Li Qingyang is not an official who has never seen the world in the local yamen, he has lived in the rich land of Jianghuai since he was a child, and when he grew up, he entered the Jinyi Guard, and he has come into contact with and seen far more interest transactions than ordinary people, Luo Shengdong's words may have a greater effect on other people, but they are extremely limited for him Li Qingyang.

The Haihan people are rich and powerful, and it is probably not difficult to control all the private salt business in their own hands, but why did they sacrifice some of their interests and give it to Luo Shengdong, a naval officer who did not have much strength at all?

Li Qingyang's view on this is very clear -- what the Haihan people want is the signboard of Yacheng Sailor, using the name of the Ming Dynasty official army to integrate the private salt market on Qiongzhou Island.

With Luo Shengdong, a staff general, carrying a warship to transport illicit salt outside, who would investigate them? The entire illegal salt business in Yazhou is monopolized by sailors, and even if some people want to compete with the Haihan people, they are afraid that if they show their heads, they will be found by sailors to raid their homes. The private salt business of the Haihan people can be as prosperous as it is today, and Yacheng Water Village and Luo Shengdong must be "indispensable".

Li Qingyang didn't know what it meant to be a "vested interest", and if he understood the meaning of the word, he would definitely feel that it was the most appropriate way to describe the role of a person like Luo Shengdong. Of course, I am afraid that it is far more than Luo Shengdong's family who has benefited from it, and there must be more people in the areas covered by Haihan smuggled salt who have obtained a lot of economic benefits from it, otherwise how could there be so many smuggled salt dealers from Guangdong here?

Li Qingyang looked at these people who were going through the procedures for buying and selling private salt in the water division court, and suddenly realized why Haihan, a rebellious armed maritime merchant, could win the favor of so many people, and in the final analysis, it was money that caused trouble! These people who came to Shengli Harbor to buy salt, as well as the Ming merchants who opened all kinds of shops here, including Ming officials like Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping, all came for the huge wealth of this place?

The wealth is moving, Li Qingyang really has nothing to say about this, what Haihan can give these people, the current Ming really can't afford to give. It is probably very unlikely that these people who have benefited from Haihan will stand against them from the perspective of Haihan again. If you want to talk about the idea of being loyal to the monarch and serving the country to these people, it probably won't have much effect, not to mention Li Qingyang's current situation, it seems that he has no position to criticize others.

After saying goodbye to Luo Shengdong and coming out of the water master's yamen, Li Qingyang hung his head and didn't say a word. Judging from the situation seen today, if you want to overthrow the rule of the Haihan people in the local area, except for the imperial court to send a large army to encircle and suppress, it is probably impossible to count on the local people.

Lin Nan looked at Li Qingyang's sluggish appearance, and had roughly guessed what he was thinking, and asked with a smile: "Brother Li doesn't understand very much, why do the people here trust the Haihan Executive Committee so much, and do everything according to what the Executive Committee says?"

Li Qingyang nodded and said, "Although money is moving, it is not enough to make everyone obey the orders of the executive committee. There must be something in this that I can't understand, and I ask Brother Lin to make it clear!"

Lin Nan nodded and said: "Actually, the truth is not complicated, it is nothing more than a combination of leniency and severity, so that the people can realize that the majesty of Haihan cannot be offended while getting actual benefits." Brother Li, are you interested in going to sea?"

Li Qingyang didn't understand what Lin Nan meant, but he also knew that the itinerary that Lin Nan arranged for him must have no malice, so he hugged his fists and responded: "Then there is Brother Laurin!"

The means prepared by the Ministry of Security for Li Qingyang to go to sea was the "Lightning" catamaran, but several members of the North American Gang had their own affairs and did not have time to sail the ship themselves, so the crew members who operated the ship today were all naturalized citizens.

It was the first time Li Qingyang had seen such a peculiar sailboat, and after getting on the boat, he couldn't help but look around. Lin Nan saw his curiosity and took the initiative to introduce: "This lightning sailing ship is a high-grade ship brought by the chiefs from their homeland, and its speed is far faster than that of ordinary wooden sailing ships. ”

Li Qingyang said curiously: "Since it is so powerful, why don't the Haihan people build more of this kind of ship?"

"The material used to build this kind of ship is not available locally, and the wood cannot meet the requirements of the chiefs...... Lin Nan changed his words: "This ship is usually used exclusively by the chiefs, and it is rare to have the opportunity to take it like today, I am not afraid of Brother Li's jokes, and it is the first time to board this ship today, and it is also the light of Brother Li to receive this honor." ”

Li Qingyang didn't dare to say anything, but he understood in his heart that the Haihan people attached great importance to him, although he was still just a pawn under the control of the Ministry of Security, this arrangement still satisfied Li Qingyang's vanity a little.

Soon the crew untied the cable and hoisted the sails, and slowly sailed away from the dock. As soon as the sailboat sailed out of the trestle area, the view suddenly opened up, and the crew of the ship pulled the steering wheel, and the Lightning made a brisk arc on the sea surface before turning to the mouth of the Tiandu River to the east.

"Brother Li, please see, the huge ship docked on the coast ahead is the ship that the leaders of the Haihan Dynasty piloted when they came here to settle down. When Lin Nan said this, his eyes were also full of sincere reverence. Although it was not the first time he had seen this huge steel ship docked at the mouth of the sea, almost every time he saw these unimaginable ships, he still made his heart surge, and he admired the leaders of the Haihan who built these miracles.

At this time, Li Qingyang was already shocked by the scene in front of him, he never thought that there would really be such a large steel giant ship in the world. It is no secret that all kinds of rumors about the Haihan big iron ship have long been a secret, almost all people who have seen the real thing have a heart to worship the big iron boat, and those who have not seen the real thing are hard to believe that there is really such a thing in the world, Li Qingyang is one of them. Before he saw the real thing, he also thought that this was just a rumor spread by fools, and even if the Haihan people could really build an iron boat floating on the water, it was probably just a monster in the shape of an iron basin, at best it was only a few zhang in size. What 100,000 catties of big iron ship, are these fools really worthless as fine iron?

However, the big iron ship that Li Qingyang saw with the words "New World" on the side of the ship was as huge as a mountain, and its hull was as huge as a mountain, let alone 100,000 catties, but I was afraid that it would be seven or eight times more than that. The anchor chain that hung from the bow of the ship into the water was thicker than Li Qingyang's thigh. On either side of this ship, there were several smaller iron ships, all of which were the same without masts and sails, and the smallest was about a dozen zhang long. As an ordinary person accustomed to seeing wooden sailing ships, Li Qingyang could hardly imagine how the Haihan people drove these steel ships across the sea.

"There is really such a strange thing in the world...... In addition to his heartfelt sigh, Li Qingyang couldn't say anything else at this time.

"If it weren't for these big iron ships to bring the chiefs here, there would be no prosperous Sanya today!" Speaking of this topic, Lin Nan obviously had a bit of fanatical feelings: "Brother Li, do you know that the chiefs have been here for less than three years, and they have created the place you see, if it takes time, five or ten years later, can you imagine what Qiongzhou Island will look like at that time?"

Li Qingyang didn't think about the question of whether Qiongzhou Island would still be attached to the Ming Dynasty under the governance of the Haihan people ten years later, he had already realized one thing that Lin Nan did not mention - the shipbuilding level of the Haihan people exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty much, and this gap in shipbuilding technology would not only bring prosperity in maritime trade, once applied to the military field, the difference in strength between the two sides would be difficult to make a simple comparison in terms of the number of warships.

Li Qingyang's worries soon became a reality, and after sailing through the estuary of the Tiandu River, the "Lightning" immediately turned south and sailed along the military base on the east bank of the harbor toward Yulinjiao.

I don't know whether it was deliberately arranged or coincidental, but the militia naval fleet stationed in Shengli Harbor happened to be in a state of full rest today, and more than a dozen warships docked in a long line on the coast, and the neat row of gun windows on the side of the ships were exposed in broad daylight. After Li Qingyang was captured in Wanshan Port, he came to Sanya on this kind of warship, so he recognized the "Exploration-class" warship at first sight, and the "Expedition-class" warship, which was larger in size, was also very recognizable, and the gun window and the metal ramming angle on the waterline of the bow of the ship had fully indicated the identity of these ships.

"Haihan...... There are so many gunboats!" Li Qingyang was indeed startled when he saw this posture, and at the same time, he also understood what Luo Shengdong said before, why Yacheng Water Village would take the initiative to abandon the maritime defense in the south of Qiongzhou Island and hand it over to the Haihan people to be responsible for - with such a powerful fleet of firepower, let alone Yacheng Water Village, even if all the surface troops on Qiongzhou Island combined, it is probably not enough to see.

"Brother Li, this is just one of the militia navy fleets that is stationed locally. Lin Nan said in a mocking manner: "Our Hai Han militia now has a total of three fleets, one of which is stationed in Hong Kong, guarding the safety of the two coastlines in the west and south of Qiongzhou. The other team travels between the Pearl River Estuary and the local area all year round, fighting piracy and providing free escort for many merchant ships and civilian ships. There is also a fleet on the coast of Annam, where it guards many of our coastal ports. ”

"Three...... Three fleets?" Li Qingyang was indeed taken aback by Lin Nan's initiative to break the news. If a fleet of this size is replicated three times, then let alone the Daming Naval Division on Qiongzhou Island, I am afraid that even the naval divisions in Guangdong will not be enough. In this way, the rumors of the Haihan militia's victory over the pirates at the mouth of the Pearl River should also be true.

"Wherever our Haihan trade goes, they are all under the escort of our militia navy!" Lin Nan continued to show off: "Looking at the entire South China Sea, there is no second force that can match our militia navy!"

Li Qingyang sighed: "If I were in Luo Shengdong's position, I am afraid that I would have wanted to take off that military uniform a long time ago!"

With such a powerful and uncontrollable sea force around him, it must be very embarrassing to be a Yacheng Water Village, and he will definitely not be able to fight the fleet of the Haihan people, at most, he can only pretend not to see it and play a trick of self-deception. At this time, Li Qingyang felt that Luo Shengdong was quite open-minded, and he actually wiped his face and hugged the thighs of the Haihan people. As for Yacheng Water Village, after seeing the fleet of the Haihan people, Li Qingyang also had to admit that it was of little significance, and from a selfish point of view, being a salt dealer might be a better way out for people like Luo Shengdong.

The "Lightning" soon crossed the military port and sailed into the mouth of the strait at Yulin Point. This time, there was no need for Lin Nan to remind him again, Li Qingyang had already noticed the coastal defense artillery batteries connected to each other on the slopes on both sides of the river.

Because the distance was already quite close, Li Qingyang could even clearly see the muzzles of the black holes on the gun emplacements, and roughly calculated that there were at least dozens of gun emplacements. Lin Nan asked beside him, "What does Brother Li think of the defense level of Victory Port?"

Li Qingyang said in his heart, if I hadn't been locked in the cabin when I came to Shengli Harbor, and I didn't see the fort outside the harbor, I wouldn't have spent so much time in the cell of the Ministry of Security.

Li Qingyang still knows how much money and manpower it will cost to build such a coastal defense battery near the port. In the entire coastline of the Ming Dynasty, there are only a handful of places where coastal defense batteries have been built, and I have never heard of a private person building this thing on his own - even if he had the money to repair it, there was no place to buy so many large-caliber guns.

This shore defense artillery is not comparable to the artillery used in the army, and it can also adjust its position according to the situation of the battle, and flexibly strike at the enemy. To put it bluntly, the coastal defense artillery is a fixed firepower point, and if it cannot completely cover the battlefield, then there is little significance in setting up the coastal defense artillery. And the only way to achieve this combat goal is to increase the range of the artillery, and the corresponding difficulty of casting cannons will also increase.

Li Qingyang had long known that the Haihan people had the behavior of buying and selling guns and firearms without permission, but he still thought about it relatively simply, thinking that it was probably the level of an earthen three-eyed gun or a small earthen cannon, but now it seems that this is not the case. Being able to cast shore defense cannons on their own already shows what kind of level the Haihan people's munitions manufacturing has reached. And the artillery batteries on both sides of the strait are obviously unlikely to be built by the Haihan people to scare people, and the artillery they have arranged here is probably really enough to cover this channel in and out of Shengli Port.

Under the cover and fire of dozens of artillery pieces, is it possible for the Daming Naval Division to safely rush through this strait, which is only 100 zhang wide? Li Qingyang believes that the chances are very small, not to mention that there is a powerful fleet that will line up on the sea surface and greet the arrival of the guests with its guns...... That picture was so beautiful that Li Qingyang couldn't imagine it.

"Every qiē here is under the protection of the Executive Committee!" Lin Nan looked at Li Qingyang's somewhat distracted face and said to him meaningfully.