At this time, the night was dark, although Zheng Zheng was a young man, but it took a lot of effort to talk about it for half a day, and he couldn't hide the fatigue in his eyes at this time. The main transaction content of the two sides has been negotiated, and Zheng Zheng's spirit has also relaxed, so he agreed to Tao Donglai's proposal.

As soon as Zheng Zheng left, Qian Tiandun and the others stood up excitedly and shook hands with each other to congratulate each other. At this point in the negotiations, the results achieved have greatly exceeded their previous expectations, and the actual benefits that these results will bring to the crossing group are not only reflected in economic interests, but also play an excellent role in promoting the outward expansion of their own military power and political influence, and even the control of the entire South China Sea region by the crossing regime in the long-term plan.

"Mr. Tao, I'm really convinced of you!" Xie Chun sincerely expressed his admiration for Tao Donglai: "This afternoon's negotiations from beginning to end have been holding the nose of the little Vietnamese prince, you fool...... Oh, this negotiation skill is really amazing!"

Tao Donglai's face was also a little tired, but the excitement in his eyes couldn't be concealed: "We have taken this city, and in the next few years, the safety factor in this direction of North Vietnam will be greatly improved." Moreover, the income of the military industry and the source of immigrants have been steadily guaranteed, and it has finally entered the track of steady development! However, everyone should not be careless, and the follow-up details must be properly handled. Our trade relationship with the Truong clan of North Vietnam is not a one-shot deal, so many issues must be handled carefully. In addition, we should not forget that the purpose of our arms trade and other industrial trade with Vietnam is not only to make money, but also how to export our values through trade channels, and gradually control these regions militarily and economically, so as to form enough influence in politics, which is what we need to do with our hearts. ”

"The troops that Trung sent for training must also be the elite of North Vietnam, so that in five or ten years, a considerable number of officers in the North Vietnamese army will be trained by us. I, Qian Tiandun, dare to pack the ticket and say that when the time comes, the vast majority of these people will be more inclined to our side in politics. Qian Tiandun said confidently.

This is also true, when it comes to the level of the military's political work, there is no other country in the world that can compare with the crossing group. In a purely agrarian country like North Vietnam, its army has no political work at all, and there are only a few professional soldiers, most of whom are peasant soldiers who were temporarily conscripted during the war, and their combat effectiveness and will to fight are quite poor, so when Ning Qi talked about the strength of the Vietnamese army, he was also quite disdainful at the beginning, believing that its actual combat effectiveness could pose an extremely limited threat to the crossing group.

But this does not mean that Vietnam is a place where you can pinch melons casually, with mountains crisscrossing and dense water systems, which is definitely a nightmare for the army's logistical baggage. In a time and space where there are no well-developed transportation channels, any powerful army will have a headache about the route to advance, and the poor transportation conditions here are more formidable than the peasant soldiers. The impact of this drawback will be especially pronounced for modern thermal weapons units, which rely heavily on firepower weapons and logistical supplies. Tao Donglai did not agree to set up the future Vietnamese army training camp in the inland Hanoi area, in addition to those based on his own needs, the inconvenience of supplies caused by poor transportation conditions was also an important reason.

In addition to paying a large amount of money to the Crossing Group, the Trung Clan also had to hand over soldiers and officers to the Crossing Group for training. Although the cycle of this training will not be very long, at best about three months, but it is enough for the military police department to do a lot of things. The first thing to inculcate in the trained North Vietnamese soldiers was the idea that "the Haihan army is invincible." Before the departure of the caravan, the relevant personnel of the base camp had already begun to compile a special "Foreign Army Training Guide", the purpose of which was to make the other side gradually realize the strength of the Haihan military force, the advanced military science and technology, and the sophistication of tactics from the beginning of the contact between the military personnel of the two sides, so as to form a solid subconscious in their hearts, so as to eliminate the hostility and defensive spirit of the North Vietnamese military against the crossing regime.

This ideological indoctrination may not be effective quickly, but after years of continuous operation, those North Vietnamese soldiers who survived the battlefield will gradually realize how useful what they have learned from the traversers, and thus further deepen their sense of awe for the military power of the Hai Han. And when this sense of awe accumulates to a certain extent, it can completely achieve the effect of "surrendering the army without a fight".

But there is still a lot of concrete work to be done to achieve this goal. For now, it is a question of the setting up of the Vietnamese army's training camp. As the leader of this plan, the Crossing Masses need to plan their camp before the arrival of the opposing troops, select the personnel to serve as military advisers, and develop a training plan accordingly. Of course, the specific drudgery of building camps and training facilities naturally had to wait for the North Vietnamese trainees to do it, and the military advisers would not do such menial work.

In addition, although Zheng Zheng has agreed to this training plan, the specific costs include the construction and operation of the training camp, as well as the remuneration of the military advisers, which still have to be calculated. As for the profits in the middle, they were allocated to Qian Tiandun to form a real field combat force in the Black Earth Harbor area.

Qian Tiandun did not carefully calculate how much it would cost to form this new army, but he had already prepared a list of weapons and materials needed for the new army, and respectfully handed it to Tao Donglai with both hands: "Mr. Tao, this is the list of military supplies I listed, please take a look." ”

Tao Donglai took it over and took a closer look, the military supplies requested by Qian Tiandun were actually not excessive, a company of flintlock guns, a full set of military uniforms, individual equipment, and two small-caliber 3-pounder field guns.

The reason why the 3-pounder gun was chosen instead of the existing 6-pounder gun as the heavy weapon of this army was mainly because of the local terrain of Vietnam, and the large artillery was very inconvenient to move in the field because of its size and load. For example, although the 6-pounder gun is also a small-caliber gun in the existing artillery, its dead weight is still more than 200 kg, plus a complete set of mobile gun carriages, the actual weight has exceeded 300 kg, if there is no mule and horse and other livestock as traction power, then the mobility of these guns in the field will be very limited.

At present, mules and horses are strictly controlled strategic materials in Heitu Port, and all of them are used in the traction of rail coal trucks between the mining area and the port area. Because of the lack of mules and horses, there are still several coal trucks pulled by oxen, and this situation may only be improved when the power of steam engines begins to be gradually promoted next year.

The weight of the 3-pounder gun is only slightly more than half of that of the 6-pounder gun, and it can quickly maneuver at a certain distance in the field with only manpower, which is undoubtedly more in line with Qian Tiandun's positioning of the new unit as "mountain and jungle warfare."

After listening to his explanation, Tao Donglai put away the list of supplies and continued to ask noncommittally: "After this unit is established, where do you plan to use it as a training area?"

Qian Tiandun had already planned for this, and immediately took out his laptop and called up the map of the Halong Bay area. Next to him, Wang Tom and Xie Chun also came over and listened to Qian Tiandun's explanation with great interest.

"According to what we know so far, the vast majority of the sea area east of the port of Heitu to the coast of Guangxi to the northeast is a no-man's land, and there are no armed forces that can threaten the port of Heitu. In consideration of the need for the exercise, I intend to place the training area of the new troops in the area west of the port of Heitu, especially in the western part of the unmined mining area. There are coastal plains and mountainous areas that stretch for dozens of miles, and the terrain is complex and changeable, and it is also a no-man's land, which is very suitable for training this field combat unit. In addition to training, we can also make some preparations for the future development of this area. ”

"I add. Tom Wang has practical experience in this area, and these people here are the ones who have the most right to speak: "I think the fan-shaped bay in this area is very valuable for development, and the black soil port was only chosen because the harbor conditions there are more suitable for the requirements, but if we want to carry out comprehensive development of this area in the future, the western part of the area is actually more valuable." In addition to a peninsula for coal mining, there is also a large area along the beach in this almost enclosed bay that can be used for salt works, and although it is not as large as Yinggehai, it is at least equivalent to several iron furnace ports. ”

Tao Donglai pondered for a while before he said: "This place can be determined as a training area for the new troops, but there is no rush to develop it in advance. Until we don't have enough military power, we still don't let the North Vietnamese become too defensive against us. At present, the coal output of the black soil port is fully able to supply the production needs, and what we lack now is not coal capacity, but sea transportation capacity. Tomorrow, when the deal is negotiated, the base camp will be notified that the shipyards in Guangzhou and Qiongzhou will have increased orders, and more crews and sailors will have to be hired. The port of Heitu is within a hundred nautical miles of Qinzhou and Lianzhou on the other side of Guangxi, and if you have the opportunity, you can also send a caravan to Guangxi to explore the road and see if you can hire people there. It is said that the local sugar, textile, paper, ironware and other industries are relatively developed, and you can figure out how to trade for yourself. ”

Xie Chun's eyes lit up and said, "Then can we sell the coal over there?"

"Yes, as long as you can sell it. Tao Donglai nodded in response.

But before Xie Chun and Qian Tiandun could get happy, Tao Donglai immediately made up a shot: "But I must remind you that there is coal production in Qinzhou, although the quality of coal is not as high as that of Heitu Port, but if you cross the sea from Heitu Port, I am afraid there will not be much price advantage." ”

Seeing that the relationship between the two immediately lowered, Tao Donglai could only sigh that these two guys were really not business materials, and reminded with a dry cough: "The so-called trade is to buy low and sell high, you think about what can be trafficked here to be profitable." ”

The two looked at each other and said in unison: "Grain!"

The Red River Delta of North Vietnam was dominated by rice, and a large amount of rice was concentrated in the hands of a very small number of magnates, and the poor people could only buy a small part of it, and rice was just a cheap wealth with a limited shelf life for the North Vietnamese magnates. However, the level of North Vietnam's maritime trade was not enough to export the surplus rice, so the Crossing Group could take advantage of this loophole and traffic the cheap rice produced here to the direction of Liangguang by sea.

Although many industries in Qinzhou are relatively developed, grain production is a great weakness, and it has always been a food-deficient area in history. According to the records in the "Guangdong Yearbook," by the 40s of the 20 th century, the average grain yield per mu in Qinzhou was only 80 kilograms, and it was unable to complete its self-sufficiency, and it still needed to supply from other places. In other words, the food shortage in the Qinzhou area is very large, and the Liangguang area is not a major grain producing area in the first place, so the local grain prices are very different from the grain prices in North Vietnam, and the profit margin for doing grain trafficking business is still considerable.

However, what Tao Donglai can give them is only conceptual inspiration, and the current base camp cannot give them much help, especially in terms of capacity. Most of the existing maritime capacity is invested in the transportation of coal between the two places, and then thousands of people are emigrated every month, and special sea vessels are needed to transport it, and it is unlikely that under the current circumstances, the transportation capacity will be allocated to allow the black soil port to run the sea trade. If the Black Soil Port Management Committee really wants to start in this field, it will have to find a way to solve the capacity problem on its own.

Several people discussed the future development of Heitu Port until late at night, and then they dispersed to rest.

The next morning, the two sides continued negotiations on unfinished matters. However, since the general framework of the negotiations on the first day has been basically determined, the atmosphere of today's negotiations is more relaxed. As soon as Tao Donglai came up, he gave Zheng Zheng a large number of gifts, including various spices mentioned on the first day, as well as various glass products, matches, soaps, sabers, etc., produced by the crossing group, and even a special flintlock pistol, which was a gift produced in small batches by the military industry department in accordance with the requirements of the Executive Committee, and was specially used to give gifts to the powerful in foreign affairs activities. Zheng Zheng, as the future ruler of Annan, can also afford this heavy gift.

Zheng Zheng conducted the test launch with great interest and was very satisfied with the gift. He thought that this kind of well-made handcuffs were much more upscale than those clumsy arquebuses, and in the newly learned Haihan dialect, this was called "forced ge". And the gifts that Zheng Zheng received all reflect the "forced qualification" emphasized by the Haihan people.

Due to the fact that Vietnam's own maritime trade is not developed, the stock of glass products in Vietnam is very small, and with the limited number of glassware that Zheng Zheng has seen in the past, he believes that it cannot be compared with these glass products presented by the Haihan people, especially the glass mirrors that can clearly show the hair and the exquisitely conceived glass stationery, which are regarded as treasures by Zheng Zheng. Tao Donglai lost no time in explaining to him, claiming that these things are currently mainly sold to Daming, and have been widely praised by users in Guangzhou.

Zheng Zheng had never been to Daming, but he still knew that Guangzhou was the largest and most prosperous city in southern China, according to people who had been to Guangzhou, that city was the size of several Thang Long Mansions, and there were more ships on the Pearl River outside the city than in the whole of Annam, and countless merchants rushed there from various countries every day to trade, and there were even more active merchants in the Guangzhou market than the residents of Thang Long Province. In Zheng Zheng's mind, Guangzhou is a very prosperous metropolis, and these daily necessities that the locals like are undoubtedly a "high" lifestyle worth imitating. But even putting Guangzhou aside, Zheng Zheng believes that these exquisitely made objects will also cause great repercussions among the country's elite after they are transported to the Huilong Mansion.

Zheng Zheng shot a gun, washed his hands, looked in the mirror, and finally tried a match, and had to sigh that the craftsmanship of the Haihan people was exquisite, and it was by no means comparable to the craftsmen in his own country. After the arms negotiations, Zheng Zheng already knew that the Haihan people would never introduce these production workshops into their own country, but if they had to spend money to buy these products, the Haihan people probably would not object, they never seemed to be at odds with money, and everything they did seemed to be in order to make more money.

Therefore, under this harmonious and friendly atmosphere, the two sides reached a series of agreements on the trade of daily necessities. Truen's firm was granted the exclusive agent of the existing Hai Han daily necessities in the area north of Hue, and in return, the Hai Han side was also certified as the sole exporter of rice from North Vietnam, so that the two sides could barter at an agreed price, eliminating the need for precious metals such as gold and silver to circulate in the trading process.

After the farewell luncheon at noon that day, Zheng Zheng set off with some of his subordinates. He was anxious to return to Thang Long Province to show his father the great results of this transaction. However, several other Vietnamese people stayed behind to negotiate with the side of the crossing group on follow-up matters, mainly the details of the establishment of the training camp of the new army.

But at this point, the most important task of Tao Dong's trip has been completed, and there is nothing to do here. However, Qian Tiandun and the others and the militia from the base camp still need to be stationed here for a few days, and only after the affairs of the training camp have been cleared up can they carry out the next move. In the afternoon of the same day, Tao Donglai and others left the Tushan Peninsula on the "Feisu" sailing ship and headed for Heitu Port, the second destination of this trip.