Chapter 1613 Sanya Experience
Of course, the Ming Dynasty also had institutions like the Sanya Guest House to receive foreign envoys, but in terms of living environment, furniture, and service quality, they were far less comprehensive than the Haihan people. Of course, the Ming Dynasty's reception agency was located in the capital, surrounded by various government offices. There was no scenery at all, which could compare to the beautiful scenery of the Sanya Guest House, which is surrounded by mountains and sea. Standing on the second-floor balcony of the house where he lives, Fei Cexian has a wide view and can take in the entire Sanya city.
As for the furnishings in the house, they were fine porcelain and precious woodware. There was never a shortage of these things in the capital, but Fei Cexian was amazed by the one-foot-square plate glass installed on the doors and windows, and the decoration inside the house was amazing. The bathroom equipment is very comfortable. In addition to the flush toilet, there is also a regular supply of hot water for bathing every day. Turn on the faucet and it will automatically flow into the bathtub. According to the staff of the Guest House, hot water was originally supplied all day long. However, due to the recent bad weather in the Beibu Gulf, the coal shipping route from Annan Black Earth Port to Sanya was temporarily interrupted, so the boiler used to heat hot water in the Guest House was also temporarily interrupted. Just reduce the usage time.
As for the food, Fei Cexian can't fault it even more. He was born in Chaozhou Prefecture, Guangdong, but has been in the north for ten years. Now he is more accustomed to the taste of the north in terms of food, and this guest house can even serve eight Classic northern pasta, as well as a wide variety of dishes. It can be seen that Haihan has put a lot of effort into preparations to welcome their delegation from the capital. On the one hand, this satisfied Fei Cexian's little vanity, thinking that he had received enough attention from the other party. On the other hand, it also gave Fei Cexian a new understanding of Haihan's national power, because he knew that there was basically no flour production in the south. , Southerners don’t have the habit of eating pasta, and the flour prepared here in Sanya must be purchased from the north. This kind of attention is not something ordinary people can do.
Fei Cexian and his party arrived in Sanya in the morning and had a simple meal at the Guest House at noon. According to Haihan's official arrangements, the official reception banquet will be held in the evening, so Fei Cexian and his party still have half a day to take a rest. Fei Cexian, on the other hand, was someone who couldn't stay any longer. After lunch, he planned to go to the city for a walk. After applying to the diplomatic officials at the Guesthouse, permission was quickly obtained. However, Fei Cexian was still restricted to only the Victory Avenue, and someone was sent to accompany Fei Cexian in the name of a tour guide. , in addition to acting as a guide, it can also monitor Fei Cexian's movements in real time.
Fei Cexian expressed no objection to this arrangement. He knew that the people of Haihan were extremely vigilant about intelligence security. Over the years, the intelligence personnel stationed in Haihan by the Ming Dynasty military, Jinyiwei, Dongchang and other agencies had a very high loss rate. Jinyiwei alone There are more than 200 missing persons registered, not counting those peripheral intelligence personnel who are not officially established by the government. Fei Cexian also knew the existence of the Haihan Security Department. To the intelligence agencies of the Ming Dynasty, this name was like the gate of hell in the Palace of Hell. As long as someone was targeted by the Security Department, they would rarely have a chance to escape from Haihan.
After arriving in Haihan, Fei Cexian could not count how many people from the Ministry of Security were secretly watching him, but he knew that these people must be around him, and they would be like this every day during his mission to Haihan. Instead of fighting, it would be better to adapt to this life of surveillance as soon as possible. This was also the realization he had made before coming to Haihan.
So under Haihan's arrangement, Fei Cexian took only two entourages and followed the tour guide out of the Guest House in a carriage and headed south to Victory Square. The man who served as the tour guide for the Ming Dynasty envoy was a young man named Zhang Qianzhi. This name was of course very unfamiliar to Fei Cexian, but he was quite famous within the Haihan Intelligence System. Zhang Qianzhi can be regarded as He Xi's direct disciple. He followed He Xi to Guangzhou to establish the Office in Guangzhou. He can be said to be the first batch of naturalized intelligence personnel fighting on the front line. Later, after returning to Hainan Island, he continued to serve in the Ministry of Security. He made great contributions in solving the Danzhou Assassination Case in 1631 and received a commendation order issued by the Executive Committee.
Although Zhang Qianzhi is only in his twenties, he is already one of the most senior employees in the Ministry of Security. The latest task he has received is to monitor Fei Cexian, the Ming envoy who has just arrived in Hainan Island. Zhang Qianzhi himself understood the importance of this task without He Xi's explanation, so to be cautious, he even personally acted as a tour guide arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Not only did he want to monitor Fei Cexian's every move nearby, but he also hoped to understand the Ming Dynasty official's mentality and life style through contact, so as to provide reference for Haihan's high-level foreign policy decisions.
Based on Zhang Qianzhi's familiarity with Sanya, it is not a big problem to play a tour guide. Moreover, he spent some time in Guangzhou in his early years and followed He Xi to visit various officials in Guangzhou. He has no idea about these habits and styles. , mentality are relatively clear. Zhang Qianzhi has also prepared a plan for this new Ming envoy.
"Master Fei, this is Victory Square. To the north of the square is Victory Fort, the center of power of our Haihan Kingdom! Later, the heads of the executive committee will meet Master Fei there." Zhang Qianzhi said to Fei Ce skillfully Xian introduced the scene here: "To the east of the square are the offices of various government agencies, including the Ministry of Industry, Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Justice. To the west are the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Culture and Education, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Haihan Bank, and to the south is Sanya. The most prosperous landscape avenue ”
"Isn't the Ministry of National Defense here?" Fei Cexian listened very carefully and immediately asked a question.
"The Ministry of National Defense is in Fort Victory." Zhang Qianzhi responded: "If Mr. Fei is interested in the Ministry of National Defense, you can also apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to visit it."
"This...can we also visit?" Fei Cexian thought he heard wrongly. The Haihan Ministry of National Defense was like the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty. It was a weapon of the country. How could foreign envoys be allowed to visit?
"I can go." Zhang Qianzhi nodded and said, "As long as Mr. Fei wants to go, there should be corresponding arrangements."
Fei Cexian had never thought that Haihan would be so relaxed and allow foreign envoys to visit such a key department as the Ministry of National Defense. He almost blurted out and asked if he could visit the Ministry of Security.
Of course, not to mention the Ministry of National Defense, even the yamen around the square had to apply for permission before they could visit, so Fei Cexian could only take a quick look at them.
"I heard that your country originally built this square to facilitate military parades in front of Fort Victory?" Fei Cexian continued to ask.
"It does have this purpose." Zhang Qianzhi replied affirmatively: "Every National Day, Sanya will hold a military parade. The troops will go from the port direction to Victory Square via Landscape Avenue, and then be reviewed by the leaders. But this square It’s not just for military parades. Sir Fei, please see, this square is very lively on weekdays and is a place for people’s daily entertainment.”
In fact, Zhang Qianzhi didn't need to remind him that Fei Cexian had been observing the situation in the square since he got off the car. Although this place is only separated by a wall from Victory Fort, the center of Haihan's power, it is not as heavily guarded as outside the Forbidden City in the capital. There are performers and monkey performers here, literati gather to debate current affairs, merchants hold banners for promotions, vendors walk around shouting and selling candied haws, and people hang out in small groups. There are also people like him who have just arrived in Sanya, bringing with them The outsider looked around with excitement on his face. It can be seen from this that the rulers of Haihan did not list the square outside the Victory Fort as a forbidden area. This may be a sign of their approachability, but Fei Cexian is more willing to understand it as the high-level officials of Haihan. We have enough confidence in the local security situation that there is no need to set up a no-entry zone here.
"Do the leaders of your country go out for activities on weekdays?" Fei Cexian asked curiously: "Will it attract people to watch?"
"Of course they will come out. You can meet a few people every day on the Landscape Avenue. Even the top leaders of the Executive Committee often walk around here. People have seen more, and naturally they will no longer be interested in watching. "As Zhang Qianzhi spoke, he paid attention to Fei Cexian's expression and reaction to judge the purpose of his inquiry. But Fei Cexian really asked this out of curiosity and had no other thoughts, which made Zhang Qianzhi's defense fall into place.
Now that we have arrived in Sanya, we naturally have to visit the Landscape Avenue. Fei Cexian has long heard that the market here is very prosperous and the variety of goods is far greater than that of the Ming Dynasty. Of course he wants to see it.
"When the Landscape Avenue was first built, there were only shops facing the street. However, in recent years, more and more businessmen from various countries have opened shops here, so the commercial area is also expanding year by year. The so-called Landscape Avenue no longer refers to more than just the shops on both sides of the road. Shops are a general term for the entire Shengli Port commercial district. According to last year's statistics, there are more than 800 shops in Shengli Port alone. If Sanya Port is added, the number of shops in the entire Sanya area. It’s close to 2,000.” Zhang Qianzhi proudly introduced the business operations of Landscape Avenue to Fei Cexian.
These shops in Sanya are not the kind where every household sets up a stall at the door to sell needles, threads, snacks and breakfast. Many shops are actually not just a shop, but a comprehensive commercial warehouse, with shops facing the street and warehouses and residences behind. place. Large merchants such as Furifeng have their business stores in Shengli Port and Sanya Port, each covering an area of dozens of acres. In addition to warehouses and living quarters, the business stores even have their own warehouses. Cars and horses go. As for consumption places such as restaurants and restaurants, even if they have four or five floors and seven or eight yards, they are only counted as one shop in the statistics. Therefore, the number of shops in Sanya may not sound like too many, but the actual scale of operations is far greater than that of Ming Dynasty cities.
The more foreign businessmen come to invest here, the more they will boost Sanya's business atmosphere and consumption power, and it has entered a virtuous cycle. The continuous influx of foreign capital has increased Sanya's regional commercial status. Today, Sanya's status as the number one trading port in the South China Sea has been very stable, and its annual trade volume has exceeded Guangzhou's by more than five times.
For Fei Cexian, the business atmosphere here is indeed an eye-opener. Han Chinese are not the only ones participating in various trade activities in Sanya. Foreign people with strange clothes and deep eyes and high noses can be seen everywhere on the streets. , even some shops are opened by these foreigners. Although Fei Cexian has met a lot of foreigners in the Ministry of Rites over the years, I'm afraid they are not as many as if he just walked around here. He couldn't help but wonder how Haihan managed such a mixed situation.
Fei Cexian raised his question to Zhang Qianzhi, and Zhang Qianzhi explained: "Our country has a very complete foreign population registration system. All foreigners who come to Sanya must register their identity before they can enter the urban area. If you want to visit Sanya, If you stay in Sanya for a long time, you must go through the corresponding procedures. All foreigners entering Sanya must abide by the laws of our country. Once there is any illegal behavior, we will not matter which country they come from, they will all comply with the laws of Hainan. Punishment. As time goes by, these foreigners will naturally know what to do and what not to do. ”
Fei Cexian said: "I heard that Haihan has always encouraged immigrants to become naturalized, so how do we distinguish which ones are foreigners and which ones are Haihan people?"
"Every citizen of our country carries an identification number plate with them for identification." Zhang Qianzhi said as he reached out and pulled out the necklace from his neck, and showed Fei Cexian the number plate hanging on his neck: "This thing is made of fine steel. It is made and is not easy to be damaged. It is engraved with each person’s unique number, so you can know the authenticity at a glance. ”
Fei Cexian said: "Although it is made of fine steel, can it be faked?"
Zhang Qianzhi said seriously: "Haihan law has special provisions on this. Anyone who makes fake identity plates will be punished with death. I heard that there have been a few counterfeiters caught in recent years, but they are not Haihan citizens."
Both Jinyiwei and Dongchang of the Ming Dynasty have used their brains in this regard, making fake identity number plates to arrange intelligence personnel to sneak into Haihan and lurk. However, the material used in Haihan number plates is actually an alloy. No matter how they are copied, However, the material of the number plate cannot be exactly the same, so the identity will be exposed in the end. After losing some manpower, Daming gave up this method and instead arranged for manpower to enter Haihan and lurk through immigration and naturalization. Although the process would take longer, at least they could get genuine identity plates. , no longer have to worry about using fake products to expose your identity.
Zhang Qianzhi has seen many cases like this in the Ministry of Security, and is relatively familiar with the situation in this area. He wasn't sure whether Fei Cexian asked this question to test himself or if he really didn't understand, but he still responded in a flawless manner.
(End of chapter)