Chapter 3069
Full of thoughts, Aragones slowly walked back to the hotel where he was temporarily staying. When he arrived at the door, he found a group of Spaniards confronting a group of Haihan soldiers. However, there was a language barrier between the two parties, and the communication was obviously not smooth, and the emotions became increasingly agitated.
Aragones couldn't tell their names, but he recognized that these people were immigrants from San Diego Bay who arrived at Jinshan Port on the same boat as him. Seeing that something might be going on, he immediately stepped forward to stop the Spaniards and asked them what happened.
When everyone saw Aragones, they seemed to have found a backer all of a sudden, and they explained the situation to him in a hurry.
It turned out that the resettlement site they drew by drawing lots that day was not near Jinshan Bay, but a remote island that had to be taken to the sea for half a month by boat.
They didn't learn about this from civil affairs officials until they were about to board the ship today. These people had seen the living conditions in Jinshan Bay, and of course they did not want to settle on an island with an unknown environment, so they asked the officials to change the original arrangement and allow them to stay and settle locally.
After Aragones heard this, his first reaction was not whether Haihan's arrangements for these people were reasonable, but wondering where the island so far away from Jinshan Bay was located and what valuable value there was that Haihan had to pay for. It took such a long time to send immigrants to settle down.
These people were selected by drawing lots, so the possibility of being exiled could be ruled out.
As far as he knew, there were no islands that could be developed near the coast from Jinshan Bay all the way south. Until entering the waters off the west coast of South America, there are only a few inconspicuous islands. But the area is considered the traditional sphere of influence of Spain. Even if Haihan wanted to get involved there, he probably would not choose Hispanic immigrants to be the pioneers.
As for heading north, such a long voyage would have already entered a cold zone unsuitable for human habitation. Haihan seemed to have no reason to waste precious manpower and transportation capacity on such a thing.
The only reasonable possibility seems to be the west. But he didn't know what secrets were hidden in the boundless Pacific Ocean.
But he couldn't help but think of one thing. The territory of Haihan Kingdom was on the other side of the ocean. How they came across the ocean has always been an unsolved mystery. In short, it was not the South Pacific route used by the Spanish fleet to cross the Pacific. Otherwise, it would be reasonable for the Haihan people's first foothold to be on the west coast of South America, not the Jinshan Bay in North America where it is currently located.
If the Haihan people developed another transoceanic route in the North Pacific, and if there were some islands with supply ports on this route, then everything would seem to make sense.
Aragones didn't know at this time that his speculation was actually close to the truth. What he was thinking about was how to use the current emergency situation to his own benefit.
Since Haihan could not guess the real reason for making this arrangement, what he could do now was to use this to restore his damaged reputation among the Hispanic community.
Aragones immediately expressed to the Haihan soldiers present that he hoped to communicate with civil affairs officials about this "unreasonable" arrangement. Although these soldiers could not understand what this guy was talking about, they also knew that he was not an ordinary person, and it might be difficult to deal with the situation if it got too big, so they had to notify the civil affairs officials to deal with it first.
Soon after, civil affairs officials arrived, took Aragones aside, and told him that these immigrants were not going to an uninhabited island, but a large island with beautiful scenery and a pleasant climate, and hundreds of immigrants were already there. settle down.
Moreover, Haihan has built a small port by taking advantage of the island's unique natural bay, and there is a lot of room for expansion. It will definitely have excellent development prospects in the future.
After hearing this, Aragones asked: "Based on the voyage time, this port is thousands of miles away from Jinshan Bay. No matter how good the natural conditions are, it is just an isolated island in the sea. If it is not on an important trade route , then I don’t think there is any development prospect at all.” “We developed that island, of course, because it happens to be on a very important route, and foreign immigrants who settled there can apply within one year. You will not enjoy such benefits if you obtain Chinese nationality and settle here." The civil affairs official responded in the affirmative without hesitation.
But this gave Aragones a little more confidence in his guess. The route that was very important to the Jinshan authorities was most likely the transoceanic route connected with Haihan domestically.
Aragones decided to continue talking to see if he could get more information: "You see, many of them have never left the mainland, or even really been to the sea, and they will definitely feel scared about moving to an island life. I I think you should tell them clearly where this island is and why they need to move there to settle, and use the truth to dispel their doubts instead of promising various benefits after arriving there.”
This official was not unwary and did not adopt Aragones' suggestion. Instead, he said with a serious face: "Do you want to teach us how to do things? Please tell them that if you do not want to follow the existing arrangements, , then we will send them to a mine four hundred miles away. As punishment, their future work will be as miners in dark tunnels. The treatment may be slightly better than that of prisoners of war, but not much better. "< br>
Aragones wanted to argue a few words, but the official continued: "The courtesy we give you is based on mutual respect. If you want to change the status quo, don't regret it!"
The threat in the other party's words was very clear. Aragones didn't want to be implicated by these people just for the sake of cliché. He smiled and said: "I don't mean to question your country's arrangements. By the way, I want to ask again, According to your country’s regulations, new immigrants cannot leave the settlement within a certain period of time, so can they still work as sailors? ”
The official asked: "You just want to know whether Hispanic immigrants can go to sea, right?"
Aragones said: "That's true."
The official explained: "People engaged in the fishing or shipping industry can go to sea, but you Hispanics have special circumstances and there will be some restrictions, such as the number of Hispanics on each ship going to sea. Why, do you also want to go to sea? ”
Aragones said: "I do have such a plan... I have two merchant ships, can I engage in the shipping industry?"
"Merchant ship?" The official probably didn't expect Aragones to ask this question. He frowned and said, "That might be troublesome. You have to submit an application to the Jinshan Management Committee first, and then see how the management committee arranges it."< br>
"What kind of organization is the Management Committee?" Aragones asked in confusion.
The official explained: "It's just like your colonial governor's palace in Spain. It takes care of all matters, big and small."
"Oh..." Aragones suddenly realized, and he was already thinking about how to write this application.
(End of chapter)