Hong Kong Island covers an area of nearly 80 square kilometres, and although most of the area is difficult to develop at this stage, its location at the mouth of the Pearl River is a waterway barrier between Hong Kong Island and the mainland, but the distance is close enough not to affect trade between the two places. With Hong Kong Island as a base, it can radiate to the two provinces of Fuguang and retreat, and retreat to defend the fortress on the island, which is indeed an excellent base for Haihan to advance.

Although the island is not large, in fact, there is still a large area of gentle terrain that can be developed in the area of the north of the island that is only separated from the mainland by a narrow waterway, from the later Causeway Bay all the way west to Central, Sheung Wan and Western Ring, such a large area can accommodate at least tens of thousands of people. In the Executive Committee's plan for Hong Kong Island, this place will not set up large-scale production units, and in terms of civil affairs, it will mainly undertake the tasks of maritime trade freight and migration transshipment, and will not resettle a large number of people on the spot, so the area of developable area on the island should be sufficient for at least the next ten or twenty years. And at that time, it is obvious that Haihan will no longer be bothered by such a little land problem.

Of course, the source of funds for the development of Hong Kong Island has also been arranged in advance. Since the development of Zhennan Port the year before last, the Daming Investment Group, which is dominated by many wealthy businessmen in Guangdong, has been on the "thief ship" of Haihan, and after the limited land in the southern region has been carved up, the backstage bosses who have tasted the sweetness of investment have been asking when Haihan will start in the north, and the silver in his pocket has already given birth to his feet and is about to jump out.

To tell the truth, the investment enthusiasm of the Ming businessmen was still greatly beyond the expectations of the executive committee, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to get too much support even if the Ming people did not openly resist this kind of behavior of the Ming people, but soon the traversers found that even in this era, the weight of interests is also greatly greater than etiquette, and in front of the silver of white flowers, things like discipline have long been forgotten.

After the annual general meeting in April, the Ministry of Commerce of Haihan announced the investment plan for Hong Kong Island. Of course, this so-called external situation is actually more targeted, not like the Anmin notice at the door to post a notice and finish, but to classify the objects that have trade with Haihan, and then put the prepared investment content to these merchants.

This set of practices is a bit similar to the flavor of email marketing, of course, Haihan's preparation is more sufficient, not only for the customer's business projects targeted investment content push, but also prepared a variety of small cocktail parties, poetry parties, tea parties, by the Ministry of Commerce to explain the details to customers face-to-face. For large businesses and senior partners like "Furuifeng", a commissioner from the Ministry of Commerce visited them to explain the general situation of this investment, and by the way, to understand the feelings of the merchants on this arrangement.

The information feedback received by the Ministry of Commerce is undoubtedly gratifying, and the vast majority of Ming merchants believe that as long as the imperial court does not have legislation to prohibit it, then what reason is there not to do it if you can make money with the Haihan people?

Of course, not all cats and dogs are eligible to participate in Haihan's development plan for Hong Kong Island, and the merchants who can get the news are basically merchants who have close trade contacts with Haihan, and new players who want to join this game must deposit a certain amount of credit deposit in Haihan Bank in addition to reliable old player referrals.

When Chen Lin, a timber merchant in Guangdong, got the news more than 10 days later than others, it was not that he did not have the corresponding qualifications, but that he had gone to Fujian to do business in March, and had only recently returned to Guangdong. At this time, the registration of the first batch of investor qualifications of the Ministry of Commerce had ended, and as soon as Chen Lin learned the news after returning from Fujian, he rushed to Zhennan Port non-stop to visit the high-level Haihan who was in charge of the local affairs.

On the day that Chen Yixin received Xin'an Water Village in Shauki Bay, Chen Lin came to the Zhennan Port Management Committee, first handed over the name card according to the rules, registered his identity, and waited for the summons in the gatehouse. Today's Zhennan Port has basically embarked on the formalization, all aspects are in accordance with the standard Haihan port management system in the operation, businessmen to handle the daily entry and exit of goods loading and unloading procedures only need to go to the corresponding department, only a few other important business, will be specially handed to the post to meet Haihan officials.

The site of this management committee is a traditional style house, with a total of three courtyards, and it used to be the residence of the only local large landowner, but after the Haihan people arrived here, they acquired this house and used it as the residence of the management committee. The first place to enter the courtyard is to handle all kinds of daily affairs, but most of the people who work here are naturalized people. The second courtyard is the exclusive office space of the Haihan people, and outsiders must first register and apply before they can enter the courtyard. The last courtyard is the residence of several local Haihan officials, which is a place that ordinary people can't go.

Chen Lin waited for about half an hour, and a staff member came to invite him in. After entering the wing room with the sign of "Office of the Director of the Management Committee", Chen Lin said deeply: "Villain Chen Lin, I have seen Director You!"

"Boss Chen sits and sits, they are all acquaintances, don't be so polite!" At present, you Yihan is in charge of Zhennan Port, and he was transferred by the Executive Committee from the Guangzhou Office to serve as a temporary leader at the beginning of the preparation of Zhennan Port.

Although Zhennangang is not a big place, and the resident population is also very limited, it seems that being a leader here is not as good as other states and counties, but only those who live here know that Zhennangang is small, but the living conditions are not bad. First of all, all kinds of necessary living facilities, such as sanitary equipment, solar power generation devices, communication systems, etc., are also equipped according to the standards of the base camp. Secondly, although there are not many high-end dining establishments in this place, there are many merchant ships coming and going from the south to the north, and the convenience of obtaining ingredients is much more than that of Hainan Island.

The most important thing is that there are a lot of floating populations coming and going here, and whether it is a big boss or an ordinary sailor, almost all of them are people with spare money in hand, and their spending power is far better than that of ordinary fishing port towns, so Zhennangang is a small place that can be found in a variety of ways, and there are several green buildings in the town that have obtained the permission of Haihan, and some fresh goods will be sent from Guangzhou and other places on a regular basis, and the business is also quite good.

Of course, in the face of ambitious travelers, the quality of living conditions is still a secondary issue, and the prospect of a career in the future is the real concern of every expatriate. You Yihan saw his situation very clearly, although Zhennan Port is a small place, its role is irreplaceable by Lijiazhuang and Wanshan Port, which are both at the mouth of the Pearl River. Moreover, after the acquisition of Hong Kong Island, as the influence of Haihan continues to expand northward, the local maritime trade volume is estimated to increase several times, and when the Executive Committee decides who will manage and operate this port area, You Yihan, who has been working in Guangdong for several years, will undoubtedly have a great advantage in knowing the local situation.

However, before that, You Yihan must also deal with the work at hand, especially the investment promotion and operation of the Ministry of Commerce of Haihan in the northern part of Hong Kong Island, and he is also responsible as the local supervisor.

Chen Lin is indeed not a fresh face for You Yihan, after all, the two sides have dealt with each other eight times in the past two years, if not ten times. The first time the two met, it can be traced back to when Zhennan Port was just beginning to operate, when Chen Lin, as a lobbyist sent by Xin'an Water Village, tried to persuade the Haihan side to abandon stationing armed men and ships on the island. However, at that time, Chen Yixin came forward to express his position, and did not save any face for the Ming army, and directly gave several conditions that could be called harsh, limiting the scope of activities of the sailors to the north of Hong Kong Island, and not allowing them to interfere in the affairs of the Haihan.

However, since that experience, Chen Lin also realized the gap in strength between the two sides, and it happened that Haihan also needed a lot of timber for the construction of the project, so Chen Lin seized this opportunity to start a timber business with Haihan, and made a lot of money in a year or two, and even invested money in Zhennan Port to rent a piece of land and build a warehouse to store the goods transferred here.

After doing business with the Haihan people for a long time, Chen Lin naturally slowly knew how terrifying the strength of this group of people was. The Haihan possessed more than just exposed muskets, artillery, and warships, and Chen Lin believed that their pervasive commercial system was just as powerful, at least in the counties under the rule of Guangzhou, and that none of the counties dared to seize the goods of the Haihan people in their own territory. This is not because they are afraid of retaliation from the Haihan people, but that the owners of these goods are often inextricably linked with the government, and in some places, it is even the officials who are directly behind the scenes to make money.

In Panyu County, where Lijiazhuang is located, the Haihan people can almost walk sideways in the local area, and six or seven out of ten locals are working for the Haihan people -- this number even includes most of the people in Panyu County who eat public meals. Compared to those terrible weapons, Chen Lin believed that silver was the most irresistible offensive in Haihan's hands. Of course, Chen Lin himself was one of them, otherwise he wouldn't have to rush over from other places in a hurry.

"Director You, the villain came to bother today, and he really has something to ask for!" Chen Lin's attitude was still very upright, although You Yihan greeted him very warmly, but he was very clear about his role, and he didn't plan to really put himself in a position of equal standing with the other party.

"Oh, what's the matter?" asked You Yihan casually.

"The villain heard that the investment registration for the development of the northern part of Hong Kong Island has been carried out for many days, I wonder if it is true?" Chen Lin hurriedly asked the question he was concerned about.

You Yihan nodded and replied: "That's right, the news announced by the Executive Committee about twenty days ago has received a very enthusiastic response, and as far as I know, more than 20 merchants have already signed up. By the way, the Ministry of Commerce should have sent materials to Boss Chen at that time, right?"

"I sent it, but the villain was in Fujian at the time, and he couldn't receive it!" Chen Lin hurriedly said: "The villain rushed back immediately after getting the news, but it is said that the registration has been closed, how can this be good?"

"So that's the ......," You Yihan said, "So Boss Chen also has plans to invest money in the north?"

"Of course there is!" Chen Lin hurriedly responded: "If it weren't for the fact that there is no vacant land with a better location here in Zhennan Port, the villain would have wanted to build a larger timber warehouse here." Now that you are going to start developing the land in the north, the villain naturally wants to get a piece of land as soon as possible. ”

"Originally, this matter was led by the Ministry of Commerce, and I, the director of the management committee, am not good at interfering......" You Yihan saw Chen Lin's ugly face, coughed dryly and turned his words back: "But Boss Chen is also our long-term partner, and we will not forget our partners if there are good things, I can see that this matter can be done specially." I'll write you a note, and you take it to the office of the Ministry of Commerce, and let their people help you get through the registration formalities first. As for the arrangement of the land selection, you will be notified in a few days. ”

Chen Lin was overjoyed, and quickly got up and thanked, "Thank you Director You for taking care of you!" As he spoke, he took out a cowhide envelope from his sleeve and handed it to You Yihan's desk.

You Yihan almost laughed out loud: "Boss Chen, put it away, what's the use of me taking this Haihan Bank's silver ticket? This is originally something we issued." ”

Chen Lin smiled awkwardly, took back the silver ticket, and apologized repeatedly: "It's the villain's inconsiderate thinking, Director You is not to blame, the villain just wants to express his gratitude." ”

You Yihan said: "It's just a matter of doing something, don't worry too much." By the way, I would like to ask, since Boss Chen has just returned from Fujian, how is the current shape of Fujian?"

Chen Lin didn't know what he meant for a while, and asked rhetorically: "What Director You said about the shape of the shì refers to ......"

"I heard that the pirates in Fujian have been very tossed in the past two years, how are they doing?" You Yihan had to ask more clearly.

Chen Lin suddenly realized: "Director You is talking about the Eighteen Zhi gang, right?"

"That's right, I thought to know if they were still harassing the coast of Fujian. You Yihan nodded.

Chen Lin replied: "In the early years, this group of people was indeed very tormented, but after Liu Xiang's group was beaten away from the mouth of the Pearl River by your militia two years ago, the movement of Eighteen Zhi was much smaller. It is said that in the past year, Shibazhi has retreated to Penghu and does not dare to attack the coastal areas of Fujian again. The villain went to Fujian to do business this time, and he came and went very safely, and he did not encounter pirates. ”

"Lord Xu drove Eighteen Zhi to Penghu, and he didn't take the initiative to attack again?" You Yihan asked.

"No, the villain heard that the two sides have already negotiated ......peace," Chen Lin continued, not realizing the change in You Yihan's face.