Chapter 3767
Chapter 3767
Chapter 3767
The development of agriculture requires a large amount of labor, and the recovery period of investment is quite long, often taking years. Even if planting cash crops can get more profits after deep processing, it will not be as easy as the gemstone trade that can be operated by a hundred or so people.
However, Qian Tiandun also understood that although the gems produced in Ceylon were good, they were ultimately just commodities used to exchange for money and had no practical value. They could neither be eaten nor used as weapons in wartime.
At this stage, what is truly indispensable to the special operations division is the agricultural products that can fill their stomachs. Even if the profits of related industries are not so lucrative, the special operations division must devote some energy to organizing agricultural production.
Moreover, for the special operations division, agriculture also plays a very important role, which is to attract domestic immigrants.
The various overseas colonies under the jurisdiction of Hai Han are now recruiting immigrants from China, and they usually promise to provide each household with dozens or hundreds of acres of arable land as part of the resettlement fee, or they will provide interest-free loans to help immigrants build farms and plantations.
This is indeed very attractive to poor farmers who are determined to pass on good farmland to their children.
Anyway, farming is everyone's old job. As long as they change their place of living, they can become landlords in one step. Doesn't this mean at least twenty years less of hard work?
However, this plan is only applicable to areas such as the area near Hamban Port, where the land is vast and sparsely populated and the natural environment is more suitable for agricultural development. For example, in the two ports of Fubo and Zhenhai, the surrounding areas are mainly deserts, and arable land cannot be used as a condition to attract immigrants.
In July 1659, at the initiative of Shi Diwen, a task force consisting of a visiting fleet and a special operations division held a joint military exercise with the Portuguese armed fleet stationed in Colombo near the west coast of Ceylon.
The main purpose of Shi Diwen organizing this joint military exercise was, of course, to demonstrate military power to the Portuguese.
The Zhoushan had come all the way here, not just to quietly go through the motions. In addition to testing the Zhoushan and the sailors' long-distance sailing capabilities, another important mission was to deter other countries, which of course included Hai Han's allies.
In the first half of the journey, Shi Diwen was in a hurry to travel, so he did not make any special arrangements for this type of military exercise. However, when he arrived in the Indian Ocean, he had reached his destination, so it became necessary to hold such an exercise.
In fact, the relevant liaison work had already begun when Shi Diwen arrived in Sing Tao, so there was relatively much time for preparation.
Although it was nominally a joint exercise between Hai Han and Portugal, the actual participants were also from Annan and Korea. In addition, military observers from neighboring Burma, Thailand, Aceh, and the Mughal Empire were invited to visit the exercise area.
Especially those countries that had watched the Zhoushan in Phuket before, but could only see a static display. When they heard that the giant ship was going to go out to sea for exercises, they naturally rushed to see it despite the long journey.
Even the Dutch, who had engaged in an armed conflict with the Portuguese in Colombo last year, shamelessly sent two ships to watch nearby upon hearing the news.
But perhaps because they were worried about being driven away by the Portuguese, the two Dutch ships did not get too close, and were more than ten or twenty miles away from the exercise area. At this distance, even with a telescope, it was difficult to see clearly, so they just watched the fun. When the flagship Zhoushan took the lead and entered the battle area, all the spectators who saw the true appearance of this huge ship for the first time couldn't help but gasp. The hugeness of its hull was beyond the imagination of ordinary people. The size visible to the naked eye alone was enough to make most people give up the idea of fighting against it.
Laymen watch the excitement, while experts look at the doorway. A maritime power like Portugal naturally has many knowledgeable people. They can imagine at a glance that to build such a large warship, it would take a great deal of shipbuilding ability. And looking at Europe, there is probably no country that has the same shipbuilding technology.
This means that even if this giant ship is placed in Europe, it is still almost invincible at present.
As for other countries that cannot even produce the Majestic-class, it goes without saying that they can only sigh, realizing how terrifying Hai Han’s military strength is.
When the heavy artillery on the Zhoushan opened fire and accurately hit the target deployed on the sea several miles away, the personnel from various countries watching were so shocked that they were speechless.
Many of these countries still use the traditional boarding tactics that have been used for thousands of years. Those equipped with firearms can only engage in close-range combat. As for the Zhoushan's method of using ship-borne artillery to strike targets from miles away, it is simply unheard of for these countries.
Even though the Portuguese from Colombo had heard many rumors about how powerful the Hai Han army was, seeing is believing. When they actually saw the huge tongues of fire spitting out from the turret of the Zhoushan, they realized that all the rumors they had heard were not exaggerated. The combat capabilities of these large warships of the Hai Han were by no means something that European warships could withstand.
Although it was called a joint exercise, the spotlight was unsurprisingly stolen by the Zhoushan. During the two-day exercise, the Zhoushan fired multiple rounds at long-range targets, demonstrating the unique naval warfare style of the Hai Han Navy.
In addition, the Zhoushan also specially started the steam power system on the ship and performed a high-speed sea advance for the spectators.
The sight of such a huge ship with a displacement of more than 4,000 tons traveling on the sea at a speed of more than 12 knots is quite spectacular.
This also made those who were still planning to run away if they couldn't defeat the enemy give up completely. Now it really became a situation where they couldn't defeat the enemy and couldn't run away. If they were not in the same camp as Hai Han, they could only pray that they would not encounter this monster at sea.
After seeing the actual performance of the Zhoushan, Qian Tiandun once again wanted to own one. But Shi Diwen's answer to him was the same as last time. If the special warfare division wanted to order a Glory-class battleship, it could only pay and schedule it. It was unlikely to get a newly launched battleship of the same level in a short period of time.
Unless Qian Tiandun can find a way to get the Executive Committee to make a resolution to allocate a newly built and equipped Glory-class ship directly to the special operations division.
This is certainly not impossible. For example, if Qian Tiandun can quickly cash in on the Indian Ocean Fleet under construction, it would be reasonable for him to then ask for a Glorious-class battleship as his flagship.
However, the number of ships currently owned by the Special Warfare Division is far from enough to build the scale required for the Indian Ocean Fleet. As for military expenditures, it is even more difficult to maintain the large organization required for the Indian Ocean Fleet. Even if Qian Tiandun has great ambitions, he has to be limited by these objective conditions.