1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 886 Northern Immigration
Being able to capture Wang Jialin, the wanted leader of the Zhoushan Boat Gang, on the second day of the operation is definitely good news for the troops participating in the war.A large part of the reason why the command sent troops into the mountains to suppress the bandits was because Wang Jialin, a dangerous element, was never caught. Now that the bandit leader has been arrested, the command can finally carry out follow-up production and construction work on the island with peace of mind.

But the bandit suppression mission of the Special Operations Battalion did not end there. In addition to escorting Wang Jialin and other captured personnel to Dinghai Fort, they will continue to carry out bandit suppression operations in the mountains for several days as originally planned.Of course, as the number one hero, Sun Zhen does not have to participate in the next few days of operations. He will be responsible for escorting Wang Jialin to Dinghai Fort, and reporting to the headquarters how the target person was captured.As for recording merits, reporting to the Military Commission, and applying for awards, they are all things to look forward to.

However, for several senior officers in the headquarters, Wang Jialin's life or death was of secondary importance, and the more important thing was to find out from him where the property of the Zhoushan Ship Gang was hidden.According to all kinds of intelligence and information obtained before, both Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen believed that the Zhoushan Ship Gang transferred out of the island before the war should be only a small part, there must be a lot buried somewhere on the island, and Wang Jialin should be The person who knows these situations best.How much direct profit Haihan can obtain from the capture of Zhoushan Island still has to fall on Wang Jialin's head.

After receiving the news, the staff from the Secret Service Office of the Ministry of Security rushed to the headquarters in Dinghaibao to report. Gong Shiqi specially brought over two torture experts, Guan Yuan and Guanping, and planned to pry open the door in the shortest possible time. Wang Jialin's mouth.However, his plan didn't come to fruition. Wang Jialin probably lost his mind after losing again and again, so he only used his life as an exchange, so he revealed the place where he hid his belongings.

On the second day, Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen personally led the team to the two treasure places on Zhoushan Island that Wang Jialin told him.Even high-ranking Haihan officials like them who have no interest in money can't help being amazed when they see the mountains of gold and silver treasures piled up in the treasure chest.After a preliminary count, the value of the wealth hidden in these two places by the Zhoushan Ship Gang exceeded one million taels of silver. Hue's two big cities are even more lucrative.The military's proportional share of these seizures alone is enough to cover the military expenditures of the Zhejiang expedition so far.

Originally, these wealth should have been obtained when Haihan captured Zhoushan, but due to some mistakes, it was delayed for more than half a month.Fortunately, Haihan firmly controlled Zhoushan Island, so that Wang Jialin could not smuggle the wealth out of the island.Although the Zhoushan Ship Gang still has a lot of property that is difficult to recover in Ningbo, but compared to the part hidden on the island, it is nothing.

However, this money may not all be sealed up and sent back to Sanya, because the money needed for the construction work of the Zhoushan Port area that has been rolled out will also be a huge astronomical figure, and it will be a continuous investment. The planned southern port area may take several years to complete.

However, compared with several port areas at the north and south ends of Taiwan Island, which are also in the early stage of development in the south, Zhoushan Island has an incomparable advantage in that it is very close to the mainland, which is ten times shorter than the distance between Taiwan Island and Fujian. Whether it is trade or the introduction of population, Zhoushan Island is obviously more convenient.Moreover, as a transfer station for immigrants from the north to go south, it is logical to intercept some immigrants with better quality.In particular, those who are literate and literate have become priority candidates for recruitment and naturalization.

One day in early June, three immigrant ships from the north arrived at Dinghai Port. This was the first batch of northern immigrants accepted by Haihan after he captured Zhoushan Island. The carrier was Fujian maritime merchant Liu Zhenguo. Under the business of organizing the transportation of immigrants from the north for Haihan.Although the risk of this business is not small, the profit is also huge. If you don't believe it, the number of ships that Liu Zhenguo invested in this route has increased from the initial four to the current fourteen, which can explain the problem.

Liu Zhenguo personally led the team when the boat went north a month ago. At that time, Haihan had captured Liuheng Island and was in the stage of preparing to attack Zhoushan Island.Both Shi Diwen and Qian Tiandun stayed in Fujian for a long time, and they also knew Liu Zhenguo. He knew more about the battle situation than outsiders, so he dared to let the fleet directly sail in on the return journey. Ding Bay docked.Usually, when passing through this sea area, in order to avoid trouble, he always asked the ship to go around the east of the Zhoushan Islands, and only docked at Taizhou for supplies.

After Liu Zhenguo disembarked, he found that Qian Tiandun was waiting for him on the pier. He was flattered and hurried over to greet Qian Tiandun: "General Qian is so flattering, it's really a villain!"

Qian Tiandun responded with a smile: "Boss Liu has worked hard all the way. I asked someone to prepare a table of thin wine to welcome Boss Liu. Don't dislike the poor conditions in our place!"

Liu Zhenguo even said he didn't dare, but he was thinking in his heart that this Haihan man took the initiative to host a banquet to greet him, maybe something would happen to him.But his current main business is the immigration route between the north and the south, presumably what Qian Tiandun wants to discuss with him at the banquet will also be related to this.

Liu Zhenguo's expectations were not bad. After drinking for three rounds, Qian Tiandun took the initiative to bring up the business: "We heard that the fighting in the northern Shandong territory has basically subsided. What is the current situation there?"

Liu Zhenguo put down his chopsticks and responded, "The rebellion of Kong Youde and others has come to an end, but the chaos in Shandong is still unresolved. Last year, there was a whole year of fighting, and tens of thousands of people were displaced. Became a bandit and became a bandit. After the chaos last year, many weapons flowed into the people. Now there are at least five or six bandits in Shandong who are using the equipment of the Ming army. There are even small groups of cavalry and water troops. The government is also very It's a headache. To eliminate these bandits, you have to mobilize officials and troops from various states and governments to encircle and suppress them. However, Shandong is now in a state of scorched land. Except for the troops stationed in Dengzhou City and Laizhou City, there is no way to maintain the supplies needed for the army to be stationed in other places, let alone Not to mention the wars. Only a few big cities are in better condition, and the rest of the place is just as scary."

Qian Tiandun nodded, and then asked: "What about the situation among the people? Has the government organized the people to return to their hometowns for production and self-help?"

Liu Zhenguo shook his head and said, "It's not that the government doesn't care about it, but that it really can't manage it. The hundreds of thousands of refugees are like locusts, they eat up wherever they go, and even if they go back to their hometown, the local area can't afford to support so many people. You Think about it, last year there was no harvest in most places, and the grain in the official warehouse was robbed by the rebels long ago. I can only choose two escape routes, going north and going south. This time I went north to Lingshanwei and Aoshanwei. The tragic situation of the local refugees is still the same as during the war. In other words, if it weren’t for the benevolence and righteousness of the leaders of Haihan, they gave money and food to relieve these refugees I don’t know how many people died of starvation and disease. Although the villain brought refugees back from the north to do business with money, he also admired the righteous deeds of the chiefs and offered a toast to General Qian. A little thanks!"

Qian Tiandun said politely, and after toasting with him, he continued to ask: "Based on what Boss Liu saw in the north, what is the willingness of the local refugees to go south? If the government is willing to help the refugees, how long will it take to return to normal?" social order?"

Liu Zhenguo said: "In the situation of refugees, it is good to have something to eat. There is no room for pick and choose. What's more, starting from this year, every time I go north to accept immigrants, there will be naturalized people who went south earlier. These locals promoted Haihan’s good deeds on their behalf, and the villain also saved a lot of trouble. After returning to Fujian this time, the villain plans to see if he wants to buy a few more boats and try to bring back as many people as possible. As for the actions of the local government ...The villain feels that it will take at least two or three years before the situation returns to the pre-war situation!"

After pondering for a while, Qian Tiandun said again: "If Zhoushan can provide you with a batch of ships, do you have the ability to open another short route, running back and forth between Shandong and Zhoushan?"

Although Liu Zhenguo was a little surprised when he heard this, he quickly nodded and said, "This should be possible, but the villain doesn't have so many sailors for the time being. However, among the refugees in the two states of Denglai, there are quite a few who can sail. , it will be very fast to recruit a group of sailors from the local area.”

"Then let's discount the ship to pay for the freight. Will Boss Liu accept it? Of course, you can choose the ship yourself, and the price can be negotiated. In short, you won't be at a disadvantage." Qian Tiandun continued to throw out conditions.

Liu Zhenguo had roughly guessed the reason when he heard this, but he would not say it out of nowhere, and immediately responded: "Since it is General Qian's intention, the villain should follow it. I don't know when to start to deal with this matter?"

"You take a break today, and tomorrow I'll have someone take you to the pier to pick a boat." Qian Tiandun was very happy when he saw Liu Zhenguo readily agreed, and took the initiative to toast Liu Zhenguo.

The reason why Qian Tiandun specially invited Liu Zhenguo to discuss this matter was mainly due to the deployment of the Executive Committee to Zhoushan.Since the waters of the Zhoushan Islands have not been fully cleaned up yet, and the attitude of the Zhejiang government towards the arrival of Haihan is still unclear, the executive committee believes that it is necessary for the special warfare battalion to continue stationing in Zhoushan for a period of time, and make new decisions after the situation stabilizes. deploy.And Qian Tiandun, as a senior official who has been in charge of military and political affairs outside the country all the year round, with him sitting in Zhoushan, the executive committee is more at ease.

At present, Qian Tiandun is temporarily in charge of business, trade and civil affairs in Zhoushan area, so he has a lot to worry about.For example, introducing immigrants to adjust the local population structure, such as dealing with the large amount of materials seized from this area during the war, including a large number of sea ships.

In addition to some ships damaged and destroyed by the Haihan fleet during the naval battle, the Haihan militia also captured a large number of ships that did not escape after occupying Zhoushan Island. There were as many as seventy or eighty sailboats with a displacement of more than [-] tons. .There are hundreds of boats of all kinds.

The team responsible for counting the trophies first classified these boats according to their functions. For example, the fishing boats would probably stay in the local area. After the civil affairs department organized a commune-level management organization, they would be handed over to the commune as a production tool.As for some cargo ships that run on COSCO voyages, because there are not enough sailors among the Haihan personnel stationed here, it is difficult to use them for the time being.Moreover, the standard of these ships is chaotic, which is not in line with the current development trend of the Ministry of Shipping to "achieve full self-production and unify ship models". Neither the Ministry of Commerce nor the Ministry of Shipping has much interest in taking over these ships.

Of course, it is not difficult to sell these ships in Ningbo Prefecture, where the shipping industry is relatively developed, but Qian Tiandun hopes to make the best use of them so that these ships can play a greater role.It is also a feasible solution to deal with non-performing assets to put it into the route for transporting immigrants from the north and convert these idle ships into people to enter Zhoushan.It is worth mentioning that this processing method will not touch the special funds used by the Ministry of Civil Affairs for immigration transportation, so the immigrant population in exchange for this will no longer need to be sent south, and will not be sent to the south because of too many intercepted immigrants. colleagues complain.

Qian Tiandun and Shi Diwen have made a special calculation on this matter. If handled properly, these sailboats seized from pirates and smugglers can at least bring thousands of immigrants to the local area. The value that can be created for Haihan must far exceed the cost of introducing them.

Liu Zhenguo is considered to be one of Haihan's long-standing partners in the plan to introduce immigrants from the north, and the proficiency and scale of transporting immigrants is second only to the boat company under the name of the Xu family, so Qian Tiandun took him as the first to promote object.This Liu Zhenguo was considered sensible, thinking that he would not suffer any losses from this transaction, so he decisively agreed first.

In fact, the food needed to transport immigrants from the north has always been provided by Haihan. Even if the salary of the crew and the maintenance and depreciation costs of the ship are included, Liu Zhenguo really can't suffer in this transaction, and he can go back and forth three times at most. , can basically earn the value of a boat.The voyage from Jiaodong Peninsula to Zhoushan is fully half that of Penghu in the past, and the time required to travel between the two places is also greatly reduced, and the corresponding expenses are naturally much lower.As long as the ship does not have any accidents on the way, Liu Zhenguo can basically make a profit from this deal.

The next day, someone took Liu Zhenguo to another pier in Dinghai Bay to choose ships. When Liu Zhenguo saw so many boats, he could pick out a few suitable ones even with his eyes closed. He secretly rejoiced that he agreed to Qian Tian yesterday. Dunn's request.

(End of this chapter)