1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1928
If the cargo throughput is used as a comparison standard, Changhua Port, located in the middle of the west coast of Hainan Island, is far more busy than Yinggehai, because in addition to exporting a large amount of steel products by sea, it is also continuously importing from sea. For the coal produced in Black Earth Port, at least three to five coal fleets arrive here every month to transport part of the fuel needed for the steel industry here.

However, the port conditions of Changhua Port are far inferior to those of other large ports on Hainan Island. The area of ​​the harbor at the mouth of the Changhua River is very limited, so congestion often occurs at the entry and exit channels.Although the shipping department and the Changhua local government have also made many improvements, such as expanding the wharf, widening the waterway, increasing the loading and unloading spreaders at the wharf, etc., these measures still cannot fundamentally solve the local transportation bottleneck.

It is also very common for foreign ships to wait outside Changhua Port for a day and a half if they encounter channel congestion or insufficient berths when they enter Changhua Port, or temporarily dock directly at fishing village wharves near Changhua.

However, the fleet that Li Luo and his party took did not encounter such troubles, because before they set off from Yinggehai, they had already notified Changhua of their itinerary by telegram.The local governor, Qiao Zhiya, had already received an order from Fort Victory to cooperate with the North Koreans in their inspection itinerary. After receiving the telegram from Yinggehai, he asked the port to make arrangements in advance to free up Two berths are reserved for research fleets.

Although Qiao Zhiya did not wait on the pier in advance, after receiving the news from the port, he still rushed to the pier in time to welcome the North Koreans.Instead, the group of visitors had to wait a little longer on the boat in order to cooperate with the completion of the etiquette procedures.

Li Lu did not express any objection to this arrangement, because he had already learned about the situation of the local Master Qiao Zhiyaqiao from Li Xi.Since this is a serious high-ranking Haihan official, not a naturalized official like Luo Shengdong, it is completely understandable that he is a little bit arrogant.

Compared with those high-ranking Haihan officials who often appear in public in Sanya or lead troops to fight overseas, Qiao Zhiya's reputation abroad is not very good. People who have never been to Haihan rarely know the existence of such a number one person. .But in fact, the Changhua and Shilu areas under Qiao Zhiya's jurisdiction, as well as the related mining and smelting industries, are the important foundations of Haihan's industrialization process.

It was only after Li Xi came to Haihan for a period of time that he gradually learned that there is such a special place hidden on the west coast of Hainan Island.However, he had never been here in person before this, and everything he knew about Changhua was obtained through various materials or folk rumors, so some of the information he could provide to Li Luo was somewhat uncertain. ingredients.

For example, about Mr. Qiao who is in charge of all local government affairs, there are many rumors about him among the people, and Li Xi alone has heard several different versions.

It is said that Qiao Zhiya was sent to Changhua, a remote village, to be an official because he was rejected by the high-level officials in Haihan. All he did was drudgery such as building roads, opening mines and building ports. It can be seen that Shengli Fort does not welcome him.However, Li Xi felt that this kind of statement was pure nonsense. As long as he knew about the development process of Changhua Shilu, he would have guessed that the officials sent by Fort Victory to carry out such a difficult task must have extremely strong abilities and were fully supported. trust.

After all, the funds and manpower required for these large-scale projects were huge, which was not a small amount for Haihan at that time. Qiao Zhiya was able to be entrusted with an important task, and he worked in this position for several years. Obviously no coincidence.

There are also rumors that Qiao Zhiya possesses supernatural powers. Not only can he find ore veins in the wild, but he is also good at smelting. It was his insistence that the executive committee chose this Changhua Daxing Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. .Regarding this rumor, Li Xi was somewhat skeptical. After all, there were too many rumors about the mysterious abilities of the Haihan people, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why they were able to establish a powerful country on the coast of the South China Sea in just a few years.If Qiao Zhiya has any strange abilities, it makes sense in Li Xi's opinion.

Of course, in addition to smelting and mining, there is another project that must be mentioned in this place, and that is the freight railway connecting Shilu and Changhua.This railway, which was built in 1629, is more than [-] miles long and double-tracked in both directions. It is still the longest railway in Haihan country. It can be said to be one of the symbols of Haihan's outstanding engineering capabilities.

Haihan's Shilu Mine in the inland area basically relies on this transportation artery to transport the ore to the smelting furnace in Changhua, and then import the daily necessities needed by thousands of people in the mining area from the outside.It can be said that with the assistance of this railway, Haihan was able to build a huge smelting industrial base on the west coast.

Of course, for every visitor who comes to this area to visit and inspect, taking a train to experience this railway that enters the inland mountainous area is also one of the essential items, and North Koreans are no exception.Li Lu had already learned about this railway from Li Xi when he was choosing the itinerary. He himself only had time to take a short-distance train in Sanya. This is one of the reasons why he made this place his research destination.

Although the fleet arrived here relatively late, the pier is obviously fully prepared for their arrival. Not only are the lights bright, but the clearing has been done in advance. There are only a few staff on the pier, and a few vehicles are in place ahead of time. carriages, and armed forces on duty outside.

Li Luo and the others did not wait too long before they met Qiao Zhiya, the local parent officer. After meeting Li Luo, this dark and strong high-ranking Haihan official took the initiative to accuse Li Luo: "I kept my son waiting for a long time, and I have some business to get out of here at the moment." , forgive me!"

After greeting Li Mo, the accompanying officials took turns to report to Qiao Zhiya. They knew Qiao Zhiya's status and influence in their country better than the North Koreans, and they did not dare to neglect him at all.Especially Zhang Qianzhi and Gai Liangcai, who knew a lot of secrets, were even more respectful to Qiao Zhiya.

Although the current Qiao Zhiya seems to be just a technical official in charge of local industrial development, Zhang Qianzhi and Gai Liangcai know that he was also one of the powerful figures in the Haihan military in the early days.Before being transferred to preside over the development of Changhua Shilu, Qiao Zhiya participated in most of the military's combat operations, and he even contributed to the early weapon development.If he hadn't been transferred here to be a magistrate, Qiao Zhiya would probably be a famous general in the army now, leading troops to fight overseas.

Although Qiao Zhiya has left the army for several years, he still has many close friends who hold real power in the army, such as Wang Tom, the commander of the navy, Shi Diwen who is stationed in the East China Sea, Morgan who specializes in training snipers, and so on.And Schneider and Gu Kai in the executive committee also have a close personal relationship with Qiao Zhiya.Therefore, although Qiao Zhiya has not been in Sanya all year round, his status and influence within Haihan are still not bad. If he is willing to return to Sanya to work, he should start as a deputy in the Ministry of Industry.

Li Luo knew very little about Mr. Qiao, but seeing how respectful these accompanying officials were to him, which was completely different from when he met Luo Shengdong in Yinggehai, he also thought that his influence should be extraordinary.At the moment, he was even more careful, so as not to accidentally offend this high-ranking Haihan official whom he had met for the first time.

After everyone exchanged a few simple greetings, Qiao Zhiya called everyone to get on the bus and head to the county seat. Although he was late, the reception banquet had already been arranged.

There is still a long distance between the old county seat of Changhua County and the coastline, but this county seat is not the other county seat. The new county seat is very close to Changhua Port, and it is only a short drive away.

It was also at night when I arrived at Yinggehai earlier. Although the visibility was not too high, Li Wei still left a deep impression on the scene of white sea salt on the road in the port area, but the situation here is just the opposite. The port area The ground is all black, and there will be fine grains when you step on it, which are the traces left by unloading coal for a long time.

At present, thousands of tons of coal arrive here every month. After unloading at the port, they are sent to nearby smelters via short-distance rail transportation.Day after day and year after year of such operations, the ground here is covered with a thick layer of soot.It is not very clear at night, but during the day it can be clearly observed that almost all of the port area here is covered with a layer of coal ash.

To be honest, Changhua County is not a livable place. The coal ash on the port side is a trivial matter, and what is more serious is the smoke and dust produced by the furnaces that burn all year round in the smelting and processing area.Qiao Zhiya has no good way to do this. She can only plant more trees around her residence, install screens on the doors and windows, and try to clean the air in her living environment as much as possible.However, the North Koreans are newcomers, and they are probably still in a relatively excited state, so they have not noticed these details.

After Li Mo and his party went ashore, they went straight to the banquet, but because they were not familiar with the sea conditions and the speed of the ship was slow, the group of Captain Xue who was hanging behind was already in the middle of the day by the time they reached the mouth of the Changhua River. up.But what made them even more at a loss was that the channel into the port was tightly blocked by several large cargo ships. In the middle of the night and because they were not familiar with the environment, they did not dare to try to squeeze into the shallow water next to the cargo ships. , If it hits a rock and runs aground, it will be really troublesome.

In desperation, Captain Xue could only order the nearby boat to stop first, then put down the small boat on board, and take two people ashore to see the situation first.

After waiting for about half an hour, the people who went ashore finally came back, bringing back two pieces of news, one good and one bad.The good news is that they saw the two ships on which the North Koreans were boarding at the port, which showed that Captain Xue's judgment was correct, and this was indeed the next stop for the North Koreans.The bad news is that the port staff said that there are no berths available for berthing. They can only find a place to berth near the estuary by themselves, and wait for a cargo fleet in the port to leave after dawn before they can line up to enter the port.

Although the boat couldn't enter the port, people could still go ashore. Captain Xue didn't want to waste another night on the boat, so he took several people ashore in small boats in batches, planning to go to the city to find a place to live.However, they were still running around outside in the middle of the night, so they were inevitably stopped by the night police. After some investigation, the police kindly took them to an inn that was still open.But all the rooms with better conditions are gone, only the Datong bunk is provided for ordinary sailors, and in desperation they can only make do with it for one night.

Early the next morning, Captain Xue and others began to try to inquire about the local geographical environment and whether there was a reception institution such as the Guest House in the place.They don't know where the North Koreans are staying, and they can only inquire about clues in this way first.

"Guest officer, you want to ask about the most high-end residence in the local area. Of course, it is Mr. Qiao's manor under Daling, but it will not be open to the public. I heard that only the big shots from Sanya can live there."

Captain Xue said that a relative was working in the manor, and he wanted to find a chance to visit, and asked the direction of Daling, so he rewarded the waiter in the shop.Although this place sounds like another heavily guarded place, since we have a target, we must find a way to inquire first to confirm whether the North Koreans live there.

This big ridge is about four or five miles east of the county seat. Qiao Zhiya circled a large area here as his private property very early on, and then gradually built a manor here according to his intention.Once Tao Dong came to Changhua to inspect work and stayed in this manor for a few days. Before leaving, he half-jokingly said that there is no need to build a guest house or other institutions in the local area. In the future, important people will come and live directly in Qiao Zhiya’s private manor. That's it.

Qiao Zhiya didn't even refuse, so he took over the job, so his private estate will also be temporarily used for reception at certain times of the year.

Qiao Zhiya thought about this very clearly. It would not cost much extra to contribute his private estate for a few days, but those who are eligible to live in his private estate must be insiders with status, or foreigners who come here for inspection and visit. Political figures, taking this opportunity to build a good relationship with these people will definitely help their future career development.And this kind of opportunity is not something that can be bought simply with money. The one who spends a small amount of money to manage high-level contacts is actually taking advantage of himself.

So this time the son of Joseon came to Changhua, Qiao Zhiya also arranged for them to live in his own private manor as usual.As for security measures, Qiao Zhiya also used his own personal guard, but because of his special status, his private guard was much larger than Luo Shengdong's, with a company of troops.

(End of this chapter)