Hearing this answer, Tao Donglai frowned slightly. The expected production capacity was indeed a bit low, and it seemed that it was not consistent with Malik's hard work.
Malico quickly explained: "It can't be such a simple analogy! Changhua is the steel base with the largest production scale in our country, and it is also the first in the world. Even one-tenth of the production capacity is already very impressive! ”
Malico quickly listed the steel production capacity data of the entire Ming Dynasty and the Foshan region. Even if Foshan's expected production capacity is only one-tenth of Changhua's, it has increased more than ten times during the reign of the Ming Dynasty.
What's more, in the past, due to technical limitations, these smelting workshops mainly produced iron. Industrial upgrading will greatly increase the proportion of high-quality steel output.
Of course, industrial upgrading is just a matter of words. Even if the two regions can raise their own funds, the amount of manpower and resources that the Ministry of Industry must invest to truly implement it will definitely not be a small amount. This is one of the main reasons why the project has not been approved.
Qiao Zhiya also explained this: "Last year, the Ministry of Industry transferred more than 200 engineering and technical personnel from Sanya and Changhua to Liaodong to assist in the construction of local steel base projects. In addition, the copper mines in Luzon Region, Xingdao University Bauxite mines in the region are also building smelters, and they are still waiting in line for the Ministry of Industry to transfer people there. ”
"To be honest, the smelting project in Foshan is not a key project that needs to be implemented as soon as possible for the country, so the priority is not that high. If you want to promote the implementation of this project, Lao Ma, the Ministry of Industry will definitely support it, but it will be difficult to give special care. , we can only follow the normal process.”
Maliko said: "Old Qiao, please give me an accurate message as to when it will be done. I can return to Guangzhou so that I can give an explanation to the sponsors of the money."
Qiao Zhiya said: "The technical personnel will be in place by the end of this year or early next year at the earliest. As for the production equipment, it may take longer. The steel base in Liaodong is currently our most important industrial project in the northern region. Related The equipment must be provided there first.”
Although Malico was not satisfied with the answer given by Qiao Zhiya, he also knew that this was the greatest concession from the Ministry of Industry. For the project plans submitted to the Ministry of Industry several times before, the approvals received were not even as detailed as Qiao Zhiya's. Being able to explain the details so patiently today is a sign of respect.
Malico no longer dwelled on this and turned to other projects.
Although Malico's trip south to Hong Kong was a bit hasty, he was well prepared. Related projects were prepared in various fields such as industry, agriculture, business, students, and soldiers. It was a rare opportunity to meet with the executive committee, so he naturally wanted to try his best to obtain more resources for the two regions.
The large-scale farm plan involving many state capitals in the Pearl River Basin is expected to build more than 50 large-scale farms in the name of the government and reclaim one million acres of arable land for the resettlement of people who are increasingly coming from the northern parts of Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as inland areas such as Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guizhou. A large number of immigrants moved into the area.
In terms of commerce, trade ports will be built in Yangjiang County and Suixi County respectively to increase sea access to the central areas of Guangdong and Guangxi.
In terms of cultural industry, the two regions are planning to build 50 new government-run primary schools and ten government-run middle schools in the next five years, as well as launch the Guangdong and Guangxi University in Guangzhou, which is almost completed.
However, these education projects require a large number of teacher resources. The two districts alone will definitely not be able to meet such a huge demand. Naturally, the executive committee will have to provide help.
In addition, the government-run Guangzhou Publishing House has been too busy in recent years and is preparing to improve production efficiency through technological upgrades. It is currently waiting for the new printing equipment purchased in Sanya to be put in place as soon as possible. This happens to be within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, and the transaction has already collected money from two large districts in advance, so Malik's reminder seems justified.
Haihan officials in charge of agriculture, commerce, culture and education were all present, and they could immediately respond to the projects mentioned by Malik in the most direct way. Regardless of whether Maliko's request can be met in the end, at least it gave him a decent explanation, saving time wasted in the exchange of official documents and layers of approvals.
The final topic is the most sensitive military field.
Different from the general process of occupying overseas regions, Haihan's process of seizing control of the Guangdong and Guangxi regions was relatively peaceful. Wherever the Haihan army went, it was calm and there was almost no large-scale war.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty was in the midst of internal and external troubles. Compared with the civil strife caused by the peasant army and the pressure from the invasion of the Qing army in the north, it was no longer able to open a new battlefield in the south and compete with the powerful Haihan for control of the Lingnan region. .
Completing the handover in peace was a decent thing for Ming Dynasty. In the armistice agreement signed by the two countries in 1654, Haihan's right to rule the Guangdong and Guangxi regions was confirmed in black and white.
Because of this, the two major regions face little military pressure, so the garrison size and military budget are almost the lowest among all major regions.
However, Maliko proposed at this time that as Haihan's control area in Guangdong and Guangxi gradually extended northward, the original size of the garrison could no longer shoulder the responsibility of protecting local security, and it was time to expand and increase its capacity.
Maliko’s words are not nonsense. The maritime defense zones of the two vast areas are not large in nature. The north and south sides overlap with the defense zones of Hainan Island and Fujian respectively. Therefore, only a few small naval stations are retained on the coastline. The size of the fleet It is not even comparable to any of the four major detachments of the South China Sea Fleet.
The Second Lu Division, which was stationed in the two vast areas, was torn to pieces and stationed in various state capitals. A large state capital has one battalion stationed, while a small state capital may only have one company of troops stationed there. The symbolic significance is far greater than the actual effect.
In recent years, a large number of people have moved from the inland Ming Dynasty-ruled areas to settle in the two vast areas, and with them there have also been some bandits who smelled the smell.
Immigrants entering the two vast areas by land, as well as goods transported by land from Guangzhou to the northern interior, will be robbed by these thieves on the way. Of course, the government cannot sit idly by and ignore this.
Although the government has organized several operations to suppress bandits, there are large areas of mountainous areas in northern Guangdong for hiding, and the number of troops the government can invest is extremely limited, so the results are not very good, and bandits' activities are still rampant in remote areas.
After consulting with military personnel, Malico planned to set up an armed force specializing in mountain warfare to exterminate the bandit armed forces hiding in the mountains of northern Guangdong.
People can be recruited directly locally, but the required training and equipment cannot be solved by the two major regions alone. They still need to turn to the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense.