Chapter 3503
Chapter 3503
Chapter 3503
Ordering civilian ships from Hai Han and then converting them into warships is not without precedent. Even allies such as Annan and North Korea once used this method to meet their demand for warships because they were eager to expand their military and prepare for war.
However, now that Annan and Korea have built their own shipyards with the support of Hai Han, they can build some small-tonnage warships on their own, so they no longer have to rely on these emergency remedies.
But for small countries with limited budgets and eager to see results, the solutions provided by these shipyards in Fujian are undoubtedly highly feasible and cost-effective.
As long as you place an order with these shipyards during the Zhoushan Forum, you can receive the first batch of seagoing vessels built by them within a year.
Although private shipyards will not build and sell military-type ships in order to circumvent Hai Han's strict restrictions on the manufacture and export of weapons and equipment, there is a gray area in this area. Some people will provide special modification plans to guide buyers on how to use simple steps to transform these civilian ships into armed merchant ships with basic combat capabilities.
The government-run shipyards cannot take up all the orders for these civilian-to-military conversions, and have no intention of competing with private shipyards. As long as the shipyards do not cross the line, the Ministry of National Defense will acquiesce in such transactions.
After all, if war really breaks out, Hai Han will have to mobilize these private shipyards to build and maintain warships so that they can maintain a certain level of technical capabilities, which will be of great benefit to national defense construction.
The first to take part in this ship exhibition was the big money donor from the South China Sea, the Kingdom of Malacca.
The feud between Matalan and the Dutch East India Company has a long history. Since finding Hai Han as an arms supplier in 1636, Matalan has become one of the main buyers of Hai Han's weapons and equipment.
After seizing the Luzon Islands, Hai Han drove the Spaniards to the Sulawesi Island in the south, which had an impact on Matalan's maritime security. As a result, Spain and Matalan became embroiled in a dispute over spheres of influence, further increasing Matalan's demand for armaments.
Out of considerations of maintaining geopolitical balance, the equipment sold by Hai Han to Matalan is not an unlimited supply. Matalan, which needs a large number of warships to protect its own interests, can take this opportunity to expand its own maritime armed forces.
After arriving, Ambassador Matalan first boarded several sample ships docked at the pier for a visit. After learning about the cost and delivery period of the ships, he quickly placed orders for a total of 20 ships with the participating shipyards and said that he would pay the deposit in the next few days.
Such an order is not a small number even for Hai Han's several state-owned shipyards. Matalan said very confidently that this is only the first batch of orders. If the quality of these ships can really meet the level advertised by the shipyard, there will be more long-term orders in the future.
For the country of Matalan, which originally wanted to purchase equipment during the forum, the quotation provided by the Fujian Shipyard could save a lot of money, and this difference could be used to purchase various weapons needed on the ship.
The participating shipyards were naturally overjoyed. They had not expected that such a noble guest would appear on the first day of the exhibition, giving the exhibition a good start.
The order from Matala will naturally become the shipyard's promotional material, used to show the latest achievements to other visitors.
However, the real big customer that Fujian shipyards will welcome is not the Matalan who placed the order first and was very straightforward, but another customer who was not even allowed to attend the Zhoushan Forum. Zengshan Zhengli is not unfamiliar with the environment of Zhoushan. This is his fifth visit to Haihan in the past three years, and each time he has chosen Zhoushan as his first stop.
However, the reason he came here this time was not because he received an invitation to the Zhoushan Forum. On the contrary, it was because Hai Han was going to host this international event, and the Tokugawa Shogunate did not receive an invitation, so he hurried here to try to find out the reason.
The current situation is really strange for the shogunate. Hai Han has sent out invitations to heroes this time. Ryukyu and Korea, which are adjacent to Japan, and even the Qing Dynasty, Hai Han’s arch-enemy, have all received invitations from the Hai Han Executive Committee, while Japan has been ignored without any warning.
Moreover, it was not just the Tokugawa shogunate that was not invited. As far as Masatoshi Masuyama knew, even several daimyo in Kyushu who were very close to Hai Han did not receive an invitation to attend the Zhoushan Forum, and no public explanation was given.
Of course, there were also many smart people in the shogunate, and they quickly deduced a possibility - among the international issues to be discussed during the so-called Zhoushan Forum, there must be some content that is extremely unfavorable to Japan.
This is the only way to explain why Hai Han took the initiative to exclude all Japanese forces.
Shogun Tokugawa Iematsu also agreed with this view, so he urgently dispatched Masatoshi Masuyama, who had dealt with Hai Han’s top leaders several times, to Zhoushan.
Masatoshi Masuyama had three missions on this trip. The first was to find out the inside story of the Zhoushan Forum and confirm whether it was related to Japan; the second was to carry out diplomatic mediation nearby when the situation was unfavorable and try to gain benefits for the shogunate; the third was to see if there was an opportunity to purchase another batch of arms and equipment to prepare for the impending civil war.
Of course, if he happened to meet people from the various vassal states of Kyushu in Zhoushan, there would inevitably be a fight of open and covert attacks.
After arriving in Zhoushan, Masayoshi Zengshan also took the time to meet with some guests from other countries who came to attend the forum activities. Unfortunately, although he tried various ways, he did not get much valuable information from these people.
What several countries from Europe are concerned about is whether there will be any changes in Hai Han’s transnational trade policies and overseas colonial activities. As for Japan’s international status and Hai Han’s policy toward Japan, those are not their current focus.
Most of the other countries are located in the South China Sea, at least thousands of miles away from Japan. In addition, the Tokugawa shogunate has long adhered to a policy of isolation, so it does not have much friendship with these foreign countries, let alone any common interests. It is already good enough that they are willing to spend time meeting with Masuyama Masayoshi, so how could they provide him with any inside information?
Zeng Shanzheng had no choice but to shamelessly ask for an audience with several Hai Han officials he knew. But as he expected, Hai Han had not yet sent an invitation to the Tokugawa shogunate, so how could they receive him who came to Zhoushan on behalf of the shogunate at this time?
Several officials he knew declined his request for a meeting, citing busy work schedules or poor health as excuses.
Even an official with whom he thought he had a good personal relationship avoided him and advised him to return to Japan first. If there was any relevant news, it would naturally spread after the forum ended.
After hearing such a reply, Zengshan Masayoshi didn't dare to leave. He had to wait until the forum event was over and make sure that everything was fine before considering returning home.