Chapter 995 Military Assistance

Although Haihan’s real purpose was to seek benefits for himself, and he also played a lot of tricks in the process of military aid to the Ming Dynasty, Luo Shengdong had to admit that if Haihan did not help Fuzhou and Guangzhou, Ming Dynasty would

It is indeed difficult for the government's own strength to cope with natural disasters and the troubles caused by bandits and pirate gangs. The two places have not become as chaotic as the hinterland of the Central Plains, and are even more prosperous than during the Tianqi years. Haihan is in

The stabilizing role played by the middle cannot be ignored.

Of course, the benefits that Haihan gained from the Ming Dynasty through military aid are also obvious. On the one hand, he obtained very direct benefits such as manpower, resources, and markets that he urgently needed. On the other hand, he won over the local officials of the Ming Dynasty to cooperate with him, and through these officials

Channels have gained more opportunities to exert influence on the Ming Dynasty. For example, the promotion and publicity of Haihan's unique systems such as culture, finance, and commerce are gradually changing the people's perception of Haihan in Fujian and Guangdong. Now this

This model has extended northward to the coast of Zhejiang. With Haihan's style of doing things, they will probably not be satisfied with the status quo and will continue to expand their maritime control area northward.

However, the nature of the military aid Ning Qi is talking about is obviously different from the previous exchange terms. Haihan hopes to use military aid in exchange for heavier benefits from the Ming Dynasty, such as Haihan being recognized by the imperial court.

state power and the corresponding normalization of diplomatic relations.

Luo Shengdong hesitated and said: "Negotiating terms with the court... I'm afraid it's not that easy. In the early years, the Portuguese and the Dutch tried similar methods. The Portuguese not only sold cannons to the Ming Dynasty, but also sent artillery regiments to the capital to help

During the war with the Ming army, a lot of things were done, but the conditions in exchange were nothing more than the long-term leasehold rights in Macau."

Luo Shengdong's implication was that this method had been tried by the Portuguese before, and the benefits he could get from the Ming court through military aid might not be up to Haihan's expectations.

Naturally, Ning Qi also knew what Luo Shengdong said. In order to legalize their presence in Macau, the Portuguese, in addition to paying taxes and land rent to the Ming Dynasty every year, have also been providing the Ming Dynasty with advanced artillery and related equipment.

artillery training. In 1621, the Ming court sent Zhang Tao and Sun Xueshi as imperial envoys to Macau with a letter from the Ministry of War to purchase artillery and hire artillerymen. The Portuguese worked very hard to recruit an artillery force of hundreds of people from India, Manila, Japan and other places.

, and sold 26 British cannons to the Ming Dynasty, and returned to the north with the imperial envoy. Some of these artillery stayed in the capital, and the other part was transferred to Shanhaiguan for deployment by Dong Hanru, the Minister of War, and later transported to Ningyuan City outside the pass. In 1626, Ningyuan was victorious at the center.

The artillery used was purchased from the Portuguese before.

In 1628, Emperor Chongzhen ordered Li Fengjie and Wang Zunde, members of the two majorities, to entrust Portuguese merchants to purchase artillery and recruit troops. In February of the following year, the Portuguese in Macau donated ten cannons and several muskets, which were escorted north to Beijing by special personnel. Emperor Chongzhen deployed the artillery in important places in the capital.

He was named "General Shenwei". At the same time, he also appointed Xu Guangqi as the general coordinator, allowing the Portuguese to assist in casting cannons and training artillery in the capital. However, due to objective technical obstacles, the actual results achieved by these measures were not ideal.

So in 1630, Emperor Chongzhen once again ordered the Portuguese to purchase artillery and recruit troops from Macau. This time the Portuguese responded very positively, not only providing the Ming court with an artillery team of more than 300 people, but also 40 artillery pieces. But at this time, the Ming Dynasty

There were differences of opinion within the court. Some opponents believed that the Portuguese should not be too involved in the military, especially the defense of important areas in the capital, and that foreigners should not be responsible. Emperor Chongzhen later accepted this opinion, but

Then accept large-scale military aid provided by the Portuguese.

During this period, the Ming army was equipped with the most and most advanced firearms, and the garrison in Dengzhou, Shandong Province was probably one of them. Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua concentrated the artillery, gunners and artillery craftsmen provided by the Portuguese in Dengzhou, trying to

A powerful firearms force was created here. Sun Yuanhua's force had more than 20 Franco machine guns, 320 Western muskets, and thousands of bird muskets. It also had a group of gunners who had mastered Western artillery technology.

But it is a pity that during the Dengzhou Rebellion, this elite division was almost destroyed. Twelve Portuguese mercenaries, including the artillery commander Gongsha, were killed in the battle, and fifteen others were seriously injured.

The Portuguese who were captured and survived left Dengzhou after the war and returned south to Macau. Later, Kong Youde and others who defected to the Northeast to join the Hou Jin brought local cannon-making craftsmen and weapons and equipment, which were basically from this group.

The firearms troops built by Ming Dynasty spent a lot of money.

Considering that the Portuguese resident population in Macau is only one or two thousand, being able to provide this level of military aid to the Ming Dynasty can be regarded as a dedicated effort. Compared with their efforts, the benefits they received from the Ming Dynasty were actually

The relatively limited treatment is far worse than Haihan's current treatment. But Haihan is obviously not satisfied with the status quo and hopes to obtain more benefits with the help of military aid. In Luo Shengdong's opinion,

It's somewhat unrealistic.

Ning Qi said: "At this time, during the Tianqi years, the internal and external pressure that Ming Dynasty had to face was far less than it is now. The Portuguese could not negotiate terms if they wanted to. But today, Ming Dynasty is caught in internal and external troubles. If we, Haihan, decide

If we continue to watch with cold eyes, within ten years, the Ming Dynasty will not be saved!"

"Ten years? This... shouldn't be enough, right?" Luo Shengdong didn't believe the number Ning Qi said.

Although the Ming Dynasty has indeed been in decline in recent years, how can such an empire that has ruled the world for more than two hundred years be finished? After witnessing the history of the Haihan family, Luo Shengdong did not believe that the peasant army revolting in the Central Plains could be brought down.

Ming Dynasty, in his opinion, these people are just rogues after all, with no political goals and no local roots. It is impossible to achieve great things by relying only on locust-style burning, killing and looting.

To put it bluntly, the Northeastern wild boar skins outside the pass are a group of barbarians who are not yet fully civilized. When Luo Shengdong heard the Haihan people mention Hou Jin in the past, most of them spoke with great disdain, and naturally he did not think they could be very powerful.

Although the Ming Dynasty has been in a situation of losing more than winning against the Later Jin Army since 1626, this will not hinder Luo Shengdong's blind confidence in the military power of the Ming Dynasty - even if he cannot defeat Haihan, why not defeat the Guanwai?

There should be no problem with the tribal armed forces, right?

However, Luo Shengdong did not know that in the original history, the Hou Jin Dynasty outside the Pass would change the name of the country to the Qing Dynasty two years later and establish political institutions following the Ming Dynasty. Ten years later, in 1644, Li Zicheng led the peasant army

The invasion of the capital ended the rule of Emperor Chongzhen, and then the Qing army, with the cooperation of Wu Sangui, entered the country in large numbers. Although the Ming Dynasty did not fall immediately, it had become a weak side, and it has been in decline ever since. It is said that it has lost power since then.

It is not an exaggeration to conquer the world. The ten-year life span granted to Ming Dynasty by Ning Qi was not just random talk, but was based on very objective historical facts.

Ning Qi said: "General Luo, you have been dealing with us for seven years. You should have seen examples of us predicting the development of the situation. Have you ever failed to deliver on it?"

"This... not really." Luo Shengdong really admires Haihan's accuracy in predicting the future, so much so that many people in the officialdom now regard Haihan's views on the direction of the situation as a golden rule. But when it comes to predicting the national destiny,

The nature is much more serious. Although Luo Shengdong no longer regards his identity as an official of the Ming Dynasty, his attitude towards it is still very cautious.

Ning Qi continued: "If the problems that Ming Dynasty is facing now do not get our help, the situation will only become more and more difficult in the future, but we must try to make the Ming Dynasty court understand this situation and realize the necessity of doing transactions with us, so that

Only in this way can we realize the plan I mentioned before. To achieve this goal, it is not enough for us Haihan alone, we must have some people who can speak for us in the court."

Luo Shengdong responded subconsciously: "Master Xiong..."

"Yes, we think Master Xiong is quite suitable for this job." Ning Qi nodded and said: "Master Xiong has served as the governor of Fuzhou and Guangzhou successively, which shows that he has won the trust of the imperial court and we believe that he can provide the imperial court with

His opinions should also have a certain weight. We originally planned to take the opportunity of this celebration to invite Mr. Xiong to come to Sanya for an interview, but Mr. Xiong must have some concerns, so in the end we were unable to make the trip."

Luo Shengdong thought to himself that Xiong Wencan was not only a little worried, he was extremely worried, okay? When Haihan founded the country, he rushed to the Sanya platform as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. What was the nature of this behavior? If the court knew about it, he was probably a traitor and surrendered to the enemy.

The crime cannot be evaded. Even if Xiong Wencan does not object to Haihan's founding of the country, he will certainly not take a stand easily at this juncture.

Ning Qi continued: "But this matter is not urgent now. After the celebration is over, we are going to contact Mr. Xiong again to see if we can arrange a meeting. At that time, we may have to trouble Mr. Luo to go north to Zhaoqing to contact us.

.”

Luo Shengdong responded quickly: "This is Luo's responsibility. You should try your best to complete it." He was not saying this politely. If he does things for Haihan now, he is doing things for himself. The interests of the two are consistent. If

Luo Shengdong would definitely be happy to see a way to get the court to recognize the existence of Haihan.

Ning Qi was very satisfied with Luo Shengdong's attitude. He nodded and said, "Let's talk about business here. You should stay in Sanya and don't travel far. I will inform you of the next arrangements when I am ready.

"

Luo Shengdong responded, but did not move his buttocks. Seeing this, Ning Qi guessed that he had something to say, so he took the initiative to ask: "Are there any difficulties in life and work that you need our help to solve recently?

"

Luo Shengdong responded quickly: "I do have a small matter, I hope the chief can give me some advice."

Ning Qi said: "Come and listen."

"When I went to Guangzhou the next time, I stopped by to meet with the heads of the Guangdong Office. I heard that Haihan intends to build a new city near Lijiazhuang. On the way back to Sanya, I kept thinking about whether there is anything in it that can work for Haihan.

place." Luo Shengdong considered it and said: "I'm just stupid, and after much thought, I still feel that I need to ask the chief for advice."

After Ning Qi listened, he roughly guessed what Luo Shengdong had planned. Haihan planned to build a new city in Panyu. This plan had indeed been put on the agenda, and he had also discussed it with Li Jifeng, the local landowner in Panyu.

The conditions for land acquisition were discussed in detail.

The main purpose of Haihan's plan was to gradually control the trade power in the Pearl River Basin and transfer the trade center in this area from Guangzhou City to Haihan's control area. Although Fanyu County is still nominally owned by the Ming Dynasty

jurisdiction, but in fact even Guangzhou City, which is forty miles away from Panyu, can no longer interfere in local affairs, basically acquiescing to the existence of Panyu, a land outside the law.

But building a city is not a city in the traditional sense. Carrying out a large project like building a city so close to Guangzhou is definitely not cost-effective for Haihan. It would be better to replace the cost of city construction with military expenditure.

Simply capture Guangzhou and end the problem. Rather than building a city, it is actually more akin to building a comprehensive trade center, expanding all the original docks, warehousing, trading and other functional facilities here, and making the functions of the original immigration camp public.

In the final analysis, it is just to expand the existing business scale. However, when Luo Shengdong went to the Guangdong Office, he may have heard some different opinions from the people there, so he thought that Haihan planned to build a city there.

In any case, this is definitely a big project. Since Luo Shengdong has heard the news, it is reasonable to want to get involved early to get some benefits. Ning Qi asked: "Then you want to invest locally

What kind of business are you looking for, or are you planning to buy property or land?”

Luo Shengdong responded: "This is where I'm not sure. Logically speaking, using money to buy property and land is the right way to go. But this time I went to the Guangdong Office and heard Director Ma talk to me about working capital.

"Using money to make money, I think it makes sense after hearing it, but I have been dealing with salt for the past few years and don't know much about other businesses, so I don't know how to operate it."

Ning Qi thought to himself that you are not satisfied with your private salt business. You are very ambitious and want to invest in other businesses. This is probably because you were a little jealous after going to Guangzhou and seeing the wealth of the Li Jifeng family, which is why you suddenly became like this.

Maliko is also a master with a strong deception ability. If Luo Shengdong hits his hand, it is inevitable that he will be deceived and lame. But the work field of Ning Qi's supervisor is not business and trade. Regarding the trade in Guangdong,

He only had a partial understanding of the business situation and couldn't really give any solid advice.

"How about this, Mr. Shi will come to my place later to discuss a document and ask him to give you some professional advice?" Ning Qi felt that since Luo Shengdong had already asked to come here, he still had to find a way to give it to you.

He only needs an answer. He will have to be sent to run errands later, and the horse must be fed enough grass before it can run.
Chapter completed!