Qiao Zhiya introduced the situation of Changhua County to everyone in his companions along the way, and Liu Shanxia not only sighed after listening to it: "I didn't see that you are still an old driver!

Qiao Zhiya said with a smile: "The historical materials are all given by Mr. Ning, and I don't have that much ability to go through the county records of Changhua." However, I have been here for almost all of my few field missions last year, and I am not bragging about my familiarity with this place. ”

Liu Shanxia said: "I have carefully studied the map here before I came, if you want to use the route planned in the early stage as the construction plan, then in the future, this land passage is only two or three miles away from Changhua County, will the local government of Changhua affect the future mining plan of Shilu iron ore?"

Qiao Zhiya coughed dryly, and the rune that was walking beside him immediately slowed down his pace, and at the same time raised his hand to signal the people following him to slow down as well, and opened an appropriate distance from Qiao Zhiya and Liu Shanxia.

Qiao Zhiya responded: "Regarding this matter, the Executive Committee has made corresponding preparations in both light and dark directions, which is to ensure that the Shilu Iron Mine Project can be implemented smoothly ......."

The so-called two directions of light and dark, on the surface, are naturally through the official channels first, and ventilate to the local officials on the side of the Changhua County Ya. As early as last year, the Executive Committee asked the relevant departments to organize people to set up an office in Changhua, but the scale of the Changhua Office is relatively small, far from being comparable with the Office in Guangzhou and the Office in Yaya. In normal times, he was responsible for collecting information on Changhua and monitoring the movements of the government, and also sold salt, rice, coal and other popular materials here, and purchased various mountain goods and furs sold by the nearby Li people.

In addition to doing business, the office also often gave to the poor, and anyone who was good at it could find a paid job here - not in Changhua, of course, but in Shengli Harbor in the south. Since the establishment of the office a year ago, hundreds of immigrants have been sent to the base camp, and this achievement is placed in the sparsely populated Changhua area. It's already done pretty well. Several naturalized cadres who have been stationed in Changhua are also expected to be promoted to higher positions after being developed here.

It is enough for these naturalized cadres to do these basic things, but it is a bit unbearable for them to deal with the government, and even deal with high-level affairs such as arranging some joint negotiations. For this reason, the Executive Committee specially mobilized the connections of Yacheng and asked Zhang Qing, the governor of Yazhou, to repair a letter to the Changhua County Ya, imploring the local parents and officials to give appropriate "care" to the "Yazhou people" who went to Changhua to engage in commercial and trade activities. Of course. In addition to Zhang Qing's handwritten letter, a large bank bill of Haihan Bank was also attached to the envelope. After all, Changhua is not a territory of Yazhou. Zhang Qing's face may be of limited use, but the silver thing will definitely work anywhere.

The Executive Committee's condition to the local government was simple: it claimed that a road would be built from the sea to the inland area of Shiroku, and that the local government would accommodate it. In addition, there are a lot of materials and tools needed to build the road, so it is necessary to send some people to guard the construction site and maintain order at the construction site by the way - of course, there is no need to bother the garrison of Changhua in this matter, and the Haihan militia will be responsible for the corresponding affairs.

In the private sector, it is normal for the local gentry and landlords to pay for the paving of roads and bridges, so it seems very normal for the Haihan Chamber of Commerce to make this request to the Changhua County Government through the official channels. Except for a little. The place where this road leads is the residential area of the Li people, and the purpose of building this road seems to be only to facilitate the activities of the Li people in the mountains, which is really a bit unreasonable. However, under the powerful money offensive, the Changhua County government turned a blind eye to this only suspicion, and just didn't notice it.

As for saying that Haihan wants to send a militia to guard the road repair materials and maintain order at the construction site, the Changhua County Ya doesn't care. What is the situation of the Haihan militia. In fact, all the states and counties on Qiongzhou Island know a little bit about it, and no one wants to provoke this thorn for no reason. Last year, the Haihan People's League received a public commendation from Wang Zunde, the governor of Liangguang, for its meritorious service in suppressing bandits in Lijiazhuang, and since then, the activities of the Haihan People's League on Qiongzhou Island have basically become semi-public.

At present, the scope of activities of the Haihan militia is not limited to the Sanya area, almost all kinds of large ships under the name of the Haihan will be accompanied by militia soldiers to carry out armed escorts, and all coastal states and counties that have trade with the Haihan will be carried out. Almost all the people have seen the Haihan militia dressed in gray and carrying muskets. Changhua is no exception, every month to the Haihan office in Changhua to transport supplies, almost always have a squad of Haihan militia escort, but in order to avoid suspicion, never carry weapons into the city. At first, the people were a little afraid and curious, but after a long time, the people became surprised and naturally became immune.

In short, as long as the armed forces of the Haihan militia do not enter the city. It's easy to say that everyone will be safe and sound according to the rules, and the Changhua County Government will not do much to try to suppress the actions of the Haihan militia - of course, they really don't have the strength. The Haihan Chamber of Commerce also generously said to the Changhua County Government that as long as it can be convenient in the matter of road construction, then the Haihan Chamber of Commerce will hand over a "site management fee" to the county government every month in the future, although the amount is not very large, but it is also a considerable income for the Changhua County Government, which is sparsely populated and has no taxes and oil.

However, these routines were only laid out on the surface, and the Executive Committee prepared for the worst just in case, that is, in case the Danzhou side reacted strongly to the Haihan forces taking root in Changhua and did not allow the Haihan to build roads and open mines there, then it was necessary to make preparations for the military occupation of the Changhua-Shilu area. The development of the Shiroku iron ore mine is an important project that must be guaranteed by the Executive Committee in the next few years, and if the Haihan regime wants to carry out industrialization in the future and achieve foreign military expansion, it must be based on huge steel production capacity, and even if it wants to wage war for the ownership of Shiroku, the Executive Committee will not hesitate.

Although the Changhua government claimed that it had sent a small number of militiamen to watch over the construction site, in fact the permanent force prepared by the Military Commission for the Shilu Iron Ore Project was a battalion. It is not an exaggeration to use such a force to secure a line of communication more than 50 miles long, and a large number of South Vietnamese prisoners of war and local slaves will be used in the construction of this line of communication and the subsequent mining works.

There is another object that worries the executive committee, that is, the Li people near Shilu. Because these Li people live in the mountainous areas all the year round, they do not have much communication with the outside world, and they are far away from Sanya. Prior to this, the Haihan had not had much contact with these tribes, and it was not certain whether the attitude of these cottages towards outsiders would be friendly or hostile. This time, the special team specially brought Fu Li, hoping to use his Li identity to obtain a better communication channel with the local indigenous people. The Executive Committee does not expect much help from the local Li people in the development of the Shilu Iron Mine, as long as these people don't make trouble.

Of course, it is best if the relationship with the Lebanese can be resolved peacefully, but if it is not properly resolved, then it is also necessary to be prepared to solve the problem by force. If necessary, the Military Commission will even transfer North Vietnamese special operations battalions from the port of Black Soil. Because only that unit is a combat team that is truly built in the mountainous jungle as a combat environment, and its combat experience in the mountainous areas is far greater than that of the militia troops in the base camp.

Liu Shanxia listened to Qiao Zhiya's explanation. Only then did he suddenly say: "So after the battle in Hue is over, the Military Commission hurriedly withdrew the troops, also to prepare for the development of Shilu, right?"

Qiao Zhiya nodded and said, "After all, the number of troops is still limited! If you can have three more battalions...... No, even with two more battalions of mobile troops, I don't think the top will withdraw so quickly, at least they can fight another Quang Zhi city in South Vietnam. ”

"If you are in such a hurry to mine Shilu, it is better to increase the mining volume of Tiandu first, I remember that the reserves of Tiandu iron ore are also several million tons!" Liu Shanxia knew that it was not easy to develop Shilu, and couldn't help but sigh.

"The biggest problem on Tian Du's side is not that there are not enough reserves or labor. However, the ore veins are too concentrated, the working face is limited, and even if ten times the manpower is invested there, the excavated ore veins are only such a large area, unless the Ministry of Industry can now build mechanically powered mining equipment, it will not have much effect on increasing production capacity. Qiao Zhiya has spent much more time in Tiandu than Liu Shanxia, and he also has a better understanding of the production status of Tiandu Iron Mine.

Between words. They have come to Changhua County, and what they are facing is Ningwu Gate, the north gate of Changhua City. These fortifications, which were built more than 100 years ago, have begun to show some signs of disrepair after years of wind and rain. By the time the team arrived at the door, the office staff who had been notified in advance were already waiting there.

Qiao Zhiya looked at the Ming soldiers standing guard at the gate of the city, and asked the naturalized cadres: "Our people are all carrying spears, can they go in?"

"It doesn't matter. The lowly duty has prepared the cover, and can easily clear the city. The naturalized cadre raised his hand and signaled, and immediately someone came and led a flatbed oxcart full of dry firewood: "Just put the gun under this firewood pile, and you can enter the city." ”

So the accompanying militiamen, under the order of Qiao Zhiya, put their rifles on the cart, piled up a few more bundles of firewood, and went straight to the city gate. Liu Shanxia noticed that when the guns were collected here, several Ming soldiers guarding the door were obviously watching from a distance. With a little worry in his heart, he asked, "Is this really okay?"

"They won't look it up. When Qiao Zhiya said this, he had already noticed that someone had rushed to the ox cart and stuffed something into the hands of the soldiers guarding the door. So when the ox cart passed, there was no inspection at all, and the soldier guarding the gate waved his hand to let it pass.

"Is this all right?" Liu Shanxia said in amazement.

"Money can make ghosts grind!" Qiao Zhiya said a proverb very smoothly. However, Liu Shanxia didn't notice Qiao Zhiya's progress in language ability, and he was more concerned about the sparse city defense of Changhua City: "Didn't you say before that the armed militia would not enter Changhua City?"

"Yes, that's right, isn't this already de-armed?" Qiao Zhiya took it for granted and led the team towards the city gate.

Sure enough, the soldiers defending the city did not embarrass the militia who followed them into the city, and it seemed that as long as they did not directly carry guns into the city, the city defense would be useless. Liu Shanxia couldn't help but cry and laugh a little: "What's the difference between guarding the city gate and not guarding it?"

At least this will let the county magistrate know that Changhua City is still under his control. Qiao Zhiya laughed jokingly.

In fact, there are more than one county town like Changhua that turns a blind eye to the Haihan militia, Changhua and Thanksgiving in the west, and Lingshui, Wanning, and Lehui in the east, which are basically the same. If the Executive Committee really wants to take these county seats, it probably only needs to send two or three companies to control the city defense, and it is not even estimated that there will be an armed conflict. The reason why they did not openly attack these places was more a political consideration than a military fear.

More than two years have passed since Haihan landed at Shengli Port, and while Haihan's military strength has expanded step by step, the actual situation of the Ming garrison on Qiongzhou Island has also been roughly grasped. According to the Ming military system. There are a total of 11 guards on the island, with a total strength of more than 11,000 people, and another 2,000 border troops, mainly water divisions, stationed in the north of Qiongzhou City, Danzhou and Yazhou in the south, and the border army of Yazhou stationed is the Yacheng Water Village under the jurisdiction of Luo Shengdong.

The number of troops deployed by the Ming on Qiongzhou Island does not seem to be small, but the shortage of troops is very common. The military leaders of the guards all relied on empty places to fill their pockets, and the actual strength of the army was probably less than two-thirds of the official figure. Among them, there are even fewer troops that can really form combat effectiveness, and the vast majority of the guards have been out of battle for a long time, and they have become hired peasants and long-term laborers of the same nature as the South Vietnamese peasants. If the Executive Committee were to adopt the strategy of military expansion now, it would barely be able to flatten the entire island with its existing forces. It's just that at present, there are not too many naturalized cadres who can be used to achieve Haihan-style rule, and the gap between the number of people needed to rule the entire Qiongzhou Island is too great, so the Executive Committee has been controlling the actual ruling area in the southern part of Qiongzhou Island and slowly accumulating strength.

First-time visitors quickly lose their curiosity about the situation in Changhua, a small county town with a few thousand residents and few commercial facilities in the city. The largest grocery stores and restaurants are all opened by Haihan's office in Changhua, and the atmosphere can be described as depressed.

The accompanying clerk introduced: "There are no rich families in Changhua, and most of the young people who have a way out have gone to Sanya, and now some landlords in the city have to pick up hoes and work in the fields again." ”

Naturally, the landlords in this small county town will not have much capital, and a household that can own dozens of acres of land can probably be called a landlord. With the outflow of young and strong people, there has also been a lot of abandonment of cultivated land outside Changhua City, and the economic situation in the city has been affected by it. Of course, it's not much better.

They were a bit of a fancy dress, but they didn't even attract much attention when they appeared in the city, and when they walked around the city, they felt that this place was just a country village with a city wall. With a disappointed mood, everyone went to inspect the office again, and it was just a two-entry courtyard, and the backyard was stocked up. There is a shop in the front yard to sell things. Everyone looked at it for a while, and saw that all the businesses sold here were scattered businesses such as half a catty of salt and ten catties of rice, and they were not even interested in checking the accounts. It took only an hour to enter the city, and the people went out of the city and returned the way they came. In the words of Fu Li, it is not as interesting as fishing on a boat to enter the county.

The special team waited for another day in the seaside fishing village, and finally arrived at Tian Yeyou, who was long overdue. After letting Tian Yeyou rest for one night in the fishing village. The task force finally embarked on this journey into the mountains.

In addition to a large number of equipment and tools for surveying and mapping, exploration, there are also some gifts brought to the Li people's cottage, such as iron, salt, sugar, medicine, etc., plus the supplies, luggage and weapons of nearly 40 people in this line, there are two or three tons.

Fortunately, the conditions are much more convenient today than when they visited Fushan Pass when they first landed, and for this trip, the Executive Committee specially prepared more than a dozen mules and pack horses for the special team, which greatly reduced their burden on the journey. The Changhua office also hired two Li guides who were familiar with the geography and people near Shilu for them in advance, and served them during the process of entering the mountain.

Due to the need to revise the construction plan, it is necessary to constantly stop to survey the surrounding environment and make detailed records during the process, so the speed of travel is also very slow, and only about 20 miles are walked on the first day. After leaving the coast for about fifty miles, they had already left the area inhabited by the Han people and began to enter the range of activities of the Li people.

On the morning of the fourth day, after communicating with the two Li guides, Fu Li informed Qiao Zhiya that the front had entered the sphere of influence of Shizidong, and the jurisdiction of this mountain happened to include the planned mining area of Shilu Iron Mine.

Fu Li's construction is to send a guide to Shizitong to inform the intention of coming, and if the other party is willing to meet the guests, then go directly to the cottage to visit. Generally, this kind of friendly visit will not be rejected by the owner, but how to talk about the follow-up matters, then no one dares to pack a ticket.

So the special team was stationed on the Changhua River and sent a guide to Shizitong to ask for a meeting.