At present, the navy has enough combat vessels to dominate the waters around Qiongzhou Island and can radiate to the Pearl River estuary, the Beibu Gulf, and some coastal areas of the Indochina Peninsula.

It only took a very short time for Haihan to evolve from the initial lease and purchase to the stage of self-shipbuilding, but because most of the resources of the shipyard have been used in the construction of naval warships in the past two years, the construction of civilian ships is actually far from keeping up with the needs of the development of trade and freight in the region, so although the Ministry of Shipping has two factories under the name of Shengli Port Shipyard and Heitu Port Shipyard, it still needs to purchase double-digit Chinese sailing ships from the outside every year to meet the needs of transportation tasks.

The carrying capacity, speed, and seaworthiness of Chinese sailing ships are all far behind those of Haihan's self-built sea vessels, so the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Shipping have been looking forward to the Executive Committee to give an early order to let the shipyard's production tasks be transferred from military to civilian use, and to build more cargo ships -- as soon as the route to Malacca is opened, the Ministry of Shipping believes that at least 20 to 30 ships will need to be put into use before it can be used, and the existing number of cargo ships is obviously not enough to meet the needs of the new route.

Although the naval officers headed by Wang Tom were a little dissatisfied with the arrangement of the executive committee, they had at least obtained two high-cost main warships, and in fact, there was nothing to complain about, knowing that the value of these two ships had already exceeded 20 "exploration-class" civilian merchant ships, and the Ministry of Commerce was very angry about this. Moreover, because these two ships are equipped with steam power systems, the usual maintenance and use expenses are far greater than those of traditional pure sail powered ships, and when the excitement of the navy getting new toys has passed, I am afraid that it will have to have a headache how to squeeze out a part of the limited military expenditure to maintain the operation of these two large ships.

Of course, this idea mainly comes from other departments, and the military does not see it that way. On the night of the handover ceremony of the battleship "Majesty" on the navy's side, senior military officers had already held an internal meeting to discuss Haihan's next combat opponent. The best way to maintain the importance of the military in the overall social system is not to stop taking military action abroad. If peace is maintained for too long, there will always be doubts about the significance of spending huge sums of money to keep the army running, and it is necessary for the military to take some timely military action to show its muscles to its subjects while fighting external hostile forces.

However, before formulating a foreign military plan, the military has one more important task that must be completed during the third anniversary celebration, that is, the upgrading of the establishment of various military units stationed abroad. This is not just a form of adding a company with two more platoons there, as was done in the first few years, but also expanding the scope of authority of the troops stationed in the field while upgrading the strength.

The Executive Committee has agreed in principle to the Central Military Commission's proposal to establish three military regions, Hainan, Annam, and Guangdong, and is waiting for the third anniversary to be issued.

Although the administrative levels of the three military regions are the same, there are still some differences in the functions they undertake. At present, the functions of the Hainan Military Region are more similar to those of the garrison garrison, and the primary task is to protect the personal safety of the core base area of Sanya and key production units such as the Tiandu Industrial Zone, the Yingge Haiyan Factory, and the Shilu Iron Mine, as well as the hundreds of people who are stationed on Hainan Island.

The tasks of the Annam Military Region are relatively simple, and it will be mainly responsible for safeguarding the security of the mining area of Heitu Port and safeguarding the interests of Haihan in various concession ports along the coast of Annam. And there is another task worth mentioning, that is, to maintain the military cooperation between Haihan and Annan, and to maintain military suppression of Annan.

At present, the military cooperation between Haihan and Annam continues, and the Tu Son training camp on the coastline east of Thang Long Province has been expanded several times when it was first built, and the training facilities have been gradually improved in the past two years. The militia's military advisers have trained more than 20,000 musketeers and artillerymen for the Annam military here, and hundreds of Annam officers have been trained in a variety of ways, including young senior officers with bright futures like Zheng Ting.

Although the Annam military relied heavily on the Haihan in terms of weapons and personnel training, the CMC did not relax its necessary vigilance against Annam. The Military Commission believes that the best way to prevent Annan from having two hearts is to maintain the superiority of the Haihan militia in combat strength, and in addition to constantly upgrading weapons to enhance combat effectiveness, it is also necessary to further expand the size of the garrison and increase the freedom of action of the garrison.

Compared with the Annam Military Region, which is least likely to break out into war, the area under the jurisdiction of the Guangdong Military Region is undoubtedly the area most likely of the three major military regions where some uncontrollable situations are likely to occur. Whether it is to attack the key areas along the coast of Guangdong or to continue to expand its forces along the coast of Fujian in the northeast, the premise is to have a sufficiently strong armed force as the backing. And with the construction of a new port on Hong Kong Island, the military also saw the possibility of building a large military base along the coast of Guangdong.

Panyu, where the resettlement base was set up, was too close to the city of Guangzhou, and it was not appropriate to station too many troops under the current situation, so as not to provoke the local government in Guangdong. However, the area of Dawanshan Island is too small, and the military strength of two or three companies stationed is almost at the end, and the port is so narrow that it is inconvenient to dock the new capital warships that the navy has just put into use. Hong Kong Island, which covers an area of nearly 80 square kilometers, obviously does not have so many problems, and it is large enough for the military to set up a large military base on the island, and the strait between it and the mainland will also be the best defensive barrier.

On April 1, 1630, February 19 of the third year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Sanya, Hainan.

The scale of the celebration of the third anniversary once again surpassed history, and the Executive Committee specially arranged a two-day national holiday to show the meaning of celebrating with the people. In addition to the customary military parade on the square in front of the gate of Fort Victory, this year there were many more spontaneously organized celebrations among the people. The façade of the Shengli Port Business District is full of lights, and the sound of firecrackers can be heard outdoors from time to time, which is even more lively than the New Year.

In addition to the restaurants that seized the time to make a lot of money during this period, other businesses were not idle, and they catered to this opportunity to advertise various discounts, hoping that this wave of holiday consumption could bring them rich benefits.

"Little Pony, move this sign out and put it in a conspicuous place at the door!" Li Qingyang loudly instructed his men to move out the advertising board that had just been written, and there was an eye-catching advertising slogan written on it with red paint -- celebrate the third anniversary, the discount is limitless, and all the high-grade tonic medicines in the store will be folded up by eight! There is also a slightly smaller line of words at the back: Naturalized citizens can enter the store with their identity certificates to receive a free deworming powder.

This advertising slogan was not Li Qingyang's own idea, but He Qiang used his personal connections to go to the Ministry of Commerce to find Haihan people to write it. Li Qingyang is now not only the bookkeeper of the Shengli Port branch of the "Fu Ji Pharmacy", but also because of his good appearance, he is now responsible for some of the duties of the second shopkeeper. After a few months here, he was already familiar with his new position, and he had no sense of disobedience, standing at the door of the store and directing the new clerk: "Don't put it on the street, the police will be trained when they come!"

Li Qingyang was afraid that these people would not be illiterate, so he called another man to explain outside the door. It didn't take long for people to start pouring to the door, but fortunately, Li Qingyang had expected such a result in the distribution of free things, so he hurriedly asked other guys to set up two tables outside the gate, and loudly instructed the people to line up at the door, so as not to cause congestion after too many people poured into the small store, but instead made it impossible for those buyers who wanted to consume to enter.

The cost of this insect repellent powder is very low, and the materials used are all cheap medicinal materials, and the "Fu Ji Pharmacy" prepared 1,200 copies for distribution a few days in advance, and the cost is less than 100 yuan, and there is still 10 yuan in it is the cost of printing the name of the store on the wrapping paper. Judging from the current publicity effect alone, this money should be well spent.

He Qiang smiled and looked at the crowd of people inside and outside the store, this kind of lively scene is not easy to see in ordinary times. Because the cooperation time is long enough, the executive committee arranges the habit of celebrating at this time every year, and He Qiang is very clear, so he arranged such a promotional event in advance. However, he handed over the specific matters to Li Qingyang to handle, but he didn't expect him to handle them in an orderly manner, if it weren't for his special status, He Qiang was actually very willing to recommend him to the general cabinet and let him be a candidate for the next director of "Fu Ruifeng" in the local area.

"Xiao Li, come on, just let the guys get busy, you come to drink tea with the old man!" After the activity went on for more than an hour, seeing the order inside and outside the store, He Qiang beckoned Li Qingyang to return to the store and sit down to drink tea.

"The old man just looked at the record at the counter, and in just a while, the medicinal materials in the store were sold for more than 700 yuan, and this activity is really fast!" He Qiang said smugly.

Li Qingyang is also a clever person, and he lost no time in slapping a sycophant: "This is all because of Steward He's unique vision, clever means, and good leadership!"

He Qiang smiled and said, "Xiao Li, do you know what the Haihan people are celebrating in the past two days?"

"I've heard a little about it, but I don't know why. Li Qingyang responded: "I only know that three years ago today, the Haihan people came across the sea to land here, which is to celebrate at this time every year, presumably to commemorate their ability to come to this good place!"

"A good place? When the Haihan people landed three years ago, it was still a barren beach, and there were not even a few living people, not to mention any port and wharf business district, even pirates would not come here often, it was a good place!" He Qiang shook his head and said: "What you said is not unreasonable, but it is not the main reason. ”

Li Qingyang thought for a moment and added: "I heard that all the big iron boats that the Haihan people took when they came were unusable, and they could no longer cross the sea to return to their homeland, this celebration may be a kind of expression of their nostalgia for their homeland, right?"

He Qiang shook his head lightly and responded: "Maybe there is, but it's not all right." ”

"Under the foolishness, please ask the steward for advice. Li Qingyang knew that he couldn't guess the reason, so he gave up decisively. He knew that the Li family behind He Qiang had been dealing with the Haihan people for a very long time, and the Cheng dù he cooperated with could be said to be the deepest among the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, and presumably He Qiang also knew many unheard of Haihan insiders. And these inside information are exactly what Li Qingyang is most interested in.

He Qiang looked at no one on the left and right, and then lowered his voice and said: "Haihan's move is one of the important measures to solidify the people's consciousness, so that they will gradually forget their original identity and regard themselves as Haihan people. ”

Li Qingyang was shocked when he heard this, and immediately understood the significance of the Haihan people engaging in such large-scale activities as if they had been empowered. In addition to the hundreds of Haihan people who really came across the sea, the local naturalized people are all composed of Han people, Li people, Miao people and Annamite people, under the long-term propaganda of the Haihan people, these people may not care so much about their nationality, and such a celebration undoubtedly gives them a very clear instruction - this festival is the exclusive festival of Haihan, and you who participate in this festival are Haihan people!

Li Qingyang recalled the faces he had just seen outside the store, and he could indeed see that the smiles on their faces were from the heart, these people could not only enjoy the peaceful life brought about by the Haihan system, but also had such a festival every year to influence their thoughts, and it was no wonder that the society in the area under the rule of Haihan was so stable, and he had never heard of a large-scale anti-Haihan movement.

Jiang is still old and spicy! Li Qingyang sighed while thanking He Qiang for his advice.

He Qiang waved his hand and said: "You don't have to thank me, in fact, after you have dealt with the Haihan people a lot, you can also touch their way of doing things." Their ability to win the hearts and minds of the people is a thousand times stronger than that of the imperial court! What the imperial court has not done in the past few hundred years on Qiongzhou Island, the Haihan people have done it in three years since they came, and they should indeed celebrate it!"

Li Qingyang didn't treat himself as an official of the imperial court at this time, and he didn't feel any anger when he heard the words, but he felt a little helpless. There are so many capable people in the Ming Dynasty, who have ruled the country for hundreds of years, and they are not as good as this group of aliens who have drifted here from overseas. He Qiang's words were very straightforward, and Li Qingyang could also feel his deep disappointment with the imperial court.