Chapter 2239

Li Nai's view of Annan Kingdom is not without purpose. As the first foreign army to cooperate with Haihan, Annan Kingdom has been imitating Haihan's military system after the end of the civil war. It not only purchased large quantities of weapons and equipment produced by Haihan, but also The organization, training methods, and command system of the entire army are constantly moving closer to Haihan.

In recent years, the Annan Kingdom has invested a lot of resources in military construction, and the results achieved have been very significant. Now the Annan Army is considered the leading military in the Indo-China Peninsula. It has also sent troops several times to accompany the Haihan Army to fight overseas, and has accumulated a lot of experience. Little combat experience.

Annan State has benefited from such military cooperation. Now it selects young officers from the army every year and sends them to Sanya for military training. These trainees have been exposed to Haihan-related military systems when they were in China, and some even I can also speak Hai-Han Mandarin, so my adaptation to Sanya is generally better than that of students from other places, and the training effect is often the best.

As far as Li Nai knows, in the past few similar competitions, Annan students have performed well. Although they have not won the first place in all events, they are indeed the most powerful group of students from various countries. Therefore, for Su Keyi When asked a question, Li Nai's subconscious first choice was Annan.

After listening to the reasons stated by Li Nai, Su Keyi also nodded slightly in agreement: "Annan Kingdom now has both land and water armies in shape, and the ruling King of Qingdu admires Haihan. The Annan Army can indeed be regarded as Haihan's favorite disciple. Yes. Sometimes when I meet overseas students from Annan, I can’t tell whether they are from Annan or Haihan.”

Li Nai smiled and said: "I have the same problem. After all, many citizens of Haihan Kingdom moved from Annan in the early years. Now there are tens of thousands of Annan citizens on Hainan Island, and there are also many in the Haihan Army. It is indeed difficult to distinguish the identities of soldiers of Annan origin."

During the Annan Civil War, Haihan took the opportunity to collect a large number of war refugees in Annan and transported them back to his own territory for resettlement to fill the large labor force urgently needed for his own development. Later, most of these refugees stayed in Haihan and naturally became Haihan Among the citizens, many of them entered the yamen as errands and became officials.

It is not uncommon for soldiers of Annan descent in the Haihan Army. There are even South Vietnamese surrendered generals like Wu Sen who are reused in the Haihan Navy. The Annan Army sends personnel to Haihan for training. It can be said that there is basically no big deal. The cultural gap is probably one of the reasons for the excellent training effect.

Su Keyi added: "There is also Mr. Xu from Fujian. Over the years, he has sent many people to Sanya for training, and he has good personal relationships with senior officials in Haihan. To say that those who can learn real skills from Haihan are Mr. Xu's subordinates It must be counted as one.”

The Master Xu that Su Keyi refers to naturally refers to Xu Xinsu, the commander-in-chief of Fujian. Xu Xinsu relied on Haihan's support in his early years to defeat his rival Shibazhi, and has since become Haihan's loyal supporter and ally. Every year in Fujian The size of the arms purchase order from Haihan, the number of military operations organized by Haihan, and the number of military personnel sent to study abroad in Haihan are basically equivalent to those of Annan Kingdom.

It's just that Fujian is several times farther from Sanya than Annan, so the close exchanges with Haihan are actually not as close as Annan. In addition, Xu Xinsu is a local warlord after all, so there will be restrictions on the candidates sent to study in Haihan, and he is more likely to When choosing a descendant of the Xu family, the selection scope is inevitably smaller than that of Annan.

This difference is also caused by the different environments between the two places. The domestic situation in Annan has stabilized. Regardless of whether the people sent to study abroad are the children of the Zheng family or not, after returning to China, they can only serve the Qing capital king Zheng Zhi. And Xu Xinsu is sure.

They would worry that the talents they had worked so hard to cultivate would be taken away by the Ming Dynasty with high-ranking officials and generous salaries, so they would be more inclined to be loyal to their own clansmen in terms of candidates.

Over time, the quality of Annan's trainees was better than that of Fujian, which was also reflected in past competition results. Therefore, although Su Keyi was optimistic about the trainees from Fujian, he still ranked them behind Annan.

Li Nai said: "Brother Su seems to have been paying attention to this for a long time. Why not persuade the Governor of Batavia to let him put aside his estrangement and become an ally with the Haihan Kingdom. From now on, whether it is training or competition, buy

Whether it’s arms or not, you don’t have to be just a spectator anymore!”

The person currently in charge of the East India Company in Batavia is Van Diemen. After the war with Madara ended in 1632, he took over the governorship and the local post-war ruins. It took him nearly five years to

Completed the reconstruction of Batavia city and port.

In the past few years, the East India Company has been living a very difficult life. Most of the money it made from East Asian trade was invested in the reconstruction project of Batavia. This also made the Dutch domestic shareholders have an interest in the East India Company's profits.

The situation is very unsatisfactory. If Van Diemen had not managed to maintain the Taiwan Taipei and Japan routes after taking office, and avoided the outbreak of new wars during this period, I am afraid that domestic shareholders would have sent people to replace him.

However, due to the sluggish development in recent years, the East India Company's influence in East Asia has greatly shrunk, and it can no longer compete with Haihan in the South China Sea. Even the Portuguese, who have always been suppressed by the East India Company, because of their

The Han Dynasty has moved closer to the Han Dynasty, and has become prosperous in recent years. The scale of trade in East Asia has vaguely surpassed that of the East India Company.

The only good news may be that the Spaniards were suppressed step by step by Haihan during this period. Even their most important colony in the East, Manila, was lost and forced to retreat to the depths of the South China Sea. The current situation of the Spaniards is equivalent to that of the East.

The Indian Company lost Batavia, and there was no hope of turning around in a short time. This old rival was in trouble due to Haihan's attack, which slightly reduced the competitive pressure that the East India Company had to face.

Neither the East India Company nor the current Governor of Batavia, Van Diemen, is of course satisfied with the current situation. Even if they are unable to confront Haihan due to the gap in armed strength, they must at least find ways to compete with the West.

Gain an advantage in the competition among peers, and at the same time frighten the enemies in the surrounding area to avoid the tragic situation of being beaten by horses and the troops of the Lan Kingdom coming to the city again.

But the reality is that the East India Company can hardly even produce the steel needed to make weapons, and has to spend a lot of money to import these raw materials from overseas. Without enough weapons and equipment, the East India Company is proud of its armed fleet and city defenses.

It is difficult to be complete, let alone to talk about revival.

This dilemma is not without a solution. As long as the East India Company is willing to bow to Haihan, learn from the Portuguese, follow Haihan's lead in East Asia, and obey Haihan's arrangements in trade and military matters, then there will be a lot of hope.

It is hoped that Haihan's recognition can be obtained, the bilateral relations can be eased, and the East India Company can return to its original development track.

But the problem is that the Dutch have been unwilling to bow their heads, and Su Keyi doesn't quite understand whether this is Van Diemen's obsession, or whether the major shareholders in Europe are unwilling to let the East India Company succumb to a small emerging country.

Therefore, after hearing the suggestion put forward by Li Nai, Su Keyi could only respond with a wry smile: "Onlookers can see it very clearly. Brother Li can see it very clearly. It's just that this kind of business direction affairs. I am a Han Chinese and a Batavia person who talks lightly, it is not at all

There is no way to interfere.”

In fact, Su Keyi claims to be of low caliber, but that is not true. The Su family is originally a large Han family in Batavia and is quite influential among the local Han people. This is why Su Keyi was recruited by the East India Company at a young age.

, and became a special consultant in the company. Later, because he was proficient in the languages ​​​​of the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty, Haihan, who was also a Han in power, was sent as the permanent envoy.

Su Keyi would regularly send reports back to Batavia, and the contents of these reports would also become important reference materials for Van Diemen and the company's board of directors to adjust the strategy towards Haihan. However, should the East India Company fundamentally change its attitude toward Haihan?

Han's stance and attitude were indeed beyond his control.

Li Nai said: "Maybe Brother Su can try a few more angles to persuade the Governor. After all, the purpose of your East India Company's business is to make money, not to fight. Besides, who has ever taken advantage of Haihan?

?It’s better to respect them and work together to make a fortune. Look at how happy the Portuguese have been in making money in recent years. Thomas, the minister stationed in Sanya, has now purchased several large farms in Haihandu. He can have a stable income without venturing out to sea.

Isn’t it good that the income is recorded?”

After Su Keyi heard this, he must be lying if he said he was not moved at all. How could he not know that growing cash crops on the Haihan farm would bring stable and generous long-term income, but this way of making money was not suitable for him because of the same old problem

, Haihan imposed many restrictions on the Dutch trading activities in the country, including the operation of large farms.

Although Su Keyi is essentially a Han Chinese, he is indeed working for the East India Company, so he is also within the restricted category. The Portuguese, because of their alliance with Haihan, are subject to much fewer restrictions. Many Dutch

The Portuguese can operate industries that humans cannot enter, and Su Keyi can only watch helplessly as these ways of making money are gradually eroded by competitors.

Su Keyi said: "Why am I willing to fight with Haihan? It's just that the general trend of the world is not as simple as brother Li understands. The Governor insists on his position, and he must have his own special considerations. Fortunately, he signed a peace agreement with Haihan

After that, there will be no more fighting between the two sides, and as long as there is no war, there will be no other major events."

Back then, the city of Batavia was besieged by the Matalan army. Su Keyi also witnessed the cruelty of the war in the city. He did not want the same situation to happen again. With Haihan's current military strength, he was able to capture it across the sea.

For a strong city like Manila, Batavia is probably not a big deal. Therefore, maintaining peace with Haihan is equivalent to saving the city of Batavia from war. In Su Keyi's view, this is more important than other things.

Much more important.

Li Nai nodded slowly after hearing this and said: "The Haihan people are smart, and the Dutch are not much inferior, otherwise, why would there be any need to impose various restrictions on them... The general trend of the world is indeed not as simple as it seems on the surface. Brother Su's words are reasonable.

!”

In fact, Li Nai sees the trend of the international situation far more clearly than Su Keyi, but his intention is just to take the opportunity to reconcile the two sides, and does not want to use Haihan's true strength to intimidate Su Keyi, so his rhetoric is not radical.

, even if he knew that some of Su Keyi's views were one-sided, he would not take the initiative to criticize them, but would slowly follow the other party's words.

Su Keyi sighed: "Brother Li knows me well! In fact, whether we can completely reconcile with Haihan, in my opinion, we can talk about it slowly, but the trade between the East India Company and Ming Dynasty can definitely be maintained at the current level."

Further improvement. Fulifeng is the number one trading house in Guangdong. If it can take over the purchase orders of the East India Company in Ming Dynasty, it will be of great benefit to both of us."

Su Keyi's turn was a bit abrupt, but Li Nai heard it and immediately understood the other party's intention - the trade share lost by the East India Company in Haihan could be made up for in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the premise is that

In Ming Dynasty, there have to be powerful local dignitaries like Fulifeng as partners. As for making profits, it will be a matter of course.

However, it is no secret that Haihan imposed restrictions on the East India Company's trade activities. Li Nai also knew it well. If Furifeng cooperated with the Dutch privately, it would certainly be able to expand its foreign trade scale, but

This was contrary to Haihan's wishes. Li Nai knew what Haihan meant to Furifeng, so he definitely could not and would not dare to agree to Su Keyi's proposal.

"Brother Su, Haihan stipulated that all trade between the East India Company and the Ming Dynasty must be completed at the port operated by Haihan. I don't believe you know the purpose of this restriction. What do you think?

Establishing a direct trade relationship with Furifeng means circumventing the rules set by the Haihan people. Have you seriously considered how much risk this will bring to you and me?" Li Nai was not in a hurry to reject Su Keyi, or

Be patient and tell him the truth.

Su Keyi said: "The greater the risk, the higher the return. Brother Li doesn't understand this, right?"

Li Nai shook his head and said: "The income is not as high as Brother Su thinks, which would allow Furifeng to risk offending Haihan to do such a thing. Once exposed, even the existing stable income will be lost.

No more. I am not a risk taker, and there is no need to take such a big risk for a small gain."

Su Keyi was slightly disappointed when he heard this. Of course, this was not the first time he had made similar suggestions to Li Nai. However, no matter how much he tried to persuade him, Li Nai would never let go and would not be moved by the conditions he gave. Su Keyi

I can only lament that it is really difficult to bribe a smart person with power and wealth.
Chapter completed!