Chapter 1210 Departure for Southbound
The scale of this southward immigration plan is quite large. Tan Juren and his group of men, as well as hundreds of selected immigrants, are just one of the small teams that will be sent to a certain place in the South China Sea. In addition to the large number of immigrants and dispatched personnel, there are also several troops heading south to perform defense replacement tasks. The entire fleet will have more than 4,000 people and transport thousands of tons of various supplies. This is also the first time in 1633 that Haihan, Annan, Champa and other countries formed a joint fleet to sail to Nanyang for military exercises. It was the first time in a year that a large-scale fleet was officially organized to sail southward. And this is only the first group of people to go south. At least two or three groups of people will be sent to colonize the south in the future.
For most of the people in this fleet, it is also the first time in their lives that they have seen and participated in an ocean-going fleet of this size. Especially those newcomers who had just arrived in Sanya and had not even left the immigration camp. Most of them were dumbfounded when they gathered on the pier. No matter where their next destination is, seeing such a huge fleet will give them some peace of mind.
Han Zhengshan looked at the long line of people lining up to board the ship at the pier, and he was filled with emotion. The mobilization ability of the country Haihan was far beyond his imagination. To transport so many thousands of people to settle thousands of miles away, they need more than just food and some living supplies for a short period of time. It is no wonder that Haihan was able to organize a naval expedition to Zhejiang, and even sent a fleet to go further north. A colony was established in Shandong. A small country that was founded not long ago can have such national power. This incredible thing is actually happening in front of you. Thinking about it before, you thought the world was invincible, but now it seems that your vision is really short-sighted.
Most of the sailing ships carrying immigrants on the Luhuitou Peninsula were the same type of immigration ships that Han Zhengshan transferred to on his way south from Zhejiang. However, the number was much larger than the immigration fleet departing from Penghu. Dozens of immigrant ships were on the dock at the same time. Thousands of people were lined up and divided into several teams to board the ship along the trestle. This scene alone made people's hearts surge.
Han Zhengshan saw from a distance that Tan Juren was being interviewed by senior officials from Haihan. It was said that the visitors were several high-ranking leaders in the executive committee. It was rare to see them in public. However, a grassroots cadre at his level was not even qualified to get close to the side to enjoy some immortality, so he could only crane his neck and take a few glances in the designated waiting area.
Whenever a large-scale fleet leaves port for an expedition, the leading figures of the executive committee will go to the dock to see them off. This has become one of Haihan's usual practices, and this time is no exception. However, this symbolic ceremony would not last long. After a few words of encouragement and exhortation, the overseas officials had to board the ship and prepare to set off.
After Han Zhengshan got on board, he found that the living conditions on this trip were much better than when he came to Sanya. He no longer had to crowd with the immigrants in the cabin below the deck, but could enjoy the high-end compartments on the deck with other cadres. . Of course, this kind of advanced compartment is only compared to the through-cabin hammock below the deck. In fact, it is still a narrow cabin for eight people. After putting down four double beds against the bulkheads on both sides, there is only There is a narrow aisle about two feet wide in the middle.
Even if it is only a slight improvement in living conditions, Han Zhengshan can feel the difference in treatment brought by his status, which makes him slightly less worried about leaving Sanya and going south this time. Although it seems a pity not to stay in Sanya for development, but thinking about the power and status that can be obtained in exchange for this, Han Zhengshan believes that it is worth making a small sacrifice for this. Before he came to Haihan, he was accustomed to a life of privileges. Now he had to return to the life of a commoner. Firstly, it was difficult to adapt. Secondly, he was unwilling to accept it. Since there was a chance to make a comeback, it was natural. We should hold on to the idea that we would rather have the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix, and go south to the colonies to try our luck in the future.
The various cargo supplies that should be loaded onto the ship have been loaded one after another in the past few days. After all personnel boarded the ship, the sailors on the dock began to untie the cables that fixed the ship and allowed the sailboat to slowly sail away from the shore. A huge fleet consisting of dozens of immigration ships, cargo ships and comprehensive supply ships filed out. After rounding Luhuitoujiao, they met up with the naval fleet sailing out of Victory Port, and then headed for the southern waters together.
About 150 nautical miles southwest of Sanya is the first stop of the southward fleet, Da Nang, a commercial and trading port located in the middle of the east coast of Annan. The fleet will stop locally to unload goods shipped from Sanya for local sale and transport a batch of grain produced in the nearby Qiuben River plain.
Han Zhengshan was not prohibited from leaving the cabin this time like when he came to Sanya. As long as the captain did not issue a ban, they, the cadres heading south, could move around on the deck on their own. They could even go to the cockpit to see how the captain made judgments based on the charts. The way forward.
The immigration ship that Han Zhengshan is on has made seven or eight trips between Sanya and the South China Sea. The captain, Ding Xu, was a naturalized citizen from Annan Black Earth Port five years ago. However, he now speaks Chinese Mandarin and cannot read at all. There is no difference between him and the Han people. For these passengers who did not have much experience at sea, the captain still appeared to be more patient and explained some superficial navigation knowledge to them in a leisurely manner.
Han Zhengshan only listened to it for fun at first, but after listening for a while, he gradually noticed more information. From what the captain said, the area controlled by the Haihan Kingdom in the South China Sea seems to be larger than the area controlled by the Ming Dynasty coastline. However, because the population of Nanhai is far less than that of Ming Dynasty, the labor force Haihan can recruit locally is extremely limited. Therefore, the construction and development of these places mainly depends on immigrants. Haihan spent a lot of time organizing immigrants from Hainan Island and transporting people all the way to the south. It was precisely because of this last resort.
Of course, Han Zhengshan didn't understand the more complex political and military considerations, and neither did the captain, so the reasons they could recognize were relatively simple. However, this did not prevent them from realizing the power of Haihan. After all, Han Zhengshan had never seen this kind of long-distance sea migration before. The only similar incident he had heard of probably dates back to Qin Shihuang sent Xu Fu It’s time to take the boys and girls across the sea to find the gods.
Although the straight-line voyage between Sanya and Da Nang is only 150 nautical miles, the speed of the huge fleet can only be maintained at about five to seven knots, so it will take at least a day and a half to complete this voyage. Han Zhengshan took this opportunity to take a good look at the Haihan warship that was serving as an escort in the fleet.
He had seen the Haihan warship from a distance in the city of Hangzhou. When he went south from Zhejiang, he had also seen warships docked at the docks at Dinghai Port in Zhoushan and Magong Port in Penghu. However, this time there was half a fleet when he went south. The establishment of the ship is responsible for the escort mission. When I see these Haihan warships at sea, they are agile and majestic, cutting through the waves, and they are very different from the ones parked in the port. Haihan claims to be invincible in the South China Sea, and more than half of his confidence comes from this powerful navy.
Everyone had nothing to do on the boat, so they asked the captain Ding Xu about the situation at the next destination. Ding Xu asked his deputy to hold the steering wheel, took out the tobacco from the cigarette stick, took a few puffs calmly, and then told everyone about the situation in Da Nang, the destination.
"This Da Nang was originally a natural harbor of the Annan Kingdom. At that time, the Annan Kingdom was still divided into northern and southern imperial courts, and Da Nang was on the territory of the southern imperial court. However, one north and one south of Da Nang were Hue, the capital of the southern imperial court. The city and Hoi An Port, the largest port in the south, were just a fishing village at the time. Later, Hai Han Kingdom helped the northern court fight the war and destroyed Hue City and Hoi An Port in one go. Annan Kingdom was in debt. As a huge favor, some pieces of wasteland near the sea were set aside in the south and handed over to our country of Haihan as compensation. Da Nang is one of them. ”
Someone interrupted and asked: "Old Ding, did you go to join the war?" Ding Xu shook his head and said: "When the chiefs took Da Nang, Ding was still working as a fisherman near Heitu Port and had not yet surrendered to the chiefs, so I heard these things from others later.”
Han Zhengshan said: "Old Ding, you said you were naturalized five years ago, so when the war started, it was at least five years ago?"
Ding Xu glanced at Han Zhengshan and said: "You are careful... Yes, it was seven years ago when the Haihan army attacked Hoi An Port, and it was exactly six years ago when they attacked Hue City. Then Hue City Known as the most majestic city in Annan, the moat alone has two moats, both inside and outside. Even if there are 30,000 to 50,000 troops besieging the city, it will be difficult to break into it. However, the Haihan Army is said to have only 2,000 to 3,000 men, and they directly demolished half of the city. The defenders didn’t even have the strength to fight back..."
Since Han Zhengshan already knew that what Ding Xu said was just hearsay, he didn't pay much attention to his bragging at the moment, but he was thinking about another thing in his heart. As far as he knew, the Haihan people came to Qiongzhou in the seventh year of Tianqi. In the second year, they crossed the sea and attacked Hoi'an, and in the third year, they conquered Hue City. This fighting ability can be said to be quite powerful. Fortunately, they used all their force on Annan. If they attacked the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, it would be difficult for the government to withstand them.
After he pondered this idea, he listened to Ding Xuyou talking endlessly to everyone about the Annan war: "...the Ruan family court in the south would have been destroyed long ago if the chiefs had not come forward as guarantees and left some clansmen behind. They were all killed by the Zheng family in the north. If you meet any people of Annan origin named Ruan in the country, there is a good chance that they are from the Ruan family.”
Han Zhengshan thought about it. When he took the refresher course at the Police Department training base, one of the officials who gave the lecture was named Ruan Wenwen. He must be from the Ruan clan that Ding Xu mentioned.
Someone asked in confusion: "Since the Annan court owes such a huge favor to the chiefs, why don't the chiefs just ask for one or two cities to avoid the trouble of building a stronghold in the barren mountains?"
Ding Xu shook his head and said: "You don't understand this. Not to mention the city of Annan, even the city of Ming Dynasty, how much use can it have to Haihan? The leader is far-sighted and has asked Annan to ask for several overseas enclaves. It is an undeveloped natural port, which is of great benefit in opening up routes to the South China Sea. Besides, it only took eight years for Sanya to be built into its current state. As time goes by, these overseas ports will not slowly become what they are. A bustling port city? ”
Han Zhengshan recalled the various ports he stopped at when traveling south from Zhejiang, and it was indeed in line with what Ding Xu said. The Haihan people were not keen on entering the inland and occupying cities, but preferred to stay in coastal ports and sea waterway fortresses. Harm to establish a stronghold. With their unique management methods, these seaports have indeed become prosperous commercial ports and population centers in a short period of time. As Haihan immigrants continue to move in, this temporary stronghold will soon evolve into territory belonging to Haihan.
Since ancient times, when countries want to expand, they have always conquered cities and territories based on the mainland, but Haihan has taken a unique approach, occupying territories that are either islands or coastal ports. The more Han Zhengshan learned, the more he admired Haihan's alternative methods. It was a pity that his boss Tan Juren was on a military ship, otherwise he would have really wanted to ask Tan Juren in person about Haihan's foreign expansion strategy. How many mysteries are there?
The fleet arrived in Da Nang the next day. When it was still more than ten nautical miles away from the port, the tall mountains outside Da Nang could already be seen from the deck.
In terms of the level of port construction, Da Nang is similar to Hong Kong, which was launched at almost the same time. The immigrants cheered on the ship when they saw that there was such a large Hai Han territory overseas. However, Han Zhengshan had already seen several ports in Hai Han on his way south, so he was not particularly surprised by the scale of construction in Da Nang.
When the fleet docked at the port, the local garrison and police had already designated an activity area at the port in advance. The immigrants on the ship could disembark in batches to the shore during the short docking period, but were not allowed to leave the designated activity area. Only a very small number of people in the fleet going south this time were arranged to settle in Da Nang. The vast majority of immigrants could only stay here for a short time without even a casual visit, so they had to continue traveling south.
The workers on the dock skillfully operated the tall crane with winches to hoist the cargo on the ship ashore. Most of them were relatively cheap primary industrial products, such as various iron farm tools and so on. Although the profits of these items are not high, their market share in southern Annam is quite good. The goods are wholesaled in Da Nang to traders in Annam, and then distributed to inland areas by them.
Han Zhengshan saw the Annan businessman who came to pick up the goods at the dock excitedly unboxing and inspecting the goods. He couldn't help but think about it. If Haihan replaced farm tools with weapons, he wouldn't be able to arm thousands of people in other countries at any time. personnel? Annan and Ming Dynasty did not have civil strife because of this, but it was because Haihan showed mercy. He didn't know that Haihan exported a large amount of weapons to foreign countries every year, and the two largest buyers were Daming and Annan, which were adjacent to Haihan.
(End of chapter)