Chapter 2257
Since the conclusion of an alliance with the Haehan fleet on the Han River in 1636, North Korea has been trying to imitate Haehan and build a powerful armed force so that it can get rid of the long-term weakness of being surrounded by powerful enemies. dilemma.
Haihan did not hide his secrets. He made it very clear that as long as North Korea provided money, not only could it buy weapons and equipment, but it could even train the army on its behalf.
This is the weakness of North Korea. The economic foundation of this agricultural country is very weak. In recent decades, it has been continuously invaded and plundered by Japan and the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Last year’s war almost destroyed the towns north of the Datong River. All were destroyed, resulting in extremely tight funds for post-war reconstruction work.
Under the strain, North Korea had to use the many assets jointly developed by the two countries on the banks of the Datong River as collateral and borrow money from Haihan Bank to maintain the operation of the main institutions of the court and the post-war reconstruction work in the northern region.
Under such a situation, it is not easy to squeeze out a little budget from the finance to send a group of elite personnel to study abroad in Sanya. As for the military budget, it can only be compressed and compressed, streamlined and streamlined.
North Korea will definitely not be able to get the cash to order large quantities of arms and equipment from Haihan. It can only use resources in exchange, or use asset mortgages in exchange for special loans issued by Haihan. But no matter which approach is taken, it is an extremely difficult decision for North Korea.
Li Zhi also knew that the financial situation of his country was very bad, so when he heard the news announced by Tao Donglai, he was not as excited as others. People are waiting for Haihan to sell them with real money, but North Korea can only first see if each company has replaced second-hand equipment for sale, just like they previously bought a batch of old-style equipment seized from the Spanish from Haihan. Although the weapon is no longer a second-hand item, it can still be used after being repaired.
Of course, whether to buy it or not is another matter. As Haihan’s ally and major military partner, North Korea certainly has the right to know the status of Haihan’s foreign arms sales, so Li Zhen will not be absent from this kind of arms promotion. display activities. If there are weapons and equipment at a suitable price, Li Zhi can actually use the remaining reserves in the royal family's treasury to buy some back in small batches - he estimates that the weapons and equipment compiled by about one company of Haihan's army should be barely affordable for him. Affordable.
Of course, such a small amount of weapons can't do much, and they can probably only be distributed to officers who have received Haihan training so that they can become more familiar with the weapon's performance. In this way, when large-scale troops are replaced with standard weapons in the future, commanders will have a clearer understanding of the combat effectiveness of their troops.
However, the current situation does make Li Zhen a little embarrassed. He is now standing with the young prince of Annan Zheng Zha, the ambassador of the Champa Kingdom Luo Ken, and the third young master of Furifeng Li Nai, and these few are discussing what to do next year. How much arms did Haihan purchase?
"My company doesn't have much demand for this. I just need to purchase some muskets for the Golden Shield Convoy. By the way, I need to replace all the matchlock guns I bought in the early years... I estimate that three or four hundred will be enough. More than that will probably not be used. ." Li Nai made it clear in a low-key manner that Fulifeng would not compete for bulk orders with other companies, but even this was enough to make Li Xie next to him feel jealous.
Li Xie thought that the Golden Shield was just a bodyguard agency affiliated with Furifeng Company, and its efforts in purchasing weapons seemed to be better than those of North Korea. It seemed that the rumors that the Li family in Guangzhou was powerful enough to rival the country were not completely unfounded.
Luo Ken said: "The third young master is really humble. I heard that Golden Shield Escort will set up a branch in Saigon Port of our Champa Kingdom this year. I guess it is not enough to buy hundreds of muskets. Haihan's exploration-class warship should also be Will you buy a few?”
Although the war between Annan and Champa has signed an armistice agreement with the mediation of Haihan, the two countries have actually been secretly competing with each other, and border conflicts still occur occasionally. After hearing Luo Keren's words, Zheng Zha snorted coldly: "Jin Dun already set up a branch office in Vung Tau Port last year. When it's your turn in Saigon, it should be a small office under the branch office! What's the use? Having to equip hundreds of muskets, Mr. Luo is overestimating his abilities!”
At this time, Saigon, which belonged to the Champa Kingdom, became Ho Chi Minh City in later generations. It was only more than a hundred miles away from Vung Tau Port, which belonged to the Annan Kingdom. While Vung Tau Port was close to the sea, Saigon was located inland on the upper reaches of the Saigon River. If it was convenient to transport by sea, In terms of nature, Vung Tau Port does have a lot of advantages. Because of this, in the process of competing for the first maritime hub port at the southern tip of the Indochina Peninsula, Champa and Annan refused to give in to each other.
Although Jindun is just an escort agency for transporting goods, wherever Jindun goes, it means where Furifeng's business network extends. Only through trade can these remote ports develop rapidly. This has already happened through Sanya, the most populous city in the world. Good examples are well documented. Whether it is Annan or Champa, they all hope that the next Sanya Port will appear on their territory.
In fact, as part of the return provided to Hai Han that year, Vung Tau Port was an area jointly managed by Hai Han and Annam. It is nominally a territory belonging to Annan, but it is actually operated and managed by Haihan, and a small portion of the proceeds will be attributed to Annan as rent for this place. Of course, this complicated ownership will not prevent Zheng Zha from regarding Vung Tau Port as an asset of Annan and using it as a tool to disparage his competitors.
Although Champa is on the weaker side in the competition between the two countries, it is now also a member of the international alliance created by Haihan. Therefore, Luo Keren did not intend to swallow Zheng Zha's ridicule, and immediately counterattacked: "You don't have to be like this. Excited, the cooperation between our country and Fulifeng is of course not just as simple as the opening of a branch of Golden Shield Escort. When we look back in a few years, I hope you will still be able to laugh at that time. ”
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Compared with natural ports such as Da Nang, Quy Nhon, and Cam Ranh, Vung Tau's natural conditions are not unique. It is just that its geographical location is just at the mouth of the Saigon River, and Hai Han has not yet formed an alliance with the Champa State. The place of Vung Tau serves as the trading hub of Hai Han in the southern tip of Indochina. However, due to its geographical conditions, it can only be constructed as a trading port and is not suitable for large-scale construction and development around this location.
Although Saigon is located dozens of miles inland from the coastline, it has the wide Saigon River as a shipping channel. In addition, the local Saigon City is a populated area, and the surrounding fertile Saigon Plain is enough to feed millions of people. , so after Haihan established diplomatic relations with Champa, he made Saigon one of the development targets.
The plains near Saigon are very suitable for the construction of large-scale farms and plantations, and the raw materials provided by these basic agricultural industries can drive the local deep-processing industry of agricultural products, thus greatly improving the local economic level. Of course, this process is easy to say, but it still takes several years to actually see the results.
However, with the successful example of Haihan in front of us, it will be relatively easy to promote this agricultural development model locally. Commercial capital headed by Hai Han enclosed a large amount of land near Saigon, often covering thousands of acres, and then hired local laborers to cultivate and cultivate these lands.
Well-informed businesses like Furifeng with a keen sense of smell will naturally not miss out on great investment opportunities. At this stage, opening a branch of Golden Shield in Saigon may not bring much business from the local area. However, the significance of Golden Shield is not entirely to make profits by escorting valuable goods. It also plays a very important role in protecting Furui. Feng’s safety and interests during its operations in the local area.
Wherever Golden Shield opens, there will be important interests of Furifeng. This has become a well-known common sense in the international trade circle. Even if ordinary people don't know it, characters like Zheng Zha and Luo Ken certainly don't understand the symbolic meaning of this signal. Even Li Zhen, who had only been in Sanya for less than a year, could imagine that this matter was probably not what Zheng Zha had disparaged. Luo Keen knew very well that Saigon's future development would inevitably surpass that of Vung Tau Port, which was inherently deficient, so he had the confidence to let Zheng Zha come back in a few years to look at what is happening today.
However, such a dispute inevitably put Li Nai in the middle. As the manager of Jindun, he had to awkwardly dissuade the two from continuing to argue: "Listen to me, Jindun is just a small business. I can’t believe you two care so much! Jindun does want to open a semi-colon in Saigon, but not all the guns he plans to buy will be sent to Saigon.”
Zheng Zha said: "The third young master is honest and candid, unlike some villains who are secretive. Of course I believe you."
Luo Ken said: "Whether it's Fulifeng or Jindun, it's the last word to make money. In two or three years, when we look at the business situation, the third young master will definitely be proud of the decision he made!"
Li Nai quickly changed the subject and said: "Then what weapons and equipment do you plan to purchase?"
In this situation, they would naturally not tell the truth. Zheng Zha laughed and said: "According to our country's practice, of course we buy some of each kind."
"Buy every kind...Is the young prince buying vegetables in the market?" Luo Ken still remembered the festival just now, and immediately taunted Zheng Zha.
Zheng Zha sneered and said: "I, Annan, have military expenses, so I can buy whatever I want. You don't have to be so jealous!"
Seeing that the two men were about to bicker again, Li Nai quickly turned to Li Zhi who was watching the excitement and asked: "May I ask, Your Majesty, what are your country's arms purchase plans?"
When he mentioned this question, both Zheng Zha and Luo Ken stopped angrily. This is not only a matter of diplomatic etiquette, they also really want to understand the extent of North Korea, a northern country, on Haihan weapons through a few pieces of information.
Of course, Li Zhi could not tell the truth and could only respond vaguely: "Our country only experienced a war last year. Now it is in the post-war reconstruction period. There are many places where money is needed. I probably won't spend it on purchasing weapons for the time being." How much is it?”
Zheng Zha said: "Your Majesty, what you said is wrong. Last year, your country asked Haihan for help because of insufficient military strength, and then the coalition troops went north to assist your country in the war against the Qing Dynasty. Now that the war has come to an end, the Qing Dynasty must be full of ambitions. If it is not lost, it will come to trouble your country sooner or later. Building a strong army is the top priority. What's more, your country has also sent a group of soldiers to Sanya for further study. Isn't the purpose of this is to form a new army after returning to the country? Army? ”
What Zheng Zha said sounded very reasonable. Li Zhi had no way to refute it for a moment, so he could only say with a wry smile: "What the young prince said makes sense, but every family has its own scriptures that are difficult to recite. It is not that easy to form a new army." Things..."
Li Zhi is unwilling to expose his shortcomings in front of outsiders, but discussing this topic will indeed make him feel very embarrassed.
Fortunately, Li Nai saw his dilemma and took the initiative to help him: "The country is based on the people. Your country should solve the problems left by the war first after the war. This is also a manifestation of the king's love for the people. This is very good."< br>
Li Zhi glanced at Li Nai gratefully, nodded and said: "Last year's war caused hundreds of thousands of civilians in our country to have their homes destroyed and displaced. I believe you have heard about it. If the livelihood problems of these people cannot be solved as soon as possible, then there will be There may be great chaos. To put it bluntly, the third young master may be offended. Isn’t it because of the constant civil strife in Ming Dynasty that the people’s livelihood has not been properly solved?”
Li Nai responded: "It doesn't matter, this is a fact. The armed refugees in the Central Plains are like locusts, evacuating wherever they go, resulting in more and more places that cannot engage in agricultural production, and this also creates more people. Refugees. The imperial court cannot help so many people, and the refugees will take desperate measures to survive, burning, killing and looting under the command of a few evil people, making the local situation worse and worse. Your country's approach of helping the refugees first should be effective. To avoid chaos like the Ming Dynasty.”
Li Nai had discussed the internal and external troubles of the Ming Dynasty many times with the senior officials of Haihan, so he had a thorough understanding of this issue and could give his own opinions from a more objective perspective. As for the war situation in North Korea last year, there were numerous detailed reports in Haihan's official newspapers. Therefore, the people present were familiar with the situation at that time, and they also understood that what Li Xie said was not false.
As for why Zheng Zha believed that strengthening military construction was more important than appeasing civilians and organizing post-war reconstruction, it was because Annan's special historical environment at that time was different from North Korea. At that time, Annan had strong support from Haihan, and for its own development, Haihan collected a large number of homeless war refugees from Annan and sent them to Hainan Island for resettlement.
This measure relieved Annan's pressure on people's livelihood after the war to a certain extent. In addition, he used multiple ports in exchange for Haihan's strong support in weapons, equipment and personnel training. Therefore, Annan's armed strength after the war simply improved by leaps and bounds. The speed is increasing. The reasons for this are complicated, but from Zheng Zha's perspective, Annan did spend much more resources on military construction than people's livelihood after the civil war, and he also achieved quite good results. It's just that this approach is unlikely to be used in North Korea, which has a completely different situation.
(End of chapter)