Chapter 665 Hostility
After talking with Van der Wegen, the anger in Cohen's heart due to the news of the defeat of the generals gradually subsided. Judging from the information learned so far, this battle was not an armed conflict that broke out accidentally. The opponent had actually planned it and made full preparations. Although the Dutch sailing ship has never been afraid of naval battles, the sailors sent by Damuan Port This armed fleet indeed suffered a big loss due to lack of preparation during the battle.
Obviously, the opponents did not intend to kill their own side, so they let go of the fleet's flagship, giving Van der Wegen a chance to escape from the battlefield. It's just that their purpose of doing this was not fully understood by Cohen. He just vaguely felt that the opponent's purpose was not simple, and it was not just about promoting force. The terrifying strength shown by Haihan in the Battle of Fujian once again attracted Cohen's attention to this emerging force. He found that in the past few years, the East India Company had focused too much on maintaining Northeast Asia. trade system, while ignoring the quiet rise of potential competitors.
At a hearing the next day, the company's top brass heard van der Wegen's account of the Battle of Fujian, which once again sparked heated debate among the directors. The directors were once again divided into two factions: the warring faction and the peace faction, each holding their own opinions and arguing, but the focus of the dispute changed from the previous Natuna Island to the distant Fujian of the Ming Dynasty.
However, this time the voice of the main war faction was obviously much quieter than last time. After all, Fujian is too far away from Batavia. Anyone with a little military knowledge can imagine how amazing the manpower, material and financial resources required for the expedition are, not to mention The opponent is no longer the weak Fujian Ming Army seven years ago. Not only have they updated their equipment and personnel, but they also have Haihan, a powerful foreign aid that cannot be ignored.
According to the information presented by van der Wegen, the Fujian Ming Army, especially the Navy, has undergone large-scale equipment updates and personnel adjustments in the past three years. A large number of young officers who have received special training from Haihan have begun to appear in command positions. Many of them are inextricably related to the current Fujian Commander-in-Chief Xu Xinsu. To a certain extent, they can even replace this army. The fresh-blooded Ming army regarded Xu Xinsu's personal army. The common characteristic of these young officers, in addition to their personal loyalty to Xu Xinsu, is their admiration for Haihan's military system and equipment.
According to incomplete statistics, in the past three years, Haihan has sold more than a thousand rifles to the Fujian Ming Army every year, and the transaction content since last year has been upgraded from the original matchlock gun to a more advanced flintlock gun. . The Fujian Ming Army purchased more than fifty artillery pieces of various calibers every year. Zhongzuosuo City, Shibazhi's key target in the past few years, was almost entirely equipped with standard weapons provided by Haihan. , this also directly led to the fact that Shibazhi has hardly achieved a decent victory in the past three years, and the combat goal of capturing the Zhongzuo Institute has never been achieved.
In addition, Haihan has been providing new warships to the Fujian Navy since last year. Although not many have begun service, it is obvious that this momentum will not stop. After Xu Xinsu exchanged a large amount of silver for With the help of military assistance, the strength of the Fujian Ming Army will increase year by year, and may even further threaten the security of the Dutch colony in Damuan Port and the East India Company's routes in Northeast Asia.
"How can the Fujian government have so much money to equip the army? As far as I know, the Ming Empire's military expenditures all come from their Ministry of War, and this empire has been struggling with enemies in the north in recent years. They have even increased their military expenditures. The tax rate in the southern region was used to subsidize military expenditures in the northern battlefield. Under such circumstances, how could the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty approve these expenditures of the Fujian government? "The person who asked the question obviously had a relatively deep understanding of the Ming Dynasty, and this question also Just the right question.
Van der Wegen explained: "In fact, according to the information we have, only a very small part of these military expenditures were approved by the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, and most of them were privately funded by Xu Xinsu and the Fujian business group led by him. This is also An important reason why he placed a large number of cronies in the army. In addition, we also heard that Haihan’s banking institutions provided them with an unknown amount of loans specifically for the purchase of Haihan’s arms and equipment.”
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"Borrowing money from the Haihan people to buy their weapons? Didn't the money just go around and go back to their own pockets? These profiteers!" At that moment, some people expressed their contempt for this kind of behavior, completely forgetting that Europe at this time On the battlefield, there were also many Dutch businessmen who did the same thing when they were arms brokers.
Most of Van der Wegen's information came from the spies arranged by Shibazhi earlier in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and other places. Although the information that could be collected was not complete, it was considered to have a certain effect. Haihan Bank had indeed been providing low-interest loans specifically for arms procurement to the Fujian military, or Xu Xinsu privately, since 1629. This is also one of the methods used by Haihan Ordnance Industry to sell arms to the outside world. The same method is not only used in Fujian, but also in the arms trade with Annan.
In fact, Xu Xinsu's economic situation is much better than that of the Annan people. After taking charge of the military power of a province, the wealth he can create through the various business channels he controls overtly and covertly is also a quite astonishing amount. It is not easy to describe him as rich as the enemy. Too much. During the transaction with Haihan, it was more often the case that Xu Xinsu's party was restricted in the quantity and type of arms they could purchase, rather than the question of whether they could get the money. One of the reasons why Fujian is willing to use Haihan Bank's low-interest loans is that it can use the loans to purchase some originally restricted arms and equipment-for example, the Haihan warship that the Fujian Navy has always wanted, it is to sign the contract first Loan agreement and then sign purchase contract.
This is not just a matter of people from Haihan Bank and Haihan Military Industry just messing around. In fact, in addition to allowing the bank's idle funds to earn a certain amount of interest income, this transaction method also has a very important Its function is to promote the application of banking services in Fujian. After Fujian officials adopted the bank's loan services, Haihan's party had a better example to use as propaganda when promoting the bank settlement system to Fujian businessmen. As for the loan to the Fujian military headed by Xu Xinsu, Haihan Bank did not have to worry about the safe recovery of funds. After all, the cooperation between the two parties has been very in-depth, and the interest disputes have long been beyond the loan amount, and Xu Xinsu does not care at all. Pay interest to increase the price to buy the high-end equipment that Haihan restricted from selling - he cares more about whether it can be purchased, rather than the price at which it is purchased.
Of course, this kind of low-interest loan method is currently only provided to the Fujian government, and Haihan Bank's unique financial settlement method is promoted to the private sector. Similar methods have been operating in Guangdong for a longer time, and the mechanism has become mature. It can basically be directly applied to Fujian. Merchants traveling between Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan Island can use Haihan Bank's office system to realize money withdrawals and trade settlements in other places, eliminating the inconvenience and danger of traveling long distances with large amounts of cash. Some merchants with strong capital and good credit can also directly apply for temporary loans from Haihan Bank when their turnover is inconvenient. Of course, the interest rate of such loans is not as low as the special loans provided to the government.
As for the security of these funds, it has also been gradually improved during continuous operations. After several years of operation, "Golden Shield Transport", which was born in Guangzhou, has now opened branches in all cities in Guangdong, and has also opened offices in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian. The staff has also expanded rapidly from a hundred or so people when it was founded to a huge scale of more than a thousand people now. Of course, so many manpower is no longer just composed of the children of Lijiazhuang, two-thirds of them are people who have obtained naturalized citizenship, and the operational power of the entire organization is no longer decided by Li Nai alone—— Of course, he didn't care much about business or anything like that, so even if he knew about the Haihan people's movements, he would pretend not to see them.
In addition to the armed escort of valuables such as gold, silver and jewelry between various places, the "Golden Shield Escort" also has another important function as the armed security personnel of Haihan Bank. This protection not only refers to protecting the people and money in the bank, but also undertakes tasks under special circumstances - such as the need to use force to recover some more troublesome accounts. Due to their Hai-Han background, local officials often turn a blind eye to their actions. With such a useful and powerful player, Haihan Bank has encountered a lot less trouble when promoting its business in local areas.
Of course, in addition to this, this organization also has a relatively secret mission, which is to supplement the militia army as an established force to accept the unified command of the military during wartime. A considerable number of soldiers who retired from the Haihan Militia have entered this organization to work. After all, the treatment here is much higher than going home to farm or work in a factory. It is a good path for veterans. way out. This organization also implements militarized management in peacetime. The leaders of each team are almost all veterans with military experience in the militia. During wartime, they can complete the role change in a very short time and turn this civilian armed force into a part of the regular army. Although it cannot be used on the frontal battlefield, it is certainly sufficient for maintaining local order, managing logistics, and acting as a temporary police force.
The penetration effect of this financial system combined with commercial activities in Fujian is definitely not reflected by the intelligence collected by Shibazhi's spies. The merchants of the East India Company did not understand this kind of transaction between Haihan and the Fujian government. A large part of the reason was due to the historical enmity between the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty, which resulted in the East India Company having to rely on small-scale smuggling transactions so far. To maintain trade with the Ming Dynasty, if they have the opportunity, they can visit Zhangzhou City in person, see the local large-scale Haihan dedicated wharf, browse the rows of Haihan products in Zhangzhou City, and listen to what the locals think of Haihan's various products. If there is a way of penetration, they may realize that the Haihan people conduct trade in such a complicated way for more than just the extra interest income.
"Gentlemen, please be quiet and listen to what I have to say." Cohen reached out and tapped the table twice. The directors who were still arguing immediately fell silent. The power he has accumulated as the governor for many years has not been affected by his decline in physical condition. And how much is reduced.
Cohen was very satisfied with the effect. After everyone calmed down, he continued: "Gentlemen, we must first correct a misunderstanding. The current Fujian army is not the same army we fought seven years ago. Replacement It's not just their commanders, but also their weapons and fighting methods, which we have never encountered in the Far East before. I had a careful conversation with Mr. Van der Wegen yesterday about the Haihan people's naval warfare methods and methods. The experience deserves our vigilance. They are indeed a rising star, but they are not just newbies! They are not only good at making weapons and warships, but they are also very good at fighting... Judging from what is known so far, whether it is Whether at sea or on land, their troops had a very high level of combat. In the battle to defeat Mr. Van der Wegen, the Ming navy obviously obeyed the command of the Haihan people and acted as a decoy throughout the battle. , cannon fodder and handymen, this shows that the Fujian Ming Army highly respects the strength of the Haihan Militia and is willing to appear on the battlefield belonging to the Ming Dynasty as an auxiliary army. Gentlemen, this is a very scary thing! "
All attendees had fallen silent and listened quietly to Cohen's analysis. Whether in the military or political fields, Cohen's knowledge and depth of thought are undoubtedly much greater than those present here. His opinions almost represent the will of the East India Company, and his views on this matter will also directly affect to the company’s attitude on how to handle the situation in Fujian.
Cohen stopped and coughed a few times, and then continued: "Gentlemen, given the attitude of Ming Dynasty, Annan and the Portuguese towards Haihan, I think this will be a strong opponent that the East India Company will face since entering the Far East. Here I must first admit that I made a mistake in my decision-making. We all know that when they first arrived on Qiongzhou Island a few years ago, there were only a few hundred people. If we heard about the emergence of this force as soon as possible, we would have sent an armed fleet to Qiongzhou Island to deal with it. If they are eliminated, they will not be able to threaten our colony in a few years. And the current Haihan is no longer a weakling that can be dealt with by simply sending a fleet. And what we must pay attention to is that they are already. Showed obvious hostility towards us! ”
(End of chapter)