Chapter 2102

These reserve soldiers are temporarily receiving military training as militiamen on Zhoushan Island. They will be converted to formal military status after Shi Diwen applies for a local recruitment quota from the Ministry of National Defense every year. This can not only reduce personnel expenses, but also have a

The observation period is to confirm whether these recruits are qualified to serve in the Haihan Army.

Of course, not all the militiamen participating in the military parade were deployed. The actual number of militiamen deployed in Zhoushan and some nearby islands under the control of Haihan far exceeded the number of troops shown in public today. This is also the intention of the military

Hide your strength to avoid causing unnecessary panic among the foreign merchants watching the military parade.

As Xuan Xiangming said, the highlight of the military parade is the navy fleet. After all the army teams passed the review area, they heard three explosions, three red flares were shot into the sky, and then there was a huge fire on the sea in the distance.

The shadows of sails soon appeared.

The direction of the VIP stand is facing Dapanzhi Island in the south, so you can have a clear view of the port waters without adjusting your sitting posture, and Ma Zhengping finally got to see the legendary Haihan Navy.

Strong ships and powerful guns, this kind of large-scale equipment that originally only existed in imagination, now finally appeared in front of Ma Zhengping. The appearance of the Haihan battleship is significantly different from that of the Ming Dynasty navy. The hull is more slender and the mast is

There were soft sails on the boat, and the visual impact brought by the huge hull made Ma Zhengping unable to think of suitable words to describe his feelings.

"Look, the two largest ships are Haihan, the flagship of the East China Sea Fleet. It is said that there are dozens of cannons on the ship. During the war, the sound can be heard on the sea for dozens of miles around..." Xuan Xiangming

Unabashedly showing off his knowledge to Ma Zhengping.

In fact, needless to say, as long as you are not blind, it is difficult not to notice the two majestic-class battleships whose hulls are far larger than ordinary sailing ships. These are also the largest sailing ships that Ma Zhengping has ever seen in his life, and the cargo ships under his own control

Compared with this Haihan battleship, it is really a junior.

If you encounter such a big man at sea, it will be difficult to resist immediately. Moreover, it is said that the ship is equipped with dozens of artillery pieces. The enemy ship may not be directly disintegrated after being bombarded.

Talk about resistance.

Ma Zhengping used to feel that the Zhejiang government was too weak when facing the Haihan people, and chose to compromise without even putting up any decent resistance, allowing the Haihan people to occupy the key area of ​​Zhoushan Island. But when he saw the Haihan people with his own eyes,

After seeing the true face of the Han fleet, they immediately understood the original difficulties of the Zhejiang government. Can they still expect the navy to defeat such a monster? It is obvious that they cannot defeat it. If they start a war rashly, defeat will be trivial, giving Haihan an excuse to invade the mainland.

If you come up, there will be no way to end it.

For the Ming Dynasty, which was in the midst of internal and external troubles at the time, there was no room for error in handling the conflict with Haihan. Once the war started, it would be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to allocate strength to resist Haihan's attack from the sea.

They could only sit back and watch Haihan's army do whatever they wanted within the territory. Therefore, they chose to compromise and acquiesced to Haihan's right to rule on Zhoushan Island in exchange for peace. On the contrary, it was the safest choice for the Zhejiang government at the time. At least this effectively avoided the possibility of war.

Compared with the serious consequences of an outbreak and further invasion, just losing control of some islands seems easier to accept.

Ma Zhengping is a businessman and does not have such a deep understanding and experience of the situation of the government. However, the Haihan Fleet in front of him has given him a very intuitive feeling. It is very unwise to go against such an armed force.

Following the two flagships were more than thirty large and small warships. Although the number could not be said to be astonishing, the fleet battle formation stretching for several sea miles on the sea was extremely shocking. At this moment, Ma Zhengping was also impressed by Xuan Xiangming's previous

I have a deeper understanding of the claim that Zhoushan Island has good public security. After all, with such a powerful armed fleet stationed on Zhoushan Island, how can any bold and crazy person dare to cause trouble in this sea area.

Seeing the fleet passing through the bay and heading towards the military port on the west side of Dinghai Port, today's military parade has come to an end. Although the scale of the military parade on Zhoushan Island is far less than that of Sanya, as an overseas military base, it is already able to achieve such a level

It was extremely difficult, and it achieved the goal of using force to intimidate the locals and increase the confidence of foreign businessmen in the Zhoushan authorities with extremely high efficiency. The results were quite good.

"If I'm not mistaken, the number of warships in the East China Sea Fleet this year is much higher than last year! The general manages the army well, which is admirable!"

The person sitting next to Shi Diwen on the viewing platform was not one of his subordinate officials, but He Xiao, who came to attend this event on behalf of Ningbo Prefecture. After watching the display of the naval fleet, he took the initiative to express respect for Shi Diwen.

After all, the size of the East China Sea Fleet symbolizes the strength of the Zhoushan authorities, and the stronger the strength of Zhoushan, the safer the cooperative relationship between Ningbo Prefecture and Haihan, and the easier it will be for He Xiao to benefit himself through this relationship.

Shi Diwen saw that He Xiao had noticed the details of the changes in the East China Sea Fleet, and he readily admitted without any disguise: "This is actually a ship that was decided to be added the year before, but the shipyard was too busy, so it was delayed until a few

They started to serve in the army just a few months ago."

He Xiao said: "Will these newly commissioned warships also participate in subsequent combat operations?"

Because the Zhoushan authorities have recently purchased a large amount of military supplies on the market, in order to avoid misunderstandings, Shi Diwen has already explained the general situation to Qu Yutong through the He brothers, so He Xiao also knows that the East China Sea Fleet will be dispatched to a certain place in the future.

Carry out combat missions, but the specific arrangements are not clear. He Xiao asked this question partly out of curiosity, but also wanted to know whether Haihan's operation required the East China Sea Fleet to deploy in full force.

However, it is unlikely that he will get a specific answer from Shi Diwen for such a military secret. Shi Diwen smiled and said: "Whether you want to participate or not depends on the task allocation of the Ministry of National Defense. It doesn't matter if I say it now. He

Sir, are you worried that Zhoushan’s defenses will be empty after the fleet sets off?”

He Xiao hurriedly said: "That's not the case. Even if the navy goes out, there is still an army stationed on the island. Who dares to do this?"

Shi Diwen said: "Mr. He can tell the Lord after he returns that during the Zhoushan garrison's expedition, there will still be enough troops on the island to ensure that local security is stable and business activities can proceed smoothly. If anyone has any concerns about Zhoushan during this period,

Initiating hostile actions against the island or the industries under Haihan's name will be regarded as a serious provocation against our country and will definitely result in military retaliation from our country."

Shi Diwen said this not to warn Qu Yutong, but to reassure Qu Yutong that Haihan would not relax his defense of Zhoushan Island during this period. He also understood why Qu Yutong was so nervous.

The secret cooperation with Haihan allowed Qu Yutong to obtain a large amount of income. However, Qu Yutong felt that it was not safe to leave all these properties in the Ming Dynasty, so he gradually transferred some of them overseas. On Zhoushan Island alone, there are many

Qu Yutong spent money to buy the property. If something goes wrong on Zhoushan Island, Qu Yutong would inevitably suffer serious losses, so he asked He Xiao to take advantage of the opportunity to watch the ceremony to find out what Shi Diwen said.

If his identity was not sensitive and it was inconvenient to appear in front of the public, Qu Yutong would probably have come to Zhoushan Island to find Shi Diwen in person to reassure him.

"I will definitely convey the general's intention to Master Qu." He Xiao understood and quickly responded.

In another part of the stand, Xuan Xiangming looked at the East China Sea Fleet sailing into the military port with unfinished thoughts. He suddenly remembered something and turned to Ma Zhengping and asked: "I haven't asked Boss Ma what kind of business he does?"

Ma Zhengping did not hide anything and responded calmly: "I am a salt merchant."

"Salt merchant! That boss Ma is a rich man!" Xuan Xiangming said with envy on his face: "Last year, many salt merchants who did salt business with Haihan made a fortune. I heard that many of them were new entrants.

That's right, I made a lot of money with Haihan's help. After hearing this, I want to change my career to sell salt!"

Ma Zhengping said: "Boss Xuan is talking about someone else. I am going to the island this time to come to the Haihan people to discuss cooperation matters, but I am not sure whether the negotiation can be concluded."

Xuan Xiangming said: "So Boss Ma is not a native of Ningbo?"

Ma Zhengping shook his head and said, "I'm from Yangzhou."

Xuan Xiangming often travels between Ningbo and Zhoushan Island, and he also has a certain understanding of the salt industry operated by Haihan. He knows that Haihan has built salt farms in Xiangshan and Shipu, and most of the distributors are from Ningbo.

He met a salt merchant from Yangzhou for the first time on Zhoushan Island.

"Yangzhou...I heard that there was some trouble in Yangzhou because of the salt business!" Xuan Xiangming said meaningfully.

Regarding what happened in Yangzhou last year, Ningbo also received some rumors after the incident. The local salt merchants' armed forces suffered heavy losses overnight. It seems that it has no direct relationship with Zhoushan Island, but well-informed people like Xuan Xiangming

But I heard that this was done by Haihan. The purpose was to clear the obstacles to the northward sales of salt, so that the salt produced by the Haihan salt farm could be sold in Jiangsu and seize the traditional market controlled by Yangzhou salt merchants. In other words,

The attitude of the Yangzhou salt merchants made the Zhoushan authorities lose their patience, so they took thunderous measures to teach the Yangzhou salt merchants to recognize the situation.

Although Xuan Xiangming's source of information is not official, it is a stakeholder such as a local salt merchant. He has his own channels to obtain this information, so his credibility is extremely high. And the Yangzhou salt merchant came to Zhoushan Island at this time,

Its purpose seems worth savoring.

"It seems that Boss Xuan also knows some news." Ma Zhengping didn't know to what extent the Yangzhou incident had spread here, so he had to vaguely explain it first: "There were some misunderstandings with Haihan Kingdom before, but since everyone's purpose is to

When doing business, there is room for negotiation, and this is the purpose of my visit to Zhoushan."

Although Xuan Xiangming has a big mouth, he is not an honest person who just believes what others say. He knows that the affairs in Yangzhou are too deep, so he does not dare to judge whether Ma Zhengping's words are true or false. However, Yangzhou salt merchants came to Zhoushan

This thing is somewhat interesting, and it can become another topic for him to talk about later.

Ma Zhengping wanted to find Xuan Xiangming to inquire about the regulations and operation methods of land on the island, so he took the initiative to invite Xuan Xiangming to have lunch. However, Xuan Xiangming was a little shy now that he knew Ma Zhengping's identity and politely declined.

He accepted his invitation. He was also worried that if the Yangzhou salt merchant failed to make peace with Haihan, then he would get too close to Ma Zhengping, which might affect the Haihan official's view of him.

Although Ma Zhengping was a little disappointed, he didn't show it on his face. For friends like Xuan Xiangming who knew Haihan well, it never hurts to get to know him first. He still politely asked where Xuan Xiangming was.

The residence on the island said that he would visit another day.

After visiting Yang Yun, Ma Zhengping is actually not too worried about Haihan official's attitude towards him. Even if the cooperation cannot be reached, he will not be kicked out of Zhoushan Island in disgrace. But he now knows someone on the island

There were only two people, so it was still difficult to get more information. Ma Zhengping planned to try again to see if he could invite Yang Yun to dinner, but his idea soon proved to be unfeasible. Yang Yun accompanied Shi

Diwen left, and they were surrounded by guards. Outsiders like Ma Zhengping couldn't get close at all.

"That's it, let's look for another opportunity later!" Seeing this posture, Ma Zhengping knew that his idea would be difficult to achieve, so he could only give up his plan temporarily.

As the military parade ended, the people on the island dispersed. However, Ma Zhengping had heard from Xuan Xiangming that there were many trade activities on the island in the past two days, so he planned to take this opportunity to go and have a look. He had long heard that the Haihan people

I am good at business, but I have never had a specific concept of how to be good at it. This time I had the opportunity to come to Zhoushan Island, so I naturally wanted to find a way to learn more about it.

He visited Ningbo City before coming to Zhoushan, but he felt that the business atmosphere of Zhoushan Dinghai Port was even better than that of Ningbo City. There were various shops, hotels, restaurants, and inns within his field of vision, which can be seen from this place.

The consumption power of residents is strong.

However, this principle is also very simple. It didn't take Ma Zhengping long to figure out the key. Most of the people traveling to and from the port area are businessmen and sailors from various countries. The purpose of these people coming to Zhoushan is to make money, but they also spend money, and their spending power is far greater than

The ordinary people in Ningbo city created such a prosperous scene.

Of course, due to the island environment here, the decoration quality of these shops is far inferior to that of Yangzhou City in Ma Zhengping's opinion, but presumably not many merchants who come here would mind such details.

Ma Zhengping wandered along the streets of the port area for a while, and saw a house under construction not far away. He was planning to buy land on the island, and immediately became interested when he saw it, and planned to go and take a look.

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