1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1948
After the fleet bypassed Catba Island, they sailed into the scenic waters of Halong Bay. In this area of ​​about 1500 square kilometers, there are 3000 large and small islands. Various jagged limestone pillars protrude from the sea, forming a A fantasy scene.Li Luo had never seen such a karst terrain on the sea, and he was very surprised at the moment, so he stayed on the deck to watch the scenery.Baxter ordered the speed to be slowed down so that everyone could have a chance to enjoy the natural scenery here.

In fact, Haihan's high-ranking officials are also very fond of this sea area. A few years ago, some senior officials successively delineated some islands with better conditions here as private territories. They would bring their families to live here for ten and a half days when they were on vacation. months.

Li Lu stood on the side of the boat and watched the scenery for a while, and couldn't help asking Bai Kesi a somewhat disturbing question: "May I ask Mr. Bai, does this place belong to your country or An Nan country?"

Bai Kesi probably didn't expect Li Lu to ask this question, so he hesitated for a moment before answering: "The agreement signed between our country and An Nanguo on the ownership of the Black Earth Port has relevant regulations. Our country dominates and governs, and the sea area beyond this still belongs to the Annan Kingdom, so this place is a part of the two countries, not just one of them.”

Because of the special alliance formed by the two countries in the early years, the areas actually controlled by Haihan in Annan Kingdom were not unilaterally occupied, and bilateral agreements were signed to clarify the ownership of these areas.Haihan's main goal in this area is still the coal mines here. Although Halong Bay has beautiful scenery, it is not necessary for Haihan to take it as his own.

For Haihan and Annan, the common interests of the two countries far outweigh the actual ownership of this sea scenic spot, so both sides tacitly maintain the agreement in the agreement many years ago, and will not actively seek changes , so as not to affect the good diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The voyage from the east side of Cat Ba Island across Halong Bay to Heitu Port is actually only [-] nautical miles, but in order to fully appreciate the scenery here, the fleet even stopped at a small island in Halong Bay for one night in order to arrange for Li Wei and his party to watch here. sea ​​sunrise.

Although Li Lu hoped to minimize the irrelevant arrangements in the inspection itinerary, the beautiful scenery of Halong Bay made him dispel such thoughts for the time being, and readily agreed to stay here for one more night.This decision did not make him regret it in the end. The next morning, he saw the rising sun rising from the sea in the east, and the surrounding small islands seemed to rise together with the rising sun breaking through the sea. The scene was quite spectacular.

"There is such a wonderful scene in the world!" Li Mo sincerely admired this scene, deeply feeling that the wonder of heaven and earth is far beyond his imagination.

"The world is so big that there are many wonders. If you have time in the future, you can travel around the South China Sea and witness all kinds of natural wonders and cultural landscapes." Seeing that Li Min expressed his appreciation for the arrangement of sightseeing, Bai Kesi immediately There are also two sentences.

Li Luo thought to himself that if he didn't have serious business to do, it would be nice to stay here for a few days to relax.As for the scenery of the South China Sea that Bai Kesi mentioned, he didn't take it too seriously. The South China Sea is a vast area, and the journey between the two places usually takes several days. When I return to Sanya, I have to concentrate on my studies, and I probably don’t have so much time to arrange sightseeing around.

When there is still a distance from Heitu Port, there are obviously more ships on the sea. They are mainly divided into two types, one is the fishing boats of local residents, and the other is the cargo ship between Heitu Port and Hainan Island. Coal was shipped out of the port, and various living materials produced in Hainan Island were shipped to Heitu Port.

"About ten years ago, we discovered coal veins near the coastline here, and then began to build a port here and organize personnel to mine. The quality of the coal here is very good. The so-called black soil, as the name implies, means that there are coals buried everywhere here. Therefore, we are also willing to spend transportation capacity to transport the mined high-quality coal back to China for use. For example, most of the coal used in Changhua area comes from Heitu Port.” Bai Kesi briefly introduced the birth of Heitu Port to Li Min origin.

When Li Min visited Changhua, he saw groups of coal cargo ships at the port, and the piles of coal piled up on the wharf were like hills.According to Qiao Zhiya's introduction at that time, hundreds of thousands of catties of coal arrived in Changhua every month, and with the increasing scale of production in Changhua, the amount of coal shipped to the local area was also increasing every month. It can be seen that the production capacity of Heitu Port is also extraordinary.

Xie Chun, the chief officer of the Black Earth Port, had received a telegram before this, and adjusted the berth of the port in advance, vacating a pier specially for the arrival of this fleet, and he himself went to the pier first to wait for Li The arrival of a group of people.

Xie Chun was one of the first batch of officials dispatched by Haihan. He originally belonged to the maritime department and was engaged in shipping management. After being assigned to Heitu Port, he managed port construction and shipping arrangements.However, after arriving at Heitu Port, Xie Chun took root here. After successively serving as the director of shipping and civil affairs here, he finally became the chief administrative officer of the local area.If he continued to stay here, the official position would have no chance of promotion.

But Xie Chun really didn't intend to transfer here for his official career. He came to participate in the time-traveling operation alone, but now he has a family and a career here in Heitugang, and his children have reached the age of schooling.Although transferring back to Sanya may be able to improve his position a little bit, and even have the option to work in any department, Xie Chun has no such idea for the time being.

If he returns to Sanya, he will be just a very ordinary technocrat in the time travel group. Even if he can have a higher position, he will still be subject to many restrictions from the external environment, but in the place of Heitugang, it is impossible to say that he speaks. It is not an exaggeration to follow the emperor.All affairs here, including the judicial system, can be decided by him with one word, and the power is actually quite large.Although the area and population under the jurisdiction of Xie Chun are only a small heavy industrial city, Xie Chun believes that this is the most suitable stage for him to display his talents.So in the past few years, although he had the opportunity to be transferred back to Sanya, he voluntarily gave up such opportunities and chose to continue to work in Heitu Port.

Of course, if it's just to live the addiction of being the local emperor in Heitu Port, Xie Chun may get tired of it after two or three years. After all, the place is small and there is no way to play well.But now that he has a family and property, there are more things to consider. For example, how to make his family descendants continue to be prosperous and rich. This is a very realistic problem.

Xie Chun's wife is a native of Lianzhou Prefecture, Guangxi. The family was originally a merchant engaged in shipping trade, and Xie Chun held great power in his hands. It was very easy to give his wife's business a hand.The port and coal mines in this black soil port belong to the state, and Xie Chun will not make any decisions about it, but there is a lot of room for manipulation in transportation, infrastructure, and various supporting industries.When the conditions are not much different, who will take over these transactions is often a matter of Xie Chun's words.

In the past few years, the production scale of Heitu Port has become larger and larger, and Xie Chun's wife's family's business has also increased, and they have benefited a lot from Xie Chun's care.Even if Xie Chun chooses to resign and retire decades ahead of schedule, he can completely rely on operating these established industries to ensure the continued prosperity of the family.

Of course, Victory Fort is not completely ignorant of these things, but as long as it does not affect the normal operation of the Black Earth Port, and the appearance is not too ugly, no one will pick on Xie Chun because of this.After all, most of the purpose of everyone participating in the time-traveling operation was to enjoy the glory and wealth. It is also normal to want to realize personal interests after taking power.

And Xie Chun did a good job in grasping the scale. First of all, he ensured the normal production of Heitu Port and the stability of the local people's livelihood. On this basis, he then chose some projects for his own commercial organizations to take over.After several years of steady development in this way, it gradually began to monopolize the management rights of some advantageous projects. At this time, there are often no competitors in the industry, and it seems natural to hold these projects.

Of course, Xie Chun was not overwhelmed by the great situation. He was very clear about what could be touched and what could not be touched, and tried his best not to touch the bottom line of Fort Victory.This time Bai Kesi suddenly wanted to visit Heitu Port, although it was in the name of accompanying the Joseon prince, it still made Xie Chun feel a little uneasy.After all, the senior officials of the Executive Committee have very busy schedules. If they want to leave Hainan Island for an inspection, they usually set the schedule two or three months in advance. To prepare for the Black Soil Port, Xie Chun couldn't help but wonder whether Bai Kesi had other intentions.

The executive committee's biggest requirement for officials in overseas ruled areas is loyalty, and Xie Chun believes that there is nothing to criticize in this regard.In any case, Xie Chun thought that it was always right for him to take the initiative to express his attitude first, so he went to the port to wait early to show his respect for Bai Kesi.As for the North Korean heir who has never been seen face-to-face, Xie Chun doesn't really care too much about it. This kind of arrangement for foreign dignitaries to visit Heitu Port is not unheard of before. Affected his status in Black Earth Port.

"Earlier when I received the telegram, I thought you would come here after staying in Tushan for one night. Why did you stay two days longer? Lao Bai should have brought the distinguished guests to my place earlier. There is nothing but big soldiers in Tushan. It's comfortable to have me here!" Xie Chun warmly greeted Beks who had just disembarked.

Bai Kesi laughed and said, "You have coal all over the mountains and plains, and all you see when you turn around are miners. How can it be better than Tushan's big soldiers?"

Xie Chun also smiled and said: "But the scenery here is good! Besides the food, I have all kinds of delicacies here. How can Tushan compare with Heitu Port!"

This is not Xie Chun's bragging. The Tushan Peninsula is backed by the alluvial plain of the Red River Delta. There are only large-scale planted food crops there, while the Heitu Port is backed by mountainous forests stretching for hundreds of miles. The geographical environment is more complicated. Natural products are also much richer than Tushan Peninsula.Moreover, people of status and status like Xie Chun have already moved their residences away from the settlements adjacent to the mining area, so they don't have to suffer from the soot shroud all day long.In terms of living conditions alone, Heitu Port does have some special advantages.

"It's almost time for dinner, so we'll eat something here at noon. If the prince is interested, we will arrange a visit to the mining area in the afternoon, and we will hold a banquet for you in the evening." Mr. Xie Chun He took the initiative to report the arrangement he had made to see if Li Lu and Bai Kesi had any other opinions.

Naturally, Li Lu had no objection, just thinking that the old man just boasted that Haikou has all kinds of local delicacies, so he wondered what kind of hospitality this so-called "eat whatever you want" would be like.

What Xie Chun said about eating casually is really not so casual. Lunch is arranged in a restaurant near the port, and of course it is one of the highest-grade dining places in the local area.Although the business scale is not as good as those big restaurants in Sanya, it has everything you need, and it is said that several master kitchen chefs are also famous chefs invited from Sanya, Guangzhou and other places. The dishes that can be eaten in big cities can also be eaten here. enjoy.

Li Xi explained to Li Luo in a low voice: "Although the places visited this time are not cities in the traditional sense, because of the developed industries and prosperous economy, the businesses of these restaurants and restaurants are also quite prosperous. It’s no worse than big cities like Sanya and Danzhou.”

Li Min nodded slightly. This is not difficult to understand. Salt, iron, coal, these industries are considered big business in any country, and all businesses that can participate in the operation are rich in financial resources. This kind of high-end consumption place specially prepared for the rich is indispensable.Thinking about the coal produced in Heitu Port, hundreds of thousands of catties are transported to Changhua every month alone. One can imagine the local economic level.

On the way from the port to the restaurant just now, Li Luo also paid attention to the urban area here. Although the mine is nearby, it has been shrouded in soot all year round, and the houses do look a little dirty. Yes, but the streets look orderly.Coal is not transported to the port via the main road used by horse-drawn carriages, but there are at least two tracks leading from the mining area to the coal yard at the port, and small steam locomotives pull a series of freight cars to complete the short-distance transportation task in the middle.The routes of these two freight tracks bypass the areas where local people live, which can be regarded as minimizing the pollution of coal during transportation as much as possible.

In Changhua and Shilu, Li Lu had seen that the local ore transportation track system was far more complicated than here, so he was no stranger to it.But considering that Haihan has even used this advanced and efficient transportation system overseas, it also shows its strong engineering construction capabilities.

(End of this chapter)