1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 938
However, Zhang Yun is not a nerd who is ignorant of the world, and he did not blindly listen to what Roger said.The operation difficulty of this project is not small even in the time and space before they traveled, let alone the present 400 years ago. Although the operation plan mentioned by Roger is feasible to a certain extent, Zhang Yun still feels a little Uneasy, I always feel that it is really difficult to maintain the operation of this so-called safari park with operating income.After all, Annbuna Island is an isolated island in the sea, with extremely limited traffic, and more than half of this traffic is slaves sold to the island by human traffickers. The overall consumption capacity is very limited, and the prospect of running amusement projects such as zoos is really worrying.

Zhang Yun pondered and asked: "Roger, are you planning this matter alone, or have you already contacted other departments and have a more complete business plan?"

Roger responded: "I know what you are worried about. Let me tell you this. Several people from our North American gang are ready to contribute. Schneider is also very interested and has put forward some good business suggestions. This project alone It must be impossible to revitalize Ambuna Island, so the Ministry of Commerce actually has other projects. You don’t have to worry about funding, publicity, and management. There will be special personnel in charge when the time comes. It’s fine to be good at this field. I don’t intend to put the entire project on your shoulders. We will have a team to handle this matter, and you are just the head of one of the departments. Take a step back, even if this project ends up If the operation fails, you have nothing to lose... I mean financially."

Zhang Yun shook his head and said: "Even if I pay, I can't pay too much. How much savings do you think I can have with my daily work and two burdens? I'm not worried about economic losses, just If this project fails, the negative impact may be very large, have you considered it?"

Roger pondered for a moment before responding: "Okay, since you think so far, then I will reveal a little more information to you. But remember, if you hear what you hear here, you have to hear it."

Zhang Yun didn't respond, just waiting for Roger's insider revelations to convince him.He already suspected that Roger's proposal was not a whim, but planned in advance.This kind of big project involves various aspects and a lot of funds, so it is understandable that Roger is unwilling to spit out all the information at once.

Roger didn't start talking right away, but got on the boat with Zhang Yun, entered the captain's room, and said after sitting down: "I won't hang up the map, I believe you are very familiar with the location of Ambuna Island." Clear, then I would like to ask you, apart from the disadvantages we all know, what are the special advantages in the geographical environment of Abuna Island?"

Zhang Yun did not expect that Roger would ask such a strange question, and after deliberating for a while, he replied: "I don't know much about geo-environmental theories, so don't be offended if I say something wrong. The place of Ambuna Island is far from It is not close to any country, limited by traffic conditions, and the flow of people is very limited. This is an obvious disadvantage that everyone can see. But on the other hand, no country can control this place, and its location is just right In the middle of the Indochina Peninsula, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo, it is a place that must pass through the waterways going south, north, east, and west. The geographical location is actually quite critical. But Ambuna Island has no natural The harbor limits its development prospects, so I don't quite understand how to take advantage of the geographical advantage."

"Actually, you have already thought of part of it, but you are limited by the condition of 'port', and you can't let go of your vision." Roger explained in a leisurely way: "Not including us, in Anbu There are more than [-] countries within a radius of [-] nautical miles of Nabuna Island, and nine countries exist within a radius of [-] nautical miles. Besides meaning, what kind of existence would it be?"

Before Zhang Yun could figure out the answer, Roger automatically gave the answer: "A land outside the law, a paradise, and all the surrounding countries have no jurisdiction over this isolated island in the sea. We are the rule-makers on the island. Come to The people of Annabuna Island, no matter what their past identities are, as long as they abide by our rules of the game, as long as they can get enough money, we will give them everything they want, including food, drink and entertainment. Schneider has already found someone The design plan has been completed, and we plan to build the largest casino in the Far East and the most luxurious hotel on the island at that time. We have hundreds of years of experience in entertainment operations than people in this era, like this Schneider still has a lot of plans, if you are interested in learning more about them, you can talk to him after returning to Sanya."

It took Zhang Yun a little time to digest Roger's words. He thought that Roger should have more preparations, but what he didn't expect was that Roger and Schneider had already conspired such a big situation.In this plan, the safari park that Roger mentioned to Zhang Yun is just a part of the overall business plan of Abuna Island, and it doesn’t sound like an essential one, because Schneider’s original plan seems to be It is intended to take the casino as the main body of the island's recreational projects.

If Schneider is in charge of the overall situation, then the difficulty of operating the entire project will naturally decrease. After all, his business operation experience is the most abundant in the entire cross-travel team, and he is relatively skilled in the planning and development of large-scale commercial projects.Thinking about it this way, the feasibility of the whole project seems to have improved a lot.

With Zhang Yun's knowledge and field of expertise, it is really difficult for him to imagine such a plan, but after Roger said it, it is not difficult for him to understand the intention of Schneider and others to make this plan.The location and surrounding environment of Ambuna Island can indeed give it a special international positioning as a "land outside the law", and use it to attract some uneasy wealthy people from neighboring countries to come here for entertainment and consumption.Although the transportation to Anbuna Island is not so convenient, this place belongs to Haihan, who has a very high force value. No one dares to make an idea of ​​this place, and Haihan's business reputation is well-known, so it is safe to spend money here It is obviously more secure.

Roger stood up and waved his arms excitedly: "Zhang Yun, think about Las Vegas, it is also a city located in the desert, without any resources, it is entirely dependent on the entertainment industry and The gaming industry has become the largest city and economic center in Nevada, attracting [-] times the number of tourists every year than the number of citizens! We can completely apply this development experience to Ambuna Island after making some changes, making it a tourist attraction in this area. The ultimate destination integrating shopping, shopping and vacation. Isn’t it enough reason that we have the opportunity to create an economic miracle in the South China Sea in the seventeenth century? Join us and complete this project together, and you will not only gain fame and fortune, You can also do the biological research you are interested in with peace of mind, which is good for everyone."

After Zhang Yun heard his enthusiastic encouragement, his heart was really moved, but he still had one last question that he had to ask clearly: "Does the Military Commission know about this plan? I want to know the attitude of the top military officials towards this project. "

Roger smiled and said, "Mr. Yan has been traveling south to Ambuna Island for so many days. Do you think he just wanted to see the plantations on the island? There are hundreds of thousands of acres of land on Hainan Island. Why did he go to the South China Sea to see it? The planning report has been handed in a few months ago, and Mr. Yan also took advantage of this military exercise to stop by Abunna Island for a field trip. Although the military is not directly involved in this project, To come forward, but I will still participate in the form of labor shares. After all, the defense of Ambuna Island is still the responsibility of the military. I am not in a position to disclose more details now, but I believe that after Mr. Yan returns this time, he will Our preparations will be brought to the Executive Committee for discussion.”

Hearing his explanation, Zhang Yun roughly knew it in his heart.Since the military can get considerable benefits from it, most of the senior officials of the Military Commission will support this plan. After all, for the rapidly expanding Haihan ruled area, the members of the Military Commission will definitely not think too much military expenditure.And as long as the Military Commission is willing to come forward to support it, then according to past practice, the voting results in the Executive Committee will tend to agree.

"Well, what should I do now?" After Zhang Yun made up his mind, he immediately began to ask about his responsibilities.

"Just as I said before, you should first draw up a plan for the construction of the wildlife park, so that when we establish the project, we will include the budget together, so that we can calculate the amount of funds required." Roger has long been prepared for this. , and immediately responded: "It's best to finish it within a month. If we want to start a war in the South China Sea after this trip, then this project will definitely be put on hold, so we have to pass the review of the executive committee as soon as possible."

Immediately, the two discussed the specific operation details in the cabin. As for the local inspection of Bandar Lampung, Roger also handed it over to his subordinates.Although the geographical location of this place is good, its ownership is in the hands of Matalam, and Haihan currently does not want to offend the indigenous regime in the Java area, so he will not make an idea of ​​this port for the time being, so the investigation here is just to do Some routine data collection, such as the water depth of the port, nearby topography, population size, etc.

On the contrary, Zheng Zuo and Fan Ji, who followed here, negotiated a few deals here, and they all traded grain for spices.The two countries have no other output, but there is enough grain, and most of the trade with Haihan is bartered with grain.Originally, Roger only wanted the fleet to stay in this place for a day and a half, but due to Zheng Zuo and Fan Ji's request, he had to extend the stay to three days.Fortunately, after he contacted Yan Chujie through the radio, he knew that the negotiations with the Dutch were also falling into a long tug-of-war, so he was no longer in a hurry to rush back.

On November [-], the United Fleet left Bandar Lampung Port, crossed the Sunda Strait all the way south, returned to the side of Java Island, and then traveled northeast along the coastline at the western end of Java Island to start the return journey.

According to the results of this investigation, the coast near the Sunda Strait is indeed not suitable for the construction of large ports, especially the conditions for naval bases. The military originally planned to build a military stronghold here in the future. In fact, there are relatively large implementation difficulty.Of course, if the executive committee is willing to invest enough resources, it is not impossible for the military to occupy a piece of land here to do things, but the effect may not be worthy of the military expenditure that needs to be invested.

It took the United Fleet two days to return to the sea off Batavia Harbor and rejoin the other half of the fleet that stayed here.At this time, the negotiations between Yan Chujie and the Batavian authorities had reached a preliminary agreement on the establishment of a trade alliance, but there were still many differences in the specific details of the operation.

For example, the scope of activities of the Dutch in the South China Sea in the future, the two sides have been at loggerheads.Haihan intends to firmly contain the sphere of influence of the East India Company in the waters south of Ambuna Island, and only allow it to operate in the waters south of the equator such as the Java Sea, Flores Sea, and Banda Sea in the future. , and the Dutch obviously find it difficult to accept this. After all, it took more than ten years to open up the Northeast Asian route.

The two parties have been talking for a week and still haven't reached a conclusion. At this time, the itinerary has exceeded the original arrangement. It is impossible for the huge fleet composed of dozens of ships to float in the sea all the time, and the materials consumed every day are measured in tons.Yan Chujie had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​getting it done once. He could only temporarily sign a memorandum of understanding with Fan Diemen, and then agreed that the delegations of the two parties would continue to negotiate on the trade union agreement on Ambuna Island one month later.Speaking of this point, in fact, Haihan only achieved half of the expected goal, which is not an ideal result.On the contrary, Van Diemen abruptly dragged the negotiation to overtime when the political, military and economic advantages were not dominant. Such a performance was not bad for the East India Company. Can slowly find a way to deal with it.

Of course, the Dutch are not sure whether Haihan will change his mind after a month. If Haihan's patience is worn out by the long negotiations and he is determined to resolve the problem through war, then Van Diemen's delay Tactics backfire.From this perspective, Van Diemen's move actually took some risks.

After the United Fleet purchased supplies again at Batavia Port, they set sail northward. Their next stop was Belitung Island, which was still under the control of the Dutch, 180 nautical miles to the north.

(End of this chapter)