Chapter 2359
Luojin Bay is located in a remote area, and the local permanent population is only a small fishing village on the nearby coast. The total number of men, women, old and young is less than 200 people. The nearest government office is more than a hundred miles away, and only tax collectors come here twice a year to collect taxes. Shen Xueyi wanted to find someone from the government here, but he naturally found nothing.
After much trouble, Shen Xueyi found the village chief here, revealed his identity, and asked him to cooperate with Wang Tom's investigation.
The village chief is not a prominent figure, he is just an old fisherman who has lived here for generations. The biggest official he has ever seen before was only a sixth-grade county supervisor. He has never met a big shot from Seoul. Now he is also He was so frightened that he almost stuttered when speaking.
Upon seeing this, Wang Tom asked: "Shen Xueyi, haven't you been here before? Why are you completely unfamiliar with the locals?"
Shen Xueyi explained: "General, the last time I came here I just took shelter from the storm and did not go ashore to contact the locals. General, just ask if you want to know. I have told him to cooperate well and not to hide anything."
< br>
The information that Wang Tom wants to know is also very basic, nothing more than local population, livelihood, transportation, income status, climate conditions, etc. These questions can only be answered by local residents.
The old village chief did not dare to neglect and explained the questions raised by Tom Wang one by one. Most of the local people settled here before North Korea entered the Lee Dynasty. The old village chief's family has lived here for at least more than 20 generations. Because this place is remote and surrounded by hundreds of miles of mountains, it has rarely been involved in wars in history. For example, when North Korea was invaded by the Qing army last year, this place was not disturbed at all, just like a paradise.
As for the climate conditions, as Shen Xueyi knows, freezing conditions rarely occur here in winter. The old village chief has lived here all his life and has only seen the sight of Luojin Bay frozen by floating ice once. Even the river water that flows from nearby mountains into the Luojin Bay into the sea rarely freezes.
In terms of farming, the river valleys and plains here have good soil quality, but because the varieties of food crops grown by the local people are average and there is only one season a year, the harvest is not ideal. Of course, if Haihan wants to organize agricultural production here, he will definitely set up collective farms or plantations according to his own model, and the farming efficiency will far exceed the current level. Calculated based on the cultivated land area in the river valleys and plains here, it will definitely be more than enough to achieve self-sufficiency in food output in just one to two years.
Luojin Bay is surrounded by dense mountain forests and is rich in timber resources. It should be easy to build a shipyard locally. In addition, the old village chief also provided important information. There are coal mines in the mountains and forests more than 20 miles north of Luojin Bay. However, it is inconvenient to transport them to the outside. Therefore, generally only people from the surrounding areas will go there to mine before winter comes. Some are used to keep warm during the winter. Although the specific reserves are unknown, according to the old village chief, the coal mine should be buried very shallowly, and the veins can be reached by digging directly from the surface.
Wang Tom immediately asked the old village chief to find someone to collect coal from some villagers' homes to check the quality of these samples. What surprised him was that the gangue content in these coals was extremely low, basically meeting the standards of clean coal. This means that if regular mining of nearby coal mines can be organized, it can even replenish fuel for steam-powered fleets in the future.
Shen Xueyi did not give up and asked carefully to confirm whether there were other special products within a few dozen miles of Luojin Bay. However, it was obviously impossible for God to concentrate all the good things in one place. The old village chief thought hard. For a long time, he didn't say anything good that could make Tom Wang's eyes light up.
If I had to find one fault with this place, it would probably be that it is too far away from the center of North Korea's power and Haihan's control area. The straight-line distance from here to the Datong River is more than a thousand miles, and it is even further to Seoul. Judging from the property conditions, surrounding environment, and population size here, it is obviously not suitable for construction as a trading port. It can basically only be used for military purposes. However, there will definitely be many problems with the early deployment and distribution of materials and personnel. It needs to be solved slowly. It is impossible to make an immediate decision and then do it overnight.
After arriving, Wang Tom decided to let the fleet rest for a day in Luojin Bay and seize the time to complete various surveying and mapping work. The local people didn't understand why so many soldiers suddenly poured into their homeland. Moreover, their uniforms were not that of the national army. There were so many large ships parked on the seashore. It was as if the end of the world was coming. They were all very panicked. Shen Xueyi had no choice but to ask the old village chief to return to the village to explain the situation to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
The old village chief was well informed. After returning to the village, he immediately organized some supplies, mainly various ingredients, from each household and took the initiative to deliver them to the coast, saying it was a gesture of gratitude from the local villagers. Wang Tom knew that these fishermen should be worried about being robbed by his uninvited guests, so he took the initiative to pay tribute as a sign of respect. He immediately ordered the quartermaster to select some daily necessities from the fleet's cargo as a return gift to show his goodwill.
Of course, given the purpose of the Haihan Army coming here, there is really no need to do these actions to appease the people. Wang Tom’s move was entirely for Shen Xueyi to see. If Haihan really wants to take action here in the future, then Shen Xueyi may also be able to Help in the court.
The next morning, after the surveying and mapping work came to an end, the fleet set sail again and continued southward along the coastline. When driving out of the bay, Wang Tom once again admired the two islands at the entrance of the bay, one large and one small, which were like door gods. As long as a sentry post was set up at their location, the range of early warning surveillance could be greatly increased, and even forts could be set up. , helping Luojin Bay build a complete defense system.
However, Wang Tom soon realized that in fact, the external forces that can pose a maritime threat to Luojin Bay basically do not exist at present. Whether it is Japan, the Manchu Qing Dynasty or Tsarist Russia, there is currently no armed fleet capable of deterring the area. . And Haihan's need for this harbor may not be as urgent as he thought.
After leaving Najin Bay, the fleet headed south and stopped at Gangneung in Gangwon Province four days later to replenish fresh water.
The fleet had replenished fresh water and supplies in Luojin Bay, and could actually continue a longer voyage at sea. It was Shen Xueyi's idea to stop here. The local official here, Shen Yongsi, is from the same clan as the Shen family. Shen Xueyi wanted to introduce him as a mediator so that the local official could establish a relationship with the Haihan people and see if they could build a cross-border trade channel in Gangneung, so that everyone could make some money.
In fact, Wang Tom is not very interested in trade matters. Although he has facilitated some trade projects with North Korea in the past, he only did it casually. Shen Xueyi's face may not be given, but I am the Bingcao judge and holds the military power of North Korea. There are many military matters that need to be contacted by the Bingcao Yamen. It is still necessary to maintain a good personal relationship between the two parties.
For a business like this that was brokered through personal relationships, Wang Tom was not sure whether he would have a direct relationship with Mr. Shen of Bingcao Yamen, so he did not flatly reject Shen Xueyi's proposal. "Sir Shen, I don't know what local products there are. Can you briefly introduce them to me?" After Wang Tom saw Shen Yongsi, he quickly got to the point.
But in fact, Gangwon-do, where Gangneung is located, does not have any special bulk products. It is just coal mines, iron ores, and timber. These products are very common in the Korean Peninsula. There are such resources in the lower reaches of the Taedong River, which are under the leadership of Haehan. During the development process, the relevant technical personnel have no time to deal with new projects. Therefore, unless the quality is outstanding, Haihan probably has no way to develop other similar projects at the same time.
As for the samples prepared by Shen Yongsi, Wang Tom did not express his attitude after seeing them. Although he is not a trade expert, he has learned about the various tricks of transnational trade through various channels. He will not easily think that the samples provided by Shen Yongsi can represent the true quality of local products, unless it is like the previous one in Luojin Bay. Like a fishing village, coal taken from fishermen's homes can reach the quality of clean coal.
Only on-site inspection and personal witnessing can determine the quality of the product. This is a business rule that Schneider told him before. Although this kind of knowledge is not usually used, Wang Tom still keeps it firmly in his mind.
But he didn't have much time to stay in Jiangling, or he didn't want to stay in Jiangling for too long for these "trivial matters". In his opinion, Gangneung has no natural harbor and is almost entirely mountainous. There is not much room for development around it, and it is unlikely to develop into the trading port that the North Koreans expected.
However, Wang Tom did not speak so straightforwardly in front of the Shen family. He only said that the samples of goods provided by Jiangling would be sent to Seoul, and Haihan's commercial organization would conduct professional inspections on the samples. Then propose a suitable offer and trade method. In short, he adopted a business-like attitude, so that the two Shen family members could not find any fault.
After the fleet stayed in Jiangling for a day, it set off again and headed south. Before leaving, Shen Yongsi also sent a batch of supplies to the fleet. Chicken, duck, and fish meat. Although the value was not too high, it was very practical, and it could be regarded as winning some favor from Wang Tom.
Four hundred miles south from Jiangling, the fleet arrived at Xinghai County. There is a large harbor facing the northeast. Although it is not well-known in this era, there are only a few fishing villages, but Wang Tom came here specifically to see it. look. In the time and space before he traveled through, this was the very famous Pohang Port, one of the most important ports on the Korean Peninsula.
There are many mountainous plains near the harbor here, and the water conservancy conditions are quite good. In terms of development prospects, the conditions are far better than the Luojin Bay and Jiangling that Wang Tom visited before. However, it is already 1,500 miles away from Rajin Bay in the north. In terms of geographical location, if a military base is set up here, it will probably be difficult to radiate to the northern Sea of Japan area.
From this harbor, continue sailing south for more than a hundred miles and arrive at Ulsan Bay, another natural harbor. This place is under the jurisdiction of Ulsan County and is adjacent to Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Silla. It has been developed for a long time, so it is much more prosperous than the several ports I visited before. However, Wang Tom did not arrange for the fleet to stop here. He only took the boat for a circle inside and outside the harbor before continuing south.
A few dozen miles southwest from Ulsan, there is another natural port, Busan. This was the largest port in Korea in later generations and one of the busiest ports in the world. A hundred miles to the southeast is Japan's Tsushima Island. On the west side of the harbor is the estuary of the Nakdong River, with a large fertile alluvial plain. On the south side of the harbor, there are many natural barriers formed by islands. It is the maritime gateway at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula.
Due to its unique geographical advantages, it was designated as a trading port by the Lee Dynasty more than two hundred years ago, specializing in cross-border trade with Japan.
However, during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, Busan was annexed by the Japanese and became a colony because it was the closest large port to Japan. It was not until the end of the war in 1607 that the two countries restored normal diplomatic relations and Busan returned to Korea. , the port here was slowly rebuilt.
This time, Wang Tom did not skip this place, but ordered the fleet to enter the harbor to rest for two days. Because there were no target locations that required special inspection in the upcoming trip, Wang Tom did not hesitate to arrange a short rest time at the end of the trip so that the fleet officers could relax a little.
More than a thousand Haihan soldiers arrived at the Port of Busan. These people all carried newly issued military pay and had been floating on the sea for two months. They almost forgot what the city looked like. After entering Busan, they started to spend a lot of money. Money has suddenly boosted the local economy.
Accompanied by Shen Xueyi, Wang Tom also visited Busan City. What surprised him most was not the busy port here, nor the Japanese and Japanese-style shops everywhere in the city, but the fact that he saw the gate here. The business inns and restaurants with the Haihan and Han flags hanging outside should obviously be the properties of Haihan merchants.
Wang Tom strolled into the restaurant called "Mingyue Tower". Sure enough, the shopkeeper saw his clothes and immediately ran over, greeted him in Hainanese Mandarin, and then hurriedly arranged the best meal. Private room, please enjoy it with Tom Wang and his party.
Wang Tom said: "I remember seeing restaurants with the same name in Zhoushan and Seoul. They should all be opened by the same owner, right?"
The shopkeeper responded respectfully: "Your Excellency, you have a good memory. The Mingyue Towers in these locations are indeed owned by the same owner. This year, two new ones have been opened in Fushan County, Shandong Province and Jinzhou, Liaodong Province. If you have the opportunity to go there in the future, sir, When you get there, please remember to take care of my business.”
(End of chapter)