1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2417
Among the many overseas colonies under the rule of Haihan, Miaoli can be said to be a very inconspicuous place.Although Haihan has been stationed in this place for five years, the development progress here is far behind the other colonies that Haihan opened up later.Even some Haihan citizens who are also on the island of Taiwan do not know that Miaoli is also under the control and control of Haihan.

If it hadn't been confirmed that Haihan had already invested a lot of resources here, it would be hard for Liu Shanxia to believe that this simple wharf in front of him was the end of his trip.The wooden trestle bridge and the few warehouses scattered on the shore are not like the supporting infrastructure for an important industrial town.

Due to the intentional control of the government, news about Miaoli was rarely seen in the newspapers in Haihan, so most of the people Liu Shanxia brought here did not know what kind of place this place was.Based on the dock facilities here, it is hard for them to imagine that there is an industrial area hidden in the inland area dozens of miles away.

"My lord, there seems to be a group of Haihan troops on the pier. Is this place not peaceful?" The sharp-eyed subordinates had already seen the situation on the pier in the distance, and reminded Liu Shanxia to be careful.

Liu Shanxia replied: "The past few years were a bit uneven, but now it's all right. This should be just a necessary security measure, so don't be nervous."

When Haihan entered this area in 1634, he encountered armed resistance from the local indigenous tribes, which made Haihan unable to build an oil production area at the predetermined location. The indigenous tribes were all wiped out, and all the captives were sent to work as coolies in the Jinguashi mining area near Jilonggang. This gradually improved the security situation in the Miaoli area.

However, in order to ensure the safety of inland oil production areas, the Miaoli area has also deployed troops for a long time.When Liu Shanxia and his party stayed in Hong Kong, they had already contacted Miaoli through the radio station and informed them of their itinerary. It was normal for the local government to arrange for the garrison to wait at the pier in advance. After all, with Liu Shanxia's status, he fully deserved this special treatment.

After the official ship docked and set up the springboard, an officer took the initiative to board the ship to see Liu Shanxia.This army second lieutenant named Gao Cong had already brought a platoon of people here to wait for Liu Shanxia and his party yesterday, and his task was to escort these people to the inland.However, Liu Shanxia and others need to disembark first, and then transfer to a local transportation boat at the pier before going to the oil production area in the upper reaches of Houlongxi.

Gao Cong explained to Liu Shanxia that this was also a helpless arrangement. The hull of the official ship Liu Shanxia and his party took had a large draft. Change to a boat with a shallow draft to go upstream.

Liu Shanxia expressed his understanding of this, and ordered his men to move the luggage and various engineering measuring instruments they brought to several transportation boats prepared by Gao Cong.

Taking advantage of the time to carry things, Liu Shanxia went to see the three traffic boats docked on the pier.What surprised him a little was that although the three boats were small in size, they were all equipped with small marine steam engines as propulsion power. The coal-fired boiler was placed on the rear deck of the hull without any cover. There is a large pile of coal, which seems to weigh several hundred catties.

"Is coal produced locally? Or is it shipped from other places?" Liu Shanxia asked casually.

Gao Cong, who was following him, immediately responded: "My lord, we have discovered coal mine veins here, but because we are in the deep mountains and old forests, the transportation is very inconvenient, so we haven't organized mining so far. The coal we use now, They are all mined from the Jinguashi mining area near Jilonggang, and then shipped to the local area.”

Liu Shanxia nodded and said, "I didn't expect Jinguashi to produce coal in addition to gold mines. Jilong Port is not far from here, so the cost should not be too high."

Gao Cong replied: "Yes, Jilong Port is about 300 miles away from here. When the sea conditions are ideal, it will arrive in one day. Under normal circumstances, a batch of coal will be shipped every ten days or so, which is enough to meet local needs. "

Liu Shanxia pointed to the traffic boat and said, "When did these boats come into use locally?"

Gao Cong said: "Beizhi was only transferred here last year. At that time, this kind of steam transportation boat was already used. I heard that this kind of transportation boat was used to replace the previous model half a year ago when Beizhi was transferred. The speed of going up the river is more than double that of before."

Liu Shanxia asked curiously: "Then you are also doing the maintenance of these steam engines?"

Gao Cong shook his head and said: "We only learned the daily operation and simple maintenance, and the repair work was done by the engineers in the oil production area. I am ashamed to say that the humble job was actually transferred to Miaoli before I had the opportunity to contact As far as steam engines are concerned, they can only do basic operations now.”

Liu Shanxia suddenly realized that there are many kinds of machinery and equipment in the oil production area, and there will naturally be a group of specially trained technicians stationed here. They must be more reliable than soldiers like Gao Cong who came here and started to get in touch with steam machinery.Besides, these marine steam engines are expensive to build, and I don't think they dare to hand them over to soldiers for training, so if there is a problem, they still have to be repaired by a special person.

Among the overseas colonies that Liu Shanxia has visited, there are not many places equipped with such steam-powered transportation boats, but this also forms a strong contrast with the low-level local infrastructure.Liu Shanxia turned his head and looked at the surrounding area. There were not many houses in the visible range, and there were no decent loading and unloading facilities on the pier. It was hard to say whether this was a deliberate disguise or not enough funds were invested to improve the infrastructure.

The official ship has complete facilities and special spreaders for loading and unloading cargo, so it didn't take too long for Liu Shanxia and his party's luggage to be transferred ashore, but the process of transporting it to the transportation boat took more time.Even with the help of Gao Cong's soldiers throughout the process, it still took more than an hour to complete the transportation of all the items.

After completing this mission, the official ship will leave here to continue with the next mission.However, Liu Shanxia and others need to complete their tasks in Miaoli first, and then the Ministry of Shipping will coordinate and arrange a ship to pick them up.

The steam engine on the traffic boat has been warmed up for a long time in advance, and when the things are loaded, it can start immediately.Accompanied by Gao Cong, Liu Shanxia boarded one of the traffic boats, and found that a rattan chair was specially prepared for him on the deck. Although the conditions were simple, it was considered a special treatment for him.

After counting the number of people, Gao Cong gave the order to set off.The sailor operating the steam engine blew the whistle, pulled down the valve to drive the propeller, and bursts of water immediately rose from the stern of the ship.Amidst the roar of the steam engine, three traffic boats left the pier in a file, and slowly moved eastward along the stream.

The operating principle of the steam engine installed on the traffic boat is roughly the same as that of the steam locomotive of the train, except that the end of the drive is replaced by a propeller instead of a wheel.Of course, the speed of the ship is far from comparable to that of a train running on the rails. Liu Shanxia estimates that the speed is only about five or six knots. Such a speed is acceptable.

Liu Shanxia raised his wrist to look at his watch, and asked Gao Cong, "Can you arrive at noon?"

Gao Cong nodded and said, "It will take about two hours on the road, and we will definitely be there before noon."

"That's okay." Liu Shanxia nodded slightly in approval.On this journey from Sanya to Miaoli, he has been wandering on the sea for many days. When he stepped on the pier just now, his feet felt like he was stepping on cotton. He really didn't want to stay on the boat any longer.In fact, if he had had the option to go by land at the pier just now, such as taking a horse-drawn carriage to the oil production area, then he would definitely not have boarded this ship.

But obviously the local land transportation situation is not ideal, and this is the main task of his coming here.With nothing to do on the way, Liu Shanxia asked Gao Cong about the current local traffic and freight conditions.

Ninety percent of Haihan's population in Miaoli is concentrated in the inland oil production areas, so the existing infrastructure projects are also centered on the oil production areas.The current production capacity of the oil production area is actually very limited, so the relevant departments have not invested too much resources in transportation. It was not until the executive committee decided to increase the development of this area that the transportation-related infrastructure projects were really included. Come into the plan.

In fact, there are land passages from the oil production area to the coast in the local area. However, due to the high concentration of the local population and the semi-closed control, people cannot enter and leave the oil production area at will. Therefore, the transportation function carried by the land passage is very limited, and there are free waterways. Available, the local management committee naturally does not want to spend too much money to maintain the road. After a long time, the land road is not even easy to travel by horse-drawn carriage, and the transportation in and out of the oil production area will rely more and more on the waterway.

As for the cargo situation, Gao Cong said that the oil production area only transports cargo to the wharf at the mouth of Houlongxi twice a month, and usually two to three transportation boats can complete a single transportation task.In fact, the local external demand for materials is not large. The daily food and other food needed by the people can basically be self-sufficient in the local area. When the year is good, there is even a surplus. Most of the food shipped from the outside world is produced in Hainan Island. For daily necessities, the amount of transportation is not certain, but the current local transportation capacity is sufficient.

When Liu Shanxia heard this, he roughly understood why the local transportation-related infrastructure projects had been stagnant.This is because the Executive Committee intends to control the immigration development process here, and has not moved a large number of people here; second, the local transportation demand is indeed limited, and only one waterway can meet it, so there is no incentive to build large-scale construction projects by building roads. and ports for better shipping conditions.

But now the Executive Committee has decided to move a large number of immigrants here. Liu Shanxia knows that as soon as the population size increases, the demand for transportation will naturally increase accordingly. It is imperative to build a land transportation trunk line.As for whether to build the railway in one step, Liu Shanxia feels that it is open to discussion. If the local demand for foreign freight does not reach a certain scale, the construction of the railway system will only cause a waste of transport capacity.

And as far as he knows, there is no iron ore to be mined in Taiwan, so the rails needed for laying the railway also need to be made in Hainan Island and then shipped over by sea, and the running length of this railway will be at least 40 miles , which is nearly double the length of the railway currently in operation in Sanya, and the construction cost is quite scary.

Of course, whether the actual situation is as he imagined can only be determined after contacting the local management committee.However, in Liu Shanxia's mind, the possibility of building a railway has been lowered by one level.

These subordinates who followed Liu Shanxia to carry out this mission are basically coming to Taiwan Island for the first time, and they are quite curious about the environment here. Some people have even compared the scenery on both sides of Houlongxi with the Tiandu River Basin .

The difference between the two places is obvious. There are almost no human footprints along the Houlongxi. If it weren’t for the rumbling sound of the steam engines on these transportation boats, it would be a picture of nature untouched by human beings.

"There shouldn't be any indigenous people around here, right?" Liu Shanxia wanted to reconfirm whether his situation was safe despite the protection of the garrison and his accompanying guards.

Gao Cong replied respectfully: "Don't worry, my lord, the tribes that opposed us at the beginning have been wiped out long ago. Now there are only a few tribes that have surrendered to our country and are still living nearby. There are few benefits, so they will not fight against us again, let alone have the idea of ​​​​attacking us."

Liu Shanxia said: "In the future, a large number of Han immigrants will move to the local area. When the population increases, most of them will still have conflicts with these indigenous people. At that time, the security situation may not be as ideal as it is now."

Gao Cong didn't know the high-level plan for Miaoli, so he had no choice but to respond first when he heard the words, but he was thinking in his heart, why did the high-level suddenly think of developing this place.

Of course, the development of Miaoli is a good thing. Gao Cong knows that there are at least tens of thousands of acres of land available for reclamation on the alluvial plain beside the Houlong River. The soil is fertile and unowned. It is really suitable for building immigrant villages .If the higher authorities want to move immigrants here, they can easily resettle 2 to [-] people.At that time, the garrison will definitely expand its establishment, and Gao Cong will naturally get the chance to be promoted.

Liu Shanxia chatted with Gao Cong without saying a word, but did not stop working. A three-foot-square local map was spread out on the deck in front of him. Note, modify those discrepancies.

This map was brought by him from Sanya, and it was a military map drawn by the Haihan Army when it entered here.But as a construction worker who came to survey the terrain, this map is not completely suitable, so Liu Shanxia still has to come here in person to confirm the construction conditions here before organizing the next project operation.

(End of this chapter)