1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 973 The Plantation Outside Yacheng

As the chief officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ning Qi's English level is quite good, even slightly better than that of Van Diemen from Europe, so the communication between the two parties does not need a translator to communicate in the middle, and they can communicate directly.After briefly introducing the distribution and functions of the cabins on the ship to Van Diemen, Ning Qi gave the order to set sail.Under the command of the captain, the sailors unmoored and hoisted the sails as quickly as possible, and their well-trained performance made Van Diemen amazed.

Fan Dimen saw that Ning Qi did not seem to have arranged for other ships to accompany him, so he asked, "Mr. Ning, is this the only ship that will take part in our round-the-island voyage?"

"Is your Excellency worried about safety? Please rest assured that our ship is very safe, and there will not be any hostile armed activities in the coastal waters of Hainan Island." Ning Qi replied very proudly: "The next few days The route we sailed today is probably the safest sea area in the entire South China Sea. And armed ships will be escorted everywhere along the route, so there will be no security issues."

At the beginning, Fan Dimen didn't quite understand what Ning Qi meant by saying that the ship was "highly safe", but after the "Fast Speed" left the dock, he understood where Ning Qi's confidence came from.Because the speed of this ship is too fast, at least twice that of ordinary multi-masted sailing ships. Among the sailing ships that Van Diemen has seen before, it seems that there is no one that can compare with this ship in terms of speed. compete with opponents.Moreover, this high speed did not cause severe turbulence. The wide and flat hull effectively enhanced the seaworthiness of the ship. The glass on the table didn't even visibly wobble.

With such a terrifying speed, there is no need to worry about the risk of being intercepted and attacked by the enemy during the sea voyage. Van Diemen believes that even Haihan's own armed sailboat can hardly keep up with the "Speed" at full speed.Although the ship is not equipped with heavy weapons such as artillery, Van Diemen can't help but link the performance of the ship with military use. If it is used as a fast ship for reconnaissance and information transmission, its good Seaworthiness and high speed should both come in handy.

Fan Diemen's vision is indeed not bad. In fact, when the Haihan Mission visited Zhangzhou in 1631, there was another catamaran "Lightning" in the fleet, and it did serve as a ship in the attack on Nanri Island. It was used as a scout ship, but the Dutch hadn't participated in the war at that time, so they didn't know about it.However, after the Navy had a special light reconnaissance ship, the two catamarans rarely took on military missions, but a group of people headed by the North American Gang spent more time sailing out to sea during their vacations.

However, if you think that these two ships are not equipped with heavy weapons and their combat effectiveness is not high, it would be a big mistake.During the execution of combat missions, the weapon bay on the bottom of the ship not only has the m249 squad machine gun, but also sometimes carries light mortars and RPGs, plus various advanced weapons of the North American gang, its combat effectiveness can even be equal to a half fleet.Although there is only one traveler in Ningqi on the ship, and his team is not equipped with any heavy weapons, there are still more than a dozen breech-loading rifles in the weapon bay, and the sailors can transform into combat teams at any time according to the needs of the situation.If there is an emergency at sea, the radio station equipped on the ship can also contact the garrison troops on the coasts of Hainan Island at any time, and get the nearest support in the shortest time.

After the "Flying Speed" sailed out of Yulin Bay, there were indeed two expedition-level sailboats heading in the same direction on the distant sea.However, the "Speed" had to slow down a little before the two ships could keep up.

Fan Dimen saw that the boat had already circled Yulinjiao and headed towards the Luhuitou Peninsula. He had done some homework beforehand, so he immediately asked, "Are we going to Yacheng?"

"That's right, Your Excellency Governor, you can take a look at the prison city that was used by the Ming Dynasty to exile prisoners in the past, and what it looks like today." The ship has already set out to sea, and Ning Qi has no need to hide the destination of the first stop. , frankly informed: "In fact, on the administrative map of Ming Dynasty, the entire Sanya is also under the jurisdiction of Yacheng."

"But that's already in the past, isn't it? I think the local government should now obey your executive committee, not the court of the Ming Dynasty." Of course, Fan Dimen can think of the situation in Yacheng, after all, the entire Hainan Island They are all under the control of Haihan, and it is not difficult to judge who these areas that temporarily belong to Ming Dynasty actually obey orders.

In the month when he traveled to this time and space, Haihan, who had not yet gained a firm foothold, sent people to Yacheng to contact the local officials.Yacheng is considered to be the first market opened by Haihan, and the trade relations established with merchants in Guangdong later were all achieved through merchants in Yacheng.And the local officials in Yacheng are also the most thorough group of people in the officialdom of Hainan Island who have taken refuge in Haihan. Since Luo Shengdong and Wei Ping started their work, the officialdom in Yacheng, both civil and military, has changed their positions one after another from top to bottom. He became Haihan's "accomplice".

In the past seven years, the subsequent successors, Zhizhou, Tongzhi, Tongju, and general, etc., the first thing to do when they take office is to visit Shengli Harbor and pay homage to the pier. They will not go to Yacheng until they are approved by the Haihan Executive Committee. .As for the resigned officials, Haihan will also give a "relocation allowance" of varying amounts depending on their performance during their tenure, but the amount must be much higher than the salary they received from the court.

The local public security, household registration, land property, taxation, judicial and other affairs in Yacheng have been fully taken over by the Yacheng Office a few years ago. The local yamen, like other local governments on Hainan Island, has basically become a symbolic one. The totem has no actual operating mechanism and functions.According to statistics completed by the Haihan Ministry of Civil Affairs last year, the proportion of naturalized residents among the resident population in the Yacheng area has exceeded [-]%, and the social structure and mass base are quite good.

Despite anticipating the situation in Yacheng, Van Diemen was taken aback by the local people's reaction when they arrived.

The Yacheng water village in the past was empty of people and boats a few years ago, and all of them were converted to Haihan for shipping, leaving only one establishment hanging under the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty to eat empty wages.The location of the Yacheng water village is located at the harbor at the mouth of the Ningyuan River, and now it has also become a local comprehensive passenger and cargo terminal. When the "Flying Speed" arrived, the pier was already crowded with people, all of whom had heard the news and came to welcome the head of the executive committee. At a glance, there were at least six to seven hundred people.

When Ning Qi stepped out of the cabin and appeared on the back deck, the crowd on the shore erupted into a commotion.Many of them have already heard the news that Haihan is about to establish a state next month, and the ones who visited Yacheng this time were senior officials from the executive committee. In Daming, there were almost six ministers, palace scholars, etc. Besides, there is no emperor in Haihan, and it is basically the end to be able to be an official in the executive committee. This kind of big man has rarely appeared in Yacheng in recent years, so it is no wonder that the people are so excited.

Although Fan Dimen couldn't understand what the crowd shouted on the shore, he could still think of what was going on when he saw these excited faces, which also showed the prestige of Haihan's senior officials in the local area.After he took office, he also visited the surrounding areas of Batavia, hoping to bring in more labor from the nearby indigenous tribes attached to the East India Company for the reconstruction of Batavia City. What was gained was more blank stares and indifference. Those tribes who verbally surrendered to the East India Company had no intention of helping them. As for the scene in front of them that was warmly welcomed by the local people, they had never encountered it before.

Undoubtedly, the fact that the race and culture between Haihan and Ming are in line with each other can indeed help them better realize their colonial rule in Ming.

After Ning Qi landed, the staff of the local Cliff Office and the current Zhizhou and other officials rushed to see him.At the beginning, the Cliff Office composed of elite members of the Traveling Group was transferred. Due to the gradual decline in the importance of Yacheng, all of them have now been replaced by naturalized cadres.Mali Ke, Qiu Yuan, He Xi, Mu Xiabo, Feng Annan and others who initially worked in the Cliff Office have now become the leaders of each department. According to Haihan's internal opinion, the Cliff Office can be regarded as It is a geomantic treasure land for career promotion.

For safety reasons, Ning Qi had only notified the Cliff Office one day in advance of his itinerary, but the degree of secrecy was obviously not enough, otherwise there would not have been so many onlookers on the pier.However, the Cliff Office still had some preparations for such a situation. Several teams of militiamen kept the people at the periphery, leaving space for the VIPs to land and change cars.There is still about six or seven miles of land from here to Yacheng, so naturally it would be more convenient to go there by horse-drawn carriage.

Although the current Yacheng still retains the original city defense facilities and fortifications, in fact, no armed forces have been arranged to guard the city walls and gates all year round.There are only two platoons of militia troops stationed in Yacheng City, and there is also a company of militia in the local area. In addition, there are about forty security policemen who are not equipped with firearms, which is the entire defense force here.

The reason why the military did not deploy more troops here is also very simple. The current Yacheng is no longer the political and economic center at the southern tip of Hainan Island. Many locals have chosen to go to Sanya to work after naturalization. After all, the income level there Much higher.At this time, a considerable part of the people living in Yacheng were immigrants from other places, especially Annan and Guangdong.These immigrants are arranged by the Ministry of Civil Affairs to form immigrant villages and settle here, and their livelihood is the cash crop plantations that have blossomed all over Hainan Island in recent years.

"Ramie is planted on both sides of this road." Ning Qi introduced the planting projects along the way to Fan Dimen on the carriage to Yacheng: "This plant can be used for weaving cloth, making paper, making fodder, and serving as medicinal materials. It is very useful. widely."

Ning Qi’s introduction still laid a part of the ambush. The whole ground part of ramie can be used to extract ethanol, and the husk can be used to extract furfural, an extremely important refining solvent in the chemical industry. These products cannot be bought with money in the market. .It will take more than two centuries for Mendeleev to publish the periodic table of elements. In this era, only Haihan has mastered the technology of directly extracting chemical substances from plants.Of course, even if these things were told to Fan Diemen, he would not be able to understand the meaning at all, and Ning Qi didn't want to waste his saliva explaining them to him.

Fan Dimen really didn't know this kind of plant, and he couldn't imagine that the Haihan people actually discovered this good thing when they visited Lidong after traveling here, and then slowly started to promote and plant it.But he looked out through the glass car window and saw that the fields on both sides of the road extending far away were all planted with ramie fields, and he also became curious about this strange plant in his heart.

"Farmers plant such a large area of ​​ramie, who do they sell to after harvesting? Are there any special merchants who buy it?" Fan Dimen asked casually.

Ning Qi replied: "These fields you see are all privately run plantations. We provide planting technical support, and the ramie produced will be purchased by the Haihan Ministry of Commerce. Just near Yacheng, the ramie plantation Probably more than 1 mu."

Fan Dimen thought that this thing should also have huge profits to attract businessmen to come here to invest and operate plantations. According to Ning Qi's tone, Yacheng is not the only area dedicated to planting ramie.With such a large planting area, Haihan should have a relatively large demand for it.But the strange thing is that Van Diemen recalled it, but he couldn't seem to recall any hemp fabrics in Haihan's export list, and it seemed that it had been digested internally.

When approaching Yacheng, Van Diemen saw another plantation from the car window, but he recognized the plants planted here without Ning Qi’s introduction. It was sugarcane that the Dutch also planted in their South Asian colonies. .

Sanya Special Brew has always been one of the best-selling Haihan products in the market, and some of the varieties are rum brewed from sugarcane.Van Diemen has naturally tasted this proud product of the Haihan people, and he has to admit that its taste, packaging and sales operations are far superior to the sugar cane wine that the East India Company is also making.Regardless of the difference in raw materials, the gap in the production process between the two parties is probably difficult to catch up.

However, what Van Diemen didn't know was that the Haihan people's use of sugarcane was far more than that of their contemporary competitors. In addition to wine and sugar, the remaining bagasse would be used for fertilizer and papermaking. The value that a sugarcane field can create is naturally far above the average level of this era.

(End of this chapter)