Chapter 3212
The arms trade is no stranger to the Portuguese. This was once their main business in the Far East.
The Portuguese's trade activities in the East did not go smoothly at the beginning. During the Zhengde and Jiajing years of the Ming Dynasty, there were constant frictions with the Ming Dynasty, and many armed conflicts broke out along the coast of Guangdong.
It was not until the Wanli and Tianqi years that the Portuguese discovered that sending arms to the Ming Dynasty could win the other party's favor, and the relationship between the two parties began to ease. During the Chongzhen period, in addition to supplying weapons to the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese also packed up officers, artillerymen and cannon casting technicians and sent them there to help the Ming Dynasty form a Western-style firearms force.
For a long time, countries such as Ming Dynasty, Annan, and Japan were Portugal's main customers in the arms business in the East.
But since the rise of Haihan in the South China Sea, he quickly entered the arms market, and Portugal was quickly squeezed out of this business.
There is no other reason. Regardless of production capacity or weapons performance, Portugal has difficulty competing with Haihan, which has mastered more advanced military technology.
Even in terms of sales channels, the Portuguese, who entered the market first, were quickly left behind by Haihan due to language and cultural disadvantages.
However, for a long period of time, the arms sold by Haihan to Eastern countries were mainly land-based weapons such as matchlocks, flintlock guns, and city defense guns. However, this will not threaten Portugal's security at sea for the time being. .
The only buyers who can purchase armed warships from Haihan are a few forces that have received special permission, such as the Fujian Xu family and Annan. However, the warships they could purchase were not enough to challenge Portugal's armed fleet in the east.
But if Haihan relaxes restrictions and starts selling large warships like the Majestic class to some countries, it means that Portugal's influence in the East may have to drop another level.
Seeing the Annan delegation arrogantly boarding the VIA, Simang and Thomas both looked very gloomy.
In the end, Thomas was the first to break the silence: "What do you think the Haihan people's purpose is for doing this?"
Simang responded: "Maybe it's because they are preparing to mobilize a large number of troops north to attack the Ming Dynasty, so they need a reliable armed force to maintain maritime order in the South China Sea. They may think that the Annan fleet is capable of this task."
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Thomas said: "But it would obviously be more appropriate if we could be responsible for this matter."
Simang said: "This just proves my previous point. Haihan's attitude towards us is slowly changing."
Portugal's maritime armed forces in the South China Sea are second only to Haihan, and are much better than Annan. Moreover, there are supply ports for the fleet to dock in many places in the South China Sea, which is a condition that Annan does not have.
However, Haihan's behavior clearly showed a lack of trust in Portugal, and he even intended to support Annan to replace Portugal's position in the region.
The two fell into silence again. It was fine that the arms business was snatched away by Haihan. After all, his skills were inferior to others, but Haihan even wanted to arm the vassal states to replace Portugal, which was unacceptable to them.
If there is still no response to this, will countries like Annan be able to take advantage of us next?
After a while, Thomas said: "I think it's time to talk to the Haihan people about the international situation."
Simao also expressed his affirmation: "It's time to talk to them. If this continues, it may be impossible to resolve the differences through talks." The Portuguese's depression will obviously not become the tone of this arms show. , the tens of thousands of people who poured into the exhibition hall are the protagonists today.
Many people didn't really realize until this moment that Ming's continuous defeat in recent years was not just the so-called bad luck, but the gap in strength between it and Haihan was really too big.
Compared with the so-called warships deployed by the Ming Army on the Qiantang River in the past, compared with the ships displayed by the Haihan Navy, they were simply small sampans. It would be crazy if they could beat them.
Most of the older locals still remember the fire outside Hangzhou more than 20 years ago that burned Haihan's property, which resulted in Haihan's fleet approaching Hangzhou and blocking the Qiantang River. Compared with that time, today's Haihan fleet is obviously more powerful, and even "giant ships" such as Zhoushan have appeared.
Of course, the biggest difference is that at that time, the Haihan Army was an "enemy army" to the locals, but at this moment, this powerful army has become their own family, and the entire Hangzhou area is protected by it.
The soldiers who served as receptionists and commentators in the exhibition hall were all specially selected. They were all from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and many of them were from Hangzhou.
When the public hears these soldiers explaining these weapons and equipment and recruitment rules in local dialects, they will naturally feel more cordial.
The publicity effect of the arms exhibition was immediate. Young people who inquired about joining the army soon formed a long queue, and some scholars even began to ask if there were any positions suitable for them in the army.
At this time, the exhibition area of the North American region was already crowded with people. The two thousand leaflets printed in advance were distributed before noon. Wang Anbang had to go on stage in person and deal with inquiries from several people at the same time.
Only then did Wang Anbang understand why his father had to take him to several days of general knowledge classes before departure, including the geography, products, humanities, etc. of North America.
If I hadn't made preparations in advance, I would have been bombarded with all kinds of weird questions.
Farmers will come and ask what crops are suitable for growing locally, what is the climate like, and whether grain can be grown twice a year; carpenters will ask what tree species are available in the area, which ones are suitable for building houses, and which ones can only be used as firewood; businessmen will ask What are the special local products, what are the material needs, and what are the costs of transoceanic transportation?
All walks of life have different concerns, which are much more complicated than simple conscription.
Although Wang Anbang's mouth was dry when he talked, his heart was very fulfilling. He knew that the more people came to consult, it meant that there were many people interested in North America.
Many of them may just ask out of curiosity, or even just want to watch the Spanish prisoners of war up close, but there should be many who really have the idea of moving to North America. And what I have to do is try to get these people to put their ideas into action.
The conditions provided by the North American region to immigrants and recruits are the most favorable among all overseas regions, which has attracted a lot of people. On the first morning alone, nearly a hundred people signed and pledged their names on the spot, deciding to immigrate to North America.
Taking advantage of the lack of crowds at noon, Wang Anbang ordered people to go into the city to find craftsmen, and then quickly made two large display boards and wrote his recruitment information in large characters for the convenience of the public.
(End of chapter)