talked until noon, Xu Xinsu asked someone to open the table and continued talking while eating.After lunch, Xu Xinsu asked someone to call several of his leading soldiers to the mansion to discuss the details of the exercise with Morgan.As a civil servant, Ning Qi had nothing to do, so he proposed to Xu Xinsu immediately that he wanted to go to Zhangzhou city to see the local people.

Seeing this, Xu Xinsu called a butler from the mansion, and asked him to take someone to accompany Ning Qi for a stroll around the city.When Ning Qi was about to leave, he was stopped by Morgan.Morgan pulled him to the porch outside the house, then took out a pistol and handed it to him: "There are business matters to discuss here, and you can only rely on yourself for safety."

"Don't worry." Ning Qi patted Morgan's shoulder, then took the pistol and put it in his briefcase: "I will be careful."

"When you shoot, remember to put the safety on first. Also, this Glock18 is an automatic pistol. Don't be nervous and just shoot the bullets. This baby doesn't have too many bullet reserves." Morgan feared that Ning Qi would forget, and then Specially exhorted.

In fact, Ning Qi didn't go to Zhangzhou city alone, besides Xu Xinsu dispatched a team of people in plain clothes to protect him, Ning Qi also had four personal guards belonging to the executive committee's security company who followed him all the time.Even the selection criteria for this guard are very strict. Not only must he be brave enough to meet these basic requirements, but more importantly, he must be 100% loyal to Haihan, and he will not hesitate to sacrifice himself to protect Haihan's important people at critical moments.When they need to block knives and arrows as human shields, they are the last line of defense around the traverser.

Of course, not every traverser can be allocated such scarce resources, and only a few high-level members of the Executive Committee will be equipped with personal guards, and each person will only have two personal guards. Only then can they be allowed to allocate two more quotas.

The soldiers of the guard company are not equipped with rifles, and the standard personal weapons are short guns and daggers.The short gun is a revolver that was successfully trial-produced in Tiandu Arsenal at the beginning of this year. It is also a revolver that often appears in western movies.However, due to the relatively high manufacturing and use costs of this kind of close-range weapon, only a small amount is equipped with the special department of the guard company at this stage, and the performance of the weapon is still in the state of experimental products, which is far from reaching the level of the military. the required level.

The housekeeper of Xu Xinsu's house also prepared a soft sedan for Ning Qi, but Ning Qi didn't want to sit in the sedan chair, so he politely declined the offer, but the tour guide who arranged for him gladly accepted it.

The tour guide for Ning Qi was a young man, said to be the son of a steward in Xu Xinsu's house, named Wang Lin, who was under [-] years old, and also went to Sanya to study abroad for more than a year earlier.After the Haihan executive committee established "Qiong Lianfa" in the second year of time travel, in order to attract shareholders, they opened up some professional technology learning opportunities. At that time, all shareholders sent reliable young people to Shengli Port to learn these advanced technologies. Lin is also one of them.However, what he was studying at that time was business and finance, and he had no experience of being a student under Ning Qi.Of course, although Ning Qi didn't recognize him, he did recognize Ning Qi, a big man at the top of Hai Han's pyramid of power.

A few days ago, after Xu Yuzhuo received the fleet of the Haihan Mission on Dongshan Island, he sent a fast boat ahead to deliver a letter to inform the composition of the Haihan Mission.Xu Xinsu specially summoned Wang Lin and other subordinates who had study abroad experience, and asked them about the personnel of the Haihan Mission.Basically, it is to understand the preferences, taboos, etc. of several senior officials of the mission, so that they can match their preferences in the reception.After the mission arrived in Zhangzhou, the point-to-point reception and accompanying tasks were basically assigned to these former overseas students.

However, any international student who has lived in Shengli Port for a period of time has a much higher sense of identity with Hai Han than ordinary people, and Wang Lin is no exception.After meeting with Ning Qi, he took the initiative to inquire about the construction status of Shengli Port, especially the steam locomotive running between Shengli Port and Tiandu with thick smoke. Will Han one day spread this strange steel car running on the track to the entire Qiongzhou Island?

Ning Qi said with a smile: "This is our long-term goal, but we can't achieve it yet. Building railway tracks is a time-consuming, labor-intensive and expensive job. Even if the labor force is sufficient, it will probably take many years to build a circle of railways in Qiongzhou Island." .”

Wang Lin was a little disappointed after hearing this answer: "If so, will I still be able to see it in my lifetime?"

Ning Qi said: "You are only 19 years old, and you are still alive. Not only will you have the opportunity to see the railway around the island, but you will also have the opportunity to witness other miracles in Haihan with your own eyes. Well, maybe when you grow old, there will be some in Fujian. There are already rail tracks in a lot of places.”

"If there is such a day, then the villain must be the first batch of passengers." Wang Lin immediately became excited again, obviously interested in steam locomotives.

Ning Qi asked curiously: "You just said that you studied business and finance in Shengli Port. Since you are so interested in locomotives, why didn't you take courses in mechanics?"

Wang Lin shook his head helplessly and said: "This is the arrangement of the adults. No matter what status a villain has, he has no right to choose courses by himself."

"If you are really interested in this area of ​​knowledge, then I can recommend you to study in Sanya." Hearing what he said, Ning Qi became motivated to be a teacher.As long as there are young people who are interested in Haihan culture and knowledge, Ning Qi has the desire to draw them into his own circle.As long as these young people have the opportunity to receive a few years of "orthodox" Haihan education, their values ​​and worldview will undergo significant changes, and there is a very high possibility that they will become supporters of the Haihan system—this has already happened in recent years. The young naturalized people who have been continuously trained in Sanya over the past few years have been well reflected.

These young people from the middle and lower classes of society will not follow the old ways. They have not personally experienced how powerful the emperor's grace is and how wise the court is, but they really enjoy the personal benefits brought by the Haihan system and gain the benefits of being in this social system. Opportunities for continuous upward development.And Haihan's relatively more sound social security can also reduce their worries, and they can make some attempts in Haihan's ruling area that may have seemed deviant in the past.

Things like steam locomotives were regarded as monsters by many people when they first appeared in Sanya, but there are also many young people like Wang Lin who quickly accept new things, and wonder whether its operating principle is a monster or a monster. The "Science Avenue" as Haihan people call it.And once the door of this knowledge is opened, the basic theories of rule such as the "Mandate of Heaven" proclaimed by the feudal dynasty will be completely disintegrated, and the authority of the Ming Dynasty will also be rapidly reduced in the minds of these people.

(End of this chapter)