Of course, Tao Donglai’s question did not stump Schneider. He answered without thinking: “Of course we are trying to improve the local appeal of Xingdao and recruit more immigrants from outside... The recent promotional activities carried out by Xingdao in Sanya are not Is this what we are doing? I think the effect is quite good. Every time there is a lottery day, the square is crowded with people, and the public attention is quite high.”
Tao Donglai said: "These publicity activities held by Xingdao are simply using short-term economic gains to attract immigrants. They have a certain effect, but they are far from meeting the needs of promoting the rapid growth of the local population. Improving Xingdao The attraction is right, but not enough at the moment.”
Schneider thought for a while and then said: "I understand. In fact, the article in the Times has made it very clear what to do. The first is wealth, and the second is power."
"There is a shortage of people in Xingdao, and the shortage is even worse after the expansion of the territory. There are many positions that other ethnic groups are unable to fill. Therefore, immigrants who move from the country will have more opportunities to become superiors in the future. This is also an objective fact."< br>
"Speaking of which, the activities organized by the kid from the Tan Juren family seem a bit trivial... No, he is just organizing this event to pave the way for the publicity measures you have prepared, right?"
Tao Donglai said: "It's not that we made an appointment in advance, it just happened to happen. With or without the lottery, we have to take this step. For Xingdao, stagnation means gradual demise, and it can only be achieved through continuous What Xingdao cannot do by itself must be promoted by external expansion.”
Of course, Schneider was not completely ignorant of the situation on Star Island. After listening to Tao Donglai's explanation, he had a rough understanding of the cause of the matter.
Since Xingdao is far away from the Haihan mainland and is not a traditional settlement of the Han people, population has always been a long-standing local problem. As life in Haihan becomes increasingly affluent, the traditional three-piece package of land, house, and household registration can attract fewer and fewer immigrants to Xingdao.
People with slightly better local conditions will, as Tao Donglai said, find ways to move back to the country and settle down. Even if I can't go back, I will try my best to send my descendants back to China to get better development opportunities.
The local population structure has also begun to change, with the proportion of Han people decreasing year by year. In the long run, the foundation of Haihan's local rule will definitely be shaken.
The only solution is to expand outward. Only by expanding can Star Island offer more attractive conditions and recruit more immigrants.
Sing Tao's military operation against the northern end of the Strait of Malacca at the beginning of the year was the prelude to its external expansion. It's just that its publicity ability is so poor that even if a private force like Tan Tianming intervenes, it is still far from what the top officials want to see.
If we procrastinate any longer, we may miss the best opportunity for publicity, which is why we have the very radical article in Haihan Times.
But Schneider still had something unclear. He turned to Ning Qi and asked: "If I remember correctly, you have always opposed continued external expansion and advocated digesting the Ming Dynasty first. Why did you suddenly change your position to support Lao Tao's approach?"
Ning Qi responded: "Then I want to make it clear that I do not support his approach and have reservations about his expansion theory. The Times published this article without asking for my consent. I am also cooking rice before it is made." You won’t know until you are mature.”
Schneider continued: "If you had known in advance that there would be this article..."
Ning Qi didn't wait for him to finish his words before he responded decisively: "If I had known in advance, I would have removed this article directly and prevented it from appearing in the Times, at least not on the front page." Tao Donglai smiled and said: " It's just an article, so there's no need to be so ruthless. Although we have different opinions on the direction of development, our goals are the same, and they are all to make this country created by us stronger, right? ”
Ning Qi said: "The objective reality is that if we choose the development direction you advocate, we will only quickly expand into a European-style colonial country. It may seem very strong, but it is likely that after one or two generations, it will collapse due to lack of Fall apart due to centripetal force.”
"This is a situation that will inevitably happen in the future, and there are already many examples in the history we know. Even if we master technology that transcends the times, we may not be able to change this dangerous trend."
"What we should do is to use several generations to build a truly powerful empire in East Asia, with a complete system and solid rule, and then use this as a basis to achieve global expansion."
"Stop, stop, stop! Why did we get back to this topic again!" Schneider saw that the differences between the two people were getting bigger and bigger, and he quickly stopped their argument.
He was no stranger to the situation before him, because this was not the first confrontation between these two opinions.
As early as a few years ago, these two factions of opinion gradually took shape among Haihan's senior leaders, and both believed that the other's ideas would make the country's development take a detour.
As long as the Executive Committee meets to discuss issues related to the direction of the country's development, the two factions will definitely argue like they are now, but neither will be able to convince the other.
The key point of disagreement is whether Haihan should give priority to digesting the Ming Dynasty's wealth and integrate the small countries in East Asia when it has developed to its current position, or should it seize the opportunity of the Age of Discovery and make global expansion its main mission at the moment, not allowing Western countries to Take the lead in the colonial movement.
Whether they are promoting their own ideas or opposing the other side, both groups naturally have a lot of theoretical basis. As long as the debate starts, it will be endless. Schneider does not want to get involved again.
Schneider now belongs to a very small third faction, that is, the center balance faction. He was neither opposed to the digestion of Ming Dynasty's territory nor to external expansion. He only hoped that these two development strategies could be carried out simultaneously.
But trying to balance is not popular and will only make both sides regard it as heresy. Every time Schneider tries to get both sides to give in, he doesn't get a good look.
Schneider quickly changed the subject: "Even if you want to support Xingdao, you can't just let the children of Tan Ju and Ren take charge of the overall situation in Sanya, right?"
Ning Qi said: "That child is my student, his name is Tan Tianming, and he has good vision. But you are right, he is far from being able to stand alone, and he does not have enough energy to complete related work, so Xingdao sent people over to get the Sanya office back under control.”
Tao Donglai said: "Perhaps you don't know that the new person in charge sent here this time is the senior commander of the Star Island Foreign Mercenary Group. Roger's intention in sending him here is not only to fill this vacancy, but also to Showing attitude to the Executive Committee”