Chapter 2221
For overseas colonies like Zhoushan, the training of local civil and military officials cannot completely rely on Sanya. Most of the grassroots positions still have to be solved by themselves. The Zhoushan authorities have a mature mechanism for discovering and cultivating relevant talents. However, the population of the area under their control is limited. In the long run, they will still have to find suitable personnel from new immigrants from the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, how to attract qualified and capable people to develop in Zhoushan , has become the key to solving this problem, and Shi Diwen has also formulated many special policies for this.
According to Haihan's request, most of the young people selected by the Yangzhou Salt Merchants to receive military training in Zhoushan had good personal conditions, even better than the Zhoushan authorities' previous requirements for selecting talents from immigrants. Naturally, the military Naturally, these people were included in the special investigation targets, and the situation was reported to Shi Diwen.
Generally speaking, the Zhoushan authorities will use financial gains to attract poor immigrants who hope to find a stable livelihood in Haihan. However, using this method to treat these children of salt merchants from well-off families will obviously not be very good. Effect. Moreover, they came to Haihan with a very strong purpose, which was to learn the skills and go back to save their families. After completing their studies, they may not be willing to stay in Zhoushan.
Therefore, in response to the special situation of these students, Shi Diwen also gave corresponding plans. On the one hand, he used the students' thirst for knowledge to constantly show them Haihan's powerful military power, making them realize that only by continuing to stay in Haihan can they They have the opportunity to be exposed to more advanced military skills and weapons and equipment; on the other hand, through the words and deeds of active-duty officers, it is shown to them that being a militia instructor is not the only way out. They can become a military attache of the Haihan Kingdom like their predecessors, and they will do the same in the future. Be able to stand out and honor your ancestors.
For these children of salt merchants, in addition to inheriting the family business and continuing to sell salt, it is also a good life goal to break through the class by becoming an official, and it is easier to win the support of the family. But to get an official position in a mature bureaucracy like the Ming Dynasty, it is not enough to just rely on financial resources. Their life background and official connections are difficult to compare with the descendants of official families. Even if they donate money to get an official position , and will hit the invisible ceiling very early.
But Haihan Kingdom, which has only been founded a few years ago, is different. Opportunities to break through class are everywhere here. Most of the Haihan officials that these students can come into contact with in Zhoushan are Han immigrants who changed their nationality from the Ming Dynasty. Their transformation from ordinary people to officials has only occurred in recent years, and the longest period is only ten years. Only about a year.
And these successful people will continue to use themselves as examples to tell them about the great future they can get by playing for Haihan. After listening to these awareness indoctrination too many times, the children of salt merchants will naturally have some thoughts. Since they have better development opportunities by staying in Haihan, why do they have to return to Yangzhou in the future.
After a few years, I will have an official position in Haihan. Wouldn't it be better to return home in glory as a Haihan official?
As the chief instructor responsible for training this group of people, Duan Tiancheng, of course, led by example and used every opportunity to influence these salt merchants' children. Although he is not an officer specifically responsible for political work, after serving in the army for several years, he is also familiar with doing these things.
Taking advantage of this opportunity to meet today, Duan Tiancheng also happened to test Ma Zhengping's attitude. If Ma Zhengping objects to this, then he may need to adjust his strategy.
However, judging from Ma Zhengping's response, it is obvious that the other party does not reject the possibility of letting the children of salt merchants stay in Haihan for development in the future. This is undoubtedly good news for Haihan.
Ma Zhengping said: "Whether they want to go back to Ming Dynasty or stay in Haihan is up to them. I will never interfere. But before that, they still have to go back to Yangzhou and finish what they have to do. It’s time to decide whether to stay or not.”
Duan Tiancheng nodded and responded: "Of course. If the situation in Yangzhou does not calm down, it will be difficult for even those who want to stay in our country to develop."
What Ma Zhengping said is the real purpose of Huizhou salt merchants sending these children to Zhoushan for training. After their 100-day training is over, they will return to Yangzhou with the help of Haihan to form an armed militia to attack their old enemy Shanshan Salt. Businessmen launched an attack. Only after the threat of Shanshan salt merchants is completely eliminated, Hui salt merchants can calm down and let these children leave Yangzhou to develop.
With Ma Zhengping's statement, Duan Tiancheng could go back and report the progress to Shi Diwen, and start to slowly select the targets to focus on among the salt merchants' children who were being trained.
Although these children are all elites carefully selected from the younger generations of various salt merchants, their qualifications still vary. Especially after entering the military camp and starting training, some people with military talents gradually began to stand out.
Dai Yingda's youngest son Dai Chengrong is such a talented person. He quickly showed his outstanding personal qualities in the training after entering the camp. Whether it is physical condition, adaptability, athletic ability, execution ability, or the speed of learning various military skills, Dai Chengrong has excellent performance.
Naturally, his excellent performance quickly won the favor of the instructors, so in addition to daily training, Dai Chengrong would also be called upon by the instructors to perform various tasks outside of training, such as going to the shooting range to help set up gun targets, and helping Duan Tiancheng. During horse walking and the like, he also had more opportunities to interact with these instructors who may not be a few years older than him.
Through chatting outside the training period, Dai Chengrong gradually learned some information about the Zhoushan garrison.
The main body of the Zhoushan garrison is the East China Sea Fleet, which has been in existence for several years. Most of its troops come from the south, including the coastal areas of Fuzhou and Guangzhou, including Hainan Island, and a small number come from the South China Sea such as Annan and Champa. country's immigration. In the past two years, the number of new immigrants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has gradually increased, and some have also been added to the fleet's establishment.
Most of these local soldiers had ordinary backgrounds, and their conversation and living habits were obviously different from those of wealthy children like Dai Chengrong who were sent for training. However, after Dai Chengrong came into contact with them, he felt that these people were quite friendly.
After all, many southern soldiers only spoke Fujian and Cantonese dialects, and it was difficult to have in-depth communication with Dai Chengrong, who spoke Jiangsu and Zhejiang dialects. Most of the soldiers from Jiangsu and Zhejiang liked this young master from Yangzhou who was able to endure hardships but had no airs, and was usually generous with his actions. They often invited him to do activities together after training.
After the day's training, Dai Chengrong returned to his dormitory and wiped off his sweat. He was about to take a break and go to the cafeteria for dinner. The instructor in charge of his dormitory appeared at the door: "Dai Chengrong, come out!"
Dai Chengrong responded quickly and quickly got up and left the dormitory.
"I'm going out to the camp later to do errands. Do you want to go out and get some fresh air?" When there was no one around outside the dormitory, the instructor's expression and tone immediately became relaxed.
Dai Chengrong said: "Instructor Chen, can I go out too?"
The instructor named Chen Xiaoyu nodded and said: "I said hello to the boss, just go back to the camp before lights out. But this matter is a bit against the rules after all. If you go, when you come back, tell me to go to the munitions depot to help with the inventory. Ammunition, don’t show it to your friends, lest others feel dissatisfied.”
Dai Chengrong nodded and responded: "I will obey the instructor's order! I will go in first to get something and I will come out immediately." Dai Chengrong has been training in this Zhoushan garrison camp for several days, and has not yet had the opportunity to step out of the military camp. Being depressed is definitely a lie. Dai Chengrong also heard from these instructors that Zhoushan Dinghai Port was very prosperous, but he just got off the boat and went directly to the military camp, so he had no chance to experience the so-called "No. 1 Port in the East China Sea".
Coincidentally, Chen Xiaoyu, who served as the instructor, was from Yangzhou Prefecture, and he was half a fellow villager. Chen Xiaoyu is only two years older than Dai Chengrong, but his background is much worse than that of Dai Chengrong. His family is just an ordinary fisherman on the Yangtze River. His mother died a long time ago. His father died in a shipwreck a few years ago. In the river, even the life-saving boats sank to the bottom of the river.
Chen Xiaoyu lost his livelihood and later moved to Ningbo, planning to find a job as a sailor or something like that to make a living. As a result, when he went to Yahang, he was accidentally taken to Zhoushan Island, and then he was attacked by the Yahan people and the Haihan military. Chen Xiaoyu joined the army for the generous benefits promised by the Haihan Army, and has since become a member of the Haihan Army.
Because he is familiar with water and knows how to sail a boat, Chen Xiaoyu, who has professional skills, was undoubtedly selected by the East China Sea Fleet for training as a sailor. Although he has not been in the army for too long, he has participated in last year's Korean Campaign and this year's Hirado Battle, and he can be considered a veteran who has experienced the test of war.
Although Chen Xiaoyu is still an ordinary soldier, he was originally assigned to the army under Duan Tiancheng. This time, after Duan Tiancheng took over the task of training the children of salt merchants, he selected several capable men to serve as instructors. Chen Small fish is also one of them.
Dai Chengrong is smart, quick to learn, and has a lot of emotional intelligence in dealing with people. Chen Xiaoyu admires him very much. He will take him around the camp after training, so that Dai Chengrong can have more opportunities to understand the Haihan Army. status. However, today's opportunity was not fought for by Chen Xiaoyu, but was specially arranged by his boss Duan Tiancheng.
The purpose is actually very simple, that is, let Chen Xiaoyu win over Dai Chengrong more, so that even if he does not stay in the Haihan Army, he will still lean towards Haihan in his stance. Of course, it would be best if Dai Chengrong could take the initiative to choose to play for Haihan.
Chen Xiaoyu is just an ordinary soldier, with no real power in the army, and his background is several levels different from Dai Chengrong. It is difficult to bring any practical benefits to Dai Chengrong, so he can only shorten the distance by hanging out as brothers. It just so happened that Chen Xiaoyu originally admired his apprentice, so he didn't actually try to win over him.
Before Chen Xiaoyu left the camp, he went to the camp headquarters to get a document, and then walked out of the military camp gate with Dai Chengrong in a swaggering manner.
"First go to the port to deliver some documents, and then find a place to eat and drink on the way! It's a rare occasion to come out and take you to eat something good!" Chen Xiaoyu announced his arrangement to Dai Chengrong after leaving the military camp.
Dai Chengrong would naturally not object when he heard this. He had long wanted to see whether this place was really as prosperous as the rumors.
The distance from the camp to the military port is not too far, and the two of them walked there and arrived quickly. Xiaoyu led the way to a place with a sign of "Logistics Office" and asked Dai Chengrong to wait outside while he went in to hand over the documents.
Dai Chengrong was waiting outside. A few feet away from him, the two flagships of the East China Sea Fleet, the Weisheng and Weibang, were docked.
When he arrived at Dinghai Port that day, Dai Chengrong took a look at the ship from a distance. At that time, he felt that the hulls of these two warships were huge and shocking. At this time, standing closer and watching, you can fully feel the visual impact of this powerful ship and its powerful guns. The ship's towering masts and complicated sail system, as well as the densely packed gun windows on the ship's side, all highlight the power of these sea beasts. combat effectiveness. No matter who it is, it must be difficult to remain optimistic when facing such an opponent at sea.
Both ships were tied to the iron bitts at the pier with thick cables. Occasionally, sailors would get on and off the ship along the gangway, but no one took a second look at Dai Chengrong, who was wearing a gray-blue training uniform. Perhaps in the eyes of these sailors, they have long been accustomed to seeing such young recruits look dumbfounded in front of Majesty-class battleships.
Dai Chengrong didn't know how long he stared at the two battleships until Chen Xiaoyu's voice came from behind: "Aren't these two battleships majestic?"
Dai Chengrong came back to his senses, turned around and said, "Instructor, do you usually work as a servant on this big ship?"
Chen Xiaoyu shook his head slightly and said: "I think it is a pity that the qualifications are not enough. It will be next year at the earliest before I can be qualified to board these two ships..."
Dai Chengrong originally wanted to try to see if it was possible to let Chen Xiaoyu take him on the boat to open his eyes, but after hearing what he said, it was obviously impossible.
Chen Xiaoyu continued: "These two battleships are the flagships of our East China Sea Fleet. Only the best sailors in the military can be qualified to compete for positions on such high-level battleships. Being able to serve on them is very important to our sailors. A very high honor!”
Dai Chengrong said: "The combat power of these two ships must be extremely powerful!"
Chen Xiaoyu nodded and said: "We went to Hirado, Japan in May. These two warships dealt with the Hirado clan's armed fleet as easily as chopping melons and vegetables. There were almost no enemies in one. They could take one round. Those who haven’t sunk under the shelling are considered to be in danger!”
After hearing this, Dai Chengrong asked a question that almost every Ming Dynasty person who saw the Majestic-class battleship would think of: "Does the Ming Dynasty have a warship that can rival it?"
Chen Xiaoyu smiled and said: "To tell you the truth, when I saw these two battleships for the first time, I had similar thoughts, but I didn't dare to bring it up to the adults. Then one day I suddenly figured it out. If the Ming Dynasty had comparable warships, how could Zhoushan become the territory of the Haihan Kingdom so easily? ”
(End of chapter)