1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3723

The Executive Committee has long realized that all the factors that restrict the speed of Hai Han's external expansion are ultimately caused by insufficient population.

To this end, the Executive Committee has also taken many measures to promote domestic population growth, such as introducing a series of policies to encourage childbirth, linking population growth with the performance evaluation of local officials, and so on.

However, the impact of such measures is slow and long-term, and often does not produce immediate results. It may even take ten or twenty years before the exact population growth trend is reflected in the statistical data.

There is only one way to truly gain a large population in a short period of time, and that is to occupy more densely populated areas. And the most suitable target, of course, is the Ming Dynasty, which has the closest ties with Hai Han.

It's just that the Executive Committee hopes to take over the Ming territory in a peaceful way as much as possible, rather than taking over some areas that have been ravaged by war and where a large number of people have fled, leaving nine out of ten houses empty. That would not only be of no benefit to Hai Han, but would greatly increase the cost of post-war governance.

The personnel gap in Hai Han’s own bureaucratic system also made the governance of the newly ruled areas not particularly smooth. Some regions even had to temporarily use the local government teams from the Ming Dynasty period after being controlled by Hai Han.

Therefore, the Executive Committee has always maintained a cautious attitude towards the progress of annexing the Ming Dynasty and has not been greedy for quick success or rushed forward.

After the last round of war with the Ming Dynasty ended in 1657, Hai Han did not actively launch large-scale military offensives, but instead focused on digesting the newly acquired territories.

At the same time, the Ministry of Security restarted the Wujian Plan, which had been stagnant for many years. It contacted the personnel who had been placed in the Ming officialdom in the early years and let these pawns try to instigate the areas under their jurisdiction to voluntarily surrender to Hai Han. In this way, there would be a chance to take over the prefectures that originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty in a peaceful manner.

Shi Diwen's next plan is to use Nanjing as a starting point and march all the way to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, annexing the prefectures along both sides of the Yangtze River, and advancing Hai Han's territorial border from East China to Central China.

The early stages of this plan had actually already been implemented. In recent years, Hai Han had sent a number of ships to the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River in the name of trade. It had already gained a clear understanding of the hydrological conditions of the Yangtze River in central China, and had even deployed many spies in the prefectures along the way. It only needed to send troops to occupy the area when the time was right.

The reason why Shi Diwen did not let Shi Chengwu lead the operation was ultimately because he was a little bit unsure about the young man's ability.

Moreover, part of the East China Sea Fleet must be transferred to the Yangtze River for related operations. During the period, there will be many landing operations and siege battles to attack cities. Shi Diwen has to watch these big scenes personally to feel at ease.

However, if they were to develop in-depth cooperation with the Special Operations Division, they would have to withdraw some resources from the garrison troops in the East China Sea region and assign them to the Special Operations Division and deploy them in the direction of the Indian Ocean. This would also have some impact on Shi Diwen's expansion plan in the Jianghuai region.

Of course, if Shi Diwen can complete the on-site inspection of the Special Operations Division's controlled area as soon as possible, subsequent adjustments will be more relaxed, and perhaps he can also make up for the losses drawn to the Special Operations Division as much as possible before starting the operation.

However, this visit to the Indian Ocean is not something that can be carried out immediately. Since he is representing the Executive Committee, he must follow the rules and procedures, and the accompanying personnel will not be composed only of his personal trusted subordinates.

Shi Diwen first submitted an application for a visit to the Executive Committee, listing three reasons. The first was to inspect the actual combat results of the special operations division and confirm that the situation reported to the Executive Committee was not exaggerated or untrue.

Second, on behalf of the Executive Committee, we will commend the meritorious personnel of the Special Operations Division in person and award them military merits, which will greatly boost the morale of the Special Operations Division.

The third is to assist in promoting the development and construction of Fubo and Zhenhai ports, such as immigration, infrastructure, mineral exploration, etc., and at the same time establish formal diplomatic relations with local countries and local forces.

Of course, Shi Diwen also has a personal reason that he does not want to tell outsiders, which is to investigate the local business environment and determine whether to invest more resources in the name of the East China Sea Region and participate in the cooperation initiated by Qian Tiandun.

Shi Diwen has basically no competitors for the special mission of visiting and inspecting the special operations division's jurisdiction.

It is a tradition of Hai Han for the Executive Committee to send personnel to inspect the newly occupied areas. However, most of the senior officials of the Executive Committee are unwilling to take the initiative to travel to the desert area thousands of miles away, because everyone knows that such a mission is essentially a chore.

Given their current age and physical condition, few people can withstand drifting on the sea for a month or two or even longer, and eating sand and drinking wind in the desert. Now that Shi Diwen has volunteered, the others are also happy to let him take the lead.

As for whether Shi Diwen's initiative was selfish, others would not expose it even if they thought of it. After all, someone had to do this job. If Shi Diwen was not allowed to go, and he did not want to take over, then who else could be chosen?

Therefore, Shi Diwen's application was approved by the Executive Committee with a unanimous vote. Even Ning Qi and others who always liked to go against the military voted in favor without hesitation.

The reason is simple. Ning Qi and others also agree with the necessity of Hai Han operating a colonial port in the Middle East and making friends with local countries, as well as Qian Tiandun’s long-term plan to build the Suez Canal.

All of these plans will undoubtedly be of great benefit to Hai Han's long-term development, but at present it seems that they can only be implemented by Qian Tiandun's special operations division, and no one else can replace their role.

This is not like the development of the New World in the South, where two major regions, Luzon and Xingdao, are competing at the same time. If one fails, the other can make up for it. Qian Tiandun's current situation is more like when Wang Tom led his troops to North America, and needed to rely on support from the country to create a place for himself there.

However, Wang Tom's development in North America is more like branching out, while Qian Tiandun's expansion plan in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East will face more competitive pressure from other countries, and the probability of using military means to solve the problem is much higher than in North America.

Even for the sake of the Special Operations Division's golden signboard, the Executive Committee must do its best to provide Qian Tiandun with the necessary support to ensure that the Special Operations Division's operations in the region can continue its myth of invincibility.

The support that the Executive Committee will provide is not just to allow Shi Diwen to visit the area. Many of the measures listed in the commendation order previously issued to the Special Operations Division will be implemented during Shi Diwen's trip.

The most intuitive manifestation of these support measures is the large team of entourage that will accompany Qian Tiandun to the region this time.