Chapter 3456
Qian Tiandun's choice to go south was not a decision made on a whim. Before choosing Xingdao as a partner, he had collected a large amount of information from various aspects as a reference. In addition to official reports and internal military communications, some of the sources of this information also came from certain special intelligence channels - —For example, the Overseas Chamber of Commerce and its affiliated institutions under the Northern Region.
These commercial organizations, which are independent of the official government, can freely enter and exit most of the areas under Haihan's jurisdiction, and have access to the local religions and streams, so they are perfect for undertaking intelligence collection work.
Although Qian Tiandun and the special operations division have left the Northern Region, with his remaining influence in the Northern Region and his personal relationship with Chen Yixin, there is no obstacle to continuing to use the intelligence system of the Northern Region.
The competition between the two overseas regions, Singdao and Luzon, seems normal to Qian Tiandun. When Qian Tiandun was in charge of the Northern Region, he had a similar competitive relationship with the Donghai Region. After all, local leaders need to produce some outstanding results in order to obtain more resource investment from the executive committee.
However, Qian Tiandun was not very interested in the goals that the two regions were currently competing for, and he did not want to change his original action goals for this purpose.
He knew very well that with the local environment being almost no man's land, the involvement of the special operations division was just a slap in the face. From a military point of view, it was not necessary at all. Sooner or later, he would have to turn his guns and head west. If you insist on participating in order to cooperate with Xingdao, it will just be a waste of time playing back and forth on the ocean.
Qian Shaobao was about to ask for some more specific information about the direction of the Indian Ocean. Seeing that Qian Tiandun's face was already tired, he took back what he was about to say and asked for a rest on the grounds that he was tired from the journey.
"Then you go around with Li Yuande tomorrow and get familiar with the environment here." Qian Tiandun didn't insist. He was already over fifty and his energy was not as strong as when he was young. He had to rest at night.
His son finally arrived, and he was relieved of his worries. He could sleep peacefully tonight.
The next day, Li Yuande came to Qian Shaobao's residence early in the morning and invited him to visit various places on the island.
However, when traveling here, there are no horse-drawn carriages that are commonly used in China. Instead, you have to ride a horse, because many places on the island have not yet built flat roads for horse-drawn carriages.
As the current main base of the Special Warfare Division in South Asia, Phuket has been undergoing various infrastructure projects over the past year, and its scale far exceeds Penang and Langkawi islands that Qian Shaobao has visited before.
Although immigrants are continuously sent here from places such as Xingdao every month, there is never enough manpower for these large-scale infrastructure projects. Therefore, the garrison troops on the island had to give up part of their daily training, take turns acting as construction workers, and participate in work at various construction sites.
Qian Shaobao was quite emotional when he saw this, but this was almost the normal situation of various overseas regions in their initial stage. Only after the population base reaches a certain size can there be enough labor force to return the garrison troops to their regular duties.
Li Yuande was very optimistic about this: "In fact, we have been thinking of ways to solve the manpower problem. We are currently in contact with Siam, Myanmar, Aceh and other countries, hoping to recruit young and strong labor from the local areas to organize construction teams and come to Phuket Dao completed these civil works for us.”
Qian Shaobao said: "We pay and they contribute, it's a fair deal. But shouldn't an agreement be reached soon? Why haven't the conditions been reached after a year?"
Li Yuande said: "Things are not that simple. Even if our bid is not low, these countries still have a lot of worries and are not willing to cooperate with us in this field." Qian Shaobao asked curiously: "They are still unwilling to cooperate after being given money? What are you afraid of?”
Li Yuande said: "I'm worried about where these young people will go in the future! Many people come to us and know the treatment of our citizens, and they are unwilling to go back."
Qian Shaobao suddenly said: "That's true. The living standards of these nearby countries are far less than those of the Ming Dynasty, let alone compared with my country... But Xingdao has been here for thirty years, and during this period, it has grown from the surrounding countries. Having absorbed tens of thousands of immigrants, shouldn’t we have been accustomed to this situation for a long time?”
Li Yuande sighed and said: "It is because Xingdao has sucked too many people from surrounding areas that these countries are so wary that even normal labor cooperation will be ignored by us." Net.”
The reason Li Yuande mentioned was something Qian Shaobao had not thought about carefully before.
At this stage of Haihan's development, its national power has far exceeded that of neighboring countries. Even the living standards of overseas regions are enough to make the people of neighboring countries envious. The population siphon effect on surrounding areas has become more and more obvious in recent years.
Young people from disadvantaged and backward areas, as long as they are willing to make a living in the areas under Haihan's rule, will generally receive an income that is far better than that in their hometown. After time, after adapting to the social environment of Haihan, they will be reluctant to return. to a relatively backward hometown.
As long as you stay in Haihan for enough years and have a serious job, you can apply for Haihan nationality and become a noble Haihan citizen. How attractive this will be to young people from neighboring countries. It’s the first time they come here. An extent that Shaobao could hardly imagine.
Neighboring countries may regard this as a way to make money at first, but as time goes by and their population begins to lose rapidly, they will inevitably find ways to put a brake on it. Even if you don't dare to go against Haihan, there is obviously no need to ask for Haihan's consent to terminate labor cooperation in this area.
Qian Shaobao said: "In addition to labor cooperation, we should also have other means available, right?"
It seemed that it was because he returned to Phuket, or the two of them had become familiar with each other during this period, that Li Yuande became bolder in his speech: "Brother Qian, if you want to gain a large population in a short period of time, it is best to use If we don’t use the method, then doesn’t it have to be a war?”
Qian Shaobao said: "You are right, but none of the surrounding countries dare to go to war with us, right?"
Li Yuande said: "We can't wait for the other side to take the initiative. We don't have that much time. As for the reason for the war, you can always find it if you look hard for it."
Last year, the public reason why Sing Tao and the special warfare division jointly dispatched troops to the Strait of Malacca was to rely on a pirate gang that was created out of thin air. Even if the surrounding countries tighten their tails, as long as Haihan wants to take action, he will eventually find a reason to do so.
It's just that Qian Shaobao, who has been living in China for a long time, may not be comfortable with this approach for the time being.