Chapter 720: Changes in the South China Sea
However, Roger's plan may not be realized in the near future. Compared with the current demand gap for officers in the Haihan Militia, the gap between supply and demand for agricultural technicians in various overseas territories is even more obvious.
The core members of the Haihan Ministry of Agriculture are composed of agricultural expert Yuan Ruoxiu and his family. In recent years, as the old couple has grown older, their physical condition has become increasingly aging. They rarely leave Sanya and spend most of their time in Victory Fort. He showed up at important meetings and helped the younger generations formulate and review plans for some large-scale agricultural reclamation projects. Currently, the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture are Yuan Ruoxiu's only son Yuan Qiuye and his apprentice Gao Huan. Yuan Ruoxiu's professional field is cash crops, but it is not Yuan Qiuye who specializes in poultry and livestock who inherits his father's business, but his apprentice Gao Huan.
In the five years since time travel, Gao Huan has naturally accepted many naturalized apprentices and passed on his knowledge of cash crops. However, just a few dozen apprentices are simply not enough to cover Hainan Island’s agricultural development needs. Hainan Island has a land area of more than 30,000 square kilometers. According to rough calculation, each of his senior agricultural technicians is responsible for an area of several hundred square kilometers.
Of course, this calculation method is not accurate. There are not that many areas on Hainan Island that can be developed as agricultural land, and more than half of the agricultural land is grain farmland. The land area used to grow cash crops is actually relatively limited. Haihan started to make his fortune in Sanya after crossing over, and the commercial crop planting areas he developed were basically concentrated in the southern coastal areas and the mountainous areas of central and southern China. Gao Huan and his group of apprentice technicians were more diligent, but they could barely make it. Economic crop plantations covering parts of Qiongnan and Qiongzhong.
However, with the continuous expansion of Haihan's sphere of influence, especially overseas territories, in recent years, cash crop plantations have gradually become an important project for generating income in overseas territories. Even areas like Hong Kong Island, where re-export trade is the main business, are trying to build mountain plantation parks in areas such as Victoria Peak, Cameron Mountain, Xiao Ma Shan, and Jardine's Peak on the island.
Currently, the planned plantations on a small island in Hong Kong alone include more than 20 varieties of cash crops. Among them, oil crops include oil palm, cashew nuts, etc.; spice crops include lemongrass, pepper, basil, vetiver, etc.; fiber crops include abaca, musk, ramie, Javanese kapok, etc.; beverage crops include coffee, cocoa, tea tree; and medicinal materials include Amomum villosum, Morinda citrifolia, betel nut, Panax notoginseng, etc.; the most varieties of fruits include banana, lychee, pineapple, mango, avocado, longan, pumpkin, guava, etc.
Of course, not all of these crops are suitable for planting in the natural environment of Hong Kong Island. The first batch of these commercial crops planted still have a certain experimental nature. If the planting results are not satisfactory, other crops may be replaced in a few years. The Haihan Territory, which is based on several coastal ports in southern Annan, generally follows the same approach, except that the list includes rubber trees, coconut trees and some unique crop varieties in tropical areas.
Compared with the Ambrosia Islands, which are isolated in the sea, whether it is Hong Kong or Annan, the labor demand generated by large-scale plantation development can be more easily solved by relying on the mainland, while the Ampur Islands have to purchase slaves in large quantities. to alleviate local labor shortages. In the short term, plantation development costs in the Ambrosia Islands will undoubtedly be higher than those in the mainland. If Roger wanted the Ministry of Agriculture to take special care of the plantations in the Ambrosia Islands, he would probably have to pay a higher salary to hire agricultural technicians and go south.
However, this application process is not a simple point-to-point operation from Ambon Island to the Ministry of Agriculture. In fact, due to the scarcity of agricultural technicians and the agricultural technology knowledge they possess, in this era, only a very small number of people can access it. It is a black technology, so relevant applications and transfers must be approved by the Ministry of Security before they can be reported to the Executive Committee for approval.
Fortunately, although the Ambuna Islands are small and remote, there is Li Dagui, a former field worker of the Ministry of Security, working as a cadre on the island, so there is a link between the Ambuna Port Management Committee and the Haihan Security Department. Unofficial communication channels. With Li Dagui's mediation, the Ministry of Security quietly approved the application for the Ambrosia Islands.
The Ambrosia Islands now have garrisons, industries, and a continuously increasing population. If there is anything else that worries Roger, it is probably the Dutch in the south. Although the two sides had reached an armistice agreement at the end of last year, it was only a truce. Since the Netherlands had suffered more than once on the battlefield last year, the relationship between the two sides was far from harmonious. The main target of Haihan's troops stationed on Ambrosia Island was still the Dutch in Batavia.
Although Batavia is more than 600 nautical miles away from the Ambrosia Islands, the Tammelan Islands, the closest maritime stronghold of the Dutch, is actually less than 200 nautical miles south of the Ambrosia Islands. It only takes two or three days to calculate. only the voyage.
This place was still occupied by the island natives when the Indian fleet from the Middle East attacked Port Ambuna last year. However, after the Dutch suffered a defeat in the Battle of Port Ambuna, they quickly realized the importance of losing the Ambuna Islands. severity. During the armistice agreement negotiated between the Dutch and Hayhan last year, the East India Company once again sent an armed fleet to attack and seize control of the Temeilan Islands. The purpose of the Dutch is to set up an advance base relatively close to the Ambrosia Islands. On the one hand, they can monitor the movements of Ambrosia Port, and on the other hand, they can also prepare for the next counterattack.
However, the Dutch's move did not have much practical effect, because they soon learned that the control of the Ambrosia Islands had changed hands, and the mysterious pirates who defeated them were expelled from the local area by the Haihan Militia. Compared with the rootless pirates, the Haihan militia, which has achieved outstanding results in the South China Sea in recent years, is obviously more difficult to deal with. Based on the situation of the East India Company at that time, it would definitely be an extremely unwise choice to start a full-scale war with Haihan. In the end, the Dutch could only remain silent and eat Coptis chinensis, acquiescing to Haihan's control of the Ambrosia Islands.
The change of sovereignty of the Temeilan Islands was not hidden from Haihan's eyes. At the end of last year, a Daming maritime merchant took the initiative to inform Haihan of this change. However, compared to the nervousness of the Dutch, Roger, who took over the Ambuna Islands in the second half of last year, did not care so much about the Dutch in the Tamerlan Islands. This is because compared to the Ambuna Islands in the north and Bangka Island and Belitung Island in the south, the conditions in the Tamerlan Islands are not really suitable for development and construction.
Although the Temeran Islands are composed of 17 islands, the only one that barely meets the standards for harbor construction is the natural harbor on the main island of Temeran. However, there are a large number of shallow coral reefs in this harbor, which is not suitable for construction as a large commercial port or military port. It is barely at the level of a fishing port. Secondly, the area of the island is too small, there are no valuable products on the island, and there is no natural environment suitable for development into food farming. There are no Dutch immigrants to voluntarily settle in such a place, let alone the conditions for garrisoning troops. Therefore, although he knew that the Dutch had taken control of the Tamerlan Islands, Roger was not particularly worried about this place. If the situation requires, he can lead the troops stationed on the island south at any time and kill all the small number of Dutch stationed there. What Roger was really worried about was that after the Dutch had calmed down in Southeast Asia, they would reorganize their maritime armed forces to seize the Ambrosia Islands. Although Roger is not afraid of fighting, this does not mean that he will be willing to fight the enemy on his own territory - even if there is to be a fight in the future, he hopes that the battlefield will be on the Dutch territory in the south, not in Ambuna The archipelago is a place where he has put a lot of effort into.
Since Roger took over the Ambana Port in August last year, except for the period when he went to Fujian to participate in the war, he has been busy with various local construction and development affairs almost every day. Moreover, because of the special geographical location and natural environment of the Ambrosia Islands, they are subject to many restrictions in development. For example, applying for a senior agricultural technician to be stationed on the island must be approved by the Ministry of Security, which resulted in Roger having to spend more money. Focus on coordinating all aspects of relationships. If the Ambon Islands were to be used as a battlefield in future sea-Dutch confrontations, this would definitely not be acceptable from Roger's point of view.
Haihan's current policy is to introduce a large number of immigrants from the outside world, and their main source must be the war-torn Ming Dynasty. Haihan sent troops to attack Penghu in advance, partly to open up the waterway from the South China Sea to the north as soon as possible and absorb refugees from the war-torn areas in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty. In the foreseeable next two or three years, Haihan's main expansion direction will probably be on the northern mainland. He will no longer actively provoke disputes and start wars in the South China Sea. At most, the military will gradually increase security The number of troops stationed on Buena Island is increased to allow more troops to adapt to the combat environment in tropical maritime areas.
The Dutch's stronghold on Taiwan Island can monitor Haihan's movements nearby. If the Dutch realize that Haihan's strategic focus is shifting to the Ming Dynasty and there are signs of intervening in the Ming Dynasty's civil war, they may make another move to recapture An'er. The thoughts of the Na Islands. Once the war breaks out again, all Roger's administrative measures in Port Ambrosia will turn into bubbles. Even if the Dutch can be defeated here, the industry on the island will be greatly affected. This is exactly what Roger does not want. the sights seen.
But this worry completely disappeared on the morning of July 4th - a merchant ship returning to Daming from Batavia brought news that stunned Roger for half a minute.
Peterson Cohen, the current governor of the Dutch East India Company and the controller of Batavia City, died of illness half a month ago. Of course, due to the butterfly effect caused by traveling through time and space, the time of his death has been delayed by a full two years and nine months compared to the original date of September 21, 1629 in history, which is considered quite lucky.
However, Cohen's death was not the main reason that surprised Roger. After all, this event had been expected by Haihan, but he just didn't know when it would happen. The crux of the problem was that Governor Cohen's death was very sudden, which caused some problems for the East India Company in the selection of his successor.
Although the headquarters of the East India Company is located in Batavia, almost all of its management shareholders are in the Netherlands. This led to the period between Cohen's death and the shareholders receiving the news to discuss the appointment of the next governor through the board of directors. Batavia would be in something of a power vacuum.
Although the city of Batavia also has a council composed of representatives of various shareholders, the council does not have the power to directly appoint or remove officials of the governor's level. The position left after Cohen's death can only be obtained if it can be obtained. Man, who wouldn't be tempted at all?
Of course, there were several preferred successors before Cohen's death, such as Jacques Spikes and Hendrik Brouwer, who had been his right-hand men. Unfortunately, these two guys were defeated in the Battle of Ambrosia last year. Although Spikes escaped with his life, it was obvious that the defeated general was no longer suitable to be the governor-general of the East India Company-if he Maybe this is still possible after winning that battle. The unlucky Brower was killed by the Haihan militia in the rebellion and was immediately eliminated. These two military attaches who successively served as governors of Batavia in the original history, inexplicably lost the opportunity to reach the top of their lives because of the appearance of Haihan.
In addition to these two people, there is another candidate who was entrusted by Cohen with important tasks and conducted many years of maritime exploration in the Far East. Anthony Van Diemen. Van Diemen's contribution to the Maluku Islands earned him a letter of appointment as admiral from the Parliament of the Dutch Republic. In terms of status, strength, and achievements, Van Diemen is indeed currently the most suitable candidate to take over the post of governor. Of course, in the original history, he was indeed the ninth governor-general of the East India Company.
However, due to various reasons in this time and space, the timing of his taking over has been very different from the original historical trajectory. At this juncture, there are many people who intend to compete with him for the governor's throne. At least four people in the Batavia council announced that they would compete for the governorship. Although Van Diemen held military power in his hands, he did not dare to use this power to suppress several other contenders. Because these people all represent the major shareholders of the company, and these big shots are not something he, a commoner from the countryside of Kullenberg, can afford to offend.
But Van Diemen will not give up this opportunity easily, because in his opinion, the other competitors are just civilized officials who only talk and talk in the castle. These people do not know how to deal with the natives of Southeast Asia. I don’t understand what attitude the Ming Empire in the north had towards the East India Company. If the company is handed over to such people, it will be over sooner or later.
(End of chapter)