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Monday, May 11, 1637.

The sky is clear, and a turquoise reef island in the Indian Ocean is quiet except for the gentle sea breeze and reciprocating waves. A huge coconut crab slowly climbs onto a coconut that has fallen to the ground, and the sharp crab claws tear the coconut shell lightly, and then you can enjoy your own delicious food.

There was a commotion on the shore, countless seabirds soared, and the coconut crab seemed to be frightened by something, and turned vigilantly and raised its crab claws in a certain direction, and then quietly submerged into the nearby reef grass after ten seconds.

The largest island in the central Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia, is a V-shaped coral island overlooking a Stone Age pointed clay pot. It covers an area of about 27 square kilometres, with a large coral reef lagoon in the center.

Diego Garcia Island is a strategic place in the Indian Ocean connecting Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and was one of the most relied on naval bases of the British Empire in the Indian Ocean in later generations. Now it will be another important pearl in the beautiful "Indian Ocean Pearl String" and has been renamed "Haitan Island".

On calm and rippling seas, the South African fleet's frigate HMS Lapis Lazuli and the fin whale appeared at the northern entrance to the north of Diego Garcia Island, with an OUC 800 merchant ship falling far behind. In the past few years, a number of OUCC vessels have been temporarily berthed here, and even navigation buoys have been left at the mouth of the lagoon. As long as these buoys are found, the newcomers of the Chinese Navy will be able to enter the lagoon safely.

After carefully surveying the waterway hydrology, the outpost finally discovered the navigation buoys at the mouth of the lagoon, and even saw in the telescope the shacks left on the island by former Chinese merchant ships. Three boats entered the lagoon one after another and docked on the shore.

The U.S. Navy will establish a naval base here, equipped with ship maintenance and radio relay stations, and the Indian Ocean Fleet will deploy a gunboat here in the future to protect the surrounding waters. In the future, it will also become a supply depot and a transit storage point for merchant ships from various countries traveling to and from the Indian Ocean. In preparation for the future large-scale trade with India, the OUEC Group provided the vast majority of the funding for this naval operation.

The future Haitan Island Naval Base will be managed in a purely militarized manner, and will not belong to civilian units, with only a few contractors providing logistical support services. Later, some agricultural reclamation companies will be recruited to set up some small farms here to provide basic food supplies, but there is basically no intention of resettling formal settlers.

The fin whale's sailors opened the deck hatch and gave the instructions to go ashore, and a few minutes later, under the watchful eye of a group of armed sailors. Hundreds of black slave laborers went onto the deck one by one with terrified expressions, and then looked at the primeval island in front of them and hung their heads silently.

They were captives of the South African aboriginal riot the year before last, and they had recently completed the expansion of the port area of Jinsha Port in the Viceroy of South Africa, and now they have been transported here by sea, and the first phase of the construction of the Haitan Island Naval Base will be completed in the next six months. Except for a few woods, there were no valleys or complex terrain to hide, and it was surrounded by a vast ocean, and the black slave laborers had no choice and did not know how to choose. It is only resigned to fate to complete a qiē according to the demands of these terrible robbers.

About 500 black slaves, as well as various construction materials and tools, were docked in small steamboats carried by transport ships in turn, and then about 100 engineering teams also landed on the island one after another from the merchant ships of the Oriental Union Group.

"Second Lieutenant Tong, I hope within four months. The first phase of the base and the port will be completed. The captain of the Lapis Lazuli, Major Evan Avan directed the engineering team to set up a temporary radio liaison station while confirming the construction schedule with a young Chinese naval lieutenant next to him.

As one of the first batch of regular students to graduate from the Long Island Naval Academy, Aven is also the first second-generation captain to be promoted to the rank of colonel, and he also shows his advanced command ability beyond that of an ordinary captain. Aven's excellence. It has become the biggest role model for the follow-up students of the Long Island Naval Academy.

Tong Li, 21 years old this year, is an orphan who was abducted and sold to Huamei by a Dutch businessman 12 years ago. At first, it was because of a stutter, being too short, or other external appearance. I didn't find a suitable adoptive family, so I grew up in a Manchester City welfare home. At that time, Tong Yue was the director of the Manchester City Welfare Institute, so this group of more than 30 Chinese orphans who were not settled in the end all followed Tong Yue and took new names.

In a sense, Tong Yue has been the public mother of these children for more than ten years, and orphans who have grown up and gone into society often visit Tong Yue. The children's affection for Tong Yue was fully revealed, but it made Tong Yue's husband, Qian Weichang, the governor of the Central Bank of the United States, feel difficult to handle.

Tong Li graduated from high school at the age of 17, left the Manchester City Welfare Institute, and was encouraged by Tong Yue to be admitted to the Long Island Naval Academy, where he graduated with the seventh place in his class and became a full-fledged second lieutenant at the end of the one-year probationary period. Now Second Lieutenant Tong Li will serve as the acting commander of the Haitan Island Naval Base, responsible for supervising the completion of the base construction project here.

"Yes, Major." Tong Li saluted, and then quietly looked back at the hundreds of thin black slaves, still a little worried, "However, the engineering team of Nanshan Port is less than 100 people, and the first phase of the base and the port project together are not small, if you only rely on these black prisoners of war, it may be a bit unrealistic to complete it within four months." ”

"They are here to meet the four-month deadline, which is a plan that the Navy Command has long set. As for how to speed up the progress of the project, it is a problem that you have to consider. Ai Wen did not give the young junior a chance to "bargain", but looked at the naval plan in his hand very seriously, "We are pressed for time, and the Oriental Union Group can only spare the capacity to provide you with construction materials in these four months, otherwise it will be delayed until next year." ”

At any cost? Looking at the black slave laborers who seemed to be about to float up when the sea breeze blew, Tong Li showed a trace of unbearability.

"Ensign, this is the price they deserve for their riots, and their buyers are still waiting in Brazil. If they intend to return to land again, they will have to give it their all. You can decide how many of them will survive. Evan probably knew what the officer in front of him was thinking, but he could only say so.

Faced with the non-negotiable orders of his superiors, Tong Li had no choice but to bow silently and leave.

As we talked, more building supplies, equipment, and supplies were brought ashore, and even a few 90-mm fortified guns were brought ashore, and a wave of naval sailors was fiddling with their trumpets. On the other hand, the Nanshan Port construction team is already organizing black slave laborers to build tents and tidy up the land on the shore.

……

On a distant island in the Indian Ocean, when black slave laborers are struggling to work under the whip and the scorching sun, a board meeting is also in full swing in the headquarters of the Oriental Union Group in Manchester City, North America.

Dong Jiunan and they now have the exclusive right to operate Jinsha Port and Sulan Port, and I heard that they have extended their hands to the Portuguese colony of Sofala further north, signed a trade agreement with the Portuguese there, and established a trading station. They sent a lawyer's letter to our Sands Branch, saying that our business declaration in Sands Port has been restricted and that we can only choose to cooperate with them if we want to continue. Or move back to Nanshan Port. On the chairmanship, Ren Chang was very unhappy, pinching a copy of the paper, and his fingers were pointed fiercely on the paper, "I would like to see how they plan to serve the warlike Ngunis." ”

The port of Sulan, which was the economic center of Durban on the east coast of South Africa in later generations, has good port conditions and surrounding agricultural resources, and of course the number of black tribes nearby. There are also far more than the original Nanshan Port, and they are all warlike Nguni people, such as the Zulu people who went south on a large scale in the 19th century, which is a branch of the Nguni people.

It is said that the Governor General of South Africa, Zhou Yi, built it to protect the Shun lì of the port of Sulan. In addition to allowing the newly formed Gray Wolf Brigade of the Foreign Legion to temporarily set up a training camp there, he even sent an invitation to the Blackwater Security Company, hoping that Liu Yun could organize a group of experienced security teams to protect the local engineering team and immigrants.

"You are behind in the news, Liu Yun has already cooperated with them." Di Zugong held the teacup. said unhurriedly, "Liu Yun is very good at taking advantage of these loopholes, but he has never been interested in Dong Jiunan and them before. It is estimated that Dong Jiunan has made a lot of money this time. ”

"I'm surprised, usually the relationship is so iron, how could Liu Yun run to help Dong Jiunan and them. He's also one of our shareholders! Ren Changle frowned, very puzzled by the actions of the former secretary of homeland security.

"If I can make money from Guoxing Group, I am also willing. If this money is not earned, it is estimated that Dong Jiunan will ask Lao Wu to transfer the Foreign Legion to help, and Liu Yun also told me last time that he will definitely give priority to where we can be useful. Guan Yun, chairman of the board of directors of Meilin Food Group, nodded with a smile and expressed understanding.

"If the matter of Jinsha Port cannot be discussed, we will withdraw all the business from South Africa to Nanshan Port and concentrate on the Far East." Ren Changle nodded helplessly, "Forget it, let's talk about Hong Kong." Now Isaac is sitting on Pearl Island, and Mayor Aniel is also helping us run, but I don't know if the Guangdong officials of the Ming Dynasty can talk about it. ”

"A lot of money has already been spent, and we must not give up halfway. Keep throwing money at it until they're dazzled! Di Zugong seems to have seen through the virtues of the current Ming Dynasty bureaucrats, "When Wang Zhihua and they bombarded Humen to rescue Zhao Mingchuan, they could all be reported as a great victory by local officials, and what else could not be done." ”

"Usually sold 400,000 yuan of arms to the Portuguese in Macao, 180,000 yuan was lost to the Ming Dynasty, and almost every official with a face in Guangdong gave a gift of hundreds or thousands of yuan, and this money is still smashed?" Ren Changle touched his forehead weakly, as if he was still distressed about the decision he made half a month ago, "The key is that they are too ink, if it is really clearly priced, we don't have to bother so much." ”

"We are in a hurry, and the magistrates in Guangdong may be even more anxious, I heard that many of the gift lists set by Fan Li are people who have a good relationship with the Donglin Party...... Now it's up to them to talk nonsense with Emperor Chongzhen. "Guanyun is calm and relaxed, and he doesn't look worried at all," the north of the Ming Dynasty is in a hurry, and now is the time when Liu Yuliang and Xue Guoguan, the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty, are fighting the most fiercely. Although the Donglin Party is not a good bird, they are essentially the spokesmen of the interests of Southern merchants, artisanal owners, and petty citizens. The Donglin Party was portrayed so black by later generations because of the conflict of interest with the traditional big landlord group. The commercial tax of the Ming Dynasty is nothing, every more foreign trade port, it is absolutely good for them, not to mention that there is a large number of arms that are almost taken for nothing for the emperor to appear, the Donglin Party does not fight for life and death, Chongzhen has a temper, and it is even more troublesome. ”

As soon as Guanyun's joke came out, everyone present burst into laughter.

……

The political and economic activities related to Hong Kong are also a matter of concern to a small number of people in the Ming Dynasty and Huamei, and for the overseas consular citizens and maritime merchants of Huamei Pearl Island, who are ushering in the busiest trade period of the year, how to seize the time to make money is the king.

Qian Laosan, who stood in front of the headquarters of Oriental Industrial Company of Oriental Union Group, held the account book in his hand. Look out at the bustling harbor in the distance. As soon as the establishment of yì successfully restored the trade order in Qiongzhou, not only Isaac, the general manager of Oriental Industrial Company, praised it, but it is said that even the headquarters of the Oriental Union Group began to pay attention to this Chinese middle-level management who did not look very good.

Now Qian Laosan is not only the commercial director of the Oriental Branch of the Oriental Industrial Company, but also the administrative director of the Oriental Branch of the Oriental Transportation Company since last week. In a sense, the power in the hands of Qian Laosan will not be much lower than that of Zhao Mingchuan. But Qian Laosan, who is proficient in human affairs, still puts himself several heads lower than Zhao Mingchuan in public.

"Third Master Qian, a Daming maritime merchant came to the north, saying that he came to visit you."

was pondering the issue of calculating his salary and dividend ratio this year, when a Chinese business executive ran over in three steps and two steps. A typical Daming prayer post was delivered to him.

"The Luo family in Wuzhou, Guangxi? Have you dealt with us before? Qian Laosan pinched and looked at the unfamiliar payment above, and couldn't recall whether he had seen it all these years.

……

Relying on Huamei's huge demand for tung oil, lacquer and pine resin, the cultivation of tung oil and lacquer trees in Fujian, Guangxi and other places in the Ming Dynasty increased significantly six or seven years ago, and the collection of complex and primitive pine resin also tended to be large-scale. Every year, the total amount of tung oil, lacquer and pine resin transported to Pearl Island through Daming maritime merchants from all over the country has reached 600 tons, and the export volume is still increasing slowly.

Even in the modern industrial era, the above three kinds of industrial raw materials are almost irreplaceable natural strategic resources, and the supply channels of Daming maritime merchants have become the only source of demand for related industries in China and the United States, and they are also in a state of short supply.

A Daming maritime merchant named Luo Huide from Guangdong brought a heavy "gift" to Qian Laosan this time. It is said that he can provide more tung oil, lacquer and pine resin per year than those Chaozhou or Zhangzhou maritime merchants. Up to now, most of these industrial raw materials are basically monopolized by Chaozhou and Zhangzhou maritime merchants.

"I'm not familiar with the trade routes in Wuzhou, Guangxi, but it's true that Wuzhou is rich in tung oil and pine resin. How can Mr. Luo guarantee that there will be more supplies? Is it from someone else? Qian Laosan sat on the chair casually and drank tea, and seemed to have seen a lot of this kind of boastful Daming maritime businessman.

"Huh. Mr. Qian was overwhelmed. My Luo family is actually from Guangzhou, but the family is in Wuzhou. The family has been operating for 100 years, and has stores in all prefectures of Guangxi, and has close contacts with businesses in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Huguang. A year, only tung oil, lacquer, and pine resin are exported from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guizhou to Wuzhou's own firm. The total number is not less than 2,000 quintals, but there are few ways in Nanyang, so most of them are sold in the interior of Huguang. If Mr. Qian is interested. Luo Moudang persuaded the clan to pour out the strength of the whole clan and lose Nanyang. The middle-aged Daming maritime merchant with elegant manners politely bowed his hand, and explained with a smile to the gorgeous "Oriental Union Merchant" who was a little impatient in front of him.

"Then why didn't anyone come to your Wuzhou family, but Mr. Luo came to the door by himself?"

It turned out that he was just an inquiring about the news and planning to be a white wolf with empty gloves as a middleman? Qian Laosan understood at once. However, the important raw materials of 2,000 quintals are about 120 tons, which is not a small amount.

"It's not a secret, Luo Mou, a branch in Guangzhou, has been rejected by the local government and his family in recent years because ......of his entry into the church, and it is difficult to accommodate him" Speaking of this, Luo Huide's expression darkened a lot, and he also felt a cross from his arms, with a wry smile on his face.

"It turns out that Mr. Luo also received the Nasi cross." Qian Laosan has long been accustomed to Christianity, but a Ming Christian has hidden his identity to this part, which shows that life is indeed embarrassing.

"In his early years, Luo heard that overseas gorgeous countries are not taboo with monks and laymen, so he has long had the intention of moving, but his mother is still there, so he can only serve wholeheartedly, and he doesn't dare to think about it." Luo Huide said, his expression changed slightly, and his voice was lowered a lot, "Luo Mou overheard in Guangzhou that Guibang wants to rent South Hong Kong Island in Xin'an County, if Mr. Qian does not give up, Luo Mou is willing to contact the Catholics of the two Guangxi parties to move together." First, to avoid the evil of fellow villagers and neighbors, and second, there is no need to go to Nanyang to work on the old and the young......"

"You can think of such benefits, and Mr. Luo's news is also well-informed!" Qian Laosan frowned, and the teacup in his hand stopped, "How much does that have to do with business?" ”

"As long as Mr. Qian can guarantee that he can eat the goods of Wuzhou, Luo can go to Wuzhou in person and persuade his family to sell all the goods such as tung oil, lacquer and pine resin to your state! In addition to Qiongzhou and other places, Guibang seafood can also be sold more, isn't it the best of both worlds? Luo Huide stood up and bowed solemnly, "And Luo's family only asks for a place to stay." ”

Hearing this, Qian Laosan couldn't help but be moved.

Huamei is carefully plotting the matter of the Hong Kong Island Concession, but it is not an ordinary small maritime merchant who can know the news, and the Daming maritime merchant in front of him, who seems harmless to people and animals, obviously has no worse connections than those big families. Although this Luo Huide is playing a cheap white wolf business with empty gloves, in one fell swoop, the total annual import volume of tung oil, lacquer and pine resin of the Oriental Union Group has increased by at least 20%, and there is also a good agent in the mainland of Guangxi, which is definitely a great credit!

"Well, it's not a big deal...... However, the matter of Hong Kong is still undecided, how can Mr. Law be so confident? Qian Laosan was secretly happy in his heart, but his face still did not change on the surface.

"It's not a secret, in fact, the matter of your state lobbying all parties in Guangzhou is already known to passers-by...... In the past, Qiongzhou monopolized the two Guangzhou sea goods, and most of the Nanyang trade routes were controlled by merchants in Zhang, Chao, Fu, Quan, etc., and the Guangzhou merchants were actually disheartened. Your state intends to lease the outer islands of Xin'an, isn't it planning to open up another business port between the two Guangzhou? Several people in Guangzhou City, like Luo, are also looking forward to it, but Luo is more anxious......"

What a great man! In fact, to put it mildly, I still value the future trade pattern of Hong Kong Island, and it is completely the representative of the Guangzhou maritime merchants who came to play the front station. Qian Laosan's eyes lit up, and he finally couldn't help but nod.

At that moment, Qian Laosan and Luo Huide wrote down a number of memos for commodity underwriting agents, just waiting for when Zhao Mingchuan would come back from Qiongzhou before formally signing the agreement.

Holding this memorandum of cooperation on paper, which was crucial for both the family itself and the maritime merchants of Guangzhou, Luo Huide hurried towards the wharf, not even having the heart to appreciate this prosperous overseas city that was quite different from the Ming Dynasty.

……

On the side of the port, beside a small Daming hard sailing ship, a young man with a weak crown was looking at the surrounding scenery with relish, and from time to time he pulled the dock workers of Pearl Island who passed by to ask long and short questions.

"Jian'er, quickly follow your father on the boat and go back to Guangzhou." Luo Huide saw that his son was still looking at the heavy steam tower crane by the dock in a daze, so he hurriedly went up and pulled the other party's sleeve.

"Father, this fine iron pangas giant, no cattle and horses and animal power ordinary consumption, eating fireworks and charcoal, moving day and night, can lift thousands of pounds of heavy objects in one breath, can be worth hundreds of people, it is really an eye-opener! However, looking at the Middle Earth lacquer text above, it is not made by Franco, this Taixi Huamei Haibang is really the best of things! The boy didn't seem to want to let go of the scenery in front of him, and turned a deaf ear to his father's urging.

"I know you like these Tessie clever tools, and there will be time to explore them in the future. If you like it, your father can entrust you to be here, and now you can go back to Guangzhou with me! Luo Huide walked towards the boat, and at the same time carefully wrapped the agreement in his hand with oiled paper.

"Really?! The boy thanked his father! When the young man heard this, he immediately came to his senses, and quickly ran to the boat, but he still reluctantly looked back and looked at it a few more times.

"Hey, this kid is talented, I thought he could glorify his ancestors, but he doesn't like fame, and prefers to ......learn from things and ingenuity," looking at his son's energetic appearance, Luo Huide couldn't help but sigh softly.

The boat slowly sailed away from the port of Pearl Island, just missing a 2000-type ocean-going merchant ship of Oriental Union that was entering the port. (To be continued)