1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3744

Just as Meng He said, very few people in the outside world know about this place, and even fewer people pay attention to these unknown database maintenance personnel in the cave.

If Shi Diwen had not become a member of the Executive Committee, he might never have met these staff members in his entire life, let alone been aware of their existence.

But these people are not ordinary people. Not only are they loyal to the Executive Committee, they have also received a good education. They can write and draw, and they are also knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, and even some information that transcends this era. Only with these qualities can they be qualified for this special job.

If they had not been chosen to do this secret work, with their knowledge and abilities, they would have been considered elites among the common people of Hai Han, and it would not have been difficult for them to become officials, which would have been a much better future than staying in this cave. Such a huge gap should indeed be compensated.

Shi Diwen also knew that there were many secret units like this on Hainan Island, and there were many talented people in various design institutes and research institutes who were unknown to the outside world. However, he had other missions to accomplish during his trip south, and his stay in Sanya was limited, so he could not inspect these places one by one.

On the third day of the fleet's stay in Sanya, a group of people sent by Annan also arrived at Sanya Port to join the group.

King Zheng Zao of Annan attached great importance to this cooperation. Although he was unable to attend in person, he directly appointed Prince Zheng Gen as the commander of the operation and sent a fully equipped armed fleet to carry out the mission.

"Your father is really willing to spend a lot of money! The cost of this fleet participating in a long-distance mission is estimated to use up half of your navy's military budget this year!"

When Shi Diwen met Zheng Gen, he couldn't help but sigh. For a country as big as Annan, maintaining a Hai Han-style navy all year round is a huge expense. Zheng Za must have felt a little painful when he made this decision.

Zheng Gen responded respectfully: "My father said that this mission is to help your country gain a foothold in the Western Ocean. In the future, my country of Annan will also benefit from it. No matter how much it costs, it is worth it."

"My father also said that it was a rare opportunity to study with Master Shi, and asked me to put in my best effort and take this opportunity to learn more skills."

Shi Diwen knew that Zheng Gen, like his father Zheng Za, had also studied in Sanya for several years. He was very familiar with the customs and culture of Hai Han, as well as the official situation, so there would be basically no obstacles in communication.

It is precisely because of this that Annan has always paid close attention to Hai Han’s various developments and can understand the intentions behind these developments.

Shi Diwen did not think that Annan's reason for taking the initiative to assist was as simple as Zheng Gen said. In his opinion, Annan's move was also driven by his own ambitions.

Shi Diwen believed that a vassal state whose coastline and major ports were under the protection of Hai Han did not need to develop such a strong navy. However, Annan’s current naval organization had obviously greatly exceeded the needs of coastal patrols and had initially acquired the ability to conduct ocean-going operations, which was a manifestation of its ambition. Fortunately, Annan’s weapons and equipment and military personnel training were heavily dependent on Hai Han, so at this stage it should not have any rebellious thoughts. It was just focusing on overseas, hoping to emulate Hai Han and develop overseas colonies outside its homeland.

In fact, Annan has already made attempts in this regard. Hai Han has discovered that in recent years, people from Annan have crossed the South China Sea and settled on the northern coast of Borneo. Judging from the scale of this, it is obviously not just a simple spontaneous immigration of the people.

Borneo is located right between Hai Han's two major regions, Xingdao and Luzon. Although the area is quite large, Hai Han has never spent much effort to develop the area because it is humid and hot, there are not many valuable minerals, and the land in most areas is relatively barren.

Hai Han has two principles for selecting sites for its overseas expansion. The first is geographical hubs, such as key waterways like the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Strait of Mandeb. The second is locations with high-value and easily exploitable mineral deposits, such as the oil fields and tin mines near Xingdao, as well as the New World in the South, which can almost be regarded as a super mineral deposit.

The situation of Borneo is that it is not on either end. It is not on an important shipping route, and there are not many mineral deposits worth developing near the coast. It also does not have basic conditions such as traditional trading ports or population settlements. Therefore, the two major regions of Luzon and Star Island would rather spend more resources to develop the New World in the south than invest in Borneo, which is at their doorstep.

In addition, southern Borneo belongs to the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of Mataram, which is also one of the main financiers of Hai Han’s arms foreign trade. Therefore, to date, whether it is development projects or fighting with the Spanish on Sulawesi Island, Hai Han has tried its best to avoid that area.

The only piece of land that Hai Han officially encircled in Borneo is within the territory of Brunei on the north shore, which is what the Ming Dynasty called the Kingdom of Borneo.

This small country was originally a vassal of Manila, but after the Spanish retreated from Luzon, it has turned to Hai Han. The land Hai Han has enclosed in Brunei is where the local oil fields are located. It plans to start mining the oil fields deep underground once the mining technology is more mature.

However, the places that Hai Han did not think highly of were quite attractive to Annan. The reason was that there were not many places in the South China Sea that Annan could occupy at will, but there were large uninhabited areas in Borneo.

Although these places nominally belonged to a certain sultanate, or even to Hai Han’s sphere of influence, the parties had not established actual government offices there. In Annan’s view, wasn’t this just a no-man’s land with its doors wide open?

So Annan began to quietly transport immigrants to the local uninhabited areas and slowly build colonies, preparing to publicly incorporate the area into its territory after de facto occupation was established in the future.

Zheng Zao might not be sure whether doing so would offend Hai Han, but as long as Hai Han did not stop, it meant that this matter could continue.

As for the areas outside the South China Sea, that meant that they were no longer Hai Han's traditional sphere of influence. If Annan sent troops to assist, it seemed that it would also be eligible to share in Hai Han's victory. Even if only a few miles of local land was allocated to Annan, it would be a huge gain for Zheng Zao's overseas expansion strategy.

So what Zheng Gen said was not entirely polite talk. The extent to which Annan will benefit from it is most likely directly linked to the amount of effort it puts in at this stage. Zheng Zao sent him to carry out this task in order to prove to Hai Han that Annan takes this matter very seriously and is not just going through the motions.