Chapter 771 Sanya’s New Look
With nearly three hundred years of ruling history, a vast territory and a large population, it seems that there is nothing that can be done against a local force entrenched on the island. Li Nai believes that this is the current situation between the Ming Dynasty and Haihan. If it were Li Nai five years ago, he would probably feel unwilling and sad about this situation, but after several years of contact with the Haihan people, he has been able to face this reality with a more peaceful perspective and attitude. The people of Haihan had told him in a positive tone more than once that the difference in civilization between Haihan and Ming Dynasty was hundreds of years. This was why Haihan, who had no foundation, was able to occupy a piece of southern territory of Ming Dynasty in only five years. Territory and hundreds of thousands of people.
The degree of civilization among the Haihan population does not refer to achievements such as poetry and poetry, but to the gap in social systems, structures, productivity, etc. Li Nai believed that the Haihan people's statement was not an unfounded disparagement, because they had indeed demonstrated capabilities that far exceeded those of their competitors at the same time. Even Westerners such as Franji and Holland, who were considered very powerful in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, However, the Haihan people also claimed to be hundreds of years ahead of them.
The Haihan people started on Qiongzhou Island with a few hundred people, and it only took them five years to reach the current scale, and the expansion rate is getting faster year by year. It is difficult for Li Nai to imagine that they will have ten times the land in the future. and population, what speed of development will it achieve. By then, not to mention the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that the surrounding countries and the Spanish will be tied together, and they will not be the opponents of the Haihan people. Anyone would be amazed by such a situation, but the Haihan people themselves take it all for granted. Li Nai once heard more than one Haihan people say that the purpose of their coming here was to do something major, expand the territory, and establish national power. For them, it was just one step in the entire plan.
Of course, according to the Haihan people, there is no such thing as a "king" or "emperor" in this country. The leadership and management of the entire country will still be a political model consistent with the existing system. If one had not witnessed the history of Haihan's fortune with one's own eyes, it would be difficult for anyone to believe that this ridiculous-sounding model could actually work well.
Li Nai once discussed this issue with Tao Donglai - if the civilization of Haihan is hundreds of years ahead of the Ming Dynasty and other contemporaneous countries, then after a few hundred years, will monarchical countries no longer Got it?
"Yes, there are, but the remaining royal family will basically become a decoration." Tao Donglai's answer at the time, he still remembers clearly: "Any country that wants to become more powerful must eventually get rid of the monarchy. However, this process requires the blood and lives of many people, and may even require many iterations. Fortunately, our Haihan civilization has already passed this step, so in the future, this world will not be the same. Which country will be able to catch up with us? ”
Although Tao Donglai's words were not particularly straightforward, he made his meaning very clear - as long as it is a monarchy, it is impossible to become a comparable opponent to Haihan. In the foreseeable future, such a country is probably unlikely to appear in Haihan's surrounding area.
"Master, we're here!" After the attendant reminded him softly, Li Nai came back from his endless contemplation, got up and got out of the car.
Before we even left the station, the aroma of various foods filled the air. Outside Sanya Station is the Sanya Port Center on the banks of the Linchun River, which is the area around Luhuitou Square in the later urban area of Sanya. Ships and personnel entering and leaving Sanya Port need to register and go through various procedures at the Port Center. Those who go to Victory Port and Victory Fort for business People also need to transfer here by bus, so the flow of people in this place is huge, which has spawned a large number of service industries. There are even more vendors and restaurants supplying various types of food and beverages than there are shops on the pier.
In addition, various goods unloaded from Sanya Port also need to be transferred here to surrounding areas by trains, pack horses, manpower, etc. Flatbed fleets and pack horse teams can be seen running parallel to each other on the streets at any time. Fortunately, the Haihan Executive Committee has taken future development into consideration when planning, and has built the road very wide. There are policemen in black waving batons at intervals on the road to direct traffic. Even newcomers who have just arrived will be able to pass the traffic under the guidance of the batons. I quickly learned basic traffic rules such as keeping to the right and leaving a lane.
In terms of market prosperity alone, Sanya Port is on par with the Pearl River Pier outside Guangzhou, and it is far more tidy and orderly than the Pearl River Pier. You can see people carrying bamboo baskets and brooms cleaning the streets at any time. The cleaners who deal with garbage, and the animals carrying goods all have dung bags hanging on their butts, making outsiders marvel at the clean environment here.
In addition, the social order here is much better than that of the ports in areas under the Ming Dynasty. A police team of five people can be seen patrolling on foot on the streets at any time. The strong police force ensures that it is difficult for thieves to act recklessly here. Anyone who is caught stealing or committing other crimes will be sentenced to at least three months of hard labor. No one with a broken brain will do this. Provoke quarrels and cause trouble in the place.
The villa purchased by Li Nai was still some distance from the station, and the attendant asked Li Nai thoughtfully if he needed to take a rickshaw or horse-drawn carriage on the street to reach his destination.
Li Nai waved his hand and rejected the entourage's suggestion: "I haven't been here for more than half a year, so this section of the road is just a walk, just to see how Sanya Port has changed in the past six months."
Going north from the station square, you basically leave the port area and enter the town. Haihan has built a lot of commercial properties here in recent years and provided them to outsiders on a lease and sale basis. Some naturalized residents of Haihan with higher incomes also purchased properties here. When Li Nai first bought a house here, the scale of real estate development was only two to three hundred households, but now the number of people who have settled here has exceeded two thousand households. Most of them are outsiders, like the members of the "Qiong Lianfa" that Li Nai is familiar with, almost all of them have purchased real estate here, and some large households have even purchased several properties, like the owner of the boat shop Zhan Gui, who moved his family with his family. There are also many examples of people settling in Sanya.
However, Li Nai knew that the senior officials of Haihan did not live here. Some of them still lived in Victory Fort. In addition, on the coastline of Yalong Bay east of Victory Port, it is said that many buildings were built specifically for the residence of Chief Haihan. A large villa, but Li Nai has not yet gone to see it in person, and he is not sure what the specific situation is like.
When we got here, there were obviously more people who knew Li Nai. Within a short distance, someone greeted him, and then stopped to say a few words. Most of them are businessmen traveling between Guangdong and Sanya. Even if these people don't know the big shots in the Haihan Executive Committee who don't often show up, they will definitely recognize the third young master of Guangzhou "Fu Ruifeng" Trading Company, "Golden Shield Protector". Li Nai, the big shopkeeper of "Yun". After all, at least 70% of the valuable money and goods sent from Guangzhou to various parts of the province are taken over by "Golden Shield Escort". If you can make friends with Li Nai, not to mention how much cheaper the business will be. At least it can make the other party more interested in the corresponding transaction. Of course, there is another reason that everyone knows but will not be easily announced, and that is the close relationship between Li Nai and the Haihan people. There are rumors in the world that "Fu Ruifeng" was able to ride on the smooth sailing ship of Haihan and rise to great heights mainly because of the results of the negotiations between Master Li and the Haihan people in Sanya. Although I don’t know the specific terms of exchange between the two parties, Haihan has always brought "Fu Ruifeng" with him if he has done anything good in the past few years, and has made the Li family the most popular family in Guangzhou along the way. The most valuable items produced by Haihan have always been controlled by the Li family as the agent in Guangdong and Guangxi. This has not changed in the past few years. This alone is enough for the Li family to make a lot of money, making people envious and jealous. .
Moreover, Haihan's support for the Li family was not only reflected in business. In the first year of Chongzhen, the family directly sent hundreds of soldiers to Lijiazhuang to relieve the siege and defeated the army of rogue bandits that besieged the local area. Later, he helped the Li family start a bodyguard business. With the current strength of "Golden Shield Luck", it can pull out seven to eight hundred fully armed bodyguard teams at any time. As long as there is no rebellion, self-protection will definitely be safe. . Anyone with a discerning eye can clearly see that, apart from the uniforms they wear, the escort team of the "Golden Shield Escort" is basically the same as the militia under the Haihan people. Most of the escorts who lead the team are retired from the Haihan militia. Veterans, as long as this escort team changes its skin, it can immediately transform into a Haihan militia.
Even if no one in the Ming Dynasty knew the name "Leading Party", anyone with a certain status in the business and officialdom of Guangdong and Guangxi could at least see that the interest relationship between Haihan and the Li family was extraordinary. Being familiar with the third young master of the Li family, maybe if you encounter something in Sanya and need help, just ask the third young master Li to come forward and say hello to the Haihan people, and it will be solved.
Li Nai himself has been a shopkeeper for more than two years, and his edges have smoothed out a lot. He is not as self-conscious as before. When people he knows or doesn't know greet him, he will respond to them all with a smile. Although he also knew that many people just wanted to get acquainted with him, or use his name to build relationships with Haihan senior officials, this did not make him show any impatience.
From the station square to the villa where Li Nai stayed, it was only a little more than two miles but less than three miles away. I greeted people all the way and it actually took more than an hour to get there. By the time he arrived at the door of his yard, it was already time to light the lamp. Fortunately, when he got off the ship, he had sent other followers over to guard the front station, and now he was already packed and ready. The three servants who were stationed here stood at the gate, bowing their heads to welcome his arrival.
Li Nai's two-story villa covers an area of about one acre and is built entirely in Haihan's design style instead of a traditional Chinese courtyard. The first floor is the reception room, dining room, kitchen and servants' quarters, etc. The second floor is his private space, including two bedrooms with full Haihan bathroom equipment, a living room and a study room. The doors and windows of the villa use a large amount of locally produced plate glass, and the furniture and floor tiles are all shipped from Guangzhou. The money spent on the decoration alone is enough to buy a mid-range garden apartment in a nearby residential area. .
The villa faces south and faces north. When you open the window of one of the bedrooms, you can see the Linchun River just around the corner. Haihan people call this location a "river view room." This alone makes this villa more beautiful than the one facing the east. The villa without Jiang is 20% more expensive. Of course, this is just a small amount of money for Li Nai, who was already rich a few years ago. Why not spend a little money to make yourself feel happy physically and mentally?
Li Nai went upstairs to wash up, changed into comfortable home clothes, and then went downstairs to eat. One of the three servants stationed here is a specially selected cook. He goes to the chef training class run by the Haihan people for two refresher studies every year to ensure that the taste of the dishes he cooks is the same as that of Chief Haihan in the Victory Fort. What we ate was exactly the same. Of course, all the seasonings and spices used in the kitchen are basically copied from the standard equipment of Fort Victory. Even the stove in the kitchen was originally arranged by Li Nai and asked Tao Donglai to send someone there. It was built by supervisors to ensure that the fire could reach the same standard.
Li Nai admired the people of Haihan who paid attention to quality in some details of life, so he would imitate them intentionally or unintentionally, trying to keep his lifestyle consistent with the people he imitated. He believed that this would help him understand and learn the way of thinking of the Haihan people. As for whether this would have any practical effect, Li Nai believed that the reason why he came to Sanya this time was the best proof. If you don't fully understand the way of thinking of Haihan people and view the changing situation from their perspective, it will be difficult to infer Haihan's next plan.
Because Li Nai arrived in a hurry this time, the villa's chef did not purchase some fresh ingredients in advance, but he still overcame various difficulties and made a full Western-style steak set meal for Li Nai according to Li Nai's personal preferences.
Li Nai once had a steak cooked by Haihan's chief chef Fan Wei at Fort Victory. He immediately included it in his private menu and then sent a chef to Fort Victory to learn the dish. Of course, in exchange, this dish cannot appear in restaurants under the Li family's name and can only be enjoyed as a private dish.
It is said that the cooking of this dish comes from the European continent where the country of Xifan is located. However, many improvements have been made since it was introduced to Haihan, and the cooking techniques are somewhat different from those of Westerners. For example, the selected location for this steak must be the sixth to eighth pair of ribs on the cow, and it must be cut along the bone. Many of the spices used to marinate steaks are not found in European recipes.
(End of chapter)