If the location of the Tushan Peninsula can be built as a strategic support point, then the entire coastal area of the Red River Delta can be effectively monitored. And this is only about 40 nautical miles away from the Black Earth Port, and if something happens, the Black Earth Port will have time to support. Of course, the biggest difficulty in building a base here is not the money or materials, but the personnel.

The population of Heitu Port now exceeds 3,000, but the military and police force is less than 100. This is enough if it is only used as a defender of social order, but if it is to be used as a military defense force, or even as an advance force for external expansion, then such a small number of people are really not enough. Moreover, such a small number of manpower has been divided into four parts, which are stationed in the mining area, the residential area, the port area, and the supply station of Fushuizhou Island between Heitu Port and Hainan Island. Wanting to take out more manpower from this to garrison the Tushan Peninsula is obviously not a practical idea.

Of course, there is also a secret backup plan within the Military Police Department, that is, Qian Tiandun's proposal that the Heitu Port side raise its own funds and personnel to form and train a combat unit with mountain and jungle operations as its main combat area. In this way, some people can be transferred from the port of Heitu to set up a long-term base on the Tushan Peninsula.

This plan is not a problem in terms of personnel, there is a steady stream of immigrants arriving at the Black Earth Port to choose slowly, even if you choose one in a hundred, you can also select some good seedlings. The main difficulty lies in the capital and ordnance, all the investment at the beginning of the opening of the port of Heitu came from the base camp, whether it is capital or ordnance, it is strictly dependent on the supply of the base camp, and it is definitely impossible to achieve it without the support of the base camp. If this plan is reported directly to the Executive Committee, I am afraid that it will be refuted by the opposition, so although it has been two months since the opening of the port of Heitu, this plan has been shelved and waiting for the right time.

Tao Donglai and others climbed the hill at the southeast end of the Tu Son Peninsula, from which you can have a bird's-eye view of the coast and the sea within dozens of miles, and you can clearly see Cat Ba Island ten nautical miles away across the sea without the help of a telescope, and several river estuaries within the city of Haiphong in the later generations are also within the field of vision, which is indeed an excellent monitoring location.

"What a good place!" Tao Donglai couldn't help but sigh: "Occupying this place is equivalent to occupying the mouth of the sea in northeast Vietnam!"

"Although this place is not big, if you really need it, one or two thousand people can be stationed, and it is within a day's voyage from Heitu Port and Fushuizhou Island, and if you need to intervene militarily in Vietnam in the future, this place is really an excellent support point. Tom Wang added. It was his advice that made the Military Police Department pay attention to the geographical importance of the Tushan Peninsula.

"The most important thing is that there are no threats in the vicinity. Xie Chun also joined the discussion: "We have repeatedly touched the coastline along the coastline from Heitu Harbor to Thanh Hoa, but we have found no trace of pirates. And the Vietnamese garrison, which is closest to the Tu Son Peninsula, is already a hundred miles away, and it is unlikely to pose a threat here. We only need to transport a few hundred laborers from the port of Heitu, spend half a month repairing the barracks, docks and basic defense facilities, and then send a small number of troops, and this place will be taken. ”

Tao Donglai glanced sideways at Xie Chun, and asked with a smile, "Your kid and Qian Tiandun have already colluded with Guò, right?"

Xie Chun did not deny this: "We have indeed discussed, it would be a pity if this place was given up, even if it was to pay some price, we should take this place! Even if we don't have enough soldiers now, then we can move some people over and settle down first, just like we did on Fushuizhou Island, build a supply depot first, and then consider building a military base." ”

Tao Donglai nodded and said noncommittally: "The idea is good, but the strategic position of this place is much higher than that of Fushuizhou Island, and I am afraid it will not work without garrisons." ”

"Whether you can garrison the army or not depends on Mr. Tao's performance in the executive committee. Xie Chun stared at Tao Donglai with blank eyes.

Tao Donglai smiled and said, "Don't worry, let's talk about this matter after negotiating with the Vietnamese this time." ”

The reason why the fleet docked at this place on the Tushan Peninsula was because the Heitu Port Management Committee had made an appointment to meet here. The other party hoped that the crossing group could directly send people to Hanoi to meet, but in consideration of security issues, the meeting place was finally set on the Tu Son Peninsula. However, because of the inconvenience of communication in this era, the two sides only agreed on an approximate meeting time in advance, and Tao Donglai and others arrived here two days earlier than the agreed time.

In order to comfort the crew and the accompanying militia, a traditional seafood barbecue banquet was held on the shore that night. Beibu Gulf is a tropical and subtropical inland sea, and its natural conditions are very suitable for the rapid growth and reproduction of various marine organisms, and it is also a famous fishing ground in later generations. The marine life here is very abundant, and the crew just fished a few nets in the bay at random, and pulled up a lot of good things.

After a full meal, Xie Chunyi touched his stomach and said: "The coolest thing after crossing is that you can finally eat all-you-can-eat seafood for free!"

Wang Tom smiled: "No wonder you want to drill into the navy with all your thoughts, it turns out that you have this foodie mentality!"

Xie Chun waved his hand and said: "If it was just for eating, I would have been mixed into the food group a long time ago, little brother, I got a second-level chef certificate back then." ”

"You are really versatile!" Tao Donglai also entered the tent where they lived: "We arrived a day or two ahead of schedule, and we are idle, how about going out to sea tomorrow and walking around? ”

"We'll have to leave early, we only have about half a day. Wang Tom answered: "Just now a telegram was sent from Heitu Port, and Qian Tiandun will come over in person tomorrow." ”

"He has to get it, and he has made the deal. Xie Chun responded.

There are no foreign trade port personnel in the staffing of the Black Earth Port, so after the Black Earth Port Management Committee proposed to achieve the goal of economic independence as soon as possible through foreign trade means, the work of carrying out foreign trade can only be entrusted to the two departments of shipping and military police, and only the personnel of these two departments have direct contact with the Vietnamese side.

Regarding self-financing, Qian Tiandun, who has the goal of expanding the army in his heart, is quite enthusiastic, and Xie Chun, who is in charge of shipping affairs, is a military fan, and the two hit it off. As for this method of opening foreign trade channels, although both of them are laymen, after the two stinkers got together, they still came up with a stupid solution.

Qian Tiandun first obtained the information of the current residents of Heitu Port from the civil affairs department, found out the few literate immigrants, and began to interview them one by one. Qian Tien Dun believes that in a purely agricultural country like Vietnam, people who can read and write must have a relatively good family environment, and of course they have more knowledge and social relations than ordinary people.

Qian Tiandun's purpose is very simple, that is, he wants to find someone from the immigrants who can catch up with the Vietnamese side, and this method similar to a blind cat catching a mouse has really worked, and they really found a guy from the immigrants who is said to be a distant relative of the powerful.

This immigrant, Zheng Lin, is said to be related to Zheng Song, the king of Ping'an, who was separated from his family in the process of fleeing north, and later fled to Thanh Hoa with other refugees, and then was inexplicably brought on a ship to Heitu Port. After arriving here, because he was still a little educated, he was assigned to the coal mine to count the work performance of the miners.

However, Qian Tiandun and Xie Chun are not familiar with Vietnamese history, and they don't know who this King of Peace Zheng Song is. Not only did they not know, but no one knew about the entire Black Earth Harbor, so in the end they could only send a telegram to the base camp for help.

Then the long telegram sent by the base camp explained that their doubts were solved, and the origin of this peace king Zheng Song was not small. Zheng Song's father, Zheng Jian, was a powerful minister of the Later Li Dynasty, and was once awarded the title of "General, Controlling the Commanders of the Water Steps, and Serving as the General of Internal and External Pingzhang Military Affairs, Taishi, and Forgiveness of the Country", and in the 16th century, he led troops to the Northern Expedition to the Mo Dynasty on behalf of the Li Dynasty, which ruled the south. After Zheng Jian's death in 1570, his second son, Zheng Song, quickly took his place and continued the Northern Expedition, finally conquering Thang Long in 1591 and destroying the two emperors of the Mo Dynasty, so Zheng Song was sold the title of "King of Ping'an" by Hou Li Shizong in 1599.

However, the political situation in Vietnam has always been chaotic, after the success of the Northern Expedition of the Later Lê Dynasty, this chaotic situation has not changed, and soon Zheng Song became the actual ruler of the Later Lê Dynasty, and forced the death of the Later Le Jingzong, and supported the puppet Hou Lê Shenzong as the emperor, and this is also one of the fuses that formed the current military confrontation between the north and the south. After that, the Nguyen clan, which had seized the south, announced that they would sever relations with the Truong clan and would not recognize the Hou Lê regime under the Chạn clan, and the Great War of the North and South began in the summer of 1627.

However, before this new round of the Great War began, the Heian King Zheng Song had already died in 1623 in the midst of Zheng's internal strife. At present, Zheng Song's successor is his eldest son Zheng, who is titled King of Qingdu. By this time, the Nguyen clan in the south had already controlled most of Quang Nam, Hue and Champ, and had become an independent kingdom, which had already posed a great threat to the Truong clan in the north, so Trần launched an attack on the Nguyen clan in the south in 1627.

And the immigrant named Zheng Lin found by Qian Tiandun and others in Heitu Port, if in terms of kinship, he and Zheng Lin, who is currently in power in northern Vietnam, are distant uncles and nephews, although they are a little far apart, but they are still relatives.

As long as they are relatives, they can get in touch with the North Vietnamese magnates, which is exactly the network that the Black Soil Port needs. Qian Tiandun immediately took this Zheng Lin out, sent him to the coast near Haiphong, and sent more than a dozen naturalized people to escort him all the way back to Hanoi. Qian Tiandun's purpose in doing this was simple, that is, he hoped to convey his willingness to trade to the Vietnamese magnates in the north through Guò Zheng Lin. The Black Soil Port side was not worried about not receiving a reply from the other side, because the item they proposed was salt that the North Vietnamese regime could not refuse at present.

Sure enough, the fleet sent to escort Zheng Lin did not wait long at the seashore, and five days later, the envoy sent from Hanoi arrived here by boat. After looking at the refined salt samples provided by the Black Earth Port, the other party quickly reached a trade agreement, agreeing on the transaction price, the time and place of delivery.

And behind this North Vietnamese merchant group, it is said that Zheng Zheng, the son of King Zheng of the Qing capital, participated in the operation. This Zheng Zheng is not unknown, in history he succeeded Zheng in 1654 and became the next generation of Zheng regime, and at the request of Emperor Kangxi during the rebellion of the three feudatories of the Qing Dynasty, he joined forces with the Qing army against Wu Sangui.

However, Zheng Zheng, who is only 21 years old, is still only a second-generation official, and he is not yet able to interfere in the political situation in Vietnam. But for a privileged class like Zheng Zheng, it is very easy to take advantage of the opportunity of the Great War to make a little national fortune. With Zheng Zheng's protection, the first two salt transactions were completed smoothly, after which Qian Tiandun expressed his willingness to sell weapons, especially firearms, through the information channels that had been established in Guò.

The arms trade and the smuggling of salt are two completely different concepts, and the other side is obviously very cautious about this, and after several back and forth conversations, the time and place of the meeting between the two sides were determined. At this time, the port of Heitu fed back the news back to the base camp, and hoped that the base camp would send high-level people to attend the meeting, because it was said that the other party would also have a powerful person in attendance, most likely the future North Vietnamese ruler Zheng Zheng.

If this deal can be negotiated, it will greatly advance Vietnam's entry into the era of hot weapons. It was not until 1642, when Trung attacked Nguyen, that the North Vietnamese army used artillery provided by the Dutch as a means of attack on the battlefield for the first time in history. And now the artillery that the crossing group can provide to the North Vietnamese regime has already surpassed the competitors 15 years later in terms of performance.

After breakfast the next morning, Tao Donglai and others boarded the "Feisu" and sailed away from the Tushan Peninsula under the operation of Wang Tom himself. Regarding the establishment of a strategic support point on the Tushan Peninsula, Tao Donglai agreed in principle. However, hearing is false, seeing is believing, and for the surrounding geographical situation, you still have to see it with your own eyes, so Tao Donglai has to seize this time and go to sea by boat to investigate the surrounding environment.

The "Flying Speed" first circled the coastline in the south, then turned back and headed north, and sailed along the estuary of the river to the center of what was later Haiphong City, where it visited the small fishing village there. However, the small fishing village has long been empty, and most of the villagers have moved to Heitu Harbor to settle down.

Next, the "Flying Speed" made a large circle along the outer perimeter of Cat Ba Island, and took a cursory view of the largest island in the entire Halong Bay with an area of more than 100 square kilometers. The island is mostly undulating hills, and the proportion of flat land that can be used for agriculture is very small, but there are many rare tree species on the island, and the scenery is very beautiful. This trip is more accurate than an inspection tour.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the "Feisu" completed its investigation tour and returned to the Tushan Peninsula. An hour later, the sailboat from the port of Black Earth also came into view.

Qian Tiandun stepped off the springboard, first saluted Tao Donglai, and after Tao Donglai returned the salute, he shook hands with him and smiled: "It's a lot of tan!"

"I can't help it, now I'm staying outdoors every day, and I can't get down at all. Qian Tiandun replied with a wry smile.

Tao Donglai caught a glimpse of Takahashi Nan, who was standing straight behind him, and praised by the way: "I heard that Corporal Takahashi's cousin on this side of Heitu Port is very good!"

Hearing this, Takahashi's chin raised a lot, and he responded loudly: "This is all the trust of the Executive Committee and Lieutenant Qian!"

Tao Donglai smiled, reached out and patted Qian Tiandun's shoulder and said, "**Good one!"

After a short greeting, several people in charge went into the tent set up on the shore and began to discuss the next work. Tomorrow is the time to meet with the other party, and there are many details of the transaction that need to be discussed and determined together.

In Tao Dong's view, business negotiation is actually another kind of marching war, in advance to grasp as much information as possible, so that you know yourself and know the other side in order to make more accurate judgments, so after sitting down, he asked Qian Tiandun straight to the point: "According to the information you have now, can you infer the other party's attitude towards this negotiation?"

Qian Tiandun responded: "Our contact with the other party is carried out through the caravan sent by the other party, so it is difficult to say whether the information they conveyed is out of shape. However, since the other party is willing to agree on such an interview opportunity, I think they should still be very interested. After all, they can't make firearms themselves, and they don't have a place to buy them, so it's their luck to meet us. ”

"Then do you think it is possible for the other party to approve if we attach some other conditions to the transaction?" Tao Donglai continued to ask.

"It depends on the conditions. I think it's very difficult if it's political, because these Vietnamese don't like the Ming people to get involved in their internal affairs, and they obviously treat us as Ming people and we can make deals, but don't mix other factors with other factors. Qian Tiandun is not too optimistic about Tao Donglai's idea.

This is understandable, after all, they have put a lot of effort into getting rid of the control of the Ming Dynasty. Tao Donglai nodded. You must know that at the beginning of the 15th century, in order to become independent from the Ming Dynasty, Vietnam fought for nearly 20 years and paid a great price to let the Ming Dynasty give up direct jurisdiction over Vietnam in the second year of Xuande of the Ming Dynasty.

Tao Donglai muttered: "Even if the political conditions are met, even if we mention it, we will be denied by the other party." I would like to say, can we try something else......"

Xie Chun hurriedly asked, "For example?"

"For example, the population that we need so much right now. Tao Dong answered.