1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 456 Gu Kai answers questions
Maliko's statement can be described as simple and rude, but it also precisely expresses the current status of cooperation between Haihan and Daming merchants in large-scale development projects.

In the various joint-stock projects led by Haihan, the merchants of Ming Dynasty often only play the role of investors and sales terminals, and rarely participate in the specific operation of the project directly-of course, some of the projects are indeed Haihan. Out of the need for confidentiality, Han consciously avoided the opportunity for external forces to participate in the operation.The promotion content of many projects is often only a brief introduction of the project, the amount of investment and the proportion of share distribution, the return period of investment and the expected rate of return. As for how to implement this process, the business department most of the time deliberately blurs the details.

Of course, in order to reassure the bosses who paid the money, the business department will generally set up symbolic supervisory positions, and the shareholders of Daming will publicly nominate a few representatives to take up the positions.However, this so-called supervision can only manage the ledger, and the representatives have no right to intervene in the specific affairs of the project implementation process.Especially for some projects with secret technology, it is difficult for outsiders to get a glimpse of the mystery.

This kind of agreement, which is similar to the overlord clause, seems to be seriously lacking in fairness. If you are a shrewd businessman, you can easily find many disadvantages to investors.But it is such a blatant agreement, which still attracts the businessmen of Daming. The reason is very simple, that is, because Haihan's return on investment is high, and there are enough security guarantees to ensure the smooth progress of the project.

The first group of Ming merchants who invested in Sanya had basically recovered their investment and started to make profits in the first half of this year. Even according to the current operating conditions reflected in the accounts, they should recover more than three times their investment within five years. Not a big problem.This rate of return is quite good in today's era, and the investment in Haihan is stable. The past operating records and good business reputation of Haihan people are excellent guarantees.Of course, the most powerful guarantee is the powerful private army under the Haihan Executive Committee, which makes every businessman involved in the Haihan trading system full of confidence in the prospect of cooperation.

For example, this time when organizing a business investigation group to go south to Hong Kong Island, the Guangzhou Office specially transferred a large "expedition-class" warship and a platoon of army escorts from Wanshan Port for this purpose.Although there are no traces of pirates in the current waters of the Pearl River Estuary, and there will be no major security problems, the Guangzhou Office insisted on making such an arrangement. The reason is very simple and clear, and that is to show off Force—after all, there are some new customers who are not so familiar with the Haihan militia in this inspection group. Let them see the powerful strength of the Haihan armed forces, and it will also help them correct their understanding and attitude before cooperation .

Anyone who sees it for the first time will undoubtedly be visually shocked by the huge "expedition class" warship, which is one-third larger than the largest civilian ships at present. Left and right, and the neat row of gun ports on the side of the ship and the tall masts that are clearly different from the Chinese-style sails increase its recognition, so that spectators will not mistake this big guy for a warship of the Daming Navy.

Of course, in addition to the eye-catching appearance, the good maneuverability and fast speed of this kind of warship on the sea also made the merchant representatives who saw this kind of ship for the first time greatly admired.It is said that the Haihan people relied on a dozen of these warships to defeat the menacing Fujian pirates outside the Pearl River Estuary last year. The strength of the ship—not to mention those pirates equipped with only a few earthen cannons, even if the Ming Navy encountered such a warship one-on-one, it would be difficult to end well.

As for the loaded guns and live ammunition, the Haihan Militia Army with strict military discipline is much better than those soldiers of the Daming Guards who are yellow, emaciated and lack of training. It will not be just the level of ordinary housekeepers, but a military force with real combat effectiveness.

Some quick-witted people, after arriving in Hong Kong Island, have already asked people to ask whether they can pay Haihan to build the ship on their behalf, and whether the Haihan militia accepts private employment and so on.However, what most people pay attention to is the area and strength that the military power of the Haihan militia can protect. After all, no matter how powerful the Haihan militia is, it still has a certain range of activities, and the size of this range is directly related to The merchants of Ming Dynasty have confidence in Haihan's security capabilities.

In view of the concern of many Ming merchants for maritime escort, Gu Kai also announced at the public question-and-answer meeting the plan for the armed escort of Haihan's trade routes in the next two to three years: "At present, our armed escorts are mainly concentrated in the waters from Guangzhou to the Pearl River Estuary. After the opening of Hong Kong Island, we will further expand the sea area of ​​armed escort on the existing basis, to Jieshiwei in the east and Guanghaiwei in the west. The maritime security of this area will be gradually controlled by our militia. Take charge of it. As for the armed guards on land that you are concerned about, you can go to the Golden Shield Escort to discuss it in detail after returning to Guangzhou."

"You send ships to patrol the sea. If you encounter the Daming navy, will there be any trouble?" someone asked below.

Gu Kai gently waved his hand and said: "You don't need to worry about this issue. We did not set up an armed force to fight against Daming. What we are guarding against are only those pirate gangs who are doing evil at sea. If the conditions and timing are right, we will also Cooperate with the Daming Navy to jointly fight against pirates along the coast of Guangdong and Guangxi!"

Gu Kai stood up to answer questions about the military, but it wasn’t entirely out of step. The executive committee didn’t have any ideas about Hong Kong Island. Some strategic planning had already been ahead of the curve. The executive committee has also had many discussions, so Gu Kai can just pick it up and directly define the scope of future armed forces' activities.

Guanghaiwei to the west of the Pearl River Estuary and Jieshiwei to the east are both about 100 nautical miles away from Hong Kong Island. With the speed of the Haihan warship, it is possible to achieve the same day of departure and arrival on the same day. The actual effect of control will be greater than that of blindly rowing. The area is better.As for the waters near Hainan Island, Gu Kai doesn’t need to explain any more. Except for the Qiongzhou Fucheng, Hainanwei, Lingao, and Danzhou lines in the north of Hainan Island, the other three coastlines run sea-going ships. Seventy-eight out of ten are either directly subordinate to the Haihan Shipping Department, or they are ships hired by Haihan.The navy's warships had completed the first combat fleet circumnavigation training three months ago. In theory, the entire coastline of Hainan Island could be regarded as within the reach of the Haihan militia.Over time, this range will probably gradually become actual control.

"All your local investments and properties, whether gold, silver or real estate, will be properly protected by the Haihan militia. If you have any doubts about this, you can ask the bosses who have already invested in Sanya. , How did we Haihan promise, and how did we implement it? Is there any discrepancy between what we said and the actual situation?" Gu Kai also knew that he might not be able to find out the truth when he came to Hong Kong Island this time, so he simply put the situation in front of him first. It has become an investment promotion meeting, and if you can attract as many investors as you can, try to attract as many investors as possible. Anyway, once you enter the big pit of Haihan, you don't want to climb out easily - of course, those who have tasted the sweetness probably won't be kicked. I can't kick it away.

"May I ask Mr. Gu, how much money do you need to raise for your construction plan on Hong Kong Island? How will you distribute the equity? When will it start?" Some anxious people in the audience below couldn't help but began to ask the real question.After all, the purpose of their coming here is to invest, and the main issues they care about are how much to pay, how to do it, and when will there be returns.

This question stumped Gu Kai. Regarding the military plan, he could still fool these merchant representatives with the previous draft plan, but when it came to the specific development plan, he was blind.Engineering planning is not his field of supervision. The main technical personnel of the Ministry of Construction are still directing road construction on the construction site in Changhua, and have not made a construction plan for Hong Kong Island in advance. When it comes to specific project budget issues, Gu Kai Definitely stop talking nonsense.

"Well... this question... We are still studying it. After all, the money to be spent is jointly funded by everyone. How to make the most of the money and get the most rewards is our Haihan organization. Fang must fulfill his responsibilities. We came from Sanya this time, and we also specially brought the personnel in charge of project planning. The question raised by the boss just now must wait for the professionals to come up with a plan before giving a clear answer. Please give us some time so that we can come up with a development plan that takes into account everyone's interests as much as possible." Gu Kai is one of the big talkers of the Executive Committee. Although he knows nothing about engineering, he still calls He fooled this series of questions with an official tone.

Of course, the person who asked this question didn't really have to get a clear answer immediately, and more elements should be to confirm Haihan's official attitude.Gu Kai's answer was quite satisfactory and impeccable.

"In the next two or three days, I hope that everyone can join me in taking a closer look at the local situation. Everyone will brainstorm and come up with ideas to see how this place can be developed better." Gu Kai said smoothly.

This statement immediately won the favor of most small and medium-sized merchants. For these merchants who are not very strong, the biggest worry is not whether they will make money after investing, but whether they will invest money in it, but because of their strength, they will not be able to make money. There is still no status in this system, no right to speak.However, Gu Kai's attitude was obviously treating everyone equally, and he did not treat big bosses and small businesses differently, which made people who were a little uneasy about it feel relieved.

The accommodation that night was not a big or small problem. Since there are not many floating population in the local area, there are no hotels or other facilities here. The only small hotel has only six rooms in total, and only the representatives of the merchants There are as many as dozens of houses, and they cannot be accommodated at all.Fortunately, the Guangzhou Office had somewhat anticipated this situation, and when mobilizing the troops stationed in Wanshan Port, they were required to bring a batch of military tents, which came in handy at this time.

The navy and the army worked together to clear an area on the shore, and then set up more than a dozen large military tents.The wartime living standard for this kind of tent is that each room houses a platoon of soldiers, which can barely accommodate the people of the inspection team.But don’t even think about the beds. Although the Haihan Militia also distributed some iron marching beds to the troops, the number is very limited. When marching outside, only officers above the platoon rank can enjoy them. Ordinary soldiers can only use bedding or even hay. Pad a pad to solve the problem.

Of course, if the time of stationing in one place will be longer, the logistics department will still make some simple wooden camp beds to transport with the army.For example, the wooden beds used in the barracks on Wanshan Port are double-layered camp beds made by the Shengli Port woodworking workshop. They were shipped to the local area in the form of parts, and then assembled and used by trained soldiers.

Obviously, the inspection team does not have such conditions, and it is impossible for the Guangzhou Office to specially pull out all the military equipment in Wanshan Port for them. Therefore, most people can only solve the problem of accommodation here by laying out the floor. .

Naturally, the traversers don't need to face such troubles. Each warship has a high-class cabin exclusively for the traverser officers, which can accommodate four people at the same time.This kind of high-class cabin is actually similar to the soft sleeper on the train. There are only two bunk beds and a small desk in the room, and luggage and other things have to be stuffed under the bottom bed.The only thing worthy of praise is that the bed is covered with a thick brown mat. The logistics department has only recently started to mass-produce this thing. The raw material comes from the coconut trees planted everywhere by the Ministry of Agriculture on the coast of Sanya. become.

Haihan's existing industrial capacity can produce steel wire springs, but due to the limited steel output, the industrial sector will not use precious raw materials for making mattress springs, so the coconut palm made is almost It is the highest standard that travelers can enjoy now.Moreover, most of the processes of this thing still have to be handmade, and the production capacity is not enough to commercialize it. Therefore, in addition to supplying traversers, only special departments such as the military can enjoy this treatment.

Except for the warship, the other traversers basically chose to rest in the cabin of the "Lightning". The accommodation conditions on this ship are probably the best in the entire Pearl River Estuary area, and it is not an exaggeration to call it luxurious.However, in order to be able to carry more weapons when crossing, some non-essential equipment on the ship was removed, such as bathtubs and the like, and now only a few high-end mattresses can be enjoyed.

(End of this chapter)