Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 271 The Merchants

In the late summer of 2105 in the Han calendar, Xuan Chong attended three high-class naval banquets with "famous courtesans" providing entertainment.

Amidst the music of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments, Xuan Chong politely declined the wine offered by the maids, his smile revealing a lipstick stain on his glass, which he found offensive. Furthermore, every evening before returning to camp, Xuan Chong would check his watch and leave at the appointed time.

Xuan Chong: The swaying dance moves of these women are indeed very beautiful; but it's not worth wasting your energy on them!
Moreover—Xuan Chong: I'm worried about getting sick.

Currently, with abundant Qi and blood, Xuan Chong possesses a youthful spirit. This youthful spirit is a kind of sharpness!
In some areas he was venturing into for the first time, Xuan Chong showed considerable interest; for example, mathematics, a field where he previously felt he lacked the aptitude, but now that he had entered the field, he wanted to measure everything.

For example, "art is an explosion." In the past, Xuan Chong would simply hear the sound of a projectile fired from a cannon barrel; now, because he can measure the diffusion rate and decay state of the explosive gases in the barrel, as well as the retention state of the projectile's kinetic energy, he can enthusiastically spend three days and three nights data-driven modeling around a single cannon.

This feeling is like when I first touched a video game console at the age of ten; or when I first encountered a trading card game at the age of fifteen. In order to collect the strongest set, I spent the whole night arranging and comparing them.

Xuan Chong is now obsessed with calculating the optimal combination of propellant detonation in stages, given the allowable chamber pressure in the gun barrel.

Xuan Chong was already aesthetically fatigued by the various black iron steampunk equipment: beauty in data is true beauty.

Xuan Chong's "youthful spirit" is limited to the new realm he has just entered in this life.

At the party, compared to those young officers who "hide handkerchiefs given by women in their pockets and wholeheartedly enjoy reaching into women's skirts to grasp their warm and fragrant bodies," Xuan Chong said, "Tch, childish."

Xuan Chong's meticulous calculation: The cost of happiness for adults is getting higher and higher compared to the cost of happiness for children!
Children might grit their teeth and share their candy with other children because of their simplicity and disregard for the material value behind the joy. But when adults spend a great deal of money to organize a gathering, carefully selecting "people from a certain circle" to have fun together, they are definitely plotting something. If you let your guard down and jump in to enjoy the fun, it means the organizer has achieved some kind of goal.

Therefore, upon arriving at this gathering filled with beautiful women, Xuan Chong, preoccupied with his own thoughts, was unable to enjoy the occasion. He couldn't help but analyze the situation from a social perspective: "Who exactly is this group hosting this dinner? What are they after?"

Xuan Chong: "I want to be the most agile shark at sea; I can predict and dodge even the trajectory of a '300mm caliber big gun' fired from the enemy. Let alone these sugar-coated bullets?"

…"box"…

Xuan Chong returned to the residence arranged for him by the navy, and with a whoosh, he jumped onto the roof using the drainpipe. Several kilometers away, he peered through a ruler at the private clubhouse in the marble building, and gradually learned the truth about the faces getting out of the cars.

The group that keeps hosting banquets are the officially designated sea merchants in the Southern Ocean.

Xuan Chong looked at the group of wealthy people dressed in "imitation cloth" silk, who were accompanied by ladies when they came and went, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, maintaining an unimaginable pomp and circumstance.

The social hierarchy is: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Merchants are at the bottom. The reason why big merchants can have such grandeur is because they have connections with scholars.

The maritime merchants had intricate connections with the South China Sea Navy, and the armed fleets under their shipping companies played a crucial role in enabling the Han Dynasty to control the entire eastern ocean.

The armed fleet organized by maritime merchants could even be called the second navy of the modern Han Dynasty.

Xuan Chong immediately began to peruse the history of the coastal areas of modern China, trying to understand the history of civilians going to sea in modern China over the past three hundred years.

You don't know until you investigate, and only after investigating did you realize what traditional sea power is! Xuan Chong had to correct his cognitive biases about the world caused by his preconceived notions from his previous life.

In his previous life, during the era he experienced, his own fleet reached the second largest size and was technologically superior within just twenty years.

Therefore, Xuan Chong's generation, who considered themselves industrial Cthulhu, took the concept of a "century-old navy" too lightly.

In fact, since the establishment of the Beiyang Fleet, the East has truly been a navy for a century; even though it is the second largest fleet in the world, the concept of the three major fleets of the North Sea, East Sea, and South Sea still comes from the concept of coastal defense during the Self-Strengthening Movement.

The core strategic ideas of the later "anti-warfare" system were also based on the extension of the Beiyang Navy's coastal defense strategy.

This regional naval strategy, which has been used for 150 years, was actually imposed on the Qing court by the British maritime powers.

Britain initially positioned Qing China as a regional naval power in the eastern part of the world island, key to counterbalancing Russia and the United States. However, Qing China's industrial capacity was insufficient to even maintain the size of a regional navy. This approach, however, was subsequently adopted and used for over a century.

Although times have changed long ago, dumplings are now plentiful and filling. However, the dumplings are still placed in the three bowls in front of you, not distributed to the rest of the ocean.

So much so that when these old-established naval powers' fleets sailed to other coastlines, it was like a Siberian tiger roaming the mountains, treating wild boars, which hunters feared, as mere livestock, wreaking havoc at will. Along the way, the fleets of these powerful nations could only find fast boats and a few gunboats from decades ago.

But once they reached the bathtub in the northwest of Luzon, these tigers of the old European powers' fleet were like tigers entering the "Cretaceous period," encountering a group of monsters with sharp teeth and claws.

A frigate departing from the English Channel and entering the South China Sea will likely encounter seven or eight other modern warships of the same class that will intercept it.

Why weren't the dumplings served in the other soup pots? Why don't they know how to share? Why don't they go to their old rival's house and serve him a bowl of steaming dumplings?

Having traveled to this place, Xuan Chong found the real reason. He couldn't help but sigh: "Because in the revival phase of the maritime power system, there was a seemingly insignificant key element that was weakened in the previous dynasty. That was the 'massive merchants and huge sums of money' that supported the expansion of maritime power."

…Everything in the modern Chinese language is a continuation…

Military! Civilians! These two are corresponding to each other. On land, it's farming and warfare; at sea, it's ships and fishing.

In confrontations between naval powers worldwide, "fishing rights" are of paramount importance. Warships of several thousand tons will stand up to each other over fishing boats. —"Why can't we give way a little? Let's not let a small boat ruin our harmony," sigh, that's how people with queues and thumb rings think.

The value of fishermen lies not in their small boats, but in the fact that they are a group of people who are extremely familiar with the ocean currents and sea conditions in the area. Fishermen are living "boundary markers" at sea; protecting fishermen is protecting the sea.

Once the political, military, and business communities in coastal areas reach a consensus on this matter, congratulations, you have achieved the first stage of becoming a maritime power.

And in the second stage, after fishermen have successfully accumulated some capital through fishing, they will engage in maritime trade.

However, without law and order at sea, a dark forest forms, where ships prey on each other. Every ship at sea will be mutually exclusive.

Meanwhile, to ensure their survival, maritime merchants actively familiarized themselves with the local customs and environment around various ports in the sea area. From this point on, they were no longer just assisting the fleet in familiarizing themselves with the waterways like fishermen, but were also able to help the fleet intervene in the affairs of the shipping lanes.

The existence of maritime merchants is to provide methods and pathways for the navy to effectively intervene in areas where it is needed—that is, to enable the navy to exert 200% of its effectiveness.

Why do the British and French navies, which are like "playing house," call themselves global navies? Just because they have a few small boats?

In fact, when regional unrest occurs, their escort ships are indeed able to quickly establish order. With their cannons deployed, they provide a safe haven for the military proxies supported by their maritime merchants in the region.

Other forces in the region, even those with tanks and artillery, dared not make a move against the pickup truck agents hiding in the shelter.

The economic and political influence of a single frigate from established powers like Britain and France in the region is greater than that of a warship from a less developed maritime power.

This is what these second-rate powers, even if they were starving, would insist on putting on a brave face: demonstrating their presence in the region.

That is, after the fleet arrives at port, it will give the regional commercial forces "freedom"—yes, even the freedom to break the law and violate regulations, they can all be backed up.

Of course, this was basically a joke in the waters covered by the dragon's claws. Even the Vietnamese, Khmer, and Siam knew that even if they arrested British merchants in front of the British fleet, the British naval guns wouldn't dare fire as they had a century ago. This was because the Great Red Dragon's fleet was eagerly awaiting an opportunity to uphold justice in the region.

…waves erode the land…

The system of maritime hegemony is not backed by fishermen, but by maritime merchants!

As powerful nations build their fleets, maritime merchants infiltrate all levels of the coast. Whenever their interests in a region within the naval sphere of influence are affected, they "call for the fleet."

When did it become commonplace for interest groups at sea to call upon their fleets? And when did they simultaneously mobilize influence domestically to fund the navy and establish cultural influence? This marks the second stage of sea power.

In the south of present-day Han, just like the United States is keen on making "Battleship," puppet shows and exquisite paper warship models are used to depict how the Han navy sails the four seas and shakes the surrounding barbarians with its cannons.

Xuan Chong: Looking back at the past, even making a movie like "Wolf Warrior" was ridiculed, which shows that the second stage of sea power development was not achieved.

The lack of a "civilian" force has made the fleet of Industrial Cthulhu the biggest obstacle to naval power worldwide. Xuan Chong couldn't help but complain: In his previous life, the East had a long history and the potential to develop super-sea power; but in the information age, the civilian foundation of the sea frontier is still fishermen at the forefront, and no large capital group has taken the lead.

Clearly, sea power has been emasculated. Who emasculated it? This inevitably brings to mind the century of humiliation, which can be attributed to a joint effort by other traditional European and American powers.

When Xuan Chong was a child, he was very curious: why did the Americans do that? The Chinese businessmen there were so kind. What did they do to deserve this by honestly paying their taxes?

Upon arriving in modern Han, Xuan Chong determined that the reason Chinese merchants were kind and honest was because, in the eyes of the white people, the dominant Eastern Empire had temporarily forgotten about its navy. Once they remembered, these Chinese merchants were potential "great magicians" who could summon naval cannons when they were "running rampant."

Thus, the Southeast Asian merchants with traditional maritime capital fell on the eve of the "reconstruction of the Chinese fleet".

By the time Xuan Chong was born, the Nanyang business tycoons no longer possessed the enormous power to influence the central government that they had during the Republic of China era—the flight squadrons of the Republic of China's fleet were all funded by Nanyang businessmen.

Like a mass extinction in an ecosystem, the upper levels of the food chain were wiped out. The remaining miniaturized species reverted to their initial state of "eating insects, fruits, and leaves." Overseas expansion is still largely a replication of Yiwu's small commodities; Eastern merchants overseas are still simply carrying account books, without any weapons.

The modern Han dynasty is different. It's like the main historical timeline, where super-marine merchants such as "Wang Zhi" and "Zheng Zhilong" have survived into modern times; they have been active from the era of sailing warships to the present day. These large carnivorous species occupy their respective "ecological niches."

Although they withdrew from the main naval fleet's decisive battle, they did not lose their maritime business!

Since the rise of Henghan, Hangzhou and Guangzhou have become true world-class trade centers. The coastal industries have already begun to achieve economies of scale.

These maritime merchants are the most concerned social group about "sea power" in the entire Han Dynasty. Currently, they are constantly donating money and infiltrating naval officers.

"It takes a century of industrialization for a country to build a strong navy. But to build a system that can effectively take advantage of the ocean, it takes hundreds of years of private development."

Xuan Chong used a worn-out pen to jot down notes on small pages, which would then be posted in the captain's cabin on his ship.

In his student life before time travel, he used to stick such notes on his phone to prepare for exams and to avoid forgetting things. Now, Xuan Chong is writing in his personal notepad: "The attitude of the maritime merchants reflects the will of the people in the southeast who rely on the sea."

…Observe the “wind direction” and take advantage of it, but don’t be “swept along”…

The maritime merchants have a very close relationship with the current Han Dynasty's naval strategy. They will share the best of their profits with the naval officers.

However, they are a large commercial conglomerate, and their style of doing things is not as simple and honest as that of fishermen in my previous life. Any naval commander who does not align with their line of action will face their underhanded sabotage.

These maritime merchants all started as fishermen hundreds of years ago, and their business logic is "to reduce risk".

The ultimate existence of "Zheng Zhilong" at the end of the Ming Dynasty was an "international company" that could withstand all risks; at the same time, Western overseas companies inherited the practice of hiring retired soldiers as security guards when dealing with business in small countries during the Age of Exploration, and possessed the power of the underworld that prevented most political families in small countries from completely breaking ties.

Don't be fooled by the current abundance of parties and lavish lifestyles! But once they've taken what they want and slept with, if their interests clash with yours at a crucial moment, the reins on their heads will tighten.

So a month later, Xuan Chong looked at the young officers who had been taken in by the pleasure quarters, and as they walked out with their trousers pulled up, he seemed to see reins around their necks.

In Xuan Chong's eyes, these colleagues had become like stupid college students who "don't know what they're thinking all day long."

Regardless of the era, level of education, or social class, once a man is preoccupied with matters of the lower body, his body focuses on secreting fluids from below, and his brain stops functioning. He begins to follow the patterns and routines set by others.

Xuan Chong's little head was clearly not caught.

…What are the underlying interests?…

Xuan Chong: Can the current Han navy maintain its technological advantage? At present, the current Han navy has the advantage in related industrial chains and regional economies due to its powerful ships and cannons.

The modern Han Dynasty, after the Industrial Revolution, did not face a maritime defense crisis. Even the ships and cannons that the Western barbarians were most skilled at could not compare to the technological accumulation of the Han homeland.

Today, the shipbuilding industry in the entire Guangzhou-Zhuhai area is no less than that of any country in Europe.
In the era of sailing warships, the lack of high-quality oak wood meant that China was at a slight disadvantage in naval battles.

But in the era of ironclad warships, various ships, like local cockroaches, dared to compete for the top spot in terms of tonnage and size.

The Zhuhai-Guangdong region of Fujian Province currently holds a commanding lead over neighboring island nations in the steel smelting and shipbuilding industries.

The entire Southeast Asia region was the backyard of Fujianese merchants, similar to how Europe regarded Africa as a resource refresh point, and how North America regarded South America as a reserve in its previous life.

Xuan Chong: However, the current Han navy is actually at risk of "sudden decline" because the current confrontation is to deal with the major enemy in the Eastern Shu region; once the major enemy leaves, will the maritime merchants still be motivated to maintain the fleet? Will they still be keen to invest in the shipbuilding industry in Han territory?
…financial liquidity can ultimately lead to betrayal…

Unlike Western maritime plunder and the establishment of slave trading posts, Chinese merchants adopted a cunning approach in their colonies, having multiple burrows.

After investigating the expansion of the Chinese-speaking world in Southeast Asia, Xuan Chong discovered a startling fact: the Min culture had become a cultural sphere no less than that of the Central Plains, and the entire Nanhai region had become a super civilization sphere no less than that of the Mediterranean.

A "Roman" ring has already formed in Southeast Asia. If the Lingnan and northern regions are now separated, this area is no less large than the Huaihe River Economic Zone.

After the establishment of the modern Han dynasty, the central government strengthened its authority over all land areas. As a group that controlled a large amount of wealth, maritime merchants both curried favor with the government and expanded in Southeast Asia; according to the rules of Go, they had to make two "living eyes".

The maritime merchants and the current Han court are aligned on the strategic goal of "Eastern Shu," but they have conflicts on other issues.

Xuan Chong perused the history books and discovered that some people in the court had foreseen this.

For two centuries, every maritime merchant has established their own "goods" selling points in some villages in Southeast Asia, while also sending members of their clan to settle in these villages. These Southeast Asian villages, in turn, have adopted the banner of maritime merchants. And the contact persons who remain in the local villages have gradually become village elders because they marry local people.

Such overseas village establishments were beyond the control of the imperial court, which was actually concerned about them.

Three hundred years ago, in the early days of the Age of Exploration in Southeast Asia, maritime merchants didn't dare to plunder their own neighbors, but they could easily plunder the neighbors of others. Occasionally, some villages would be robbed, which was intolerable.

In 1744 of the Chinese calendar, the great war in the South Seas began; unlike the late Ming Dynasty in the Xuan Chong main world timeline, this war did not produce a monster like "Zheng Zhilong" who unified the southern seas.

At that time, the Han Dynasty was in a period of strength, and there was a Governor-General of Lingnan who could speak with authority in the central government. At the most critical moment of the war between the merchants in the South China Sea, this Governor-General stopped the merchants from attacking each other!

From a later perspective, this Governor-General of Lingnan was not acting to "avoid bloodshed," but rather because once the merchants of Southeast Asia united and a super monster emerged, the imperial court would become too powerful to control.

Furthermore, the imperial court was then managing the Western Regions and lacked funds, so it needed to collect taxes from the southern maritime merchants. Therefore, the governor's policy was adopted.

The maritime merchants, among themselves, did not want the conflict to spill over onto land and affect their own women and children. When the imperial court was willing to intervene, they all agreed on a code of conduct: fighting at sea was permissible, but once on land, it was forbidden to harm one's family. Otherwise, it would be considered unethical.

After shaking hands and making peace at a meeting chaired by the governor, the various maritime merchants determined their rendezvous points on land.

In order to seize territory, they assigned the old men who had fought alongside them at sea to various colonies as "village chiefs".

This land grabbing was carried out under the supervision of the imperial court. Behind almost every long-standing village along the coast of Southeast Asia, there were people involved. From then on, according to the spheres of influence that the imperial court divided in the South China Sea, eight maritime merchant factions emerged.

Why are they called "maritime merchants" instead of "pirates"?

Merchants: Tsk tsk, kid, you're so ignorant! The victor is king, the loser is villain. Uncle's ship has capsized. You call me a pirate, I won't complain, but now I have to pay taxes to the court and supply the various naval bases. And you still call me a thief! You want a beating?

The governor's surname was Zhou, and Zhou Xu, the current fleet commander of Xuan Chong's fleet, was a descendant of this governor.

In the naval dormitory, after a month of investigation, Xuan Chong closed his notebook: The logic is complete. I know "why I was invited to join the association", "who wants me to join the association", and "what they want me to participate in".

However, Xuan Chong stepped out of the box and drew on the map: "After the fall of Eastern Shu, there's a chance the shipbuilding industry will shift. I need to carefully consider whether our family can absorb this 'outdated industry.'"

(End of this chapter)