1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3740

In addition to the itinerary to inspect the Tiandu Industrial Zone, Shi Diwen also had to attend an event when he returned to Sanya this time, which was the completion ceremony of Victory Fort.

When the time travelers first arrived here more than thirty years ago, they spent two months building the Victory Fort stronghold on the coast of Yulin Bay, which also marked the beginning of the establishment of the Hai Han Kingdom.

For the next thirty years, Victory Fort was the power center of Hai Han. All the core departments of the country, especially the highest authority, the Executive Committee, were located in Victory Fort.

Although there is no magnificent palace here, but only a castle of not too large an area, it is an unbreakable spiritual fortress in the hearts of the Hai Han people.

Even the banknotes of various denominations issued by Hai Han are printed with images of Victory Fort, allowing Hai Han citizens who have never been to Sanya to clearly know what Victory Fort looks like.

In fact, the fortress that the time travelers built in two months was much simpler than the Victory Fort known to the public today. It was only after several subsequent renovations and expansions over several years that it gradually took on the appearance of today’s Victory Fort.

Since the completion of Victory Square many years ago, a ceremony has been held in the square in early June every year to commemorate the feat of the time travelers in building the Victory Fort here.

This celebration ceremony was limited to Sanya and was not as grand as National Day. However, for the hundreds of time travelers who came here at that time, the completion of Victory Fort was of great significance. This was the first large-scale infrastructure project they had completed in this time and space, and it could be said to be the foundation of the country of Hai Han.

Even though the Executive Committee and some major departments have moved to Hangzhou, this special commemorative event is still held on schedule every year. As long as there are members of the Executive Committee in Sanya, they will definitely attend this event.

For Shi Diwen, this event was both familiar and unfamiliar. He had attended several commemorative activities in his early years, but after Hai Han occupied Zhoushan, he stayed there and seldom returned to Sanya. The opportunities to attend this event were even fewer. It had been more than 20 years since he last participated in this event.

In the past, this event was hosted by several members of the Executive Committee, and Shi Diwen only had to watch the ceremony from the side. However, this year he returned to Sanya as a member of the Executive Committee, and was the only senior official of the Executive Committee present, so it was natural that he became the protagonist of this event.

Sanya locals were as enthusiastic as ever about this commemorative event, and tens of thousands of people gathered in Victory Square early in the morning. In addition to participating in this traditional event, they also wanted to see the "newcomer" of the Executive Committee.

Of course, Shi Diwen was not an unknown figure in Hai Han. After all, he was a well-known leader, and his name was often seen in various newspapers. It was just that he left Sanya relatively early, so the local people did not have such a deep impression of him. Many young people had never even seen this great man.

The attitudes of the more than 100 time travelers who still live in Sanya towards this event are divided. Some people have no interest in participating and simply do not come; while others are invited to attend the event for the purpose of watching the fun and showing their presence, in order to see what kind of mission Shi Diwen has brought back to Sanya.

After the lively dragon and lion dances, the celebration finally came to the highlight, and Shi Diwen stepped onto the podium that had been set up in advance.

Generally speaking, at the annual celebration, the Executive Committee will publicly announce some policies or development plans to boost public morale. The onlookers were eagerly looking forward to Shi Diwen, who hosted the celebration this year, to bring some good news to Sanya. The onlookers were not disappointed. The first news announced by Shi Diwen was that the Executive Committee determined that Sanya would continue to maintain its status as a regional central city in the future, and implement tariff reductions and exemptions for imports and exports, as well as further improve the port facilities of Sanya Port and Shengli Port, expand the port scale, increase the production capacity of Sanya Shipyard, and other measures to consolidate the status of the local trade port.

Ordinary people may not understand what a "regional central city" means, but they can understand the measures of reducing taxes and burdens and supporting ports and shipbuilding industries, and they immediately burst into cheers.

After all, among the major industries in Sanya, ports and shipbuilding are both very important basic parts, and the number of people employed in these industries is as high as tens of thousands. Other industries such as manufacturing, service industry, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline production and fishery have all benefited from these two basic industries to a greater or lesser extent.

After Hai Han moved its capital to Hangzhou, the local people in Sanya inevitably felt abandoned, and the sense of superiority of living in the "imperial city" was gone. Many people even believed that after the various government agencies moved away from Sanya, it would gradually decline and become just an ordinary seaport on the South China Sea.

However, the policies announced by Shi Diwen have undoubtedly debunked all the rumors that are unfavorable to Sanya. As long as the port and shipbuilding industry are still there, Sanya will continue to prosper.

These policies announced by the Executive Committee are actually closely related to the process of overseas expansion. After all, Hangzhou is too far away from the main direction of overseas expansion. In the South China Sea, there needs to be a mature large-scale trade port like Sanya to undertake the transportation of various materials from south to north.

The second piece of news announced by Shi Diwen was also related to overseas expansion.

The Executive Committee will provide generous treatment to people who voluntarily immigrate to designated overseas areas, including Phuket Island in the Indian Ocean, Hamban Port, Fubo Port, Zhenhai Port, Swan Port and Beimen Port in the Southern New World and many other new overseas colonies.

In addition to traditional measures such as providing resettlement allowances, allocating real estate and land, and reducing personal taxes, special allowances will also be given to professionals engaged in science, education, culture, and health, as well as skilled craftsmen, and these people will be given priority for appointment to vacant positions in local government.

If an immigrant is not originally from Hai Han, after settling in the local area for a certain period of time, he or she can apply to the government for Hai Han citizenship and enjoy the treatment of naturalized citizens.

Although these treatments have limited appeal to the wealthy locals of Sanya, there are also many people here who are not living such a satisfactory life. These generous treatments of relocating to overseas colonies do sound very attractive.

Shi Diwen then announced the third piece of news, which was the arrangements for the imperial examinations in Hainan Island this year.

As in previous years, Sanya will be the venue for this imperial examination. In addition to local students on Hainan Island, students from Xingdao and Luzon who have passed the preliminary selection examination will also go to Sanya to take the subsequent advanced selection examination.

In addition, foreign students who intend to work for Hai Han for a long time will be allowed to take the imperial examination for the first time this year, and those with excellent scores will have the opportunity to serve in the Hai Han government. This is undoubtedly a far-reaching and significant benefit for those foreign students who come to Hai Han to study at their own expense.