Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 102 Four Trunk Highway Plan (Seeking monthly ticket recommendation ticket support, thank you!)
Governor Zheng Shouxin proposed an ambitious plan to build trunk roads on the island at the meeting, which aroused Zheng Guohui's keen interest and was included in the long-term development plan.

After more than half a year of in-depth surveys, several expedition teams brought back detailed data, which became the basis for the island's trunk road construction plan. A total of four trunk roads were planned to be built.

The first is the South Gulf Highway, which is a section of the massive South Gulf Highway construction project. The westernmost end starts in Zamboanga, extends northeast along the Zamboanga Peninsula, then turns east and ends in Pagadian Town.

This proposed highway is the western section of the massive Southern Gulf Highway, approximately 225 kilometers long, connecting numerous towns and villages along the coastal plains.

The road is mainly composed of plains and hilly areas, and can also detour through a few mountains. The overall construction is not difficult.

The second highway, also starting in Zamboanga, extends northeast to Ipil, then branches off into a new route heading directly north, crossing the heart of the Zamboanga Peninsula to the northern coastal town of Manucan, and may be extended to Oroquieta in the future.

Manukan and Oroquieta are both villages on the northern coast, with varying numbers of indigenous tribal populations, but this is not a big problem.

After the construction of these two main highways, it will be convenient to spread Chinese immigrant villages throughout the Zamboanga Peninsula, seamlessly colonize the area, and completely eliminate the living space of the remaining indigenous tribes.

The benefits don’t stop there
In the future, immigrant fleets can land directly at the ports of Manucan or Oroquieta, saving at least one and a half days of sailing time compared to continuing south to Zamboanga.

If your destination is Davao, then you can save three days of flight time, and the convenience is self-evident.

Of course, Oroquieta is also very close to Cagayan, an important port in the north. The straight-line distance on the sea is about 126 kilometers, which is about a day (note; not a day and a night) of more than ten hours' sailing.

The third highway leads northwest from Davao, forming an arc along the coastline, and finally heading north through Cotabato to Pagadian Town, connecting with the first coastal highway.

This is the central line of the Southern Gulf Highway, with a total length of about 317 kilometers. It connects all the important villages and towns west of Davao, and also connects the two major cities of Davao and Zamboanga through the trunk road. Its significance is self-evident.

The fourth highway goes straight north from Davao, through the hinterland of Mindanao, and goes north to Cagayan.

Of course, the prerequisite for building this highway is that Cagayan has been taken over by the southern expeditionary army and there is no Frankish military force.

Zheng Guohui was very happy to receive such valuable policy suggestions. He praised Zheng Shouxin and the expedition team members who had worked hard on the survey and regarded it as "an important measure to solidly promote the comprehensive colonization of Mindanao."

The suggestion is good, but it will take some time before it is implemented.

From the current perspective

The indigenous convicts, totaling less than 8, were driven to work in the vast area from Zamboanga to Davao, building bridges and roads, constructing towns, developing mines, etc. These heavy physical labors were always accompanied by the convicts.

After several trunk highways were built recently, the convicts responsible for road construction have moved to other construction sites to build more branch and trunk roads, which is to repay historical debts.

in history

The infrastructure construction of the entire Mindanao Island is blank. The roads are rugged roads mined over the years, and the bridges are built with a few pieces of wood in a haphazard manner. They all need to be replaced with stone bridges.

At least in the next two years, there will be thousands of kilometers of various urban and rural roads and hundreds of bridges that need to be built, which will temporarily make it impossible to take into account and promote larger highway trunk construction projects.

If Chinese immigrants are removed, it will greatly affect agricultural production, which is absolutely not advisable.

Food is the foundation of survival. Only with a large amount of food reserves can Zheng Guohui feel at ease and implement the policy of expanding immigration to the south.

Taking all things into consideration

These four major highway trunk line construction projects all need to be implemented, but they are not urgent and can be gradually advanced in future plans.

For example, the main highway from Zamboanga to Ipil, with a total length of about 122 kilometers, can be put into construction in the near future if conditions permit. This is very necessary.

After completion
The proposed western section of the Southern Coast Highway has already completed half of its construction work. It is the most urgently needed and most effective section of the trunk road, which is of great significance.

As for the rest...we can wait a year or two.

This is called a two-step implementation plan, first solving the question of "whether there is one" and then solving the question of "how good it is".

After all, there are only so many indigenous convicts, and they also have to dig coal in the mines, quarry stones, build fortresses, build urban and rural roads and houses, build bridges, and burn kilns for coking. There is really not much manpower available, so the implementation can only be delayed.

The meeting lasted until the evening
Zheng Guohui did not hold a big banquet, but asked the restaurants in the town to send hand-rolled noodles, pork belly, rosemary and some seasonal wild vegetables, and of course diced pineapple, which is the biggest feature of Mindanao.

A group of military and political leaders ate with their mouths drooling, exclaiming that the food tasted amazing.

Zheng Guohui also ate three big bowls. This kind of meat noodles with diced pineapple is particularly refreshing and has a unique South Asian style. It has a sweet and slightly sour taste and tastes really good.

have to say
Chinese chefs are really good at adapting to local conditions. The diced pineapple basically replaces the radish strips, and rosemary replaces the coriander, creating a very distinctive flavor.

Zheng Guohui saw a burly civil servant who had eaten four bowls of noodles, one more than himself. He wiped his mouth, his face full of enjoyment. He couldn't help but laugh, pointing at the man and saying, "No need to guess, this gentleman must be from the north and loves noodles by nature."

"In reply to your Excellency, General, I am indeed from northwest Shandong. My last name is Tao Jingzhi. I couldn't help myself from eating my favorite noodles again after so many years. Please forgive me, General!"

"This is the true nature of a man. Why should I ask for forgiveness?" Zheng Guohui smiled and shook his head, then turned to the bureaucrats and said;
"What Mr. Tao Jingzhi said raises a new question for us.

Food production cannot focus on rice, but must also take into account other crops such as wheat, sorghum, corn, sweet potatoes, etc. This is the direction of future efforts.

Some people like to eat rice, and some people like to eat noodles.

Only when the market provides a wealth of choices can people's sense of happiness increase, and this is an aspect that we must pay particular attention to in the future."

"General, we are grateful for your guidance."

"General, you truly care about the people and listen to their opinions. We are far behind you."

"General, the only way for Tao Jingzhi to live his life to the fullest is to follow you till death and do his best to seek welfare for the people!" Tao Jingzhi bowed deeply to the ground, his face full of reverence.

Zheng Guohui responded with a warm expression;
"Well, this general hopes to work together with you to not only gain a firm foothold here, but also lead the people to live a good life.

How do you evaluate a good day?

As for today's bowl of noodles, not everyone can afford it because the wheat production is very low and the price of flour is extremely high.

Good days will come when we expand wheat planting, build more flour mills, and lower the price of noodles so that everyone can afford them.

No Chinese immigrant is stupid. Only when they have something in their hands, something in their mouths, and own their own land and houses, will they treasure everything they have and be willing to protect it with their lives.

These earnest words of advice came from the heart, and the military and political officials present were deeply moved and nodded in agreement silently.

It doesn't have those grand words, but it is much more useful.

After nightfall

Zheng Guohui lives in a spacious courtyard, which is the official residence built for his inspection. The three-story courtyard is not very big. The newly transplanted trees look a little wilted, and the soil in the nursery has not yet been covered with grass.

There was a fresh scent of wood in the house. In the study, Zheng Guohui crossed out a few items on his to-do list, and there were not many left.

Once all the to-do items are crossed off, it's time to start the journey home.

It was already the beginning of 1866, and the Spring Festival was on February 2th, which was about a month and a half away.

Zheng Guohui couldn't wait until the end. In previous years, at this time of year, officials from all over the country came to Beijing in an endless stream. It was time to pay tribute with charcoal and ice, so he went to the six ministries to build relationships.

He only needed to take a quick walk around the Ministry of War, with the emphasis on Prince Gong's Mansion, Li's Mansion, and the residences of several Grand Councillors. He had to visit them all, no matter how much, at least he had to offer tribute.

A second-rank deputy general is a high-ranking official in the court. This kind of outdated etiquette of welcoming and seeing off guests is inevitable for any official in the court, and no one can escape it.

Zheng Guohui estimated that he would have to stay for a week at most before returning north by boat.

From Li Hezhang's letter, we know that the third and fourth large-scale immigrations to Southeast Asia organized later had a total number of people over 4, and the total cost of organizing various goods and ship transportation was more than 5 taels of silver.

This was a staggering expenditure. Not only did it consume all the income from private salt, but some houses, shops and other properties in Jinling City were sold off to raise a gap of nearly 20 taels of silver.

In order to make up for the shortfall, Li Hezhang borrowed 6.2 taels of silver from the Li family.

After all, the large amount of concentrated copper ore powder and a small amount of copper ingots that had just been transported to Chongming Island would be difficult to cash in in a short period of time.

The good news is
When the third fleet went to Southeast Asia, the more than 40 ships of tropical fruits they transported sold well. Except for six or seven ships of bananas that were discarded due to mold, the others all made good profits.

Pineapples, which have a long shelf life, were especially popular in various parts of Jiangnan Province. In just over ten days, they brought in nearly 11 taels of silver, making a huge profit.

This gave Li Hezhang the confidence to organize the fourth large fleet of immigrants to Southeast Asia and to make the journey successful.

Snow-white marble and the higher-grade light yellow marble with natural veins have not sold much for the time being, but the future prospects are promising and the sales period is estimated to be half a year or even a year.

In the short term, there will be no visible benefits.

(End of this chapter)