Chapter 2429
How to support a group of wealthy businessmen and dignitaries who are close to Haihan and even loyal to Haihan in the Ming Dynasty? There have been many success and failure cases in the past few years. There are positive examples such as Li Jifeng and Xu Xinsu who have gained huge rewards, and there are also some who have invested all their money to develop it. Flooding occurs. Based on the experience accumulated in the past, the more wealthy and powerful the target, the more difficult it is to win over it. Therefore, although the Executive Committee agrees with Shi Diwen's approach of joining forces with some Yangzhou salt merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it is not particularly optimistic. Regarding the prospects of cooperation, Tao Donglai reminded Shi Diwen to remind him that he should be careful about the scale of cooperation and not have too high expectations for the future stance of the Yangzhou salt merchants.
"The intention of the executive committee is to use the limited resources as much as possible to train naturalized personnel, especially in the military field. The training content provided to external parties must be cautious." Tao Donglai nodded to Shi Diwen. sentence, he believed that this was enough to make the other party understand what he meant.
Shi Diwen knew that most of his actions in Zhoushan could not be hidden from the Executive Committee. After all, the Ministry of Security was directly responsible to the Executive Committee. Those spies would report to Sanya no matter what news they had. He was the one who came to study abroad. The executive committee should also be very clear about what kind of military training the salt merchants' children provided. However, he believed that he had not done anything that exceeded the rules, so he did not feel that Tao Donglai's reminder was directed at him.
"It still takes one day to arrange the appointment with Magistrate Qu. Why don't we go around the island tomorrow? As for the training issues that the Executive Committee is concerned about, Mr. Tao can also go and have a look on the spot to understand the actual situation." Shi Diwen did not immediately do so. Defend yourself and instead come up with another, better solution. As the saying goes, seeing is believing, so please invite Tao Donglai to see with your own eyes how outsiders are trained here.
"Then it's better for me to be respectful than to obey." Tao Donglai also had this intention and immediately agreed.
The two drank tea for a while, and Tao Donglai stood up and said goodbye to Shi Diwen. Shi Diwen knew that he was tired of traveling all the way, so he didn't bother to stay, so he personally sent Tao Donglai to live in a wing across the courtyard.
It’s not that there are no officially operated guest houses in Zhoushan, but the living conditions are definitely not as good as Shi Diwen’s private house. Considering that Tao Donglai’s itinerary is kept secret, it would be inconvenient to live outside, so he simply arranged for Tao Donglai to live in his own home. , anyway, his private residence is quite large, even if all the big guys from the executive committee arrive, they can easily accommodate him.
Although it was just across the hospital, the facilities were all available. Tao Donglai took a hot bath in the bathtub, lay down on the bed and fell asleep quickly.
The next day, Shi Diwen came to cross the hospital to have breakfast with Tao Donglai, and then took the car out. The first destination arranged by Shi Diwen for Tao Donglai was the military base on the island.
After more than five years of construction, the military base on Zhoushan Island with the military port as its core has reached considerable scale. The East China Sea Fleet, which has more than forty combat ships and almost the same number of logistics ships, uses this as its home port. In addition to various warehouses and dock facilities, there is also a shipyard with four large docks near the port, which is responsible for naval warfare. Boat construction, repair and maintenance.
Adjacent to the military port is the camp area covering an area of more than four square kilometers. This area is not only home to the barracks, canteens, training grounds, shooting ranges, weapons depots, command structures, family areas, etc. of the garrison, but also supporting institutions such as wood workshops, small machinery factories, schools, hospitals, banks, etc., which is very convenient. It is a complete small society.
Among the overseas colonies north of Hainan Island, the Datongjiang base is larger than here, but its hardware facilities are far inferior to those in Zhoushan. Although Jinzhou in Liaodong is a war zone, the Lushun military port and the Nanguanling camp where the army is stationed are quite far apart, but they are not as compact as Zhoushan. Zhifu Island, Penghu, Hong Kong and other places do not have the conditions and needs to establish large-scale military bases, so there is naturally a certain gap between them and Zhoushan. Taking this into account, the importance of the Zhoushan base can be seen.
Of course, the scale and complete living facilities of Zhoushan Military Port today are inseparable from the prosperous local trade environment. Today, at least 70% to 80% of cross-border trade in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is completed in Zhoushan, and more than half of this is done through Haihan's financial institutions for payment settlement and delivery. The benefits that the Zhoushan authorities can obtain from this are even far greater. It exceeds the taxes collected by the Ming Dynasty from this area to the national treasury.
"Mr. Tao, to tell you the truth, about one-third of Zhoushan's annual budget is spent on this military base. These buildings and facilities you see are indeed paid for with real money. . We spend a lot of money on the military, but because of this, all businessmen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang know that doing business with us has the highest safety factor. Whether buying or selling goods in Zhoushan, you can get safety guarantees. And such an environment cannot be given to them by Ming Dynasty.”
Shi Diwen tried to convince Tao Donglai that the reason why Zhoushan has an excellent business environment and development momentum is inseparable from his emphasis on military construction. The presence of military ports and bases, as well as the East China Sea Fleet, is the fundamental reason why merchants from all over the world can feel at ease trading here.
Of course, whether you feel reassured or overwhelmed by force probably depends on the individual. However, in Shi Diwen's view, there is no obvious difference between the two. In short, a strong armed force is indispensable, so as to ensure that Haihan has a position of controlling the overall situation in the trading system of this region.
Tao Donglai actually agreed with Shi Diwen's view. The maritime trade system advocated by Haihan must be protected by strong force in order to develop smoothly. It is also appropriate to deploy armed fleets in areas where bulk trade is concentrated. However, Shi Diwen is in charge of one party and has great authority. He almost always makes the decision on local military expansion. Although he will also submit relevant applications to the Ministry of National Defense, the purpose of such applications is generally to obtain more weapons and equipment. , the new army expanded by line equipment.
But in fact, given the conditions in Zhoushan, Shi Diwen could completely bypass military supervision and organize, train and arm a private army on his own. Various types of warships can be built locally in Zhoushan, and the manufacturing process of basic muskets and artillery is not complicated, and can be made by hand in small workshops. However, privately manufacturing arms is a taboo in Haihan. If Shi Diwen did not want to make a mistake in this regard, he could also directly apply to Sanya to sell old guns and cannons in the name of supporting the Ming Dynasty's civilian armed forces and instead keep them for his own use.
Of course, these are only theoretical possibilities, and Shi Diwen does not necessarily want to take such a risky approach to develop private armed forces. Tao Dong came to inspect the Zhoushan base to confirm that Shi Diwen had not concealed any improper actions of the executive committee.
Tao Donglai had mentioned to Shi Diwen yesterday that he wanted to know about the situation of foreign personnel receiving military training in Zhoushan, so today Shi Diwen took him directly to the local military academy and asked him to take a look at the military training here. outsiders.
"Mr. Tao, these boys are all children sent by some powerful families in nearby states. However, most of them are not here to learn to lead troops in war. They just use this method to help their families create a situation that is consistent with our country's position." That’s all.”
Shi Diwen stopped the carriage and pointed to a group of young people training on the playground to explain. These young guys are undergoing basic queue training. Judging from their performance, they should have just started training and are still in the stage of correcting their stance.
Tao Donglai asked calmly: "Are there any children of the Yangzhou salt merchants among them?" Shi Diwen responded: "The Yangzhou salt merchants sent a group of people for training in the second half of last year, and they completed the basic training before they returned. There are only two people left here. I think they have some talent and are willing to receive formal military training, so I will arrange for them to study with the training officers at the military academy. "
Tao Donglai nodded and said, "It's okay to meet me, but don't reveal my identity."
"Okay! I'll send someone to pass them on." Although Shi Diwen was a little surprised by Tao Donglai's decision, he didn't raise any questions and immediately asked the adjutant outside the car to find him.
Not long after, the two young men were brought to the carriage. Tao Donglai noticed that these two people were actually wearing the training uniforms of the Haihan Army. If it weren't for the conspicuous buns on their heads, they looked like ordinary Haihan soldiers. No different. After the two people stood still, Shi Diwen opened the door and got out of the car one after another with Tao Donglai.
These two people obviously recognized Shi Diwen. When they saw him getting off the carriage, they actually raised their hands in a neat military salute together. It was obvious that they had indeed developed conditioned reflexes after a long period of training. .
"The tall one is called Dai Chengrong, the youngest son of Dai Yingda, a big salt merchant in Yangzhou. The short one is called Lin Qiu. His father is a dead soldier of the Dai family. He won this training opportunity for him only after he made great contributions." Shi Diwen Lowering his voice, he first introduced the origins of these two people to Tao Donglai.
Tao Donglai said: "Let them practice their skills first, and I will see what skills they learned in Zhoushan."
Shi Diwen immediately ordered the two of them to go to the training field nearby, complete a four-hundred-meter obstacle course, and then report back. The two men did not hesitate or ask Shi Diwen about the reason for giving this order, and ran straight to the training ground.
"Execution is good! It seems that I didn't stay in Zhoushan for so long in vain." Tao Donglai couldn't help but praise him when he saw this. The professional qualities of civilian armed personnel are limited, and it is often difficult to execute orders and prohibitions. The biggest difference between professional soldiers and them is their execution ability. The performance of these two men has obviously far exceeded the training standards of ordinary militiamen.
"That's right, they have been in Zhoushan for half a year, and the tuition is so expensive. If they can't learn real skills, how will they be able to work for their families when they go back?" Shi Diwen joked.
Judging from the performance of these two people on the training ground, their physical fitness is not bad, and their movements through obstacles are also standard. From Tao Dong's point of view, they are already better than ordinary soldiers who have just completed recruit training. After the two people finished practicing, they trotted back to the carriage and saluted Shi Diwen.
Shi Diwen said: "This is an adult who came to Zhoushan from Sanya to inspect. Please introduce yourselves, and talk about what you have learned here and what your plans are for the future. Dai Chengrong comes first!"
Dai Chengrong took a step forward and responded loudly: "The villain Dai Chengrong is from Huizhou. He now sells salt in Yangzhou Prefecture to make a living. The villain came to Zhoushan for training last year. It has been half a year. During this period, he has learned various skills in the Haihan Army. Combat skills. After completing his studies and returning to Yangzhou, he formed a militia for fellow salt merchants and used the skills he learned to maintain local peace. If the Haihan Kingdom needs anything in Yangzhou in the future, I will try my best to help him in return. Well.”
Shi Diwen nodded, motioning for him to step back and let Lin Qiu say a few words.
Lin Qiu took a step forward. What he said before was basically the same as Dai Chengrong. But when it comes to his future plans, Lin Qiu said that he grew up under the care of the Dai family since he was a child, and his father has always taught him to be loyal to the Dai family in the future. Therefore, his plan after completing his studies is to assist Dai Chengrong in building a career. Support the militia armed forces that can suppress the Yangzhou area.
After Tao Donglai heard this, he casually said a few words of encouragement and asked Shi Diwen to send them away first. After the two men retreated, Tao Donglai said: "While training military skills, we must not forget ideological work. The means to keep up must be kept up, otherwise no matter how good they learn, they will just be other thugs."< br>
Tao Donglai's words were obviously dissatisfied with what the two of them had just said. Although the two salt merchants were respectful, they didn't actually have much dependence on Haihan. If they left Zhoushan, their friendship would soon fade away. faded. Haihan was not without means to deal with such a situation. Tao Donglai believed that this was due to some omissions in Shi Diwen's work.
Shi Diwen smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Tao, people like Dai Chengrong have been born well since they were young and have no worries about food and clothing, and their family style is to stick together to the outside world, so he only trusts his family and has always lacked trust in outsiders, and his judgment It is extremely difficult to understand that we are kind to him. That Lin Qiu has been trained as a soldier since childhood, and his determination is even more determined and difficult to shake. For people like them, it is difficult for ordinary propaganda and political work methods to be effective. , it’s not that we haven’t tried it, but with little success.”
Tao Donglai said: "Since this is the case, I don't think it is necessary to provide them with more advanced training content. The skills they learned from us will not be of much significance if they cannot be used by us in the future. .”
Shi Diwen couldn't fully agree with Tao Donglai's views: "Mr. Tao, the reason why you want to help Anhui salt merchants form a militia, I have also mentioned it in detail in my report before. Their opponents once obtained the support of the Hirado clan. Help, if we don't assist them in forming a musketeer team, then we will not be able to open up a situation north of the Yangtze River. The Huizhou salt merchants are willing to spend a lot of money on this, and they guarantee that their militia will obey the dispatch of our army in the future. These young people may still look at it. They don’t understand the situation, but their families know the stakes, so they spend a lot of money to send them to Zhoushan for training.”
(End of chapter)