Chapter 495: Numerous Projects
However, You Yihan had no intention of talking to him slowly and in detail. Instead, he took out a thick thread-bound book from the drawer and handed it over. Chen Lin took it over with doubts and saw "Haihan Port Entry and Exit Procedure Details" written on the cover. Looking at the thickness, it was roughly forty or fifty pages long.
"Boss Chen can take this information back with him and understand it slowly. In the future, when he goes to other ports and terminals managed by us, he will follow the rules above." You Yihan explained to Chen Lin leisurely.
Chen Lin quickly browsed through the contents, mainly the declaration process for ships entering and leaving the port, including the goods carried, personnel, docking time and other items, which were formulated in great detail.
You Yihan explained: "This regulation is not to restrict merchants from entering and exiting the port, but to improve the operating efficiency of the port and better serve merchants."
"Yes, yes, the leaders have thought carefully!" Chen Lin echoed. He didn't care about the complexity of these procedures, as long as there were no additional fees for calling at the port.
For Daming maritime merchants, Haihan Port is not only very convenient for loading and unloading goods, but it also does not charge commercial taxes or additional docking fees like ports in Daming. Chen Lin also attaches great importance to this. Since he changed the port of call from the north to the south, the monthly savings have been enough for him to keep a concubine outside.
Of course, Haihan's approach had a significant negative impact on the Ming Dynasty. From now on, the taxes collected by the Guangdong government from maritime trade will continue to show a downward trend, which will bring a series of changes to the government's fiscal expenditures. question. It's just that this issue has not yet attracted the attention of the Guangdong government, so merchants can still choose the port of call on their own.
With the Hong Kong Island port project coming to an end, the Executive Committee was finally able to free up manpower and resources to start the port development plan on the southern coast of Annan.
February 7, 1630, later in the Da Nang area.
Five ships carrying construction workers and various tools docked at the local temporary dock. This group of construction workers sent by the Ministry of Construction will stay in Annan for at least the first half of the year.
Ruan Jinggui stood on the shore, silently watching the teams that were landing. He came to Da Nang early last year to negotiate labor issues with Annan officials on behalf of Hai Han. Due to the shortage of technical personnel from the Ministry of Construction last year, although Da Nang completed the recruitment of labor early, it has not started to implement formal projects. The 3,000 laborers provided by Annan could not just sit idle, so the local management agency of Hai Han, or to be precise, the interim management committee headed by Nguyen Thanh Kui, organized this group of workers to open up wasteland and farm in the areas around Da Nang. Build villages.
This self-sufficient approach was approved by the Executive Committee, and Ruan Xinggui won the opportunity to further demonstrate his abilities and continue to serve as the head of the Interim Management Committee in the new year.
However, for Ruan Jinggui, while enjoying the power, he also bears great responsibilities. In addition to the thousands of local Annan workers, he also has to be responsible for the management of more than 600 naturalized workers sent from the Sanya base camp. . Compared with the previous maritime trade business, the pressure brought by the current position is much greater.
"Director Ruan, the various tools shipped this time have been clearly counted. Please sign." The subordinate brought a document and handed it to Ruan Jinggui.
Ruan Jinggui roughly checked that the numbers were correct, then signed and handed them over to his subordinates for archiving. Signing various documents has almost become part of his daily work. In the past, it seemed that being an official in the family was very prestigious, but when it was his turn to enter the officialdom, Ruan Jinggui felt that this job was far inferior to being a businessman. Comes easy.
The construction deadline given by the Executive Committee to Da Nang is to complete the first phase of the project within three months and to complete the construction of the main project of Da Nang Port within the year. This task is not easy for the Interim Management Committee. Ruan Jinggui is only responsible for civil affairs management, but the specific work of construction projects still has to be left to the commissioners sent from the base camp.
After Ruan Jinggui waited on the pier for more than half an hour, he finally saw officials from the Ministry of Construction getting off the boat. He quickly walked over in three steps and bowed: "Minister Liu has worked hard all the way. I have prepared a place for you to stay, please Liu." Minister, get on the sedan!”
Liu Shanxia waved his hand and said: "I won't sit in the sedan anymore. This trip by boat has made my mind wander... Is the place where I live far? It's not far. We can just walk there."
Liu Shanxia said so politely, but Ruan Jinggui did not dare to take it seriously. He quickly ordered his subordinates to find an ox cart and send Liu Shanxia to the station to rest. When it was dinner time, Ruan Jinggui paid another visit and invited Liu Shanxia to the banquet.
"Director Ruan did a good job. I took a look after I got off the ship today. This place is much better run than the original Black Tu Port!" Liu Shanxia started chatting after three glasses of wine: "When the Black Tu Port was developed, the first few Most of Yue's time was spent on appeasing immigrants. At that time, Haihan's reputation was not as loud as it is now, and many immigrants had doubts about our ability. Unlike now, as long as we put up a brand to attract immigrants, we will have a big impact. Fortunately, Qian Tiandun was there to control the situation, otherwise there might have been some trouble in Heitu Port."
"Minister Liu has given me the reward. I am just doing my job well." Liu Shanxia could say whatever he wanted about Heitu Port, but Ruan Jinggui did not dare to comment at will. Because of the civil war in Annan, Mr. Qian Tiandun from Heitu Port was quite well-known in Annan. It was said that the imperial court intended to grant him an honorary official position. Ruan Jinggui did not dare to talk about such a big shot behind his back.
When the banquet was about to end, Liu Shanxia suddenly said: "Director Ruan, you should still have many old acquaintances in the local area, right?"
Ruan Jinggui was shocked and quickly responded: "After I resigned from the official position and surrendered to Haihan, I no longer had any second thoughts. Please take a closer look at it, Minister Liu!"
"Don't be so nervous, I'm not checking your background." Liu Shanxia waved his hand and said: "I want to say that if you have local connections, you might as well allocate a piece of land here and build a shop, restaurant, etc. Also get an extra stable income ”
Ruan Jinggui is also a very meticulous person, and he immediately heard something from Liu Shanxia's words: "What does Minister Liu mean, the official will not serve here for a long time?" Liu Shanxia nodded and said: "At most, it will only be one or two years. , after these ports in the south are built, they will definitely push you away from Annan. I won’t go into details for the reason, I believe you will understand it yourself.”
"I understand, thank you, Minister Liu, for the tip!" Ruan Jinggui responded repeatedly.
Ruan Jinggui indeed understood the intention of this arrangement of the Executive Committee. Although the Ruan family has been the loser in the civil war, as a noble who has ruled southern Annam for decades, there are still many resources that can be utilized here. The executive committee sent him here to be responsible for the construction of the new port, which is mostly because of concessions. It means that he can make the best use of his talents. However, someone with his status must be a big taboo for the Annan court, and Annan and Haihan have a good cooperative relationship. The executive committee probably does not want to affect bilateral relations because of his sensitive identity.
"Okay, that's it for today. Let's talk about work tomorrow." Liu Shanxia yawned, indicating that today's occasion can be dismissed.
"Come here, send Minister Liu back to rest." Ruan Jinggui gave the order, but what came in were two girls of sixteen or seventeen years old, standing timidly at the door.
"Director Ruan, what are you doing..." Liu Shanxia pointed at Ruan Jinggui and said, "Don't arrange these things in the future. It won't be an example next time!"
"Yes, yes, it won't happen again!" Ruan Jinggui replied with his head lowered. After Liu Shanxia went out with a little girl on his arm, he slowly straightened up.
Having dealt with the Haihan people a lot, Ruan Jinggui also knows that these people are not immortals who do not eat the fireworks of the world, but also have emotions and desires. These methods of ingratiation were used in the past when dealing with people in the officialdom, and they are equally effective now. It's just that Haihan's officialdom not only emphasizes personal relationships, but also values personal abilities. It's not easy to get by in a position, and the higher you go, the higher the threshold for personal quality. Ruan Jinggui had heard that naturalized cadres would attend special training classes before being promoted. However, except for a period of initial training at the Ministry of Commerce, he had never attended a so-called "cadre training class." This also made him The future prospects are somewhat unclear.
But what Liu Shanxia gave him today gave Ruan Jinggui another glimmer of hope. It seems that the executive committee does not intend to just leave him to fend for himself in Annan, but has relatively long-term arrangements for him.
Since the laborers in Da Nang had arrived several months in advance and all aspects of preparation work had been completed, there was almost no delay after Liu Shanxia arrived, and the construction officially started soon.
It is worth mentioning that the Portuguese, who were eager to find a port of call in southern Annan, could not wait for Haihan to develop several candidate areas further south. They recruited more than 300 workers from Daming and Annan through various methods. , sent to Da Nang to build the business houses and warehouses they will need in the future. As for the port construction project, the Portuguese wanted to intervene. However, Haihan was extremely vigilant and would not allow the Portuguese to enter the construction area at all, which made the Portuguese representative very angry. They originally begged you to repair the port quickly, but you let them We came first, and now that we are here, you are not taking us to play.
This is of course not Haihan’s intention to make things difficult for them, but the latest notice issued by Haihan’s Ministry of Safety has come into effect: outsiders are not allowed to participate in the construction process of important infrastructure projects in all regions, especially ports, mines, and rail transit. This is not only a matter of setting up technical barriers, but also involves military security in important areas. Da Nang, which has just started construction, has just caught up with the issuance of this wave of new policies.
However, this small contradiction did not cause subsequent problems in the general environment of port construction. After all, the Portuguese also knew that the Haihan people had the final say in this place, and they had to rely on the Haihan people to get the ports they needed. accomplish.
Liu Shanxia did not stay in Da Nang for too long. After only half a month, he hurriedly left Da Nang and returned to Hainan Island because there were more important projects waiting for him to return to preside over.
The rail line from Changhua to Shilu has been under construction for more than eight months. Since this is an important project designated by the executive committee, all aspects of guarantees are very sufficient, so the progress of the project can be considered very smooth. At present, the roadbed construction has penetrated more than 60 miles inland, and the laying of railway tracks has been completed for more than 20 miles. The entire track line is approximately half completed.
However, just in front of this road, there is still a difficult construction section waiting for the road builders, that is, building a railway bridge across the Changhua River so that the track line can smoothly reach the mining site of Shilu. .
The Shilu section of the upper reaches of the Changhua River is not very wide, and the narrowest point is less than 100 meters. To build a bridge on such a river was just an ordinary project in the time and space before the crossing, but at this time and place , due to the limitations of construction technology, this can be regarded as a relatively large infrastructure project - in fact, in the past three years since the crossing, the Ministry of Construction has not built a bridge with such a large span, let alone It also needs trains to carry the ore.
The relevant design and construction plans have been completed a long time ago, but when it comes to the actual construction, it still requires top technical personnel from the Cross-Training Group to direct it on site. For this matter, the Executive Committee not only recalled Liu Shanxia, but also mobilized almost all personnel related to engineering technology. Even hydropower engineering experts like Xiang Chinan and people with a background in civil engineering like Anxi were all summoned to send Arrive at the engineering headquarters in Changhua.
During this period, a large number of steel structural parts were sent from Tiandu Industrial Zone and transported by sea to Changhua. From Changhua, they went through a relay of rail transportation and animal power transportation before arriving at the construction site on the Changhua River.
Since Tiandu's current steel production, especially steel production, is still very limited, in order to produce this batch of bridge structural parts, even Haihan Military Industry had to limit the production of artillery to ensure that the production unit has sufficient raw materials available. .
On February 28, a steam-powered pile driver laid the first bridge pier pile on the bank of the Changhua River, announcing the start of the Changhua River Bridge project. If the amount of work is not considered, in terms of technical content alone, the technical level of this bridge far exceeds that of several recent port projects under construction. The Ministry of Construction also hopes to use this as a platform to accumulate practical construction experience and make technical reserves for erecting bridges on waterways with wider surface areas such as the Linchun River and Sanya River in the future.
If all goes well, the rail transit line from Changhua to Shilu is expected to be fully opened to traffic within this year, and the official mining of Shilu iron ore is just around the corner.
(End of chapter)