Chapter 2284

As early as 1629, Haihan's armed fleet entered the waters near Hong Kong, and in the following years gradually encroached on the central and western areas of Hong Kong Island. Originally, the Ming Dynasty also had a navy camp on the east coast of Hong Kong Island.

, but after Haihan entered Hong Kong Island, this camp slowly died down under constant threats and inducements, gradually losing its original functions, and now it has long existed in name only.

Haihan's plan for Hong Kong Island is to build a trading port at the Pearl River Estuary, a maritime transportation hub, that is not under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty and serve as a shipping transshipment function for Fujian, Guangdong and Qiong. The effect of this plan after its implementation is obvious.

As long as maritime merchants from all over the world transport their goods here for trading, the voyage to and from the sea can be greatly shortened, which can save the time and cost of cross-regional transactions.

In addition, Haihan has many support and guarantee measures for Hong Kong's trade system, which enhances the convenience and safety of local transactions and makes businessmen more willing to carry out trading activities in the region.

Although there are no special local products on Hong Kong Island, and most of the traded goods are shipped from other places, as the volume of trade continues to increase, many ancillary industries have been spawned locally, such as the service industry, shipbuilding industry, and financial industry.

Etc., a large number of job opportunities are created to attract immigrants to move in, and the rapid growth of population in turn plays a role in driving the development of the local economy.

Today, although Hong Kong Island is still not as prosperous as Guangzhou and Zhangzhou, it can definitely be regarded as one of the top trading ports on the southeast coast. The number of merchant ships entering and leaving the port every day remains at around a hundred.

This number is even higher than that of Haikou Port and Danzhou Port in Hainan Island.

In order to achieve such results, in addition to the various resources provided by the Executive Committee to the Hong Kong Island region, the current top game player on Hong Kong Island, Yi Han, also contributed a lot.

You Yihan was originally engaged in freight management at Qingdao Port before participating in the time travel. He is considered an expert in seaport management. He is in charge of the operations here, and he is also a professional counterpart.

Like most high-ranking Haihan officials stationed overseas all year round, You Yihan's strengths are not limited to his own professional field, but can also take care of diplomatic, military and intelligence work. Although the story of Annan's young prince going north to Guangzhou has not been publicized, it has been

Haihan made a report, and Hong Kong Island also received a notice from the Executive Committee. So as soon as Zheng Zha and others' ship arrived at the port, You Yihan had already received the report, and quickly rushed to the port to greet these people.

uninvited guest.

Compared with Zheng Zha and Zhang Jinbao, the one whom You Yihan is most familiar with is of course the third young master of Furifeng, Li Nai. After all, every time Li Nai travels between Guangzhou and Sanya, he almost always stops by Hong Kong Island to inspect Furifeng’s local operations.

Industry. Over the years, I have dealt with You Yihan quite a lot, and the two of them have become familiar with each other.

When You Yihan heard Li Nai introduce the purpose of the other two people going to Guangzhou, he immediately said: "You two have found the right person to ask the Third Young Master for help. On the ground in Guangzhou, the Third Young Master's words may be more effective than the government."

Li Nai quickly waved his hand and said: "Master You, what you said is too exaggerated! I don't have that much ability, I just try my best to help my friends."

When Zheng Zha and Zhang Jinbao heard this, they both smiled knowingly. Although they didn't know much about the situation in Guangzhou, they had no doubt about Furifeng's influence in Guangzhou. After all, apart from Furifeng

, they also have many opportunities to meet other people from the Guangzhou area, and learn about the local influence of the Li family, the operator of Fulifeng, through other channels.

Although it is impossible for Fulifeng to replace the government's position, its influence among the people cannot be underestimated. Not only does Fulifeng own industries involving various fields of society, but it also has considerable private armed forces. More importantly, it has behind-the-scenes

There is also Haihan, a powerful backer, who even the government has to be wary of.

Of course, the reason why local officials do not oppose Furifeng is that, in addition to fearing its strength, another important reason is that more and more local officials are becoming vested interests in Furifeng's development.

The faster Furifeng develops, the more gray benefits they can obtain. This simple and direct interest relationship has made most local officials in the coastal areas of Guangdong choose to cooperate with Furifeng's various requirements.

And a very small number of officials who are stiff-necked and refuse to bow their heads will eventually lose their official positions due to various inexplicable things. As time goes by, naturally few people will stand up to Fu Ruifeng.

Although Li Nai tactfully denied You Yihan's statement, Furifeng's influence in Guangzhou has long been well-known, otherwise Zheng Zha and Zhang Jinbao would not have taken the initiative to find him for cooperation.

Compared with the commercial port in front of him, Zheng Zha was more interested in the situation of the local garrison. He asked You Yihan: "I heard that the Haihan Navy fleet is stationed on Hong Kong Island, is it also here?"

You Yihan shook his head and said: "The fleet is not stationed here. The naval base is on the south side of the island. If the young prince wants to visit, I can make arrangements later."

Haihan's first stationed in Hong Kong Island was the armed fleet, so the military base was built much earlier than the trading port. Since a lot of resources were invested in building the base, it would be inconvenient to relocate again. The Aberdeen Strait in the south of the island is located in the Aberdeen Strait.

The military base has been in use ever since. Although the location is a little far from the port area, there have long been no pirates in the nearby waters, and there are coastal defense batteries deployed in the east and west straits entering and exiting the port area, so there is no need to worry about them.

Serious safety issue.

"Actually, the symbolic significance of setting up a coastal defense fort here has outweighed its actual role." You Yihan unabashedly introduced to the guests: "Pirates disappeared five years ago. The armed sailing ships that can enter and exit here are all

They belong to our allies and will report to us. After these forts were built, they were not actually used in actual combat."

"But they still protect the safety of this place, don't they?" Zheng Zha said with a smile: "If your country feels that it is no longer necessary to maintain these coastal defense forts, then you might as well hand over these coastal defense batteries to our country and let them go where they should.

place to make a real difference.”

You Yihan also smiled and responded: "The young prince is very good at calculating! In fact, I don't care, but the coastal defense artillery is military equipment. I am just a civil affairs officer and have no right to deal with these assets belonging to the Ministry of National Defense. If the young prince wants to

To buy these equipment, you still have to go to Sanya to find Yan Chujie or Bai Kesi. As long as they nod their heads, the young prince will send someone to take them away. "

Zheng Zha wanted to test and see if there was any possibility of picking up leaks here, but You Yihan's answer was watertight. Zheng Zha knew very well that if he went to Yan Chujie or Bai Kesi to discuss the matter, those two old foxes would never leave these things idle.

The coastal defense guns were treated as scrap metal and sold to themselves at a low price. Instead, they would use various excuses to shirk it, and finally quote a high price to make themselves uncomfortable.

Zheng Zha quickly gave up this idea. He knew that it would be difficult for him to take advantage of the Haihan people in the arms trade, at least he had never succeeded in the past few years.

Zhang Jinbao was concerned about the local education industry. Seeing that Zheng Zha did not continue the topic, he asked You Yihan to learn about local educational institutions.

You Yihan said: "Most of the permanent population of Hong Kong Island are Lower Riba people, so the cultural requirements for future generations are not very high. It is enough for them to be able to read the various notices and notices posted by the yamen. There is one east and one west in the port area.

There are two private schools, and they teach the most basic literacy courses. Of course, if there are children with outstanding conditions, they may be sent to Sanya to receive a better education."

Zhang Jinbao said: "Then if there is an opportunity for these school-age children to learn a skill and have a livelihood after graduation, do you think they will choose this path?"

You Yihan said: "Actually, the name of Qiongxi Academy has also been mentioned here. There are several young students from Qiongxi Academy in the Port Management Center, and their quality is not bad. But they have to send their children thousands of miles away.

If you go to Guangzhou to study, you may not see each other for a year and a half, and many families still cannot make this decision. Just now, the third young master said that you are determined to open a branch in Guangzhou. If that is the case, some people may choose what you said.

This way.”

The vocational education direction of Qiongxi College is indeed a good way out for the common people of this era. At least it allows them not to worry about the livelihood of the next generation. Many people on Hong Kong Island are wise people. For them,

If you are lucky and can get a stable job in Haihan, it will be a matter of course to naturalize Haihan in the future.

However, for Hong Kong Island, the permanent population is too small, and there are already two private schools. It is definitely not cost-effective for Qiongxi College to open a branch here. The wisest way is to set up a permanent branch here.

The admissions agency uses the flow of passengers from north to south to promote and advertise Qiongxi Academy.

As if he had read Zhang Jinbao's thoughts, You Yihan continued: "Dean Zhang, you can take a look at these advertising signs we have made in the port area. The effect is actually quite good and the price is not expensive. If Qiongxi Academy is interested in setting up one here,

If it’s a long-term sign, then I can give Dean Zhang a very favorable internal price.”

Zhang Jinbao couldn't help but feel a little excited when he heard the words "internal price". Before he landed just now, he had noticed various eye-catching signboards on the roofs of the warehouses at the port. Most of them were local business operators. Of course, among them

There are also companies like Fulifeng that are very famous in their own right.

When Zhang Jinbao got off the ship, he quietly asked Li Nai, this place is only two to three hundred miles away from Guangzhou, and there are probably very few people in the local area who don't know the name of Furifeng, so why do they still spend money to install signboards and advertisements at the port?

Li Nai's answer was also quite darkly humorous: "It is precisely because Furifeng is famous. Otherwise, when foreign merchants come here, they will see that this port does not even have our Furifeng signboard. Wouldn't it be easy for them to do so?"

Do you have doubts about Fulifeng’s influence in Guangdong? So we not only have to do signboard advertising, but we also have to choose the most conspicuous location and build the largest billboard!”

Zhang Jinbao felt that it made some sense, but there was still something wrong. After thinking about it, he could only understand this as another rich and willful move by Furifeng. This publicity method may be a good idea for Qiongxi Academy.

This is an expenditure that requires careful weighing of effects, but for the wealthy Furifeng, it may be just a number on an account.

As for the prosperity of this port area, Zheng Zha is still very envious in his heart. Due to historical reasons, Annan Kingdom handed over several major natural harbors on the coastline to Haihan for operation, but Annan Kingdom is actually run by Annan Kingdom itself.

The ports, regardless of geographical conditions or operating conditions, are far inferior to the few ports handed over to Haihan.

Therefore, every time he visits a port operated by Haihan, Zheng Zha will carefully observe the local business conditions, hoping to learn something useful from it. Before coming this time, he had a general understanding of Hong Kong and You Yihan's personal situation, and also

Knowing that this person is quite capable and has managed this island far away from Sanya into a regional trade center in just a few years, there must be some methods worth learning.

While listening to You Yihan's explanation of various situations in the port area, Zheng Zha secretly noticed the differences between Annan's port management methods and those here, and what areas are worth emulating.

After a brief visit to the operations of the port area, You Yihan took the three of them to a restaurant and held a banquet to welcome them. The three of them all had experience in dealing with senior officials of Haihan, and they also knew that this was Haihan's officialdom.

It was a well-established rule, and everyone calmly accepted this arrangement at the moment.

The most talked about topic among the three people during the dinner was the current situation in Guangzhou. Most of Hong Kong's trade share comes from Guangzhou's profit sharing, so You Yihan is also very concerned about the situation in Guangzhou. If there is any trouble, there will be something soon.

The news is sent to him via the radio, and he can make immediate revisions to some local business conditions through the news passed by the General Office of the People's Republic of China.

Many businessmen who come to Hong Kong for trade even feel that the trading conditions here are better than those in Guangzhou. Part of the reason is that the information transmission speed within Haihan is much faster than the outside world, and there are dedicated people responsible for collecting and sorting this business information. You Yihan only needs to

Weigh the pros and cons and then order the implementation locally.

For example, the adjustment of tax rates, the acquisition and supply of in-demand commodities, and the ability to control these business opportunities, Hong Kong naturally far exceeds that of the Guangzhou government. As time goes by, it naturally slowly seizes a lot of business resources from Guangdong.

.

It is definitely not the local government that has personal experience of this, but merchants like Furifeng. However, for Furifeng, it is not a bad thing to move some of the goods delivery points from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. On the one hand, it can avoid the government's supervision.

Supervision, on the other hand, does reduce the time cost of transactions and has many practical benefits. So from Li Nai's perspective, he is happy to see such a situation.
Chapter completed!