Chapter 796 Immigration and Construction
It took five days to formulate a detailed combat plan, which was difficult but not difficult for Takahashi Nan.
The difficulty is that he has no previous experience in independently commanding units above a company to perform combat missions, which will limit his overall view when formulating combat plans to a certain extent. Moreover, when performing missions in the past, he did not need to consider issues such as marching formations and logistical supplies. He only had to complete the battle plan step by step according to the battle plan formulated by his superiors. But now that he has to serve as the overall commander, he has to take all these things into consideration when formulating a combat plan, and his execution experience in this area can be regarded as a shortcoming.
It's not difficult because he has been with Qian Tiandun since he joined the army. In the past few years, he has fought many battles, large and small. He has seen how Qian Tiandun makes plans and directs operations. Seven or eight points. What's more, Qian Tiandun didn't hide anything from him and taught him many practical tactics that he might not be able to learn in a military academy. Compared with officers of the same rank in other units of the militia, Gao Qiaonan has less experience in actual combat. If he hadn't been determined to follow Qian Tiandun, he would have been assigned to other units to take charge of his own affairs.
Gao Qiaonan knew very well that Qian Tiandun assigned him this task, which was both a trust and a test. Only by passing this level will he be able to gain room for further advancement in the future. He took the information provided by Qian Tiandun and immediately returned to the battalion headquarters, gathering a few capable men to start studying the map. Five days may be short or long, but he is not willing to waste a minute.
Of course, Qian Tiandun would not really place all his hopes on Gao Qiaonan. Although he did trust Gao Qiaonan, this matter was related to Haihan's expansion process on the island of Taiwan in the future. Qian Tiandun Atsushi still didn't dare to be careless at all, and immediately sent a telegram to inform the base camp of the latest developments, and also reported his own thoughts. Although he also knew that the executive committee might not approve the move against the Spaniard in the near future, this filing work still had to be done first. Moreover, the geographical information in his hand was not detailed enough, and he had to rely on the base camp to provide more detailed military maps as a reference.
At the same time, the construction of Kaohsiung Port in Tainan is also in full swing. Although Haihan adopted an "unfair" attitude towards Fujian at the beginning of development and deliberately allowed Guangdong businessmen to gain a first-mover advantage, the Fujian business community, which had a favorable geographical location, quickly sent a large number of workers to the local area, intending to use their numerical advantage to to compensate for the time disadvantage.
I have to say that the effect of this trick is very good. For projects like port infrastructure that require a lot of labor, whoever has the most can complete it faster. Guangdong businessmen who were unable to quickly replenish manpower could only watch as their Fujian counterparts caught up with the progress of the project at a speed visible to the naked eye every day.
This situation not only occurs on dock construction sites, but also in the development process of plantation projects that also require a lot of labor. Guangdong businessmen also face a similar situation. In order to attract more people to settle in Taiwan, it is said that the price of immigrants in Guangzhou has been significantly increased by at least 30%. This even affected the operation of Haihan's immigration base in Guangzhou. Starting from the beginning of 1633, the number of newly recruited immigrants in the Panyu immigration base plummeted. People with immigration tendencies took employment and went to Taiwan as their first choice to survive. Choice, this effect is a change that no one who originally formulated the Kaohsiung Port development plan expected.
The executive committee was not dissatisfied with this. Since the businessmen were willing to spend the money to organize hired labor, Haihan had no reason to obstruct it. Anyway, after these people settle down in Kaohsiung, they will choose to become naturalized sooner or later. Compared with the immigrants Haihan recruits on his own, it is only a matter of time for naturalization.
However, the number of immigrants received by the Penghu base has increased instead of falling, because the situation here is completely different from that of Guangdong. Most of the immigrants accepted are not from Fujian, but from the war-torn areas in the north of the Ming Dynasty. Due to the relatively generous returns offered by Haihan, Fujian maritime merchants who used to run the northern route have changed their banners and joined the ranks of errands, transporting war refugees from the north to Penghu in exchange for various in-demand goods produced by Haihan. Transport them back to the Jianghuai area and exchange them for silver, and then use the silver to recruit more refugees.
This operation method is very simple, and the profit is quite generous. If a ship with a cost of 400 yuan can run back and forth between Penghu and Huai'an every month, it can make a net profit of more than a thousand taels. Only a small part of the profits came from the refugees themselves. The bulk came from the Haihan goods obtained in exchange for immigrants, which were shipped to Jianghuai and sold to salt merchants who were not short of money. The profit was much higher than that of selling other local products in the past.
After some people tasted the benefits, more and more maritime merchants began to join the ranks. In the last month of 1632 alone, seven companies with a total of 26 ships joined the business, and the number of immigrants transported increased by 300% compared with the previous month. Compared with the situation encountered in Guangdong, Penghu's achievements can be said to have improved by leaps and bounds.
Of course, this difference does not mean that the immigration work in Penghu is really better than that in Guangdong. The reason is mainly due to the influence of the general environment. If the outbreak of war in the north had not produced a large number of refugees, and many maritime merchants in Fujian were attracted by the huge profits of this business, then Penghu might not have been able to introduce immigrants from the Ming Dynasty any faster than Guangdong.
In addition to the Ming Dynasty line, the population trade between the Dutch and Haihan also began to take effect. According to the agreement at the time, the Dutch had to transport 800 immigrants back from Ryukyu, Japan and Korea in Northeast Asia every month and hand them over to Haihan. Although this service is not free, because the Dutch are in a passive position in this transaction, the transaction price is severely suppressed by Haihan, and there is almost no profit at all. It is entirely for the continued survival of Damuan Port. A compromise has to be made.
Taken together, these two main immigration introduction channels will probably bring nearly 3,000 new immigrants to Penghu every month, and transport capacity and volume are continuing to increase. Although this figure looks good, the Executive Committee still regrets that the current navigation capacity is limited and it is unable to organize transportation from the north on its own. Remember when Haihan was transporting war refugees from Annan, which month didn’t thousands of people make money? The Ming Dynasty's population base far exceeds that of Annan. If it can organize its own fleet to transport people northward at this time, the efficiency will definitely be much higher than that of outsiders.
Due to the construction needs of Kaohsiung Port, about half of these immigrants will be transferred to Kaohsiung for resettlement after completing the quarantine observation period, while the remaining small number will stay in Penghu for local resettlement, and the rest will be transported back to Hainan Island for distribution. Of course, those who signed up to join the army in Penghu, as well as the small number of people who were selected and detained among the official slaves smuggled from Northeast Asian countries, will not be reported to the Executive Committee for approval, and will be directly handled by Penghu. Make a decision.
January 15, 1633, the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month in the sixth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
Takahashi Nanzhan carefully completed his combat plan report, and conducted a tactical deduction of his combat plan in front of Qian Tiandun and Chen Yixin, who had temporarily returned from Kaohsiung. Although many imperfections were pointed out by two superiors during the process, it was finally recognized.
"The plan made at the base camp is similar to yours, and is more secure than yours. However, there are a group of people from the staff department at the base camp who come up with ideas. You are on your own. It's pretty good to be able to do this. "Qian Tiandun praised Gao Qiaonan without hesitation.
Takahashi Nan wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves and didn't even dare. He felt that even when he faced enemies several times his own on the battlefield, he was never so nervous when facing an assessment by his superiors.
"In the final battle plan, I plan to combine the two plans and learn from each other's strengths. Although the plan made by the base camp seems perfect, they are planned on paper after all, and some details cannot take into account the actual local conditions like you do. After all, they are just combat staff, and you are the front-line commander." Qian Tiandun suddenly raised his voice: "What qualities do you need to be a commander?" "You must have confidence!" Qiao Nan straightened up suddenly and responded loudly. Qian Tiandun's shout made Gao Qiaonan wake up. If he looked lacking in confidence, how could he convince his superiors to entrust the important task of commanding operations to him?
Qian Tiandun said slowly: "No matter in terms of intelligence collection, troop strength, equipment level, combat experience, logistics supplies, or overall command, we are much stronger than our opponents. Losing in this kind of battle is better than winning. It’s even harder, Takahashi Minami, you have to have more confidence in yourself. If you really think you can’t do it, say it earlier.”
"I will fight to the death to complete the mission!" Although Takahashi Minami changed the habit of kneeling, he still retained the deep bow, and his head almost hit the ground when he was excited.
Chen Yixin smiled and said: "You have been in the army for so many years and you are now a battalion commander. Can you salute properly?"
Takahashi Nan noticed that he had lost his composure, and quickly straightened up and saluted the two of them with a military salute.
"Okay, okay, I know you are loyal." Qian Tiandun also couldn't help laughing. This subordinate is good at everything, but this kind of retainer mentality cannot be changed. Fortunately, no one within Haihan brought this up, and everyone in the military turned a blind eye to it.
"This morning Philip from the Netherlands brought three large ships of immigrants to Magong Port. According to the registration information he provided, more than 400 of these people are from Japan, including many young women." After talking about the business, Qian Tiandun spoke up. Suddenly, the topic was mentioned on completely unrelated immigration matters.
Although Takahashi Minami didn't understand why, he still pricked up his ears and listened carefully. Qian Tiandun looked at him and said: "You are not too young. A few years ago, you said that I didn't have a family, so you didn't dare to get ahead of me. Now that I have settled down, it's time for you to consider personal issues. ”
"Ah?" Gao Qiaonan never thought that Qian Tiandun's purpose in bringing up this matter was actually to solve his own personal problems. He was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to answer.
Qian Tiandun continued: "Although you are now a Haihan citizen, your hometown is Japan after all. You must have missed the customs and customs of your hometown very much after all these years. Now that there are channels to introduce immigrants from Japan, Why don't you go and see if there is anyone you are compatible with, pick out one or two to keep by your side, and take care of your daily life.”
"But I am currently living in a military camp, which is very inconvenient..." Gao Qiaonan still wanted to decline.
"You don't have to worry about this." Qian Tiandun waved his hand and interrupted him: "The dormitories for officers above the company level are already under construction and will be delivered as soon as next month. You are now the commander of the special operations battalion. This officer You must get a room. Although it is a small courtyard with a single entrance, it is much more spacious than the welfare housing in Sanya. It will definitely be no problem to accommodate the whole family.”
"If possible, if the special operations battalion is deployed elsewhere..."
"You really think long-term!" Qian Tiandun said at a loss of whether to laugh or cry: "If the defense is transferred to other places, the family members of senior officers can also be transferred. What are you worried about? Even if it is obvious that I can't be transferred, I will Arranged for you.”
"Then I..."
"That, that, that, man, don't be coy. I'm telling you, go to the port center at the pier later and see if there is anyone suitable among the people sent here. If you choose, just follow Li directly. I said hello to Dou and asked him to keep people. I can’t choose. I’ll wait until the Dutch immigration ship arrives next month. Anyway, they send a group of people every month. I don’t believe they can’t pick out one or two. "It's appropriate." Qian Tiandun paused and then said: "Also, I heard that many of these immigrants were servants in officials' homes. You should also choose two obedient and sensible people to cook for you at home. Do some laundry or something.”
With Takahashi Minami's current income level, it would not be a problem to support a family of eight, not to mention two servants. However, he has been serving in the army in the past few years and takes care of everything by himself, although he is also surrounded by An orderly, but he always regarded himself as Qian Tiandun's orderly, serving people much more than being served. This situation gradually changed after Qian Tiandun and Luo Wudan got together because it was inconvenient. But now that Qian Tiandun asked him to select a few special servants, Gao Qiaonan was indeed a little uncomfortable with it.
Before Gao Qiaonan could say a few words of refusal, Qian Tiandun had already seen what he was thinking, and took the initiative to ask: "Gao Qiaonan, do you know why our group of people have to say goodbye to their hometown and come all the way to Ming Dynasty to start from scratch? Isn’t it just to enjoy the glory and wealth after becoming famous, and enjoy the benefits you deserve? If you work hard for Haihan, Haihan will not treat you badly!”
(End of chapter)