1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2455
Gradually realizing the impact on a certain region or a specific group through soft means such as trade, finance, and culture is the strategy that Haihan has used the most in the process of external expansion in recent years.Facts have proved that even a regime established by barbarians like the Manchu Qing could not resist Haihan's routine.

The royal family and dignitaries of the Qing Dynasty soon tasted the sweetness brought by the trade, and various commodities from the south flowed into Liaodong through Jinzhou, and even entered the imperial palace in Shenyang.After Huang Taiji experienced the high-priced soap, matches, kerosene lamps, sucrose, refined salt, glassware, tobacco and other Haihan commodities, he naturally understood why Haihan was willing to cease war and trade with him. Making money is comfortable, these things only need to be sold at a higher price and resold to those more isolated Mongolian tribes, and it is easy to make a lot of money.

Under the organized propaganda campaign of the Haihan merchants, the Haihan style of life was quickly regarded by the Qing Dynasty as a more advanced and civilized existence than that of the Ming Dynasty, and imitating the Haihan style became a new fashion among the upper class of the Manchu Qing society. .

However, what Huang Taiji really misses is Haihan's weapons and equipment, but because Haihan's official control is extremely strict, it is impossible to buy them through commercial channels, even if they go to Jinzhou with silver to buy them, it is useless.

And various agricultural and forestry products produced in the Manchu Qing ruled area, such as ginseng, mink fur, antler, bear bile, etc., as well as various livestock, also began to enter the market in the southern region in large quantities through the sea trade route opened by Haihan. Naturally, more than half of the profits were taken into Haihan's pocket.

Almost at the same time as the official opening of business with the Qing Dynasty, Haihan and North Korea also reached an agreement to jointly develop Jeju Island.Haihan funded the construction of animal husbandry facilities in the local area. In addition to pigs, cattle and sheep, there is also a large horse farm for breeding military horses.Of course, these investments are not given to North Korea in vain. The large coastal plain in the west of Jeju Island will become one of Haihan’s resettlement sites, and a large number of refugees from Shandong will be transported here for resettlement.

Although Daming has temporarily got rid of the external military pressure, as in history, severe droughts and locust plagues occurred one after another in Shandong, and the affected areas even exceeded the previous period when the Qing army invaded Shandong, and the number of refugees caused was naturally extremely alarming. .

But with previous experience, the people know where to flee to save their lives, so the number of refugees influx into Dengzhou even exceeds that of the previous year.Fortunately, Haihan has already prepared for this round of refugee influx in advance, and is no longer in a hurry like the previous year. Most of the refugees were shipped away within three days of arriving in Fushan County, and no siltation was caused in the local area. .

The area of ​​the new resettlement area on Jeju Island is larger than that of Fushan County, and the distance is much closer than that of Taiwan Island in the south. Therefore, the transfer efficiency has also improved a lot compared with the previous year. Only those who opened this immigration route In the first month, more than [-] refugees were sent to Jeju Island for resettlement.

At this time, Daming was still busy exterminating the peasant army in the Shanshan and Shaanxi areas, and had no time to take into account the natural disasters in Shandong. He could only pretend to turn a blind eye to Haihan's behavior of absorbing a large number of refugee populations.Emperor Chongzhen and the officials at the court also knew very well that if these refugees were not resettled in a timely and proper manner, new civil strife would inevitably arise in Shandong. Although Haihan's blood-sucking behavior was hateful, it could be regarded as solving a problem for Ming Dynasty. Security risks.

At the beginning of 1641, Roger, the supreme officer of Sing Tao, personally led an armed fleet to the port of Banda Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra Island through the Strait of Malacca. After a few days of rest, they crossed the Bay of Bengal to the east coast of the Indian Peninsula.This is also the first time Haihan officially set foot on the Indian peninsula.However, this voyage across the Bay of Bengal is mainly of an exploratory nature, not to establish a stronghold on the east coast of the Indian Peninsula. After completing the inspection, the fleet will still return to Xingdao to station.

However, this kind of movement also made the colonists of European countries nervous. After all, Haihan has not extended the sphere of influence to the west of the Strait of Malacca so far.
At the same time as Roger was operating, the two elite units of the Special Forces and the Marine Corps were also ordered to leave Hainan Island and go south.Taking advantage of this period of peace in the north, the Executive Committee is preparing to take action in the south.In order to fully consolidate Haihan's influence in the South China Sea.

The destination of the Marine Corps is Palawan Island, located in the southwest of the Philippine Islands. Their task is to clear Palawan Island with the Manila Garrison and establish a stronghold in Honda Bay in the middle of its west coast.

This place called Puerto Princesa was originally a place where criminals were exiled by the Spanish colonial authorities, but after the Spaniards were driven to the southern Maluku Islands, it was slowly abandoned, leaving only a few hundred Convicts and their families still live here.

Naturally, Haihan was not interested in these Spanish criminals, but in the mercury mine near the port.There is no mercury mine with stable production capacity in the area under Haihan's rule, and the production here will provide raw materials for Haihan to manufacture barometers, thermometers, electrical equipment, etc.

The Haihan army easily occupied the port without encountering any decent resistance. The local criminals wisely chose to surrender collectively and expressed their willingness to pledge allegiance to the new owner.However, the Haihan army didn't have time to distinguish whether these Spaniards were real criminals or ordinary people who had been wronged, so they all packed up and arranged to be used as coolies in the mining area.

In order to ensure the safety of production here, the Haihan Army also cleared up the indigenous tribes within a hundred miles, and stationed an infantry company here, and will gradually move in here.

The target of the Special Forces is Kalimantan Island, southwest of Palawan Island. The Gulf of Seri Begawan on the north shore is a famous oil and natural gas producing area in later generations, and its reserves far exceed the Chusulkeng Oilfield on Taiwan Island.The Seriya area, located [-] miles away from Bandar Seri Begawan, is the main onshore oil exploration area in later generations.With Haihan's existing mining technology, it is barely able to exploit the shallow oil fields here.

This place currently belongs to the territory of the Boni Kingdom, but since the middle of the last century, the Boni Kingdom has been invaded by force from Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries one after another, and its national power has been seriously damaged. It's just a small country that attracts people's attention, so Haihan is not polite about it, and directly sends troops to the area to occupy the place first, and then negotiate with the Boni country.Of course, just in case, the Special Forces, a force with rich combat experience, was used to avoid danger to the technicians and exploration equipment sent to the area.

(End of this chapter)