Chapter 2507
Although these young people are the best among the second generation, they usually pay limited attention to the situation outside Hainan Island, let alone Hangzhou, which is thousands of miles away. Most of their understanding of Hangzhou comes from various relevant information released by the government after the Executive Committee decided to move the capital. At the moment, they couldn't imagine what kind of thorny problems there would be in the local area, which would require them to be temporarily dispatched to travel thousands of miles to deal with them.
Tao Hongfang also specially called the captain to ask if there were relevant documents on the ship for them to check on the way, but the answer he got was that there was no such arrangement.
Ning Zijing was quick-thinking and stopped the captain who was about to leave: "Captain, is this not the first time for you and this ship to go to Hangzhou?"
The captain stopped and replied without knowing what he meant: "In the past, when I went to Zhejiang, I went to Zhoushan Dinghai Port and Ningbo Prefecture. Later, General Shi moved his headquarters from Ningbo to Hangzhou, and the destination was changed to Hangzhou City... Until now. I’ve been there three or four times!”
"In your opinion, what is the local situation in Hangzhou?" Ning Zijing continued to ask.
The captain hesitated and said: "The villain has little knowledge and dare not speak nonsense."
Tao Hongfang already understood and took over the conversation: "It's okay, we just have a casual chat. We have never been to Hangzhou, so we want to know about the local customs and customs. Just say whatever you know."
The captain felt a little relieved after hearing this, and then talked about some of his experiences in Hangzhou.
Hangzhou has been the political, economic and cultural center of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions for hundreds of years, and there are convenient shipping conditions nearby. Therefore, it goes without saying that the local prosperity is high. However, compared with many port cities operated by Haihan, the local shipping infrastructure construction level in Hangzhou appears to be relatively primitive and backward. Not only do port terminals lack unified construction standards and management systems, but the land and water transfer of goods is also very confusing.
The local freight market is divided into two areas: water transportation and land transportation, each controlled by different merchants. If you want to renovate local docks or implement unified management, it will affect the interests of all parties and ultimately make it difficult to implement. Such backwardness has caused the shipping operation efficiency in Hangzhou to lag far behind the ports operated by Haihan itself.
Of course, if this were not the case, it would be difficult for Zhoushan Dinghai Port to replace Hangzhou and Ningbo in cross-border trade in just a few years.
Every time this captain goes to Hangzhou, he is on a mission to pick up officials. He is a public ship and no one dares to cause trouble. Therefore, he has no chance to deal with the local shipping management department. What he knows is basically the same. This is based on what I heard and witnessed during my stay in Hangzhou, so it will inevitably be a bit one-sided.
But the four young people listened with great interest, because the local shipping environment seemed to be very different from the port city under Haihan's rule, and this was considered a novel knowledge to them.
As for the local urban environment, the captain couldn't help but speak with contempt. Although Hangzhou is very prosperous, the environment in the city is really different from Sanya, which is planned and managed according to twentieth-century standards. .
The captain quite agreed with the country's plan to build a new city in addition to the old city as its future capital. In his opinion, the original city of Hangzhou was not enough to carry the status of the capital of a country. If it wanted to reach the same level as Sanya in terms of infrastructure, it would definitely have to start from scratch.
Moreover, the northeast and southeast of Hangzhou are covered with alluvial plains stretching for hundreds of miles. The terrain is flat and open, with ample space for building new cities. This geographical advantage is exactly what Sanya lacks. Tao Hongfang asked keenly when he heard this: "Do you know how the land used to build the new city came into the hands of the government?"
The captain shook his head and said: "The villain is just a boatman, how dare he ask about these things. However, General Shi has a high prestige in Zhejiang, so he must have his own way to handle it properly."
Although the captain didn't know the situation, these young people knew very well that this kind of matter might not be easily solved by just a few words from a senior official. But as for the specific situation, it seems that we have to wait until we go to the local area before we can find out.
Ning Zijing asked carefully about the upcoming voyage arrangements. He learned that on the way to Hangzhou, he would stop at several major ports to load and unload some letters and cargo. He immediately made suggestions and thought about it during his stay in these ports. Try to find a way to collect more information about Hangzhou.
Although the real purpose of this trip is not yet clear, several young people did not feel too much pressure because of it, and they were far more excited than worried. For them, this outing is actually the first time they truly break away from the wings of their parents, which is of great significance.
The discussion around Hangzhou only lasted for half a day, and everyone's topic turned back to how to enjoy this journey.
The conditions of the official boat are not as good as the private boat they own at home. There are no entertainment facilities on the boat, only some fishing equipment for them to pass the time. However, this official boat had a planned itinerary. As long as the sea conditions allowed, it would keep moving at full speed. Under such conditions, it would be difficult to catch much.
After fishing for a long time, everyone lost interest in continuing when they saw the meager harvest. In the end, the boss of the boat couldn't stand it and asked the sailors to cast a trawl net on the stern of the boat. After half an hour, it was pulled up. As expected, the harvest was a hundred times more than what they had gained from half a day of fishing.
Tao Hongfang and others were dumbfounded, and then asked his followers to help the sailors clean up the fresh catch and prepare a sumptuous seafood feast.
Three days later, the official ship successfully arrived at its first stop, Hong Kong. The official ship will stay here overnight, load and unload some cargo, and complete the supply of food and drinking water. Tao Hongfang and others can also take advantage of this period to go ashore for free activities and visit this large transit port located at the Pearl River Estuary.
Among the four, only Ha Jianyi and Ning Zijing had been here before, and they played the role of tour guides.
Compared with the humble fishing village more than 20 years ago, Hong Kong is now a large port with complete infrastructure. The cargo throughput achieved through shipping has even exceeded that of Guangzhou, located on the upper reaches of the Pearl River.
However, since there is no special resource production here and it lacks the natural conditions required for agricultural development, the local area has never developed a landmark industry, and it still mainly functions as a trade distribution center and transshipment port. In the view of Tao Hongfang and others, the industrial structure here seems too simple.
(End of chapter)