1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 539 The situation in Da Nang
It is not the first time that Wang Tom has come to Da Nang. In fact, during the Annan Civil War, the Hai Han Navy he led stopped briefly at this place.However, there were no port facilities in Da Nang at that time, only two fishing village piers, but now a pier with a length of more than 300 meters has been built on the coast of this place, and a construction team of more than 2000 people is still working overtime to expand. The wharf, the construction of various port facilities, and official roads leading to other cities in the north and south.After Tom Wang stepped down the gangway, he saw Ruan Jinggui who was waiting respectfully on the pier.

Ruan Jinggui rushed back from Cam Ranh Bay in the south after receiving the notice recently, and he only arrived in Da Nang at midnight last night.He was sent here last year to preside over the local civil affairs in Da Nang, and he has made some achievements.Since Ruan Jinggui is more familiar with the situation in southern Annan, two months ago, the executive committee transferred him to Cam Ranh Bay in the south to help organize the preparations for the local military port.

Ruan Jinggui was informed that the fleet from Sanya arrived in Da Nang today, so he did not have a good rest after arriving last night, and got up early in the morning to prepare for work.Although the notice sent by the base camp through the radio did not specify the nature of the fleet this time, but judging from the size and the list of traveling personnel, Ruan Jinggui still saw some tricks.

If it was just a routine inspection, usually such a large fleet would not come over, and the personnel would be simpler, as it would not be composed of multiple departments like this time.Most importantly, the notice sent by the base camp clearly emphasized that the local area should keep the ins and outs of this fleet a secret, which had never happened before.

Of course, at Ruan Jinggui's level, he only knew that the fleet came from Sanya. As for why they came and where they were going next, these information were beyond Ruan Jinggui's access.All he can do now is to serve these people well and complete the tasks they assigned.

In the itinerary formulated by Wang Tom, there will be a two-day supply rest in Da Nang, and then go south.There are no similar large ports in the coastal areas of the Indochina Peninsula south of Da Nang, so many necessary living supplies have to be completed here, and those small fishing ports further south can only replenish fresh water and a small amount of food at best.

"The chiefs have worked hard all the way. The officials have ordered people to clean the residence and prepare hot food. It's just that the local conditions are limited. Please forgive me!" Ruan Jinggui is not the first time to receive people from the base camp here. The others didn't seem flustered.

"You have worked hard too!" Tom Wang responded lightly.It's not that he has any opinion on Ruan Jinggui, but that he really has no friendship at all, it's purely a business-to-business contact.

But the next person was different. Wang Tom gave a military salute, and then hugged him tightly: "Old Mu, long time no see!"

As the only armed force in the group, this group of senior military officers often acted together at the beginning of the time travel, so they are relatively familiar with each other.And compared to the comrades who only sweated together on the training ground in peacetime, they had the experience of fighting together on the Annan battlefield, and their relationship was naturally deeper.

Mu Xiabo replied with a smile: "Long time no see, once we see each other, we will see each other for many days, this time I want to go with you, so I rely on you to cover me!"

After exchanging a few pleasantries, everyone boarded the bullock cart ordered by Ruan Jinggui one by one, and went to the place where they stayed.In fact, Ruan Jinggui's accommodation was not too far from the pier, and it only took a short walk to walk, but there was a special car to pick him up, which made his status different.Ruan Jinggui paid attention to these details during his stay in Sanya. Unfortunately, there are no horses in Da Nang, so he can only use ox carts to make up for it.

The Fengfeng Banquet has maintained a high standard. The seafood is all picked up from the sea early this morning, and the chicken, duck and pig are all freshly slaughtered. The chef follows the standard "Haihan cuisine" method learned from Sanya. The wine used in the banquet is also the authentic "Sanya Special Brew", which is designated by the Haihan Executive Committee for official reception.

After the banquet was over, Ruan Jinggui ran up and down again, and after arranging the accommodation for the group of more than [-] people, before he returned to his place and had no time to wash his face with hot water, someone came to inform him to go to the garrison immediately. Check in at camp.

Ruan Jinggui quickly put on his shoes again, and rushed to the militia station at the foot of the Son Tra Peninsula in the northeast of Da Nang Port without stopping.There are only two companies of the militia army stationed locally, and the camp is set up in this place adjacent to the port.The periphery is a fortress-style building built against the mountain at the north end and facing the sea at the south end. The part between this building and the mountain is the militia camp.However, the base of the militia group is not just this camp which covers an area of ​​about [-] mu, but also includes the entire mountainous area of ​​the Camellia Peninsula extending into the South China Sea.A vigilante lookout post has been set up at the commanding heights of the peninsula. When the weather is fine, you can check the sea surface conditions within [-] nautical miles through binoculars.

After Ruan Jinggui registered at the gate of the camp, he was taken to the meeting room in the camp, where he met several people who had just retreated from the dinner table not long ago.

"Director Ruan, I've invited you here to let you know about the current construction status of Da Nang." After Mu Xiabo waited for Ruan Jinggui to sit down, he said to him, "Tell me about the situation in all aspects."

Although Ruan Jinggui didn't know why, he looked at the people present and knew that things were not that simple - he was the only one in the civil affairs department, and almost all the other people were military personnel.There were several naturalized civilians who were not wearing military uniforms sitting at the bottom. One of them, Ruan Jinggui, recognized him. He was a naturalized cadre named Lin Nan from the Ministry of Security. He used to be active in the Shengli Port area.

What is the background of the Ministry of Security? After all, Ruan Jinggui has stayed in Sanya for a while, so he still knows a thing or two about it. As long as the Ministry of Security is involved, it is definitely not a trivial matter.Ruan Jinggui was even more cautious now, he quickly stood up and responded: "If the officials say something inappropriate, don't blame the chiefs!"

"Since the executive committee ordered the development of Da Nang last year, the local population has increased from more than 400 to nearly 4000 at present, and more than 500% of them are naturalized people who have joined the Haihan native place..." Ruan Jinggui made a slight adjustment Breathe, stabilize your emotions, and start to introduce the local situation: "...At present, there are [-] to [-] new naturalized people joining every month, and they are basically residents who used to live near the city of Hoi An. Most of these local people are Seeing that the life of the naturalized people is more stable, they come here because of the reputation, their enthusiasm for naturalization is relatively high, and they are more obedient to our management after naturalization.”

"In terms of products, the Ministry of Agriculture has sent technical specialists over last year to guide local farmers to cultivate collective farms and grow rice, corn, spices and other crops. Up to now, there are about [-] mu of land. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture is still in the nearby Shan Tra Peninsula. The deforestation area organized people to replant a large number of rubber trees, a total of more than [-] trees. However, the technical specialist said that it would take several years for this tree to reach the harvesting period. The livestock and poultry breeding and fishing industries have also been implemented since last year. Some of the poultry eggs and meat produced locally will be transported by sea to Hue in the north for sale.”

After all, Ruan Jinggui was born as a businessman, so he has a pretty good memory. He can easily come up with the data without using written materials: "The technical specialist sent by the Ministry of Industry discovered a lime mine here last year, and guided the local people to build cement. At present, the cement used in the local construction of the wharf is basically self-produced, and there is no need to transport it across the sea from Sanya. In addition, the local woodland is dense and the water conservancy conditions are also convenient, so there are several paper mills built. The paper products produced are not only supply Outside the city of Annan, some of them were also transported back to Sanya for use by various yamen and academies in Shengli Fort."

"The port construction is divided into five phases. At present, the first phase of the project has been basically completed, and the second phase is underway. The existing wharf can berth at the same time for a total of [-] sea-going ships with [-] materials. After the completion of the second phase in the first half of next year , The size of the port is expected to double again. In addition, the local commercial warehouses, warehouses, and various civil facilities have been constructed one by one in accordance with the planning of the Ministry of Construction. In time, the prosperous scene of Sanya will definitely be reproduced here.”

While Ruan Jinggui was telling the story, he also noticed that today's audience is not just listening, almost everyone has a book in hand, writing and drawing on paper while listening.Ruan Jinggui finally finished speaking tremblingly, saw Mu Xiabai nodded towards him, and then slowly sat back on his chair.

"I have a question to ask." The first person to ask the question was Lin Nan from the Security Department: "Director Ruan, I have three questions to ask. First, are there any ships from Nanyang currently docking here? Please explain this situation. Second, whether the local area has the ability to organize logistical supplies to double the current population? The following mainly refers to the supply of food. Third, how many local sailors and crew members are familiar with the sea conditions in the South China Sea? Can Director Ruan gather these people together as soon as possible?"

Ruan Jinggui was also a person who experienced the civil war in Annan. After listening to Lin Nan's three questions, Ruan Jinggui had already guessed the reason why this group of people appeared here - it was clearly that Haihan was planning to launch a certain scale of military operations in the south. up!
Ruan Jinggui also went to Nanyang when he was doing business in his early years, and he still has a general understanding of the distribution of forces in Nanyang, but he dare not speculate on which company the high-level Haihan is after. Dao: "It is true that there are ships returning from Nanyang to occasionally stop here for supplies, but after the destruction of Hoi An City, there are not many foreign ships coming to Da Nang, only seven or eight ships per month, most of them are The merchant ships of our side and Ming Dynasty, and occasionally one or two Portuguese ships will also stop here."

"As for the supply capacity..." Ruan Jinggui bit his teeth and said, "If it is food, the current local production may not be able to support double the population, but meat should be possible, and there are many mountains nearby, and hunting can be organized if necessary No matter how bad the local fishery is, we can increase the catch, but we need to add some fishing boats. Vegetables are also no problem. The local area has only reclaimed more than [-] acres of vegetable land in the past two months, and most of them are used for planting. Seasonal vegetables, some of them will start to be harvested in about half a month."

Lin Nan nodded, and wrote down what Ruan Jinggui said in the notebook in front of him while listening.

"There are really not many sailors and crew members who are familiar with Nanyang..." Ruan Jinggui also showed a embarrassed look on his face at this time: "The city of Hui'an was breached the year before last, and most of the sailors who lived there fled to other places. ..."

"We have no quantitative requirements." Lin Nan interjected and added.

"If there is no quantity requirement, then three or forty people can always be found." Hearing such an answer, Ruan Jinggui immediately felt relieved, and immediately responded.

"If you want to be a reliable naturalized citizen, you have to be strict with your mouth." Lin Nan added two more conditions.

"Well... If that's the case, then maybe it has to be halved." Ruan Jinggui made some calculations in his heart before giving the answer.

"Then I will leave this matter to you, and it will be done as soon as possible. There are only two days." Lin Nan gave the order to Ruan Jinggui without any doubt.

Although the two of them were not in the same yamen at all, Ruan Jinggui did not dare to refute Lin Nan's order, and just complied repeatedly, secretly guessing the real purpose of the Ministry of Security in his heart.

Earlier Ruan Jinggui vaguely felt that Haihan was going to make a move in the south this time, and these instructions from Lin Nan made him more sure of his inference.Just as he was still in deep thought, he heard Lin Nan add: "When you recruited these people, even their families were included. After we set off, we will send another ship to send all their families to Sanya. There will be someone to arrange their future life."

"Yes, yes, the officer understands." With Ruan Jinggui's mind, he could naturally think that this was a means for the Ministry of Security to seek to keep secrets.These sailors will probably follow the fleet back to Sanya after this trip. Naturally, it is unlikely that the places they have been will be leaked out easily—at least for a period of time, this information can be kept. secret.

The questions about Ruan Jinggui did not end here. Next, the officers headed by Wang Tom asked Ruan Jinggui a series of questions, including the status of various coastal supply points in the southern Indochina Peninsula, and the recent situation between Annan and Champa. Wait, Ruan Jinggui spent more than two hours talking dryly before finally basically answering all kinds of tricky questions from these unexpected guests.

When leaving, Mu Xiabo got up and sent Ruan Jinggui all the way to the gate of the camp. Before saying goodbye, Mu Xiabo lowered his voice and said seriously: "Director Ruan, I don't need to emphasize the nature of this matter. I believe you can You should understand its importance, right?"

"Understood, I understand completely!" Ruan Jinggui responded repeatedly: "General Mu, please rest assured, I am very tight-lipped, and will never spread the news that should not be said!"

(End of this chapter)