1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3722

Shi Diwen was of course very clear about Qian Tiandun's plan. Trading the development prospects of the Middle East in exchange for the support that the East China Sea region could currently provide was indeed a deal that was beneficial to both parties.

However, the Special Operations Division needs to develop the local energy industry after gaining a foothold in the Middle East. The various resources required for this, including immigrants sent from the country, are all huge demands, and it is difficult to support them with the supply of even one or two regions. Otherwise, the Xingdao Region would not have adjusted its cooperation plan with the Special Operations Division and invested its own resources mainly in the development of the new continent in the south.

But then again, the Xingdao region has its own considerations for its choice. The benefits to be gained from independently developing the New South Continent will certainly be greater than those from cooperating in developing the Indian Ocean.

If the East China Sea region wants to get a piece of the pie in the Indian Ocean, it also needs to be prepared for huge investments. Simply providing immigrants may be far from enough.

The rewards bestowed upon the Special Operations Division by the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense also include combat vessels and military personnel drawn from the East China Sea region. At the same time, they also required shipyards across the country, including Zhoushan Shipyard, to free up a certain amount of production capacity to serve the needs of the Special Operations Division.

As a member of the Executive Committee, Shi Diwen also participated in the relevant decision-making. He was of course very clear about how big the gap in resources Qian Tiandun currently needed was. Perhaps it would take the entire Hai Han’s strength to meet it.

Shi Chengxin could tell from his words that he was not very optimistic about the matter, so he asked tentatively, "So what you mean is, wait and see?"

Shi Diwen said: "In the long run, whether actively or passively, the East China Sea region will definitely participate in the operations in the Indian Ocean direction. It is beneficial to start the layout earlier. However, our investment in the local area needs to be better guaranteed."

"Write a reply and say that we will try our best to assist you in immigration matters and will send personnel to Fubo and Zhenhai ports for physical inspections in the first half of the year. Subsequent cooperation matters can be discussed in depth after the inspections."

A senior official like Shi Diwen would certainly not give the necessary assistance without reservation just based on a telegram from Qian Tiandun. To be on the safe side, he naturally had to first investigate the actual local situation, roughly determine the scope of business that the East China Sea Region could participate in, and then discuss the specific conditions of cooperation with Qian Tiandun.

When Shi Chengxin heard that they were going to send someone to investigate the local area, he immediately volunteered, saying, "Since this matter is of great importance, I am willing to take your orders and go there to investigate the local situation."

Unexpectedly, Shi Diwen shook his head and rejected his application: "This task cannot be given to you yet. It's not because I don't trust you, but because I plan to go on this trip myself. When the time comes, you will stay in Hangzhou and take care of the family."

Shi Chengxin was stunned and said, "This journey is thousands of miles away, and the living environment there is in the desert. Why should father endure this?"

Shi Diwen said: "The expansion of the Special Warfare Division in the Indian Ocean is related to our country's destiny for the next 100 years. The Executive Committee cannot make a decision based solely on Qian Tiandun's report. Sooner or later, we have to send people to see the actual situation on the ground."

"Rather than letting someone else do this job, I'd rather take the initiative and take it on. If I go on this trip under the guise of an inspection by the Executive Committee, many things will be much easier to handle. If I send you, at most you can only represent the East China Sea Region, but that won't have the same effect."

Shi Chengxin suddenly realized, "I see. Father is really thoughtful. But the journey over there is long and the area is vast. The special warfare division's exploration operation lasted for several months. Father's trip will probably take several months as well, right?"

Shi Diwen nodded and said, "It's really far over there. It will probably take one or two months to go back and forth. This trip will take three to five months at the fastest, or a year and a half at the longest."

Shi Chengxin said, "What about Japan after my father left?" "Japan has entered a long-term civil war. Just let Amakusa Shiro keep an eye on it."

Shi Diwen paused and added, "Japan just needs to maintain the status quo and not urge the warring parties to speed up the pace. We can sell arms if we can, but we must control the balance. It won't do us any good if they win or lose."

Whether it was arms trade or recruiting immigrants, the practical benefits that Japan could bring to Hai Han were all based on the continued civil war. Once the outcome of the battle was decided, no matter which side was the final winner, it would not necessarily be a good thing for Hai Han.

Only continuous war can bring continuous benefits to Hai Han. Shi Diwen did not need to explain this principle in detail. He believed that Shi Chengxin could understand it.

Shi Chengxin said, "What arrangements do you have, brother?"

Shi Diwen said: "Tell him not to rush to expand, but to digest the territory he has occupied first. If he has any plans to deploy troops, wait until I come back from this trip before discussing it."

Shi Diwen's eldest son Shi Chengwu had been the commander of the garrison in Nanjing for a year and a half. During this period, he also took action against the Ming-occupied areas in Jiangbei and captured several counties.

However, this achievement was nothing compared to the speed of expansion of the various overseas regions. Moreover, because the occupied areas were traditional Ming-ruled areas, the marks left by more than two hundred years of rule were deeply rooted, and it would take years to fully integrate them into Hai Han's social system.

Shi Diwen's instructions were also due to his concern that young people would be eager to make achievements and rush to attack other places without fully digesting the existing territories, which would cause turmoil in the jurisdiction due to unstable foundations.

In the more than one year since 1658, Hai Han has made successive efforts in the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Indian Ocean, and the speed of its external expansion has increased significantly.

This has forced the Executive Committee to adjust the allocation of resources and use more industrial capacity to serve the current needs of external expansion.

The mining, smelting, shipbuilding, ordnance and other related industrial chains have benefited greatly during this period. The increase in demand has driven the expansion of production capacity, which in turn has led to an increase in the salaries of related personnel, allowing Hai Han's technical personnel group to enter a period of rapid growth.

According to statistics from Hai Han’s Ministry of Culture and Education, in the past three years, seven more academies specializing in vocational training have been opened in various parts of Hai Han.

With the current educational scale, Hai Han’s nearly twenty existing vocational training colleges can provide no less than five thousand technicians each year for various factories, workshops, research institutes and other industrial-related units.

Many of them can achieve career advancement after working for a few years, from ordinary workers to technicians or even engineers.

Compared with the speed of generating industrial workers, Hai Han’s progress in training bureaucrats is much slower, and even cannot keep up with the speed of external expansion.

Every year, students graduating from the Haihan Administrative College in Sanya become the most sought-after talents in the various regions. However, troops stationed overseas for a long time, such as the Special Operations Division, often cannot compete with other regions, and most of the time they can only find suitable talents from their own retired personnel to serve as administrative officials in the newly occupied regions.