Chapter 2196

In fact, Dai Chengrong had already thought of the problem that Ma Zhengping was worried about. He distributed all the remaining fresh water on the ship in advance in the morning so that the salt merchants' children who had not bathed for several days could use this little water to wash their faces and wipe their bodies, and then change into clean clothes.

He put on his clothes and tied his hair into a bun, so as not to lose etiquette in front of the high-ranking officials of Haihan. Although he still smelled like sweat, at least the appearance was not too bad.

"As you can see, Haihan's national ships have strong guns and strong military power. This is why I came here for training. But please remember that we and Haihan are in a cooperative relationship. Both parties get what they need, so

There is no need to belittle oneself. We must remember that everything we say and do in Zhoushan represents the face of Huizhou salt merchants, and we must not mess up in front of the Haihan people!"

Although Dai Chengrong was also shocked by the many Haihan warships in the military port, he was the person in charge of this training mission after all, so he still did not forget to remind his companions before disembarking that they should not be in trouble because of this.

Haihan behaved too humbly in front of senior officials.

But self-confidence ultimately comes from strength. The strength of the children of salt merchants is mostly limited to the economic aspect. In the Ming Dynasty, they were definitely considered to be the top wealthy business class, but this may not be the case in Haihan. The rapid rise of this emerging country has led to a large number of people taking advantage of the nouveau riche.

There are many wealthy businessmen who get rich quickly and have assets worth tens of millions. In addition, Zhoushan is a place where maritime merchants from all over the world gather. The children of salt merchants have no obvious financial advantage here.

Of course, they probably haven't had the opportunity to fully understand this yet. After all, they will be sent to the military camp for training after disembarking from the ship. Even their tuition fees have been prepaid by Ma Zhengping, so there will be no chance to show off their financial resources during this period.

.

Under the command of the guide boat and shore flags, the fleet from Yangzhou finally docked at the dock. However, after the sails were lowered and the cables were lowered, the people on the ship were not immediately allowed to disembark. There were people on the dock holding iron sheets.

The loudspeaker shouted loudly, asking them to put down the gangplank first, and the military personnel boarded the ship for registration and inspection.

This place is a military port, and as a military zone, it is necessary to implement these procedures. Moreover, Shi Diwen will be here today to greet this group of special students, so the security work is even more careless. In addition to the navy's own personnel, the Military Intelligence Bureau and

The Security Department also sent people over to assist with on-site security work.

The dock is full of civilians, and the ones to be wary of are of course the outsiders on the ship. The military must first conduct a preliminary inventory of the people on the ship and check the personnel list before letting the students ashore. As for other crew members and sailors, they are not included in this list.

, they can only stay on the ship and wait for follow-up arrangements.

"Boss Ma, let's get on the boat together first and take a look?" Duan Tiancheng saw that the gangplank had been put down on the boat, so he invited Ma Zhengping to go with him.

Ma Zhengping had this intention and quickly agreed. He knew that the junior who led the team this time was Dai Chengrong from the Dai family. He quite admired this junior's maturity and stability, but Dai Chengrong had never dealt with the Haihan people.

Therefore, Ma Zhengping must be present to ensure that there will be no problems in the connection between these students and the military.

When Dai Chengrong saw Ma Zhengping accompanying a Haihan officer on board the ship, he knew that this was probably a high-ranking Haihan official who came to greet his group, so he quickly stepped forward to greet him.

"Master Duan, this is Dai Chengrong, the youngest son of Dai Yingda, the head of the Dai family." Ma Zhengping hurriedly introduced Dai Chengrong to Duan Tiancheng. He specifically named Dai Chengrong's identity to remind Duan Tiancheng that this young man was not just a casual person.

The leader selected was a young figure with a certain status within the Huizhou salt merchants.

"Grassman Dai Chengrong meets Mr. Duan!"

As Dai Chengrong spoke, he knelt on the ground. Ma Zhengping quickly stopped him: "Good nephew, please don't kneel down. Haihan country doesn't want this!"

Dai Chengrong was stunned and thought to himself, why didn't you mention this section in the letter you sent back? However, he reacted very quickly and immediately changed it to bowing deeply.

"It doesn't matter. It's understandable that Master Dai is new here and doesn't understand the customs of our country, Haihan. You will get used to it after you stay for a while. From now on, when you train in the army, you can use the military salute of our Haihan army every day."

"Duan Tiancheng has seen many immigrants who first arrived in Zhoushan behave like this, so he doesn't find it strange.

Ma Zhengping quickly continued: "Xian Nephew, Master Duan will be responsible for your training in the next few months. You must cooperate well with Master Duan's command."

Upon hearing this, Dai Chengrong immediately turned to signal to his subordinates, and quickly wrote a book: "This is the roster of trainees who will go to Zhoushan this time. Please take a look at it, Mr. Duan!"

Duan Tiancheng took it and flipped through two pages at will, then handed it to his subordinates to hold, and said: "There is no rush, we will gather for roll call after we get off the ship. Let me tell you the arrangements for your disembarkation first."

Duan Tiancheng succinctly explained the process to Dai Chengrong. Trainees were not allowed to bring personal belongings when disembarking, and they were required to undergo basic body searches to ensure that no one was hiding weapons privately. After landing, they gathered together and checked the roster to make sure there were no landing personnel.

Error or omission. After completing these preparations, Shi Diwen, the highest official of Zhoushan, will appear in person to welcome the arrival of Dai Chengrong and other students.

After all, Dai Chengrong still didn't know enough about Haihan's social conditions, and he couldn't really appreciate the social status of a high-ranking official like Shi Diwen in Haihan Kingdom, and he couldn't imagine how difficult it was to get Shi Diwen to receive him.

After hearing the news, he just subconsciously felt that having a senior official from Haihan come forward to receive him was because the Yangzhou salt merchants had dignity, but he did not regard this treatment as particularly important.

Duan Tiancheng felt that this young man was quite calm, so he immediately asked Dai Chengrong to organize the students on each ship to disembark and assemble, and also to see how his commanding ability was.

Dai Chengrong also knew that this was an opportunity for him to perform. He immediately organized the people on the ship he was on to be inspected by the Haihan soldiers and then disembarked to assemble. At the same time, he sent personnel to notify other ships and asked them to follow the regulations.

Although they were not satisfied with the fact that they needed to be searched before landing, when they saw the Haihan soldiers armed with live ammunition on the pier, no one insisted on pretending to be heroes in this link. They had no evil purpose in the first place, since the Haihan soldiers must

To make sure no one is hiding weapons, it doesn't hurt to cooperate.

Although the entire landing process during the body search was relatively slow, it was basically smooth and there was no conflict that Dai Chengrong was worried about. In fact, it was also because these salt merchants saw the East China Sea Fleet parked in Dinghai Port and were aware of Haihan.

He has strong military strength and knows that he is unable to resist the arrangements of the Haihan Army, so he will accept it calmly.

If someone wanted to search their bodies in Yangzhou City, even if they were members of the government, military, and government agencies, it would probably be difficult for them to cooperate so obediently, and they might even do it on the spot. After all, these salt merchants

None of the disciples are afraid of getting into trouble, and the worst they can do is settle the matter with money. However, this method obviously doesn't work in Haihan Kingdom, so it's better to be honest when you first come here.

Of course, many people are taking this opportunity to observe the Haihan soldiers to see if the person they are going to study next is that powerful.

In fact, the Haihan soldiers don't look majestic at first glance. They all wear plain cotton military uniforms. At first glance, there is no one wearing armor. Even senior military officials like Duan Tiancheng only wear a suit of slightly different materials.

They are just better military uniforms. In the eyes of the children of the Salt Gang, this is simply a bit poor. It does not look like the army of a rich and powerful country. You must know that even the most remote guard station in Yangzhou Prefecture can produce at least dozens of soldiers during military training.

A decent suit of armor.

However, to say that the Haihan army is poor does not seem to be the case. In addition to the many warships parked in the port, these Haihan soldiers on the dock each have a standard musket in their hands, which is obviously a standard individual weapon.

.And Dai Chengrong even noticed that Duan Tiancheng had a leather holster tied around his waist, which contained a short fire blunderbuss. This was obviously a weapon that only high-ranking military attachés could equip.

Although there was a firearms battalion in the Ming Dynasty official army, its actual scale was very limited. After all, the purchase and use costs of muskets were much higher than that of cold weapons. With the financial resources of Yangzhou salt merchants, if they wanted to quietly form a private armed force using muskets,

, there will still be many difficulties, but infantry using muskets seems to be a standard unit in the Haihan Army, which is obviously a sign of not being short of money.

And after reaching a relatively close distance, everyone can see that these Haihan soldiers are all in high spirits, with rosy faces, bright eyes, and strong strength. They are completely different from the gloomy and defeated soldiers they usually see.

Either he is skinny and weak, and his physical condition and mental state are completely different.

However, the reason for this difference is not unfamiliar to the children of salt merchants. The martial arts warriors they raise to guard the home are probably in the same state as the Haihan soldiers. As long as they are fed and fed well every day, they will have no food and clothing.

If you exercise more diligently, you will naturally be able to maintain a better condition. Haihanjun's living conditions are obviously quite good, so he can look like what they saw.

But the cost of raising a few guards is obviously incomparable to raising thousands of soldiers, so Dai Chengrong quickly thought that the reason why Haihan's soldiers didn't wear armor was not for economic reasons, but for deliberate reasons. Then

There was only one possibility. The Haihan Army had no intention of fighting its opponents in close combat, so they completely abandoned their armor, which had strong protective capabilities but was very heavy.

Dai Chengrong's inference was almost true, but he didn't know that the Haihan Army actually had simple armors used to protect the vital parts of the torso, but they were usually only worn in special combat situations, and would not be used as a tool to show off family wealth to outsiders.

exhibit.

Duan Tiancheng didn't know that there were so many thoughts in this young man's heart. He stood not far away and watched with Ma Zhengping as Dai Chengrong ran back and forth to gather the team.

Ma Zhengping was still a little worried that Dai Chengrong's performance would not meet Duan Tiancheng's requirements. While observing his words, he said some kind words for Dai Chengrong, hoping that Dai Chengrong could successfully pass this first test.

Duan Tiancheng was actually quite satisfied with his performance. This young man was able to lead this fleet from Yangzhou, hundreds of miles away, to Zhoushan without any problems that delayed the trip. After arriving in Zhoushan, he did not rush into Zhoushan.

Instead, we stayed in a nearby island for one night and packed up before docking the ship. No matter who made the itinerary, the fact that it was successfully executed along the way showed that the commander had relatively strong abilities.

After briefly chatting with Dai Chengrong earlier, Duan Tiancheng even saw in him the shadow of himself when he first joined the army, cautious, curious, and responsible...

At least from the first impression, Duan Tiancheng believed that the quality of the leader selected by the Huizhou salt merchants was pretty good. With time and practice, he might be able to develop into an outstanding commander.

Of course, Duan Tiancheng would not say anything about these evaluations right now. As the instructor of this special team, he knew that it was too early to evaluate these students at the moment, and they would have to train for at least ten days and eight days first.

Only after a few days can we slowly see the true side of these students.

As for the candidate for the commander of this team, although the salt merchant recommended Dai Chengrong, he may not be the only candidate. Duan Tiancheng will still decide whether a replacement is needed based on the performance during the training process.

After everyone came ashore, Dai Chengrong took some time to complete the team and then reported to Duan Tiancheng.

"Then let's start calling the names!" Duan Tiancheng stretched out his hand, and someone had already handed the roster to his hand.

Ma Zhengping was a little anxious beside him. He was already counting the rosters. Why didn't Shi Diwen show up yet? Could it be that something happened temporarily and he couldn't come?

In fact, when Dai Chengrong began to organize the disembarkation, Duan Tiancheng instructed his men to go to the headquarters to report the progress here to Shi Diwen. If Shi Diwen had other arrangements, there would be time to make adjustments. After the messenger returned from the headquarters,

No other instructions were brought back, so it was obviously carried out according to the original plan. Therefore, Duan Tiancheng did not panic at all. Only Ma Zhengping, who did not know the secret, was still guessing whether Shi Diwen would show up.

In the middle of the roll call, a group of cavalry came from a distance, guarding a four-wheeled black carriage. Of course, the Salt Gang members who were being called also noticed this conspicuous team, and they all turned their attention to the huge carriage.

carriage.

Seeing this car, Ma Zhengping finally felt relieved. He had met Shi Diwen several times, so he naturally recognized that this carriage was Shi Diwen's exclusive car. And the appearance of the highest official of Zhoushan,

It symbolizes the importance that Haihan officials attach to these salt merchants' children, which is also one of the key points that Ma Zhengping cares about most.

The training price and weapon sales price quoted by the Zhoushan authorities were simply astronomical. Ma Zhengping didn't know that this was an intentional rip-off by the Haihan people, but he still paid for it. In addition to considering that the Huizhou salt merchants really needed training,

The purpose of raising a private army to protect oneself is actually to seek asylum from Haihan.

After paying a high price for protection, Ma Zhengping also wanted to make sure that his money was not wasted. This matter would gain sufficient attention from Haihan officials, and Shi Diwen's attitude was an extremely important symbol.
Chapter completed!