Chapter 250 New Target in the South China Sea
This is not to say that time-travelers just like to live a military camp-style collective life. The ultimate reason why everyone chooses to time-travel is to become a master in this time and space. No one is willing to live in a crowded dormitory all the time, even if it is not available for the time being. To live in a deep residential compound, at least each person must be allocated a welfare house.
However, dreams are beautiful, but reality is cruel. Since time travel, the apartments in Time Travel have been in the planning of the Ministry of Construction, but they only exist in the planning. There are so many infrastructure projects that the Ministry of Construction cannot spare the manpower to arrange the construction of many apartments, and the executive committee does not seem to be in a hurry to make this a priority project - there are many more urgent projects than building dormitories and apartments , and the construction of projects that cannot afford to delay can be delayed for a while.
Slowly, more than half a year has passed. As a result, most people are still living in the prefabricated dormitories built in the early stage. Of course, compared to the bamboo-wood boat-shaped houses that naturalized residents live in, prefab houses seem to be pretty good, but they are not a long-term solution. Recently, more and more people have complained to the Executive Committee about living conditions problems. The Executive Committee has to re-examine this once-neglected link and prepare to urge the Ministry of Construction to start the construction of the Chuanzhong Apartment Project as soon as possible.
Liu Shanxia from the Ministry of Construction also felt that he was wronged. The Ministry of Construction only has 500 or 600 workers, and it is currently responsible for as many as 78 large-scale construction projects, such as the recently launched Tieliang Port development project and North Vietnamese immigration. Isolated resettlement area, glass product workshop building, track laying project from the port area to Tiandu under construction, factory building construction in Tiandu Industrial Zone, as well as two construction sites for the freight terminal and the Shengli Port Saltworks reconstruction and expansion project that are about to be completed. There are still a lot of infrastructure projects to be done in the port business district. With so many places under construction at the same time, it can be said that the labor required for any one of these projects is not a small amount. The Ministry of Construction is already stretched thin and cannot find the manpower to build apartments.
However, with the arrival of a large number of North Vietnamese immigrants, this labor gap is expected to be improved in the near future. For this reason, Liu Shanxia has submitted an application to the human resources director Ning Qi, hoping to allocate four to five hundred workers from the new immigrants in November and December. If Ning Qi does not release people, then the apartment project will It can only continue to be shelved.
However, in the eyes of foreign merchants, the Haihan people's local construction speed is already inhuman. This place has a wide port, solid forts, villages and farms, barracks and forts. These merchants from Guangzhou all believed that Victory Port had to go through at least two to three years of construction to reach its current situation, but When they learned that this place was still deserted at the beginning of the year and that the Haihan people had only settled here for more than half a year, they had to marvel at the Haihan people's ability to change the world.
Moreover, this astonishing construction speed seems to have no involvement from the Yazhou local government. It is all a miracle accomplished by the Haihan people and a group of people. The only Ming Dynasty official organization in Victory Port seems to be the Yulin Inspection Department, but the actual influence of the Inspection Department in the local area is probably close to zero - careful people have noticed that at the banquet held by the Haihan people for two consecutive days, , no one from the Inspection Department showed up, and even in this fortress, which the Haihan people called "Base No. 1," no one from the Inspection Department came in or out at all.
As long as anyone is willing to observe these details, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion Li Nai said before: the owner of this place is a Haihan people. Everything here is controlled and managed by the Haihan people, and the entire Victory Port operates in accordance with the will of the Haihan people.
But even so, it will not affect the local business activities of merchants. Does it matter whether the Haihan people or the inspection department have the final say in this place? There is a lot of money to be made, who cares who is in charge of this place - maybe the Han people in Guihai will run it better, then at least there will always be tax-free treatment here, and there will be no all kinds of people. The gods need to burn incense one by one.
After completing the transaction, most merchants chose to return to Guangzhou as early as possible in order to turn the goods on hand into money as soon as possible. However, the principals of several commercial banks are not in a hurry to leave, because like "Furuifeng", they are also keenly aware of the development potential of Shengli Port and want to make some longer-term investment plans here. The cost of building a business store here is only a few hundred yuan in circulation coupons, plus the annual land rent, which is not too much, but there are many things that can be done. What new things have come out of Haihan here? Staying in the local area Stores in Guangzhou can get information as soon as possible and make rush purchases, which is much more efficient than those in Guangzhou who wait for news.
That day, after Ren Liang completed the land leasing procedures for another merchant, he saw that the merchant seemed to have no intention of leaving. Ren Liang took the initiative and asked: "Does Boss Zhan have anything else to say?"
Boss Zhan said: "I would like to ask Mr. Ren, if I sell goods from Nanyang and want to sell them locally, how should the cost be calculated?"
Boss Zhan’s name is Zhan Gui, a maritime businessman from Guangzhou. A maritime businessman like Zhan Gui is different from "Fu Ruifeng". He is mainly engaged in maritime transportation and makes profits by reselling goods back and forth between many places. He is not the kind of "Fu Ruifeng" who relies on The chain store structure is just a business that uses shipping as a means of freight transportation. Zhan Gui brought two ships to Victory Port this time, one of which had already carried the purchased Haihan goods back, while he stayed behind to see what other opportunities to make a fortune there were.
Ren Liang explained: "If it is the materials we purchase, of course there is no cost, everything will be borne by us. If the goods are delivered to other merchants, they must also be registered at the port center, and we will charge one thousandth of the cost from both parties." If you sell it locally, you have to pay commodity tax. It depends on what Boss Zhan plans to sell.”
"Are you interested in purchasing commodities such as ivory, rhinoceros horn, and ebony?" Zhan Gui asked.
"Oh?" Ren Liang raised his eyebrows slightly: "I wonder where Boss Zhan's goods come from?"
"Zhancheng." Zhan Gui said it directly without intending to hide anything.
"Boss Zhan has business dealings with the Champa State?" Ren Liang asked, already thinking of something Ning Qi had mentioned before.
Zhan Gui said with a smile on his face: "Since I came of age, I have been to Champa many times for trade with my father, and I have some connections in the local area. If you are interested in purchasing local goods, I can come forward to purchase them on your behalf."
Champa is located in the southeastern part of the Indochina Peninsula. It calls itself the Kingdom of Champa, but China has always called it Champa. The most famous local product is not the ivory and rhinoceros horns that Zhan Gui mentioned, but the food crop Zhancheng rice that was introduced to China during the Northern Song Dynasty. This early-maturing and cold-resistant food crop has a very large planting area in the Jiangnan region of China. And it has had a profound impact on the rice farming system in the Yangtze River Basin. The relationship between the Champa State and China is also relatively complicated. Historically, there have been wars and wars for hundreds of years. In the Ming Dynasty, Champa State once sent envoys to pay tribute, and was rewarded by an edict issued by Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. The title of King of Champa was considered a vassal state at that time.
However, since Annan became independent during the Ming Dynasty, life in Champa was not easy. After the establishment of the Li Dynasty in the early 15th century, it immediately launched a military attack on Champa. After 1470, Le Thanh Tong of the Li Dynasty personally led an army to attack Champa. It only took three months to conquer the Champa state and even captured the then king of Champa. From then on, most of the territory of the Champa State was incorporated into the Annan territory. Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and even the Hue area further south where North and South Vietnam are currently at war are actually the territories that were previously occupied.
During this period around 1627, although Champa had not yet been destroyed, it had declined. It was a vassal state of Annam and was controlled by the Nguyen regime of South Vietnam. The territory under its actual control has also become extremely limited, and it also has a control area in the southeastern corner of Indochina.
Ning Qi has explained in previous seminars that the existing immigration policy towards Vietnam actually only applies to North Vietnam, because South Vietnam has been the territory of the Champa State for hundreds of years, and the Champa people use Their language and writing were not introduced from China, and their race is closer to the Malay race of the South China Sea Islands. From head to toe, they have no direct inheritance relationship with Chinese culture. They want to assimilate them in terms of culture or social system. It is quite difficult and cannot be accomplished in a short time.
However, the location of Champa is one of the key points in the South China Sea. The people of Cham have also been engaged in maritime transit trade between China and Southeast Asia, India, West Asia and other regions from a very early time. It can be said that it is an early navigation country in the South China Sea. However, due to its national strength and constant foreign wars, Champa's navigation ability has not been fully developed. On the contrary, it has become increasingly degraded as its national strength weakens. It is said that during the Wanli period, maritime merchants who occupied the city often appeared in Yazhou, but the Yazhou Resident Office had been in Yazhou for so many months, but it had not seen even one merchant who occupied the city.
This change in shipping capacity has also caused the rise of Champa products in the Ming Dynasty. As Zhan Gui said, the current market price of these treasures has increased by 30% compared with the Wanli period.
Zhan Gui's calculation was very precise. He transported these high-value goods from Champa to Victory Port for trading. If the Haihan people were willing to buy them, that would be the best. Compared with transporting them back to the mainland, he could save a lot of customs duties. tax. If the Haihan people are not interested, then delivering it to other merchants can still save a lot of business tax money, which is still much more cost-effective than shipping it back to the mainland. As for retail, Zhan Gui has not thought about it at all - I am engaged in maritime business, not business, and it is better to leave this kind of retail work to professionals. After hearing Zhan Gui's answer, Ren Liang was not in a hurry to talk about the matter in depth. Instead, he immediately asked someone to notify Ning Qi and Tao Donglai to come over quickly. He pulled Zhan Gui and started chatting all over the place. .
About ten minutes later, Ning Qi and Tao Donglai arrived one after another, and Ren Liang quickly told what Zhan Gui had mentioned before. After Ning Qi heard this, he asked Zhan Gui: "Boss Zhan, how long ago was the last time you went to Champa?"
Seeing that the two big leaders of the Haihan people were present at the same time, Zhan Gui didn't understand why the Haihan people were so nervous about this matter. He quickly replied honestly: "I went to Champa once in April last year. I planned to go to Champa in the first half of this year." I wanted to go there, but I was delayed due to illness and it took me several months to recover. I am going to visit Champa on the way.”
Ning Qi continued to ask: "Then how big was the area controlled by Champa when you went there last time?"
"The only place left is Bintonglong!" Zhan Gui responded.
"Where is Bintonglong?" Tao Donglai asked Ning Qi. This kind of partial historical knowledge was not within the scope of his knowledge reserve.
"Bin Tong Long is an ancient country, located in the south of the former territory of the Champa Kingdom." When Ning Qi said this, Tao Donglai and Ren Liang both looked confused, so he had to say: "Probably south of Quy Nhon, Ho Chi Minh City This area of Edom ”
When Ning Qi said this, they understood that in the past few months, they had looked at the map of Vietnam when researching Vietnamese history for the Black Earth Port project. Tao Donglai touched the stubble on his chin and said, "Does this mean that what we did in North Vietnam can be repeated in the south?"
"The Cham people's desire to restore their country has never stopped for more than a century after the fall of the country. I think they will be very interested in purchasing a batch of advanced weapons to arm their soldiers." Ning Qi nodded in agreement. Tao Donglai’s views.
"But didn't we sign an exclusive supply agreement with the North for arms sales?" Ren Liang asked: "Will this cause trouble for future arms sales to North Vietnam?"
"Maybe, but that will happen a long time later. The first target that Champa has to deal with is not the Zheng regime in North Vietnam, but the Nguyen family in South Vietnam. From a certain perspective, Champa has the same goal as North Vietnam. , that is, after the Ruan family is eliminated, the two families will truly confront each other. The previous process of eliminating the Ruan family may take several years. If we can control the rhythm, they may not be able to separate after decades of fighting. Win or lose." Tao Donglai was very optimistic about this, and pointed at Zhan Gui, who was sitting next to him with a respectful look on his face, and said: "Besides, we don't have to sell foreign military sales ourselves. We can support agents when necessary. This is morally reasonable. ”
Of course, the agent thing was just talk. Tao Donglai had no intention of leaving the most profitable arms business to Zhan Gui, whom he met for the first time. Half of the reason for handing over the arms business to "Furuifeng" as an agent in the mainland is out of helplessness, because the ships passing through the group can't go to the coast of Fujian at all, and they have no relationship with the local forces. It's easy to attract the attention of the pirate group by standing out. But facing Champa, which has a weak national power, Tao Donglai believes that the Crossing Group still has an advantage. Champa currently has very few merchant ships and does not have the strength to cross the sea to attack Victory Port. Therefore, there is no need to worry about their abundant production. The Victory Port area is jealous.
Zhan Gui sat down and listened to the three Haihan people talking quickly. He tried hard to hear the content of their conversation clearly, but the three people all used the same northern accent during the conversation, so he could only hear it intermittently. Just understand a few words. But looking at the serious expressions of these Haihan leaders, Zhan Gui always felt that he had caused something terrible.
"Boss Zhan, go back and take a rest first. Regarding the cargo transfer issue between Champa and Victory Port that you mentioned, we will inform you of the specific operation methods later. In addition, for the land you rented, someone will take you to the site to plan the land later. Then I will issue you a document." When Tao Dong came to see Zhan Gui, he was still sitting next to him. There were some things that were not convenient for him to say in front of an outsider, so he politely persuaded him to leave.
After Zhan Gui said goodbye and went out, Tao Donglai continued the previous topic and said: "If I remember correctly, there is a good place in the territory that is currently occupied."
"That's right, and we'd better occupy this place as soon as possible to ensure that our waterway to the Malacca area of the South China Sea is smooth in the future." Ning Qi obviously also understood where Tao Donglai was talking about.
Only Ren Liang still didn't understand the situation: "Did I miss something? Why can't I understand what you are saying?"
"Just pull out the map and take a look and you'll know." Tao Donglai tapped the table lightly and said.
Ren Liang quickly pulled up the local satellite map from his laptop, and soon he understood where the "good place" Tao Donglai and Ning Qi were talking about: "Jinlan Bay?"
"Well, it's Jinlan Bay." Tao Donglai confirmed his answer.
Cam Ranh Bay was the most important military port and naval base in southeastern Vietnam in later generations, and its importance was equivalent to that of Yulin Military Port in Sanya. This bay formed by two peninsulas is divided into outer port Pingba and inner port Cam Ranh. It covers an area of more than 60 square kilometers. However, the mouth of Cam Ranh Bay is only more than 1,000 meters, and the water in the bay is deep enough to dock an aircraft carrier. It is the Indochina Peninsula. It is an excellent deep-water port and is located right between the shipping routes of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its strategic position is very important. In history, France, Russia, Japan, the United States and other countries have used Cam Ranh Bay as a naval base, which shows the importance of this harbor.
"There are no good deep-water ports in North Vietnam, so let's not talk about it. We can still get away with occupying the Tushan Peninsula. But we cannot let go of Cam Ranh Bay in the south. You see, this place is located exactly between Victory Port and The middle section of the Strait of Malacca is a good midway supply point for ships heading south from China to Malacca or Batavia. By occupying this location, we can control the lifeblood of this route! "Ning Qi said very excitedly.
"Don't be too excited. It's not that easy to occupy this place. It's further away than Black Earth Port, and the harbor area is much larger than Victory Port. If we want to gain a foothold there, we must first have a strong force. Only the fleet will do." Tao Donglai poured cold water on Ning Qi, who was good at talking on paper.
(End of chapter)