Chapter 2718
Of course, there was a lot of other news published in the newspaper, but there was not much that Zhu Zian could really understand. Either there were many new Chinese and Chinese words and special terms that he didn't understand, or they mentioned some strange place names that he didn't even know where they were, which was really not easy to understand.
Turning to the later pages, Zhu Zian discovered some more news related to the Ming Dynasty. But these news are not military and political affairs, but reports on business activities.
For example, one of the reports mentioned that the Donghai Region has opened a direct commercial ship line connecting the inland Huguang area via the Yangtze River waterway. In the future, freight exchanges between coastal ports and the Jianghan Plain area will be direct. Among the first batch of goods arriving at Dinghaiport through this channel, there was one thousand kilograms of Junshan Silver Needle tea produced in Yueyang Dongting Lake. Since the intermediary links in cross-border trade were eliminated, the selling price was reduced by 30% compared with before. It was ready as soon as it was unloaded. It was snapped up by enthusiastic merchants.
If he had not understood what these messages meant before coming to Haihan, he might have just brushed them off as ordinary news. But in the past few months, I have gained a lot of knowledge, and I have begun to gradually learn to analyze the information I come into contact with. When I see such news, I will subconsciously ponder the content hidden behind the words.
The inland river voyage from Dongting Lake to the Yangtze River estuary is more than 2,000 miles long, passing through many state capitals along the way. Haihan can open up this commercial channel through direct flights, which means that the state capitals along the way have accepted Haihan's plan. Gradually took over these areas from the Ming Dynasty
In reality, Haihan’s business activities in inland areas will no longer be defined by transnational trade.
Once Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan along the waterway are included in Haihan's business territory, the subsequent mergers and formal takeovers will not be far away. It was not difficult for Zhu Zian to imagine how many local officials would take the initiative to seek cooperation from Haihan during the process of Haihan opening up this commercial waterway, hoping to continue to keep their jobs after the changes.
Zhu Zian has no doubt that Haihan’s culture, systems and values will flow into these areas along with the commodities and quickly have an impact on the local people. Even I can't withstand the ideological impact brought by Haihan, let alone ordinary people with little knowledge?
Zhu Zian didn't know the answer to whether advancing the process of dynasty change in this way would make it easier to gain the loyalty of the people, but what he was sure of was that it would definitely be more ideal than using military means to achieve the goal. There is no need to spend huge military expenditures, and there is no need to worry about destroying local productivity. It will not create a large number of war refugees, and it will even take one or two generations to recuperate after the war. To complete this process at the lowest possible cost is probably the choice that an emerging country like Haihan, which is founded on business, would make.
Zhu Zian does not expect that the Ming Dynasty, which is only an empty shell, can respond effectively to this. In fact, whether it is military or non-military means, the Ming Dynasty has not been able to deal with Haihan in the past twenty years. exerted pressure. But now that the strength of the team changes, and the offensive and defensive positions change, it is even more difficult to regain the situation. Although it seems that the Ming Dynasty has not completely lost actual control over these areas, with the gradual advancement of Haihan's various methods, it seems that it is only a matter of time before these areas change their flags.
Zhu Zian sighed deeply, put down the newspaper, and lay down on the bed. He will leave Sasebo Port after dawn, and it is not his ability to influence where Daming, thousands of miles away, will go. The only thing he can do now is to seriously learn more from this trip, which may help change his future life.
Shiro Amakusa arrived at the port early in the morning to bid farewell to the delegation. He did not intend to go with the mission to the next stop, but in order to make the mission's visit to Nagasaki smoother, he specially appointed Yang Tianlei, the local responsible for shipping and trade matters, to accompany the mission.
"Tian Lei is relatively familiar with things in Nagasaki. With him accompanying you, it will be more convenient for you to do things there." After Amakusa Shiro finished speaking, he walked up to Wang Anguo and said, "I have prepared something for Mr. Wang. It’s a small gift. I’d like to ask General Wang to say hello to Mr. Wang when he arrives. Don’t forget to stop by my place for a few days when Mr. Wang returns home in fine clothes.”
Wang Anguo thanked him quickly. He knew that Amakusa Shiro's ability to hold the position he held today was indeed inseparable from the recognition given by his father back then. Amakusa Shiro always remembers this kindness, which can be regarded as an act of love and justice.
After everyone said goodbye to Amakusa Shiro, they filed on board the ship. It is only a hundred miles sailing from Sasebo Bay south to Nagasaki Port. If everything goes well, the fleet can reach its destination before dark.
In order to ensure that the large-scale combined fleet can successfully berth after arriving locally, Sasebo has sent people to the front station two days ago to let the Nagasaki authorities arrange guide ships and berths in advance and make corresponding preparations.
Although Shiro Amakusa did not accompany him, four local armed warships were sent to participate in the escort. Of course, with the strength of the combined fleet, it is unlikely that anyone in the nearby waters would dare to provoke them face-to-face. Sending ships to escort them is more out of etiquette than safety considerations.
After the fleet sailed out of Sasebo Bay, it sailed south along the coastline, maintaining a speed of about eight knots along the way. About seven hours later, the lookout post on the Zhoushan reported seeing the Iojima Lighthouse ahead, which meant that the destination was not far away.
The guide ship dispatched by Nagasaki Port arrived outside the harbor early and waited, but the Japanese officials who boarded the Zhoushan requested that the combined fleet be docked at the berth at the entrance of the harbor to avoid affecting civilian ships after so many large ships entered Nagasaki Port. normal access.
Of course, Shi Chengwu knew very well that the Japanese request was just an excuse. The real reason was that they were afraid of the powerful force of the fleet and were worried that there would be sudden changes after the fleet entered the port. After some negotiations, the other party finally agreed that Haihan could send five ships to dock in the port, and the remaining ships would still be stationed at the entrance of the harbor as their anchorage.
Although there was a slight dissatisfaction, we finally got a result that was acceptable to both parties. Naturally, Shi Chengwu could not weaken his momentum and ordered five large ships, including the Zhoushan, to sail into Nagasaki Port.
There are many Haihan ships coming in and out of Nagasaki Port on weekdays. The locals have long been accustomed to the sight of sailboats flying the red and blue flags in the port, but this is the first time for everyone to see a sailboat as big as the Zhoushan. The people who saw this scene stopped what they were doing and watched in stunned silence as the giant ship slowly sailed into the harbor.
(End of chapter)