Chapter 2432

Shi Diwen's mention of the military exercise was naturally not a spur-of-the-moment idea, but had been planned for a long time. However, due to various reasons, he had not yet had time to submit a formal written application to Sanya. Now that he had the opportunity to explain himself to Tao Dong,

Shi Diwen naturally tried his best to seize such an opportunity.

Different from similar operations carried out in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the past, Shi Diwen's plan this time was more radical and bold. What he envisaged was not just a unilateral show of force, but also an attempt to make the Ming Dynasty Guards in the surrounding areas of Zhoushan

The Ming army also sent troops to participate in a joint military exercise between the two countries. If the Executive Committee allows it, then after the operation is over, a batch of arms will be sold to the Ming army generals participating in the military exercise, and the proceeds will be able to return some blood and offset it.

Part of the exercise expenses.

"Conducting joint military exercises with the Ming army? There is no precedent for this!" Tao Donglai was a little shocked when he heard Shi Diwen's bold idea.

This is not the case. Of course, Haihan also held military exercises with the Ming army, and not once or twice. However, the Xu Jiajun who participated in the exercises was of a special nature and could not be generalized with the Ming army in other places. Tao Donglai would raise such doubts

, which shows that he does not regard Xu Jiajun as part of the Ming army at all.

Shi Diwen did not correct the loopholes in Tao Donglai's words, but continued to explain his plan: "In the state capitals closest to Zhoushan, Ningbo, Shaoxing, Jiaxing, and Songjiang, the commanders and Qianhu of the garrison guard posts,

Most of them have private interests with our country. When our trade channels are affected, they will also suffer losses. Therefore, if a joint military exercise can be organized, it will definitely serve as a warning to some people in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang government who cannot see the situation clearly.

, tell them not to stretch their hands too far!"

Tao Donglai said: "Have you ever exchanged views with these Ming military attaches on the matter of joint military exercises?"

"Of course I have." Shi Diwen responded without hesitation: "If I didn't get their approval, I would definitely not put this forward as a solution to the current problem. In fact, I already started doing this last year.

Most people agree with me and are willing to participate in this matter. We all believe that in the current environment, this may be the most peaceful method."

Tao Donglai said: "Then can you roughly tell me who are the military attachés of the Ming Dynasty who currently support you?"

Shi Diwen seemed to have been prepared for this, and immediately raised his fingers and said: "Yan Guowei, the commander of the Changguo Guard, Ma Ling, the commander of the Shipu Institute, Wei Shan, the commander of the Linshan Guard, Huang Tao, the commander of the Guanhai Guard, Cui Hongfang, the commander of the Dinghai Guard...

…”

Shi Diwen mentioned the names of more than a dozen military attachés of the Ming Dynasty in one breath. The lowest was at the Qianhu level. It sounded like it was no joke. Moreover, even the Zhejiang Commander-in-Chief might not be able to let so many high-ranking military attachés deal with a certain person.

It was not easy for Shi Diwen to convince so many people to accept his idea.

Tao Donglai confirmed to him again: "The military attachés you mentioned have all made it clear that they are willing to participate in joint military exercises?"

Shi Diwen nodded and responded in a positive tone: "If it happens, each of them will benefit, so they will be willing to participate."

"But they can't make the decision on such a big thing, right?" Tao Donglai still had doubts about this. According to the Ming Dynasty's system, if the garrison at the garrison level wants to leave the garrison to hold military exercises, they must go to the next level Yamen.

If the commanders and envoys do not give their approval, it is a crime to lead the troops to leave the station without permission. Presumably those commanders and envoys and Qianhu will not risk their careers for this.

Shi Diwen was full of confidence: "I have already prepared for this. Last year, through the help of Wang Yuan, the commander of Hangzhou, I got in touch with Zhejiang Commander Liu Feng. He has already nodded and approved this matter."

"Didn't it cost a lot of money?" When Tao Donglai heard this, he knew that there was no serious problem with the government, so he relaxed a little and joked with Shi Diwen.

Shi Diwen nodded and acknowledged Tao Donglai's guess, but did not specify the specific amount: "Whether the money is worth it depends on whether the exercise can be held in the end!"

What he meant was that all the money to bribe high-level officials in Zhejiang has been spent. If this exercise is not held next, the money will be thrown into the water.

There is no doubt that this is a bit of a pre-emptive decision, but if Shi Diwen cannot get through to the top management first, he will not be able to carry out follow-up operations at all to convince the commanders of each guard post to accept his plan. And if he does not get the approval of these military leaders

, then there is no way to apply to Sanya to hold this special military exercise. So it seems that Shi Diwen's action of taking it upon himself to bribe the commander of the Zhejiang capital is a bit desperate. If the military exercise fails to get approval from Sanya,

If you agree, then the money spent can only be regarded as the price of making friends with Liu Feng.

Tao Donglai couldn't understand what Shi Diwen meant, but he needed to consider more factors, not just the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If such a military exercise was held, what impact would it have on the relationship between the two countries in the future?

Factors that must be considered now. Moreover, the things he has to deal with on his trip north this time are also closely related to the Ming Dynasty. Even if he agrees with Shi Diwen's idea now, new variables may arise over time.

"You should know about my mission to go north this time, right?" Tao Donglai suddenly changed the topic.

Shi Diwen nodded and said, "I know a little bit."

Tao Donglai said: "Then you should also be able to imagine that the diplomatic relations between our country and Ming Dynasty may change slightly. Even if you have opened all the joints now, this joint military exercise may not be possible. You understand

What do I mean?"

"I understand, but of all the things we have done in the past ten years, have we ever been 100% sure before doing it?" Shi Diwen's attitude was very firm, and he was not convinced because of Tao Donglai.

He was shaken by the warning: "If the joint military exercise is completed, it will be equivalent to pulling a large number of Ming military attachés on board our ship. The benefits to us are far beyond the immediate benefits. I think even if there are some risks and twists and turns

, it’s still worth a try.”

Shi Diwen thought Tao Donglai's attitude was a little too cautious, but he could understand it. After all, Tao Donglai had been staying in Sanya for a long time in recent years. In such a comfortable and peaceful environment, he would inevitably slack off.

, will not be as enterprising as in the early years. Even if Tao Donglai's mission to the north will lead to changes in the diplomatic relations between Haihan and Ming Dynasty, in Shi Diwen's view, it may not have a substantial impact. The nearby states

Local officials like the government were not willing to abide by the court's regulations, and this situation could not be changed by Emperor Chongzhen issuing a few imperial edicts.

He originally did not want to mention the long-term impact of the joint military exercise, lest Tao Donglai would think that he was bragging and claiming credit. However, seeing that Tao Donglai still seemed to have doubts about this and his attitude was somewhat wavering, he could only take advantage of all the advantages first.

Put it out there and try to persuade the other person to accept your ideas.

Shi Diwen believes that just doing smuggling business with these military leaders is not enough at this stage. He wants to draw these people into Haihan's camp through joint military exercises, so that their interests and future will be closely related to Haihan's.

Han and Han are firmly bound together. In this way, when Hai and Han want to take action in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions in the future, they will encounter much less resistance.

Of course, even if they have different opinions, he will not argue with Tao Donglai about the right or wrong of this matter, and he believes that Tao Donglai has the same attitude. At their level, they can no longer simply judge a matter.

You will only decide whether it is right or wrong, and will only examine whether this matter is in Haihan's interests and your own interests. As long as the interests are large enough, then taking a certain risk and paying a certain price are all acceptable conditions.

Tao Donglai thought for a long time and finally made a certain compromise: "You can continue with this matter, but don't rush to make specific time arrangements. I will wait until I have preliminary results from my trip to the north. In addition, I should go

You should go through the procedures according to the rules, don’t try to save trouble and be lazy.”

The "procedures" Tao Donglai mentioned naturally meant that Shi Diwen should first report the plan for the joint military exercise through normal channels. This would of course be more troublesome, but the rules are the rules. Although Shi Diwen has military power in his hands

, and still have to abide by the existing system.

After inspecting the arsenal, Shi Diwen took Tao Donglai to visit the local shipyard. The person in charge, Zhang Qianxiang, had worked at the Shengli Port Shipyard with his father Zhang Tiangui for several years, so he naturally recognized Tao Donglai and suddenly saw him.

I was surprised and happy to appear in Zhoushan. I quickly put down what I was doing and came to see Tao Dong.

Zhang Qianxiang is the second eldest of the Zhang brothers. His shipbuilding skills have been inherited from his father, so he was appointed as the person in charge of Zhoushan Shipyard. He is also a serious Haihan official. Tao Donglai met his old friend, and naturally,

It is also necessary to encourage them with kind words.

"Please tell Mr. Tao about our shipbuilding situation in Zhoushan." Shi Diwen ordered: "Whatever Mr. Tao asks you, just answer it truthfully."

Zhoushan has been a maritime distribution center for smuggling trade a long time ago, and the nearby waters are extremely rich in fishery resources, so the local shipbuilding industry had a certain scale long before Haihan came here. However, the sea-going ships that could be built at that time

Most of them were ships with small displacements, and they could not be said to have much technical content. It was not until Haihan occupied this area and built the Zhoushan Shipyard that the local shipbuilding industry was raised to a new level.

The local government-run shipyards are divided into two shipyards based on the difference between military and civilian uses. However, because they are actually located at the junction of the military port and the commercial port, if you look at it from the air, the two shipyards are actually connected together, but the shipyards are located respectively at the military port and the commercial port.

In the commercial port, this ensures that no one else can spy on the manufacturing technology of Haihan warships.

This layout is naturally to facilitate the deployment of materials and personnel in the shipyard. Currently, the shipyard has more than 400 employees. The total displacement of the ships launched from here last year exceeded 10,000 tons. No other peer within a thousand miles can achieve such an achievement.

.

Of course, Tao Donglai's focus is on military ships. He has talked about this topic with Shi Diwen before, so he is very concerned about the technical capabilities of the local shipyards. If the shipbuilding technology here is not capable of manufacturing Warrior-class battleships,

If the level of the ship is high, then he will probably reconsider Shi Diwen's request.

"Master Tao, during my tenure in Zhoushan, the shipyard has delivered two Majesty-class warships, six expedition-class warships, twelve exploration-class warships, eight troop carriers, ten comprehensive supply ships, and reconnaissance fast ships.

There are four ships. Two of the Majestic-class warships have completed the installation and commissioning of the steam system locally, and are currently in normal service in the navy. In terms of shipbuilding technology, Zhoushan Shipyard is actually not inferior to Sanya Shipyard. If

If I have the opportunity to build a Warrior-class warship, I will do my best to live up to the great trust!"

Zhang Qianxiang obviously had an affair with Shi Diwen beforehand and knew the wishes of his immediate boss, so when Tao Donglai asked about the current technical level of Zhoushan Shipyard, Zhang Qianxiang seized the opportunity and boasted unabashedly. And he did.

He is also convinced that the shipyard he manages has enough technical strength to build Warrior-class warships, so his tone is very confident and not timid at all.

Of course, Haihan has more than one shipyard in Zhoushan in its overseas territories. There are also many places that can build warships. However, the Majesty-class warship is a hurdle. Most shipyards do not have the ability to build such large warships.

The construction difficulty of the Majesty-class warship equipped with a steam propulsion system is even higher. After this equipment is shipped from Sanya, the shipyard must have mechanical engineers with many years of training to complete the assembly and debugging work.

Nowadays, all such engineers are valued, and Shi Diwen spent a lot of effort to secure two quotas for the shipyard in his area.

Theoretically speaking, those who can build steam-powered Majesty-class warships basically have the ability to build Warrior-class warships, but in practice there will still be many specific problems. For example, most of the weapons on Warrior-class warships are not wooden.

Zhoushan does not have the corresponding manufacturing capabilities to manufacture parts, so they all have to be shipped from Sanya for assembly. For Zhoushan Shipyard, which has no experience in building such special warships, such assembly work requires a lot of technical details.

With Zhoushan Shipyard's own technical strength alone, it is estimated that it would be difficult to build a second Warrior-class warship intact, let alone transform and upgrade the original design plan according to Shi Diwen's intention.

Although Tao Donglai is not a shipbuilding expert, he has visited shipyards many times over the years. He certainly knows the difficulties in building Warrior-class warships. Although Zhang Qianxiang's statement was very confident, Tao Donglai did not immediately

Just accept his opinion.

"The two rotating turrets at the front and rear of the Warrior-class warship are composed of nearly a thousand parts. Are you sure that the local shipyard can successfully complete the assembly and debugging based on the drawings without seeing the real thing?" Tao Donglai asked him casually.

A difficult problem.
Chapter completed!