At the mouth of the Río de la Plata, several smoky warships sail above the water with a piercing whistle.

The warships are surrounded by various types of ships of different sizes, ranging from small river steamers of 30 to 50 tons, to ocean-going transport ships with a total tonnage of more than 3,000 tons, to sail-powered wooden fishing boats, and to steam-powered large ocean-going fishing trawlers.

Several large, large-looking ironclad warships sailed into the middle of the fleet, causing some interference to the ships in the surrounding waters, but when the sailors on the ship saw the columns of red dragon military flags flying high on the warships, their hearts suddenly had a bottom, at first because of the slight chaos caused by the warships breaking into the fleet queue, and soon under the control of the sailors, they returned to normal order.

The Paraná River basin region includes the three kingdoms of Han and Paraguay, and the ships sailing through the various ports of La Plata are not only on the Han side, but also on the warships of Paraguay, the Brazilian Republic, and even the British.

In order to solve the problem of war disputes, after the end of the Second Argentine War in 1879, Han, Paraguay, and the Republic of Brazil signed the "Agreement on Free Navigation of the Paraná River Sur" with the United Kingdom, which gave Britain, Paraguay, and the Republic of Brazil the right to navigate freely and do business in the Paraná River BasinWarships of other countries did not have the right to enter the Paraná Hanoi River valley unless they had the consent of the Han government.

The insistence of the Han government won the understanding of the British side, and for about ten years from the middle of 1879 to the end of 1888, not a single warship of the British navy passed through the waters of the Han State without authorization and sailed into the inland basin of the Paraná River, but at the end of May 1889, the situation changed drastically, the Paraguayan king López Jr. died unexpectedly, the domestic situation in Paraguay was out of control, the four-member regency committee, the rebel coalition and even the local real power armed forces were divided into one place, and the domestic ruling order in Paraguay collapsed. Ordinary Paraguayans, businessmen and even foreign nationals have been attacked and detained by local armed men.

In order to protect its nationals, the British Government sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Han Republic on June 3, 1889, requesting that warships be sent to cross the estuary of the Río de la Plata and enter the inland waters of the Paraná River to protect their nationals whose lives and property were under great threat.

The British government's request was reasonable, but the Han government politely rejected the British request, given the importance of the Paraná waterway.

On June 10, 1889, after seven days of urgent consultations, the British government made a certain compromise and agreed that the Han navy would come forward to receive and evacuate the British nationals stranded in Paraguay, while the British ships were allowed to anchor 20 nautical miles east of the mouth of La Plata to receive the evacuated nationals.

Every day from day to night, not only did a large number of ships carrying expatriates and businessmen from foreign countries sail out of the waters of the Paraná River under the escort of the Han navy, but also a larger number of Paraguayan businessmen and magnates carrying all their wealth escaped from the Paraguayan-controlled areas on transport ships from Han and Britain.

Paraguay had a total population of 520,000 before the war, and except for a small number of upper-class figures who took refuge in the Han Kingdom, Paraguayan merchants, landlords, and aristocrats, who accounted for a higher proportion of the number, chose to leave the chaotic Paraguay and take with them the wealth they had accumulated in Paraguay to Canada, Mexico, the United States, and even Europe to start a new life.

The increasing number of evacuees increased the pressure on transportation in the Paraná River basin, and in the nearly month after June 1889, the number of navigation accidents in the Paraná River valley increased tenfold compared with usual, and for the first time there were more than 40 sailors' confrontations and brawls due to congestion on shipping lanes and collisions between ships.

As the civil war in Paraguay affected the security of the waters of the Paraná River, the Han Inland River Garrison Fleet dispatched additional gunboats of various types to strengthen the security and management of the domestic waterways, while the sailors and ordinary fishermen who made a living from the shipping industry also put a little more effort into paying more attention to the safety of navigation on the water after learning about the recent changes in the situation.

The Paraná River is the most important water transportation artery in the Han Dynasty, and its strategic significance is more important than that of the Yangtze River to the Jiangnan region.

The Paraná-La Plata River is the second largest river in South America, with a total length of 4,100 kilometers from its source, the Paranáí Íba, and its tributaries include Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Han, covering an area of more than 4 million square kilometers.

The Paraná-La Plata River is the 13th longest river in the world after the Amazon River in South America. The beautiful scenery along the coast begins at the confluence of the Grande and Paranaiba rivers, flows southwest, through south-central Brazil to Guaira, then passes between Brazil and Paraguay, crosses the Corrientes into the Pampas, flows southwest and then southeast to join the Uruguay River to become the La Plata River, and finally empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Paraná River includes hundreds of large and small tributaries, and the more than 400,000 square kilometers of river basins that flow along the way are the most fertile soil areas in South America, the crops along the coast are abundant, corn, soybeans, sorghum, wheat, waterways and other crops grow luxuriantly, cattle, horses, sheep, alpacas and Han residents from the mainland to introduce and raise southern Anhui black pigs, white-haired domestic boars, wild boars (according to the different climates of the local places, the introduction of domestic pigs, wild boar species are also different, there are South China wild boar, North China wild boar, Mongolian wild boar, Yunnan dwarf black pig and so on. and so on and

It can be said that the existence of the Paraná River is like paving a railway with a total mileage of more than 100,000 kilometers for the Han mainland, creating the most favorable conditions for economic ties and communication between all parts of the Han country.

In addition, the Paraná River is wide (290 kilometers at its widest point and 20 kilometers at its narrowest) and vast area (the Yangtze River basin covers an area of 1.8 million square kilometers. It is possible to allow 10,000-ton ocean-going ships to sail to 600 kilometers of inland waters, while for civilian ships in the local area, the tonnage of ships is only a few hundred tons, one or two thousand tons, sailing in the vast inland waters of the Paraná River is like sailing on the sea, and it is rare to encounter difficult passage.

The direct and potential strategic role of the Paraná River is far more important than the 100,000 km railway, because of the Paraguayan Civil War, the local people who depend on the shipping industry for their livelihood still insist on going to sea for transportation and fishing despite the fact that the passage of the Paraná River waters has been hindered to a certain extent.

And Li Mingyuan, who is in a high position and controls the overall development of the local area, is even more unlikely to ignore the current water security situation on the Paraná River.

"Your Majesty, this is the last month's record of ship navigation management at the mouth of the Paraná River, please take a look."

In the cabin of the 3,500-ton Pioneer armored cruiser, Mei Ruiying, chief of the Ministry of Railway and Transportation Development, handed over a thick record book and said respectfully.

"I'll look at the contents of the record book later, and now you can give you a brief introduction to the security management of the Paraná River Basin."

Li Mingyuan put the record book aside and spoke.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Mei Ruiying glanced down at the several people standing in the cabin and explained: "In June 1889, there were a total of 127 cases of various types of public security in the Paraná River Valley, of which 81 were local civil public security management** and 46 were foreign-related public security management**.

Of the 46 cases involving foreign policing**, 23 involved Paraguay, 6 involved British nationals, 7 involved foreign nationals** from other countries, and 10 involved American fishermen.

Among the 127 water policing that occurred in June, the water policing** that occurred between local non-governmental citizens was less harmful, while the hazard of foreign-related water policing** was relatively high, among them, the illegal fishing behavior of US fishing vessels in the coastal waters of the southern part of the mainland was the most harmful, and the negative impact on the water policing of the inland rivers and coastal waters of the mainland was also the greatest. ”

"Illegal fishing by Americans on their home Atlantic coast has not been effectively controlled?"

Li Mingyuan frowned and said dissatisfied.

In 1885, through the cooperation of local fishermen and the coastal guard fleet, the phenomenon of illegal fishing by foreign fishing vessels began to be effectively curbed, but from the beginning of 1889, according to the central government's war readiness order, the main ships of the inland river and coastal guard fleets were transferred to inland waters to carry out the task of transporting weapons and ammunition materials, and the security force in the estuary basin of the La Plata River and the coastal waters of central and southern China was insufficient. At the same time, the Paraguayan civil war and the increase in the number of foreign vessels in the Paraná River basin caused a gap in water security management, so the problem of illegal fishing by foreign fishing vessels, which had been basically solved earlier, reappeared. ”

"Your transportation management department and the coastal guard fleet have not thought of a way to deal with it?"

"Your Majesty, the Coastal Guard Fleet has reported to the Admiralty about the problem of illegal fishing by U.S. fishing vessels, but after the Admiralty has discussed and given several countermeasures, it still has not had a good curbing effect."

The Coastal Guard Fleet is subordinate to the Navy, and cracking down on illegal fishing by foreign fishing vessels in the coastal waters of the mainland is within the Navy's purview, so after Li Mingyuan's question, Admiralty Chief Chen Sen preemptively explained: "After the law enforcement crackdown in 1885, American fishing vessels have also learned a lesson, according to the illegal fishing reported by the Coastal Guard Fleet**, since February 1889, American fishing vessels have been active in the coastal waters of Mar del Plata, Blanca Bay, and the southernmost part of the mainland, Patagonia. All of them are medium and large distant-water trawlers equipped with light self-defense weapons, the tonnage of fishing boats is generally more than 2,000 tons, and they are generally equipped with old-fashioned breech guns, and some fishing boats of more than 3,000 tons are even equipped with Gatling hand-cranked machine guns.

The water guard force in the coastal waters of the central and southern part of the country is temporarily empty, and the coastal guard task is mainly undertaken by the armed fishing boats that go out to sea to carry out fishing activities, but the tonnage of the local offshore trawlers is generally less than 1,000 tons, and the weapons equipped are also the old-fashioned breech guns that were eliminated in the early days, and when they engage in armed confrontation with American fishing boats, the local fishing boats are not only inferior in terms of tonnage and sailing speed, but also in terms of weapons and equipment, they are not as good as the American fishing boats (more than 80 percent of the local fishing boats are old wooden sailing boats that have been eliminated, A small part are steamships built in the last decade). ”

"The U.S. government has always had bad intentions toward the U.S. government, and the U.S. fishing boats have returned to the coastal waters of the central and southern part of the U.S. without the connivance and encouragement of the U.S. government.

”

Young and middle-aged fishermen and sailors who carry out fishing and hunting activities in the coastal waters of the mainland basically belong to the Navy Reserve militia, and every time they drive fishing boats to sea, they also have the right to carry some old-fashioned guns for self-defense, but because of different national conditions, the number of guns and ammunition carried by local young fishermen each time they go to sea has a fixed limit, unlike the American distant-water fishing vessels controlled by large shipping companies, which can be equipped with some advanced models of muskets, and even hand-cranked machine guns and artillery.

In terms of the armament of fishing boats, US fishing boats that engage in illegal fishing activities have an advantage over local fishing boats, and after listening to Chen Sen's explanation, Li Mingyuan quickly understood the difficulties of the navy and local fishermen.

"It is indeed very difficult to completely curb the illegal fishing activities of US fishing vessels when they do not have an advantage in terms of tonnage, speed, weaponry, etc."

Li Mingyuan's tone slowed down, and he partially agreed with Chen Sen's viewpoint: "However, even if there are objective difficulties, we cannot allow US fishing boats to run rampant in the coastal waters of the homeland at will, and the hydrological and geographical conditions of the coastal waters of the homeland are all national strategic secrets, and if the Americans use the action of fishing for marine fish to measure the hydrological conditions of the coastal waters of the homeland, it will cause major damage to the maritime security of the mainland."

This situation is not out of the question.

In South America, the Americans are second only to Britain in their hostility to their homeland, and now the Americans are too busy arguing with the British to seize control of South America, and they cannot take care of the mainland for the time being, but once the Americans withdraw and focus on their homeland, the local government will face far more pressure than ever before.

Therefore, for the sake of maritime safety at home, decisive measures must be taken to address the problem of illegal fishing by U.S. fishing vessels. ”

After Li Mingyuan finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Navy Chief Chen Sen and said: "When discussing the purchase of a new armored cruiser some time ago, didn't the navy reflect the problem of insufficient ocean-going combat performance of the 1,350-ton Yongxing-class light cruiser? Now that US fishing boats are rampant in the coastal waters, the six Yongxing-class light cruisers that remain in the hands of the Navy fleet do not have to wait for the Orlando-class armored cruisers to return and retire from active service. From now on, the six Yongxing-class light cruisers will be transferred out of the main fleet of the Navy to carry out guard patrols and crack down on illegal fishing by foreign fishing vessels in the coastal waters. ”

"All six Yongxing-class light cruisers were transferred out of the main fleet?"

"That's right, all the six Yongxing-class light cruisers under the name of the First Fleet will be transferred out of the first-line fleet, and the other six Yongxing-class light cruisers distributed in other seas will still be assigned to the first-line fleet of the Navy."

Li Mingyuan nodded, and said seriously: "The six Yongxing-class light cruisers transferred out are not all belonging to the coastal guard fleet, in view of the increasing pressure on water security in the inland rivers and coastal waters of the mainland, I plan to learn from the experience of European countries and set up a maritime police force, which is specifically responsible for maritime inspection and public security tasks.

The Maritime Police Force is commanded in coordination between the Ministry of Police (established in 1888) and the Armed Command of the Naval Reserve.

After carrying out the illegal fishing activities of foreign fishing vessels, two of the six Yongxing-class light cruisers were selected and handed over to the command of the newly established maritime police force, and the remaining four were handed over to the coastal guard fleet.

After the establishment of the maritime garrison unit, the maritime garrison unit will be responsible for issues related to the management of water security in inland rivers and coastal waters, inspection, and smuggling investigation, while the coastal garrison fleet will concentrate its main energies on coastal defense operations and on training qualified reserve personnel for the navy. ”

The Ministry of Police was established last year, and it was within Chen Sen's expectation that the responsibilities related to the Ministry of Police would be transferred to the water police force, so after hearing Li Mingyuan's decision, Chen Sen expressed his support in a timely manner: "The Navy's first priority is to guard the safety of the local maritime waters, and it is not a long-term solution for the coastal guard fleet to perform the water security duties on its behalf, and the transfer of water security responsibilities to the water police force will be of great benefit to the regularization and development of the coastal guard fleet, and the Navy agrees with the plan of dividing the water security duties." ”

"The coastal waters of the southwest Atlantic Ocean and the waters of Patagonia in the south of the mainland are rich in fishery resources, and the amount of tuna, cod, sailfish, sharks, whales, king crabs and other marine fishery products caught in the mainland last year exceeded 46,000 tons, and the sale and export of marine fishery products brought nearly 6 million Han Yuan (equivalent to 3.2 million taels of Kuping silver, accounting for about 6 percent of the financial revenue of the Han State in 1888). In order to protect the fishery resources of the coastal waters of the country, especially the waters of the Patagonian fishing grounds, from illegal fishing by foreign fishing vessels, it is necessary to collect the fiscal tax on marine fishery products. Part of the funds was allocated to order special police vessels and large offshore fishing vessels from several large shipyards in the country. ”

Mei Ruiying, the director general of the Ministry of Railways and Transport Development, followed Chen Sen's words and suggested.

"The establishment of a maritime police force is imminent, and there is an urgent need to protect the fishery resources in the coastal waters of the central and southern part of the mainland."

Li Mingyuan paused for a moment and continued: "The first 5,000-ton ocean-going ship of Xinghe Shipyard has undergone two ocean-going voyages, and the technical indicators have reached the requirements of the implementation of ocean-going transportation tasks. ”…………