Chapter 89: Beibu Gulf Shipping Company

The Gulf of Tonkin is a relatively neglected place, except that French Vietnam had to enter and exit from the port of Haiphong, passing through the southern tip of the Gulf of Tonkin and passing through the Qiongzhou Strait to Hong Kong and Macau. At present, there is basically no outstanding place in the Beibu Gulf, let alone the coastal cities belonging to Guangdong, which basically do not even have a port, only some small wharves, and even the only wharf for local fishermen and fishing boats to enter and exit.

Fang County, Qin County, and Hepu County are all under the jurisdiction of Zhanjiang, Guangdong, because they are far away from Guangxi, and they are not very valued by Long Jiguang, the boss of Guangdong at this time. However, here, he was obsessively peeping at a pair of eyes, and the owner of these eyes was Yang Shuai.

"The old ships of the Skeleton Gang can be destroyed by the way, the 'Rise' will definitely not, if you want to develop the Chinese Navy, it is necessary to have a safe, hidden, sea port, suitable for the development of military ports and the development of the shipping industry. This place should be connected to the mainland on the inside and easy to enter and exit the sea on the outside. In my opinion, these places in the coastal areas of the Beibu Gulf must be controlled. I think that this time I will return to China, and I will start to develop from here. ”

With a bang, Yang Shuai slapped a triangular bay, and the three cities were exposed like three fulcrums: Fang County, Qin County, and Hepu County.

Ding Jiawu hurriedly said: "Mr. Yang, we went ashore like this, I am afraid that it will attract the attention of Long Jiguang, and besides, our warship is very easy to attract the attention of France and Britain, which is not a good thing." Now that the French and the British have a firm grip on the interests of the Southwest, they are unwilling to threaten them with such a powerful warship. ”

Yang Shuai nodded: "So, we can't go ashore like this, this will be our stronghold." ”

Ding Jiawu and Yang Hua looked at each other and read in unison: "Weizhou Island? ”

Weizhou Island is 21 nautical miles away from the southernmost coast, Beihai Town in Hepu County. The island is a natural volcanic island with a total area of 25 square kilometers and a population of only one or two thousand people, all of whom are local villagers who have lived for a long time. Weizhou Island is not big or small, and it is two or three hours away from the coast. In addition, there is basically no decent sea trade in the Beibu Gulf, and most of the residents of Weizhou Island live a closed and isolated life, and only go to the shore to buy some daily necessities for a long time.

When Yang Shuai saw this place, he applauded his legs, isn't this the ideal place. All of this echoes Yang Shuai's most needed conditions now, Yang Shuai: "Jiawu, go, this is it, the base of the 'Rise' is here, our top priority is to settle here, and then modify the appearance of the 'Rise' as soon as possible, even if it is just to change the color, we can't let people with intentions target us." ”

Britain and France controlled southwestern China, but most of them used Guangzhou Bay as the import and export, while the Beibu Gulf was rarely visited by foreign warships. At this time, an ironclad ship of nearly forty meters appeared, and it approached the island, which immediately caused panic among the residents. People closed the door in panic and peeped, and only the local mayor had to bite the bullet and lead a few daring villagers to the beach.

I saw two brand-new armed speedboats locked next to the ironclad warship, smashed into the water with a bang at this time, broke away from the warship, and then rushed to the beachhead at the speed of flying arrows.

A villager with a three-geared rake and his teeth chattered asked the mayor, "No, no, it's not a pirate, is it?" ”

The mayor didn't know the bottom of his heart, but he said firmly: "No, pirates can't have this thing, and besides, Weizhou Island hasn't encountered pirates for more than ten years." It's Qinzhou Bay, there are only some gangs that enter and leave the dock to collect protection fees, and they are not pirates. ”

The armed speedboat swooped up to the beach, heading straight for nearly ten meters to the beach before stopping. But a few yellow-skinned and black-haired yellow people jumped down from above.

When the villagers saw it, they cried out in surprise: "Alas, mayor, you see, it is our people, just like us." ”

The mayor of the town was in a twitch, hurriedly drank the villager, and shouted in a low voice: "Shut up, I'd rather be a curly-haired foreigner, this kind of foreigner, it's possible, they are Orientals, Japanese, a group of things inferior to beasts, now we have difficulties." You hurry up and go back and remind everyone that if there is a girl in every family, hide it quickly. ”

When the villager heard this, the well-informed mayor could not be mistaken, and hurriedly pulled out his legs and ran.

The mayor was really wrong this time, because the dozens of people who jumped off the speedboat opened their mouths in the language they were familiar with, and even some accents from the Lingnan region.

"Fellow, don't panic, we're not bad guys, you guys here, are you Weizhou Island?"

"Mayor Town, what's the matter, this Oriental devil can still speak our words, so authentically?"

The villagers' words were loud and lacking hearts, but they made Ding Jiawu, who had just jumped off the boat, break out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly shouted: "Lao Tzu is not Japanese, we Yang are always from Nanning, Guangxi, just came back from Europe, did you see the warship, we Yang always bought it." Who of you is in charge here? ”

On the 'Rise' battleship, Yang Shuai and Yang Hua motionless let the sea breeze blow, and after a while, Yang Hua: "Young Master, why don't you go up?" ”

Yang Shuai smiled: "I can't do everything myself, I will have to do more things in the future." Ding Jiawu is a soldier and a rare talent in the navy. But I want him to be not just a soldier, but a leader, a man who can deal with all kinds of problems. In this way, I can rest assured that I will hand over this navy to him, and I will hand over the business of building the navy to him, you see, this will not come back. ”

Ding Jiawu came back, two boats went out, and one came back, only to see Ding Jiawu laughing and climbing up and shouting: "Mr. Yang, it's done, most of the residents on the island are in the north, and there are few people in the south, and the villagers agreed to sell us the section by the sea in the south, more than 2,000 people on the island, 300 yuan each, a total of 600,000 yuan." Mr. Yang, this will be your industry from now on, especially when the mayor heard that Mr. Yang is from Nanning, he was so excited that he wrote down the title deed on the spot and sent someone to go to Hepu County to ask the government to seal it. ”

Yang Shuai: "Hehe, okay, stamp, this is a sure thing, this mayor seems to be very cooperative." By the way, you-"

Ding Jiawu: "It's all ordered, the mayor promises that he will never easily talk about our affairs." It is only said that a wealthy businessman bought this land to get coconuts. ”

"Jiawu, if you have a place, you still have to build it, and you have to get along with the people here, and when necessary, you might as well give them more benefits. For example, if you hire them to work, you can raise their wages a little bit, so that the people will get benefits and be grateful to us in their hearts, so that they can become our friends. The Chinese people are actually very simple, and they will support whoever is good to them. ”

Ding Jiawu also sighed and said: "Yes, Mr. Yang, you are right, the Chinese people are so simple, but unfortunately, many people can't see it." ”

Yang Shuai waved his hand: "Okay, you can arrange to build a military camp on the island, dismantle two cannons and make two forts, hum, in case of emergency." ”

Ding Jiawu was frightened and dismantled the artillery to go ashore, this is to prepare for coastal defense, and the shore artillery can even sink a warship. Ding Jiawu couldn't help but be very excited, and hurriedly shouted.

"Alas, Jiawu, don't move the dozen or so machines, that thing is not suitable on the island, I always want to bring it back to the mainland, the factory, or it is safe to open it in the mainland."

"Yang Hua, it seems that it's time to contact Shanghai, our transportation company, I heard that the development is good, even the British are deflated, let them let a few ships come out, here, also set up a transportation company, let's call, Beibu Gulf Transportation."