Chapter 596 Zhangzhou City
Regarding the reason why Xu Xinsu chose to negotiate peace with Shibazhi, the Executive Committee and the military had made various inferences before, including the possibility of "diversion of trouble to the east" as Ning Qi said.
For the Fujian side, this war that has lasted for several years can be regarded as an endless trouble. Although the war situation has the upper hand, it is still unable to completely solve the difficult opponent of Shibazhi in the short term. If the Fujian coast can be turned back into a non-belligerent zone through peace talks and a truce, then this should be considered an acceptable solution to the Fujian officials represented by Xu Xinsu. The maritime plundering of Shiba Zhi will also be withdrawn from the Fujian waters from now on. Either go north to engage in coastal activities in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or go south and enter Haihan's sphere of influence again - Xu Xinsu would probably prefer the latter decision. There is no choice but to go to the coast of Guangdong and continue to commit suicide until the big evil star Haihan is provoked.
Xu Xinsu did not comment on Ning Qi's doubts, but responded in an evasive manner: "If Shibazhi has the courage to break into Guangdong waters again, then the Haihan militia will definitely not sit idly by and ignore it. I think your militia was in the Pearl River back then. I have heard the descriptions of Liu Xiang’s fleet, and I just wish I could witness this battle at the scene. If you have an action against Shibazhi next time, I would like to watch the battle in person. "
Although Xu Xinsu had not personally watched the Haihan Militia fight, the two sides had conducted military cooperation for several years. He also sent several groups of officers to Sanya for training, and many of them had observed Lijiazhuang, Dangan Island, and Wanshan as trainees. There were several battles in Hong Kong, and there were even people who went to Annam to participate in the Battle of Hue. The Haihan Militia's invincible performance on the battlefield was basically fed back to Xu Xinsu through word of mouth. Naturally, these news channels were deliberately arranged by Haihan, with the purpose of intimidating the Fujian side. Xu Xinsu could easily judge from these descriptions that the strength of the Haihan militia far exceeded that of his own troops. How powerful it is, but there is still a lack of opportunity to intuitively understand it.
But it is a pity that the Haihan militia has basically no opponents in the South China Sea. Last year, a group of desperate pirates finally appeared to attack Qiongzhou Island and swept the entire Qiongbei within a month. However, after Haihan announced the dispatch of troops, there was no Once Xu Xinsu had decided whether to watch the battle, the battle quickly reversed. The Haihan militia took less time to defeat the pirates who could crush the Ming army and regain all the lost land on Qiongzhou Island.
Xu Xinsu didn't care about how big a battle Haihan had made on Qiongzhou Island and whether he had become the local emperor. Qiongzhou Island was too far away from Fujian and would not affect Fujian's interests and situation. But Xu Xinsu did think about using Haihan's help to kill Shibazhi, a thorn in his side. With the strength of the Haihan militia, Shibazhi is probably unlikely to have a chance to change the outcome of the battle.
However, Xu Xinsu also has certain worries about this. As the saying goes, it is easier to invite gods than to send them away. If the Haihan militia really enters the Fujian waters, they may not leave. This is not an unfounded worry by Xu Xinsu, but there are many precedents.
In the first year of Chongzhen, the Haihan militia fought in Lijiazhuang. After the battle, Lijiazhuang became the area controlled by Haihan. Now, Haihan has the final say in most of Panyu County. The next year, the Haihan people sent troops to Annam and helped the Annan court capture the city of Hue controlled by the southern rebels. Haihan took this opportunity to circle a string of ports from north to south on the Annam coastline, almost covering the entire Annam coastline. All under their own cover. After fighting pirates in Qiongbei last year, the Haihan militia took advantage of the situation and settled down in Qiongbei. Now it is hard to say whether those places belong to the Ming Dynasty or to the Haihan.
If the Haihan militia went to fight in Fujian and stayed after defeating Shibazhi, then Xu Xinsu really had nothing to do, and of course he did not want an uncontrolled force to appear in the territory he was in charge of - even more What's more, this force is still stronger than the Ming army he led.
A more feasible solution is to move this battlefield that does not exist yet from Fujian to Guangdong, allow the Shibazhi to enter the sphere of influence of Haihan, and use the hands of the Haihan people to get rid of them without affecting Fujian. The local situation can be regarded as killing multiple birds with one stone.
Of course, this is just a plan, and it is obvious that the smart Haihan people have already thought of this possibility. Xu Xinsu certainly cannot admit it and can only ignore it for the time being.
Ning Qi naturally saw the subtlety of Xu Xinsu's attitude, and smiled and said: "Master Xu wants to watch our army fight, that's not difficult, as long as you say a word, our army can march into Fujian within a month, cross the sea and annihilate Shiba Zhi is only a matter of time.”
This time he kicked the ball back to Xu Xinsu, which stumped him. Xu Xinsu could only respond with a forced smile: "I'm afraid that our army is not strong enough to cooperate with the Haihan Militia in fighting. Besides, these Shibazhi are just a group of pirates who are unlikely to succeed. Why do the Haihan Militia need to go on an expedition?"
"Sir Xu, it is true that Shibazhi cannot become a climate, but there is a prerequisite for this." Ningqi Surong said: "Then we will continue to provide you with military support and assistance."
Xu Xinsu was about to say something flattering, but Ning Qi continued: "But everything we provide has a premise, that is, your direction of action is consistent with ours. If one day, we feel that on this issue If there are differences of opinion, we will also reserve the right to terminate the cooperation.”
Ning Qi's words were relatively straightforward. Xu Xinsu's face became slightly stiff after hearing this: "I have never had any disagreements with you in the past few years of cooperation. Mr. Ning is overly worried."
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"I hope so." Ning Qi didn't want to push the other party too hard at the beginning of the negotiation, so he didn't go on and changed the subject: "This is my first visit to Zhangzhou, but I would like to trouble Mr. Xu to give it to me. Introduce the local situation ”
Xu Xinsu felt relieved and quickly began to explain the history of Zhangzhou. Since Ning Qi was going to visit Zhangzhou, he naturally did his homework first, but there must be some discrepancies between the things in the book and the situation introduced by the locals. In addition, he himself was a historical mystery, so he listened with great interest and did not feel that the several-hour flight was very difficult.
The voyage from the port in the southwest of Xiamen Island to Zhangzhou City is only more than 20 nautical miles. Although it is going upstream, the flow of water at the mouth of the Zhangjiang River is slow, so it only takes half a day.
Zhangzhou is also an ancient city with a long history in Fujian. It was established as a state as early as a thousand years ago in the Tang Dynasty. It got its name because it is close to the Zhangjiang River. Because it was developed early, it has become an important product export center and maritime trade port city in Fujian.
As early as the Song Dynasty, the Zhangzhou area was known as the "Sugar King of the Eight Prefectures" because of its developed sugar industry. White sugar, rock sugar, and angle sugar are all specialties here. The textile industry also started very early. When Chen Hongjin separatized Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty, more than 20,000 pieces of Gebu were produced every year. By the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhangrong, Zhangsha, Zhang silk, Tulu silk and other fabrics had been produced in large quantities. Sold overseas. In addition, Zhangzhou's shipbuilding, porcelain, tea, paper, etc. industries were also very prosperous industries at this time. In places where the economy is prosperous, cultural and educational undertakings generally do not lag too far behind. Zhangzhou is such a typical city. Songzhou Academy existed here during the Tang Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, establishing academies became a social trend here. During the reign of Emperor Guangzong of the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi, a great Neo-Confucian scholar, once served as the magistrate of Zhangzhou. According to historical records, Zhu Xi "would lead his subordinates to the state on the second day of every ten days to study and inspect the students and teach "Elementary School" for his justice; on the sixth day he would go to the county. Learning is the same." With the words and deeds of local officials like Zhu Xi, the local cultural and educational undertakings were very prosperous, and cultural celebrities emerged in large numbers. In the original time and space, Zhangzhou produced its first Jinshi, Zhou Kuangwu, in the 11th year of Yuanhe in the Tang Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, a total of 977 Jinshi were produced in Zhangzhou, including three number one scholars.
After the fleet docked at the dock outside Zhangzhou City, Xu Xinsu's men had already arranged a guard of honor to welcome them. The local officials of Zhangzhou Prefecture, large and small, have also arrived at the dock and are waiting. Ning Qi saw this on the deck and asked: "Wouldn't it be bad to do it in such a big way?"
Xu Xinsu responded: "There is nothing wrong. My distinguished guests are the distinguished guests of Zhangzhou Prefecture. When Mr. Ning comes here, just enjoy it!"
After the two got off the boat, they first met with the local officials waiting on the pier one by one. Ning Qi also felt that the situation here was a little different from other places. In other places, civilian officials were in charge and military attachés were in charge. But in Zhangzhou, Xu Xinsu was obviously the protagonist, and the local officials were obedient to him and obeyed him. It seemed that It does look a bit like a local emperor.
After meeting the local officials, Haihan's personnel stationed in Zhangzhou also came over to pay their respects. These people are all naturalized citizens who were naturalized earlier. They are mainly engaged in business and trade affairs here. They also collect some local information and send them back to the Sanya base camp regularly.
"I have ordered someone to prepare a reception banquet. Don't refuse." After the people who should be received were met, Xu Xinsu couldn't help but invite the people from the mission to take a car into the city. Ning Qi knew that he could not refuse such an occasion, so he was not too polite and got into the carriage according to Xu Xinsu's arrangement.
This carriage was no stranger to the people in the mission. Several of the carriages were Haihan-style carriages bought from Victory Port last year. This kind of Western-style carriage is light and flexible. The carriage is protected from wind and rain, and has high-end features such as glass windows and windproof lights. It is very suitable for wealthy people. Of course, only a maritime trade tycoon like Xu Xinsu could have the financial resources and energy to buy it from Sanya and transport it back to Fujian on a large ship for use.
Ning Qi, Morgan and Xu Xinsu rode in the same carriage. After Morgan got on the carriage, he couldn't help but sigh: "This carriage really makes me feel like I'm back in Sanya."
"Not only the carriage, but also the accommodation that I have arranged for you are all arranged in the shape of Haihan as much as possible." Xu Xinsu responded proudly.
To build a Haihan-style residence in the mainland requires a lot of money. All kinds of bathroom equipment, glass doors and windows, water supply and drainage facilities, and other messy things add up to a considerable price. Coupled with the long journey from Hainan Island to here, the freight is not a small amount. In Zhangzhou City, Xu Xinsu has several courtyards decorated according to the Haihan model, and her financial resources are indeed far better than those of ordinary rich people.
Of course, if he has the opportunity to go to Sanya and stay in a local VIP hotel in the future, he probably won't be so proud of the Haihan-style residence he spent a lot of money to build. After all, there are many good things that are difficult to make, and Haihan does not have them for the time being. For sale to the public.
While Ning Qi and Old Morgan arrived in Zhangzhou successfully, Xu Yuzhuo was taking Shi Diwen to visit various facilities on Xiamen Island at his request. For Xu Yuzhuo, he believed that there was indeed nothing to hide from Haihan instructors. After all, when a large number of Haihan artillery was bought back, it was the militia officers sent by Haihan who designed and arranged the various places in Zhongzuo Suo City. Forts and fortifications.
After looking around on the top of the city, Shi Diwen thought that the fortifications here were quite well laid out and there wasn't much room for improvement. However, because the weapons Haihan sells to Fujian are basically foreign trade versions with castrated performance, if the enemy these fortifications face is the Haihan militia, their role will be relatively limited. Regardless of range or shooting accuracy, it is difficult for the monkey artillery deployed on these forts to compete with the siege artillery currently equipped by the Haihan Militia.
Shi Diwen also went down to check the serial numbers on several cannons, confirming that these cannons were indeed produced by Haihan and sold to Fujian in 1628. Shi Diwen patted the cannon body lightly and asked: "How many times have these artillery fired on average?"
"Most of them have more than fifty rounds, and some of them have probably exceeded a hundred rounds." Xu Yuzhuo said while pointing in the direction of Linhai, which was also the place where Shiba Zhi launched his attack on Zhongzuo Suo City every time.
"It seems that your artillery rarely practices at ordinary times!" Shi Diwen couldn't help but shook his head. These artillery pieces have been equipped for three or four years, and most of them only fired about a hundred rounds, with an average of twenty or thirty rounds a year. This shows that the local war is not as intense as Haihan thought.
Xu Yuzhuo's face turned red and he said: "It's not that I'm reluctant to spend that little money. It's just that the ammunition inventory is limited and I don't dare to use it easily. We usually only let the artillerymen practice their movements, and indeed they rarely conduct live ammunition training."
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Shi Diwen suddenly nodded. In the final analysis, this matter is actually Haihan's responsibility. Although the Executive Committee has liberalized the foreign military sales of most weapons, it has always strictly controlled the sale of ammunition, especially Haihan's secret production. There is a quota for every purchase of gunpowder, and you can’t buy even one more kilogram if you want.
(End of chapter)