1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3935

Shi Chengxin only revealed half of his statement, not explicitly stating Qian Tiandun's plan to launch a large-scale military operation in the Middle East as soon as possible. After all, the relevant plans were still awaiting approval from the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense, and it was not advisable to disclose them too early.

However, Shi Chengxin was not the only one present who knew about this; Chen Pingliao was another person who knew the truth.

Before heading south, the Northern Region had received a telegram from the Special Operations Division, in which Qian Tiandun briefly explained his plan to seize the Suez region. The purpose of informing Chen Yixin of this was, of course, to seek assistance from the Northern Region.

The foundation of the Northern Region was almost entirely laid by Qian Tiandun and his special forces division. Chen Yixin had followed Qian Tiandun closely in his early years, fighting from Shandong all the way to Liaodong, and establishing a stable and secure northern frontier for Haihan.

Whether in military campaigns or in governing a region, the young Chen Yixin learned a great deal from Qian Tiandun. The two had a mentor-student relationship as well as friendship, and their personal bond was very strong.

Four years ago, when Qian Tiandun led his troops south to overseas, he entrusted the Northern Region to Chen Yixin. This entrustment directly led to Chen Yixin's later selection into the Executive Committee, becoming one of the nine people who held power in the empire.

In return, Qian Tiandun still retains shares in many industries in the Northern Region, and a considerable amount of wealth is sent to special operations divisions stationed overseas through secret channels every year.

Chen Yixin has also stated on various occasions that the Northern Region will serve as the "eternal base" for the special operations divisions, and will unconditionally provide all necessary assistance to the special operations divisions located overseas at any time.

Chen Pingliao might not have understood the strategic significance of attacking the Suez Canal, but Chen Yixin, also a time traveler, was very clear about it. Therefore, he agreed to Qian Tiandun's grand plan without any questions and hoped to participate in the subsequent construction and long-term operation of the canal by providing material assistance.

However, this matter requires mobilizing many resources in the Northern Region. It would be inappropriate to do it in Chen Yixin's personal name, but if it is done in an official name, it must first be reported to the Executive Committee and go through the procedures. How to implement it still needs to be carefully considered.

Tan Tianming said, "If you want to serve as an official overseas, why go through all that trouble? The Southern New World is in dire need of people right now. If these salt merchants' sons are willing, I am willing to act as their guarantor and introduce them to local positions. They can depart from Zhejiang immediately, and there will be further arrangements after they arrive in Singapore."

One of Tan Tianming's missions in Hangzhou was to bring various resources, including talent, to Sing Tao. Now, Sing Tao's colonial development on the west coast of the Southern New World has been underway for more than two years, and the initial results are beginning to show. The area urgently needs to bring in a large number of managers to achieve rapid expansion.

These sons of salt merchants had a foundation of knowledge, management experience in business, and most importantly, they had powerful salt merchant groups as their backers. With these three factors combined, Tan Tianming naturally became interested in competing for this unique resource.

Shi Chengxin nodded and said, "What Brother Tan said may not be a bad way out for the sons of salt merchants... You can go and contact the salt merchants in Yangzhou and see if you can reach an agreement."

Shi Chengxin knew clearly that the cooperation between the Special Operations Division and the Yangzhou salt merchants was not just a simple exchange of interests between the two parties; the East China Sea Region played an equally important role in it.

With official backing and guarantees from the East China Sea Region, the placement of salt merchants' sons in the Special Operations Division's jurisdiction was one of the compensation measures the East China Sea Region had taken for the government-run salt industry. It was also a measure to provide practical support to the Special Operations Division—a clever move that achieved two goals at once. The East China Sea Region could exert influence over the Special Operations Division through these salt merchants' sons who had ventured overseas, thereby securing a share of the profits from the future development and operation of the Suez Canal.

However, if these sons of salt merchants were sent to the Xingdao region to oversee the development of the new southern continent, the special forces division and the Yangzhou salt merchants would not credit this favor to the Donghai region's official accounts, so Shi Chengxin naturally would not try to facilitate the matter.

Considering the numerous interests involved between Donghai and Xingdao, Shi Chengxin didn't want to offend Tan Tianming. He wouldn't openly dissuade him, but instead suggested that Tan Tianming give it a try. Once Tan Tianming ran into a snag, he would naturally back down.

He was quite certain that the Yangzhou salt merchants would not rashly change their partners, much less trade Dai Chengrong's precious promotion opportunity to Xingdao. Even though Xingdao's overall strength far surpassed that of the Special Forces Division, it could not shake the salt merchants' already made decision.

Even if the Yangzhou salt merchants ceased their salt business in the future, their roots would still remain in the Donghai region. In a sense, the interests of the salt merchants and the Donghai region were intertwined; they could not betray their own interests, nor could they make choices that went against the Donghai region.

If this matter were handled by a seasoned politician who had been in politics for many years, they would likely realize that the hidden factors involved were not so simple and would be unlikely to intervene easily.

However, the young Tan Tianming clearly lacked experience in this area. He only saw the benefits that Sing Tao could gain through intervention, but failed to see the true interests of all parties involved. Perhaps he would gain some insight after his failed attempt to deal with the salt merchants.

Chen Pingliao took this to heart. He realized that Star Island seemed to have no qualms about intercepting the special forces division. Tan Tianming, as Star Island's representative in Beijing, had just said it so casually. It seemed that he couldn't afford to be careless.

At least in the future, personnel and supplies provided by the Northern Region to the Special Operations Division can no longer be easily transferred through Sing Tao Port. Instead, corresponding ships must be arranged to pass directly through the Strait of Malacca and dock at the port in the Special Operations Division's jurisdiction.

In addition, this matter should be reported to the special operations division as soon as possible to remind them to pay attention to this issue.

What Chen Pingliao was unaware of was that the Special Operations Division had already suffered a setback before, when a group of technical personnel that Li Yuande had organized from within China had been intercepted by Sing Tao halfway through their deployment.

At the time of Chen Pingliao's meeting with Tan Tianming, the Special Operations Division had secretly revised its transportation strategy, which had been in place for nearly four years, to prevent ships carrying important supplies and personnel from docking at Xingdao Port, in order to avoid a recurrence of such a situation.

Although this has had some negative impact on the relationship between the Special Forces Division and Star Island, it is not enough to tear apart the existing cooperative relationship between the two sides. The power struggle is being carried out quietly behind the scenes, so the outside world has not yet noticed these subtle changes.

Chen Pingliao, not wanting Tan Tianming to continue making a fuss about the salt merchants, took the initiative to change the subject: "I'm in Hangzhou this time to attend a senior officer training course organized by the Ministry of National Defense. Does anyone have any inside information about this?"

Shi Chengxin said, "Pingliao, the training course you mentioned is one I'm also going to attend. I can give you a little hint."