Chapter 476 Strength speaks for itself

Li Qingyang is not an official in the local government who has never seen the world. He has lived in the prosperous land of Jianghuai since he was a child. When he grew up, he joined the Jinyi Guards. He was exposed to far more profit transactions than ordinary people. Luo Sheng

Dong's words may have greater effect on other people, but for him, Li Qingyang, they are extremely limited.

The Haihan people are rich and powerful, and it is probably not difficult to control all the private salt business in their own hands, but why would they sacrifice part of their interests and give it to a man like Luo Shengdong who has little strength to speak of?

Division officer?

Li Qingyang's view on this is very clear - what the Haihan people want is the Yacheng Navy, and they can use the name of the Ming Dynasty's official army to integrate the private salt market on Qiongzhou Island.

With General Luo Shengdong transporting illegal salt outside with warships, who would check them? The entire private salt business in Yazhou is monopolized by the Navy. Even if someone wants to compete with the Haihan people, they can only

They were afraid that the navy would come and raid their homes as soon as they showed up. For the Haihan people's private salt business to be as prosperous as it is today, Yacheng Shuizhai and Luo Shengdong must be "indispensable" for their contribution.

Li Qingyang doesn't know what "vested interest" means. If he understands the meaning of this word, he will definitely feel that it is the most appropriate role to describe people like Luo Shengdong. Of course, the people who benefit from it are probably far more than just

Luo Shengdong's family, in the areas covered by Haihan private salt, there must be more people who have obtained considerable economic benefits from it. Otherwise, how could there be so many private salt dealers from Guangdong here?

Li Qingyang looked at the endless flow of people going through the formalities of private salt sales in the naval court, and suddenly realized why a rebellious armed maritime merchant like Haihan could gain so much popularity. In the final analysis, it was money! These came to victory.

People who buy salt in Hong Kong, as well as merchants from the Ming Dynasty who opened various shops here, including Ming Dynasty officials like Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping, aren't they all here for the huge flow of wealth in this place?

Wealth and silk touch people's hearts. Li Qingyang really has nothing to say about this. What Haihan can give these people, the Ming Dynasty really cannot afford to give it to them. We should expect these people who have benefited from Haihan to stand against Haihan and oppose them.

, the possibility is probably very slim. If you want to talk to these people about the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and serving the country, it probably won't have much effect. Moreover, Li Qingyang's current situation does not seem to be in a position to criticize others.

After saying goodbye to Luo Shengdong and coming out of the Navy Yamen, Li Qingyang lowered his head and said nothing. Judging from what he saw today, if he wanted to overthrow the local rule of the Haihan people, the only way for the imperial court to send out a large army to encircle and suppress him was to

, it is probably impossible to count on the local people.

Seeing Li Qingyang's listless appearance, Lin Nan roughly guessed what he was thinking, and asked with a smile: "Brother Li, don't you understand why the people here have so much trust in the Haihan Executive Committee?

Are you doing everything the executive committee says?"

Li Qingyang nodded and said: "Money is certainly attractive, but it doesn't make everyone obey the orders of the executive committee. There must be something that I don't understand. Please let me know, Brother Lin!"

Lin Nan nodded and said: "Actually, the principle is not complicated. It is nothing more than a combination of leniency and severity, so that while the people get practical benefits, they can also realize that Haihan's majesty cannot be offended. Brother Li, are you interested in going out to sea?

"

Li Qingyang didn't understand what Lin Nan meant, but he also knew that Lin Nan's arrangement for him was certainly not malicious. He immediately clasped his fists and responded, "Then there's Brother Lao Lin!"

The tool that the Security Department prepared for Li Qingyang to go to sea was the "Lightning" catamaran sailboat. However, several people in the North American Gang were busy with their own affairs and did not have time to sail the boat in person. Therefore, the crew members operating the ship today are all naturalized

civil.

This was the first time for Li Qingyang to see such a strange-looking sailboat. After boarding the boat, he couldn't help but look around. Lin Nan saw his curiosity and took the initiative to introduce: "This Lightning sailboat was brought here by the chiefs from their hometown."

A high-end ship with a speed far exceeding that of an ordinary wooden sailboat."

Li Qingyang wondered: "If it is so powerful, why don't the Haihan people build more ships like this?"

"The material used to build this kind of ship is not available locally, and the wood does not meet the requirements of the chiefs..." Lin Nan changed the subject and said: "This ship is usually used exclusively by the chiefs, and it is rarely like this today.

I'm not afraid of Brother Li's jokes about the opportunity to board this ship. It's my first time to board this ship today. To be able to win this honor is also because of Brother Li's honor."

Li Qingyang didn't even dare, but he understood in his heart how much the Haihan people valued him. Although he was still just a pawn under the control of the Ministry of Security, this arrangement still gave Li Qingyang a small satisfaction for his vanity.

Soon the crew unmoored, raised the sail, and slowly sailed away from the dock. After the sailboat sailed out of the pier area, the view suddenly became clearer. The crewman turned the steering wheel, and the Lightning drew an arc briskly on the sea.

The line then turns eastward to the mouth of the Tiandu River.

"Brother Li, please look at the huge ship docked on the coast ahead. It is the ship that the leaders of Haihan used when they came here to settle down." When Lin Nan said these words, his eyes were full of sincere respect.

.Although it was not the first time that he saw this huge steel ship docked at the estuary, almost every time he saw these unimaginable ships, it still made his heart surge, and he admired Haihan who built these miracles.

The leaders worshiped him wholeheartedly.

At this time, Li Qingyang was shocked from ear to ear by what he saw in front of him. He had never thought that there would be such a big steel ship in the world. The various rumors about the Haihan Iron Ship had long been nothing.

The secret is that almost everyone who has seen the real thing has a desire to worship the big iron ship, while those who have not seen the real thing have a hard time believing that such a thing actually exists in the world, and Li Qingyang is one of them.

Before seeing the real thing, he thought it was just a rumor spread by ignorant people. Even if the Haihan people could really build an iron ship that floated on the water, it would probably be just a monster in the shape of an iron basin, no more than a few feet in size.

That’s all. What kind of big iron ship weighing 100,000 kilograms? Do these stupid people really think that refined iron is worthless?

However, the large iron ship that Li Qingyang saw was marked with the words "New World" on the side. Its hull was as huge as a mountain, not to mention a hundred thousand kilograms, and it would have weighed seven or eight times more. Then from the bow

The anchor chain hanging down into the water was thicker than Li Qingyang's thigh. On both sides of the ship, there were several smaller iron ships, all of which were the same without masts and sails. The smallest ones were about ten feet tall.

Length. As an ordinary person who was used to seeing wooden sailing ships, Li Qingyang could not imagine how the Haihan people managed to sail these steel ships across the sea.

"There are such strange things in the world..." Apart from his heartfelt sigh, Li Qingyang could not say anything else at this time.

"If these big iron ships had not brought the chiefs here, there would not be today's prosperous Sanya!" When talking about this topic, Lin Nan was obviously a little fanatical: "Brother Li, do you know

, the leaders have built the place you see in less than three years since they came here. If time passes, five or ten years later, can you imagine what Qiongzhou Island will look like at that time?"

Li Qingyang did not think about whether Qiongzhou Island ten years later would be under the governance of the Haihan people or still attached to the Ming Dynasty. He had realized something that Lin Nan had not mentioned - the shipbuilding level of the Haihan people was beyond

The Ming Dynasty suffered too much, and this gap in shipbuilding technology will not only bring about the prosperity of maritime trade. Once applied to the military field, the strength gap between the two sides will be difficult to make a simple comparison based on the number of warships.

.

Li Qingyang's worries soon turned into reality. After the "Lightning" sailed through the Tiandu River estuary, it immediately turned south and sailed along the military base on the east bank of the harbor towards Yulin Point.

I don’t know whether it was a deliberate arrangement or a coincidence, but the naval fleet of the militia group stationed in Victory Port happened to be in a state of rest today. More than ten warships docked in a long line on the coast, and the neat row of gun windows on the ship’s side.

It was exposed in broad daylight. After Li Qingyang was captured in Wanshan Port, he came to Sanya in this kind of warship. Therefore, he recognized the "Exploration-class" warship at first sight, and it was one size larger.

The "exploration-class" warships in the circle are also very easy to recognize. The gun windows and the metal ramming angles on the bow and waterline have fully demonstrated the identities of these ships.

"Haihan...there are so many gunboats!" Li Qingyang was really shocked when he saw this posture. At the same time, he also understood what Luo Shengdong said before, why Yacheng Water Village would take the initiative to abandon Qiongzhou Island

The maritime defense in the south was left to the Haihan people - with such a powerful fleet, not to mention Yacheng Water Village, even all the surface forces on Qiongzhou Island combined would probably not be enough.

"Brother Li, this is just a fleet of the navy fleet of the militia that is permanently stationed in the local area." Lin Nan said in a show-off manner: "Our Haihan militia now has three fleets, one of which is stationed in Hong Kong to protect the west and south sides of Qiongzhou.

The safety of the coastline. The other fleet travels back and forth between the Pearl River Estuary and the local area all year round, combating piracy and providing free escort for numerous commercial and civilian ships. There is also a fleet located on the Annan coast, guarding many of our coastal ports there."

"Three...three fleets?" Li Qingyang was indeed shocked by Lin Nan's initiative to reveal the news. If a fleet of this size were replicated three times, let alone the Ming Dynasty Navy on Qiongzhou Island, I'm afraid even the navy in Guangdong would be affected.

In addition, it is not enough to watch. In this case, the previous rumors that the Haihan militia defeated the pirates at the Pearl River Estuary must be true.

"Wherever our Haihan trade goes, they are all under the protection of our militia navy!" Lin Nan continued to show off: "Looking at the entire South China Sea, there is no second force that can rival our militia navy!"

Li Qingyang sighed: "If I were in Luo Shengdong's position, I'd probably want to take off that military uniform a long time ago!"

With such a powerful and uncontrollable maritime force around us, it must be very embarrassing to be a Yacheng water village. You will definitely not be able to defeat the Haihan fleet. At most, you can only pretend not to see it and play tricks of self-deception.

At this time, Li Qingyang felt that Luo Shengdong was quite open-minded, and he actually hugged the Haihan people with shame. As for Yacheng Water Village, after seeing the Haihan people's fleet, Li Qingyang also

I have to admit that its existence is of little significance. From a selfish point of view, being a salt dealer may be a better way out for people like Luo Shengdong.

The "Lightning" quickly crossed the naval port and entered the mouth of the Yulinjiao Strait. This time, without Lin Nan's reminder, Li Qingyang had already noticed the connected coastal defense artillery emplacements on the slopes on both sides of the strait.

Since the distance was already quite close, Li Qingyang could even clearly see the black muzzles of the gun emplacements. According to a rough calculation, there were at least dozens of gun emplacements. Lin Nan asked from the side: "Brother Li, what do you think of the defense level of Victory Port?"

how?"

Li Qingyang thought to himself, if I hadn't been locked up in the cabin when I came to Victory Port and didn't see the fort outside the harbor, I wouldn't have spent so many days in the cell of the Security Department. If I had seen these things earlier,

I'm afraid it has already fallen!

Li Qingyang still knew roughly how much money and manpower it would cost to build such a coastal defense fort near the port. On the entire Ming Dynasty's coastline, there were only a handful of places where coastal defense forts were built, and he had never heard of them.

Private people built this thing by themselves - even if they had the money to build it, they wouldn't have the space to buy so many large-caliber artillery pieces.

This coastal defense artillery is not comparable to the artillery used in the army. It can also adjust its position according to the war and attack the enemy flexibly. To put it bluntly, the coast defense artillery is a fixed firepower point. If it cannot completely cover the battlefield, then set up a shore defense artillery.

The significance of anti-artillery is not great. To achieve this combat purpose, the only way is to increase the range of the artillery, and the corresponding difficulty of casting the artillery will also increase.

Li Qingyang had long known that the Haihan people secretly bought and sold guns and firearms, but he had previously thought it was relatively simple, thinking that it was probably at the level of a home-made three-eye blunderbuss or a small cannon. However, it seems that this is not the case now.

Being able to cast coastal defense cannons on their own shows how advanced the Haihan people's arms manufacturing level has been. And the continuous forts on both sides of the strait are obviously unlikely to be built by the Haihan people to scare people. They arranged them

The artillery here is probably enough to cover the waterway leading into and out of Victory Port.

Under the coverage of dozens of artillery fire, is it possible for the Ming Navy to safely cross the strait, which is only a hundred feet wide? Li Qingyang believed that the chance was slim, not to mention that there was a powerful fleet lined up on the sea to greet him with cannon muzzles.

The arrival of the guests...the scene was so beautiful that Li Qingyang could no longer imagine it.

"Everything here is under the protection of the Executive Committee!" Lin Nan looked at Li Qingyang's somewhat absent-minded face and said to him meaningfully.
Chapter completed!