Compared with its peers who are still using more primitive naval warfare methods such as ramming, fire attack, and gangside jumping, Haihan is indeed in a leading position in many aspects such as weapon level, shipbuilding technology, and naval tactics, but these are only theoretical advantages. When it comes to surface warfare in the true sense, it is only during the expedition to Annam that the special operations company that went deep into the upper reaches of the Zhengjiang River fought with the "Exploration" once, but the opponent was the Annan naval army, which was more scummy than Yazhou Shuizhai, and even if it won the victory, it would not prove anything at all.

If the battlefield were to be changed to the vast sea, and the opponent was replaced by a pirate gang with experienced naval warfare, then probably no one would have blind confidence in victory. The primitive tactics of naval warfare were not without their merits, and Chinese sailing ships had a chance of winning battles with ships armed with artillery. In the original history, when Zheng Chenggong conquered Taiwan more than 30 years ago, he successfully sank and captured a number of Dutch warships and armed merchant ships in the battle with the Dutch.

Of course, Zheng Chenggong's victory was ultimately based on the superiority of military strength and the sea armed forces of the Dutch. However, compared with the dozen or so warships sent by the East India Company to the city of Geranza to participate in the battle at that time, the only warship that Haihan can really handle today is the "Exploration", and even if the second and third ships are still in the outfitting stage, it is difficult to compete with the "Eighteen Zhi" with 30,000 naval troops. Having said that, after spending so much time and detouring so much time to try to support Fujian's Xu Xinsu clique, shouldn't it just let it withstand the offensive of the "Eighteen Zhi" on the frontal battlefield in order to gain time for the development of its own maritime forces?

If you give up the naval battle and just use it as a defensive force to assist Xu Xinsu to defend the city, it will not be too risky, but the hidden dangers caused by the long supply line are still unavoidable, which is still an undesirable strategic plan for the crossing group that does not have enough capital to take the risk.

After Yan Chujie quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, he still shook his head helplessly and rejected Dong Yanyun's suggestion: "Boss Dong, there are too many aspects involved in this matter, and it is not something that I can decide alone." If you insist, then I can make a proposal to the Executive Committee on your behalf, but you don't have any hope for the outcome. Fujian is too far away, and our militia does not yet have sufficient capability to carry out combat missions in such a distant place. ”

Dong Yanyun couldn't hide the disappointment on his face: "Since this is the case, then I still have to ask General Yan to say a few more kind words in the executive committee! If it is done, there will be heavy thanks in the future!"

Yan Chujie waved his hand and said, "There's no need to thank you or anything, although we won't directly participate in the battle between you and the 'Eighteen Zhi', we will still give you as much help as possible." As long as your big boss knows that we are on his side. ”

Dong Yanyun said yes again and again, and couldn't stop thanking Yan Chujie. Although he can't borrow troops from the Haihan people, he can get such a clear statement from the high-level people of the Haihan military, and Dong Yanyun can't be regarded as having made this trip in vain. The willingness of the Haihan people to borrow troops to help is not a key condition for Xu Xinsu Group to determine victory or defeat, compared to this, Dong Yanyun is more worried that the Haihan people will sell weapons to their opponents in addition to watching from the wall. Therefore, in addition to the responsibility of negotiating cooperation and purchasing arms, he also wanted to find out whether there were other Fujian counterparts who had come to Shengli Port, because it was very likely that they were "businessmen" placed by the "Eighteen Zhi" in Fujian. Fortunately, so far, Dong Yanyun knows that he is only one representative of Fujian merchants, and it can be basically concluded that there is no connection between the Haihan people and the "Eighteen Zhi".

If he really met his colleagues from Fujian in Shengli Port, Dong Yanyun actually didn't have a good way. It doesn't work to do it on the territory of the Haihan people, the labor camp in Shengli Harbor is one of the famous "scenic spots" here, and all the guys who violate the rules of the Haihan people here will be thrown into the labor camp regardless of their identity, and Dong Yanyun doesn't dare to expect this group of rich and powerful earth overlords to give him any special treatment. The only feasible way is to rely on silver to smash the opponent, the big deal is to charter the silver that was not used last time I came to Shengli Harbor, and this time it was all loaded and shipped over, anyway, I can't buy cannons now, and it must be enough to buy 18,000 muskets.

It's just that Dong Yanyun has one thing that he hasn't figured out so far, these Haihan people are said to come from an unknown continent thousands of miles overseas, and they have never dealt with Zheng Yiguan's gang after arriving in Qiongzhou, and they have been as far as Guangzhou, why would they take the initiative to participate in this war along the coast of Fujian, and their attitude is still so firm, they have stood on Xu Xinsu's side from the beginning, are these people really interested in education and want to serve the imperial court to suppress bandits?

If Dong Yanyun hadn't dealt with the Haihan people before, he might have been skeptical when he heard such rumors, after all, the majesty of the Ming Dynasty was still there in these years, even if it was Annan, who was successful in making an independent scene, he would still give face to the Ming Dynasty on the bright side, and it was not uncommon for some people from overseas Fanbang to want to work. But when he personally dealt with the Haihan people twice, he completely dispelled this idea, and it was possible for anyone to submit to the Ming Dynasty, but it would never be these Haihan people.

These guys didn't pay attention to the various prohibitions of the Ming Dynasty at all, and completely built Shengli Port into an extralegal place. The Haihan people not only have their own armament, but even local laws and regulations are formulated by themselves, and the Da Ming law is not useful here at all. As for the surviving Yulin Inspection Division here, it is not difficult for Dong Yanyun to see that it is similar to this kind of overhead behavior, and Xu Xinsu has not done much in Fujian. Of course, now that Xu Xinsu has an official status, it is legal to set up, and it is definitely illegal for these Haihan people to play this trick.

With neither the intention of surrendering to the Ming Dynasty nor the intention of rebelling, Dong Yanyun didn't understand why these people wanted to be on the bar with the "Eighteen Zhi" who had no interests thousands of miles away. It's a bar, and it's so sneaky, it doesn't seem that he wants "Eighteen Zhi" to know their savings too early. Dong Yanyun originally thought that the strategy of borrowing troops would be appreciated by the Haihan people, because it just fulfilled their desire to intervene in the Fujian war, but he didn't expect Yan Chujie to think about it for a long time, and finally did not agree to his proposal, which made Dong Yanyun also a little frustrated.

But then Yan Chujie still gave him a very good-sounding Jianyì: "The craftsmen you sent to Shengli Port this time are basically craftsmen who repair guns and artillery, but in fact, we think that what you need to learn more is the advanced tactics of using firearms, and you should select some grassroots officers who are better at Su zhì and send them here to receive our professional training." Although our weapon-making skills will not be easily passed on to the outside world, our ability to fight wars can still be appropriately taught to close partners...... Boss Dong, do you know how many military cadets came from North Vietnam this time?"

"I don't know, please ask General Yan for advice!" Dong Yanyun replied very respectfully.

"Twenty people, all young officers. Yan Chujie said proudly: "After these officers return to China after completing their studies with us, they will become the main force in the army, leading the army to attack the South Vietnamese rebels." And the army of Annam is also expected to enter the age of firearms from now on. Although their weapons were changed decades later than the Ming Dynasty, as long as they learned the tactics we taught, their combat effectiveness would soon catch up with the Ming Dynasty. ”

"I see, after the next return, I will write a letter to the master of the house, and send competent men to Victory Harbor to enter this military school. Dong Yanyun understood that Yan Chujie's enrollment was only one aspect, and he mainly wanted to use this to further stabilize the relationship between the two sides. Although the scale of the troops directly under Xu Xinsu was not comparable to that of North Vietnam, ten or eight loyal and available talents could definitely be selected. As for questions such as the admission fee, Dong Yanyun didn't plan to ask at all, anyway, how many Lao Tzu can pay and will definitely pay, but if he asks, he looks petty.

There are few customers, business is talked about quickly, and the recommendation of the military industry department has come to an end without even half of the time spent on Ningqi's side, of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that the military industry department has not launched export-oriented weapons and equipment in the near future. And this situation of eating the old money will probably have to be maintained for a while, until the relevant departments feel the need to start replacing the next generation of weapons.

The reason why the military industry has slowed down the pace of updating weapons is that there are still many things that need to be further improved and improved in the process of making weapons, and the military hopes to be able to obtain products with stable performance and relatively guaranteed quality instead of trial products that are hastily taken out of the real room. On the other hand, the reason is more complicated, in addition to the current group's own demand for weapons and equipment There is still a big gap, the commercial department hopes to exchange the products of the previous generation for as much sales revenue as possible, and after the market purchasing power has dropped to a certain level, the weapons will be upgraded, and then start selling the weapons replaced by the militia, so as to maximize the profits of the arms trade.

With less than 2,000 muskets in North Vietnam and dozens of artillery pieces ordered, the military and commercial departments believe that there is still great potential to be tapped, and at least North Vietnam must be armed with a 10,000-strong thermal weapon force. As for the sales volume in Fujian, it is estimated that it will be a little smaller, after all, Xu Xinsu is only a military leader now, and even if his team is overnumbered, there is a limit, but there is still a lot of room for operation. Therefore, the relevant departments are not particularly anxious about the sale of arms, after all, there is no other place to buy this thing for the time being, and Xu Xinsu is probably not willing to take the same amount of silver to buy the inferior goods supervised by the Ming Military Department, so he can only patiently wait for Haihan to ship it.

When several deputies walked out of the place where the matter was discussed, Dong Yanyun lost his voice and said, "That...... What is that?"

Everyone turned their heads to look, their expressions were different, and the North Vietnamese mission was similar to Dong Yanyun, with a look of seeing a ghost. Li Nai, the representative of "Fu Ruifeng", was not surprised, and still shook the folding fan in his hand leisurely and said: "You don't know, this is a steam engine invented by the Haihan people! This thing uses refined coal to boil water, and the water vapor pushes the connecting rod, which is extremely powerful, and can carry 10,000 catties of things. The white smoke that quickly swept through it was the water vapor after boiling!"

"Fighting for Qi Chicken, Coal, Boiling Water?" Rao is Dong Yanyun is well-informed, and after listening to Li Nai's explanation, the second monk was also confused. As for the North Vietnamese mission, not to mention, Zheng Zheng and Zheng Ting's two uncles and nephews were staring at each other, and they didn't know why at all.

Li Nai saw that these people were still in a state of confusion, and suddenly felt that his intellectual superiority was spontaneously born, and he arched his hand to Yan Chujie and said, "I wonder if Mr. Yan can arrange for me to wait for a test ride on a steam locomotive?"

Yan Chujie smiled and said, "Of course this is no problem. If I'm not mistaken, the car now should be carrying the Guangdong business group that came to Shengli Port for inspection. ”

Yan Chujie's guess was indeed correct, the shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa" were sitting in the carriage dragged by the steam locomotive at this time, enjoying the pleasure of galloping. Although the speed of the car was not very fast, some people still clung to the window frame with trepidation, as if they were worried about being thrown out by the rumbling monster. Others, with excitement on their faces, looked out from the left, and then to the right, as if to make sure that the big creature was not being led by a galloping horse or something.

The only thing that makes everyone feel a little uncomfortable is that this so-called carriage has opened multiple windows, and none of them have been installed yet, so soot mixed with water vapor directly fills the entire carriage, making the rich businessmen who are used to living a comfortable life very wolf. But in this novel environment, no one particularly cares about this choking soot.

The reason why these people appeared on the train is because one of the investment projects is the "intercity rail transit system". This is a new thing that the shareholders present have never been exposed to, and the only shareholder who knows about it, Li Nai, the third young master of "Fu Ruifeng", went to another promotion meeting, so everyone has no idea about it. So in order to let the shareholders have a quick and intuitive understanding, Tao Donglai asked them to arrange for them to take a line from Shengli Port to Tiandu, which had just been opened to traffic for a few days.

"This thing is far more stable and faster than a sedan chair carriage, and it is really an artifact!" Zhan Gui, a sea merchant, took the lead and praised loudly.

"It's just that I don't know what the principle of this thing is, but the front of this car seems to be made of fine iron, and there must be thousands of catties, and it can travel so fast. Looking at this secret work of Haihan craftsmen, I still have something to lose!" Wang Qin, the representative of Huizhou Haifeng, couldn't help but sigh.

The merchant is a very practical creature, and they quickly retract their novelty and begin to consider the practical use of the thing. Needless to say, although this car is not as slow as a galloping horse, it is not slow, and it is still much faster than ordinary carriages, ox carts, wheelbarrows, sedan chairs and other means of transportation. And its biggest feature is the load capacity, according to the Haihan people, this car can pull five times its own weight of the car. This kind of load capacity is simply a treasure for the transportation line with a large freight volume, and the goods that can be pulled by a car can be used as dozens of animal powered vehicles.

But this kind of car also has some disadvantages, such as the need to burn a large amount of coal, the need to add water regularly, the need to constantly add coal to boil water during the journey, and must move forward according to the track that has been laid, and the manufacture and laying construction of this kind of track do not seem to be easy. In addition, the entire front of the car needs to be built with fine iron, in other words, although this kind of car looks very easy to use, its construction and operation cost is much higher than that of traditional tools, which is convenient but not necessarily cost-effective.

The plan given by Haihanfang is to build more civil railways in the future, and to recover costs by charging fares and freight fees, and gradually realize profitability. Considering the construction period and upfront investment of the project, as well as the size of the local population and income situation, the shareholders are very skeptical that the promised profitability of Haihanfang is likely to be realized. If the charging standard is set high, there will definitely be fewer people in the car, and if it is set low, then the time to recover the construction cost will become far away.

While everyone is raving about the car's performance, it's a different story to invest in it. In business, although things are good, shareholders are reluctant to invest their money in such a project with an uncertain future.

Halfway along the tracks, the car stopped and reverted back to Shenglibao station, and the Executive Committee did not intend to allow the shareholders to visit the production units in the Tiendok Industrial Zone. After arriving at the station, there was hot water prepared by the staff, so that these wealthy businessmen who had been smoked by the soot into their faces would be washed first.

When he was still queuing up to wash his face, Yan Chujie also arrived at the station with a few excited customers, Zheng's uncles and nephews were all from the military, and they were bold, so they went straight to the locomotive to take a closer look.

They have a lot more in mind than these merchants, and if this thing can be introduced to Annam, the time required to transfer troops from Thang Long Province to the front line by land can be at least several times shortened! The only problem is that the route traveled by this "fighting chicken" seems to need to be specially laid, and Annam, especially the Red River Delta in the north, is known for its abundant water system, and it is not too easy to build a road with this kind of stone as the foundation and then lay the railroad rails with sleepers on it.

"You two, you can't see the fame just by looking at it, so let's go up and sit down. Li Nai smiled and helped the Haihan people push the two uncles and nephews into the water.

So about twenty minutes later, the rumbling train returned with a group of people who were also blackfaced. Li Nai shook his fan on the platform and chuckled, deeply proud of his resourcefulness, he had already taken a small train pulling ore at the Tiandu Iron Mine last year, and the soot was even more wolf than these people