Chapter 539 The situation in Da Nang
This was not the first time Wang Tom came to Da Nang. In fact, during the Annam Civil War, the Hai Han Navy he led briefly docked here. However, there were no port facilities in Da Nang at that time, only two fishing village piers. Now, a pier with a length of more than 300 meters has been built on the coast of this place, and a construction team of more than 2,000 people is still working overtime. Add points to expand the wharf, build various port facilities, and official roads to other cities in the north and south. After Tom Wang walked down the gangway, he saw Ruan Jinggui waiting respectfully on the dock.
Ruan Xinggui rushed back from Cam Ranh Bay in the south after receiving the notification recently, and only arrived in Da Nang at midnight yesterday. He was sent here last year to preside over local civil affairs in Da Nang, and he has made some achievements. Since Ruan Jinggui is familiar with the situation in southern Annam, the Executive Committee transferred him to Cam Ranh Bay in the south two months ago to help organize the preparations for the construction of the local military port.
Ruan Jinggui was notified that the fleet from Sanya arrived in Da Nang today, so he did not have a good rest after arriving last night and got up early in the morning to prepare for work. Although the notice sent via the radio from the base camp did not explain the nature of the fleet this time, Ruan Jinggui still saw some tricks just from the size and the list of travelers.
If it was just a routine inspection, generally there would not be such a large fleet coming, and the personnel would be simpler, and it would not be composed of multiple departments like this time. The most important thing is that the notice sent from the base camp clearly emphasizes that the local area must keep the ins and outs of this fleet a secret, which has never happened before.
Of course, with Ruan Jinggui's level, he only knew that this fleet came from Sanya. As for why they came and where they were going next, this information was at a level that Ruan Jinggui had no access to. All he can do now is serve this group of people and complete the tasks assigned by them.
In the itinerary formulated by Wang Tom, he will have two days of supply and rest in Da Nang, and then head south. There are no similar large ports in the coastal areas of the Indochina Peninsula south of Da Nang, so many necessary daily supplies have to be completed here. The small fishing ports further south can only replenish fresh water and a small amount of food at most.
"Commanders have worked hard all the way. I have ordered people to clean the residence and prepare hot food. However, the local conditions are limited. Please bear with me, sir!" This is not the first time for Ruan Jinggui to receive people from the base camp here. Facing Tom Wang The others did not appear panicked.
"You have worked hard too!" Wang Tom responded lightly. It's not that he has any opinion on Ruan Jinggui, but there really is no friendship at all, it's purely business-to-business contact.
But the next person was different. Wang Tom saluted with a military salute, and then hugged him tightly: "Old Mu, long time no see!"
As the only armed force in the group, this group of senior military officers often acted together at the beginning of time travel, so they were relatively familiar with each other. And compared to the comrades who only sweated together on the training ground in peacetime, they had the experience of fighting together on the Annan battlefield, and their relationship was naturally deeper.
Mu Xiabai responded with a smile: "It's been a long time since we last saw each other, and it's been days since we've seen each other. If I want to go with you this time, I'll have to rely on you to protect me!"
After everyone exchanged a few words, they boarded the bullock cart prepared by Ruan Jinggui and headed to the place where they would stay. In fact, the residence arranged by Ruan Jinggui is not far from the pier, and it only takes a short walk. However, there is a special car to pick him up, which makes the difference in status. Ruan Jinggui paid attention to these details when he was in Sanya. Unfortunately, there were no horses in Da Nang, so he had to make do with ox carts.
Jie Feng Yan has maintained a high standard. The seafood was all fished out of the sea early this morning, and the chickens, ducks, and pigs were all slaughtered. The chef followed the standard "Haihan Cuisine" method he learned from Sanya. operation, and the wine used at the banquet was also authentic "Sanya Special Wine", which is designated by the Haihan Executive Committee for official receptions.
After the banquet, Ruan Jinggui ran up and down again and arranged the accommodation for more than 200 people in his group. Before he could even wash his face with hot water when he returned to his place, someone came to inform him and asked him to go to the garrison immediately. Check in at camp.
Ruan Thanh Kui quickly put on his shoes again and rushed to the militia station located at the foot of the Son Tra Peninsula in the northeast of Da Nang port area. There are only two companies of the local militia army stationed there, and the camp is located here adjacent to the port. The outer perimeter is a fortress-like building built on the mountain at the north end and facing the sea at the south end. The part between this building and the mountain is the militia camp. However, the base of the militia is not just this camp area covering an area of about 100 acres, but also includes the entire mountainous area of the Son Tra Peninsula that extends into the South China Sea. A lookout post of a militia group has been set up at the commanding heights of the peninsula. When the weather is fine, you can use telescopes to check the sea surface conditions within a range of 30 nautical miles nearby.
After Ruan Jinggui registered at the gate of the camp, he was taken to the conference room in the camp, where he met several people who had just retreated from the dinner table not long ago.
"Director Ruan, I have invited you here to introduce you to the current construction status of Da Nang." After Mu Xiabai waited for Ruan Jinggui to sit down, he said to him: "Tell us all aspects of the situation in detail."
Although Ruan Jinggui didn't know the reason, he looked at the people here and knew that the matter was not that simple - he was the only one from the civil affairs department, and almost all the others were military personnel. There were several naturalized citizens who were not wearing military uniforms sitting at the bottom. One of them, Ruan Jinggui, actually recognized him. He was a naturalized cadre named Lin Nan from the Ministry of Security. He used to be active in the Shengli Port area.
What is the background of the Security Department? After all, Ruan Jinggui has spent some time in Sanya and knows a little bit about it. As long as the Security Department is involved in something, it is definitely not a trivial matter. Ruan Jinggui was even more cautious at the moment, and quickly stood up and responded: "If there is anything inappropriate in what I said, leaders, don't blame me!"
"Since the executive committee ordered the development of Da Nang last year, the local resident population has increased from more than 400 to nearly 4,000 now, of which more than 90% are naturalized citizens who have joined the Hai Han native place..." Ruan Jinggui made a slight adjustment He took a breath, stabilized his emotions, and began to introduce the local situation: "...Currently, there are 300 to 500 new naturalized people joining every month, basically all residents who used to live near Hoi An City. These locals Most of the people came here because they saw that the lives of naturalized people were relatively stable. They were more enthusiastic about naturalization and were more willing to obey our management after naturalization. ”
"In terms of products, the Ministry of Agriculture sent technical specialists here last year to guide local farmers in reclaiming collective farms and planting rice, corn, spices and other crops. So far, there are about 3,000 acres of fields. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture is also working on the nearby Son Tra Peninsula. The people in the deforestation area have organized people to replant a large number of rubber trees, a total of more than 2,000 rubber trees. However, the technical specialist said that it will take several years for the trees to be harvested. The livestock and poultry breeding and fishing industries have also started to implement it since last year. Some of the locally produced poultry eggs and meat are transported by sea to Hue in the north for sale. ”
After all, Ruan Jinggui is a businessman, so he has a very good memory. He can provide the data casually without resorting to written information: "The technical specialist sent by the Ministry of Industry discovered the lime mine here last year and guided the local people to build a cement mine." At present, the cement used in building docks is basically produced locally, and there is no need to transport it across the sea from Sanya. In addition, the local woodland is dense and the water conservancy conditions are convenient, so there are several paper mills, which not only supply paper products. In addition to the city of Annan, some were also transported back to Sanya for use by various yamen and academies of Victory Fort. "The port construction is divided into five phases. The first phase of the project has been basically completed, and the second phase of the existing wharf is in progress. A total of twenty ships with 400 materials can be docked at the same time. After the completion of the second phase of the project in the first half of next year, the docking scale of the port is expected to be doubled. In addition, local shops, warehouses, and various civilian facilities will be in accordance with the Ministry of Construction. The planning and construction are completed one by one. In time, the prosperity of Sanya will surely be restored here. ”
While Ruan Jinggui was describing the situation, he also noticed that today's audience did not just listen. Almost everyone wrote and drew notes on paper while listening. Ruan Jinggui finally finished speaking tremblingly, and when he saw Mu Xiabai nodded towards him, he slowly sat back on his chair.
"I have a question I would like to ask." The first person to ask the question was Lin Nan from the Security Department: "Director Ruan, I have three questions I would like to ask. First, are there currently local ships from Nanyang docking here? Please explain this situation. Second, is the local area capable of organizing logistical supplies for twice the current population? Third, how many sailors and crews are there who are familiar with the sea conditions in the South China Sea? Can Director Ruan gather these people together as soon as possible?”
Ruan Jinggui is also someone who has experienced the Annan Civil War. After listening to Lin Nan's three questions, Ruan Jinggui has already guessed the reason why this group of people are here - this is clearly Haihan preparing to launch a certain scale of military operations in the south. Got it!
Ruan Jinggui also went to Nanyang when he was doing business in his early years, and he still had a general understanding of the distribution of power in Nanyang. However, he did not dare to speculate on which company Haihan's senior management was planning. At the moment, he just responded honestly. Said: "It is true that ships returning from Nanyang occasionally dock here for supplies, but after the destruction of Hoi An City, there are not many foreign ships coming to Da Nang. There are only seven or eight ships every month, most of which are Our merchant ships and those from the Ming Dynasty, and occasionally one or two Portuguese ships will also dock here.”
"As for the supply capacity..." Ruan Jinggui took a bite and said: "If it is food, the current local production may not be able to support twice the population, but meat should be available, and there are many mountains nearby. If necessary, hunting can be organized No matter how bad the situation is, the local fishery can still increase the fishing volume, but it needs more fishing boats. There is no problem with vegetables. The local area has only opened more than 300 acres of vegetable land in the past two months, most of which are used for planting. Seasonal vegetables, some of them will start to be harvested in about half a month.”
Lin Nan nodded, and while listening, he wrote down what Ruan Jinggui said in the notebook in front of him.
"There are really not many sailors who are familiar with Nanyang..." Ruan Chenggui also showed a troubled look on his face at this time: "The city of Hoi An was attacked the year before last, and most of the people who were eating sailors fled to other places. …”
"We have no quantitative requirements." Lin Nan added.
"If there is no quantitative requirement, then thirty or forty people can always be found." Upon hearing this answer, Ruan Jinggui immediately felt relieved and responded immediately.
"To be a reliable naturalized citizen, you must also keep your mouth shut." Lin Nan added two more conditions.
"Well...if that's the case, then maybe it has to be halved." Ruan Jinggui thought about it in his mind before giving his answer.
"Then I'll leave this matter to you and get it done as soon as possible. There are only two days." Lin Nan gave the order to Ruan Jinggui without any doubt.
Although the two of them were not from the same yamen at all, Ruan Jinggui did not dare to refute Lin Nan's order. He just complied with it, secretly guessing the real purpose of the Security Department's actions.
Ruan Jinggui had previously vaguely felt that Haihan was going to do something in the south this time. Lin Nan's instructions made him more certain of his inference. Just as he was still deep in thought, he heard Lin Nan add: "When you recruited these people, you also included their families. After we set off, we sent another ship to send all their families to Sanya. Then There will be someone to arrange their future lives.”
"Yes, yes, I understand." With Ruan Jinggui's mind, he could naturally imagine that this was a way for the Ministry of Security to keep secrets. After completing this trip, these sailors will probably follow this fleet back to Sanya. The places they have visited are naturally unlikely to be easily leaked out - at least they can be kept secret for a period of time. secret.
The questions about Ruan Chinggui did not end there. Next, the officers headed by Wang Tom asked Ruan Chinggui a series of questions, including the status of various coastal supply points in the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula and the recent trend of the situation between Annan and the Champa Kingdom. Wait, Ruan Jinggui spent more than two hours, talking until his mouth was dry, and finally finally answered the various tricky questions of this group of uninvited guests.
When leaving, Mu Xiabai stood up and sent Ruan Jinggui to the gate of the camp. Before saying goodbye, Mu Xiabai lowered his voice and said seriously: "Director Ruan, I don't need to emphasize the nature of this matter. I believe you also. You should understand its importance, right?”
"I understand, I understand, I understand completely!" Ruan Jinggui responded repeatedly: "General Mu, please don't worry, I am very tight-lipped and will never spread news that should not be said!"
(End of chapter)