1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 458 The Routine of Absorbing Immigrants

For Haihan, which has at least two 200-ton new ships launched every month on average, shipbuilding technology is no longer the main factor restricting the speed of sea expansion. Headache puzzle.

Even if the establishment of the militia navy is not included, nearly a thousand sailors are needed to ensure the normal operation of the various cargo ships and fishing boats under the Ministry of Shipping.After the navy was separated from the militia last year, a large number of veterans in the original crew establishment of the Ministry of Shipping were allocated to the navy. In addition, the direction of shipbuilding throughout last year was mainly for military use, which led to the increase in the crew establishment of the Ministry of Shipping. There has been a huge gap, so that after the Shengli Port Shipyard began to build civilian ships on a large scale this year, the number of crew sailors has begun to exceed demand.

Almost all the people in the southern part of Hainan Island who have sailing experience have accepted Haihan's employment and become naturalized citizens. Even some people in the Yazhou Shuizhai have left their military status and joined Haihan.But even so, the recruitment speed of the crew and sailors still can't keep up with the rhythm.

After Gu Kai came to Hong Kong Island to learn about the local situation, he had already started thinking about recruiting people here.Fishermen accounted for almost [-]% of the hundreds of local residents. It should be reasonable to select two to three hundred qualified sailors from the elderly, weak, women and children.However, if this number is recruited by relying on the existing immigration introduction system, it may take three months or even longer to achieve.Some time ago, in order to arrest the spies of Jinyiwei, the Li family and the Guangdong Office jointly set up a stall for several days on the Pearl River Wharf outside the south gate of Guangzhou to recruit sailors and sailors. Only ten qualified candidates.

If a group of sailors can be recruited here, firstly, it can solve the resettlement problem of the local people after the land acquisition, and secondly, it can also alleviate the pressure on the Ministry of Shipping’s staffing gap in the near future. For the Executive Committee, it will undoubtedly be a solution that has the best of both worlds. .Now that Gu Kai found this opportunity, he naturally wouldn't let it go easily. He immediately pulled Huang Sanyuan to explain Haihan's policy of recruiting naturalized people, and Huang Sanyuan was taken aback for a while.

For Huang Sanyuan, the living conditions of food and housing and high remuneration sounded much better than their current situation.These things sounded more sincere than the land treatment method that Gu Kai said earlier.If the Haihan people can really achieve the treatment they mentioned, then the hard life of the people in the fishing village will come to an end.

Gu Kai spent more than an hour negotiating with Huang Sanyuan, and then asked his subordinates to withdraw ten taels of silver and hand it over to Huang Sanyuan in the name of hard work. Huang Sanyuan declined a few words, but he still couldn't bear the temptation of this white flower and finally accepted it.As for how Huang Sanyuan would report to the local people after returning, Gu Kai didn’t really care too much about it. The general trend of Haihan occupying this place will not change just because of the opinions held by local people of this order of magnitude, even if the people here are not happy. Haihan still turned this place into a new port according to his own plan.Of course, if the people here choose to cooperate, then their future lives will definitely be better guaranteed than they are now. As for how to choose, it is all in their minds.

Compared with these ordinary people who can spend a small amount of money, Gu Kai still cares more about this group of wealthy businessmen from Guangzhou.After the briefing session yesterday, Gu Kai had some understanding during the dinner in the evening. Generally speaking, foreign funds with investment intentions are at least more than 30 taels of silver. This money is not to mention the development of this bay, even if it is the development of the entire Hong Kong Island. It's enough to use it a little bit.

Of course, Gu Kai will not be satisfied just because the Guangzhou Office has brought in so much intentional funds. No one would think too much of money.The more money spent here, the more complete the Hong Kong Island stronghold that can be built in the future, even if it is possible to build an extra breakwater and build an extra fort, that would be good.In fact, there is so much money that they can’t run out. In the future, they can build a few vacation villas exclusively for travelers on Taiping Mountain, so that everyone can have the opportunity to enjoy the feeling of being a local tyrant.

Although Gu Kai is not a professional in engineering, it is related to Haihan's development plan in the mainland. He still followed the engineering personnel sent by the Ministry of Construction responsibly to conduct a survey of the local topography.

There is no doubt that the bay between Hong Kong Island and Ap Lei Chau has excellent port conditions. In another time and space, there are large-scale piers in Aberdeen Bay, Sham Wan, and Tai Shue Wan. There are also stretches of port areas built in both directions to the northeast of Hong Kong Island.If the fort is built on the commanding heights of Ap Lei Chau according to the plan submitted by the military team of the Guangzhou Office, then the small island of Ap Lei Chau will definitely be assigned to the military as a military zone in the future.

In addition to the commanding heights on Ap Lei Chau, the mountains in the southeast of the bay are also excellent observation points.The location of Hong Kong Ocean Park in another time and space can be used as a lookout post to monitor the southern waters.

If we must say that there are any shortcomings in the natural conditions here, then it should be that the area of ​​the plain area near the sea is too small.According to the preliminary calculations of the engineers, this narrow seaside area surrounded by mountains from two directions in the northeast has an area of ​​less than two square kilometers. Even counting the poor flat terrain on Ap Lei Chau, at most It is about the same size as the initial development of Victory Port.

This kind of condition is barely enough to establish an overseas cargo transshipment port or military base, but if it is to be built as a business center, it will obviously be greatly restricted.Therefore, in the long run, occupying the entire Hong Kong Island is still a move that Haihan must take in the next period of time.However, neither the Guangzhou Office nor the Executive Committee is too eager to take this step. As long as they first take root in a corner of Hong Kong Island, it is only a matter of time before they control the entire island.

As for the naval force of the Ming army stationed on the north side of the island, the executive committee is actually not worried about conflicts with it.After all, the Liu Xiang pirate gang has been entrenched in the nearby waters for several years, and the navy has never dared to take any action. As long as the militia navy does not take the initiative to call the door, I believe that the people of the navy will play the role of little transparent tacitly. .Referring to the previous successful examples, within a year or two, this water village will probably be infiltrated into an empty shell just like the Yazhou Water Village.

On the afternoon of the third day when the inspection team stayed in the local area, Huang Sanyuan found Gu Kai again, saying that after discussions with the people in the local fishing village, he was willing to accept the crew employment agreement offered by Haihan, but he hoped that Haihan would let these fishermen continue to keep them. Local land and properties.

After hearing this, Gu Kai shook his head and said: "Old man, your request is not reasonable. First of all, the government has already handed over this area to us. From a legal point of view, this area already belongs to us Haihan. If you want to go to the government It must be our responsibility to file a lawsuit. Secondly, as long as you are willing to do things for us, we will properly solve the housing and living problems, so that you will not have livelihood problems, and you do not need to continue to depend on the land to survive. I still say that , as long as we can show the house deed and land deed issued by the government, we all agree that if we are willing to sell, we will spend money to buy it, and if we don’t want to sell, we will not force it.”

Seeing that Huang Sanyuan was silent, Gu Kai continued to persuade: "We could have ignored these things at all, but out of morality, we are willing to give the people living here a better way out. As long as they follow our guidance, everyone can have a chance. Wouldn’t it be a good thing to live a richer life?”

Huang Sanyuan hesitated for a while before saying: "Master Gu, it's not that the villain doesn't believe what you say, but what you say is unfounded, and it is related to the livelihood of hundreds of people..."

"Aren't you just worried about your future life after joining us? This is easy to handle. You can see it with your own eyes." The executive committee has long been familiar with a set of handling methods for this kind of situation, and Gu Kai naturally used it It is very pure: "You can recommend a few representatives to go back to Qiongzhou Island with our ship to see our local business conditions, ask the tens of thousands of local people who work for us, and inquire about our business. Is there a time when the promise has not been fulfilled? Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. I am blowing flowers here, and it is better for you to go and see for yourself. As for the cost issue, you don’t need to worry about it. All expenses are borne by us, and you don’t need to pay a single copper plate.”

Now Huang Sanyuan really couldn't find a reason to refuse, so he bid farewell to Gu Kai immediately, and went back to greet the villagers to elect representatives.

The business delegation brought by Maliko from Guangzhou only stayed here for three days before leaving. At this time, the survey work of the engineers had not yet finished, so the merchants could not obtain more detailed investment plans in time.However, all the merchants retained their intention to invest after this trip, and none of them planned to apply for a refund of the deposit, which also showed that these merchants had great confidence in Haihan.It is no exaggeration to say that the Ming investors recruited by the Guangzhou Office this time are all based on the good business reputation accumulated by Haihan in the past, as well as the words of Maliko and others.

After the business delegation returns to Guangzhou, the process of establishing a "Hong Kong Island Joint Development Company" will be started immediately.Although the project budget and detailed development plan have not yet been made, Maliko intends to use the "Joan Lianfa" model to apply it first, and first circle this group of investors.If you make good use of the period before the official announcement of the project development details, there may still be a chance to attract a group of investors from Guangdong.And the more local tyrants this project brings in, the less official pressure Haihan will face in annexing Hong Kong Island in the future.

The expedition team led by Gu Kai returned to Sanya after staying here for a full week.Before leaving, they brought three representatives elected by the local fishing village with them. Their mission was to go to Sanya to visit the emerging social form under the governance of the Haihan Executive Committee, and to confirm whether the promises made by Gu Kai before would be fulfilled. accomplish.

Such observations indicate that fishermen on Hong Kong Island are not the first ones.In the process of Haihan's outward expansion of power, there have been many such operations. For example, the most recent one was that the working group going to the Shilu area persuaded the local Li Dong to send an envoy, Huang Que, to Sanya. Witness Heyhan's true strength to make sure the promises made to them by the Task Force aren't just bragging rights.

What Huang Que saw and heard in Sanya undoubtedly shocked him greatly, and just as the relevant departments expected, Huang Que brought this shock back to Lidong in Shilu and convinced his fellow villagers Accept the plan of the Haihan people, gradually move the resident to the coastal areas at the right time, and start learning to adapt to the Haihan-style social system and lifestyle.

Using such a method to realize the plan of land expropriation and resettlement is undoubtedly much more acceptable than force suppression.And this method has been gradually improved through repeated use. After these representatives of the people arrive in Sanya, people from the Ministry of Civil Affairs will naturally take over and use various propaganda methods to bombard them with brainwashing information in a short period of time. .In just a few days, these people will naturally be thoroughly washed by repeated information indoctrination and psychological hints. If everything goes well, when these people return to the fishing village half a month later, they will probably have become loyal friends. Haihan civilization believers.They will spare no effort to persuade relatives and friends around them to give up their current lifestyle and join Haihan's social system.

In the next two months, the entire Ministry of Construction was almost operating in an overloaded manner, and even Tao Donglai, a leader who seldom went out for foreign affairs, had to work temporarily due to the shortage of engineering and technical personnel. Let go of other part-time positions and focus on completing the work of the Ministry of Construction.

In late August, a sea boat carried three fishermen who had become fans of Haihan back to Hong Kong Island. They also arrived with the project budget that the engineering department worked out with unlimited overtime.This project budget is divided into three parts: civil, commercial and military. The military is the most confidential. Although the project cost is very high, military projects have never absorbed external funding, and this time is no exception.The civil and commercial parts will be developed through joint investment and joint operation. Simply put, all merchants will jointly inject capital into the Hong Kong company, and then the Hong Kong company will invest in the construction, and then gradually recover the cost through future operations. , generating income.

Although the initial investment of this way of investing in the industry will be much higher than other businesses, the advantage is that the returns are stable and the benefits are considerable.The most important thing is that for the businessmen who invest here, they can obtain many conveniences and benefits in this place by virtue of their investor status in the future. When this place gradually prospers, it will not be easy to buy with money. treated.

(End of this chapter)