1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3917

Li Yuande did not reprimand the dejected captains, because he understood that the decision of where certain highly skilled immigrants went was not something that the captains of a mere immigration ship could influence.

What's more, the party that intercepted the deal this time was an important partner of the Special Operations Division, the Sing Tao Regional Management Committee.

After listening to the reports from several captains, Li Yuande handed over the task of resettling the immigrants to his subordinates and hurriedly left the dock to go to the garrison headquarters.

Although Li Yuande did not hold a military post, after four years of working together, almost everyone in the special operations division knew this young master Li from Fu Ruifeng, and they also knew that he was highly regarded by Qian Tiandun, so he could enter and leave the military camp without any hindrance.

"Sir, there's been a problem with the new batch of immigrants who just arrived."

Upon meeting Qian Tiandun, Li Yuande succinctly explained his purpose.

Qian Tiandun put down the documents in his hand, looked up at Li Yuande, and waited for him to continue.

He knew that when Li Yuande said there was a problem, it usually meant that the matter was beyond Fu Ruifeng's capabilities. If it could be resolved using Fu Ruifeng's connections and resources, Li Yuande would definitely choose to handle it himself and wouldn't have reported it to him.

Li Yuande bowed and reported the current situation to Qian Tiandun.

The newly arrived group of immigrants mainly consisted of refugees and prisoners of war from Jiangxi. In addition, there were more than thirty technical personnel needed by Qian Tiandun, who were also expected to arrive on this immigrant ship.

However, while the fleet was docked at Star Island, these technical personnel were temporarily recruited by the Star Island Management Committee without being notified to the Special Operations Division.

Of course, perhaps taking into account Qian Tiandun's feelings, the Sing Tao Management Committee still issued a formal document, which was brought to Fubo Port by the immigration ship.

Qian Tiandun took the document handed to him by Li Yuande and quickly glanced through it.

The document did not mention where these temporarily recruited personnel would be sent, only stating that the Sing Tao region had urgent official business requiring their assistance, and that they would be arranged to go to the Indian Ocean to report to the special operations division after the mission was completed.

Qian Tiandun didn't react much after reading it, but asked Li Yuande, "What do you think is the reason that Star Island recruited them?"

Li Yuande replied, "It should be the Southern New World. It is said that there is a great demand for technical personnel there, and it is also a business owned by Star Island. I suppose Lord Luo and Lord Tan will prioritize investing resources in that direction."

Qian Tiandun pondered and said, "The mineral resources of the Southern New World are very rich. Perhaps for the next few hundred years, it will be able to produce mineral resources needed for the country's development. It is only natural that it will receive more attention."

Li Yuande understood the meaning behind his words and asked with slight surprise, "Sir, are you saying that Xingdao's interception of these personnel was not only the idea of ​​Lords Luo and Tan, but also authorized by the Executive Committee?"

Qian Tiandun nodded and said, "Otherwise, given Roger's relationship with us, even if he wanted to detain people, why would he act without informing me first?"

Li Yuande fell silent, the words he was about to say ultimately remaining unspoken. He had wanted to ask another question: since the Executive Committee intended to prioritize the development of the Southern New World over the Indian Ocean, why not simply inform the Special Operations Division directly?

But thinking about it, he realized that these words were inappropriate and would make it difficult for Qian Tiandun to respond, so he swallowed his words.

Li Yuande was far away overseas and was unaware of the Executive Committee's arrangements for resource allocation in various regions, but he knew that the resources currently allocated to the various overseas colonies were insufficient and far from meeting the needs of development. This was the case in both the Indian Ocean region under the Special Forces Division and the Southern New World, which he had never been to.

The Executive Committee cannot possibly treat everyone equally, so the relevant resource allocation plan will inevitably be biased and will most likely be adjusted according to the development progress of each region.

The detention and relocation of these technical personnel may have been instructed by the Executive Committee, so there is no need to explain it to the Special Operations Division.

Of course, it's more likely that Sing Tao also intends to intercept these people for its own use. Considering the considerable support Sing Tao has provided to the Special Operations Division over the past two years, and the fact that a significant portion of the technical personnel working at Fubo Port are from Sing Tao, such an occasional interception of personnel doesn't seem like a big deal.

But Li Yuande was truly unwilling. He knew that these technical personnel were not so easy to recruit. He had made many efforts through the channels of Furuifeng to get them to agree to voluntarily immigrate to the Indian Ocean to serve the special operations division.

Several of the engineers were recruited by Li Yuande after more than a year of effort and hard work. The difficulties encountered during this period were far greater than those of transporting them from China to Fubo Port.

Having finally recruited such a group of people, Li Yuande was full of hope that this would be another great achievement, but unexpectedly, he was intercepted halfway by a transfer order.

Finding another group of people in China to send over would probably take a long time and a lot of effort.

Li Yuande's thoughts wandered further and further away. Just then, he heard Qian Tiandun speak again: "It seems we won't be able to get these people back anytime soon, so don't think about it anymore."

Li Yuande quickly nodded in agreement, suppressing his resentment for the time being.

What Qian Tiandun said next made Li Yuande's heart skip a beat again: "It's not a secret that you recruited these people in China, but the fact that the Xingdao region was able to prepare official documents in advance to intercept them means that they must have received the travel information beforehand. As for who leaked it, you should investigate it yourself to prevent similar incidents from happening again."

Qian Tiandun had already thought of the parts that Li Yuande hadn't considered.

The recruitment and transportation of the technical personnel originally scheduled to be sent to Fubo Port were all handled by Furuifeng. To prevent any unforeseen complications, Li Yuande had issued a secrecy order, and indeed, not many people outside knew about this matter.

The fact that the immigrant fleet was intercepted by the local authorities as soon as it arrived in Sing Tao suggests that the news had been leaked beforehand. It is highly likely that someone who knew the itinerary secretly sold the information to the Sing Tao authorities, leaving the Special Forces Division and Frederick Frye with no choice but to suffer this injustice.

Li Yuande quickly went through the list of people in charge who could access the relevant information in his mind and made a few suspects. If verified, these people definitely couldn't stay at Furuifeng.

Li Yuande bowed and replied, "Thank you for your guidance, sir. I will investigate this matter immediately. I will have someone keep a close eye on domestic talent recruitment and fill this vacancy as soon as possible."