Chapter 353 Changes in Dawanshan Island
The cost of recruiting immigrants to the Ministry of Civil Affairs is almost the same as the military expenditure of the militia to recruit new soldiers. However, military expenditure is basically a bottomless pit that cannot be entered and exited. However, recruiting immigrants can obtain stable long-term benefits. Therefore, for immigration funding applications, the Executive Committee The association has always been extremely supportive.
To immigrate from Guangdong to Victory Port, the cost of recruitment channels is much greater than that of North Vietnam. Since most of the North Vietnamese immigrants were war refugees, criminals and even South Vietnamese prisoners, almost all of them were sold to the Crossing Group in disguised form by the North Vietnamese court in the form of piglets. Therefore, there was basically not much cost in the recruitment process. Here in Victory Port, it is enough to regularly send ships to the designated places to load people. Guangdong not only needs to build large-scale immigration reception centers, but also hires people to bring food, clothing, medicine and other supplies to the inland states and counties in Guangdong to recruit immigrants. The cost of the intermediate links is considerable. If some shareholders of "Fu Ruifeng" and "Qiong Lianfa" hadn't also participated, relying on business relationships to spread the net in various states and counties, it would have been very difficult for the Cross Travel Group itself to achieve such large-scale immigration recruitment. action.
But no matter how high the cost is, the Executive Committee will not stop recruiting immigrants from the outside through all possible channels. Currently, it is a period of rapid development for the Cross Travel Group. The growth rate of the group's strength is almost equal to the growth rate of the naturalized population, and population growth means the simultaneous growth of productivity, combat effectiveness, and economic aggregate. The extent to which the Time Travelers can expand Haihan's power in their lifetime depends to a certain extent on whether the initial population explosion can keep up with the executive committee's strategic plan.
It is worth mentioning that the Dawanshan Island Dual-Use Port built at the Pearl River Estuary, which was initially led by the Military Commission, has experienced unexpected development after several months of operation.
"I am the manager of Chenghai Bank in Chaozhou Prefecture. This is the purchase agreement signed with the Haihan Office in Guangdong last month. The payment for the goods has been paid. This time I am here to load the ship."
A middle-aged man handed a piece of paper to the staff at the dock. On it was a goods sales agreement signed by both parties, stating that it would be delivered and shipped at Wanshan Port. Below it was the signature of Malik, the head of the Guangdong Office in Guangdong, and Official seal.
After the staff carefully checked the shipping records sent from Guangzhou, they nodded and said: "Follow me, your goods from Chenghai Line are ready and can be loaded on the ship immediately."
Climbing up the steps from the pier, about fifty meters away, is a row of masonry warehouses nearly five meters high. Most of the bricks and stones used to build these warehouses came from near Guangzhou, while the cement was shipped from Victory Port. In addition to storing goods shipped from Shengli Port, the warehouse also contains goods shipped to Wanshan Port for delivery by other maritime merchants.
The staff brought the manager of Chenghai Branch to the warehouse door, handed the bill of lading to the warehouse staff, and then signed and stamped the registration book to complete the handover of the work. The warehouse staff opened the warehouse door and walked in with the steward. He pointed at the mountains of goods on the right and said, "Did you see those linen bags with white circles on the outside? Each bag is one hundred pounds, five hundred bags in total. It’s your goods, check them out while you’re moving them!”
"Thank you." The steward waved his hand, and the porters filed into the warehouse and began to move the goods.
As one of the shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa", Chenghai Bank is also the first batch of merchants to enter Wanshan Port and use the transshipment service here. Last month, Chenghai Bank ordered 50,000 kilograms of Haihan refined salt through the General Office of the People's Republic of China in Guangzhou. If the original transaction method had been used, Chenghai Bank would have had to send a ship to Victory Port to pick up the goods. However, after the Wanshan Port was established, Chenghai Line's pick-up location was changed from the distant Shengli Port to the Wanshan Port at the Pearl River Estuary, which greatly shortened the transaction time.
At the beginning of the planning, the Dawanshan Island stronghold was mainly for military purposes, supplemented by commercial purposes. Measures such as building cargo holds and allowing merchant ships to dock were just to attract votes from the commercial department so that the executive committee could successfully pass the project. However, after Wanshan Port was put into use, there were so many merchant ships that chose to use it as a cargo transfer station that the Navy had to arrange for two "Exploration-class" warships to station at Wanshan Port in advance to Maintain the safety of nearby waters.
Those who are most willing to dock at Wanshan Port are the maritime merchants from the coastal areas west of the Pearl River Estuary. In the past, if they wanted to buy Haihan's goods, they would either sail directly to Victory Port or go upstream from the Pearl River to Guangzhou City. But now some of them go out. Haihan goods with large volumes and single models, such as Haihan refined salt, iron farm tools, etc., can be purchased directly at Wanshan Port for shipment and delivery, saving a lot of time.
The goods they sell to Victory Port can also be handed over at Wanshan Port and transported back to Victory Port by Haihan Merchant Ship themselves - of course the price will definitely be lowered, after all, the voyage from the Pearl River Estuary to Victory Port is It takes more than ten days to go back and forth, so the freight must be discounted. This transaction is very cost-effective for both parties. The maritime merchants save a lot of time. In the past, a transaction with the Haihan people might have taken a month in transit, but now that the delivery location has been changed to the Pearl River Estuary, the time has shortened. It is shortened by nearly half, which means that the transaction frequency can be doubled in the same time, and the profits earned will naturally be greatly increased. At present, 70% of the cargo ships of the Shipping Department have completed the transformation of the sail system, and the ship speed has nearly doubled than before. This has also brought about a reduction in freight rates and an improvement in transshipment efficiency. Unloading at Wanshan Port is carried out by the Shipping Department The cost of transshipment of goods is at least 20% lower than in the past.
Of course, not everyone is happy to see Wanshan Port become so lively. For example, Chen Yixin, the current military commander of Wanshan Island, is not very satisfied with the situation on the island.
"Tell those businessmen that they are not allowed to disembark without permission! Those who have already landed cannot enter or exit the designated commercial terminal area at will!" Chen Yixin angrily issued an order to the orderly: "Those who do not follow the rules will not be allowed to enter the port in the future! You Just tell them exactly what I said!”
"Okay, okay, don't be so angry. They don't know the rules. We can teach them slowly." Li Dou next to him suppressed his laughter and calmly persuaded them.
With the arrival of outside merchant ships, the military base atmosphere that Chen Yixin created on the island at the beginning soon disappeared. After these merchants and crew members arrived here, they couldn't help but want to walk around the island to see the forts under construction on both sides of the harbor, the camp where the Haihan militia was stationed on the south side of the island, and some even wanted to go to the top of the mountain. Take a look at the origin of the white buildings you can see on the sea. However, these places are all prohibited military restricted areas, especially the forts and the lookout posts on the top of the mountain. Even non-military personnel on the island cannot approach them casually, let alone outsiders.
As a result, some disputes inevitably occurred between the two attitudes of wanting to see and not being allowed to see. Some sailors could not help but speak harshly and with a strong sense of ridicule. However, Chen Yixin was young and vigorous, and could not allow outsiders to make irresponsible remarks on the island, so he directly issued a ban. Any outsiders who intentionally approached the military restricted area would be arrested and treated as spies - if Li Dou wasn't by his side. To persuade, maybe Chen Yixin directly ordered the hanging.
"Li Dou, don't take this matter too simply." Chen Yixin couldn't see the peacemaker look on Li Dou's face, and couldn't help but continue: "These foreign ships come and go frequently, which makes the situation on the island very complicated." They’ve touched everything. If there are pirates planning to attack in the future, they will definitely send people to the island to investigate the situation. If we don’t set the rules now, we will be the ones who suffer in the future!”
Li Dou nodded and said: "You are right, but there is no need to be so cruel to these merchants and sailors, right? There is now a company of militia stationed on the island, plus two warships taking turns patrolling nearby, who wouldn't be open-minded? The pirates dare to come and attack us? If they come too little, they won’t be able to defeat us. If they come too much, the gain will outweigh the losses. All the money collected on the island has been transported away on time, and there are not many valuables to grab.”
Chen Yixin shook his head repeatedly and said: "Your view is too one-sided. To be honest, at our current scale, even if we suffer several setbacks, it will not affect the overall development. I am worried that it is not someone knocking on the door, but our negligence. Do you understand what the consequences will be if you are careless and fail to defend Wanshan Port? Will the Executive Committee give you and me a chance in the future? "The look on Li Dou's face. Suddenly he became serious: "Do you have any inside information?"
Whether it was the former Military Police Department or the Military Commission after the split, Chen Yixin was the youngest member among them. In addition, he participated in the time travel alone, so he has always been regarded as the youngest within the military and enjoyed various preferential treatment, and even Even the fact that he was able to stand out and serve as the military commander of Dawanshan Island at a young age was partly due to the special care of the top management. Even Li Dou, the civil officer candidate, was approved after Chen Yixin recommended it to the superiors. Therefore, when Chen Yixin mentioned this, Li Dou immediately became alert.
Although both of them are young, they have been in this group for a total of two years before and after time travel, and they have a certain understanding of the internal power structure. In this group, in addition to the high-level executive committee and production units In addition to technical positions, the development prospects of expatriates are generally better than those of their counterparts stationed in the base camp. This is a fact that everyone has recognized. Those who can take charge of their own business outside will not be promoted too slowly, and with the expansion of the power of the Time Travel Group in the future, it is almost inevitable that these people who conquer the world outside will become high-ranking members of one party.
Although Dawanshan Island is only a pinhead-sized place on the map, the two young people understand that this is already a good starting point for them. If they are unwilling to do it or can't do it well, there will be a lot of trouble. People are waiting to take over the position here. This was exactly what Li Dou was worried about. Unlike Chen Yixin, who could not easily gain the appreciation of senior officials, he also couldn't afford to lose.
"You don't need any inside information, you can deduce it yourself." Chen Yixin could only shake his head at Li Dou's political sensitivity: "Why should the Executive Committee establish a stronghold here?"
"Of course that's because the waters of the Pearl River Estuary are the most important waterway in the southeast of the mainland. Controlling this area is equivalent to controlling a gateway for goods in and out of the mainland, and controlling the throat of the entire Guangdong." Li Dou was still very clear about this matter. Yes, after all, I participated in several training courses organized by relevant departments before coming here, and I still gained something.
"Not only now, even in a few hundred years, this will still be a key area in South China!" As a military personnel, Chen Yixin obviously understands the importance of geographical location much better than Li Dou: "Even if our power expands ten times in the future, Times, a hundred times, the waters of the Pearl River Estuary must be in our own hands. What does it mean to be entrusted with important responsibilities? Our current responsibility is to be entrusted with important responsibilities by the Executive Committee! The Pearl River Delta may become our defense zone.”
"Don't forget that there is also the Liaison Office in Guangdong in Guangzhou!" Li Dou couldn't help but remind: "The Liaison Office in Guangdong Province has much greater authority than ours."
"The Office in Guangzhou is in charge of politics and business. If the Executive Committee wants to maintain peace with the Ming Dynasty, it will not openly garrison troops in Guangzhou City. You see, it is now using the banner of 'Golden Shield Security' and using people from the Li Family Militia. Military Commission Our target is Hong Kong Island, but we won’t be able to take it for a while. After taking Hong Kong Island and establishing the Guangdong Military Division in two years, do you think this seat will be transferred from the base camp to people who are not familiar with the local situation? Are you a local cadre who is well versed in the industry?" Chen Yixin patted Li Dou on the shoulder with a mature expression and said, "If you make a mistake now, no matter how big or small, your future will be ruined!"
"But there are also military representatives at the Guangdong Office, and they are also very familiar with the local situation... By the way, Xiao Liang and Yu Yao seem to be locals in Guangdong. You, a Fujianese, can't be praised in front of them. Go to local cadres." Li Dou obviously did not fully agree with Chen Yixin's statement.
If we want to talk about the degree of reuse, the two military representatives who were sent to Guangzhou in September last year obviously have more weight than Chen Yixin. During the defense battle of Lijiazhuang in May this year, the Military Commission also assigned command authority to the local militia groups. Xiao Liang is the main one and Chen Yixin is the assistant. However, there was no partiality in the awards given by the Military Commission to the two after the war. They were both given the same third-class personal merit.
Chen Yixin shook his head and said: "Of course the Military Commission trusts them, but their current responsibilities are mainly to protect the Guangdong Office and promote our arms and military systems in the mainland. Lijiazhuang is an emergency, but if we talk about the opportunity to go to the battlefield , As long as they don't transfer positions, they will definitely not be as many as me. Promotion within the army will ultimately depend on military merit. Now only Wanshan Port has the largest number of troops in the entire Pearl River Delta. If there is any military operation, it will be dispatched first. Here we are.”
"But there are only 'Eighteen Zhi' left in the surrounding area, and that is not an enemy we can deal with now." Li Dou saw that Chen Yixin became eager to try as he spoke, and quickly persuaded him to calm down: "Executive Committee member Hui also said, don’t take the initiative to provoke people from ‘Eighteen Zhi’.”
"Don't worry, I'm not that impulsive. I just want you to understand the importance of our place, not only to our collective, but also to your and my future future!" Chen Yixin finally justified his speech. A summary.
"I understand, I understand. I will go to the pier and have a good talk with the businessmen. When we get to our land, we must abide by our rules!" Li Dou grabbed the straw hat to protect the sun and hurried out with the kettle. .
Most of the teams that were originally working on the island have now withdrawn, leaving only a few plasterers building the fort fortifications at the port. However, the number of permanent residents on the island has not decreased because of this. When the immigrants recruited by the Guangdong Office from the mainland were transferred to Wanshan Port, a considerable number of people who had been engaged in the fishing industry were retained. As one of the most famous fishing grounds in the South China Sea, Wanshan Port was already tasked with developing fisheries at the beginning of its planning. However, during the battle in Hoi An, South Vietnam, the Haihan Militia captured a large number of small offshore vessels, which were unbearable as cargo ships. It is useful, but it is more than enough as an offshore fishing boat. Nowadays, Wanshan Port has nearly 30 fishing boats of various sizes and nearly 200 fishermen. The scale is not small.
Although it will take some time for Wanshan Port to be fully completed, judging from the current development status, its scale has been unable to keep up with the speed of development. It not only carries the function of military defense, but also has various responsibilities such as immigration transit, cargo transshipment, fishery development, etc. However, the narrow Wanshan Port has to bear so many tasks, which seems to be somewhat inadequate. Even the senior officials who originally proposed the development of the Wanshan Island stronghold probably did not expect that this place would develop so quickly after it was developed.
In late August, Enrique, who was returning from Victory Port, also made a special trip to Wanshan Port for a brief inspection. Enrique showed up at Wanshan Port only after being invited by the Executive Committee, and it was not for the purpose of espionage. Of course, when entering the port, he couldn't help but carefully observe the eye-catching Haihan-style fortifications at the north and south ends of the port - wherever the Haihan people built a port, there seemed to be such iconic fortifications. Even a small port like Wanshan Port, which is isolated in the sea, is no exception. Enrique really wants to complain about how much they like to fight.
The purpose of Enrique's visit to Wanshan Port was not to visit the fort. He was here to meet with Chen Yixin and discuss with him military cooperation. Regarding the hiring of artillery instructors from the Portuguese, the Executive Committee has almost reached an agreement with Enrique. However, since Enrique still needs to report to the Board of Directors and seek its approval after returning to Macau, this intermediate process requires The time it would take was difficult to predict, so the Executive Committee did not directly send anyone to follow up, but handed the matter over to Wanshan Port, which is the closest to Macau. If this happens, then Chen Yixin, as the military representative of Haihanfang, will go to Macau to test the quality of Portuguese mercenaries and avoid spending a lot of money to hire parallel imports.
(End of chapter)