Chapter 598 Emperor Chapter 598 Full of Confidence

Haihan's technical reserves in shipbuilding and navigation are indeed far ahead of this era, but these black technologies are all theoretical advantages. To build the ship on the drawing from scratch and form a large-scale shipbuilding industry,

It still takes a lot of time and practice to realize it step by step. Up to now, Haihan has three or four shipyards, but the largest shipbuilding base is still the Shengli Port Shipyard in Sanya, where almost all military ships are built.

Construction takes place here.

Shipbuilding, a technical type of work, is unlikely to rely on continuous input of labor to expand the scale of production like road construction and mining. The number of professional shipwrights that can be collected is limited. To expand the scale of production, it is necessary to spend time slowly training technical workers. This

It is probably also the biggest obstacle on the development path of Haihan Shipbuilding Industry.

Of course, it was impossible for Shi Diwen to talk to Xu Yuzhuo about these deep-seated issues. He could only comfort him and said: "Since we have signed an agreement with you, we should be able to deliver the ship on time. You only need to wait another year and a half, and you will be able to deliver the ship on time."

Now we can have a fleet that can truly fight at sea."

Xu Yuzhuo smiled bitterly and said: "Students can wait, but the current situation in Fujian cannot wait! Once the maritime trade between Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to the northeast was stopped, the interests of many people were greatly affected. My father is now the general soldier of Fujian

, and the pressure I endured was tremendous.”

After the Japanese route from the coast of Fujian to Ryukyu was blocked by the Shibazhi, if the Fujian Ming army wanted to reopen the sea trade line, they had to use military means to annihilate the Shibazhi, or else they could only negotiate a truce with the other party.

One way is obviously unachievable at this stage, so the latter becomes the only alternative. Shi Diwen can also feel from Xu Yuzhuo's few words that Xu Xinsu's attempt to negotiate a truce with Shibazhi seems to be more than just

his personal wishes.

War or peace, which option can bring more benefits? On this issue, the positions of Fujian and Haihan are actually not consistent. Haihan naturally hopes that this war will continue for a long time until Haihan has the strength.

to control the Taiwan Strait. Fujian's considerations are more realistic, and economic interests are the primary consideration.

From an objective point of view, there is nothing wrong with the Fujian military's choice. Continuing to fight will not bring any practical benefits to both warring parties. No one can destroy anyone, and it will only increase casualties. On the contrary, a truce can also increase income, recuperate, and accumulate strength.

, and strive to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop the next time the war begins.

However, this choice is unacceptable to Haihan. What Haihan needs is for the Fujian military to continue fighting with the Shibazhi and bleed each other continuously so that they cannot grow further in order to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan in a year or two.

The resistance in the strait is reduced. Of course, what is more important is that what Haihan needs is the unconditional cooperation of the Fujian military, not purposeful concealment of movements, or even private contact with Shibazhi such as armistice peace talks.

The Fujian side probably realized that their little tricks had not succeeded in hiding Haihan's surveillance, so after the mission arrived in Zhangzhou, neither Xu Xinsu nor Xu Yuzhuo deliberately denied the possibility of an armistice, but tried to

Various methods were used to make the Haihan envoy understand that the Fujian side's choice to make an armistice and peace talks was out of helplessness and various pressures from the outside world, rather than a betrayal of Haihan.

Shi Diwen shook his head and said: "Now you have only seen the losses caused by fighting against Shiba Zhi, but have you ever thought about how much benefit you will get if you persist in fighting and wait for Shiba Zhi to be destroyed?"

"Mr. Shi, how long will it take to destroy Shibazhi? We spend at least hundreds of thousands of taels of money on combat every year, and suffer at least over a thousand casualties. We have been fighting for more than three years, and now we have only destroyed the battlefield.

From the land back to the sea, to be honest, the students have not seen any winning potential so far, let alone annihilating the Eighteen Zhizhi." Xu Yuzhuo also shook his head and argued: "I don't mean that the Eighteenth Zhizhi can be destroyed immediately.

No matter how great the benefits are after annihilating them, it will have no practical effect on the current situation in Fujian."

Shi Diwen said categorically: "In two years at most, Shiba Zhi will be destroyed!"

Seeing that he was so confident, Xu Yuzhuo couldn't help but ask: "Could it be that the Haihan Militia has an intention to take action?"

Shi Diwen did not directly answer this question: "We still have a lot to do in the South China Sea, and it will take one or two years to make adjustments. When the time comes, we will choose to go north and settle down."

"If Shibazhi is still there at that time, it will definitely become a stumbling block for you!" Xu Yuzhuo suddenly realized.

Shi Diwen's statement made Xu Yuzhuo realize that Haihan's current arrangements for the Fujian military to fight against Shibazhi actually had deep meaning. Although Haihan wanted to destroy Shibazhi, he was unable to do so for some reasons.

Come and send troops to fight in Fujian. As for whether Shi Diwen was bragging, Xu Yuzhuo had no such doubts. After all, he also knew about Haihan's military strength. He could send troops to fight in Annan a year or two ago, and even

It shouldn't be too difficult for an army with this kind of cross-sea combat capability to attack a fortified city and wipe out the pirates entrenched on the island. What's more, the warships owned by the Haihan Militia, in Xu Yuzhuo's view, are already

It is considered a giant of the sea.

Seeing the thoughtful look on Xu Yuzhuo's face, Shi Diwen struck while the iron was hot and continued: "Once Shibazhi is destroyed, your Xu family will have the final say on the entire Fujian coast. We don't need to take advantage of you, as long as we take over Shibazhi

Bazhi’s territory is enough.”

"Do you want Penghu and Dajuan Island?" Xu Yuzhuo immediately came out of his thoughts after hearing this.

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "These two places are of little significance to you, but we have experience in developing islands and can completely turn the place into another Sanya. By then, the trade volume between us will also increase.

Turn it over several times."

Shi Diwen kept silent about the military occupation and only talked about future trade prospects in order to avoid irritating the other party's sensitivities. The Xu family is the local emperor in Fujian, and even with a partner like Haihan, they would definitely not want to let him in.

There are permanent troops stationed in the waters of Fujian. The establishment of a colony on the island of Taiwan across the sea will not be that big of a stimulus to the Xu family.

Xu Yuzhuo hesitated and said: "But there are still red-haired people on Dayuan Island..."

"We can take over all your trade with the red-haired people when the time comes." Shi Diwen immediately responded: "Believe me, you don't need business partners like them. Losing them will not do anything to you.

loss."

"So you plan to exterminate the Shibazhi and drive away the red-haired people at the same time?" Xu Yuzhuo immediately came to his senses.

"That's not necessarily the case. If they are honest and obedient, it's not like they can't coexist peacefully." Shi Diwen didn't say it to death, but he also knew that the Executive Committee probably couldn't tolerate the Netherlands in its eyes, and would probably use force when it occupied Taiwan.

measures to drive the Dutch away.

"Students heard that the Dutch built a strong city in the south of Danyuan Island, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and installed many artillery pieces." Xu Yuzhuo did not fully believe Shi Diwen's statement. The red-haired people were not like Shibazhi.

The bandits' armament level is much higher, and they also have a large number of armed merchant ships. They are quite powerful in combat on land and sea. Even if the Haihan militia takes action, it seems that they will not be an easy opponent to defeat.

"Relanzhe City, I know." Shi Di Bra replied confidently: "In front of the Haihan militia, there is no city that is not strong. The city we want to capture will definitely be able to capture it."

As he spoke, Shi Diwen raised his hand and pointed at the "Prestige Signal" warship parked on the dock: "In your opinion, this ship should be considered a quite powerful warship, right?"

Xu Yuzhuo nodded without hesitation. Fujian could not build such a warship equipped with dozens of artillery pieces. If he encountered such an opponent at sea, Xu Yuzhuo's first reaction would probably be to turn around and run away immediately, running faster and faster.

Okay. Although the red-haired people on Taiyuan Island also have many armed sailboats, they really pale in comparison to this kind of gunboats.

Shi Diwen continued: "In another two years, about five or six warships of this level will be put into service, and larger warships are likely to have already been built on the slipway. With the red-haired man in

How can the armed forces deployed on Dajuan Island compete with us? By the time their reinforcements arrived all the way from Batavia, the land in Relandia City had already been plowed and plowed several times by our cannonballs!

"

Shi Diwen's words were full of confidence, and Xu Yuzhuo was also frightened when he heard this. He also knew that the Haihan people were extremely ambitious, but actually hearing a Haihan officer express his ambitions in such an undisguised manner in person still caused him a lot of trouble.

Quite an impact.

Just less than ten years ago, the Fujian Ming Army and the Dutch had a head-on confrontation in Penghu. In the second year of the Apocalypse, the Dutch East India Company's fleet occupied Penghu and blocked the Zhangzhou estuary. At that time, Fujian

Governor Nan Juyi also recruited Zheng Zhilong to deal with the Dutch, but the effect was not satisfactory.

At the end of the third year of the Apocalypse, Nan Juyi directly imprisoned the Dutch delegation at the armistice and peace talks banquet in Xiamen, and took the opportunity to burn the Dutch warship docked on Xiamen Island. In February of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Nan Juyi personally went to Kinmen Island to supervise the war.

The army dispatched more than 200 warships and over 10,000 soldiers to cross the sea and attack the Dutch stronghold in Penghu.

At that time, Yu Zigao, the commander-in-chief of Fujian Province, and guarding Wang Mengxiong, led his troops to land on Baisha Island. However, due to the inferiority of weapons and combat methods, they were unable to capture the Dutch stronghold. In July, Nan Juyi sent out fire gun troops again.

Although the reinforcements made some progress on the battlefield, they entered a stalemate later. In August, the Ming army once again divided into three groups and surrounded the Dutch stronghold.

This battle lasted until September. The Ming army spent seven months and spent 170,000 taels of military expenditure before finally capturing Penghu. At that time, the Dutch defender Gao Wenlu was captured alive by the Ming army, and the other defeated soldiers fled to

to the southern part of Taiwan. Gao Wenlu was then escorted to Beijing and beheaded in public. At that time, Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty also "offered sacrifices to the suburban temple, captured the imperial gate, and tortured Gao Wenlu to the Western Market. He was sent to all corners of the country to make it known to the world."

The battle was won, but the Ming army fought for seven months with more than ten times the strength to drive the Dutch away from Penghu. The comparison of strength between the two sides can also be seen. The Ming army's self-confidence was not only not due to

The promotion of this war made him more afraid of the Dutch. Of course Xu Yuzhuo had not participated in that war, but he was no stranger to the fighting process at that time. In his opinion, the battle between the red-haired people and the Haihan people was

The power is relatively close, and the Haihan people may have a slight advantage in terms of weapon performance. But Shi Diwen's statement is that the Haihan militia will crush the red-haired people, which indeed makes Xu Yuzhuo a little unbelievable.

Shi Diwen saw the shocked expression on Xu Yuzhuo's face and roughly guessed what he was thinking. He smiled and said, "How much do you know about the red-haired man?"

"The students only know that they come from the far west, tens of thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty..." Xu Yuzhuo didn't know much about this, and he couldn't continue after saying a few sentences.

"Let me tell you the details of these red-haired people!" Shi Diwen interrupted with a smile: "I just happened to have been to their country before."

"Mr. Shi has actually been to such a distant place?" Xu Yuzhuo was shocked again by Shi Diwen's words.

Two hundred years ago, Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, set out from Fujian on his voyages to the West. However, Zheng He went to the farthest place, and it is said that he was still quite far away from the country of the Westerners. Xu Yuzhuo lived for more than thirty years, and he never

I have heard that some people have visited the country of the Western Fans.

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "We call the red-haired people the Dutch. They are a special ethnic group formed by the mixture of many races on the western continent. It only took a few decades for the country to be established. Let me calculate...

They founded the country probably around the eighth year of Wanli! And this country is not big. If we compare it with Fujian, it is only about one-third the size of Fujian. As for the population, let alone the population, which is different from the Ming Dynasty.

Very far."

"Listen to what Mr. Shi said, this red-haired... no, this Dutch country is just a small country!" This was the first time Xu Yuzhuo heard these introductions, and he felt very strange at the moment.

"Small is small, but this country is not weak." Shi Diwen continued: "In this world, the Netherlands can be regarded as the maritime hegemon. Their strength at sea far exceeds the current Ming Dynasty."

"How is this possible!" Xu Yuzhuo felt a little unbelievable.

"I'll give you an example and you'll understand. The Dutch in Batavia and Taiyuan Island are not considered their regular army. They are just private armed forces under a joint company organized by Dutch businessmen."

Shi Diwen said: "This is like the armed escort team responsible for maritime escort under the name of 'Qiong Lianfa', except that the scale of their company is much larger than that of 'Qiong Lianfa'."
Chapter completed!