Chapter 3154
There is no doubt that if you only look at paper data, the combat effectiveness of the Glory-class battleship is no longer at the same level as the previously built sail battleships.
If the Zhoushan Shipyard can solve the problem of the high cost of the Glory-class battleship, then this new type of warship is likely to replace the Majesty-class battleship as the flagship in each fleet.
However, judging from the current situation, the goal of reducing costs may be more difficult than letting the Zhoushan prove its strength on the battlefield.
Even so, the senior officials of the executive committee still spoke highly of the construction results of the Zhoushan.
This is not just a battleship, but a collection of the achievements of industrial technology development in the past 30 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. It represents the highest level of Haihan Industry's work today and is also the most advanced battleship in the world.
Regardless of whether the Glorious Class will be mass-produced in the future, its emergence already means that industrialization is accelerating and changing Haihan's military strength. A powerful navy based on industry is a necessary condition for Haihan to achieve its goal of global hegemony.
In the afternoon of the same day, Chen Yixin's fleet successfully arrived at Dinghai Port about two hours ahead of schedule.
Compared with the Executive Committee fleet heading north from Hainan Island, the scale of the fleet heading south from Shandong Peninsula is much smaller.
In addition to Chen Yixin's ship, there are only two expedition-class warships serving as escort missions, and there are also two supply ships accompanying them. Not to mention the members of the executive committee, even by the standards of a regional governor, Chen Yixin's travel honors are relatively low-key.
Although Chen Yixin is nearly fifty years old, he is a junior in the executive committee. After Tao Donglai and others met him, they still habitually addressed him as "Xiao Chen".
Chen Yixin also brought two pieces of news that surprised everyone: "The Manchu Qing Dynasty learned that we were going to hold National Day activities in Hangzhou, and they also sent envoys over, and they are on my ship."
"In addition, the North Korean mission should arrive in Zhoushan tomorrow, and there will be two missions, one from the south and one from the north."
Like the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu Qing Dynasty also signed an armistice agreement in 1654 and surrendered to Haihan. Subsequently, border trade was gradually opened between the two countries and commercial exchanges were maintained.
However, relations between the two sides will not be normalized so quickly, and small-scale armed conflicts will still occur in the border areas from time to time.
During Bai Kesi's inspection tour of Liaodong last year, there was an incident of armed Manchu tribes plundering Han caravans at Qingyang Fort located on the border. If the Manchus and Qing Dynasties had not quickly taken action to clean up the tribe that caused the trouble and compensated Haihan for his losses, this incident might have become the trigger for a new round of war.
The Manchu Qing sent envoys to participate in Haihan's National Day celebrations, and they came with Chen Yixin. This should be understood as a goodwill attitude.
As for North Korea sending a mission, this is what it should be. However, this time it is divided into two missions, the north and the south. It is obvious that the small court in the north has a tendency to become more powerful and break away from the control of the south.
Yan Chujie asked: "Who did the Qing Dynasty send here? Do their words have any weight?"
Chen Yixin responded: "It's Geng Zhongming's eldest son, Geng Jimao. The Manchu Qing Dynasty sent him to Fushun to negotiate with our country about the Qingyangbao incident last year."
"On the Manchu side, Geng Jimao should be regarded as a Han official who is more trusted by the young emperor. Geng Jimao is responsible for many affairs related to our country at this stage, and he can speak in front of the young emperor." Geng Zhongming Er He defected from Dengzhou, Shandong Province more than ten years ago and surrendered to the enemy. Not long after, Huang Taiji named him King Huaishun, as a symbol of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's "courtesy of virtuous corporals and good treatment of Han officials". After the young emperor Shunzhi succeeded to the throne, he also gave equal trust to his son Geng Jimao, allowing him to inherit the Zhenghuang Banner of the Han Army originally controlled by Geng Zhongming and be responsible for foreign affairs related to Haihan.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty arranged for Geng Jimao to be sent as an envoy to Haihan, probably because they wanted to make full use of his Han identity and maintain smooth communication channels with Haihan.
"The visitor is a guest. Let's arrange to meet him when we get to Hangzhou." Tao Donglai made the decision softly.
The Manchu Qing Dynasty and Haihan had not established formal diplomatic relations. Whether the envoy met or not did not affect the overall situation. But due to Chen Yixin's face, it doesn't hurt to meet him for a while, so that it will be easier for him to do business after he returns.
Chen Yixin asked: "What about the North Korean mission?"
Tao Donglai said: "Since they are divided into two missions, let's receive them separately."
Ning Qi interjected: "Apart from the envoys of these two countries, does Ming Dynasty have no expression?"
Chen Yixin said: "The Ming Dynasty officials have been silent, but there are many people in the local area who want to join in the fun. But the court has not said anything, and these people below do not dare to mess around. At most, they come here secretly in a private name."
Tao Donglai smiled and said: "In a private name... I think there may be some people who are doing this in a private name, but actually they are here to inquire about our situation on behalf of the court."
Shi Diwen also smiled and answered: "Da Ming will not admit that he is the weak side. He must continue to maintain his airs. He will definitely not send people to celebrate our country's National Day in an official name. But if someone comes in a private name, then I won’t disgrace Daming.”
"But it's okay just to inquire about the direction of the wind. I'm afraid that some people are pretending to join us, but in fact they are looking for opportunities to cause sabotage from within us!"
When the Ming Dynasty signed the armistice agreement with Haihan, it felt quite disgraced. Not only did it cede all its access to the sea, but it was also forced to surrender to Haihan.
Under this situation, every diplomatic interaction with Haihan can be said to be a slap in the face of Daming. Unless necessary, Ming Dynasty would definitely not take the initiative to send officials to visit Haihan, let alone participate in Haihan's National Day celebration.
Although both Hangzhou and Sanya have official agencies stationed by the Ming Dynasty, these diplomats will obviously not go against the imperial court. Most of them will remain silent during the Haihan National Day as in previous years.
However, the Ming Dynasty will definitely not be monolithic. With different interests and demands, it will naturally be divided into multiple camps with various ideas on the relationship between the two countries. If there is no movement from the official stance, these people will use their own methods to achieve their goals.
In recent years, there have been many people in the Ming camp who have come into contact with Haihan in various ways, and the representative of them is Prince De of Shandong. Nowadays, two of the descendants of Prince De's family are working in Haihan. One is serving in the army under Chen Yixin, and the other has passed the imperial examination held by the Donghai Region and successfully joined the officialdom. Now he is working in Hangzhou.
With the successful examples of Prince De's Palace ahead of them, there will be many imitators. At the same time, there will also be people with ulterior motives who pretend to join Haihan but actually want to collect intelligence and buy connections.
(End of chapter)