Chapter 411 The Situation in Fujian
From the beginning of Chuanchuan Group's establishment of foreign commercial relations, arms trade has become an extremely important part of export trade. Compared with other exported industrial products, exported products in this field not only have extremely high gross profit margins, but the benefits they can produce are not limited to the economy. The political and military impacts brought by arms exports Strength is also a trait valued by the Executive Committee.
For example, the Li family, which was the first to obtain the arms monopoly, established its own powerful private armed forces with the assistance of Haihan. Although the scale of this armed force is small and its combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the genuine Haihan Militia, its strength has exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty's official local garrison. Compared with other wealthy businessmen in Guangdong, the Li family is probably the first local force that can truly meet the standard of "local bully".
Of course, they are powerful, but the dependence of local private armed forces like the Li Jia Militia on Haihan is also very obvious. Not only do all their personnel rely on Haihan instructors for military skills training, but more importantly, the weapons and ammunition they use are only Can be supplied from Haihan. Once they lose the support of Haihan, the combat effectiveness of the Li family's militia will plummet after they are cut off from supplies. As a result, Haihan's party has many demands on the political attitude of the Li family, including "Nothing should be done with Haihan under any circumstances." "Hostile Measures".
Although many actions of the Haihan people seemed to be wary and hostile to the government, the Li family was still more willing to trust the Haihan people who had fought side by side with them than the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers who did not save Lijiazhuang when they were besieged by rogue bandits. Han people. By hanging out with the Haihan people, you can make a lot of money and get protection from the militia army. Anyway, the Haihan people are not directly rebelling. The Li family is happy to pretend to be ignorant and just treat Haihan's various activities near Guangzhou as a matter of course. Out of sight.
In recent years, Guangdong and Guangxi have been hit by natural disasters one after another. Bandits are rampant in the province, and the government is unable to change this vicious cycle. People often have to rely on associations to protect themselves. With the establishment of "Qiong Lianfa" and the success of the Lijiazhuang Defense War, a large number of wealthy businessmen who cooperated with Haihan also began to follow the Li family's approach and form private armed forces in their hometowns. There is no doubt about the financial resources of merchants who are qualified to join the "Qiong Lianfa" shareholders' meeting. Spending tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy Haihan weapons, hire Haihan instructors, and form a reliable private armed force is a huge deal for these wealthy businessmen. A good value for money deal. Haihan sold more than 4,000 rifles and more than 40 small-caliber artillery pieces through this channel last year. If they were gathered together, this firepower would be enough to fight the defenders of Guangzhou Prefecture.
These wealthy businessmen often have inextricably linked interests with the government. Some of them even come from a family of government and businessmen. Therefore, local governments often turn a blind eye to the private armed forces they organize. As long as they don't take the initiative to cause trouble, the government officials will not look for trouble to restrain these powerful forces with money and guns. In this situation of tacit agreement reached by many parties, Haihan quietly created an army of thousands of people in Guangdong and Guangxi.
The Executive Committee and the Military Commission did not place too high hopes on the combat effectiveness of this auxiliary army. After all, most of these people are not professional soldiers. The functions planned when they were formed were mainly defense, but as civilian armed forces they It is enough to provide support for Haihan’s various non-public or semi-public actions in the mainland. When Haihan assisted in the formation of these local militia groups, he reached an agreement with each boss. As long as there is a document issued by the Armed Forces Division of the Guangdong Office, the militia groups can be assigned to complete some low-intensity tasks in the local area, such as escorting goods, protecting dignitaries, Monitor specific targets and more.
If militia groups have to be dispatched every time for such tasks, firstly, the cost of operations will be too high; secondly, the number of armed personnel of the militia in the mainland is limited, and they often cannot perform multiple tasks at the same time; thirdly, the people of the militia are far less aware of the local situation. The locals are familiar with it and the efficiency of the action will be limited accordingly. Therefore, such lower-level tasks are often entrusted to private armed forces affiliated with cooperative merchants to perform, which to a large extent makes up for Haihan's lack of armed forces in the mainland.
As for whether Haihan can gradually annex these civilian armed forces under his own banner after he establishes his political power in the future, this requires slowly paving the way from now on. The Executive Committee believes that with the means at its disposal, even if it cannot completely bring these civilian armed forces to its own use by then, it can at least prevent most of them from taking a hostile attitude towards Haihan, and this can greatly reduce the The pressure came when the young general Haihan regime conquered the mainland.
The situation in Fujian is different from that of Guangdong and Guangxi. The main purpose of the Haihan people in assisting the Xu Xinsu Group is not to establish local armed forces for their own use in advance, but to use Xu Xinsu's power to hold back the most powerful people on the southeast coast. The speed of the development of the powerful "Eighteen Zhi" will prevent it from monopolizing the entire maritime trade lanes along the coast of Fujian, Guangdong and even Jiangsu and Zhejiang before Haihan's own maritime power takes shape.
This kind of cooperation is more out of strategic considerations that are beneficial to Haihan's own development. The executive committee does not want to step on the "Eighteen Zhi" while supporting another behemoth beyond its control. Different from the local armed forces in Guangdong and Guangxi, Xu Xinsu's troops are genuine Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers. Although most of them are pirates, and even Xu Xinsu's official hat was exchanged for money, but the official Identity still gives this force more power, which means more uncontrollable possibilities for Haihan.
The Executive Committee is not a believer in men and women, and naturally it does not believe that an old fox like Xu Xinsu, who has money and soldiers, will sincerely cooperate with them. Therefore, it has always been cautious in providing military assistance to Fujian. In terms of the scale and grade of arms exports, There are also reservations.
Take the Type 28 flintlock as an example. Although it has been gradually replaced by the latest Type 29 breech-loaded flintlock in the militia army, the rifles exported to Fujian are still based on the Type 27 matchlock gun. Mainly, the Type 28 flintlock rifles are only sold at a ratio of thirty to one. That is, for every thirty Type 27s purchased by Fujian, only one Type 28 can be ordered, and the price is lower than the Type 27. The matchlock gun was three times taller. As for the newer rifles, they are not on the external quotation list of "Haihan Military Industry" at all.
The export restrictions on artillery are even more obvious. So far, the most powerful artillery that Fujian can purchase from Haihan is the 12-pound army gun, and it is also a monkey version with castrated performance. As for the large-caliber coastal defense gun that Xu Xinsu has always wanted to buy, it has long been included in the list of prohibited sales by the Executive Committee - if this thing is to be erected on the city wall of Zhongzuo Suo or the coast of Weitou Bay in the future, The difficulty for the Haihan warship to capture the local area would have to rise several levels because of this.
Even the coastal defense guns have been listed as prohibited items. Warships with higher technical content and greater threats will naturally not be sold in batches to the Ming Dynasty military who may become opponents in the future. Xu Xinsu can offer a sky-high price. Haihan will definitely not sell a large number of current warships to Haihan before the next generation of warships are installed. There may be room for negotiation for one or two ships. After all, the combat effectiveness that a captain can form is also very limited, but there is basically no need to talk about eight or ten ships. Among the current fleet establishment of the Haihan Navy, each fleet only has two large, six small and eight warships, plus a few Just a supply ship.
Schneider considered the issue from the perspective of a businessman, and naturally felt sorry for letting go of this business with a gross profit of hundreds of thousands of silver. But from Yan Chujie's point of view, security issues are far more important than the proceeds from this arms deal. Not only that, he also proposed further ideas to Schneider.
"Judging from the news we have received this year, the war in Fujian is not going well for the 'Eighteen Zhi's', and their strength has been reduced compared to the first two years. If we continue to open arms supply to Xu Xinsu, we may have It’s a one-sided situation that I don’t want to see for the time being.” Yan Chujie frowned and analyzed: “If Zheng Zhilong falls too quickly, then Xu Xinsu’s family will be the only one, which may not be a good thing for us to go north in the future, so I plan to make suggestions to the executive committee. Reduce and limit the scale of arms exports to Fujian ”
"Our biggest trade partner in Fujian now is Xu Xinsu, and our biggest trade item is arms. If we move on this project, our economic benefits from Fujian will be significantly reduced!" Schneider shook his head and said, "What do others think of me? I know, but I will definitely vote against it.”
"We can be a little more flexible in terms of policy. For example, we don't need to limit the export quantity of weapons, but we can limit the sales of ammunition." Yan Chujie probably expected that there would be objections, so he proposed a relatively compromise plan: "Without us Even if they buy more original ammunition, the power they can exert is limited.”
Ruan Jinggui was quietly listening to the conversation between the two. Although his face was calm, there were already waves in his heart. He originally thought that the only power Hai Han supported through the arms trade was the North Vietnamese court, but after listening to this conversation, he realized that Hai Han's business situation was far greater than he expected. The Haihan people supported numerous civilian armed forces in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, formed several militia groups, and were also conducting arms transactions with the Ming Dynasty's official army. Listening to the tone of the conversation between the two, it seemed that the local Ming army in Fujian might have been defeated by the local pirate armed forces had it not been supported by Haihan's military assistance.
When Ruan Jinggui was sighing in his heart, Schneider suddenly turned around and asked him: "Mr. Ruan, what do you think of the issues we discussed?"
Ruan Jinggui responded quickly: "I am humble in my position and have little knowledge, so I dare not speak nonsense."
"It doesn't matter, just say whatever you want. I don't treat you as an outsider by letting you listen here. Don't put any psychological burden on me. Just tell me your opinion." Schneider advised with a harmless smile.
Schneider didn't know if he said this intentionally or unintentionally, but Ruan Jinggui was moved by the words "I don't treat you as an outsider." After all, he is a new immigrant who has not yet obtained naturalized citizenship. In terms of status, he is not even a second-class citizen in Sanya. Not really, but to be lucky enough to attend a private meeting between two members of the Haihan Executive Committee is quite an honor.
Of course, Ruan Jinggui didn't know that Schneider dared to take him with him to attend meetings with other executive committee members with confidence. He didn't really trust him as a person. In fact, this was also part of the employment review. If Ruan Jinggui is not strict with his words and dares to spread this information to the outside world, it will naturally be fed back to the relevant departments through some secret channels. At that time, it is very likely that he will be sent to a hard labor camp before being promoted to a regular job. If he can understand the importance of confidentiality without being reminded by his superiors, there is hope that he can be reused in the new environment. Seeing that Yan Chujie had no intention of objecting, Ruan Jinggui said after careful consideration: "Then I'll be bold enough to say a few words. I hope the two chiefs won't be surprised. Although I don't know the situation in Fujian, I heard the two chiefs talking about it just now, and it seems that I have nothing to do with Annan." The situation earlier was somewhat similar, except that the two sides were replaced by the Ming Dynasty official army and a certain powerful pirate group. I wonder if this is the case? "
"The metaphor is not particularly appropriate, but if you want to understand it this way, it will not be much different. Go on." Yan Chujie nodded and encouraged Ruan Jinggui.
Ruan Jinggui relaxed a little and continued: "Mr. Shi wants to sell arms to the Ming Dynasty military in exchange for benefits, but Mr. Yan is worried that it will make it difficult to control the pirates in the future. In my opinion, why not support the pirates instead?" Power? They are not as reliable as the Ming Dynasty’s military, so they should be easier to control.”
"You don't know this. The leader of this pirate is famous for being two-faced. He can fall out of favor faster than flipping through a book. His personal credit is very poor. We cannot trust this person and it is impossible to cooperate with him." Yan Chujie shook his head in denial. He received Ruan Jinggui’s suggestion: “In comparison, the reliability of the Ming Dynasty’s military is still a little higher.”
Ruan Jinggui was not discouraged after being rejected. He thought about it and asked again: "The two of you mentioned earlier that the pirate's home base is in Taiwan. I wonder where the bay is?"
"Taiwan is not a bay. Taiwan is what the Ming Dynasty called Da Yuan Island." Yan Chujie explained to him patiently.
"So that's it. I also know that Dayuan is a place across the sea from Fujian. Then why not join forces with the Ming Dynasty military to directly destroy this pirate, and then let us occupy its home base? Since this pirate can attack the coast of Fujian from time to time, it must be The distance at sea is not far, and after occupying the area, we will surely be able to check and balance the Ming army in Fujian from close range." Ruan Jinggui racked his brains and came up with another plan. He didn't know the specific situation along the coast of Fujian, so he thought that this step was already his best effort.
Schneider nodded in approval and said: "I heard that you have never been to Fujian. You can get so much information from our conversation and come up with ways to deal with it. You are considered a thoughtful person!"
Ruan Jinggui was secretly proud of receiving Schneider's praise, and he quickly said humbly: "Being humble and humble, I made Mr. Shi laugh."
"You said this method is a good one. In fact, we have always wanted to do this..." Yan Chujie took over and said: "But the problem is that we are not strong enough and cannot cross the sea to fight the pirates over there. Even if Winning one or two battles doesn’t mean much.”
"The Haihan army crossed the sea and invaded Annan several times. Mr. Yan's words are too modest!" Ruan Jinggui hurriedly handed over a top hat without losing the opportunity.
Yan Chujie glanced at him and said, "Do you know how far Zhangzhou and Danyuan are from Sanya?"
Ruan Jinggui hurriedly responded: "I don't know my humble position, please give me some advice, Mr. Yan."
"You have traveled back and forth from Hue to Sanya several times, so you should be familiar with this stretch of road." Yan Chujie explained to him: "It's not too far from here to the fighting area in Fujian, it's probably just It’s nearly three round-trip flights from here to Hue!”
Ruan Jinggui almost choked on his own saliva. He was not familiar with the geographical conditions of the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty. He thought that the place these two were talking about was not too far away from Sanya. If he had known this, he really should not have met these two high-ranking Haihan officials. Talking nonsense in front of me.
After the fall of the South Vietnamese regime, Ruan Ching Gui gradually came to understand why the frequency of attacks by the Hai Han militia on South Vietnam remained at about half a year. The fundamental reason was that the preparations for cross-sea operations were too complicated and took a long time to prepare before launching. An offensive. The voyage from Sanya to the coast of South Vietnam is only about three days, but it is so troublesome. The Fujian battlefield is five or six times longer than the voyage from Sanya, and the journey will take about half a month. Naturally, the Haihan people are not willing to cross the sea so easily. Fighting at a distance.
The Haihan people always adopted a strategy of retreating after fighting in Annan. In such a far place, with Haihan's current strength and troops, even if they could defeat their opponents, it would be difficult to maintain long-term actual control there. The shrewd Haihan Executive Committee will certainly not be willing to implement this approach of high cost and low return.
However, what surprised Ruan Jinggui even more was yet to come. Just when he was regretting that he should not have said such nonsense, he heard Yan Chujie continue: "...Besides, if we really want to fight, we may not be able to defeat those pirates! ”
Ruan Jinggui responded quickly: "With the combat power of the Haihan Navy, what do the pirates have to fear?"
Schneider shook his head and said: "These people are not just 'pirates'. They beat the Ming garrison in Fujian like dogs in the past few years. If we hadn't sold a lot of weapons to them, the coast of Fujian would have belonged to them long ago." .”
"There are pirates who are so powerful?" Yan Chujie's statement sounded like a joke, but Ruan Jinggui was a little doubtful when he saw that Schneider said the same thing.
"It's not particularly powerful..." Yan Chujie responded: "They only have thousands of warships and 20,000 to 30,000 combat personnel under their command."
(End of chapter)