Chapter 940 Strategic Location
After entering the inland this time, God finally stopped making trouble with Haihan. The exploration team took the time to survey and sample the mineral veins at the predetermined location, and successfully returned to the seaside camp three days later. Zheng Zha and Fan Ji happened to be present this time. They saw the ore shipped back in baskets, and they could roughly guess why the Haihan people had been delayed here for so many days.
"General Yan, it turns out that you traveled thousands of miles to seize this island because you want to mine it!" Zheng Zhao said with a smirk on his face, thinking that he had caught Haihan's hand.
"It doesn't look like iron ore. I wonder what kind of mineral deposits are buried on this island. Can General Yan tell me something?" Fan Ji didn't mean to talk in circles at all, so he inquired directly.
"It's a tin mine." Since it happened to be seen by these two people, Yan Chujie no longer concealed it. Anyway, he would arrange for people to come over and start mining the veins here as soon as possible. It wouldn't take long to hide it.
"The Dutch don't know that there are tin mines on this island, so they just plant pepper here, but we will not ignore these treasures buried underground." Yan Chujie said proudly: "We will organize manpower to mine this place as soon as possible. In the future, this place will also be under the rule of Haihan.”
Zheng Zha and Fan Ji not only did not find anything wrong with Yan Chujie's praise of Haikou, but believed that this was the proper attitude of Haihan people. However, the Haihan people's mines have never allowed foreign investment to enter, so they are more concerned about what benefits they can get from the Haihan people's mining plan.
"You also know what we lack most." Yan Chujie knew what these collaborators were thinking, so he directly told them the answer: "We are short of labor."
The problem of labor shortage has accompanied almost the entire history of Haihan's fortune. If it were not troubled by this problem, Haihan's development speed is estimated to be much faster than it is now. Every year, the Haihan Civil Affairs Department uses various means to immigrate people from outside to fill the growing labor demand.
Annan is undoubtedly one of the big bosses in transporting people to Hai Han. Before Hai Han established official diplomatic relations with Annan, Hai Han immigration ships had already begun to collect local civilians who had abandoned their homes and fled due to the civil war on the Thanh Hoa coast. In the early days of Black Earth Port During development, more than half of the labor force came from Annan. After the two sides established diplomatic relations, the issue of immigration and population was officially included in the agreement. The Annan court, which was economically weak at the time, decided to exchange population for military assistance from Haihan, and successively exported tens of thousands of people to Haihan. Among them are not only a large number of refugees who were displaced during the civil war, but also a large number of prisoners of war, war criminals, and southern people who the Annan court intended to exile after the war.
These populations were distributed to various control areas of Haihan, and once became the main pillar of Haihan's infrastructure. However, after Haihan occupied the entire Hainan Island, he gradually slowed down the immigration of Annan immigrants so as not to affect the population structure of the controlled area. After all, Haihan is still a Han regime. In the early stage, it may need to rely more on foreign populations to support productivity, but in the long run, Han people must account for the majority of the total population in order to stabilize its ruling foundation. At least in the core area of ruling Hainan Island, the proportion of Han people must be guaranteed.
As for overseas enclaves like Ambrosia Island, due to practical considerations, the executive committee does not have too many requirements on the population ratio, even if they are not Asians. Among the multinational troops Roger brought out this time, the proportion of Han people was the lowest among all militia troops, and the population proportion on Ambrosia Island was almost the same.
If Haihan wants to settle down in Belitung Island to mine mineral deposits, transporting labor from Sanya, which is 1,300 nautical miles away, is obviously a very cost-effective arrangement. The best way is to solve the problem of labor demand nearby, for example Capture or hire the natives on the island, or bring in laborers from neighboring friendly countries.
Of course, in terms of distance, Annan-Vung Tau Port and Champa Saigon are also 800 nautical miles away from Belitung Island. It’s really hard to say how close they are, but the labor costs of these two countries are indeed much lower than Haihan. , even if it is to hire its nationals to come over to work, it will definitely still be more cost-effective than Haihan's transportation of naturalized people from Sanya to resettle. If these two countries can provide labor, it can indeed effectively reduce the difficulty of Haihan in the initial development stage.
As representatives of national interests, Zheng Zha and Fan Ji are naturally more concerned about the actual benefits they can get. Otherwise, just the wages of labor dispatch do not mean much to them. Even if they are all turned over to the national treasury, the profits Also extremely limited.
"You can get the right to dock at the port here and the right to set up offices here." Yan Chujie can only promise them so far. After all, Haihan's current plan for this place is still focused on mining. We cannot allow external capital to directly intervene in the operation, and we can only give them a discount that seems to be of little use.
Zheng Zhuo shook his head and said: "General Yan, you are not kind enough! It is obvious that the Dutch grow pepper on this island, how dare you say that you have no plans in this regard?"
Yan Chujie thought to himself that I had forgotten about this problem, and immediately said: "Okay, plus the power to develop plantations here, as for the management method, just follow the practices of Ambona Island."
Ampurna Island, where Roger presides over, has developed large plantations in the past two years, most of which are operated by external funds, including investment from Champa and Annam. Although there are not many wealthy businessmen in these two countries, high-ranking officials and members of the royal family still have a lot of spare money. There are no business opportunities to make a fortune in their countries, but they can get a good rate of return by investing in the business led by Haihan, so Zheng Zha is particularly sensitive to this. After all, there have been dozens of business projects invested in the areas under Haihan's rule in his name. He has full confidence in Haihan's ability to make money.
A few people agreed on the future plans of Belitung Island in just a few words. As for how the Dutch would react if they knew about it in the future, Zheng Zha and others did not care. With Haihan's thigh, even if the Dutch want to fall out, they will not find it.
The fleet stayed at the mouth of the river on the west coast of Belitung Island for nearly ten days before leaving and continuing. One hundred and twenty soldiers and construction personnel were left here to build a front station and build simple docks and garrison areas, waiting for the follow-up of large forces. After leaving Belitung Island, the fleet continued to sail west to the neighboring Bangka Island. This large island with an area of 12,000 square kilometers is separated from Belitung Island by the 50-nautical-mile-wide Spa Strait, and to the west is Sumatra. The islands are separated by the Bangka Strait, which is less than ten nautical miles wide. This island is also rich in tin ore, but similar to the neighboring island of Belitung, the mineral veins buried on this island have not been discovered by the world. The residents of the island make a living by fishing, hunting and collecting betel nuts, coconuts and other items naturally produced in the forest.
The route chosen by the fleet is to travel northwest along the Bangka Strait. From the chart, it can be clearly seen that after passing through the Bangka Strait, it will travel about one hundred nautical miles northwest to the east of the Malacca Strait. Side exit.
The Strait of Malacca is undoubtedly the most important strategic gateway from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. Although you can bypass the west coast of Sumatra and go south, you can also enter the Pacific from the Sunda Strait. However, if you take the Andaman Sea on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula to the South China Sea and Ampur Taking the voyage of the island as an example, it is about eight to nine hundred nautical miles to go directly through the Strait of Malacca than to go around the Sunda Strait. Using the speed of a Dutch sailing ship as a reference, this can save about a week at sea.
However, before visiting the strategic location of the Strait of Malacca, the Combined Fleet also plans to visit a place on the way, which is Palembang located near the northern exit of the Bangka Strait.
Palembang became the birthplace of Sri Lanka, a maritime power in South Asia, in the seventh century AD. Historical records after the Song Dynasty called this country "Srivijaya". The country's political center was once located in Palembang. In the middle of the first century, the capital was moved to Zhanbei, four hundred miles away in the north. Because its location is at the center of maritime traffic, merchant ships from China, India, and Arabia will stop here to gather and conduct various transactions. By the early thirteenth century, the kingdom still controlled two strategic locations, the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Sunda.
From the 13th century to the present, there have been several regime changes during this period. Regimes such as Majapahit, Sumatra, and Aceh have taken turns controlling this area. Currently, it is an inland port city belonging to Aceh. Traveling about 80 kilometers upstream from the mouth of the Musi River, you will find Palembang City.
If we want to make an analogy to the status of this trading port in Aceh, it is similar to the function of Guangzhou City in South China. Therefore, when the combined fleet passes here, it must also go to Palembang. However, the size of the "Dignity-class" flagship was a bit too big. After entering the inland river, there would be problems with the draft and turning around. Therefore, Yan Chujie asked the large forces to temporarily station near the entrance to the sea, and only sent two cargo ships upstream to visit the giant river. port.
The main products of Palembang are wood carvings and ivory carvings. From Haihan's perspective, Haihan probably doesn't like other things. Of course, the people from Haihan did not make this trip specifically to purchase goods. Promotion was their first priority. You can see some glassware and other gadgets produced by Haihan in the market here, but the variety and price are obviously far different from those in Sanya. Haihan didn't put much effort into his promotion, and the test products he brought were all divided up by local businessmen.
Of course, in addition to selling goods, the people in the caravan did not forget to inform local merchants of the sea route to Ambona Island. The voyage from Palembang to Amborna Island is only more than 400 nautical miles, which can be regarded as the closest place where merchants from Palembang can purchase large quantities of Haihan products.
After bidding farewell to Palembang, the fleet continued northward along the east coast of Sumatra Island, and soon arrived at the Lingga Islands at the eastern exit of the Strait of Malacca. This archipelago is mainly composed of two large islands, Linga Island and Xinji Island, and dozens of small islands, with a total area of more than 2,000 square kilometers. It is also part of the Riau Islands in the nearby waters.
Although there are many islands in the Lingga Islands, they don’t even have a natural harbor. Continue heading north and you will arrive at Bintan Island. After the Strait of Malacca was occupied by the Portuguese in the last century, the Sultan of Malacca fled here and established the Johor Dynasty. However, the Johor Dynasty is currently in a state of hostility with the Portuguese and the Aceh Kingdom on the island of Sumatra. The three parties are constantly attacking each other, and Johor, the weakest country, is at a disadvantage most of the time. However, after receiving military assistance from Haihan in the past two years, Portugal has gradually established a foothold in this area. Even the Dutch who often came to attack here in the early years have disappeared and gave up their efforts in the Strait of Malacca.
As for the control of the Strait of Malacca, Haihan has naturally put it on the must-win list for a long time. However, it is the Portuguese partners who are currently in control of the situation in the Strait of Malacca, and it is not easy for Haihan to show his face and grab it openly. Moreover, the Malacca City area where the Portuguese built a stronghold has neither a natural port nor a favorable terrain in Haihan's opinion. The defense against the natives is okay, but it will definitely be more difficult to block the Western counterparts who are also equipped with muskets and cannons. It’s no wonder that the Portuguese stronghold here was originally removed by the Dutch in history. Later, even control of the entire strait was taken away by the Dutch.
Since Haihan didn't like the location of Malacca City and didn't intend to steal the Portuguese's territory, he had to find another place to stay. Haihan had already made plans for this, and that was Singapore Island, which is located north of Bintan Island and guards the choke point from the Strait of Malacca to the South China Sea.
According to the name in the Ming Dynasty's historical records at this time, this place should be called Temasek. It once belonged to the Malacca Sultanate and was later inherited as a territory by the Johor Dynasty. However, the stronghold built by the Johor Dynasty here had been completely destroyed by the Portuguese as early as 1611. Currently, this place belongs to the three no areas that are unoccupied, unadministered, and undeveloped.
Travelers from four hundred years in the future are naturally very aware of the strategic significance of Singapore Island. During this period, the surrounding forces did not build a port here, which undoubtedly gave Haihan the best opportunity to take advantage of it. One of the key points of the Combined Fleet's inspection of this South China Sea cruise is to land on this island with an area of only 700 square kilometers.
Although Singapore was very short of fresh water resources in later generations, it was not a big problem in the 17th century, because the island actually had about 30 water veins, but the population was almost zero. It was different from the prosperous port city in later generations. The population density is thousands of times different, so water resources will naturally not be tight.
(End of chapter)