1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 207 Investigation along the way
The so-called "Greater Sanya" development strategy is to focus on the construction of a large area located in the southwest corner of Hainan Island, east of Yazhou and south of Lingshui.The executive committee plans to spend five years, ten years or even longer to build this area into the strongest base of the Haihan regime in the South China Sea.

In the early stage, this development strategy mainly centered on Shengli Port, and gradually radiated development to surrounding areas.In order to concentrate and make good use of limited human resources and armed forces, the executive committee believes that the development area at this stage should not be too far away from Shengli Port—of course, resource-based colonization areas such as Black Earth Port are a special case, and the crossing group must have coal coke there. Carbon resources to ensure the scale of local steel production.

But except for the energy industry, the layout of other industries can only gradually expand outwards according to this strategy. Although the development prospect of Yinggehai Salt Field is very attractive, there are two unavoidable problems for the current crossing group. The problem exists.One is that the local terrain is flat, and there is hardly any dangerous terrain for defense. The distance from Shengli Harbor is more than [-] nautical miles. With the speed of the existing Fuchuan or Guangzhou Ship, it will take a whole day to go smoothly. There is no time for rescue. From a military point of view, the risk of development is relatively high. Second, although the Yinggehai area has a large area for the development of saltworks, it must have enough manpower. Not enough for large development projects.

If the two places do not compare the theoretical output, but only compare the difficulty of development and construction and the military risks they need to bear, then the score of Iron Furnace Port will undoubtedly greatly exceed that of Yinggehai.The only weakness here is probably the northern defense loophole formed by the peculiar terrain.However, in the eyes of the executive committee, this is not a serious problem. It is more than enough than the top and the bottom is more than the bottom. It is much better than Yinggehai's geographical environment.The purpose of the investigation by the Military and Police Department is to design a practical and effective defense system based on the actual situation here.

The coastal defense artillery system will definitely not work in the short term. In fact, many people also feel that the executive committee is making a big fuss—does a salt farm really need to build a battery for protection?If you really want to do this, then won’t Hainan Island have to be built into a fort around the island?
The Military and Police Department has no obsession with building the fort. Anyway, this is not Victory Port, and even if it really fights, it will just lose some salt.Since it is impossible to rely on artillery fire to confront possible invading enemies head-on, at least the next best thing to do is to formulate an escape plan.This is also the minimum requirement of the executive committee, at least to ensure that the naturalized people working here can get personal safety protection.

According to the actual situation here, after lowering the requirement by a notch, the tasks of Xiao Liang and Yu Yao became much easier.The harbor of Tielu Port is several kilometers deep inland. In the early stage, it is entirely possible to only build salt farms in the inland areas, and set up observation posts on the coastal mountains, just like what the Military and Police Department did in Yulinjiao. As long as there is an early warning, the staff of the saltworks will have at least one or two hours to evacuate calmly, and there will be no safety concerns.The workers in the saltworks can retreat all the way west along the valley between Yalongling and Baishiling, and return to the vicinity of Tiandu in half a day. Although this valley passage cannot be used to transport bulk materials at present, it is not used as an escape route. no problem.

Regarding the existence of this valley channel, the Ministry of Agriculture has given a very ideal solution, that is, to carry out agricultural development of the valley, plant oil, hemp, spices and other cash crops on the hillside, and at the same time try to slowly convince those The Limiao mountain people who are used to living in the mountains gradually moved out from the inland and resettled them in this ravine.After a few years, an economic corridor such as industrial zone-farm-salt field will naturally be formed here.

Although some people have doubts about whether the feuding Li and Miao ethnic groups can live in close proximity, the executive committee is optimistic about this.The two clans fought back and forth in the past, apart from the official intentions of the Ming Dynasty at the beginning, it was actually more about fighting for more survival resources in the mountains, forests and wilderness, even if it was just barren hillside cultivated land, a small place The mountain spring will also become the reason for their big fights.

But now the Traveling Group can provide them with sufficient food, pig iron, salt and other daily necessities, and as long as they are willing to go out of the mountains, they can live the same life as the Han people. An irresistible temptation—the Li and Miao militia, which currently account for [-]% of the militia, can prove this point.Although frictions and disputes still occur between the two clans from time to time, with the powerful arbiter of the Traveling Group, there has been no such situation as in the past where people from whole villages and villages participated in the fight with weapons.

The crew of the "Hai Training 02" ship measured the water depth along the entire S-shaped channel entering Tielu Port, and also tested the salinity of the water samples according to the requirements of the Ministry of Chemical Industry.According to the test results, the salinity of the seawater here is slightly lower than that of the Saltworks Commune and Yinggehai, but it is more than enough to meet the production needs of the saltworks, and it will be more difficult to transform the large tidal flats all over the harbor into sun-dried salt ponds. It’s easy, and you don’t even need so many lifting and irrigation devices in the salt field commune to introduce seawater into the inland salt fields. This task can be completed by the power of nature when the tide rises every day. The production efficiency after development may be higher than that of the existing salt fields. The commune is higher.

In addition to the tidal flat area, there is also a large area of ​​flat area near Iron Furnace Harbor that can be used for agricultural development.Although the salinity of the land here is relatively high, it is not suitable for the cultivation of common crops, but the Ministry of Agriculture has already begun to formulate various plans for Hainan's agricultural development in a targeted manner long before the crossing. How to develop the saline-alkali land by the sea , Relevant units have already made preparations.For example, salicornia is the first choice crop for seawater irrigated agriculture. The seeds can be used to extract vegetable oil because of their high oil content. The seedlings and tender tips are also seawater vegetables with high nutritional value, which are commonly known as sea bamboo shoots.In addition, there are black wolfberry, a medicinal plant suitable for cultivation in heavy saline-alkali land, and vegetables such as sea fennel and sea cabbage.In addition to building saltworks, Iron Furnace Port can also carry out large-scale agricultural development, making it one of the production bases for oil crops and vegetables.

It is also worth mentioning that the professional opinions from the Ministry of Construction have also greatly promoted the selection tendency of the Executive Committee.There are quarries and abundant forest resources in Iron Furnace Port for development, which greatly reduces the difficulty of future development.There is a lack of stone materials near the Salt Field Commune, and almost all the stones that can be mined were used by the ancestors to make stone drying salt tanks, so that when they needed to build masonry houses, they had to ship these building materials from Shengli Port. Fortunately, the journey is not far, and it is not particularly troublesome.As for the other location near Yinggehai, even if there is not even a mountain within a square kilometer, not to mention quarrying, even wood may have to be transported from Shengli Port, which shows the difficulty of early stage development.

After receiving opinions from various departments such as the military and police, shipping, construction, and agriculture, it was only natural that the executive committee was more inclined to choose Iron Furnace Port as the development site for the next salt farm.Of course, the development and construction of this place does not mean that the executive committee can start immediately after just saying a word. After this inspection, the relevant conclusions will be sent to the executive committee for the executive committee to make a decision. , At least one or two batches of expedition teams will be sent to survey and plan the site, calculate the required materials and manpower, and formulate a more detailed development plan.It is estimated that it will take half a month at the earliest to really start developing here.

By the time Iron Furnace Port came out after surveying, it was already afternoon.After sailing out of the narrow channel, the sailboat passed the east side of Wuzhizhou Island, drew an arc and headed straight to the open sea.On the way to Guangzhou, the expedition team will take a direct route to Guangzhou, and calculate the shortest voyage and sailing time. On the return trip, they will take a relatively conservative route, going south along the east coast of Hainan Island, and by the way, inspect the coastal areas. The sea situation of the people.

Although there are a large group of old crew members on "Hai Training 02", the speed of the ship itself is extremely limited, and it has never been on this route before. It was only on the fourth day that we finally saw the Wanshan Islands outside the Pearl River Estuary.Fortunately, the weather conditions along the way were not bad, and there were no big waves. It also made it easier for those naturalized people who took a boat out to the far sea for the first time. Severe seasick to almost shock patients.

Yu Xiaobao and Zhang Qianzhi, two and a half teenagers, were even more energetic, spending almost the whole time on the deck.Zhang Qianzhi's family has been a shipbuilder for eight generations. He himself grew up in a shipyard and is very familiar with ships. Along the way, Yu Xiaobao has learned a lot of knowledge about shipbuilding and sailing from him.

The "Sea Training 02 Ship" was not in a hurry to sail north into the Pearl River, but adjusted its direction and sailed northeast.Before going to Guangzhou, they still have a survey mission, which is to investigate the situation in Hong Kong waters and the islands.

Hong Kong has been under the jurisdiction of the government since the Tang Dynasty, and it belongs to Dongguan County. In the first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the government set aside land from Dongguan County because it was too far away from Dongguan County and it was inconvenient to manage. Population, Xin'an County was established.From this time until it was forcibly rented by the British in the 19th century, the Hong Kong area was under the jurisdiction of Xin'an County.

In fact, the place name Hong Kong already existed before the time traveler came to this time and space. In the "Guangdong Coastal Map", place names such as Hong Kong, Stanley, and Tsim Sha Tsui are marked.

In the current era, Hong Kong's economy is mainly maintained by agricultural industries such as incense planting, salt cooking, fishing, and farming, among which the incense planting industry is the most developed.The fragrant wood produced in Hong Kong is a very popular product in Fuguang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The "Xin'an County Chronicles" of the Ming Dynasty recorded the situation of fragrant wood produced in Hong Kong. Shatian and Lantau Island in later generations were rich in fragrant wood products. It is transported to Tsim Sha Tsui, and then shipped to Guangzhou for sale by a local boat commonly known as "big-eyed chicken".One of the reasons for the origin of the name Hong Kong is that the trading of fragrant wood here has been very prosperous in history.

The saltworks in Hong Kong still use the old-fashioned boiling salt method to produce salt, and the output is very limited.However, the Guangdong Salt Promotion Department still set up a management agency here-a small inspection department to check and prohibit illegal salt trading.As for the Crossing Group, the salt production here is almost negligible, and the annual production cannot exceed half a month of the Salt Farm Commune.

In addition to the inspection department, Hong Kong also has naval forces stationed here, and there are a small number of troops stationed in Fomentang, Longchuan Bay, Luoge, Tai O, Langtao Bay, Langbai and other places.Of course, this small amount is only for the huge military establishment of the Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, at the end of the 16th century, the number of Ming troops stationed in Hong Kong and their miscellaneous servants exceeded 2000, and there were dozens of large and small warships. Yazhou Shuizhai plus the garrison of the guards are much stronger.Moreover, the garrison here is not just for show. Since the Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty, the garrison here has fought against Western colonists many times, and they have rarely lost.The closest east-west confrontation to the people who traveled through time and space should be the Dutch warship breaking into the Buddha Hall Gate in 1622. However, under the strict defense of the army and civilians in Xin'an County at that time, the Dutch finally did not choose to attack, but left silently. go.

One of the inspection missions of the "Haixuan 02" ship to Hong Kong is to find out the status of the naval garrison here.Of course, this kind of thing must not be done openly. Sun Changmi asked people to use fishing nets and canvas to cover the ship's name and number painted on the ship's side, and then the military and police department used high-magnification military binoculars to view the The local area conducts reconnaissance of the target area.The effect of this kind of investigation is naturally very limited, but out of safety considerations, Sun Changmi did not dare to let the boat get too close to the Ming army's water camp, so as not to draw attention to the incident. Although there are more than a dozen guns on board "Haixun 02", they are extremely limited in naval battles, and the speed of the ship itself is not fast enough.

The "Sea Training 02" boat spent a day cruising around the waters between Lantau Island and Hong Kong Island, and by the way, took a look at the commercial ports in Tsim Sha Tsui and Typhoon Shelters.Naturally, the Victoria Harbor at this time could not compare with the prosperity of later generations, but sail shadows can be seen everywhere on the sea, and many merchant ships from Fuzhou and Guangzhou are also berthing at the port wharf.Sun Changmi considered that the clothes of the people on his ship were too conspicuous, so he did not choose to dock here, but sailed out of this sea area after completing the investigation mission, passing through the waterway between Ma Wan and Lantau Island , then turned northwest and re-entered the Pearl River Estuary.

During the more than one day of investigation in Hong Kong, most of the passengers on the ship were in a state of nervousness, and they did not calm down until they returned to the Pearl River Estuary.Not only do they have to beware of being discovered by the Ming army stationed there, but they also have to guard against pirates that often appear near Hong Kong waters—according to Li Nai, there are several large and small waves in the waters of Daya Bay west of Hong Kong From time to time, pirates will seize the loopholes in the navy's patrol and launch attacks on merchant ships and civilian ships in nearby waters.

But the Guihua people obviously don't know that the chiefs have so many troubles in their minds. They simply think that this is just a normal journey. With omnipotent chiefs on this boat, where in the world can they go?
That night the boat moored outside a small fishing village at the mouth of the Pearl River, and contacted the Guangzhou Office through the radio, and made an appointment for the next day.Although everyone wants to set foot on land earlier and take a good rest, this place is still dozens of kilometers away from Guangzhou City by water, and it is going upstream, so it is obviously impossible to move forward in the dark.

The next day it was just dawn, and the anxious crossing crew drove the crew in the cabin to the deck, quickly hoisted the sails and anchored, and even had breakfast after departure.But even if they were in a hurry, it was useless. The speed of sailing upstream was more than twice as slow as riding the wind and waves on the sea. It was not until the sky was dark that the lookout at the bow reported that he had seen the city of Guangzhou through the telescope. city ​​walls.

Schneider and He Xi waited on the pier just a few hundred meters away from the Guangzhou Office after finishing their work in the afternoon. Both of them were hungry and wondered if something happened to the boat on the way. At the time of the situation, I finally saw the "Haixun 02" boat with a conspicuous red cloth tied on the top of the mast appearing in the river.

"Hurry up, fight the slogan!" He Xi ordered the young servants who followed.

The servants hurriedly erected the bamboo poles and unfolded the banner. On the two-foot-wide white cloth, there were several big black characters that were very conspicuous—Welcome to Guangzhou!It's not that He Xi wanted to grandstanding, but because they were afraid that the boat would be too late to see the situation on the shore and pass by, so they specially made a conspicuous sign, and of course it also showed the presence of the Guangzhou Office.But this thing is only useful at dawn, if the sky continues to get dark, He Xi will have to order someone to light up the torches.Fortunately, it was getting late at this time, and there were not many people on the pier. They put up this banner, but it didn't attract crowds who didn't know the truth.

After finally waiting for the boat to land and stop, their old acquaintance Sun Changmi and Dr. Morgan walked down the diving board first. Schneider and He Xi went up to meet them, and their four pairs of big hands tightly held together: "It's hard work, You have worked hard along the way!" "Everyone! It's not easy for you!"

Xiao Liang, who got off the boat behind, said thoughtfully, "Why does this look... a bit like the Red Army's victorious reunion in northern Shaanxi?"

"We've only taken the first step in the Long March, so we'll follow where we are!" Yu Yao replied with a smile, "Let's go, get off the boat quickly, I don't want to stay on the boat for a second."

(End of this chapter)