Chapter 1612 Heading to Sanya

Qiu Yuan's boast suddenly made Fei Cexian a little enthusiastic. The Ming Dynasty was also the most powerful country in the East. How could it be possible that it would not be able to build such ships in another hundred years? Thinking about when the Three Treasure Eunuchs went to Nanyang, could those huge treasure ships be?

Falling from the sky? Of course, Fei Cexian had to admit that even those treasure ships that conquered the entire Southeast Asia might not be able to defeat Haihan's powerful firepower and astonishing speed if they really wanted to fight on the sea.

of battleships.

Qiu Yuan continued: "Master Fei may think that I am bragging, but this is the fact. Haihan's advantages in weapons and equipment are impossible for the Ming Dynasty or other countries to catch up with. Perhaps Master Fei thinks that

Shipbuilding is a simple matter, but building warships is a different concept from building ordinary civilian ships. After arriving in Sanya, if the Executive Committee arranges a visit to the Victory Port Shipyard, Mr. Fei should have a deeper understanding of this.

"

The Port of Victory Shipyard is also a special existence to the outside world. Anyone who has been to Port of Victory will be deeply impressed by the large iron ship parked in the harbor. Over time, this large iron ship has become the symbol of the Port of Victory Shipyard.

Billboard. Anyone who knows a little more about the inside story will know that almost all the main combat ships of the Haihan Navy are built at the Victory Port Shipyard. Its shipbuilding scale and technical level indeed far exceed those of the Ming Dynasty, and it is known as the No. 1 shipyard in the South China Sea.

This is not a wasted reputation.

In addition to the Haihan Navy, there are only a few customers such as Annan and Fujian Navy that can order combat ships from the Victory Port Shipyard. Of course, now there is also the Dutch East India Company, which has recently received an order opportunity.

.The Victory Port Shipyard's technology transfer to the outside world is limited to the "Exploration" class warship, which is the smallest tonnage in the naval combat organization. The slightly larger "Exploration" class is not included in this list. As for the "Dignity" class,

"class battleship, it is a special existence that even if you have money, you cannot buy it.

However, based on Fei Cexian's knowledge, shipbuilding is really unfamiliar to him, and it is difficult for him to imagine what the top level of the shipbuilding industry is like. This is not as intuitive as shooting guns. If you don't understand shipbuilding and shipbuilding at all,

Without knowledge of navigation, it is difficult to understand how great Haihan’s technical advantage is in this field. Just like before going to the battlefield, no one would think that Haihan’s army is really invincible, and only in a life-and-death war

Only by comparing can we find out whose warship is more powerful.

What made Fei Cexian feel a little regretful was that Qiu Yuan did not arrange for him to sail on the warship. He just looked around on the deck and then got off the ship. This made him want to have a glimpse of Haihan.

The plan of naval combat power has basically failed, but it cannot be too obvious in front of Qiu Yuan. After all, his identity is too sensitive. If he shows too much thirst for knowledge, the other party may misunderstand him.

Of course, diplomatic envoys are tasked with collecting military and political intelligence. This is something that both parties know well, and they will have a tacit understanding not to reveal the truth. Haihan arranged for Fei Cexian to visit the military camp in order to show him force.

, and this kind of display point is to prevent him from collecting more critical military intelligence.

In the next two days, Qiu Yuan still arranged local tours for Fei Cexian. Although Haikou is not as prosperous as Sanya, as the former political and economic center of Qiongzhou Prefecture, the economic situation here is actually not bad. Qiu Yuan

After Yuan took office, he has been working hard to build Haikou City into a major trading port in the northern part of Hainan Island. So far, this is indeed the right direction of development. Since it is only separated from the Ming Dynasty by the Qiongzhou Strait, shipping traffic is very convenient, so many

Raw materials shipped from the mainland will have Haikou Port as their destination. Haikou has also made full use of its geographical advantages and built many local deep-processing workshops to digest these raw materials shipped from the Ming Dynasty.

There is a water vein called Nandu River in Haikou, so most of these processing workshops are built along the water, making full use of water conservancy conditions. Some workshops with official background are also equipped with steam engines as power to improve processing efficiency. This is for Fei Cexian

, another novel experience.

Fei Cexian had heard of the existence of steam engines before coming to Haihan, but no matter how detailed the description was, it still couldn't overcome the shock of seeing the operation of this mechanical device with his own eyes.

"Master Fei, what you are seeing now is a new era, which our country calls the Industrial Era!" Qiu Yuan proudly introduced to Fei Cexian a steam engine used for oil extraction: "Use this

The efficiency of using a steam engine to press oil is fifty times that of manual oil pressing and twenty times that of animal power! The amount of oil that used to take a month to press can now be processed in just one or two days."

Fei Cexian said: "But it seems that this thing is not easy to make, and it requires constant use of coal. This cost should also be included in the oil, right?"

"Yes." Qiu Yuan confirmed Fei Cexian's question: "If the processing volume is the same as in the past, the cost of using a steam engine will definitely be much higher, but we have increased the processing volume per unit time by dozens of times.

Even if the operation, depreciation, and maintenance costs of the steam engine are all taken into account, the profits will still be much greater than in the past. Mr. Fei, productivity is everything, can you understand this truth?"

Fei Cexian could understand every word, but he couldn't understand the meaning, such as processing volume, cost, productivity... It was really not easy to understand for him, a civil servant who only knew a subset of classics and history and diplomatic norms.

However, Qiu Yuan claimed that this production method can earn more profits than the traditional method, which does not sound like bragging. At least the processing efficiency is obvious in front of his eyes. If all walks of life in Haihan have entered this kind of

The so-called "industrial age" will indeed be a terrible gap.

Fei Cexian suddenly thought that Haihan, with a population of only a few hundred thousand under his rule, could rise on the coast of the South China Sea in just a few years. This may also be related to this "industrial age" that can greatly improve production efficiency.

.But can the Ming Dynasty follow this model? Fei Cexian thinks it is unlikely. The Ming Dynasty cannot build this efficiency-improving steam engine alone. Moreover, Haihan is extremely strict about this, even more than weapons and equipment. It is not possible at all.

Export is allowed.

In fact, all steam engines, whether they are officially or privately equipped, are registered, and there are dedicated personnel to regularly check the operating status of these machines. The Ministry of Industry has even set up an inspection office in charge of this work, which directly communicates with

Connected with the Ministry of Safety. Even if a machine is scrapped, it must be recycled by the Ministry of Industry. Even if one part is missing, a written report must be issued. Under such strict control, so far, no machine

The steam engine was lost to the outside world. Therefore, although many countries knew about and coveted Haihan's technology, they have not been able to obtain physical objects for imitation.

Of course, in addition to these in-depth workshops, Qiu Yuan will naturally not forget to let Fei Cexian visit the plantations with the most Haihan characteristics. This special farm model is different from the landlord class in the Ming Dynasty. All land is state-owned.

The owners only signed an agreement with Haihan officials to rent these lands for operation. Due to stable income and a very long payback period, plantations have become a major investment project for Ming businessmen in Haihan. Currently, there are many plantations on Hainan Island.

There are hundreds of them, and more than half of them are invested and operated by Ming businessmen, which can be regarded as a model of chicken-and-egg operation.

After seeing several plantations, Fei Cexian understood that this business model was indeed much more efficient in production than the landlord economy of the Ming Dynasty. These plantations often used a large number of foreign slaves as labor force, and most of the planting projects were economic.

The input-output ratio of crops is very high, even far exceeding the return of buying land to grow grain in the Ming Dynasty. It is no wonder that many businessmen from the Ming Dynasty came to Haihan with their money to invest in agriculture.

Fei Cexian stayed in Haikou for a few days, and after visiting various local projects according to Qiu Yuan's arrangement, he finally embarked on a voyage to Sanya. He docked in Wanning County for a night's rest on the way, and then continued southward to arrive the next day.

Sanya.

Although he had heard various descriptions of Sanya's prosperity before coming here, Fei Cexian was still shocked when he saw this place, known as the first port in the South China Sea, with his own eyes. The ship he was traveling on was arranged to dock at the Victory Port.

On the shore, ships were coming in and out of the harbor continuously, and there were even queues at the mouth of the bay. It was more prosperous than the Pearl River wharf he saw when he was in Guangzhou, let alone those ports in the north of the Ming Dynasty.

From the appearance of these ships, it is not difficult to tell that they come from different countries and regions. There are not only the most common Fuzhou Guangzhou ships in the Ming Dynasty, but also European-style sailing ships, Arab dhows from the Middle East, etc. Haihan calls himself a merchant.

It is true that it is not unreasonable to boast that it has traveled all over the world. When Fei Cexian boarded the ship at Weidagu Port in Tianjin and headed south, there were no foreign ships docked there. In terms of foreign trade, the Ming Dynasty was completely defeated.

.

Of course, Haihan claims to build a country based on business and all people are businessmen. It is reasonable to manage such a situation. Although Fei Cexian is a little envious in his heart, he still does not forget to look at the prosperity of Victory Port with a critical eye -

-Businessmen value profits over righteousness. Of course, the Haihan people are not much better. They are all philistines who have fallen in the eyes of money.

However, Fei Cexian soon noticed the dense coastal defense forts on both sides of the harbor channel. This sight also reminded him that Haihan's founding was not only based on commerce, but also had strong military means as a solid backing. If Haihan could not

If they rely on commercial means to achieve their goals, they actually have another option to choose from, and it may be more direct and effective than commercial means.

The sailing ship sailed into the Victory Harbor. As described in the intelligence, there was a military port on the east side of the harbor. From a distance, many warships could be seen parked on the pier. To the north of the military port, in the direction of the Tiandu River, you could see the rumors.

The large iron ship Haihan in the picture is parked on the shore. Although it is far away, its conspicuous outline still allows Fei Cexian to judge that the size of the ship is indeed astonishing. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a small mountain.

"Seeing is worth hearing a hundred times!" Fei Cexian stared at the big iron ship in the distance and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. On the one hand, he got what he wanted and saw the wonders of the world, and on the other hand, he was also impressed by the

Lamentation on Haihan's advanced shipbuilding technology. Can the Ming Dynasty build such a large iron ship? At least not at the moment. As for whether, as Qiu Yuan said, the Ming Dynasty will not be able to catch up with Haihan's shipbuilding in another hundred years.

Level, Fei Cexian is not sure now.

Facing the west and north of the harbor entrance are the wharves responsible for passenger and freight transportation. Fei Cexian glanced over and saw that there were at least hundreds of ships moored on the shore, and these were only two places in Sanya.

One of the ports, it is said that Sanya Port is located a few miles west of Victory Port. Although it was built a few years later than Victory Port, its prosperity is not inferior to Victory Port at all.

When the ship got closer to the shore, Fei Cexian suddenly discovered that there were warships of the Ming Navy among the sailboats docked on the shore, but he immediately figured out the key. The Ming garrison in Fuzhou and Guangzhou were communicating with Haihan

It's very secret that Haihan was involved in the equipment and training of the Fujian navy, and it was even known as the "Little Haihan". It's not surprising that the navies from these two places came to Sanya to engage in certain activities. They just drove Ming army warships.

Fei Cexian still found it a bit hard to accept such a swagger.

However, this is indeed just because Fei Cexian has too little understanding of the situation in the south. If he knew that the Ming army participated in the military exercises held by Haihan every year on Hainan Island, then I don’t know what he would think. Regarding Haihan

Generally speaking, sporadic ships of the Ming Navy came in and out of Victory Port. These ships had been reported in advance and would not cause any unnecessary misunderstandings. It was already a common thing.

After the sailboat docked, Fei Cexian didn't use any excuses to drag him off the ship this time. He knew that Haihan had a communication method called a telegraph. His performance in Haikou must have been sent back by Qiu Yuan via telegram.

We arrived in Sanya. If we repeat our old tricks, I am afraid that the Haihan people will no longer save themselves any face. So after the springboard was set up, Fei Cexian disembarked immediately without much delay.

Today, it was Ning Qi who greeted Fei Cexian at the dock. After the two parties introduced their identities and exchanged a few words, Ning Qi invited Fei Cexian to board the carriage and go to the guest house to settle down first. Although Fei Cexian knew that Haihan had requested

There was no welcome ceremony arranged, but after getting off the ship, I felt a little disappointed when I saw the deserted scene. Fortunately, the officials sent by Haihan to greet him were of a very high level, equivalent to the level of a bachelor in the Ming Dynasty cabinet.

It slightly makes up for Fei Cexian's vanity.

Fei Cexian and his party successfully checked into the Sanya Guest House. Fei Cexian was basically impeccable with the place arranged by Haihan. Both the environment and the service here were at a level he had never seen before.
Chapter completed!