Although Haihan's real purpose is to seek benefits for himself, and he has also played a lot of tricks in the process of military aid to the Ming Dynasty, Luo Shengdong also has to admit that if Haihan does not help in Fuguang and Fuguang, it will indeed be difficult to deal with natural disasters and the troubles caused by bandits and pirate gangs with the strength of the Ming government alone. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThese two places have not become as chaotic as the hinterland of the Central Plains, and they are even more prosperous than during the Apocalypse, and the stabilizing role played by Haihan in the middle cannot be ignored.

Of course, the benefits that Haihan received from the Ming Dynasty through military aid were also obvious, on the one hand, he obtained the direct benefits of manpower, resources, and markets that he urgently needed, and on the other hand, he attracted local officials from the Ming Dynasty to cooperate with him, and obtained more opportunities to exert influence on the Ming Dynasty through these official channels. For example, the promotion and publicity of culture, finance, commerce and other unique systems of Haihan are changing the perception of Haihan by the people of Fuzhou and Guangzhou. Now that this model has extended north to the coastal areas of Zhejiang, Haihan's style of doing things will probably not be satisfied with the status quo, and will continue to expand their maritime control area to the north.

However, the nature of the military aid that Ning Qi is talking about now is obviously different from the previous exchange conditions, and Haihan hopes to exchange military aid from the Ming Dynasty for heavier benefits, such as the Haihan regime recognized by the imperial court and the corresponding normalization of diplomatic relations.

Luo Shengdong hesitated: "Negotiate the conditions with the imperial court...... I'm afraid it's not that easy. In the early years, the Portuguese and the Dutch tried similar methods, the Portuguese not only sold artillery to the Ming Dynasty, but also sent artillery regiments to the capital to help the Ming army fight, and did a lot of things, but the conditions in exchange for it were only the long-term lease rights of Macao. ”

Luo Shengdong implied that this method had already been tried by the Portuguese before, and the treatment that could be obtained from the Ming court by relying on military aid may not reach the level expected by Haihan.

What Luo Shengdong said, Ning Qi naturally knew it. In order to legitimize their presence in Macao, the Portuguese, in addition to paying taxes and land rent to the Ming every year, have always provided the Ming with advanced artillery and related artillery training. In 1621, the Ming court sent Zhang Tao and Sun Xueshi as messengers to Macao with the military department to buy artillery and hire gunners. The Portuguese worked hard to recruit 100 artillery units from India, Manila, Japan and other places, and sold 26 British cannons to the Ming Dynasty, and returned to the north with the Qincha. Some of these artillery pieces remained in the capital, and the other part was transferred to Shanhaiguan for deployment by Dong Hanru, the secretary of the military department, and later transported to Ningyuan City outside the pass. The artillery used in the victory of Ningyuan in 1626 was previously purchased from the Portuguese.

In 1628, Emperor Chongzhen ordered two large number of soldiers, Li Fengjie and Wang Zunde, to entrust Portuguese merchants to purchase artillery and recruit soldiers. In February of the following year, the Portuguese in Macao donated 10 cannons and a number of muskets, which were escorted north to Beijing. Emperor Chongzhen deployed artillery in important places in the capital and gave him the name "Shenwei General". At the same time, Xu Guangqi was appointed as the chief assistant, and the Portuguese were asked to assist in the casting of artillery and training artillery in the capital. However, due to the objective technical obstacles, the actual results achieved by these measures are not ideal.

So in 1630, Emperor Chongzhen ordered again to let the Portuguese buy artillery from Macao to recruit soldiers. This time, the response of the Portuguese was also quite positive, not only providing the Ming court with an artillery team of more than 300 men, but also 40 artillery pieces. However, at this time, there were differences of opinion within the Ming court, and some opposition parties believed that the Portuguese should not be allowed to intervene too much militarily, especially the garrison of the capital, and should not be handed over to foreigners to be responsible, and Emperor Chongzhen later accepted this opinion and no longer accepted large-scale military aid from the Portuguese.

During this period, the Ming army was equipped with the most firearms and the most advanced, and probably the garrison of Dengzhou, Shandong should be regarded as one of them. Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua concentrated the artillery, gunners, and artillerymen provided by the Portuguese in Dengzhou, trying to create a powerful firearms force here. Sun Yuanhua's troops had more than 20 Franc cannons, 320 Western guns, and 1,000 birds, and also had a group of gunners who had mastered Western artillery technology.

Unfortunately, in the Dengzhou Rebellion, this elite division was almost destroyed, and the Portuguese mercenaries killed 12 people, including Gongsha, the commander of the artillery team, and 15 were seriously wounded and captured. The surviving Portuguese left Dengzhou after the war and returned south to Macau. After that, Kong Youde, who defected to the Northeast and went to Houjin, and others brought local artillery craftsmen and weapons and equipment, which were basically from this firearms unit built by Daming with a lot of money.

Considering that the Portuguese have a resident population of only one or two thousand in Macao, it is already a good effort to be able to provide this level of military aid to the Ming Dynasty. Compared with their efforts, the benefits they get from Daming are actually relatively limited, and they are 108,000 miles worse than Haihan's current treatment. But Haihan is obviously not satisfied with the status quo, hoping to get more benefits with the help of military aid, which is somewhat unrealistic in Luo Shengdong's view.

Ning Qi said: "At this time and then, during the Apocalypse, the internal and external pressures that the Ming had to face were far less than now, and the Portuguese couldn't talk about the conditions if they wanted to. But now the Ming Dynasty is mired in internal and external troubles, if we Haihan decide to continue to watch coldly, within ten years, the world of the Ming Dynasty will not be able to be saved!"

"Ten years......? It shouldn't be, right?" Luo Shengdong didn't believe the number that Ning Qi said.

Although it is true that the Ming Dynasty has been going downhill in recent years, how can such an empire that has ruled the world for more than 200 years be finished? After seeing the history of the Haihan dynasty, Luo Shengdong did not believe that the peasant army in the Central Plains could bring down the Ming Dynasty.

And the Northeast wild boar skin outside the gate is a group of barbarians who are not civilized enough to put it bluntly, Luo Shengdong used to hear the Haihan people mention Houjin, most of his tone was extremely disdainful, and he naturally didn't think how powerful they could be. Although the Ming Dynasty has been in a situation of more defeats and fewer victories in the confrontation with the Houjin army since 1626, this still will not hinder Luo Shengdong's blind confidence in the Ming army's strength - even if he can't defeat Haihan, then it should be no problem to fight the tribal forces outside the pass, right?

However, Luo Shengdong did not know that in the original history, the Houjin outside the Guanxi would change the name of the country to the Great Qing Dynasty two years later, and follow the example of the Ming Dynasty to establish a political institution. Ten years later, in 1644, Li Zicheng led the peasant army into the capital to end the rule of Emperor Chongzhen, and then the Qing army entered the pass in a big way with the cooperation of Wu Sangui. The ten-year life span given by Ning Qi to Daming is not casual nonsense, but has a very objective historical basis.

Ning Qi said: "General Luo, you have been dealing with us for seven years, you should have seen the case of us predicting the development of the situation, has there been any time that it has not been fulfilled?"

"This ...... Not really. Luo Shengdong really admired Haihan's prediction and hit rate, so much so that many people in the officialdom now regard Haihan's views on the direction of the situation as a golden rule. However, the nature of the matter of predicting the fortunes of the country is much more serious, and although Luo Shengdong no longer regards his identity as a Ming official, his attitude towards this is still very cautious.

Ning Qi continued: "If the problems facing the Ming Dynasty are not supported by us, the situation will only become more and more difficult in the future, but we must try to make the Ming Imperial Court understand this situation and realize the necessity of making deals with us, so that we can realize the plan I said before." To achieve this goal, it is far from enough to rely on us Haihan, there must be some people who can speak for us in the court. ”

Luo Shengdong subconsciously responded: "Lord Xiong......"

"That's right, we think Master Xiong is a good fit for this. Ning Qi nodded and said: "Lord Xiong has served as the governor of both Fuguang and Fuguang, which shows that he has won the trust of the imperial court, and I believe that the advice he provides to the imperial court should also have a certain weight." We originally planned to take the opportunity of this celebration to invite Mr. Xiong to come to Sanya for an interview, but Mr. Xiong must have some concerns, so in the end it was not possible. ”

Luo Shengdong thought to himself that Xiong Wencan was not only a little worried, but he was simply scruples? As the governor of Liangguang and Guangzhou, he came to Sanya to stand on the platform, what was the nature of this kind of behavior? If the imperial court knew about it, most of the charges of treason and defection to the enemy would not be able to escape. Even if Xiong Wencan does not object to the founding of Haihan, he will definitely not take a position lightly at this juncture.

Ning Qi continued: "However, this matter is not in a hurry, and after the celebration is over, we are going to contact Master Xiong again to see if we can arrange a meeting." At that time, he may have to bother General Luo to go north to Zhaoqing to contact the center. ”

Luo Shengdong hurriedly responded: "This is a matter within Luo's responsibility, and I should do my best to complete it." "He is not a kind word, now doing things for Haihan is doing things for himself, the interests of the two are the same, if there is a way to make the court recognize the existence of Haihan, Luo Shengdong will definitely be happy to see it.

Ning Qi was very satisfied with Luo Shengdong's attitude, nodded and said: "Let's talk about business here, you have been in Sanya recently and don't go far, and I will inform you of the next step when I am ready." ”

Luo Shengdong's mouth responded, but his butt didn't move, Ning Qi guessed that he should still have something to say, so he took the initiative to ask: "Are there any difficulties in life and work that we need to help solve recently?"

Luo Shengdong hurriedly responded: "There is indeed a little matter in the bottom, I hope the chief can give some advice." ”

Ning Qi said: "You say come and listen." ”

"When I went to Guangzhou earlier, I met with the heads of the Guangzhou Office, and I heard that Haihan was planning to build a new city near Lijiazhuang. On the way back to Sanya, I have been thinking about what can serve Haihan in this place. Luo Shengdong pondered and said: "It's just that I'm stupid, and after thinking about it, I still think that I have to ask the chief for advice." ”

After Ning Qi listened, he roughly guessed what Luo Shengdong was doing. Haihan plans to build a new city in Panyu, and this plan has indeed been put on the agenda, and Li Jifeng, a local landlord in Panyu, has also negotiated the conditions for land acquisition.

The main purpose of Haihan's plan was to gradually control the trade power in the Pearl River Basin, and to transfer the trade center of this area from Guangzhou City to Haihan's control area. Although this Panyu County is still nominally under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, in fact, even Guangzhou City, which is forty miles away from Panyu, is difficult to meddle in local affairs, and basically acquiesces in the existence of Panyu, a land outside the law.

However, it is said that it is a city building, but it is not a city in the traditional sense, and it is certainly not cost-effective for Haihan to build a city in such a place so close to Guangzhou City, so it is better to exchange the cost of building a city for military expenses and directly capture Guangzhou. It is not so much the construction of a city as it is more similar to the construction of a comprehensive trade center, which expands the scale of the original wharf, warehousing, trading and other functional facilities, and makes the functions of the original migrant camp public. In the final analysis, it is just to expand the existing business scale, but when Luo Shengdong went to the Guangzhou Office, he may have heard some differences in the statements of the people there, so he thought that Haihan planned to build a city in the local area.

Anyway, this must be a big project, and since Luo Shengdong has heard the news, it is reasonable for him to want to intervene as soon as possible to reap some benefits. Ning Qi asked, "Then do you want to invest in the local area, or do you plan to buy real estate and land?"

Luo Shengdong responded: "This is the place where you can't get it accurately, it stands to reason that taking money to buy property and land is the right way, but this time I went to the Guangzhou Office, and I listened to Director Ma talk to me about what kind of liquidity, making money with money, and after listening to it, I also felt that it was very reasonable, but I have been dealing with salt in the past few years, and I don't know much about other industries, so I don't know how to operate." ”

Ning Qi said in his heart that your kid is not satisfied with his private salt business, but his ambition is not small, and he wants to invest in other industries. This is probably a little red after going to Guangzhou to see the wealth of Li Jifeng's family, so he suddenly had such an idea. Marik is also a master with super flickering ability, this Luo Shengdong hit his hands, and it is inevitable that he will be fooled and lame. However, Ning Qi's work field is not business and trade, and he only knows a little about the trade operation in Guangdong, so he really can't give any sound advice.

"Otherwise, how about Mr. Shi come to me later to discuss a document and ask him to give you a little professional advice?" Ning Qi felt that since Luo Shengdong had already opened his mouth to ask to come here, he still had to find a way to give him an answer. He had to be sent to run errands, and the grass had to be fed enough to the horses before they could run.