1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 418 Changhua County Town
Qiao Zhiya introduced the situation of Changhua County to everyone on the way. Liu Shanxia sighed after listening, "I didn't realize that you are still a veteran driver! You are so familiar with this place!"

Qiao Zhiya smiled and said: "The historical materials are all given by Mr. Ning. I'm not that good at reading Changhua's county annals. But I almost came here for the few field missions last year, so I'm more familiar with it. It's not bragging either."

Liu Shanxia said: "I have carefully studied the map here before I came here. If the route planned in the early stage is used as the construction plan, then this land passage will only be two or three miles away from Changhua County in the future. The local government in Changhua will Will it affect the future mining plan of Shilu Iron Mine?"

Qiao Zhiya gave a dry cough, and Fu Li, who was walking beside him, immediately slowed down with interest. At the same time, he raised his hand to signal the people behind to slow down as well, keeping a proper distance from Qiao Zhiya and Liu Shanxia.

Only then did Qiao Zhiya respond: "Regarding this matter, the executive committee has made corresponding preparations in both light and dark directions, to ensure the smooth implementation of the Shilu iron ore project..."

The so-called two directions of light and dark, on the bright side, it is natural to ventilate to the local officials on the Changhua county government side through official channels first.As early as last year, the executive committee asked relevant departments to organize people to set up an office in Changhua, but the scale of the Changhua office was relatively small, far from being able to compare with the Guangzhou Office and the Ya Office. No traverser was sent to sit in the town, and the few people who stayed here for a long time were all naturalized people.Usually responsible for collecting information on Changhua, monitoring the government's movements, and at the same time selling salt, rice, coal and other public goods here, and buying various mountain products, furs, etc. sold by the nearby Li people and mountain people.

In addition to doing business, the office also helps the poor from time to time, and as long as they are good at hands and feet and have no problems, they can find a paid job in the office—of course the place of work is not in Changhua, It's in Port Victory to the south.Since the establishment of the office a year ago, it has also sent hundreds of immigrants to the base camp. This achievement is considered to be quite good in the sparsely populated Changhua area.Several Guihuamin cadres who were at Daqian Station in Changhua are also expected to be promoted to higher positions after being developed here.

These naturalized civilian cadres are enough to do these basic things, but it is a bit useless to ask them to deal with the government, or even deal with high-level affairs such as managing joints and negotiating conditions.For this reason, the executive committee specially used Yacheng's relationship to ask Zhang Qing, the magistrate of Yazhou, to write a letter to the Changhua county government, imploring the local parents and officials to give proper "care" to the "Yazhou citizens" who went to Changhua to engage in business activities.Of course, besides Zhang Qing's handwritten letter, there was also a large-value bank note from Haihan Bank in the envelope.After all, Changhua is not a territory of Yazhou, and Zhang Qing's face may have limited effect, but Yinzi can definitely work anywhere.

The condition that the executive committee put forward to the local government was very simple, that is, it claimed to build a road from the sea to the inland Shilu area, and hoped that the local government could accommodate it.In addition, there are a lot of materials and tools needed for road construction, so some people need to be sent to guard and maintain order at the construction site. Of course, there is no need to bother the Changhua garrison for this matter.

In the civil society, it is very normal for local gentry and landlords to fund and preside over such things as paving roads and bridges, so the request made by the Haihan Chamber of Commerce to the Changhua County Government through official channels seems very normal.Except for one point, the place where this road leads is the residential area of ​​Li people and mountain people. It seems that the purpose of building this road is only to facilitate Li people's activities in the mountains, which is a bit unreasonable.However, under the powerful money offensive, the Changhua County Government turned a blind eye to this only doubtful point, as if they hadn't noticed it.

As for Haihan's side sending militia groups to guard the road construction supplies and maintain order at the construction site, the Changhua County Government didn't care.All states and counties on Qiongzhou Island actually know a little about the situation of the Haihan militia, and no one wants to provoke this thorn for no reason.Last year, the Haihan Militia received a public commendation from the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Zunde, for its contribution in suppressing bandits in Lijiazhuang. After that, the activities of the Haihan Militia in Qiongzhou Island were basically semi-public.

Now the scope of activities of the Haihan militia is not limited to the Sanya area. Almost all the large ships under the name of Haihan will have militia soldiers accompanying the ship to carry out armed escort. Almost all the coastal states and counties that have trade relations with Haihan It is rare to see Haihan militiamen in gray clothes and carrying muskets.Changhua is no exception. Every month, a squad of Haihan militia escorts the team that delivers supplies to the Haihan office in Changhua, but they never bring weapons into the city to avoid suspicion.At the beginning, the people were a little afraid and curious, but after a long time, the people became accustomed to it and became immune to it.

In short, as long as the armed forces of the Haihan militia do not enter the city, everything is easy to say, everyone will live in peace according to the rules, and the Changhua county government will not bother to try to suppress the actions of the Haihan militia—of course they will It is true that there is no such strength.The Haihan Chamber of Commerce also expressed generously to the Changhua County Government that as long as it can facilitate road construction, the Haihan Chamber of Commerce will pay the county government a "construction site management fee" every month in the future. The number is not very large, but it is still a considerable income for the Changhua County Government, which has a vast land and few people and no taxation.

However, these routines are just arrangements on the bright side. Just in case, the executive committee has prepared for the worst, that is, in case Danzhou reacts strongly to the Haihan forces taking root in Changhua, they will not allow it. If Haihan builds roads and mines locally, he must make preparations for military occupation of the Changhua-Shilu area.For the Executive Committee, the development of Shilu Iron Mine is an important project that must be guaranteed in the next few years. If the Haihan regime wants to industrialize in the future and realize foreign military expansion, it must be based on a huge steel production capacity. It is to start a war for the ownership of Shilu, and the Executive Committee will not hesitate.

Although it was claimed to the Changhua government that a small number of militiamen were dispatched to take care of the construction site, in fact the permanent troops prepared by the Military Commission for the Shilu iron ore project started with a battalion.It is not an exaggeration to use such a force to protect a communication line with a length of more than fifty miles, and in the construction of this communication line and subsequent mining projects, a large number of South Vietnamese prisoners of war and local hard labor will be used. There are many potential safety hazards, and the executive committee can't be at ease if we don't deploy more troops to guard them here.

Another object of concern to the executive committee is the Li people near Shilu.Because these Li people live in mountainous areas all the year round, they have little communication with the outside world, and they are far away from Sanya. Prior to this, Haihan did not have much contact with these tribes, and it is not sure how the attitude of these villages towards outsiders will be. Be friendly or show hostility.This time the mission team specially brought Fuli, and also hoped to use his identity as a Lebanese to obtain a better communication channel with the local indigenous residents.The Executive Committee does not expect the local Li people to provide much assistance in the development of the Shilu Iron Mine, as long as these people don't cause trouble, they will be lucky.

Of course, it would be best if the relationship with the Li people can be resolved peacefully, but if it cannot be resolved properly, then one must also be prepared to solve the problem by force.When necessary, the Military Commission will even transfer the North Vietnamese special warfare battalion from Heitu Port, because only that troop is a combat team that is truly built for the combat environment in the mountains and jungles, and its combat experience in the mountains is far more than that of the base camp. militia troops.

After listening to Qiao Zhiya's explanation, Liu Shanxia suddenly said: "So after the battle in Hue was over, the Military Commission hastily withdrew the troops back to prepare for the development of Shilu, right?"

Qiao Zhiya nodded and said: "In the end, the troops are still limited! If there are three more battalions... no, even if there are two more battalions of mobile troops, I don't think the higher-ups will withdraw the troops so quickly. At least we can fight another battle in South Vietnam. Guangzhi City."

"In such a hurry to mine Shilu, it is better to increase the mining volume of Tiandu first. I remember that the reserves of Tiandu iron mine are several million tons!" Liu Shanxia knew that it is not easy to develop Shilu, so he couldn't help sighing.

"The biggest problem with Tiandu is not the lack of reserves or labor force, but the concentration of ore veins and the limited working area. Even if ten times more manpower is invested there, there is only such a large area of ​​ore veins to be excavated. Unless the Ministry of Industry now Can manufacture mechanically powered mine mining equipment, otherwise it will not have much effect on increasing production capacity." Qiao Zhiya spent much more time in Tiandu alone than Liu Shanxia, ​​and he was more concerned about the production status of Tiandu Iron Mine To understanding.

While speaking, they had already arrived at Changhua County, facing them was Ningwu Gate, the north gate of Changhua City.After years of wind and rain, these fortifications, which were built more than 100 years ago, have begun to show some signs of disrepair.When the team arrived at the gate, the office staff who had been notified in advance were already waiting here.

Qiao Zhiya looked at the soldiers of the Ming army standing guard at the gate of the city, and asked the cadres of Guihuamin, "Our people are all carrying long guns, can we go in?"

"It's okay, I have prepared cover, and I can easily pass through the customs and enter the city." The Guihua civilian cadre raised his hand to signal, and immediately someone came to lead a flat-bed bullock cart full of dry wood: "Just put Put the gun under this pile of firewood, and you can enter the city."

So the accompanying militiamen put their rifles on the cart under Qiao Zhiya's order, piled a few bundles of firewood on it, and went straight to the city gate.Liu Shanxia noticed that when the guns were retracted here, several Ming soldiers guarding the gate were obviously watching from a distance, and asked with a little worry in his heart: "Is it really okay to do this?"

"They won't investigate." When Qiao Zhiya said this, he had already noticed that someone rushed ahead of the bullock cart and stuffed something into the hands of the soldiers guarding the gate.So when the bullock cart passed by, there were no inspection measures at all, and the soldiers guarding the gate waved their hands directly to let it pass.

"Is this all right?" Liu Shanxia asked in amazement.

"Money can turn ghosts!" Qiao Zhiya uttered a proverb smoothly.However, Liu Shanxia didn't notice Qiao Zhiya's improvement in language skills. He was more concerned about the sparse city defenses of Changhua City: "Didn't you say that armed militias would not enter Changhua City?"

"Yes, that's right, isn't this already disarmed?" Qiao Zhiya took it for granted, and led the team towards the gate of the city.

Sure enough, the soldiers guarding the city did not embarrass the militiamen who followed them into the city. It seems that as long as they don't directly enter the city with guns, the city defense is useless.Liu Shanxia couldn't help but be a bit dumbfounded: "What's the difference between guarding the city gate and not guarding it?"

"Psychological comfort! At least this will let the magistrate know that Changhua City is still under his control." Qiao Zhiya laughed jokingly.

In fact, there are more than one county like Changhua that turns a blind eye to the Haihan militia. Changhua and Thanksgiving in the west, and Lingshui, Wanning, and Lehui in the east are basically to the same extent.If the Executive Committee really wanted to take down these counties, it probably only needed to send two or three companies to control the city defenses, and it was estimated that even armed conflicts would not happen.The reason for not attacking these places publicly is more due to political considerations than military fears.

It has been more than two years since Haihan landed at Shengli Port. While Haihan's military power has gradually expanded, the actual situation of Ming's garrison on Qiongzhou Island has also been roughly grasped.According to the military system of the Ming Dynasty, there were eleven guards on the island, with a total strength of more than 1000 troops. There were also [-] frontier troops, mainly naval divisions, stationed in Qiongzhou Fucheng and Danzhou in the north, and Yazhou in the south. And the frontier army stationed in Yazhou is the Yacheng Shuizhai under the jurisdiction of Luo Shengdong.

The number of troops deployed by Ming Dynasty on Qiongzhou Island does not seem to be small, but the shortage of troops in the army is very common. The military leaders of the guards are all relying on short positions to fill their pockets. The actual strength is probably less than three times the official figure. Among them, there are very few troops that can really form combat effectiveness. Most of the guards have been out of battle for a long time, and they have become farm laborers similar to the South Vietnamese farmers and soldiers.If the executive committee is going to adopt the strategy of force expansion now, then relying on the existing force can barely push the whole island.It's just that there are not too many naturalized cadres who can be used to realize Haihan-style rule, and the gap between the number needed to rule the entire Qiongzhou Island is too large. Therefore, the Executive Committee has always controlled the actual ruling area in the southern part of Qiongzhou Island. Build strength slowly.

The situation in Changhua City makes people who visit here for the first time quickly lose their curiosity. This small county town and its surrounding residents only have a few thousand people, and there are no commercial facilities in the city. The Han Dynasty office in Changhua was opened, and the atmosphere can be described as depressed.

The accompanying staff introduced: "There are not many rich people in Changhua, and most of the young and strong who have a future have gone to Sanya. Now some landlords in the city have to pick up their hoes and go to the fields to work."

Landlords in this small county naturally don't have much capital, and a family that can own dozens of acres of land can probably be called a landlord.With the outflow of young adults, a lot of cultivated land outside Changhua City has also been abandoned. The economic situation in the city is affected by it, and of course it is not much better.

The group of them can be regarded as a bit of a strange outfit, but they didn't even attract too much attention when they appeared in the city. After walking around the city casually, it felt like this place was just a rural village with a city wall added.With disappointment, everyone went to inspect the office again. It was just a courtyard with two entrances. People lived in the backyard to store goods, and a shop opened in the front yard to sell things.Everyone looked at it for a while, and saw that what was sold here was half a catty of salt, ten catties of rice and other scattered businesses, and they were not even interested in checking the accounts.It took only an hour to enter the city, and everyone went out of the city and returned the same way.To use Fu Li's words to describe it, this trip to the county town is not as interesting as fishing on a boat.

The special mission team waited another day in the seaside fishing village, and finally arrived at Tian Yeyou, who came late.After letting Tian Yeyou rest in the fishing village for a night, the special mission team finally embarked on this trip into the mountains.

This journey into the mountains was not easy. In addition to a large number of equipment and tools used for surveying and exploration, there were also some gifts brought to the Li people's cottages, such as ironware, salt, sugar, medicine, etc., plus these The supplies, luggage and weapons of a group of nearly 40 people weighed two to three tons.

Fortunately, the conditions today are much more convenient than when we visited Fushandong when we first landed. For this trip, the executive committee specially prepared more than ten mules and pack horses for the mission team, which greatly reduced their burden on the way .The Changhua office also hired two Li guides who were familiar with the geography and people near Shilu for them in advance to serve them during the process of entering the mountain.

Due to the need to revise the construction plan, it is necessary to constantly stop to survey the surrounding environment and make detailed records during the process. Therefore, the speed of progress is also very slow, and it only traveled about [-] miles on the first day.After leaving the coast for about [-] miles, they have already left the area where the Han people live together, and began to enter the range of activities of the Li people.

On the morning of the fourth day, after communicating with two Li guides, Fu Li informed Qiao Zhiya that the front had entered the sphere of influence of Shizidong, and the jurisdiction of this cave happened to include the planned mining area of ​​Shilu Iron Mine. .

Fu Li's suggestion is to first send a guide to Shizidong to inform them of their intentions, and if the other party is willing to receive guests, then go directly to the cottage to visit.Generally, this kind of friendly visit would not be rejected by the cave owner, but no one dared to guarantee how to discuss the follow-up matters.

So the special mission team stationed on the banks of the Changhua River and sent a guide to Shizidong to ask for an interview.

(End of this chapter)