Chapter 598 Emperor Chapter 598 Full of Confidence
Haihan's technical reserves in shipbuilding and navigation are indeed far ahead of this era, but these black technologies are all theoretical advantages. To build the ship on the drawing from scratch and form a large-scale shipbuilding industry, It still takes a lot of time and practice to implement step by step. Up to now, Haihan has three or four shipyards, but the largest shipbuilding base is still the Shengli Port Shipyard in Sanya, where almost all military ships are built.
Shipbuilding, a technical type of work, is unlikely to rely on continuous input of labor to expand the scale of production like road construction and mining. The number of professional shipwrights that can be collected is limited. To expand the scale of production, it is necessary to spend time slowly training technical workers. This It is probably also the biggest obstacle on the development path of Haihan Shipbuilding Industry.
Of course, it was impossible for Shi Diwen to talk to Xu Yuzhuo about these deep-seated issues. He could only comfort him and said: "Since we have signed an agreement with you, we should be able to deliver the ship on time. You only need to wait another year and a half, and you will be able to deliver the ship on time." We can have a fleet that can truly fight at sea.”
Xu Yuzhuo smiled bitterly and said: "Students can wait, but the current situation in Fujian cannot wait! Once the maritime trade between Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to the northeast is stopped, the interests of many people will be greatly affected. My father is now the general soldier of Fujian , the pressure is also great.”
After the routes from the Fujian coast to Ryukyu and Japan were blocked by the Shibazhi, if the Fujian Ming army wanted to reopen the sea trade line, they had to either use military means to annihilate the Shibazhi, or they could only negotiate a truce with the other party. The former method is obviously unachievable at this stage, and the latter has become the only alternative. Shi Diwen could also feel from Xu Yuzhuo's few words that Xu Xinsu's attempt to negotiate a truce with Shibazhi did not seem to be just his personal wish.
War or peace, which option can bring more benefits? The positions of Fujian and Haihan are actually not consistent on this issue. Haihan naturally hopes that this war will continue for a long time until Haihan has the strength to control the Taiwan Strait. Fujian's considerations are more realistic, and economic interests are the primary consideration.
From an objective point of view, there is nothing wrong with the Fujian military's choice. Continuing to fight will not have any practical benefits for both warring parties. No one can destroy the other, and it will only increase casualties. On the contrary, a truce can also increase income, recuperate and accumulate strength, so as to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop when the next war begins.
However, this choice is unacceptable to Haihan. What Haihan needs is for the Fujian military to continue fighting with the Shibazhi and constantly bleed each other so that they cannot grow further in order to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan in a year or two. Strait reduces resistance. Of course, what is more important is that what Haihan needs is the unconditional cooperation of the Fujian military, not purposeful concealment of movements, or even private contact with Baizhi for truce and peace talks.
The Fujian side probably realized that their little moves had not successfully hid Haihan's surveillance, so after the mission arrived in Zhangzhou, neither Xu Xinsu nor Xu Yuzhuo deliberately denied the possibility of an armistice, but tried to Various methods were used to make the Haihan envoy understand that the Fujian side's choice to make an armistice and peace talks was due to helplessness and various pressures from the outside world, rather than a betrayal of Haihan.
Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "Now you have only seen the losses caused by fighting against Shiba Zhi, but have you ever thought about how much benefit you will get if you persist in fighting and wait for Shiba Zhi to be destroyed?"
"Mr. Shi, how long will it take to destroy Shibazhi? We spend hundreds of thousands of taels of money on combat every year, and suffer at least over a thousand casualties. We have been fighting for more than three years, and now we have only destroyed the battlefield. From the land back to the sea, to be honest, the students have not seen any victory so far, let alone annihilating the Eighteen Zhi." Xu Yuzhuo also shook his head and argued: "I don't mean that the Eighteen Zhi can be destroyed immediately. Even if the benefits of annihilating them are great, it will have no practical effect on the current situation in Fujian.”
Shi Diwen said categorically: "In two years at most, Shiba Zhi will be destroyed!"
Xu Yuzhuo saw that he was so confident in what he said, and couldn't help asking: "Could it be that the Haihan militia has the intention to take action?"
Shi Diwen did not answer this question directly: "We still have a lot to do in the South China Sea, and it will take one or two years to make adjustments. When the time comes, we will choose to go north and settle down."
"If Shibazhi is still there at that time, it will definitely become a stumbling block for you!" Xu Yuzhuo suddenly realized.
Shi Diwen's statement made Xu Yuzhuo realize that Haihan's current arrangements for the Fujian military to fight against Shibazhi actually had deep meaning. Although Haihan wanted to destroy Shibazhi, for some reasons he could not spare the time to send troops to Fujian to participate in the war. As for whether Shi Diwen was bragging, Xu Yuzhuo had no such doubts. After all, he also knew about Haihan's military strength. A year or two ago, he could send troops to fight in Annan and even attack fortified cities. With this With such an army capable of cross-sea operations, it shouldn't be too difficult to destroy the pirates entrenched on the island. What's more, the warships owned by the Haihan Militia are already regarded as giants on the sea in Xu Yuzhuo's opinion.
Seeing the thoughtful look on Xu Yuzhuo's face, Shi Diwen struck while the iron was hot and continued: "Once Shibazhi is destroyed, your Xu family will have the final say on the entire Fujian coast. We don't need to take advantage of you, as long as we take over Shibazhi Bazhi’s territory is enough.”
"Do you want Penghu and Dajuan Island?" Xu Yuzhuo immediately came out of his thoughts after hearing this.
Shi Diwen nodded and said: "These two places are of little significance to you, but we have experience in developing islands and can completely turn the place into another Sanya. By then, the trade volume between us will also increase. Turn it over several times.”
Shi Diwen kept silent about military occupation and only talked about future trade prospects, also to avoid irritating the other party's sensitivity. The Xu family is the local emperor in Fujian, and even if they have a partner like Haihan, they will definitely not want to allow them to station troops in Fujian waters. The establishment of a colony on the island of Taiwan across the sea would not be so exciting to the Xu family.
Xu Yuzhuo hesitated and said: "But there are still red-haired people on Dayuan Island..."
"We can take over all your trade with the red-haired people when the time comes." Shi Diwen immediately responded: "Believe me, you don't need business partners like them. Losing them will not do anything to you. Loss.”
"So you plan to exterminate the Shibazhi and also drive away the red-haired people?" Xu Yuzhuo immediately came to his senses.
"That's not necessarily the case. If they are honest and obedient, it's not like they can't coexist peacefully." Shi Diwen didn't say it to death, but he also knew that the Executive Committee probably couldn't tolerate the Netherlands in its eyes, and would probably use force when occupying Taiwan. Measures drove the Dutch away. "Students heard that the Dutch built a strong city in the south of Danyuan Island. It was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it also installed many artillery." Xu Yuzhuo did not fully believe Shi Diwen's statement. The red-haired people were not like Shiba Zhi. Bandits, their armament level is much higher, and they also have a large number of armed merchant ships, and they are quite powerful in combat on land and sea. Even if the Haihan militia takes action, it doesn't seem like an easy opponent to win.
"Relanzhe City, I know." Shi Di Bra replied confidently: "In front of the Haihan militia, there is no city that is not strong. The city we want to capture will definitely be captured."
As he spoke, Shi Diwen raised his finger and pointed at the "Prestige Signal" warship parked on the dock: "In your opinion, this ship should be considered a quite powerful warship, right?"
Xu Yuzhuo nodded without hesitation. Fujian could not build such a warship equipped with dozens of cannons. If he encountered such an opponent at sea, Xu Yuzhuo's first reaction would probably be to turn around and run away immediately, running faster and faster. good. Although the red-haired people on Dayuan Island also have many armed sailboats, they really pale in comparison to this kind of gunboats.
Shi Diwen continued: "In another two years, about five or six warships of this level will be put into service, and larger warships are likely to have already been built on the slipway. With the red-haired people in How can the military configuration on Da Yuan Island compete with us? By the time their reinforcements came all the way from Batavia, the land in Relanja City had been plowed over and over by our shells several times! ”
Shi Diwen said this with confidence, and Xu Yuzhuo was frightened when he heard it. He also knew that the Haihan people were extremely ambitious, but hearing a Haihan officer reveal his ambition in such an unabashed way in person still gave him a big shock.
Just less than ten years ago, the Fujian Ming Army and the Dutch had a head-on confrontation in Penghu. In the second year of Tianqi, the fleet of the Dutch East India Company occupied Penghu and blocked the Zhangzhou entrance to the sea. Nan Juyi, the governor of Fujian at that time, also recruited Zheng Zhilong to deal with the Dutch, but the effect was not satisfactory.
At the end of the third year of Tianqi, Nan Juyi directly imprisoned the Dutch delegation at the armistice peace talks banquet in Xiamen, and took the opportunity to burn the Dutch warships docked on Xiamen Island. In February of the fourth year of Tianqi, Nan Juyi personally went to Kinmen Island to supervise the battle. The Ming army dispatched more than 200 warships and over 10,000 soldiers to cross the sea and attack the Dutch stronghold in Penghu.
At that time, Yu Zigao, the commander-in-chief of Fujian Province, guarded Wang Mengxiong and led his troops to land on Baisha Island. However, due to the disadvantages of weapons and combat methods, they were unable to capture the Dutch stronghold. In July, Nan Juyi sent firepower troops to reinforce. Although some progress was made on the battlefield, it entered a stalemate again later on. In August, the Ming army once again divided into three groups and surrounded the Dutch stronghold.
The battle lasted until September. It took the Ming army seven months and a military expenditure of 170,000 taels before they finally captured Penghu. At that time, the Dutch guard Gao Wenlu was captured alive by the Ming army, and the remaining defeated generals fled to southern Taiwan. Gao Wenlu was later escorted to Beijing and beheaded in public. At that time, Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty also "offered sacrifices to the suburban temple, and the imperial gate was captured. Gao Wenlu was tortured to the same level as the Western Market, and was circulated to all sides to make it clear to the world."
The battle was won, but the Ming army fought for seven months with more than ten times the strength to drive the Dutch away from Penghu. The comparison of strength between the two sides can also be seen from this. Not only did the Ming army's self-confidence not improve due to this war, but it actually became more afraid of the Dutch. Of course Xu Yuzhuo had not participated in that war, but he was no stranger to the fighting process at that time. In his opinion, the combat power of the red-haired people and the Haihan people were relatively close, and the Haihan people might be slightly better in terms of weapon performance. gain the upper hand. But Shi Diwen's statement was that the Haihan militia wanted to crush the red-haired people, which indeed made Xu Yuzhuo a little unbelievable.
Shi Diwen saw the shocked expression on Xu Yuzhuo's face and roughly guessed what he was thinking. He smiled and said, "How much do you know about the red-haired man?"
"The students only know that they are from the far west, tens of thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty..." Xu Yuzhuo didn't know much about this, and he couldn't continue after two sentences.
"Let me tell you the details of these red-haired people!" Shi Diwen interrupted him with a smile: "I just happened to have been to their country before."
"Mr. Shi has actually been to such a distant place?" Xu Yuzhuo was shocked again by Shi Diwen's words.
Two hundred years ago, Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, set out from Fujian on his voyages to the West. However, Zheng He went to the farthest place, and it is said that he was still quite far away from the country of the Westerners. Xu Yuzhuo has lived for more than thirty years, but he has never heard of anyone who has ever visited the country of the Western Fans.
Shi Diwen nodded and said: "We call the red-haired people the Dutch. They are a special ethnic group formed by the mixture of many races on the western continent. It only took a few decades for the country to be established. Let me calculate... They founded the country probably around the eighth year of Wanli! And this country is not very big. If we compare it with Fujian, it is only about one-third the size of Fujian. Not to mention the population, which is different from that of the Ming Dynasty. Far away.”
"Listen to what Mr. Shi said, this Hongmao... no, this Netherlands is just a small country!" This was the first time Xu Yuzhuo heard these introductions, and he felt novel at the moment.
"Small is small, but this country is not weak." Shi Diwen continued: "In this world, the Netherlands can be regarded as the maritime hegemon. Their strength at sea far exceeds the current Ming Dynasty."
"How is this possible!" Xu Yuzhuo felt a little unbelievable.
"I'll give you an example and you'll understand. The Dutch in Batavia and Da Yuan Island are not considered their regular army, they are just private armed forces under a joint company organized by Dutch businessmen." Shi Diwen said: "This is like the armed escort team responsible for maritime escort under the name of 'Qiong Lianfa', except that the scale of their company is much larger than that of 'Qiong Lianfa'."
(End of chapter)