The March 14th Line and Policy (Part 2)

"Don't Shanghai and Tianjin have the best ports? No matter how good the future is, why not give priority to developing those two ports?"

Some people questioned that the plan to open a branch base on the mainland has not been discussed before. The general concept is that places that can be opened up as municipalities in the future must be the best places.

Pang Yu smiled bitterly:

"These two places are indeed better, but they are too close to the northern and southern capitals of the Ming Dynasty. Based on our contacts in the past few years, it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to allow us to establish a stronghold there. In fact, even if we enter Shandong, in

It would probably be very difficult under normal circumstances, but fortunately, things are in chaos over there now and have been ruined by the rebels, so we have a chance to intervene."

"In other words, in the future we will give up the current route of sticking to the islands and developing Nanyang, and turn to the mainland? If we do this, we will directly face many heroes of this era - Li Zicheng, Huang Taiji,

Is your staff group confident that you can defeat them?"

Steel master Huang Jiancheng laughed and said, Huang was not very interested in history before, but after living in the Ming Dynasty for so long, he also listened to a lot of historical biographies, and he was quite familiar with the famous figures of this era.

"Master Huang, you are wrong. We support the Ming Dynasty just because we don't want to directly face those heroes who have a 'destiny' in history. I hope that the human shield of the Ming Dynasty can last longer. It is best to wait for the development of our modern industry.

If it’s over in the future, then you won’t be afraid of anything.”

Pang Yu also chuckled, but then he heard a voice coming from the side:

"It's a good idea... but don't let anyone fool you. If we strengthen the power of the Ming Dynasty and they attack us again, or if we work hard to help them calm down the chaos in Shandong, thank you.

So I kicked him back... Those civil servants from the Donglin Party have never been good birds!"

Xiao Lang of the mechanical team slapped the table and shouted. Since he was injured last time, he has rarely been seen in front of people, and his temper has become a little irritable. His temperament was always upright, but now he is even more irritable, and he often speaks in a yelling manner.

.

Fortunately, everyone was tolerant of his bad temper, and Professor Li Mingyuan personally explained to him:

"In this regard, we will indeed pay special attention. It is one thing to assist the Ming Dynasty in resisting foreign humiliation. It is another thing to maintain national independence, especially if its own security cannot be threatened. We assist the Ming Empire in fighting against foreign enemies in the north.

, in the final analysis, it is for our own interests. Regarding this, I and all the comrades in charge of negotiations will definitely keep this in mind."

After a pause, Professor Li added:

"Another important factor in why we want to open a stronghold in Shandong is that we need to recruit a large number of manpower. I had a very deep impression on the island of Taiwan before - there are dense swamps, fertile land, and rich flora, fauna, and minerals.

Resources - but no people. Even if the Zheng family immigrated to the island several times, except for a few villages, most of Taiwan is still a desolate no-man's land. I estimate that to develop Taiwan Island, at least 3.5 million will be needed

immigrants, and now the total number of immigrants on the entire island is estimated to be no more than 100,000. The labor force that can be utilized by us is even less, and the same is true in the Philippines - the bottleneck of human resources will definitely be the main problem we face in the next step.

The Zheng family is quite enthusiastic and offered to help us recruit some, but after discussion, everyone felt that it would be better to do this kind of thing ourselves."

The old professor's words made Tang Jian nod his head:

"Yes, we did discuss the population issue at that time. There were too few people on the island of Taiwan."

"If we need someone, can we go to Guangzhou to buy it? I heard that there is a private black market in people there."

Electronics expert Zhang Anjiang suggested that he often communicates with his student Zhang Dajiang by wireless telegraph. Although he has never been to Guangzhou, he knows a lot about things there.

"How many can you buy on the black market? If you exceed a hundred, you will probably be noticed by the government. Even if we don't care about the attitude of the Guangdong government, the refugees in Guangzhou are far from being able to meet the demand - we need thousands of recruits

Immigration, to this extent, may only be provided by war-torn areas."

"Guangdong and Fujian have been quite quiet in the past two years. There are definitely not that many people willing to leave their hometowns. Unless we do it ourselves, we can turn the entire southern region upside down..."

Pang Yu and Ade laughed and interjected, but the soft-hearted teacher Zhang immediately chanted the Buddha's name repeatedly:

"Amitabha, forget it, let's recruit people from Shandong. At least we will do less evil."

Everyone laughed, and this was regarded as basically adopting the new line and policy - of course, we still had to wait for the people from other places to come back and convene a plenary meeting for the final vote.

In the next few days, Daming's negotiating delegation temporarily waited in the county town to rest and recuperate, while comrades scattered in various places returned one after another. They were the first batch to rush back, and almost all senior officials of Qiongzhou Prefecture returned.

As soon as he left, not only did all the modern people come back, but also Wang Pu, Zhang Ling, Yan Wenchang and other former Ming Dynasty officials who worked closely with Short Hair came with him.

According to them - recruitment is a big deal, not only related to the future of your authentic shorthairs, but also closely related to the future and destiny of these people. Of course, we must follow up in time. For Qiongzhou Prefecture, it is enough to keep Wang Xinzhi here.

——The urban management brigade is now equipped with matchlock guns, and its strength is enough to deal with any threats in the South China Sea. Even if the Westerners send troops again, they probably won't be able to take advantage.

Some time later, Northern Latitude stationed in Luzon and Wen Desi and others stationed in Taiwan also arrived at about the same time. Together with Julie, Ling Ning, Hu Wen... most of them came back. Northern Latitude even

He also brought his little wife back with him. Although this little girl named Lin Chengcheng is still young, she already has quite a business acumen and is good at dealing with people. Julie especially likes her and not only recognizes Zuo Gan

My younger sister also took her with me as an assistant and personally taught her various knowledge of modern business, saying that he planned to train her to be his successor.

Of course, it is impossible for those two places to be completely deserted. After all, they are newly occupied areas, and the locals cannot be completely trusted. In Taiwan, it was Ye Mengyan and the others who volunteered. After all, they can only watch the excitement when they go back, so they might as well

Staying here to work on your own is a rare training opportunity; as for Luzon, old Jack stayed, and he was the only modern person left there. The rest of the auxiliary staff, including Anna, Andrew and others, are

The foreigners who only joined this group after arriving in the Ming Dynasty naturally formed a small team with Jack as the center. Of course, this group of mainly Westerners did not care about how to deal with the Ming government and just stayed to deal with Luzon Island.

On business.

Some people have questioned whether this arrangement is a bit risky, which is equivalent to returning Luzon to foreign hands. What if Old Jack has any objections... However, after Wang Haiyang returned in advance, Bei Lai, who became the local supreme commander, was still happy.

He handed over all the power to Jack. According to him, he said: "You have no doubts about employing people. Since you agreed to let old Jack come over, of course you have to let him take on the important responsibilities."

And the staff member Ade, who has always advocated that foreigners in the team should be more careful, did not object this time. His theory is: sometimes, deliberately giving a little temptation can actually reveal a person's true heart... Lu

If Song Dao can be defeated once, of course it can be defeated a second time, there is nothing to be afraid of!

…………

In any case, on February 19, 1632 AD, the last day of the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign in the Ming Dynasty, New Year's Eve, the more than 130 passengers on the Qionghai finally got together again.

In addition, guests from the Ming Dynasty's negotiating delegation; local bureaucracy and business collaborators who had pledged their support; allies of Li Village on the mountain - perhaps now should be called in-laws; and other miscellaneous related households... finally sat down

The number of people who had the New Year's Eve dinner together reached thousands, far exceeding the previous record.

For this reason, the comrades of the logistics team set up a tent on the square in the center of the county half a month in advance and built an open-air banquet hall so that they could accommodate so many guests. The agricultural team provided a large amount of ingredients. Wu Nanhai and him

Our colleagues made a big splash at this dinner. Many excellent varieties that did not exist in this era appeared on the dining table of the general public for the first time, and received unanimous praise from the diners.

It was agreed at the dinner that no political issues would be discussed, and everyone just gathered together to have a good drink. When the clock struck midnight, the old professor Li Mingyuan and the Ming Dynasty envoy Qian Qianyi jointly congratulated each other. Qian Qianyi, the head of the guests, also gave a gift on the spot.

The poem praised the prosperity of Qiongzhou Island and thanked the host for his warm hospitality. He seemed to have been freed from the depression of the original plan being shattered, and probably had new ideas.

Most people were in twos and threes, gathering with friends each, holding wine glasses in their hands. When they heard the bell ringing, everyone looked at each other, smiled, and raised their glasses:

"Finally, we have survived another year... It is not easy to survive in the chaotic times of the late Ming Dynasty."

"I hope every year can be like today..."

…………

"On this day next year, maybe we can spend New Year's Eve in Nanjing... If this negotiation goes well, we can go to the inland areas of Ming Dynasty openly."

Looking at the fireworks rising into the sky, Pang Yu sighed leisurely, while Ling Ning, who was also from Nanjing, smiled casually:

"You still want to go back to your hometown? But what will happen if you go back? It will take more than three hundred years for your building to be built..."

"It's just sustenance, Lao Ling, don't you want to go back and take a look - even if you know there is nothing there."

Ling Ning was silent for a moment, and finally raised his glass:
Chapter completed!