"Ocean voyage?"

After hearing this, Nazan leaned back and seemed a little embarrassed, "This matter is difficult to handle. There are countless pirates in the Siming Mountains and Dinghai area alone, and there are also Oriental pirates who often attack merchant ships. How can this be possible?"

Chen Tianhua took the opportunity and said: "So, we need to strengthen the construction of the navy. In addition to strengthening the Yangtze River Fleet, we also need to build a navy that can go to sea. Don't tell me you don't have this idea."

Nazan chuckled, straightened up and said, "Who doesn't have the idea, but how easy is it? This requires tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of taels of silver. May I ask, where does this money come from?"

"You don't have to ask. You'll know when the time comes. How about it? Do you want to do it?"

"Do it, why not do it! I have a strong navy and navy. In addition to monopolizing the sea salt business, I can also do big business with foreigners. Why not do this?" Nazan clapped his hands and said excitedly.

"That's okay, but Chen must first fully understand the current situation of the entire Chongming Navy in order to make a detailed plan and plan." Chen Tianhua said.

"Of course, you can watch it at any time within the entire naval jurisdiction."

Nazan knew that this was a huge construction project that was very beneficial to him. He was eager for someone to invest and understand that inspections were necessary. He was reluctant to let the children fall into the trap.

"Well, since the Admiral supports Chen's grand idea, I will agree to the imperial court and serve as the governor of the Chongming Autonomous Region. By then, you and I will work together to achieve common prosperity."

“It’s a deal!”

The two of them held their hands together again.

…

Mid September.

The official documents from the Qing Premier’s Yamen have arrived.

The Chongming Autonomous Region was established, including eight islands including Chongming Island, Changxing Island, Hengsha Island, Jiuduansha Island, Sheshan Island, and Big and Small Jinshan Islands, which were directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and established as the Sipin Yamen Administrative District.

Chen Tianhua, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, was appointed as the governor of the Chongming Autonomous Region, and the governor's office was located on Chongming Island.

The Chongming Autonomous Region has established yamen and subordinate yamen in full accordance with the Western administrative system. A district administrative management committee has been established below the governor. The chief executive is the fourth grade, and is transferred by Zheng Kun, deputy director of the Meiguang Autonomous Region.

The two deputy chief administrative officers are respectively held by Mao Xin and Zheng Daoming, the former magistrate of Chongming County, with fifth-grade official titles.

The Administrative Management Committee has jurisdiction over various functional bureaus, such as agriculture, water conservancy, fishery, etc.

All administrative areas are planned into towns and villages, the county system is abolished, and flat vertical management is implemented.

Zheng Daoming was suddenly promoted from the seventh rank to the fifth rank, which is the same level as the Governor of Taicang. Of course, he was so happy that he followed the Governor closely behind him, grateful.

The Governor's Office of the Chongming Autonomous Region is located in front of the manor given to Xu Yunyuan by Cui Mingyi, and is collectively called the Governor's Mansion.

The front half of the Governor's Palace is a new type of building, with several three-story office buildings, including a large auditorium, large and small conference halls, banquet halls, etc., and of course various administrative offices. The second half is the original manor.

This manor is very large. Chen Tianhua only reserves a large three-story villa for his and Xu Yunyuan's use. The rest are allocated to the habitats and residences of Zheng Kun, Mao Xin and other foreign officials.

Everything went so smoothly. The only difference from the Meiguang Autonomous Region was that the garrison power here did not belong to Chen Tianhua. Except for a guard company directly under the Governor's Yamen, the rest were controlled by the Navy Admiral's Yamen in Nazan.

The reason why Chen Tianhua has the power to control the army in the Meiguang Autonomous Region is because it is under the jurisdiction of Zhejiang Province and Li Cunzhi is the governor of Zhejiang Province. This relationship is very special.

However, Chongming was very different. Administrative regional jurisdiction and garrison power were two different things. Nazan was under the control of the newly established Navy Department of the Qing Dynasty, and the Navy Department was under the direct jurisdiction of the Chief Military Minister Zaifeng.

But Chen Tianhua is so smart. He and the Prime Minister's Yamen have brought the local security police, anti-smuggling, prison and other judicial powers under their control, especially the patrol police and anti-smuggling agencies. They have well-equipped weapons and equipment, which is a big rival to Nazan's navy.

trend.

Next is the internal governance and economic construction of the Chongming Autonomous Region, which includes banning all opium dens, destroying opium cultivation and processing bases, reclaiming freshwater fields, expanding fishing grounds, strengthening the technological process of sea salt processing operations, building water conservancy projects, etc.

Chongming is adjacent to the sea in the east and is a natural salt field. The earliest indigenous residents boiled salt for self-sufficiency. Later, the government set up a salt field and appointed a salt field salt kitchen and salt class, allowing residents to provide for themselves. The salt field could be purchased and sold to Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, etc.

land.

Boiled salt not only increased the taxes levied by the Qing Dynasty, but also benefited the islanders. Therefore, almost every household had a salt field, and salt stoves were dotted all over the place. The snow-white raw salt and cooked salt piled up like mountains, like thick snow.

This family-style salt cooking has low production capacity and has a great impact on the environment. Chen Tianhua standardized the hand-crafted workshop style into a large-scale salt farm, using a government-business joint venture to build large iron pots and use coal as fuel for cooking, drying, and filling.

Assembling, etc., use conveyor belts to streamline and semi-automate operations, greatly increasing salt production capacity.

After establishing the Chongming Autonomous Region, the first thing Chen Tianhua had to solve was power.

He requested the rapid construction of thermal power plants. The power plants have all the necessary talent reserves from equipment procurement to construction, installation and commissioning. Coal is shipped directly from Changxing, Zhejiang by waterway, which is very convenient.

The establishment of a power plant, in addition to lighting, mainly provides power and improves labor productivity.

Chongming is located at the intersection of the river and the sea, so it is rich in fishery products. The first people to settle on the island were fishermen. There are more than 20 species of treasures in the water, including anchovies, croakers, saury, whitebait, anchovies, and sturgeons.

Chen Tianhua asked the Administrative Office to set up a cooperative fishery. When fishermen go out to catch fish, the fishery is responsible for purchasing, and then organizes water transportation to bring the fresh aquatic products of the day to the Shanghai seafood market.

Chongming Fishing Farm has specialized aquatic product stalls in major aquatic product markets in Shanghai, selling fresh aquatic products to the general public.

Chongming Island is surrounded by water. In order to trade with foreign countries, our ancestors first developed the shipping industry, and then the shipbuilding industry was born.

After many generations of Chongming people's efforts, they finally developed the Chongming Sand Ship, one of the four major ship types in ancient my country, which is highly adaptable and versatile.

Chongming sand boat is named after its origin from Chongming sand. The hull is shallow and wide, the bottom is flat, the bow and stern are square, the center of gravity is low, and there are few buildings on the deck, which can reduce the wind area and make the navigation smooth. It is not afraid of dark sand because of its shallow draft.

, it is not easy to capsize or be damaged even if it is stranded.

Another feature of it is that it has multiple masts and sails, and the sails are tall and can make full use of wind power to increase the speed.

Chen Tianhua used the ancient sand ship structure and equipped it with modern steamers to prepare to build the largest shipyard in Jiangnan in Chongming. The scale would be several times larger than his Taihu Shipyard. It would build a 5,000-ton dock and introduce advanced Western shipbuilding techniques and technologies.

Build ocean-going ships and even warships.

In Chen Tianhua's plan for the Chongming Autonomous Region, education and medical care are of course indispensable.
Chapter completed!