Chapter 1121 Old acquaintance

Although Shen Zhixiang has a quick mind, he still shook his head and refused after hearing this suggestion: "How can this be done? The Ming Dynasty's officers and soldiers can only serve the emperor and the court, how can they be hired by foreign countries!"

"Since you think the term employment is not appropriate, let's change the term." Wang Tom did not give up his persuasion immediately: "In exchange for the military operations carried out by the Ming Army in Dongjiang Town, Haihan's material assistance in weapons and equipment,

How about this?"

Shen Zhixiang frowned. This statement sounded easier to accept, but with Shen Shikui's old-school philosophy, he might not be able to accept Haihan's arrangement.

Wang Tom saw that his face was gloomy and uncertain, and he could roughly guess what he was thinking, so he continued to persuade: "Dongjiang Town is at the moment of survival, and there is not much room for your army to make choices. The Ming Dynasty and the Joseon Dynasty

General Xiao Shen must also be aware of the help that can be given to Dongjiang Town at present. If Dongjiang Town is willing to cooperate with Haihan, I think the conditions we can provide to your army will be more practical than those of Ming and North Korea."

The Ming Dynasty is currently in a state of constant internal and external troubles, and has no time to take care of the overseas enclave of Pidao. However, North Korea's national strength is poor and weak, and it is under the direct threat of Houjin. The support it can give to Dongjiang Town on the surface is indeed very limited.

. Hou Jin’s continuous suppression, coupled with the tens of thousands of civilians on the island who are like a burden, make Dongjiang Town able to take fewer and fewer self-rescue measures. Haihan can provide assistance to Dongjiang Town in the two fields of immigration and weapons.

, which exactly targets the two problems that Pi Dao Mingjun is currently unable to solve on its own, Shen Zhixiang believes that it is difficult to resist such a temptation.

But after all, Shen Zhixiang is not the one who calls the shots in Dongjiang Town now. No matter how good the conditions Haihan offers, he cannot make the final decision on behalf of Pidao at the moment. Shen Zhixiang can only cough twice and say: "Master Wang's kindness, of course.

I can feel it, but this matter will have to wait until I return to Phi Island next time and discuss it with the Governor and Deputy Commander Jin before I can give a clear answer. I wonder if this artillery information can be brought back to Phi Island next time?"

"That's no problem." Wang Tom nodded and said, "If necessary, we can send people to the island to give face-to-face explanations to the adults. Any questions about these weapons can be cleared up in person. If your army

Order our weapons in bulk and we will also provide relevant gunner training services."

Haihan has rich experience in foreign military sales. It has provided complete supporting services based on customer needs. Whenever it seizes the opportunity, it will sell weapons and equipment to foreign countries. These mature marketing methods are very important to Shen Zhixiang, who has lived on the island all year round.

It was very new to me, and I just felt that after going back, I would let Shen Shikui see the conditions offered by Haihan no matter what.

Wang Tom also knew that the other party's authority could not be decided, so he did not discuss this topic in depth. He immediately asked Xie Li to take him to the cabin on the ship where the prisoners of war were kept, and randomly brought out a few people for Shen Zhixiang to verify their identities. Shen Zhixiang followed.

Xie Li went down to the lowest cabin on the ship. In addition to the cabins where prisoners of war were temporarily held, there were also a variety of supplies. It was the first time for Shen Zhixiang to enter the interior of such a large ship, and he looked around curiously all the way.

, hoping to deepen our understanding of this kind of Haihan warship.

When Shen Zhixiang saw the prisoners held in the cabin, he was already convinced of their identities. These people were all wearing the standard uniforms of the Ming Navy. Even if Haihan wanted to find someone to pretend to be a prisoner of war, he would be able to find someone in a hurry. It's hard to take into account such details.

"Brother Shen...how come you were caught too?"

Shen Zhixiang was looking at these shackled prisoners of war when he suddenly heard someone among them greeting him. Before he could tell who it was, he heard Xie Lida behind him say: "Pan Yan, do you recognize General Shen?"

Only then did Shen Zhixiang notice Pan Yan's presence, and he was also surprised: "You are actually here!"

Seeing that the two of them must be old acquaintances, Xie Li immediately asked someone to take Pan Yan out of the cell, remove the shackles and handcuffs, and then took them back to the upper deck to sit down and talk in the officer's dining cabin. Shen Zhixiang saw Pan Yan had already determined that Haihan had not lied about being a prisoner of war. He immediately stopped hiding anything and told Xie Li about his personal relationship with Pan Yan.

The two men knew each other long before the Denglai Rebellion. Pan Yan's Dengzhou Navy delivered supplies to Dongjiang Town every few months. He also went to Pi Island many times with the fleet. During this period Got acquainted with Shen Zhixiang. The two were similar in age and got along well. At that time, Shen Shikui was just Mao Wenlong's in-law and did not hold any power. Therefore, Shen Zhixiang only held a temporary position in the army. Like Pan Yan, he was just a general manager. The two of them were also Treat friends as equals.

However, later Shen Shikui achieved enlightenment by himself, chickens and dogs ascended to heaven, and after seizing power in Pidao, he promoted all his close associates. As a result, Shen Zhixiang was promoted three levels in a row and became a soldier. There is a bit of a gap in the status of the two sides now.

When Kong Youde defected to Liaodong, he took the Dengzhou Navy with him, and Pan Yan was one of them. For Shen Zhixiang, this friend's life or death was always uncertain, and he originally planned to inquire about the whereabouts of the prisoners of war, including Pan Yan, but he did not expect to directly They saw him alive on the boat, and now he had no doubts about Haihan's statement. Pan Yan thought that Shen Zhixiang, like himself, was captured after an armed conflict with Haihan, but now he saw that Shen Zhixiang had no There were no shackles and handcuffs, and Haihan officer Xie Li was very polite to him. From this, he knew that his judgment was wrong. Shen Zhixiang was not a prisoner, but a guest invited by Haihan to the ship.

After Pan and Chen exchanged a few words, Shen Zhixiang asked Pan Yan about the reason and process of being captured. Pan Yan, as a defeated person, told the story of the battle with the Haihan fleet that day. Although he did not deliberately do it It was an exaggeration, but it still made Shen Zhixiang sigh in admiration from time to time.

Even if Shen Zhixiang is not an expert in naval battles, he can still judge from Pan Yan's description that the gap in strength between the two fleets resulted in a one-sided victory. He is also secretly glad that the Haihan fleet did not act rashly when it arrived at Pidao, otherwise it would probably be a disaster. Huge losses were caused to oneself.

Because every time he went to a place, Pan Yan would be asked to confirm the terrain, so in the past few days, Pan Yan also had a very clear understanding of Haihan's navigation route, confirming that the Haihan fleet went north along the Liaodong Peninsula and visited what was once the Dongjiang River. various locations in the town.

"As for Pidao, it was only after Pan Yan mentioned it that we decided to come over and have a look." Xie Li lost no time in explaining: "Originally, we planned to go back to Shandong to see the situation in Liaodong, but we heard that Pidao is here. There are still Ming troops stationed there, so the leader said he wanted to come here to take a look and provide the Ming troops with whatever help he can."

Shen Zhixiang immediately stood up, bowed deeply to Pan Yan and said, "Thank you, Brother Pan, for your guidance. If Pidao can be rescued, the soldiers and people on the island will definitely appreciate Brother Pan's kindness."

Pan Yan also quickly stood up and returned the salute, saying that he did not dare. He only knew that Haihan marched along the coastline of the Liaodong Peninsula to Pi Island. As for how the Haihan people came into contact with the Ming army on the island after arriving at Pi Island, they discussed in detail. He didn't know what the content was and why Shen Zhixiang appeared here, and he didn't dare to say anything casually at the moment.

Xie Lidao: "We have reached a preliminary cooperation intention with Mr. Shen Shikui Shen. We will help Pi Island evacuate the Liaodong refugees on the island as soon as possible and reduce the supply burden. We will also try to provide some food and daily supplies to Pi Island in the future."

"Then Brother Shen is heading to Shandong with the Haihan Fleet this time?" Pan Yan also guessed some clues when he heard this.

Shen Zhixiang nodded and said: "The Governor sent me to Haihan's station in Shandong to discuss the details of cooperation." Because the arms transaction has not been determined, Shen Zhixiang intentionally did not mention this. And the specific direction of cooperation in the future is still He would have to wait until he visited the local residence of the Haihan people. If he felt that Haihan's foundation in Shandong was not strong enough, then Dongjiang Town would definitely have reservations about the degree of cooperation. In case the Haihan people would pat their butts and sail away one day, It's up to Dongjiang Town to clean up the mess.

With Pan Yan, an old acquaintance, it was much easier for Shen Zhixiang to find relatives and friends. He directly asked him about the whereabouts of several acquaintances in the Dengzhou Navy. Pan Yan answered them one by one, and some of them had died in the war. Among them, there were also people like Pan Yan who were kidnapped and fled to Liaodong, but among these captured people, only Pan Yan knew him.

Old friends like Shen Zhixiang all served in the military, and dying in battle is considered an acceptable outcome. However, when the two of them talked about the changes in the situation in the past two or three years, it was inevitable that they would feel a little sad. Before the Dengzhou incident, Ming Dynasty was The control of Liaodong can at least restrain Hou Jin's troop mobilization, preventing him from investing all his resources on the western front bordering Ming Dynasty. However, a chaos in Dengzhou directly cut off the supply line of Dongjiang Town, causing Ming Dynasty to be in Liaodong. The control of Dongjiang Town plummeted, and Dongjiang Town lost most of its territory in just one year. It even lost the power to fight back, and could only shrink its troops to survive on the island.

No matter how loyal Pan Yan and Shen Zhixiang are to the Ming Dynasty, from their standpoints, they do not want to see the Ming Dynasty suppressed step by step by Hou Jin. But relying solely on Dongjiang Town’s own strength, it is difficult to change the current situation. In such an unfavorable situation, it is only a matter of time before it is destroyed. Regarding external aid, Pidao has no room to be picky. Whether it is food or weapons, it is important to get some sponsorship. You must first work hard to survive. This is precisely why after Haihan appeared, Pidao would use him as a life-saving straw and hold on to him.

After Shen and Pan had a conversation, Shen Zhixiang bowed to Xie Li and said, "I still have something to ask of you."

Xie Lidao: "You don't need to tell me to know what happened. Pan Yan will temporarily regain his freedom from now on. General Xiao Shen will return to Pi Island in the future, and he can leave with you."

Shen and Pan looked at each other and both felt relieved. Haihan could not say whether this favor was big or small, but the two of them would definitely be in debt for this favor.

Since Xie Li took the initiative to express his goodwill without waiting for Shen Zhixiang to tell the truth, Shen Zhixiang naturally had no choice but to express his feelings. He immediately said: "I have deeply understood your sincerity in cooperation. When I return to Pidao in the future, I will try my best to persuade the governor. , accept your conditions."

During the next voyage back to Zhifu Bay, the two men were temporarily arranged to stay on the flagship. However, their scope of activities was limited to the first deck, and they were not allowed to enter key areas such as the lower gun deck and power cabin to avoid Military secrets on the ship were excessively leaked.

But just what they saw on the deck was enough to dazzle them. Haihan's deck personnel system is divided into two parts: combat personnel and sailors. The combat personnel are mainly responsible for operating more than ten naval guns deployed on both sides of the ship, while the sailors are Responsible for controlling the complex rigging system on the deck. Although there were many people on the deck, they were busy and orderly, and their well-trained performance surprised the two of them.

Both of them are officers with relatively rich navigation experience. Naturally, they know the difference between the performance of civilian sailors and professional sailors. The performance of both sailors and gunners on the Haihan warship is obviously at the level of professional soldiers, and the command and The execution efficiency seemed to be higher than that of the Ming Navy. Everyone knew their division of labor and responsibilities, and there was no chaos at all during the voyage.

In addition, the special tools used by some sailors also attracted their attention. These instruments for observing sea conditions and distinguishing the direction of the sea are all made of brass and look very delicate. The commanders on the ship basically judge the position and correct the course. It all depends on the feedback after using these small tools.

"The Haihan people claim to be proficient in navigation, but it seems they are not bragging." Shen Zhixiang looked at the busy sailors on the deck and sighed thoughtfully: "There are such powerful vassal states in the south, why have I never heard of them before? Did you say that?”

Pan Yan shook his head and said: "Brother Shen, you are wrong. This country is so powerful in navigation and shipbuilding. If it is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, how could you have never heard of it before? From what I see, this country of Haihan must be a powerful power that has only risen in the south in recent years. , but they are not a vassal of the Ming Dynasty. Besides, judging from their style, do you really think they have much respect for the Ming Dynasty?"

When Shen Zhixiang heard this, he also felt that there was some truth. Although the Han people here spoke Chinese, they were not like the special envoys from Korea, Ryukyu, and Japan, who were full of awe for the heavenly kingdom. No matter in person When talking to the senior officials of the Ming army about the armed forces of the Hou Jin Dynasty, they were full of mysterious confidence and seemed to be able to deal with these with ease.

"In any case, Haihan expressed his willingness to help the Ming army deal with the gold thieves. This is a good thing after all. If done properly, it may be possible to retake Liaodong in a year or two." Although Shen Zhixiang thinks that Pan Yan's words are reasonable,

But I don’t dare to think too deeply at the moment, I can only try to think in the best direction.
Chapter completed!