After He Xi also finished reading the official document, Marik signed it and asked Yu Yao to take it to the warehouse and put it away. This matter was originally led by the military, and the Guangzhou Office only assisted, and the specific conscription measures will be taken care of by the military team, and the funds are also specially allocated, so Maliko only needs to sign for the record.

However, Yu Yao did not leave immediately after getting the signed paperwork, and Marik saw that he looked unsatisfied, so he took the initiative to ask him if he still had something to say.

Yu Yao hesitated for a moment before he spoke: "When I met with Xiao Liang two days ago, we talked about it, and we thought that if we wanted to expand our actual control area in the Pearl River Estuary to the east, this arms deal with Daming was actually an opportunity that could be taken advantage of. ”

Mariko was also a shrewd man, and as soon as he heard this, he immediately understood what he meant: "You mean to exchange arms for land?"

Yu Yao nodded and said: "That's pretty much what it means, as for the operation method, you can be flexible and masterable, whether it is rent, land purchase, cooperative development, in short, use the legal name to occupy the place first." As long as the place is occupied, it is not up to us to decide what to do in the future. ”

This approach mentioned by Yu Yao is actually not new, and the Haihan adopted a similar method when he established the coastal stronghold in Annam, and the rent of the Heitu Port Concession was simply paid to the Annan court in the form of Haihan artillery. In order to be able to obtain military assistance from the Haihan in a long-term and stable manner, the Annan court had to swallow its anger and hand over some of the natural harbors along the coastline to the Haihan in the form of concessions—and the land that had been handed over would probably not be returned to the name of Annan. And it seems that such a routine can also be used logically in other areas that need military assistance from the Haihan, such as the Ming Empire, which is now preparing to attack.

Marik responded: "You can think of this idea, and there should be smart people in the staff of the base camp, after all, this method has a successful precedent in Annan, but it is not mentioned in the official document of the base camp, which means that there must still be some problems that cannot be solved at this stage." ”

"I don't think so. Yu Yao shook his head and retorted: "The base camp did not propose such a solution, probably because they did not understand the current situation in the waters of the Pearl River Estuary and Hong Kong Island. At the beginning, the exchange of weapons for concession rights in Annam was also a method first proposed by the Heitu Port Management Committee, and in the final analysis, the parties concerned still have more say in this kind of matter. The Executive Committee and the Military Commission are the decision-makers in the arms transaction with Daming, and there is nothing to say about this, but this matter can be led by our Guangzhou Office, after all, the people who know the most about Daming's current situation are us, not the group of people squatting on Hainan Island...... Sorry, I was a little overdone. ”

Yu Yao realized that his words were a bit out of line, calmed down a little, and then said: "If the Executive Committee wants to reach a military cooperative relationship with the Ming Dynasty, economic considerations should only come second, and political needs are the real purpose. Exchanging arms for political status in the minds of the Ming court, or in exchange for some more practical conditions, these are all directions we can try. If we don't try, how can we know if we can do it?"

Marik and He Xi glanced at each other, the two have been partners for more than two years, and the tacit understanding at work is still very sufficient, and they can basically understand each other's meaning after exchanging glances. Regarding Yu Yao's thoughts, I have to say that both of them were a little moved when they heard it.

If, after all these efforts, the Ming court was able to look at the various types of arms provided by the Han Dynasty and was willing to pay some economic or political conditions in order to obtain these military aids, then the possibility of exchanging arms for land mentioned by Yu Yao was indeed objective.

Of course, even if such an intention is made, words such as "military use" and "naval base" will certainly be avoided during the real negotiations, and the direction of land use will definitely be civilian means such as commercial ports, warehouses, and docks. As long as the land is in hand, it is up to Haihan to decide what to do when the time comes.

"You've been to Hong Kong Island several times, haven't you been there, what's the situation over there now?" He Xi asked.

As soon as Yu Yao heard He Xi ask, he had a bottom in his heart, and immediately responded: "Wait for me for a minute, and I'll be back immediately." ”

As soon as Yu Yao left, Marik turned to He Xi and asked, "What do you think?"

"Let's listen to his opinion first, but I think I can try, if this thing is done, the Guangzhou Office will be upgraded to the Guangdong branch just around the corner!" He Xi also had a look of eagerness to try.

After a while, Yu Yao hurried back with his laptop: "It's not clear to say, I'll call up the map, it's more intuitive." ”

"The last time we went to Hong Kong Island was last month, and based on our continuous observation and intelligence gathering for more than a year, we have a relatively good understanding of the situation on Hong Kong Island, especially the situation of the troops stationed on the island. Yu Yao explained while calling up a satellite map of the waters of the Pearl River Estuary on the computer, and then enlarged the Hong Kong Island: "At present, the troops stationed by the Ming army on Hong Kong Island are subordinate to Nanhaiwei, with less than 500 troops and about ten ships, of which only six ships can be used for combat. Their location is located in Shau Kei Wan on the northern side of Hong Kong Island, which is also the choke point of the Lei Yue Mun waterway, and the place they chose is still very elegant. ”

It can be clearly seen from the map that the Lei Yue Mun Channel is the narrowest channel between Hong Kong Island and the mainland, and the Ming army's station is in Shau Kei Wan, which is close to Lei Yue Mun, which is indeed the best place to control the water channel in and out of the Pearl River Estuary in the direction of Fujian. Of course, whether you can really control it is another matter, at least from the shape of the shape of the first year or two, from the Liyu Gate to the east is only about four nautical miles, after the other strait Buddha Hall Gate, the sea is the Liu Xiang pirate group has the final say, and the scope of the Ming army's control is really limited.

Yu Yao pointed to the map and continued to explain: "There are not many residents on Hong Kong Island, according to official statistics, there are about less than 3,000, most of them live in the coastal plain area in the north of the island, and make a living from agricultural and forestry industries such as fishing and logging. ”

Mariko interjected: "There are Ming garrisons on the island, I'm afraid it's unlikely that they will automatically withdraw from this area." Daming is not Annam after all, and we want to exchange such a large island with dozens of artillery pieces, which is really unrealistic. ”

"Director Ma is right. Yu Yao did not refute Mariko's opinion, but nodded and said: "What's more, the location of this island is too critical, and controlling this place is almost equivalent to controlling the mouth of South China. ”

"And what are you going to do?" asked Mariko.

"We can achieve control over this area in stages, without having to become fat in one bite. Yu Yao continued to point to the map and explained: "The good thing about Hong Kong Island is that it is big enough, and we can temporarily retreat to the second best thing and ask Daming for the territory in the south of the island." ”

Mariko and He Xi's eyes followed his direction to the south side of the island, and there was indeed a very unique natural harbor on this side. Tai Shue Wan, Sham Wan and Aberdeen Bay between Ap Lei Chau and Hong Kong Island were all very prosperous ports in the time and space before the crossing, with hundreds of ships docked here all year round. There is also a plain area near the shore where a large number of facilities can be built and a certain number of people can be housed.

Ap Lei Chau, which is outside this string of harbors, acts as a barrier to protect these harbors from the wind and rain, and at the same time provides excellent military defense conditions. The topography here is very similar to that of the Black Earth Port, and there are islands outside the harbor, and only a small number of shore defense guns need to be built on the islands to completely control the shipping routes in and out of the harbor.

Another point that cannot be ignored is that the northern and southern parts of Hong Kong Island are completely separated by the middle mountain range, which does not interfere with each other. This geographical condition allowed the Haihan who were trying to establish a stronghold in the south to have ample room to maneuver, and at the same time could get rid of the Ming surveillance.

Although the habitable area on the southern side of Hong Kong Island is far less than that on the northern side, this is not a big problem for the Haihan, who currently has a limited population. Even if there is a surplus population, the preferred resettlement site will be Hainan Island rather than the Pearl River Estuary. The first choice of the Executive Committee for selecting overseas bases was not based on the number of people who could be resettled in the local area, but on the geographical location, the environment, and the difficulty of military defense. Although the Haihan stronghold has only fought a defensive battle in Lijiazhuang since the crossing, this does not prevent the military from still taking defense as one of the preferred conditions for the location of overseas strongholds.

In the final analysis, the strength of the Haihan militia is limited, and there is no way to deploy enough armed forces in each stronghold, so they have to rely on the local natural environment to build some fortified fortresses that allow a small number of armed personnel to defend by virtue of the terrain. This pattern began with the port of Black Earth and continued through all overseas strongholds and colonies to date. When the military team of the GGEO inspected the topography of Hong Kong Island, they also took this aspect into account.

Yu Yao explained: "We don't need to take the entire Hong Kong Island, as long as we can get the Ming government to agree to us to set up a business inn and build a wharf in the southern area of Hong Kong Island, the goal will be achieved." This area is enough to station a complete combat fleet all year round, plus a battalion of army troops, such a troop configuration is basically enough to deal with all kinds of emergencies in our coastal areas of Guangdong. Now that the Central Military Commission has delegated the authority to recruit troops, we can completely follow the model of Heitu Port and establish a military training base on Hong Kong Island and form an independent battalion in the Guangdong Theater. ”

"An army with a fleet and a battalion?" Maliko couldn't help but shake his head: "Yu Yao, you are planning to upgrade the military team of the Guangzhou Office to the Guangdong Military Region!"

"The upgrade to the Guangdong Military Region is also beneficial to the development of the Guangzhou Office. Yu Yao was broken by Marico's words, but he did not deny it: "The main function of the current Guangzhou Office is only to manage economy, trade, and immigration, and the role it can play in politics and military is still too small." Although our development phalanx is to open the way for money, we must also maintain a sufficient sense of oppression when necessary. There are still a lot of people out there who just see us as businessmen and lack a sense of reverence for us, and I think we should find a way to change that. After all, it's not two years ago now, what we need to do now is to protect our own interests, expand and control a larger territory, and stop pretending to be sheep in such a low-key way. ”

"It seems that you have been pretending to have worked very hard in the past two years!" He Xi quipped: "But Wanshan Port has only been put into use for about a year, and it is about to be moved so soon, and the construction cost over there has not been recovered yet." ”

"Wanshan Island does not need to be abandoned, it can continue to be used as a military base, and the location there is still very good. Yu Yao pointed to the map on the computer screen again: "From the southern part of Hong Kong Island to Wanshan Port, the distance at sea is only more than 30 nautical miles, and even a traditional Chinese sailing ship can reach it in a daytime, so that the east and the west are connected, and the sea area of the Pearl River Estuary can be completely controlled." ”

"You're pretty good at it!" Mariko continued, "Have you put these ideas into written materials?"

When Yu Yao heard this, he immediately nodded and said, "I have already sorted out a copy, and if necessary, I will do my best to improve the content." ”

"Then you take the time to prepare, since you want to do it, you have to say hello to the base camp first. Marik said that even if he finalized the basic direction, let Yu Yao first come up with a written plan, and then send it back to the base camp in the name of the Guangzhou Office, and the executive committee will discuss and decide whether to implement it.

"Without further ado, I'll do it. Yu Yao was beaten now, closed the notebook and clamped it under his armpit, and hurriedly went out.

"According to what he just said, how feasible do you think this thing is?" asked He Xi after Yu Yao's footsteps disappeared outside the door.

"I'm more optimistic, if you apply to Daming for a place to stay on the grounds of building a business wharf, it's not difficult, didn't the Portuguese apply for a place next to it?" He Xi's face looked very relaxed: "No matter in any aspect, the strength of the Portuguese is not comparable to ours, and now we have a very good relationship with the Guangdong government, and there is a great possibility that this matter will be successful." ”