1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 439
If we want to compare living conditions, the Changhua Port area, which is still a large construction site, is far from being able to compare with the base camp, and even the Yinggehai Salt Works, which is gradually getting on the right track.From Qiao Zhiya's point of view, the conditions in the area where the naturalized migrant laborers lived were only similar to those in the immigration isolation camp at the base camp.However, the construction speed of many supporting living facilities, such as sanitation, culture and education, etc., has not been able to keep up with the pace of the population introduced here.

Of course, no matter how difficult the objective conditions were, the executive committee still paid enough attention and support to the time travelers who were sent here to lead and preside over the work, and provided the best possible living conditions within their capabilities.The prefabricated houses here are all disassembled from Fort Victory and shipped over, with large solar power generating devices and water heaters installed on the roof.In addition to fresh seafood, vegetables and fruits, almost all food is delivered regularly from the headquarters. On the two boats that Qiao Zhiya escorted this time, there were more than a dozen fat pigs and nearly a hundred chickens and ducks sent by the logistics department. A commissioner was sent here to guide the construction of a poultry and livestock breeding center to solve the growing local population's demand for meat in the future.

Haihan has built and developed multiple disposal bases in the process of external expansion in the past two years. These large-scale colonial development projects have allowed various departments of Haihan to accumulate a lot of relevant experience. Therefore, the current construction work of Changhua Port Area is also It's just busy but not chaotic. As long as the follow-up transportation capacity and material supply can be guaranteed, Liu Shanxia and others who are in charge of the organization and construction are very confident that they can turn this place into another black soil port within a few months.

Qiao Zhiya came to his residence, first took a hot bath, and used the special soap provided inside to eliminate the fishy smell on his body.This kind of pure handmade soap is sold at five taels of silver in the Guangzhou market, and only a few powerful and rich merchants can afford this luxury, but for the people who travel through, this is just their own It is just one of the many labor insurance benefits enjoyed by special status.

After Qiao Zhiya came out of the shower, the orderly had already brought a bowl of hot seafood noodles, and the aroma of flower crabs and fresh shrimp whetted his appetite.Ordinary naturalized people cannot eat this kind of special food, because the practice of "Yi noodles" has not been invented in this era.In the original history, Yimian was inadvertently invented by the chef of Yin Yibingshou, Huizhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province in the Qing Dynasty, and the person who named it "Yimian" was the poet Song Xiang.In terms of its production principle, this thing can be regarded as the prototype of instant noodles in later generations.Because of its simple production method and long fresh-keeping period, Haihan's logistics department also uses it as a ration supplement for special departments such as shipping, military, and field operations.

However, since there is no flour production in Hainan Island, the raw materials must be imported from the far north, and the cost is quite considerable after including the freight. In addition, the import volume is limited, so this product only exists in the "special supply of the chief executive". on the list.Of course, the bowl of noodles that Qiao Zhiya ate, although the noodles are from Daben, but the shrimp and crab inside are caught locally, very fresh, plus shallots, garlic, Huadiao wine, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, pepper, etc. Ingredients, its delicacy is not comparable to instant noodles.

Qiao Zhiya put down the bowl, wiped her mouth contentedly, and was about to go back to her room to catch up on sleepiness, when something happened.

"Report to the chief, there is a situation at the construction site, and chief Liu Shanxia has asked the base to send at least one company of armed personnel to support it!" The orderly rushed over to report to him.

Qiao Zhiya woke up from drowsiness immediately, jumped up from the chair, and began to put a tactical vest on his body, while ordering the orderly to send an order to assemble the team.Although it is not clear what happened on the construction site, Qiao Zhiya knows that Liu Shanxia is the treasure in the eyes of the executive committee. After all, it is difficult for an experienced and skilled construction project leader like him to find a substitute. If something goes wrong , as the local military chief, it will be difficult for him to explain to the executive committee.

Qiao Zhiya quickly put on the combat uniform, put on the combat boots, equipped all the ammunition for the long gun, short gun and dagger, grabbed a baseball cap and put it on his head, and hurried out the door.At this time, the militia soldiers had just received the order and were running out of the barracks to gather. Qiao Zhiya, afraid of delaying the time, ordered a naturalized militia officer to stay behind and complete the team.

The distance from the operation to the front construction site is actually very short. Qiao Zhiya led the team to run forward, but arrived at the construction site in a short time.But the chaotic situation he imagined did not appear here. The laborers on the construction site are still leveling the foundation of the road without any hassle, and the chants can be heard everywhere as the laborers work together to tamp the foundation with wooden piles. .

"Where's the person in charge of the construction site?" The anxious Qiao Zhiya grabbed a foreman nearby and asked, "Where is Liu Shanxia?"

"Chief Liu is in the east...outside the county seat..." The foreman replied in panic, apparently he didn't know what happened.

Qiao Zhiya hurriedly led the team to continue heading east. There is no need to worry about finding the wrong direction here, because this road from Changhua Port Area to the outside and inland is the current construction site. They just need to go along the road that is being leveled. Just move forward.

About 10 minutes later, at the end of the road, just over a mile away from Changhua County, Qiao Zhiya found Liu Shanxia who was staring at the city wall of the distant county with his hips akimbo.

"Old Liu, what's the situation now?" Qiao Zhiya was also a little out of breath running all the way, seeing that Liu Shanxia was safe and sound, he felt relieved and asked about the situation.

Liu Shanxia turned around and said with a wry smile: "You came fast enough... Just now, more than [-] hard laborers escaped from guard and ran into the county town! When we found it, it was too late to chase them, so we could only watch them flee into the city. In the city, I don’t know how to deal with it, so I can only notify the base to send troops to arrest them.”

"That's it?" Qiao Zhiya breathed a sigh of relief, then turned around and ordered the militiamen who had been running all the way to rest on the spot.

The matter was far less serious than Qiao Zhiya expected. He originally thought that Liu Shanxia encountered some obstruction from some official forces in Changhua County, or had conflicts with local people or even Limiao mountain people. He did not expect the hard labor on the construction site. Get out of this situation.

As the number of militia garrisons currently deployed near Changhua is not large, there are a total of two companies with a size of less than 300 people. They are not only responsible for guarding the port, maintaining law and order at the station, but also taking care of the hard labor on the construction site. Some people have to take care of it. The personal safety of the chiefs of Haihan, and the fact that the militia itself has a rotation mechanism, this manpower is actually very tight.However, the construction site has been more than three kilometers long so far, and the militias responsible for the defense tasks in the relevant areas have only two platoons. On average, the alert level of two soldiers per [-] meters distance has appeared. Accidents of convicts escaping are really nothing unusual.

Of course, this is just Qiao Zhiya's view on the current situation from his own point of view. Liu Shanxia was obviously more excited than him: "Twenty people ran away! This is the first time such a thing happened in a hard labor camp. When the black soil port was developed, there were also hard laborers who escaped, but there were never more than five people, and no one escaped successfully! If these guys just escaped like this, how can I explain to the executive committee?"

"Old Liu, don't worry, it's fine, let me handle it." Qiao Zhiya patted Liu Shanxia on the shoulder and said, "Wait for my men to rest for a while, when they are ready, let's go directly to the city to arrest them!"

"Go directly to the city? Is this appropriate?" Liu Shanxia asked a little uncertainly.

Before the construction started, Haihan and the yamen in Changhua County had already reached a certain level of tacit understanding through underground means. The county government did not ask Haihan people to build roads outside the city, and Haihan would not openly send out armed forces. When people enter the city, everyone manages their respective areas well. Those who should collect money collect money, and those who should build roads build roads without offending each other.

It was precisely because of this kind of underground agreement that Liu Shanxia did not rashly lead a team into the city to hunt down those fugitive laborers—of course, he did not have any armed personnel to command, so he had to send people back to the base in the port area Report the letter and ask people to bring troops to reinforce.Liu Shanxia didn't want to let the militia go into the city to arrest people, but to let them take care of the remaining hard labor, lest some people follow suit. If there is a big escape later, then Liu Shanxia really can't control the scene .

However, as soon as Qiao Zhiya came, he said that he would lead a team into the city to arrest people, which made Liu Shanxia feel a little uneasy.This kind of thing can be big or small, if the Changhua county government admits it with its eyes closed, that's all, but if the other party doesn't allow this kind of behavior, wouldn't it be easy to tear your face apart?The executive committee has repeated orders, and must properly handle the relationship with the local government and the aborigines in Shilu development projects, and avoid conflicts as much as possible, especially armed conflicts that are likely to cause follow-up troubles.

Seeing Liu Shanxia's nervous expression, Qiao Zhiya somewhat guessed what he was thinking, so he comforted him and said, "Don't be nervous, just go about your business, and leave it to me to negotiate."

Hearing that he took the initiative to take over the matter, Liu Shanxia felt a little grateful in his heart, nodded and said, "Okay, I'll leave it to you. Let's have a drink when work is over in the evening. I still have a bottle of Wuliangye in stock."

Liu Shanxia was sent away, and the follow-up militia troops also arrived.Although the team size is small, with more than 100 people in a company, Qiao Zhiya has full confidence in his own strength.After reassembling the team, Qiao Zhiya immediately led the team to the south of Changhua County.

When it was 300 meters away from the county seat, the defenders in the county seat had already spotted the group of troops outside, and immediately someone rushed to inform the highest-ranking military officer in the area——Xiao Laosan, the commander-in-chief of the guard stationed in Changhua County. .

Not many people know what Xiao Laosan's real name is, because his family has served as guards here for generations, and he has been called "Xiao Laosan" and "Xiao Laosan" since he was a child. In charge of the post of the general of the garrison, but most people still refer to him as "Xiao Laosan" when talking about him behind his back.

As a member of the Guards Army who inherited his father's career, Xiao Laosan's growth process actually has many similarities with Luo Shengdong of Yazhou Shuizhai, but the difference is that his luck is not as good as Luo Shengdong , met a group of "nobles" like Haihan early on, which provided a huge boost to his promotion and fortune.The Changhua county where Xiao Laosan stayed can be described as remote. If there is no accident, the rest of his life will probably be mixed until he retires, and then he will pass the general position to his next generation. .

However, the arrival of the Haihan people made Xiao Laosan see some hope. His brother-in-law's brothers used to eat military food in Yazhou Shuizhai, and later made a small fortune with Luo Shengdong, and now their family has moved to the Sanya area.And Xiao Laosan has also heard about the various means of making money by the Haihan people, but because the business of smuggling salt has been monopolized by the Yazhou water village with unique conditions, it is not easy to make a small fortune with the help of the Haihan people. easy.Changhua was neither able to sell high-priced local products, nor did it have enough labor force to engage in population export. It was not until the Haihan people appeared in the Changhua fishing village and sent people to contact the local government in Changhua County that Xiao Laosan finally found his family. own way to get rich.

The condition that the people of Haihan gave Xiao Laosan was that he should turn a blind eye from now on and treat Haihan's deeds as if he couldn't see them, and every year he could get a sum that was ten times his military salary. above remuneration.Although this figure may not be considered a good price in the eyes of an upstart like Luo Shengdong, a private salt dealer, it is an irresistible price for the Changhua garrison who is so poor that they can't get enough to eat every year. temptation.

After Xiao Laosan took the lead in agreeing to the exchange terms of the Haihan people, he even set up a bridge for the Haihan people, allowing them to reach a similar deal with the county magistrate who seldom showed up in the county government.So soon the Haihan people sent people to Changhua County, where they began to sell private salt, rice, coal, and various daily necessities and agricultural tools produced by Haihan at low prices.And the Changhua Fishing Port by the sea has quickly turned from a dilapidated small fishing village into a commercial port, where several cargo ships belonging to Haihan dock here every month.

A month ago, the Haihan people brought in a large number of laborers and began to build what they called the official road leading to the inland mountainous area in sections.Xiao Laosan didn't understand why the Haihan people spent so much manpower, material and financial resources to build this seemingly useless official road, because the only area that this road leads to is the cottage where the Li Miao people live. Even if the roads are built, these barbarians will probably not leave the mountains where they have lived for generations.

(End of this chapter)