Chapter 2275
Haihan's arms business can probably be regarded as one of the most profitable businesses in this era. Even though the prices of these weapons and equipment remain high, the delivery cycle is extremely long, and the purchase quantity is often restricted, it still cannot resist the purchase of customers. Enthusiasm, all types of weapons and equipment on the export list are in short supply all year round, and sometimes cruel bidding methods have to be used to determine who can qualify for purchase.
Although it seemed like a joke when the Matarans pushed a cart of gold bars outside the Victory Fort to buy weapons, in fact, this kind of situation of coming to the door with money to buy weapons has actually happened many times, but other forces did not have the Mataras. The blue man did it so openly.
Sales have never been a problem for Haihan's arms trade. How to control the scale of military equipment imported by various countries from Haihan and form a dynamic balance of power between each other and with Haihan is the issue that Haihan's relevant departments are most concerned about.
Haihan deliberately arranged to display the most advanced weapons and equipment to guests from various countries. On the one hand, it was to frighten all parties and continue Haihan's authoritative position in arms development. On the other hand, it was also to convince all parties that Haihan used advanced weapons and equipment. The arms created by technology will still be their best choice for updating their armaments in the future.
Moreover, the particularity of this product is that it does not leave customers with too much room for choice. Almost no one can sit back and watch with the thought of "too expensive not to buy" after understanding the performance of these weapons. Others are making large purchases. For the sake of their own security and international status, they will eventually have to join this international arms race.
The most obvious examples in this regard are the Materan Kingdom and the Dutch East India Company. Both sides know that the other party will inevitably send troops to attack them after they grow in strength, and the best shortcut to quickly increase their military strength is to purchase Haihan arms. Arm themselves, so both parties can only make every effort to purchase according to the upper limit of Haihan's supply. Whoever stops first may become passive and become the one being bullied.
Even if there are no such evil neighbors, after witnessing how Haihan used force to expand his territory step by step over the years, there are still many people who want to copy Haihan's model of making a fortune and use powerful force to consolidate his rule and expand his sphere of influence. ——At the very least, ensure that you will not become the target of others to expand their sphere of influence in the future.
In addition, as a military ally or trading partner of Haihan, they must also prove their sincerity in cooperation with arms orders. Of course, it is not an exaggeration to understand this as a disguised protection fee. After all, only by actively imitating Haihan in the military system can it be possible to win Haihan's trust and be protected by the military alliance headed by Haihan.
North Korea is a vivid example in this regard. Although this country has not been in the Haihan camp for a long time, and even before it had time to purchase arms from Haihan to show its loyalty, it encountered a large-scale invasion by the Qing Dynasty. However, Haihan The Han Dynasty responded to North Korea's request for help in a timely manner and organized allied forces to go to North Korea to assist it in fighting the Qing army.
What kind of compensation North Korea will pay to Haehan and other allies for this is another matter, but at least Haehan set an excellent example in handling this matter, making all countries realize that they can turn to Haehan for help in times of crisis. To this end, they have to compromise with Haihan in other aspects, or take the initiative to transfer some benefits to Haihan. These originally somewhat unequal exchange conditions are worthwhile in a certain period of time.
According to official information, the types of weapons and equipment that Haihan will sell to the outside world in the next year will not change significantly compared to previous years. It is just a routine upgrade with minor repairs on some models.
"For the muskets manufactured in the next year, we will use new processing technologies and better materials to improve their shooting accuracy and effective range. At the same time, we will also upgrade some parts that are more susceptible to damage. , to reduce the failure rate of the gun during use."
As the person in charge of the Haihan arms industry, Bai Kesi was surrounded by a group of major customers. He had to seize this opportunity to sell next year's arms to his customers.
Someone asked: "Mr. Bai, your country upgrades its weapons every year in a small way. When will it be possible to sell continuous rifles in one step? Even if the price is more expensive!"
Bai Kesi said: "As for the sales arrangements of weapons and equipment, our country needs to consider many issues. The first is to meet the armed needs of the Haihan Army. Only when there is surplus production capacity will there be spare capacity for foreign procurement. Like the continuous gun Because the manufacturing process of such advanced weapons is extremely complex, our output is far from meeting the needs of the army. Of course, there is no way to sell them. The structure of the old muskets is simpler and the manufacturing process is relatively mature, so they can still be produced every year. Some are supplied to various countries. And we have been continuously upgrading these old weapons based on feedback from various countries. I think this should be beneficial to all parties.”
Baikes used insufficient production capacity as an excuse. Of course, it is impossible to fool everyone. The performance of Haihan’s export weapons and equipment is far inferior to the same equipment installed by Haihan’s army. This is no secret. A considerable number of export weapon models have even been Gradually eliminating them in the Haihan Army, this approach clearly aims to maintain military advantages over buyers while exporting weapons.
However, everyone has a tacit understanding of Haihan's approach and will not take the initiative to expose it, because once this layer of window paper is pierced, it may not be a good thing for buyers. After all, the production capacity of high-end weapons is limited, and the price must be ridiculously expensive. Maybe not everyone can afford it now. At that time, there may only be one or two powerful customers purchasing a large amount. Wouldn't that instantly widen the gap in strength with other companies?
Therefore, most people's choice is to accept Haihan's arrangement for arms sales. In this way, at least the weapons equipped by each company will remain of the same generation, and the gap in combat effectiveness will not be too outrageous. When the Haihan people open up the purchase of these high-end weapons in a few years, the prices should drop to an acceptable level by then, so that all parties can continue to maintain a tacit strategic balance.
However, the weapons sold by Haihan every year will have small performance upgrades, which means that each company cannot just ignore and buy them, otherwise in a few years, the gap will be widened by other companies. When the time comes, we will consider replacing equipment on a large scale. First, the one-time military expenditure will be huge, and secondly, it is very likely that we will not be able to purchase the weapons and equipment we want in the short term. Therefore, it is a reasonable plan for most customers to purchase and upgrade in batches every year within their own capabilities. Then those who want to take a wait-and-see attitude see other companies spending money to purchase, and they can only grit their teeth and follow suit.
In this way, the arms orders Haihan receives every year will basically remain above a stable level. Haihan can make money, and all parties can maintain strategic balance while upgrading their military force. This is for most people All are considered acceptable situations.
Of course, not everyone is satisfied with this arms trade system, such as the Netherlands and Ming Dynasty. Their purchases of arms from Haihan have always been subject to more restrictions than others, not only in terms of purchase quantity, but also in terms of the types of weapons and equipment they can purchase. Similar to cold weapons and armor, Haihan has an unlimited supply in principle. You can buy as much as you want, and the quality and quantity are guaranteed. But for long-range anti-personnel weapons such as muskets and artillery, the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty could not buy whatever they wanted.
If you want to purchase these weapons from Haihan, it is not just a matter of price, but you must also agree to more exchange conditions in order to obtain the required arms from Haihan.
For the East India Company, which has certain weapons manufacturing capabilities, this is not too fatal for a while. Batavia is already vigorously building armed sailing ships to expand its maritime combat capabilities. As long as it survives this period, it can find the weapons in the South China Sea. If the iron ore is suitable for mining, the East India Company will soon be able to restore the ability to make its own weapons and eliminate the power gap caused by the Matalan country's purchase of weapons from Haihan.
So Su Keyi can pretend to be stubborn and not participate in these activities. When the arms sales period opens, buy it if you can, but forget it if you can't. They can't compromise with Haihan again and again and give away the control of the Sunda Strait they want. .
Fei Cexian's situation was much more passive than that of Su Keyi. Although the Dutch had been beaten several times by Haihan and were even deprived of important maritime places like Ambrosia Island, these places were ultimately under their jurisdiction. Overseas colonies are not to the extent of breaking one's muscles and bones. Many key locations on the coastline of the Ming Dynasty are under the control of Haihan. Like Jinzhou, Haihan may occupy a piece of land in the coastal area at any time, and use this method to encroach on the territory of the Ming Dynasty step by step.
But at the same time, the Ming Dynasty had to rely on Haihan to hold back the Qing army from moving south in Liaodong, so it could only pretend to be deaf and dumb to Haihan's little moves. At the same time, in order to relieve the pressure on the northern border and suppress civil strife in the Central Plains, the Ming Dynasty also needed to purchase a large number of advanced weapons to enhance the combat effectiveness of the Ming army.
But Ming's unilateral will alone cannot reach a deal. Haihan has stated his position very early and can sell arms to Ming, but Ming needs to give a clear attitude on the land dispute between the two countries. To put it bluntly, Ming Dynasty must recognize Haihan’s right to rule the area under actual control. The specific explanation can be discussed. For example, it can follow Annan’s approach and hand over designated coastal port areas to Haihan for operation in the name of leasing.
However, the Ming Dynasty regarded itself as a heavenly dynasty. Since its founding, it has claimed that it will not make peace, pay indemnities, cede territory, or pay tribute. Even at a time when internal and external troubles were mounting, Emperor Chongzhen did not dare to violate the ancestral precepts and openly promised Haihan to treat these Ming Dynasties. Claims for territory. In the view of the Ming court, it was enough to take back the territory occupied by Haihan. The two sides could maintain a superficial tacit understanding. How could they blatantly cede these lands to Haihan.
Daming refused to let go, so Haihan set restrictions in all aspects to make life difficult for Daming. According to the agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Haihan was required to provide assistance, including ordnance, to Daming. However, the agreement did not specify the specific quantity, so the number of muskets and artillery sold by Haihan to Daming every year was far lower than that of Daming. Real needs.
Although Fei Cexian would argue every time, hoping to get some arms purchase quota for Mingduo, he would basically not achieve the desired effect. Haihanhui used various excuses to limit Daming's purchase volume to an extremely low level, which was even far less than the purchase scale of Fujian Xu Jiajun.
Of course, Fei Cexian also understood the fishiness involved. After several times, he was unwilling to negotiate the matter with Haihan's senior management to avoid humiliating himself. You can buy as much as you can. You can't follow Xu Xinsu's example and trade Daming's face for Haihan's help.
But this competition also made Fei Cexian realize that more and more local forces in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty have taken refuge in Haihan, including not only local officials like Xu Xinsu, but also people with deep backgrounds like Fu Ruifeng. Business tycoon. If the Ming court cannot effectively supervise and restrict, then perhaps in a few years, the coastal state capitals of the Ming Dynasty will become the territories of Haihan.
Therefore, while envoys from various countries were trying their best to obtain more arms purchase quotas from Haihan officials for the next year, Fei Cexian had returned to the embassy to write a letter, detailing in the memorial the many teams from the Ming Dynasty participating in the competition. The armed forces reminded the court that they must strengthen supervision measures in these places and try to resist Haihan's continuous infiltration in the local area.
"There are thieves in every coastal state capital who collude with Haihan inside and outside to build their own private armies to fight against the imperial court. There are too many disobedient behaviors like this. If we continue to sit idly by, Haihan will definitely make further progress and step up efforts to encroach on our Ming territory. ! Wei Chen boldly suggested that the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of War and the Arms Bureau of the Ministry of Defense should step up their efforts to imitate Haihan standard weapons in order to get rid of dependence on Haihan as soon as possible and launch a counterattack against Haihan..."
Fei Cexian had a lot of insights in the past two days, and he started writing eloquently until late at night. When he stopped writing to review the manuscript, he realized that his wrist was so sore that he could only slowly rub it to relieve it. Fei Cexian sighed, thinking that after all his hard work, he didn't know if he could make the Holy Emperor and the senior officials of the imperial court feel the same way and take action.
In fact, how could the experts in the imperial court fail to consider the issues Fei Cexian raised and the ideas he came up with? It's just that the solution is not as easy as him using a pen. There are local conflicts of interests and military and industrial technology. The huge gap is not a problem that can be solved immediately by decree of the imperial court.
What's more, the military pressure faced by the northern defense line is getting bigger year by year. If Haihan hadn't held back the Qing army in Liaodong, the situation would have likely deteriorated sharply. Compared with the important areas of Gyeonggi that had to face the invasion of the Qing army, the short-term ownership of several Linhai prefectures and counties was obviously not that important.
(End of chapter)