Chapter 2714
Although the mission did not have any specific tasks during their stay at the Sasebo base, the young officials did not give themselves a holiday because of this. In the afternoon of the next day, Tao Hongfang and others, accompanied by Shiro Amakusa, began to visit and inspect the base inside and outside.
The drinking and having fun the night before did not affect the mental state of the young officials, but Amakusa Shiro, perhaps because of his age, could see that his fatigue was not gone.
When they entered the harbor yesterday, everyone had already roughly seen the layout of the harbor on the boat. Today, Amakusa Shiro took them on a field trip, and their impression of the local area became clearer.
The westernmost side of the harbor is the Sasebo Shipyard. The dock facilities here can provide daily maintenance for most of the ships currently in service in the Navy, saving local ships the trouble of having to cross the East China Sea and return to Zhoushan Dinghai Port for basic maintenance.
Everyone paid special attention to the construction of new ships here. As expected, as Amakusa Shiro said before, no medium or large ships were seen under construction. Although the place is large, it is almost empty. There are only a few small ships in various stages of construction. The combined tonnage is probably far less than that of an exploration-class warship.
However, the various facilities in the shipyard are quite complete, and there is no obvious gap even compared to the Zhoushan Shipyard. There is even a large wood processing workshop here, which is used to process logs harvested from nearby mountains into profiles needed for shipbuilding. Next to the processing workshop, there are two warehouses dedicated to storing wood, and wood of various specifications is stacked like hills.
"The wood stored here is enough to build half a standard battle fleet." Amakusa Shiro proudly introduced to everyone: "When necessary, four warships of over 500 tons can be built here at the same time. At least six expedition-class warships can be delivered within a year.”
Of course, special equipment such as warships are not always available in overseas colonial areas. Even if there are craftsmen and wood, the weapons and equipment used on the ship and most of the spare parts still need to be allocated domestically. For example, the various steel pulleys required for the sail rope system can only be produced by the factory in Changhua, Hainan Island. The construction plan must first be approved and supported by the Ministry of Defense before it is possible to obtain all the required materials and equipment from various suppliers.
Adjacent to the shipyard is the Naval Terminal. Except for a few ships preparing for war patrols, most of the ships of the second detachment are moored here. At this time, there was also the joint fleet that arrived here yesterday, and the berths in the port were full. In order to facilitate the landing of soldiers, several troop transport ships were specially arranged to park at the nearby civilian ship dock.
Compared with ports where civilian ships dock, the most obvious difference between military ports is that they have more berths dedicated to supplying coal. There are also several ships equipped with steam power systems in the fleet stationed locally, so coal has become a necessary munition in the port. However, because there are no coal-producing areas nearby, the coal is basically shipped from North Korea, and the cost of use is really not low.
Across a river called the "Sasebo River" by locals, the civilian port is on the east side of the military port. The planned area of the civilian port is indeed not small, about two-thirds of the military port. However, it seems that the port here has not yet been fully utilized. Most of the area is vacant, and there are only a few cargo ships and some small fishing boats docked at the pier.
Near the civilian port is the urban area adjacent to it. Although the area is only the size of an ordinary town, it is already considered the most prosperous area in the local area.
Before Haihan developed this area, the situation here was similar to that of Yulin Bay in Sanya before 1627. There were only a few people settled here, and there were no problems with land ownership and division. Therefore, Haihan also had ample space for planning and construction. urban area. Checkerboard-style roads divide the city into several small blocks. There are also many markets, shops, inns, pharmacies, pubs, etc. that can be seen in domestic towns. However, perhaps because of the limited local population, there were not too many cars, horses and pedestrians on the streets.
The most majestic and conspicuous building in the city is undoubtedly the office of Haihan Bank. The three-story office building with a white facade occupies the best position next to the harbor. The business hall decorated with glass doors on the ground floor faces the port center. There is also a huge advertising sign on the roof. Whether you are taking a boat in or out of the port, Anyone who goes to the port center to handle various procedures will easily notice the existence of Haihan Bank.
For knowledgeable officials like Tao Hongfang, the economic level of a region can be gleaned from the operating conditions of the local Haihan Bank. So at his initiative, everyone went to visit the bank together.
The shopkeeper in charge of this office is named Pan. He is in his forties and comes from Fujian. It is said that he studied under Cai Jinmei, the female head of Haihan Bank. Amakusa Shiro said that Shopkeeper Pan has been transferred to Sasebo for three years. He has completed the purchase of land and built a house locally, moved his family here from home, and has made plans for long-term development here.
Banks were not under Tao Hongfang's jurisdiction, so he did not ask to see the account records here. He just asked shopkeeper Pan to give a general overview of the business conditions.
As everyone can see, due to the limited population in the local area, the scale of commercial activities is actually not too large, and the amount of commercial money circulated and settled through banks is not particularly large. However, because this place was built by Haihan, and the main objects of economic exchanges with the outside world are Haihan merchants, this has created an excellent environment for banks to promote the circulation of Haihan banknotes locally.
Currently, the main currency used in the local market is Haihan banknotes, which account for a very high proportion in circulation. Even Japanese immigrants who have just moved into the local area will be driven by the surrounding environment to exchange coins such as Keichang Tongbao, Yuanwa Tongbao, and Kanei Tongbao they brought with them into Haihan banknotes.
Shopkeeper Pan didn't want to brag about Amakusa Shiro, because it was the Sasebo authorities that stipulated that immigrants need to open personal accounts at Haihan Bank after naturalization, which greatly promoted the use of banking services by local people. The office under the jurisdiction of Manager Pan has also received awards from superiors in recent years because of its outstanding achievements in developing new users.
Tao Hongfang also knew a thing or two about bank performance appraisals and knew that what shopkeeper Pan said should be true. Whether at home or abroad, the development of new users by banks is an important assessment criterion, and Shiro Amakusa has given special support to local offices from a policy perspective. This is a new attempt.
But after all, there are not too many Japanese immigrants in the local area at present, so it should be relatively easy for banks to handle it. If the scale of introducing immigrants increases in the future, it remains to be seen whether this method can still operate smoothly.
(End of chapter)