Chapter 1890 Hong Kong Island
The huge objective gap between the two countries in agriculture did not make Li Pu feel discouraged. Instead, it made him realize that it was indeed a wise move to specially arrange agricultural technicians among the overseas students this time. What North Korea can learn from Haihan is not just military and trade. Agriculture is also an area that cannot be ignored. And compared with those projects with a larger gap, North Korean agriculture at least has a not too bad foundation. The agricultural population of up to one million far exceeds the total population of Haihan State, and the cultivated land area in the country is also far greater. Win Haihan, it can be said that the development potential is very huge.
Of course, development potential is one thing, but actual operational level is another. Although Li Bo has never been to rural areas in his country to inspect agricultural production, several agricultural technicians studying abroad who accompanied him this time are very aware of this. According to them, if you want to cultivate the same size of land in North Korea, the labor force required may be two to three times or even more than that in Kaohsiung. How to improve the efficiency of North Korea's agricultural operations may be the answer for farmers studying abroad this time. Issues that technicians need to focus on.
Regardless of whether Haihan arranged to visit Kaohsiung's agricultural area to show off his muscles or for some other purpose, Li Bo was grateful for it. If he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, it would have been hard for him to imagine that Haihan's overseas territories could achieve this. development level. According to Li Dou, the agricultural development situation in Haihan is even better, which makes Li Bo even more impatient to go to Hainan Island as soon as possible to see that magical land.
After staying in Kaohsiung for a few days, Li Bo and his party set off again to Hong Kong, 1,200 miles away. And this time, there were quite a lot of accompanying gifts sent by Li Dou on behalf of the local management committee. Almost all the local seasonal specialties were packed and shipped, weighing several tons. Although the value of these agricultural products may not be very high, so much food is enough to feed the entire fleet all the way to Hong Kong. It can be described as a quite practical gift.
On the way to Hong Kong this time, Li Bo did his homework in advance. Not only did he carefully study the geographical location of Hong Kong on the nautical charts, but he also tried to learn about the local customs, history and culture from the accompanying Haihan diplomats.
However, what makes Li Pu a little disappointed is that although Hong Kong Island has a good geographical location, it has not been considered a military location or a trade hub in history. It really appeared in the public eye and attracted widespread attention when Haihan occupied this place. After development.
Haihan occupied Hong Kong Island as early as 1629 and began to develop it. It is worth mentioning that the first shareholders' meeting of the commercial giant Qiong Lianfa was held in Hong Kong in 1630, so this place later acquired There is a lot of capital investment, and the scale of infrastructure is in line with the standards of large commercial ports and regional trade hubs. Although it has been developed for less than ten years, its trade scale has almost equaled that of Guangzhou, making it an upstart in the Pearl River Estuary.
The current administrative officer of Hong Kong is Yau Yi-han. He had previously served in the General Office of the People's Republic of China in Guangzhou. Later, after the establishment of the Hong Kong Administrative Committee, the Executive Committee transferred Yau Yi-han, who specializes in freight management, to Hong Kong to be responsible for local management and development. As far as the executive committee's functional planning for Hong Kong Island is concerned, You Yihan's original major is undoubtedly very suitable. In the following years, Haihan was in the period of rapid expansion of the Ming Dynasty coastal area. Hong Kong Island is Haihan's main strategic location in the Pearl River Estuary. Ports and cargo distribution centers have also received excellent development opportunities.
You Yihan actually didn't have any special feelings about the arrival of the crown prince of Joseon. He had received too many important people on Hong Kong Island. He understood that the purpose of a person like Li Bo traveling thousands of miles to visit Haihan was more to show off. for political reasons. But he has been in the Haihan officialdom for so many years, and he also deeply understands that political tasks are the top priority, and he still needs to be very superficial.
So even though You Yihan had many things to deal with at hand, he still made a special trip to the port to meet Li Bo and his party.
Li Ming's first impression of Hong Kong was that he seemed to be in another Dinghai Port. The docks here were busy and orderly. The buildings on the port were exactly the same as those in Dinghai Port, with a Haihan-style boxy shape. Employees at the dock wear vests of different colors according to their positions, which is exactly the same as in Dinghai Port and other places.
Of course, as long as you look carefully, you can easily notice the difference between this place and Dinghai Port. Hong Kong Island is closer to the mainland than Zhoushan Island. He passed through a strait called Lei Yue Mun before. Li Bo visually estimated that the closest distance between the two sides of the strait was only about a hundred feet. The coastal defense batteries set up on both sides of the strait could easily cover the strait. The east end entrance and exit are blocked.
In Li Bo's view, the naturally formed bay here has similar conditions to Zhoushan, but it is not as secure as semi-enclosed seaports like Magong Port and Kaohsiung Port. However, in terms of prosperity, this Hong Kong Island is indeed better than the places Li Bo has visited before. From the boat, you can see the urban areas with rows of houses near the coast.
According to Li Bo's homework beforehand, Hong Kong's development has been so smooth, and its ability to transform from a fishing port into a large trading port in just a few years is inseparable from the active investment by businessmen from Guangdong and Guangxi. And this seems to be evident from the identities of the people who participated in the greeting at the pier today. Except for You Yihan and several other local civil and military officials, the rest of the group of people are from a certain trading company, shipping company, cloth company, and rice company. There are shopkeepers, stewards and the like, and the business atmosphere is much stronger than at the previous stops.
However, Li Bo would not think that the participation of these private people did not respect him enough. After these visits, he had already understood the social atmosphere of Haihan. The social status of businessmen in Haihan was higher than that of Ming and North Korea. The price is higher, and the backers behind many Haihan businessmen are official figures, and even some commercial organizations will have official shares. Nowadays, many of the Haihan merchants who are pouring into Seoul, North Korea to do business come with letters of recommendation from the Haihan Ministry of Commerce. Their official backgrounds are naturally self-evident.
Compared with the senior officials from Haihan who received him at the previous stops, Li Bo could feel that this person had a stronger official flavor when he had a brief contact with You Yihan. His conversations with him were almost all impeccable. Although It sounds comfortable but has no real content.
"Our area is small and we don't have any special natural resources. The only advantage is that our geographical location is right at the mouth of the Pearl River, which is considered an important maritime transportation route. So for the local area, it is a good idea to make full use of this advantage to carry out business activities. The main direction of development ”
On the carriage from the port to the station, You Yihan talked a little about some more essential topics and briefly introduced the local situation to Li Bo.
Although the geographical location of Hong Kong Island has certain special advantages, the terrain on the island is mainly mountainous, and the space and freshwater resources available for development are relatively limited. The agricultural development model commonly used in other Haihan colonies does not apply here, and the Hong Kong Management Committee has never developed agriculture as a major local industry. Most of the executive committee's functional planning for Hong Kong is based on the models of later generations. It hopes to build this place into a maritime trade hub at the Pearl River Estuary and concentrate part of the maritime trade between Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan Island here to complete the delivery of goods. and transshipment. So far, the implementation effect of this development plan is relatively ideal, and the prosperity of the local port and urban area has confirmed the correctness of the executive committee's decision.
Li Bo originally thought that the commercial district he had seen on Zhoushan Island was big enough, but after coming here, he found that his knowledge was not enough. Hong Kong's commercial district was not only larger in area, but also more prosperous than Zhoushan. There are obviously more fleets transporting goods on the streets here, and the various shops along the streets are mostly large-scale commercial warehouses. It can be imagined that their daily transactions do not rely solely on retail sales.
"There are mainly two types of people who come to Hong Kong, one is businessmen, and the other is sailors. At least half of the people I see in the city are businessmen. Every day, hundreds or even thousands of large sales are completed here, and the number of goods entering and leaving the port is The number is more than double that of Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, Zhejiang. In order to save freight and reduce taxes, most of the merchant ships that the prince saw at the dock were also from here. Daming maritime merchants in Fuzhou and Guangzhou ”
You Yihan made no secret about the main source of local income. In fact, this has long been an open secret. Although the Ming Dynasty has official sea bans, these laws are not very binding on powerful and courageous maritime merchants. , not to mention that they have Haihan backing them. Local officials who dare to interfere in such matters have basically disappeared from their positions of real power.
However, this kind of words still had quite an impact in Li Pu's ears. He recalled that when he visited Zhoushan before, he also saw many military attachés from the Ming Dynasty visiting the area. It seems that many people within the Ming Dynasty have chosen to cooperate with the sea because of their interests. Han cooperation. This kind of cooperative relationship based on personal interests will naturally not be of much benefit to the Ming Dynasty, and the taxes evaded through this will all go into the pockets of individuals.
The only benefit that Ming Dynasty gained from this was probably the peaceful relationship between the two countries. In the current harmonious trade environment, Haihan would definitely not take the initiative to launch a military invasion against Ming Dynasty. Last year, the two countries signed a formal diplomatic agreement. Daming almost acquiesced in maintaining Haihan's privileges in maritime trade. The possibility of a war between the two countries because of trade is extremely slim.
As an objective reflection of Hong Kong's economic conditions, the banquet hall here looks more advanced than the facilities in Dinghaigang, Zhoushan. The venue where the carriages and sedans are parked at the door is already larger than the banquet hall in Dinghaigang.
The reception banquet held by You Yihan to receive Li Bo and his entourage was indeed larger than the previous ones. The exquisite porcelain and glassware used at the banquet even made Li Bo feel a little jealous, because it was already larger than the imperial banquet of Gyeongbokgung Palace. The equipment is even better.
Of course, this is just a basic operation for the Hong Kong Administrative Committee, which has superior economic conditions. After all, the people who are welcomed and sent here on a daily basis are often wealthy businessmen or high-ranking officials from various countries who hold great power. This is reflected in these details. Only the pomp and circumstance will make these people satisfied with the reception work.
Li Bo's evaluation of this reception banquet was only two words: exquisite. Although there were no particularly outstanding dishes, every dish was indeed above the standard, and the atmosphere at the banquet was very calm. The toasts of both the host and the guest were ordered, and there was no scene like Li Bo was worried about.
This reminded Li Bo of the various important banquets he attended in the Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was probably a similar atmosphere. The only difference was that the banquets of the Haihan people were more sumptuous, and almost all of them were big fish. Big meat, quite willing to spend money.
The two parties enjoyed the banquet together politely, and then You Yihan accompanied Li Bo by car to his residence, and introduced to him the special features of the local guest house.
"Our guest house here is basically a copy of the guest house in Sanya. It is built on the mountain. All bedrooms face the bay and have a very wide view. It is no exaggeration to say that the prince can actually feel it when he stays here. The environment in Sanya.”
You Yihan's statement is not an exaggeration. When choosing a site for the local guest house, he specifically picked a place with a similar topography to Sanya, and then directly took the architectural plan of the Sanya guest hotel and copied it. . The original purpose of doing this was to shorten the construction period and reduce costs related to design and construction, but after it was completed, this imitation became a feature. Even Li Nai, a Haihantong, was very impressed after staying here, thinking that the living environment of this guest house really has the charm of Victory Port.
Li Meng had already stayed in several guest hotels on his way south, and he admired Haihan's ability to standardize the hardware and services of such reception institutions. But for Haihan, it is actually just a matter of how much money is spent. There are a large number of people in Yuanzhongli who have a deep understanding of the environment and services of high-end hotel chains. They just copy it in a localized form. This time and space allows you to enjoy standard and unified services when traveling to various places.
However, the Guest House exists as a foreign-related reception institution. In the eyes of foreigners like Li Bo, it is naturally a manifestation of Haihan's national strength.
After taking a hot bath, Li Pu changed into the nightgown prepared in the room, went to the balcony and sat on the leisure chair. The slightly salty sea breeze blew, which made his mind clear up a lot. Illuminated by the windproof oil lamp behind him, Li Shu tore open an envelope, took out the letter and began to read. This is a handwritten letter sent by Ri Xi, the North Korean ambassador to Sanya. The content is actually nothing special. It just informs him of some things he needs to pay attention to after arriving in Sanya.
(End of chapter)