Chapter 1874 Limited vision

Due to the limitations of his environment and the level of information he has access to, Li Bo's perspective on the problem is undoubtedly relatively narrow. War and peace, closeness and alienation between countries are by no means accidental, and with his current limited

It is indeed difficult to see clearly the current complex international relations.

The game situation between the four countries of Ming Dynasty, Haihan, Qing Dynasty and North Korea in Northeast Asia has gradually emerged, and North Korea can only temporarily play a weak role. The military strength of the other three countries is far better than that of North Korea. According to the

They needed to "arrange" North Korea according to their own interests and take turns to act as the suzerain state of North Korea. Among them, the Ming Dynasty relied on the prestige accumulated over the past two hundred years to form a control over North Korea, while the Qing Dynasty used force to break the situation, which was broken in the Ding Mao Rebellion in 1627.

The vassal-vassal relationship between Korea and Ming Dynasty was forcibly interfered with.

As for Haihan, although it was the last force to enter this area, due to its better preparation in strategic planning, it was also the fastest to replace the former. Whether it was the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, when facing Haihan,

When facing new opponents, their shortcomings in military force are inevitably exposed. In this era where fists speak the loudest, Haihan's iron fist is undoubtedly difficult for them to withstand. Even if they are unwilling to do so, they can only temporarily give up their status as regional hegemons.

Li Bo's problem is that he only saw the different attitudes shown by these three countries when dealing with North Korea, but did not understand the international situation reflected by the various attitudes. The domineering Ming Dynasty, the unreasonable Qing Dynasty, and

Haihan, who is extremely shrewd, is actually not a good partner for North Korea no matter which country he is, but the way of squeezing North Korea is different.

In real comparison, the Ming Dynasty demanded the least from North Korea. In recent years, it has almost no desires or demands. After Jin invaded North Korea in 1627, he required North Korea to pay annual coins, and Haihan even provided North Korea with

All aid provided by the Ming Dynasty was clearly marked with a price, turning military aid into a business. However, North Korea believed that the Ming Dynasty's laissez-faire towards Hou Jin in recent years was a sign of unwillingness to save them, and this attitude made them increasingly alienated from their former suzerainty.

, and even produced some kind of hatred.

Li Bo is one of the Koreans who holds this idea. In his view, the evil neighbors in the north are all unreasonable barbarians. Their use of force to attack North Korea is due to evil intentions, and the Haihan people were not originally the suzerains of North Korea.

It is reasonable for North Korea to meet certain conditions before it is willing to provide military asylum. The attitudes of both companies are reasonable. However, as the suzerain state of North Korea for more than two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty has been indifferent to the crisis facing North Korea.

In his opinion, it was really unjustifiable.

So when today's reception banquet, the military attachés of the Ming Dynasty showed their "concern" for North Korea. Li Bo couldn't help but feel a little unhappy when he thought about it afterwards. He thought that the attitude of these military attaches was too hypocritical and that their concern for North Korea was completely a performance.

. Little did they know that what these military attachés really care about is not the life and death of North Korea, but whether there are relatively easy-to-operate business opportunities locally that allow them to enter the market and make profits.

Li Pu tried hard to recall his speech and performance at the banquet, but he still didn't dare to confirm whether he had made any gaffe or inappropriate behavior. After thinking about it, he simply called his entourage to invite Jin Shangjiu over.

Jin Shangjiu slept until he was woken up in the middle of the night. When he heard that the prince was urgently summoned, he quickly got dressed and hurried over. After hearing Li Bo's question, he was a little dumbfounded. He thought that the prince must have been drunk and confused. How could he even do what he had done earlier?

I don't remember anything that happened.

However, Jin Shangjiu did not show any impatience and responded respectfully: "Your Majesty, you had a great time chatting with officials from various countries at the previous banquet. There was nothing inappropriate about it."

Li Pu frowned and thought to himself that he only remembered chatting with Ming officers about some inexplicable topics. How come he later started chatting with officials from other countries?

Jin Shangjiu continued: "The Crown Prince asked a lot of envoys from Annan and other countries about the human geography of the South China Sea last night. It seems that he has entered the state."

Li Ming was even more confused now. He couldn't even remember who he had talked to, and how could he remember the content of the conversation. But it was a pity to think about it. These topics might have some influence on his study, life and social life in Haihan in the future.

It was beneficial, but I couldn’t recall it at all.

With a glimmer of hope, Li Bo asked Jin Shangjiu: "Master Jin, do you remember what issues I discussed with envoys from other countries?"

Jin Shangjiu bowed and responded: "I only heard a few questions intermittently. The Crown Prince asked how many countries there are in the South China Sea, how big are they, and how far are these countries from Haihan State."

The corners of Li Pu's mouth couldn't help but twitch a few times. Asking these questions really revealed his ignorance. He himself was not a well-read person. What he had studied before was mostly Confucianism such as Confucian classics, astronomy and geography.

I have very little contact with such knowledge. And given North Korea’s location and navigation level, its understanding of the South China Sea is indeed very limited. I only know some country names.

Increasing understanding of the outside world is one of the main purposes of Li Bo's study abroad this time. However, asking envoys from other countries for information in this regard on an occasion like yesterday's dinner does seem to be a bit exposing his own shortcomings. But Jin Shangjiu

He felt that there was nothing wrong with doing this. Instead, he thought that Li Bo had entered a state of study at this time. He could not have imagined that Li Bo's performance last night was because of drinking, not because of his eagerness to learn.

After Li Bo roughly asked about the situation at yesterday's banquet, he let Jin Shangjiu leave. Regarding the blank period in his mind, Li Bo could only secretly make up his mind to control his drinking in the future, so as not to be like yesterday again.

This delayed the business. Fortunately, according to Jin Shangjiu, he did not act out of character at the time. This was probably a blessing in misfortune.

After Jin Shangjiu left, Li Pu fell on the bed and thought over and over again about yesterday's conversation with Shi Diwen and others, before slowly falling asleep.

The next day, Li Hao slept peacefully until almost noon before getting up. According to the arrangement, his schedule today was to visit the Dinghai Port Shipyard with Shi Diwen in the afternoon.

After the Anti-Qing War, North Korea has fully realized the role of shipbuilding and navigation in defending the country, so it has also regarded the construction of surface armed forces as the next key development direction. Although the Datong River

The shipyard downstream, where Haihan provided technology and North Korea funded it, is still under construction. However, among the overseas students sent to Haihan this time, there are four shipbuilders, which shows that North Korean officials are not aware of this.

The importance attached to the matter.

The Dinghaigang Shipyard located on Zhoushan Island was not the largest shipyard under Haihan's rule, and it was not even among the top three. The main purpose of building the shipyard here was not to build combat ships, but to need such a facility.

It came to provide repairs and maintenance for the East China Sea Fleet stationed here, and the Northern Fleet that subsequently went north to Shandong. However, after Haihan occupied Lushun, he quickly built a shipyard in Lushun Port to save the Northern Fleet's ships from having to travel thousands of miles.

All the way back to Zhejiang to maintain the trouble.

In fact, the Zhoushan Islands were one of the maritime trade distribution centers in the East China Sea before Haihan arrived, so the shipbuilding industry here is relatively developed. There are also many private shipyards that can build seagoing ships of four to five hundred materials. However, Haihan is in Dinghai Port

After the government-run shipyard was established, it quickly attracted the most skilled private shipbuilders under its command through various means.

The official responsible for managing the Dinghai Port Shipyard is Zhang Qianxiang, the second son of Zhang Tiangui, the technical director of the Shengli Port Shipyard. He is also a standard industry insider and a technocrat. One of Zhang Qianxiang's major political achievements while managing the Dinghai Port Shipyard is:

This is to give this place the technical capabilities to manufacture expedition-class warships.

Although this is only the smallest model of the Haihan Navy's active warships, and the construction difficulty is not as high as that of high-end warships, not just any shipyard can have the corresponding technical capabilities. The number of senior technicians required is dedicated to

Dry docks for building warships, supporting facilities for processing shipbuilding wood, and standardized shipbuilding processes, etc. These rigid standards are by no means what ordinary private shipyards can achieve.

"We started building this shipyard three years ago, and it has only been more than a year since we built the production capacity. However, the operation efficiency here is very high. Since the shipyard was built, more than 1,000 ships have been launched from here.

Thirty ships.”

Shi Diwen proudly introduced the situation of the shipyard to Li Bo: "Several expedition-class warships built here have now entered service in the Northern Fleet. By the way, the Haihan Navy that previously fought in your country,

Among them are the warships we built here."

Shi Diwen's introduction is not a boast. Currently, there are as many as a thousand employees in the Dinghaigang Shipyard. All slipways and docks are not empty, and they are all working at full capacity to build ships of all sizes.

Li Bo curiously pointed to a place in the distance surrounded by canvas and asked: "Excuse me, Mr. Shi, what kind of ship is being built there?"

Shi Diwen nodded to Zhang Qianxiang next to him and said, "Director Zhang, come and explain to the prince."

Zhang Qianxiang stepped forward and bowed to Li Pu and said: "Your Majesty, a naval warship is being built there. Due to the need for technical confidentiality, the outside is covered with canvas. Your Majesty, would you like to go in and take a look?"

Of course, Li Bo would not object to this suggestion, so under the leadership of Zhang Qianxiang, Li Bo and his party were able to enter the military dock and observe the construction process of the Haihan warship.

Different from the slipway where civilian ships are built outside, this enclosed place is a dry dock that Li Bo has never seen before. There is a sealed gate about one foot high on the seaside side, which must be completed and launched after the warships in the dock are completed.

Only then will the locks be opened and the water released. The expedition-class warship currently under construction in the dock has completed about 50% of the hull construction. It seems that it is still too early to be completed.

"The keel laying of this ship started one and a half months ago. The construction period is expected to be five months. It will be completed and launched around the first month of next year. If the military's sea trial acceptance can be successfully passed, it will be put into service as soon as March next year."

When it came to his work, Zhang Qianxiang also became excited: "We have three such shipyards here. If they operate at full speed, at least six expedition-class warships can be launched every year, which can basically meet the normal expansion and maintenance of warships of the Northern Fleet and East China Sea Fleet.

upgrade."

Although Dinghaigang Shipyard currently has the ability to build expedition-class warships, in fact, the weapons and equipment on the ship are still inevitably limited by the supply of Sanya. In order for the warships built here to achieve combat effectiveness, they must still be subject to the unified arrangements of the Ministry of National Defense.

.

However, for Li Bo, what he was concerned about was whether such shipbuilding technology could be introduced into North Korea, or whether the country's shipbuilders could learn these advanced technologies and bring them back to North Korea. The four shipbuilders he brought with him were all

He stared closely at the Haihan craftsmen who were working on the hull, as if he wanted to learn some advanced techniques from their operations.

Of course, Zhang Qianxiang also takes note of the performance of the North Koreans, but he is not worried that the North Koreans will learn the technology after just a few glances here. Haihan's shipbuilding technology is a systematic project, and the real high-value technology actually lies in ship design.

, process flow arrangement, component standardization, complete supporting facilities, etc. When actually constructing on the slipway or dock, it is actually assembling the processed components together. Relatively speaking, the technical difficulty is not very high.

If you are a craftsman with certain professional skills and the opportunity to receive formal training, you can start working in less than a month.

The shipbuilding technology training that Haihan provides to North Korea is mainly about operational skills in the construction process in the early stage. If the craftsmen selected by North Korea have relatively strong abilities, they will have the opportunity to learn more advanced technologies. As for advanced technologies such as ship design,

Haihan does not think that the craftsmen selected by North Korea have such a technical foundation, so there is currently no plan in this area. Of course, if such talents really emerge, Haihan will definitely try to naturalize them.

Shi Diwen generously allowed the North Korean craftsmen to come up close to observe the details of the construction and the hull structure, in order to show that Haihan had no selfish intentions for the technical training project he had promised. This move also won Li's favor.

He felt that this was a sign that Haihan was true to his word. However, he had limited vision and did not know that the main reason why Haihan was so generous was that he was too far ahead in technology, so he had the confidence to show them these things.

thing.

Another thing Zhang Qianxiang did not explain to the North Koreans is that the reason why the shipyard was fenced off was not to worry that the shipbuilding technology would be secretly learned by outsiders. After all, the Dinghaigang Shipyard was originally a military-controlled area, and no one else could get there.

Nearby, the reason why they were surrounded was not to let the outside world know the construction progress of the warships, so as to estimate the changes in Haihan's naval power.
Chapter completed!