1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 454 Rules and Objectives

Judging from the written work reports submitted by the military team of the Guangzhou Office every month, they have been planning for the occupation of Hong Kong Island for a long time, and have also made many field investigations for this purpose, and even chose to go to sea for training. The waters near Hong Kong Island were used as targets, which shows that even if the military team stationed in Guangzhou Office has not fully understood the situation of Hong Kong Island, it should be almost the same.

Tao Donglai put down the file, and he already knew about this matter in his heart.Obviously, the military is very aware of the actual situation of Hong Kong Island, and has already listed Hong Kong Island as the main target of the next mainland strategy.Tao Donglai believed that without his knowledge, the militants in the staff department might even have planned a plan on paper to occupy the area by force.

Of course, Tao Donglai didn't mind being kept in the dark, and there was no need to report to him before specific progress was made in the implementation of this kind of thing.Moreover, his temporary post has more political needs, and he usually doesn't have the energy to intervene in the specific affairs of the military.

"So the application submitted by the military team of the Guangzhou Office is actually the intention of the staff department?" Tao Donglai asked.

Yan Chujie did not deny Tao Donglai's conjecture, nodded and said: "During the investigation of Hong Kong Island, Guangdong found that there were no political hidden dangers we were worried about, so they submitted relevant plans. But the staff I think that if the actual situation on the ground is completely reported, it may encounter some unnecessary pressure in the voting of the Executive Committee. After our discussion, we decided to keep some less important situations to promote the plan. Pass it in the executive committee as soon as possible.”

Tao Donglai shook his head slowly and said, "I'm not blaming the staff department for doing this wrong, but leaving such an obvious loophole is just giving people an excuse! I know that there are people in the executive committee who like to dig into horns , you still..."

"Old Tao, don't get excited, this matter is not that serious." Yan Chujie didn't wait for Tao Donglai to get angry, and quickly persuaded him: "I also said at the meeting just now that the point of the matter is not whether the military deliberately targeted Hong Kong or not. The situation on the island has been concealed, but it depends on whether we can use this opportunity to accomplish what we have always wanted to do but have not done."

"What about after it's finished? What about next time?" Tao Donglai continued shaking his head and said, "I know that the staff department is not out of selfishness, but the rules of doing things must always be followed. I'm afraid you won't be able to hold back in the future if you do this!"

"Old Tao, if you must pursue responsibility, then let this matter be my responsibility." Yan Chujie said in a deep voice, "After all, I am the one who makes the decision now, and it is impossible for me to let the people below take the blame."

Tao Donglai took a deep breath and said, "It's not a question of whether or not to take the blame, but that the matter itself is not done according to the rules, do you understand?"

"I understand, so what? If we don't forcibly erase this matter, according to what Ning Qi said, we must consider that there are people living there, so how long will this matter be delayed because of the local residents? Three Months or five months?" Yan Chujie's view on this matter is obviously very stubborn, and he was not shaken by Tao Donglai's accusation: "This year is the third year of crossing, and we are still living in Sanya. If we continue to develop at this speed, how long will it take us to build the planned transcontinental power? 30 years or 40 years? If these things need to be left to the next generation to complete, then what is the significance of our crossing over? Lao Tao, we They are all people in their thirties and almost forties. When they retire at the age of 60, they will not have many years to jump around. If you don’t fight while you can still move, you will really wait until you are too old to walk. Do you carry it to the battlefield to command the battle?"

Tao Donglai was obviously also touched by Yan Chujie's words, and he responded after a long time: "I haven't forgotten why we gave up everything before and came here. Our goal is still the same as before. I also agree with this matter." I won't say anything more, but I hope this is the last time, don't wait until something bad happens one day, and then say who should bear the blame, do you understand what I mean?"

"Understood." Yan Chujie replied, his heart hanging in the air was finally relieved.

Yan Chujie was not worried that Tao Donglai would fall out with him because of this matter. After all, the two were comrades-in-arms who had known each other for many years, and they traveled together to this time and space to fight the world. To put it seriously, they had a fatal friendship, for sure. Personal relationships will not be affected by work matters.But he was afraid that Tao Donglai would be too principled and would suspend the related plans to open Hong Kong Island because of the false report by the military.In that case, it will not only lose the manpower, material and financial resources that the military has previously consumed for this matter, but more importantly, it will delay precious development time.

For Haihan, although he has encountered many difficulties since time travel, overall the external expansion process has been smooth, and the executive committee has been able to focus more resources and energy on external expansion measures.But even so, this expansion speed is still a bit too slow for traversers.Everyone abandoned their past lives and embarked on this irreversible path. The purpose of most of them is to come here to be the founding fathers, not to exist as the fathers of the founding greats.If the dream of building an invincible empire cannot be realized in the prime of life, it will be considered that the next generation has realized this vision, and it is not satisfactory for the people who travel through.

The emphasis on Hong Kong Island far exceeds that of the four port locations in southern Annan.For Haihan, the completion of the four ports is related to the progress of the big goal of controlling the Straits of Malacca in the future. For Haihan's main base location and main trade direction, considering the possible problems Opponents, it is not a very urgent matter to control the throat of the shipping lanes in the Nanyang region.The ownership of Hong Kong Island is a major event that will directly affect Haihan's strategy for the mainland.

If Hong Kong Island can be successfully captured, it will basically be able to firmly control the waters of the Pearl River Estuary, and it will affect all waterways leading to Fujian, the Taiwan Strait, and the northern coastal provinces in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.With Hong Kong Island as the axis and springboard, Haihan was able to free up its hands and feet and gradually expand its power in the southeast coastal area, instead of relying on "small trouble" projects such as the Guangzhou Office and Wanshan Port. schedule.

For the military, the strategic significance of controlling Hong Kong cannot be ignored, and even Yan Chujie doesn't need to explain to Tao Donglai at all.The location of Hong Kong Island can be attacked and retreated, which can not only allow warships to go directly to the city of Guangzhou, but also use the local natural terrain to build an invincible fortress-like port, thereby blocking the entire ocean surface of the Pearl River Estuary.Taking control of this place is equivalent to an insurance policy for Hainan Island, which is isolated overseas.Even if the executive committee is still undecided about this, the military has already made up its mind, and sooner or later it will have to find a reason to set foot on Hong Kong Island.

Two days later, the "Lightning" sailboat, carrying seven joint investigation teams composed of the military, the Ministry of Shipping, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Ministry of Construction, set off from Shengli Port to the Pearl River Estuary.According to the requirements of the executive committee, they will conduct on-the-spot inspections of the area on the south side of Hong Kong Island and assess the value and difficulty of local development.

However, on the same day they set off from Victory Port, Guangzhou made new progress. The master Liu who received a large commission did not disappoint the expectations of He Xi and others. Completed what He Xi requested - in the name of Haihan Commercial Bank, registered with the Guangzhou government, and built a commercial port and facilities on the south side of Hong Kong Island under Xin'an County within this year.

The registration procedures themselves cost very little, but obtaining the registration qualification without any traces cost the Guangzhou Office a thousand taels of silver.Of course, compared to the results achieved, the 1000 taels of silver are worth thousands of dollars.After getting the news, the Guangzhou Office, while reporting the good news to the headquarters, has already begun to think about whether the first batch of immigrants should be the naturalized people transported from Haihan, or whether they should directly send a part of the immigrants recruited locally to the local area. .

As soon as the news came out, the Canton Office started to move up and down.Everyone is very clear that if the establishment of a Hong Kong base is approved, then the most promising candidate for the local competent official will definitely be born on the side of the Guangzhou Office.Except for He Xi, who is too professional, and Cai Jinmei, the director of banking affairs, everyone else seems likely to follow this opportunity to be promoted to a higher level.Sister Ma Yuma, who is in charge of health care, Sha Xi, the immigration director, Chen Tianqi, the information director, You Yihan, the transportation director, the duo of Xiao Liang and Yu Yao from the military team, and Chen Yixin and Li Dou, the young partners on Wanshan Island, seem to be all There is a chance to jump over the dragon's gate.

Of course, the person with the greatest chance is Maiko, who is currently serving as the director of the Guangzhou Office. After all, Maiko is following the path of a professional politician compared to other personnel, and his comprehensive ability and overall view are indeed better than others. competitor.In terms of work ability, it can be said that Maliko’s previous working experience in the system helped him win at the starting line. No matter how hard others try, the lack of political experience is a shortcoming after all, and this is precisely Maliko’s strength. strengths.

But what everyone is fighting for is not just the top position in the future Hong Kong stronghold. After all, Hong Kong Island is not a small place like Dawanshan Island. It is enough to put two officials in charge, one civil and one military.Even people with low political sensitivity will know that Hong Kong Island has a great role in military affairs and commerce, and the population allocated to the local area will definitely not be as simple as one or two communes.Sha Xi, the director of immigration assigned by the Ministry of Civil Affairs to Guangzhou, boldly predicted that within a period of time after the occupation of Hong Kong Island, a considerable part of the residents recruited by the Guangzhou Office from the mainland may be diverted to Hong Kong Island, and may even be transferred to Hong Kong Island. In a very short period of time, the immigrant population will exceed the existing population of the island.

As long as there are thousands of people living in the local area, a whole set of administrative management team will be needed to maintain the operation of Haihan's ruling system, and various grassroots management agencies to be established will emerge as the times require, and the managers needed at that time will also be It is not enough for one or two people, there should still be a lot of vacancies.

On the same day that the expedition team sent by Victory Port arrived in Aberdeen, another team from Guangzhou to investigate the local conditions also arrived at the same time.However, the team that came from Guangzhou was not Haihan's own team, but an investment investigation team organized by Haihan and participated by many wealthy businessmen.

In today's Guangzhou, following the Haihan people to have meat to eat is basically a conventional concept in the business circle.Most of the merchants who cooperated with Haihan people in the first two years have made a lot of money, and the business scale and radiation area have also developed significantly compared with the past.Nowadays, as long as businessmen in Guangzhou hear that people are from Qiongzhou Island, most of them will ask whether they are from the south or the north. As long as they hear that they are from the south, their attitude will immediately change.

After all, the most affluent area in Guangdong and Guangxi is no longer Guangzhou, but the Sanya area in the south of Qiongzhou Island—yes, the number of people in the business circle who say the name of Yazhou is gradually decreasing, and it is replaced by "Sanya", which is said to be It is a place name directly transliterated from Li language.As long as they are from Sanya, they must come on behalf of Haihan, and the word Haihan can already be regarded as a symbol of financial strength and reputation in the market.

Two years ago, when the Haihan people established "Qiong Lianfa" and pulled a group of wealthy businessmen to invest in Yazhou, many people still held a wait-and-see attitude, and many people even thought that the Haihan people were a bunch of liars.However, the subsequent development can be said to be beyond everyone's expectations. These wealthy businessmen not only obtained excellent economic returns from their investment in Qiongzhou, but also expanded their business coverage from Guangzhou to the entire territory of Qiongzhou Island. The goods were sold to countries such as Annan and Champa, which used to be visited only by professional sea merchants.

The success of "Qiong Lianfa" has also brought many additional benefits to Haihan. Under the conscious promotion of relevant departments, these big merchants began to gradually accept and enjoy the so-called "Haihan Lifestyle". It is proud of the stationery, glassware, sanitary ware, carriages, and even Haihan bank checks produced by Haihan.These products are often limited and customized editions specially developed by Haihan Business Department to cater to this part of the high-consumption group. They are rare items that cannot be bought even if they have money in the market. From the side, they also greatly satisfy the vanity of wealthy businessmen and big households. At the same time, it also increases their motivation to show off publicity to relatives and friends.The trends brought about by the middle and upper classes of society often lead to more people from the middle and lower classes scrambling to follow suit. This group of people drives other people to join the Haihan social system” policy.

(End of this chapter)