1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3766

July 1659, Hamban Port, Ceylon Island, Indian Ocean.

After spending more than half a month in Phuket, Shi Diwen finally arrived at Hamban Port, the second stop of his Indian Ocean trip.

Although Hai Han started building Hamban Port nearly a year later than Phuket, the construction progress here is not much behind. The port and garrison base have begun to take shape, and other ancillary facilities are also being constructed in an orderly manner.

This was mainly due to the fact that the Kingdom of Kandy on the island of Ceylon provided a large number of laborers to assist in the construction of Hamban Port. In exchange, Hai Han also provided it with the necessary military assistance, including weapons and equipment and personnel training, so that it could deal with Western colonizers more calmly.

"Both the Dutch and the Portuguese wanted to control the gem trade in Ceylon, but they were too impatient and only wanted to achieve their goal by quickly conquering the Kingdom of Kandy. It took them decades to achieve their goal."

"The method we adopted is much more effective. The Kingdom of Kandy clearly trusts us more than the Europeans. At present, at least 70 to 80 percent of the gemstones produced on the island are transported through our channels."

Qian Tiandun accompanied Shi Diwen and his party to visit the gem processing workshop in Hamban Port and gave them a general introduction to the cooperation between the special warfare division and the local indigenous people.

This is one of the few industries in Hamban Port. Although there are only dozens of people working here at present, the output value they create accounts for the largest part of the limited fiscal revenue of Hamban Port.

These gem craftsmen were recruited from China by Li Yuande using the influence of Fu Ruifeng and Qiong Lianfa.

According to Qian Tiandun, the wages they can get here are three times more than before. But compared with this operating cost, gem trading is still a very profitable business.

In the eyes of these Hai Han officials, the bright and shining gems were just a pile of beautiful pebbles. However, the economic benefits brought by the gem industry to Hamban Port did greatly alleviate the local construction funding needs.

The port of Hamban is now able to employ a large number of local workers and carry out multiple infrastructure projects at the same time, thanks in large part to the Special Operations Division's rapid control of most of the island's gem trade.

Shi Diwen said: "In the eyes of Europeans, the gems on Ceylon should all belong to them. The special warfare division suddenly appeared and snatched them away. You have to be careful that they are secretly making trouble for you."

Qian Tiandun said: "Last year, we taught the Dutch a lesson in Colombo, and they have been much more restrained since then. They can indeed make trouble in Ceylon, but they must also consider whether their business in East Asia will be retaliated against."

The conflicts of interest among European countries prevented them from uniting to resist Hai Han's expansion, but instead gave Hai Han the opportunity to exploit these conflicts.

Last year, the Dutch sent troops to attack the Portuguese-controlled city of Colombo, which was another outbreak of the two countries' struggle for interests on the island of Ceylon. However, this seemingly ordinary battle underwent a miraculous change due to the intervention of the special operations division.

The troops led by Takahashi Minami assisted the Portuguese in repelling the invading Dutch army, and Portugal thus recognized the existence of Hamban Port. As the defeated party, the Netherlands could not raise any objections. Of course, the more important reason was what Qian Tiandun said, that almost all of Portugal and the Netherlands' interests in East Asia were within the Hai Han sphere of influence. They really could not afford the subsequent risks of breaking off relations with Hai Han in the Indian Ocean.

However, Qian Tiandun's main goal was not on Ceylon Island. He did not want to fight with the Europeans there unless necessary. He would rather deploy the limited forces of the Special Operations Division to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea to extend the Maritime Silk Road formulated by the Executive Committee to the Mediterranean as soon as possible.

The Special Operations Division invested heavily in the construction of Hamban Port, of course, not just for the gem trade. There is a vast "no man's land" around Hamban Port, which is much larger than Phuket Island. In addition, the warm climate, flat terrain, fertile soil and abundant water resources are very suitable for building large farms and plantations here.

As an agricultural expert in the investigation team, Gao Huan was full of praise for the natural conditions here. He suggested that Qian Tiandun develop the area near Hamban Port as an agricultural zone. The future grain output would be sufficient to meet Hai Han’s needs in the Indian Ocean region.

This suggestion was actually the same as Qian Tiandun's. If the special warfare division wants to gain a foothold in the Indian Ocean, it must operate its own logistics supply chain and reduce its dependence on domestic transportation of materials. Among the several places currently occupied, Hamban Port is undoubtedly the most suitable for agricultural development.

Of course, the special operations division’s shortcomings are also obvious, that is, the lack of support from agricultural technology.

Although they had experience in reclamation when they were stationed in Liaodong in the early years, the natural environment and crops in Liaodong were completely different from the tropical regions where they were currently staying, and the agricultural techniques required were even more different.

Fortunately, Gao Huan brought a technical team this time, which can help the special operations division solve some problems and tailor a more scientific agricultural reclamation plan.

"In addition to rice, the coastal plains can also grow a large number of rubber trees and tropical spice crops. The inland mountains are the most suitable for growing tea trees. Ceylon black tea is a good thing!"

Hearing Gao Huan's endless suggestions, Qian Tiandun smiled bitterly and replied, "The inland mountains are about 100 to 200 miles away from Hamban Port. It is not convenient to send our people to such a far place to engage in agricultural development."

Gao Huan said: "Don't think about taking on all the work. Tea planting and tea picking can be handed over to the locals. In the first one or two years of the harvest season, we only need to send people to guide the picking and tea making. We only need to grade the harvested tea leaves and then ship them out."

Qian Tiandun still had some doubts about this: "If we hand it over to the local natives... can this be managed well?"

Gao Huan said: "We did this in Taiwan in the beginning, and the effect was very good. After the indigenous tribes living in the mountains had a stable livelihood through the tea trade, they were more likely to accept our management. By the way, you should have tried the Dongding Oolong produced in Taiwan, right? Isn't it quite good?"

Dongding Oolong is one of Taiwan's famous products. As a high-ranking official of Hai Han, Qian Tiandun had naturally enjoyed it. However, he was somewhat surprised that this tea was actually run by local aborigines. It sounded like this model could indeed be tried in Ceylon.

If the Kingdom of Kandy is willing to take over, Qian Tiandun would not mind handing over the business to them to further strengthen the cooperation between the two sides. After all, the mountainous area suitable for growing tea is quite far from Hamban Harbor, and it is difficult for Hai Han to operate it on its own.