1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 369 New Immigrants

"So many people died on the road..." Seeing the death toll of immigrants reported by the medical department, Qiu Yuan, who had just taken over the position of director of the Shengli Port Management Committee half a month ago, couldn't help but gasped.

Although Qiu Yuan had been staying in Yacheng before this, he was somewhat involved in the immigration work in the early stage, and he probably had some understanding of the loss of immigrants during the transit.The previous immigration work would select the physical condition of the people before transportation, and seldom transported the immigrants with the same density as canned sardines. The death rate is controlled at about one in a thousand. After all, the two places are not far apart, and the Clippers can get there in half a day.Death rates were slightly higher for migrants brought back from North Vietnam and the mainland, but rarely exceeded 5.00 percent.This time, the largest immigration transportation in history, the death rate on the way unexpectedly exceeded [-]%. If it was placed in the usual immigration work, it would definitely be treated as a major accident.

"Then... what about the bodies of these people who died on the way?" Although he could roughly guess the result, Qiu Yuan still asked one more question. After all, this also involves the follow-up funeral arrangements.

"There is no room on the ship to store the dead bodies, and there is no way to bring them back. Basically, they were thrown into the sea on the way." Morgan pointed to several wooden boxes being unloaded from the ship and said in a deep voice: "Only those who died when they arrived at the port Only a few people shipped the corpse back. Fortunately, no signs of the disease have been found so far, and I can finally report to the executive committee."

Morgan is the person in charge of the medical department of this immigrant transshipment operation. He needs to manage the medical and epidemic prevention work of the entire immigrant fleet. After this trip, he has been floating at sea for almost half a month, and he looks quite tired.The medical department he leads is also doing its best, but after all, the manpower and objective conditions are limited, and the executive committee is relatively tight on the transfer time. such a high death rate.Of course, there is no need for Morgan to take the blame. He is just cooperating with the operation led by the Executive Committee. As for the number of people who died on the way, compared with the number of immigrants brought back this time, there is actually nothing to complain about.

Of course, not everyone can maintain a calm state of mind like Dr. Morgan, who is used to life and death. When disembarking, many family members of the deceased insisted on asking the person in charge for an explanation—after all, their relatives were After he passed away, he didn't even leave his body, and was thrown into the sea directly. It was useless to cry and scream when he was on the boat, but after arriving at the destination, he would inevitably bring up this matter again and ask for an explanation.

"Okay, now the trouble is in your hands, I have to go back to sleep for a while..." Morgan yawned big, stretched his waist and said, "I haven't closed my eyes for 72 hours, and I won't sleep anymore I'm afraid I might die here suddenly."

Qiu Yuan frowned and said, "Then what if there are difficult patients?"

"Johnson will be here soon, let him deal with it..." Morgan waved his hand without looking back, and quickly left the pier.

The one who was most disturbed at this time was not the naturalized cadres who organized the gathering of new immigrants on the pier, but Wei Ping, who was surrounded by a group of new immigrants to ask for an explanation. Acting as a facade on the pier, a group of people who had failed to make a fuss with the cadres of the naturalized people immediately surrounded this conspicuous official.

"What's the use of waiting around me? I'm in charge of arresting thieves. Your relative's body is gone, so it's not like someone stole it..." Wei Ping was agitated by this group of people. The first two were big, because of the face of the Haihan people, he didn't dare to violently expel these people, so he could only explain to them patiently, but it seemed that the effect was not good.

At first, these people just surrounded Wei Ping, but then they became emotional, and gradually someone grabbed Wei Ping's sleeve, and before he could struggle, someone knelt down and hugged his thigh.

Fortunately, the militia platoon leader Yu Tiezhu, who was cooperating with him, saw that the situation was not good, and immediately sent a team of militiamen to solve Wei Ping's predicament.Although these people were emotional, they were not in good health, and the militiamen pulled Wei Ping out of the circle without much effort.

Wei Ping was anxious and angry, and he couldn't care less about thanking Yu Tie Zhu for his help. He pointed at this group of people and began to scold: "You troublemakers, if it weren't for the kindness of the masters of Haihan, who donated money and food to relieve the disaster." I’m afraid you’ll have starved to death in the countryside long ago! Do you know how much money Huahaihan masters cost to transport thousands of people from Guangzhou to Qiongzhou Island? Huamiliang is supporting you people, and it’s for you to come to Qiongzhou Island Are you making trouble?"

The originally agitated crowd gradually calmed down after being scolded for a few words.They really couldn't deny Wei Ping's statement. Without the active recruitment of the Haihan people, the vast majority of these people would really only end up starving to death.Although I don't know what will happen after coming here, at least the Haihan people can provide basic food and accommodation conditions, which is better than being homeless.

Wei Ping was about to swear a few words, when suddenly someone patted himself on the shoulder from behind, and when he turned his head and saw Qiu Yuan, he quickly bowed and said, "Director Qiu is here!"

Qiu Yuan nodded to him, and as soon as he stretched out his hand, a Guihuamin follower immediately handed over a metal microphone.Qiu Yuan took the hand, stepped onto the wooden box next to it, and said loudly: "Fathers and elders, I know that you feel heavy because of the death of your family members. It is not what we want to see when such a thing happens. , if possible, we hope to bring everyone to Victory Port intact, so that you will no longer worry about food and clothing. We do not allow you to keep the remains of the dead, and we are also worried about the outbreak of the epidemic at sea. When the time comes The dead may be more than the existing ones, maybe even everyone present and the crew and sailors we sent to rescue you will all suffer misfortune, is this the result you want to see?"

Qiu Yuan saw that the people below had no intention of refuting, so he continued: "The dead have passed away, and the living should cherish the opportunity to live. Only by living well can you be worthy of the sacrifices made by the deceased relatives! The bones have not been transported here, but we will build graves for them one by one, so that you have a place to worship. If you must do something for your relatives, then obey our arrangement and settle down here first. We will try our best to meet your reasonable demands, but if someone tries to coerce us by making trouble, then don’t blame us for being impolite. We have the ability to rescue you from the gates of hell, and we can also send you back go back!"

After Qiu Yuan finished speaking, he threw the microphone to the person next to him, nodded towards Yu Tiezhu and Wei Ping and said, "I'll leave this to you."

"The chief's speech is still good!" Wei Ping sighed sincerely, unaware that there was something wrong with saying the title "chief" from his own mouth.

With Haihan's leading figures appearing to express their attitude, these people basically gave up their intention of continuing to make trouble.Perhaps some of them were not too convinced, but seeing the Haihan policemen in black and Haihan militiamen in gray everywhere, they could obediently give up the idea of ​​challenging the Haihan people's bottom line.

In order to resettle these immigrants, the Ministry of Construction built a large number of temporary residences between the north and south mountains of the Luhuitou Peninsula. When the immigrants saw the huts stretching over a hundred acres, they once again realized that the naturalized people How powerful is the "Executive Committee" that the sky talks about.Many of them had doubts about the strength of the Haihan people before they came here, but the reality told them that this mysterious force was far more reliable than the Guangdong government. Pick up people in Panyu County, and have built residences and living facilities for them at the destination.This kind of thoughtful arrangement has even exceeded their imagination.

After seeing this place of residence, the immigrants really felt at ease, convinced that they were not trafficked to the Nanyang region by unscrupulous businessmen as piglets.The residential area is divided into several camps according to the scale of thousands of people. Each camp is separated by wooden walls and has independent entrances and exits.On the gate of the camp here, there are notices of Anmin from the Yacheng government and the Haihan executive committee respectively, and there are special personnel standing by to explain and answer questions to the onlookers.

After reading the two notices, a literate new immigrant couldn't help asking: "Then in this place, is it Yacheng government that has the final say, or the Haihan Executive Committee?"

The person in charge of answering questions here is Lu Ting, who was temporarily recruited from the militia. He usually works as a commentator in the honor showroom of the camp. , who do you think has the final say?"

"Then why is the Haihan Executive Committee's notice bigger than the government's notice, and the regulations in it are more detailed?" The man continued to ask.

Just looking at the size of these two notices, most people would probably regard the larger one as a government notice, but the opposite is true in front of them. The government notice is only two feet square, with a few words, and it only warns the people to abide by it here. The laws and regulations, subject to management and so on, are stamped with the big seal of Yacheng government and the private seal of Zhizhou Zhangqing.However, the notice issued by the Haihan Executive Committee is more than three times larger in size. It not only stipulates the living rules of the immigrant camp, but also indicates the person in charge of civil affairs, medical care, logistics and other projects—of course These people are all naturalized cadres, and they will directly manage the new immigrants.

"The Haihan Executive Committee is a local management organization recognized and authorized by the government of Yacheng. It has full authority to manage all affairs in this area!" Lu Ting didn't care whether the other party could understand or not, and first recited it according to the description in the learning materials. One time: "In other words, the Haihan Executive Committee is the government here. All decisions are made by the Executive Committee, including your future work and life. Everything is arranged by the Executive Committee. Do you understand? ?”

"Then we will be permanent workers hired by the executive committee from now on?" someone in the crowd asked.

"You are not working for the executive committee, you are working for yourself!" For this issue, Lu Ting has received special training and has a clear understanding of publicity methods: "You want to make money to support your family and live a better life. To live a good life, you must work according to the arrangements of the executive committee. Everything you see here is built by us under the leadership of the executive committee. How much labor you put in, you can get as much reward as you want. The future depends on your own hard work!"

"Then if we don't want to work here in the future, can we leave?" Someone asked timidly.

"Yes, the Executive Committee will not restrict the free entry and exit of the public." Lu Ting was full of confidence in this issue: "But I must say, I have been here for more than half a year, and I have rarely heard of anyone I want to leave here. It’s useless to say more about this question. You only need to live here for ten days and a half month, and you will naturally dispel your doubts. After two or three months, even if someone drives you away, probably no one will move gone."

"Mister, I heard that you are not allowed to farm here. Is it true?" Someone asked again.

"The land here is owned by the Haihan Executive Committee, and no one is allowed to occupy it privately, including farming and building houses." Hearing the whispers from the crowd, Lu Ting continued to explain: "But Don't think there's anything wrong with it. Everyone here doesn't need to farm the land, and no one is oppressed by the gentry and landowners. The wages you get for doing other jobs are enough to support you and your families. In Haihan In the areas under the administration of the executive committee, there will never be people who suffer from insufficient food and clothing due to low income."

"Is there a school here? How to arrange children's enrollment?" Parents who care about the next generation also raised related questions.

"All children under the age of 14 will go to school to receive education. The executive committee attaches great importance to cultural teaching. At that time, not only children, but also everyone present will probably enter the literacy class in batches. If any of you want to If you want to have a good future, then save the thought of flattering your boss and use it on reading and literacy. In this place, as long as you can write and read, you will have a better way out." Lu Ting patiently explained.

Questions and answers like this are constantly going on at the gates of every camp.New immigrants who come here always have countless questions, ranging from weddings and funerals to small things like eating and drinking. The rules here are very different from those in Ming Dynasty, which made the new immigrants feel a little uncomfortable. I was impressed by the thorough consideration of the Executive Committee.But for all the problems that the immigrants can think of, it seems that the Executive Committee has already prepared and has a solution.And these naturalized citizens who are responsible for explaining the policies will also inadvertently reveal various preferential treatment policies after obtaining naturalized citizenship, arousing people's yearning and pursuit of naturalized citizenship.

But no matter how gaudy the talk is, no matter how itchy the hearts of the new immigrants, they must stay in this temporary living area for seven to fifteen days, and only after they are approved by the health and epidemic prevention department can they get further job assignment opportunities.After entering the unit, they also need to rely on their work performance to obtain the right to apply for naturalization.

Nowadays, with the increasing population in Sanya, naturalization is no longer as easy as it was a year ago.At that time, the time-traveling group had to open its mouth to recruit naturalized people due to a large number of manpower gaps that needed to be filled. No matter what kind of cat or dog it was, it would be accepted first.But now this kind of civil affairs policy has changed. Except for the most convenient way to join the army, naturalized citizens must work in the unit for 30 days before being issued application qualifications based on their performance. Of course, this qualification is not [-]% possible. Instead, it is distributed monthly at a certain rate.

Some units with high technical content will have a relatively large proportion of application rights. For example, the proportion of application rights for educational institutions often exceeds 50%.And those units with low technical content and purely exchanging labor for remuneration, such as road construction teams, logging teams, etc., have a slightly lower proportion of monthly application rights, generally controlled at one-third to one-fifth one.

After a period of trial, this kind of hunger and thirst marketing method has received quite good results.People who have obtained naturalization will definitely feel a sense of pride when they see the status of naturalization rising.And the vast number of new immigrants who strive to obtain naturalization for better welfare will also cherish their hard-won status even more.

The executive committee has already made a preliminary plan for the destination of these new immigrants. About 500 to [-] of them will be allocated to the farm areas in the upper reaches of the Sanya Mesopotamia. In line with the large-scale development plan of the Ministry of Agriculture, Locally reclaimed and planted farmland.The rest of the people will be transported to the southwest of Qiongzhou Island to open up the next colonization site—that is, the Yinggehai Salt Field that the executive committee has planned for a long time and has been thinking about a year ago.

Speaking of this, I have to mention the production status of the crossing group's salt industry again. Now under the leadership of the big housekeeper Anxi, the production capacity of Haihan Salt Industry has basically reached saturation. In addition to meeting local needs, the output has basically occupied the entire Qiongzhou Island salt industry market.This directly led to the bankruptcy of the official salt farm in Danzhou in the north, and the salt workers fled to the south one after another to join the Haihan Salt Industry.In addition, dozens of tons of table salt are transported to the mainland by various sea merchants every month. Nowadays, what you see most in the towns of the Pearl River Delta region is not high-priced and low-quality official salt, but The low-priced Haihan salt named "Sanya Refined Salt".Even the salt department in Guangzhou city has nothing to do with the Haihan illicit salt that is blooming all over the place. The gentlemen really can't stretch their hands here.

(End of this chapter)