Chapter 2443

"We must pay close attention to Fushan County. Whether it is refugees or copper mines, they are of great significance to our country and must not be lost. But before things in Jinzhou are clear, try not to have a head-on conflict with the Ming Dynasty.

" Before leaving, Tao Donglai specially warned Chen Yixin repeatedly, asking him not to be careless about the situation in Shandong.

Haihan has occupied many places in the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty over the years, but currently only Shandong is still a variable. The Ming Dynasty still has a stronger influence on this area than Haihan, and Tao Donglai is still worried that the Ming Dynasty will have a negative influence on Fushan County.

This action is used as a bargaining condition with Haihan. Although this possibility is unlikely, Shandong is currently in a time of war and chaos, and caution must be the top priority in everything.

Chen Yixin understood and nodded to reassure Tao Donglai. There are now abundant troops stationed in Fushan County, and there are also two elite troops of the special operations group and the Marine Corps. Even if something happens, this kind of troop configuration should be enough to calm down.

situation.

It is only more than 200 miles from Zhifu Port to Jinzhou Port Arthur, and it only takes one day to get there. Originally, Jinzhou had two ports to choose from, Port Arthur and Dalian Bay, but Tao Donglai planned to stop by to see the construction status of the Port Arthur military port.

So I chose Lushun as the landing place.

Since Jinzhou is still a war zone so far, there are not many merchant ships coming here to engage in trading activities, and the construction direction of Lushun Port is mainly for military purposes. For most of the year, it is

It is used as the home port base of the Navy's North Sea Fleet, and is also equipped with Haihan's largest and most complete shipyard in the Yellow and Bohai Sea region - this is a real arsenal.

The first thing Tao Donglai did when he arrived in Lushun was to visit this shipyard affiliated with the military. Although it is not yet possible to build the Majesty-class warship, the largest tonnage among naval ships, here, it can already meet the requirements of the North Sea Fleet.

For expansion and daily ship repair and maintenance needs, even the steam power system on the Majestic-class battleship can perform simple repair operations.

Accompanying Tao Dong to visit the shipyard was Wang Tom, who had just returned to Lushun from Nanguanling Camp. The Executive Committee invested a lot of military expenditures in this place every year. As the naval commander, he was naturally obliged to explain to Tao Dong.

What results have been achieved after the money was spent?

"Last year, one exploration-class and one expedition-class warship were launched here, as well as two troop carriers and two comprehensive supply ships." Wang Tom introduced to Tao Donglai while leading the way: "In order to make full use of the dock

, and also built a few merchant ships by the way, but they were basically orders from Chen Yixin’s father-in-law.”

Tao Donglai laughed when he heard this and said, "Then I guess you haven't made much money from this merchant ship order?"

Wang Tom nodded and said: "Basically it's the cost price. However, the local maritime trade is almost half of the Ma family, and their merchant ships are needed to support these businesses, so it doesn't really matter to give them the cost price."

Tao Donglai asked: "What do you mean, are there other similar large companies?"

"The Shen family!" Wang Tom reminded: "When the Shen family's uncles and nephews joined us, they not only brought people from Dongjiang Town, they also had some properties in their own names. When Shen Shikui arrived in Jinzhou, he didn't need to lead troops, so he could do business with peace of mind.

Went to make money."

When Shen Shikui chose to join Haihan for the survival of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Dongjiang Town, one of the conditions was to hand over military power to Haihan. All the Ming army troops under his command were disbanded and reorganized, and most of them either retired directly.

Or be sent to various locations in the south for deployment.

Of course, the sacrifices Shen Shikui made were not in vain. His nephew Shen Zhixiang got a major position in the Haihan Army. Although he did not hold real power for the time being, he still had a formal status and could climb up the ranks in the future.

The chances may be much better than Shen Shikui's prospects in the Ming army.

Although Shen Shikui is not in charge of the army, he has not been idle. When he was in charge of Dongjiang Town, he had some business resources, and now he has taken advantage of them. He opened a trading house of his own, specializing in trade between North Korea, Jinzhou, and Shandong.

and transportation business. Although the sea trade market in the north is not as prosperous as in the south, he happens to be very familiar with the situation in these areas, and has the support of Haihan behind him, so he is naturally more comfortable in running it than before in the military.

It's much better to eat that little free salary.

Currently, the Ma family and the Shen family together account for about 80% of the private trade in the Jinzhou area, and the remaining 20% ​​is divided up by other merchants. Naturally, a considerable number of merchant ships are built by the Lushun Shipyard.

Some of the orders came from the Shen family's firm.

Tom Wang continued: "If this negotiation is successful, we may be able to do business with the Manchus in the future. Once the trade volume increases, the development prospects of Jinzhou will be very different."

Tao Donglai smiled and said: "Speaking of this, don't you all hope to reach an armistice agreement with the Manchus?"

Wang Tom said sternly: "I can't say there is hope, but if the war can really cease, the benefits to our country should outweigh the disadvantages. We no longer need to deploy heavy troops in Jinzhou and waste a lot of military expenditures every year. If we can operate cross-border trade, then

This place can also generate some income. Calculating the inside and outside here, it’s not a small amount!”

Tao Donglai also responded seriously: "Tom, you also know that when we decided to capture the Golden State, we did not consider the issue of economic gains from the beginning."

"I know. This is all to hold back the Qing Dynasty so that they can't attack the Ming Dynasty with all their strength, so that the Ming Dynasty can continue to survive for a few years." When Wang Tom said this, he changed the subject and said: "But looking at the recent situation of the Ming Dynasty, we

The effect of these measures seems to be no longer as good as in previous years. Should the Qing army send troops, they should still send troops, because they probably have an idea of ​​our strength and know that it will be difficult for us to continue to advance the front to the north. Naturally, they will not do as much as in previous years.

So scared."

"There is another reason." Tao Donglai took the initiative to add: "Although we have been sending troops in the direction of Jinzhou, every time the Manchu and Qing Dynasties attacked the Ming Dynasty from land, the Haihan army never appeared on the battlefield. We sent troops to North Korea,

But they never sent troops to the Ming Dynasty. From the perspective of the Qing Dynasty, they would naturally think that we were acquiescing to this and had no intention of helping the Ming Dynasty resist the Qing army. They determined that we would not directly send troops to participate in frontal battlefield combat, so they started to take action

Of course there is nothing to worry about.”

Wang Tom nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "That's true. Our deployment in Jinzhou can no longer keep the Manchus sufficiently wary. They probably think that we don't help the Ming Dynasty to fight, and they don't want to continue the war, so

Only then did you come up with the idea of ​​negotiating peace with us."

Tao Donglai asked: "Qian Tiandun also means the same thing as you?"

"He actually doesn't care much about the attitude of the Manchus." Wang Tom shook his head slightly and said: "We discussed this topic before, and he believed that even peace talks with the Manchus were only temporary measures. The decline of the Ming Dynasty is irreversible.

We can only take over the world, not the Manchus, so sooner or later there will be war with the Manchus. Even if an armistice agreement is reached now, we still have to continue preparing for war, because the next time war starts, there may not be any peace talks.

space.”

Tao Donglai said: "He has seen it thoroughly. But in the future we will fight when it is time to fight, and we still have to talk when it is time to talk now. If we can free up a three- to five-year time window for development, we will have more confidence to open up new projects in the north."

Frontal battlefield."

Regarding the prospects of the Ming Dynasty, the travelers undoubtedly have the same view. The downward trend is irreversible. Even if Haihan provides military support, it will only slow down the speed of this trend. When the Ming Dynasty is on the verge of collapse, Manchu

The Qing Dynasty will never miss the opportunity to make a last-ditch attack, and will definitely send troops into the pass to annihilate the Ming Dynasty just like in the original history.

Even if the so-called armistice agreement is negotiated at this time, it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to enjoy peace once and for all. When the Qing army enters the customs, Haihan will definitely not stand idly by and let the Qing army take the first step to seize the Ming Dynasty. And at that time, Haihan will

If the Han Dynasty still only had its current military strength, it would actually be difficult for them to open a front and start a full-scale fight with the Qing army. Qian Tiandun’s focus was on the national war in a few years, which is not wrong. After all, the time traveler knows the future history

As for the direction of development, there is no need to take any chances and just start to expand the military and prepare for war as early as possible.

Tao Donglai's eyes were fixed on a warship being built in the dock. Judging from the current progress, this warship will be launched and outfitted in two or three months. And if Haihan starts to move at full strength,

War machines, such warships can be built at least in about ten shipyards at the same time. At least two batches can be put into service within a year, and the number can meet the establishment requirements of at least two combat fleets.

But the problem is that Haihan currently does not have so many well-trained soldiers. Even if Haihan's army has no opponents in East Asia, starting a real national war means that Haihan must deploy to the coast of Daming.

With a large number of troops, this is indeed not a task that the current Haihan Army can accomplish.

"I hope that when the world is in chaos, we will be fully prepared." Tao Donglai can only give this statement now. Although the direction of history is very clear, no one can know when that day will come.

There is a definite prediction. All the time travelers can do is to try their best to complete the preparations before then. Once the war starts, they must defeat the opponent with thunderous momentum, minimize the damage of the war to Ming society, and use the minimum

Complete the transfer of power at a price.

After the visit to the Lushun Shipyard, Tao Donglai stopped by to see the naval base in the port. In terms of port conditions, Lushun Port is even better than Zhoushan Dinghai Port, but due to the different economic levels of the two places,

At one level, there is naturally a large gap in economic investment between the port and the base. Therefore, the infrastructure here is very simple compared to Zhoushan. Most buildings, including barracks, are purely wooden structures, unlike those in Zhoushan.

There are many houses built with bricks and stones like Zhoushan. I believe this difference is also due to construction cost considerations.

However, there is not much popularity in the base at present, and other soldiers are occasionally seen. Wang Tom explained that some naval units have been deployed to Shandong, and some are conducting daily patrols in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea. The main purpose is to show themselves

Landing operations can be carried out on both sides of the Liaodong Peninsula at any time to exert military pressure on the Manchu Qing before starting negotiations.

"If you do this, I'm afraid Shang Kexi will not be able to sit still. He will definitely be worried that we will use the opportunity of the peace talks to launch a surprise attack and break through the Daheishan defense line in one fell swoop." After listening to this, Tao Donglai joked: "Don't start it yet.

When we talked, he was so frightened that he shrank back."

Wang Tom responded: "Since Shang Kexi dares to come to Jinzhou, he shouldn't be so timid. And if he goes back without negotiating, I'm afraid it will be difficult to communicate with Huang Taiji. Regardless of whether the negotiation can be concluded, he is here.

, I will definitely give it a try.”

Tao Dong came and said: "Let's go to the Nanguanling camp now. Since people from the three parties are here, get ready to start talks!"

Wang Tom said: "The Ming Dynasty hasn't sent anyone here yet, why don't you wait for them?"

Tao Donglai said: "We still haven't heard back yet, and we don't know what their specific attitude is. We can't just wait forever. Whether Ming Dynasty comes or not, this meeting will continue."

Wang Tom stopped asking any more questions and asked his subordinates to bring the carriage over. Then he and Tao Donglai rode to the Nanguanling camp eighty miles away.

Nanguanling Camp has been very lively in recent days, for no other reason than the presence of missions from the Manchu and Qing Dynasties and North Korea. The news that Haihan is about to start peace talks with the Manchu Qing has spread locally, and the public's attitude towards this

There are mixed reviews. Some people think that if peace can be achieved, it will be a good thing, and there will be no need to worry about it in the future. But some people think that since the Manchus have shown signs of being unable to withstand it, why not continue to fight north in one go?

, wouldn’t it be nice to have the Manchus surrender directly?

With these rumors and discussions flying all over the sky, naturally many curious people came to watch near the Nanguanling camp, trying to learn more about the two foreign missions, so as to judge whether they really came to Jinzhou for peace talks.

.

At this time, there were also resolute militants who were advising Qian Tiandun, hoping that he would give up the peace talks with the Manchus and continue the war.

The person who advised Qian Tiandun was Shen Shikui, the former commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town. The reason why he opposed the peace talks was actually very clear to Qian Tiandun. There was a deep grudge between him and Shang Kexi. Both of them had murderous intentions, and Shang Kexi betrayed the Ming Dynasty.

His defection to Houjin was largely directly related to Shen Shikui's attitude at the time. If Shang Kexi had walked slower, he might have been killed by Shen Shikui long ago. Now that Shang Kexi has come to Jinzhou, Shen Shikui naturally does not want this person

He was happy to have the opportunity to sit down and negotiate with Haihan. If he had a choice, he even hoped that Qian Tiandun could kill Shang Kexi directly.
Chapter completed!