1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 677 Visiting Changhua
For this negotiation that is destined to have no results, Schneider has no interest in wasting time anymore.He has already informed Yu Xiaobao of the negotiation framework, so let him and the representatives of the East India Company slowly grind it out.Now it is September, and the annual Sanya Autumn Fair is in the final preparation period. Schneider has a lot of drafted agreement texts that need to be reviewed, and these agreements will be signed at the next Autumn Fair. Ceremony to publicize the great achievements of the Autumn Fair.

After the fifth year of time travel, the economic activities between Haihan and Daming have become more frequent, and the bilateral trade volume has also shown an upward trend year by year.Compared with the huge market of Daming, Haihan’s current production capacity in various fields is still in short supply. Some high-end industrial products still need to be booked several months or even half a year in advance before they can be obtained when they go on the market. goods.In order to give foreign businessmen a chance to compete fairly, the annual Sanya Autumn Fair has become the largest and most concentrated order period for Haihan.

In addition to the order fair, the cooperation of some large-scale projects is also the highlight of the autumn fair."Qiong Lianfa", which started with the development of agricultural and forestry infrastructure projects, is now a representative agency for economic and trade exchanges between Daming and Haihan. Every year, a large number of cooperation projects are publicly signed at the Autumn Fair, and they have invested in various projects over the past few years. The funds in it have already exceeded one million taels of silver.Of course, under the careful management of Haihan, the shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa" have also obtained quite generous returns. The first dozen or so major shareholders who invested in the shares are now counted as large households in Fuguang and Guangxi provinces. up.

In this year's Autumn Fair, in addition to the traditional projects, a large area in the northern part of Qiongzhou Island has also been added.After controlling the Qiongbei area through the Liaoyuan operation last year, after more than half a year of governance, a large area to be developed has been cleared, and the next step is to wait for the injection of funds and labor.At present, the Ministry of Agriculture has planned tens of thousands of acres of economic crop farms, and will select cooperative merchants for joint development through bidding during the Autumn Fair.In addition, seaport and wharf infrastructure projects such as Haikou Port and Danzhou Port have already had intentional agreements, and they are waiting to be formally signed during the Autumn Fair.

As in previous years, this year the Ministry of Commerce also organized a foreign business delegation to inspect the construction projects in the area controlled by Haihan and visit the construction results.In addition to the representatives of the various shareholders of "Qiong Lianfa", many businessmen from Fujian, Jiangxi and other places have been added this year, as well as foreign guests from Annan, Champa, Siam, Portugal and other countries.Representatives of the local officials stationed in Qiongzhou by Daming will also be present, so as to convince foreign merchants that Haihan's development and construction of Qiongzhou Island has the official support of Ming Dynasty.

Just arranging this mess has already kept the business and diplomatic departments busy. At this time, the Dutch mission's visit is naturally difficult to get Haihan's attention.After contacting each other, Schneider and Gu Kai felt that there was no substantive content, so they quickly left this work to Yu Xiaobao, who had just come into contact with foreign affairs, and was busy with business.

It is reasonable to say that Gu Kai should not leave Shengli Port at this time, but the executive committee thinks that it is just right to take the opportunity of the opening ceremony of the Changhua project to invite foreign visiting groups to open their eyes and let them experience the industrial age. the beginning.In addition, this activity is also to build momentum for the regime independence measures that will be carried out next year. After all, the monopoly of salt and iron has been regarded as a symbol of the regime since ancient times. The scale of operation and operation is far less than that of Changhua Shilu area, and its external influence is also very limited.Let foreign businessmen go to Changhua to see the production status of iron and steel making, so that they can have more confidence in Haihan's future development.

It is not difficult to transport foreign business groups to Changhua. The difficulty is that Changhua is far less developed than Sanya, and it will take some work to find a place to accommodate so many distinguished guests.For this reason, Qiao Zhiya had to inform Changhua County in advance, and asked the local official organization, the squires, to temporarily vacate three or four courtyards as places for the visiting group to stay.

While the Dutch were still following Yu Xiaobao, the foreign business delegation organized by the Ministry of Commerce had boarded ships from Sanya and Danzhou respectively and headed for Changhua.Gu Kai also set off with the fleet. In addition to being the guest of honor at the commissioning ceremony, he will also be responsible for organizing the activities of the visiting group during their stay in Changhua.

On September 1631, 9, Gu Kai's fleet arrived at Changhua Port smoothly.He also came to Changhua twice in the early stage of developing Changhua, but at that time, even the port facilities in Changhua Port had not yet been fully built, and the coal ships coming from Annan Heitu Port were blocked outside the small harbor in disorder, unloading Basically, it can only rely on shovels and sacks. Every time a coal ship arrives at the port for a few days, the entire port and the water of the Changhua River are covered with a layer of coal ash. Mechanized bulk coal loading has been realized, and the small train transported from the mining area to the port can directly unload the bulk coal to the side of the loading conveyor, and there are relatively complete dust removal methods, so that the coal ash will not be scattered for miles The inside is overwhelming.

However, when Gu Kai arrived at Changhua Port this time, he found that the appearance here had indeed changed greatly compared to the previous visit.First of all, the scale of the port has been greatly improved, and the passenger and cargo terminals are completely separated, not mixed together like before.The small harbor on the sea side has become a special passenger terminal, and the fleet transporting supplies will travel to the bank of the Changhua River, which is more inland. There is a specially built cargo terminal there, and according to the setting of Heitu Port, Several steam-powered dry bulk conveyors were installed, and the unloading efficiency has increased by more than ten times compared to before.

Secondly, the passenger and cargo passages on the shore have also been separated. The freight terminal has specially laid a transportation track leading to the coal and iron industry base in the east of Changhua County, and is responsible for transferring the coal transported to the port to the coking workshop of the industrial base. After making coke there, it is used in the production of iron and steel.This track is also connected to the rail transportation line from Changhua Port to Shilu. Some construction machinery and equipment produced in Sanya can also be loaded here, and then directly transported to the Shilu mining area.

Qiao Zhiya brought the local naturalized cadres to the pier to meet Gu Kai and his party.Most of the members of the visiting group who accompanied him were still excitedly discussing the giant ship they saw before entering the port.

A "majestic class" warship that just completed its combat readiness duty in the waters near Changhua chose to stop at Changhua Port for supplies. The warship was slowly sailing away from the coast.It was the first time for most of the people to witness this legendary Haihan warship, so it was inevitable to comment on it.

Of course, no one questioned the actual combat effectiveness of this kind of warship, because just four months ago, this kind of warship defeated Shibazhi in Fujian and made great achievements in battle.For this reason, the Fujian government also specially issued a notice of commendation, which was copied by the yamen of various places in Qiongzhou. Anyone who has been in and out of Qiongzhou Island in the near future can see the relevant notices at various docks and city gates.And two months ago, there was news that the Haihan Fleet had defeated the Red-haired Fleet in Fujian. Hundreds of foreign captives were paraded in the streets of Sanya Port. On a large warship with mighty appearance——Although the "Majestic Class" has not even appeared in the battle with the Dutch fleet, this does not prevent the imaginative people from making up a set of "Majestic Class" according to their own wishes. The majestic warship beats the red-haired ghost".

It has been a while since the visiting group arrived in Qiongzhou, and they have been brainwashed by the news during this time. Even those who still have doubts in their hearts immediately become indifferent to the rumors after seeing the real body of this warship just now. I am convinced.

Of course, Gu Kai had much more information than these outsiders, so he quickly pulled Qiao Zhiya aside and asked, "Why do people from the navy come here to supply? Isn't their supply port in Danzhou Bay?"

"It's mainly for coal loading, and the reserves in Danzhou Bay are probably not enough." Qiao Zhiya explained: "Danzhou is under martial law again, and some cargo ships can't leave Danzhou for the time being. It happens that the navy ships are training nearby again, so they come here by the way. Load up the coal."

"Why is Danzhou under martial law again? Something happened?" Gu Kai asked with a frown.

"Last week, there were assassins in Danzhou again, but this time they are not looking for Zhang Xin, but officials from Ming Dynasty who have taken refuge with us." Qiao Zhiya was probably bored after staying in this place for a long time, and he was very excited to talk about these out-of-town gossips: "The officials assigned to Danzhou at the beginning of the year, didn't they all join us later? This time, there were assassins in Danzhou assassinating them. Zhang Xin and the people from the Ministry of Security thought that the remnants of the previous assassination had not been cleared up, so the port was closed. Catch the assassin in Danzhou."

"Oh... I remembered, one is Yan Mingjun and the other is Li Jin, right?" Gu Kaijing also remembered this when he said this.

When the two Ming officials first arrived in Danzhou, their conflicting emotions were quite obvious. However, in March, anti-Hai Han gentry and Jin Yiwei officers instigated a riot in Danzhou, trying to assassinate Zhang Xin and other Hai Han officials in the city. Han important people, the two chose to cooperate with Hai Han at the last moment, and they also sold their accomplices.After that, the two could only be the vassals and spokespersons of the Haihan local management organization. On the surface, they were the prefects and generals of Danzhou, but in fact they were just a decoration, only responsible for the governor of Zhaoqing every month. It is enough for the yamen to write a routine report—the content of this report is all written according to the instructions of the Haihan people.

Of course, this is not a bad thing for them. Apart from saving their own lives, they can also make a small fortune. At the same time, they don’t need to worry about local governance. Naturally, the Danzhou Management Committee will take care of everything. .In addition to not being allowed to travel to the mainland, their local movements are no longer restricted.

Under the arrangement of the management committee, Yan Mingjun, who loves literature, sat on the throne of the honorary president of the "Danzhou Literati Federation", and also presided over the latest Qiongzhou poetry meeting, which was praised by many literati and stars. Generally speaking, it is also a great time to play.

Li Jin, who is good at martial arts, completely mixed up with the Haihan soldiers.He didn't have any family members, so he simply moved his residence outside the city, adjacent to the training ground of the Haihan garrison. He ate and lived with the Haihan officers every day, and he didn't look like an outsider at all.Although Import Li never said anything like surrendering to Haihan, everyone regarded him as a surrendered general.

Of course, this is not a kind of discrimination. It is not uncommon for Ming generals under the rule of Haihan. Luo Sheng Dongluo, the first surrendered general to Haihan, is now not only doing smuggling business with the rank of Ming Dynasty, but also serving as the general of this year. Vice President of the "Daming Haihan Civil Relations Association" which was established in April.Although this organization is not officially recognized by the Ming Dynasty, its rank is not low, because the chairman is concurrently held by Haihan's top leader, Tao Donglai.Although the name bears the sign of "National Relations", the actual task is to coordinate the relationship between Haihan and the official circles of Ming Dynasty.

Li came in late, so of course he didn't get so many chances to serve Haihan loyally, but Haihan officers saw him as a soldier who didn't like politics, so they didn't reject him from joining, and he was usually involved in daily training.After all, it is very difficult for Haihan's set of skills to be implemented in Ming Dynasty, and the officers are not afraid that he can learn some unique skills secretly.Li Jin may have had such thoughts at first, but after being in contact with the Haihan militia for a long time, he also knows that it is absolutely impossible to train such an army with the current conditions of Daming, whether it is weapons and equipment, living conditions, daily life, etc. Neither the training nor the command system, the Ming army can't reach the current level of the Haihan militia, and they will give up after coming and going.

There has always been a navy stationed in Danzhou. Although Li Jin is not from a navy background, he often goes to Danzhou Port to watch the training of the Haihan Navy.Later, they hit it off with Wu Sen, who is also a general, and the two actually burned yellow paper and cut off the chicken's head to worship him.Although this kind of atmosphere is not advocated in the Haihan army, no one specifically targets these two generals with special identities.

After Yan Mingjun and Li Jin lived together peacefully for several months, something happened recently. Two assassins climbed over the wall and entered Yan Mingjun's residence after nightfall, trying to assassinate him.However, after Yan Mingjun surrendered in March, the Danzhou Management Committee assigned two soldiers to live in his home as security guards. The two assassins were found before they touched Yan Mingjun's bedroom. The soldiers fired warning shots. The assassin fled in a hurry.The last one died and the other was injured. The Ministry of Security obtained a confession that the two were related to the assassination case in March, and quickly notified all parts of Qiongbei to cooperate in the arrest of several wanted criminals who are still at large.As a result, shipping at Danzhou Port was affected, and freight was temporarily suspended.

(End of this chapter)