On Sunday, June 1, 1642, the fifth day of the fifth month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Empire, Duanyang Festival.

On the southern shore of the island of Singapore, a port town dominated by mixed wood buildings was formed. This is the permanent military stronghold that Liu Huong built in 1637 after he decided to occupy Temasek Island, and has now expanded into a truly military and commercial port.

Outside a large water wall, more than a dozen pirate ships of various sizes are cruising around, and a Portuguese merchant ship from India or Malacca is anchoring outside the water wall, waiting honestly to be checked and paid.

The plaque of "Temasek Port", which was hand-carved by former Chinese President Chen Yuanyuan and brought by sea at the invitation of Fan Li, is slowly hanging from the high place of the port dock surrounded by a large wave of pirates. Deep inland, many neighbourhoods are still under construction, and groups of slave labourers, apparently indigenous to Johor, sweat under the whips of pirate overseers, and a handful of Chinese immigrants carefully bypass them with their tools of work.

Two merchant ships of the Oriental Union Group are anchored at the Shuizhai Wharf, next to an Oriental Union 800 merchant ship, dozens of pirates with knives and guns in their hands surround a quarantine zone, and hundreds of ragged Ming refugees are slowly passing towards the temporary quarantine and resettlement area for immigrants on the side of the Shuizhai Village, where a number of medical tents with gorgeous characteristic markings are arranged, and the health and quarantine staff from Mingzhu Island are busy.

On the contrary, another large five-masted long-sail merchant ship of the Eastern Union Union has been transformed into a passenger ship after unloading a cargo from the Indian Ocean in the past few days. A group of about 7,800 Daming refugees who have completed the health quarantine and screening in the early stage are boarding the ship, and they will arrive at Huamei Yueshan Island in more than half a month, and then they will be resettled in accordance with the planning and management of the Ministry of Immigration.

From the farthest Liaodong and the Korean Peninsula to the nearest Liangguang, a steady stream of Chinese refugees have been sent to North America along the gorgeous "Indian Ocean String of Pearls" and "Atlantic Checkers". In the corresponding large-scale movement of the Ming people to the sea, most of them were diverted to Dayuan, Qiongzhou and Luzon, and even a few Portuguese colonies that would flow into India or Brazil along the way. According to rough statistics from the Asian Intelligence Department and the Ministry of Immigration. There are only more than 30,000 Chinese immigrants who can finally reach Huamei every year, accounting for about half of the annual volume of going out of the sea, which is already the limit of Huamei's ability to relocate its intercontinental population.

Taking into account the continuous financial support of Huamei and the ability of resettlement, the original all-inclusive has changed to a purposeful and standardized screening of family, age, occupation and other conditions, and the operation of the Far East resettlement management mechanism has become more scientific and mature.

The alternation of the two OUCC merchant ships is continuing, and another OUCC Guobiao 1500 merchant ship has appeared in the east, which is a material delivery ship from Pearl Island overseas, which will bring a batch of new cement building materials and livelihood products to Temasek.

……

A large number of pirates surrounded him, and Liu Xiang rarely got rid of the dirty sea-running suit. Changed into a luxurious style. Walking in the water village with his chest up, looking at the construction of the port area in full swing, Liu Xiang's face was full of a smug smile.

The current Liu Xiang pirate group, the name of the South China Sea Volunteer Army has been officially eliminated, and Temasek, which Liu Xiang occupies, has officially declared itself as the "Lanfang Free Territory".

This name is quite strange to pronounce, but Liu Xiang can't care about it so much, because his own name is not very gentlemanly. With the help of a few second-class literati who defected or coerced him, Liu Xiang was already in the process of setting up a local governing body, intending to operate Temasek as a real permanent territory. And he is the Emperor of the Earth here.

The sphere of influence of the Lanfang Free Territory includes not only Temasek Island, which was difficult to take, but also the large and small islands of Batam, Bintan, Kundur, Linga, and Singhwa Island in the south, almost all of the islands exported from the Temasek Strait. Of course, with the default support of Huami. These so-called territories are still only lip service, and there are still Malay indigenous remnants on many islands, and it will take three and a half years to wipe them out.

"Big boss, oh...... Minor confessions. It's the Grand Commander...... The small ones have counted the number of people living in the city, and now there are 455 displaced households and 2,217 families of soldiers in Temasek Harbour...... Not Johor slave labour. There were 9,563 men, women and children. The dog-headed military advisor, who is also a housekeeper, holds an account book and follows Liu Xiang, splattering his spat on the livelihood of Temasek Port today.

"What's small, not small? If you want to call yourself a 'subordinate' or a 'subordinate official', you dirt bun! Remember everyone's identity now, now we are the official government here, Lan Fangguo, not Haikou, mother...... Well, it's still carefully calculated, and I ordered it to go down, today is the Duanyang Festival, and I will reward the brothers who are in charge everywhere! ”

"Thank you for the reward!" Under the hint of the dog-headed military advisor, the minions around raised the flintlock pistols in their hands one after another, and let out a neat shout, making Liu Xiang smile with satisfaction again.

"However, Commander, isn't it a bit of a disadvantage for this Huamei to set up the place of exile in Temasek Harbor, and this eating, drinking, and Lazar has fallen on our heads?" Seeing that his boss was in good shape, the dog-headed military advisor hurried up and pouted at a number of white figures in the temporary resettlement and quarantine area for refugees in the distance, "Not to mention that the Great Commander worked hard to get them, even the displaced people transported from other places are all selected by Huamei first. At the moment, more than 300 numbers have been left for us in this wave, and almost none of them have been left behind......

"You stupid person who doesn't have long eyes, haven't you seen the money and food allocated by the OUCC Group? Besides, if you have money and a warship in your hand, you won't be afraid that you won't be able to find anyone in the future? Liu Xiang turned his head and glared at his dog-headed military advisor viciously, and then suddenly changed to a mysterious smile, "Besides, let's see how they choose." The strong and strong did not choose to take much, but most of them were women and children or separated artisans. This Nanyang Temasek territory is still the best for young and strong men who are alone, and some women buy them in Champang, Siam, and Annam. ”

"Yes, yes, the Grand Commander said yes!" The kobold military advisor hurriedly nodded and bowed.

"Explain that although this Temasek Island has been combed through, it is still not to be taken lightly, so that the brothers have been watching it day and night. After a while, I will get some labor-saving tools and clippers from Huamei, and then move all the workshops of Midaijima here, and we will set up a good foundation. Let Li Guozhu, Yan Sihai, and Zheng Zhilong take a good look at what kind of character Liu Xiang is! ”

Looking at Temasek Harbour, life in front of her seems to have become different from the past, and it is rare for Liu Xiang to think about what will happen in a few years for the first time.

"No, Temasek is a good place, and when the time comes, all Taixi Fanyi and Nanyang maritime merchants will have to run businesses and pay taxes in our territory! It is a blessing for subordinates to follow the commander to build a state and establish a business! I wish the great commander to become a Nanyang hegemon as soon as possible, and the big guy can also follow the chicken dog to ascend to heaven! "The level of the kobold military advisor's observation of words and expressions has been perfected, and he immediately slapped his ass.

Haha, Nanyang hegemony! Liu Xiang's chest suddenly boiled. The scorching sun above the head and the raging fire in the heart are pediatrics.

……

In order to find out her final position in Temasek, Liu Xiang has made several trips to Pearl Island over the years. After receiving clear promises of "independence and freedom" and "Lanfang's lifelong leader", Liu Heung made up his mind to move his nest to Temasek.

Now is different from the past, in order to get the territory he worked so hard to get, Liu Xiang deliberately found Qian Laosan of the Oriental Union Group and Aniel, the mayor of Mingzhu. Regardless of what Cheng Dù the other party would ridicule in private, Liu Xiang really seriously discussed the "governing strategy".

How could the Oriental Union Group not know the significance of the congressional and government's support for Lanfang's free territory, Qian Laosan naturally took it as a major matter, and directly based on the Oriental Union Group's business model and his own experience, he set up a decent "five-year plan" for Liu Xiang. even promised to provide some consultants to help Liu Xiang build his territory for a period of time.

It doesn't matter how people get it, Huamei can not care, but within seven or eight years, the population of Lanfang's free territory needs to be expanded to more than 50,000. Establish plantations of coconut, rubber, oil palm, abaca, tropical fruits and vegetables on Temasek Island and the surrounding occupied islands. Some of the islands can be mined for tin ore. Then the construction of large-scale logistics terminals, cargo storage areas, the implementation of free trade policies, etc., even the currency is directly adopted by Huamei, and as a whole it has become a peripheral economy of Huamei Pearl Island's overseas territory.

However, the vast majority of the future population will be poor and illiterate refugees, and the land will be relatively poor. Therefore, Temasek is destined to be a quasi-country for a long time to come, mainly agriculture and trade, and most of its industrial products are dependent on imports from China and the United States.

As for the external support needed for Temasek's development, the Chinese and American governments approved Temasek's economic support package at the beginning of the year. The next decade. The Huamei government granted OUCC the exclusive contractor status of the "Lanfang Free Territory Economic Support Program". 1. Temasek's economic investment projects are subject to additional tax benefits in addition to the exclusivity of the Far East Trade Routes.

In short, the Huamei government will not pay a penny, but it can allow the OUCC to obtain a more long-term regional economic monopoly benefit. The headquarters of OUCC immediately made a decision, and its Oriental Industrial Company and Oriental Bank gave Liu Xiang direct financial assistance and preferential loans.

With the approval of the National Security Council, some products that have many restrictions on Europe at this stage will be opened to the free territory of Lanfang. For example, the list of ships exported to the Lanfang Autonomous Territory by the Chinese and American governments includes the 500 type three-masted long-sail merchant ship launched by Yacheng Shipbuilding.

Yacheng Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., which has the strongest design and manufacturing capacity of sailing ships in the United States, has taken the edge of the sword in recent years, in addition to occupying the majority of export orders for sailing warships, it has also been committed to the business development of sailing merchant ships, and the 500 type three-masted sailing merchant ship is one of the representative products with high cost performance.

The full load displacement is only 960 tons, but it has a maximum cargo capacity of 500 tons, which can be operated by only 10 crew members, which is very labor-saving. The overall structure is relatively simple, there is no complex and expensive steam-assisted lifting sail equipment, V-shaped cross section, the aspect ratio reaches 6:1, and the advanced upper edge diagonal truss sail is equipped with a top mast oblique jib, which has set a record of a maximum speed of 14 knots and an average speed of 11 knots in the Atlantic round-trip route test, which is already an extremely excellent performance for a type of non-steam-powered ship.

The Type 500 three-masted schooner is a very suitable vessel for the ocean-going trade, and is currently performing extremely well in the trade of fruits and vegetables between Bermuda's overseas territories and Caribbean overseas states. In line with the idea of "small profits but quick turnover", the domestic selling price is only 73,000 US dollars, and the export is only 90,000 US dollars. The only drawback is that compared with steam ships, the ship has high requirements for crew and handling skills, so in China and the United States, where there is a shortage of excellent sailors and hopes that "the more fools the better", there are not many users of this excellent schooner merchant ship.

Far Eastern's Daming Qiongzhou Nanhai Company is the first overseas user of this type of ship, which has been used for the transportation of bulk raw material cargo from Danzhou Bay to Pearl Island. At present, the ship's export to Europe is still under review, and the price is still much more expensive than the sail Galen ship of the same tonnage in Europe, but Portugal and Spain, the two old maritime countries, have taken a fancy to the great advantages of this ship at a glance, and even the Netherlands, which has the highest shipbuilding technology in Europe and the lowest cost, is a little itchy, which can be regarded as a typical example of flowering inside the wall and fragrant outside the wall.

In terms of maritime defense, the Sino-American National Security Council officially exported a simplified version of the "Type 1000 Schooner Cruiser" to the Lanfang Free Territory, which was also produced by Yacheng Shipbuilding Company. Of course, for a thousand-ton long-sail cruiser with an export unit price of nearly 200,000 US dollars, even local tyrants like the Yan family or Zheng Zhilong may not be able to eat one every year, let alone Liu Xiang's small body can bear it, but it does not prevent Liu Xiang from continuing to be cheeky and use his net worth as collateral to obtain long-term low-interest installment treatment in Dongfang Bank.

In terms of land defense, Huamei Blackwater Security Company has obtained a training contract for the "Lanfang Self-Defense Army", and will send instructors to reduce the rabble under Liu Xiang into a modern army of about 1,000 people. The main weapons on land will be the Type 34A rear-loading flintlock rifle and the Type 33A 8-pounder front-loading field cannon, which is more than enough to bully the remnants of the surrounding Sultanate of Johor.

Added up, the OUCC Group will directly or indirectly give Liu Xiang a total of more than $2 million in investments or loans in the next 10 years, and Liu Xiang will have a debt of up to $3.5 million. Based on the current level of money from Liu Xiangkeng's abduction, the average annual income is less than $400,000.

How much? Not much either.

This is the answer that Liu Xiang came up with after counting the debt problem for a few nights with his fingers, compared to an independent kingdom of his own, silver or anything is actually not important, not to mention that there is no need to worry about debts. And with a good site, the plate can slowly roll bigger, right? (To be continued......)