Chapter 453 The debate about Hong Kong Island

Even if he lacks military sensitivity, Malik also knows the important role that Hong Kong Island can play in Haihan's mainland strategy. The manor outside Guangzhou City currently under the jurisdiction of the Guangdong Office, the immigration base in Lijiazhuang, Panyu, and the Pearl River Estuary

Wanshan Port has the problem of not being able to expand its territory due to objective circumstances. This has led to the fact that two years after the establishment of the Guangzhou Guangdong Office, it is still only an overseas office-level unit, far behind the

The impressive Annan branch.

If Haihan wants to expand its power in the mainland, it must eventually have a territory under its control as a springboard. If Hong Kong Island can be taken over, the Guangdong Office will immediately be upgraded to a truly large-scale

Branch. It’s not that no one has thought about this, but everyone believes that the move to develop land on Hong Kong Island may bring about many political problems. At present, Haihan does not have much capital to compete with Daming.

To bargain with this behemoth, instead of trying this uncertain plan first, it is better to get the base of Hainan Island ready. This has been delayed until recently, when the Executive Committee began to study the establishment of arms trade relations with the Ming Dynasty.

Someone thought of trying to include Hong Kong Island as one of the trading conditions.

If Yu Yao hadn't insisted on asking Malik and He Xi to include the conditions for opening a port on Hong Kong Island in their contacts with the Ming Dynasty officials, this matter would most likely have been postponed to next year without anyone mentioning it. But since He Xi

The exploratory actions have made very smooth progress, so the Guangdong Office will naturally not let go of such a great opportunity to make meritorious deeds.

The Executive Committee received a telegram from Guangzhou on the second day after He Xi's meeting with Liu Qian. This telegram forced Tao Donglai to organize an impromptu discussion meeting within a short period of time.

"We originally only planned to talk about arms trade and military cooperation with Ming Dynasty, but we didn't expect that the Liaison Office in Guangdong and Guangdong would take care of the rabbits and even open Hong Kong Island as a port. And look at what they said in the message.

I mean, the matter of Hong Kong Island can be handled separately from the arms trade. There is no need to add this matter to the exchange conditions for arms exports." Tao Donglai looked around at the people present and said: "Everyone, tell me, right?

Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on this matter?”

"As the saying goes, good luck never comes in pairs, and we have been blessed with good things during this period! First, Annan came to us and begged us to hurry up and start construction, and now Guangdong has easily won the right to open the port of Hong Kong Island. Unexpectedly, we

The period of rapid development is coming so fast!" Sun Changmi, who came to the meeting on behalf of the Ministry of Shipping, was the first to express his opinion. Originally, it was Yue Zhiyun's business to attend the executive committee meeting, but he is still returning from Changhua.

On the way to Sanya, Sun Changmi can only temporarily take over this job.

"Don't think about this too easily." Gu Kai shook his head and said, "Now the only level He Xi has direct contact with is the government office master. Can his attitude fully represent the government? Will he think of anything else in the future?

As for the accident, we can’t draw any conclusions now.”

"What Gu Kai said makes sense. We can remain optimistic about this matter, but we must still proceed with caution." Ning Qi took over and said: "The investigation by the Guangdong Office may not be particularly sufficient. According to historical records, the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter

That place is not an uninhabited land at this time."

"Oh? Then tell everyone." Tao Donglai thought of something very keenly, but he still decided to listen to Ning Qi's version of the matter first.

"Hong Kong Island is under the jurisdiction of Xin'an County, Guangzhou Prefecture. Most of the inhabited areas on the island are indeed concentrated on the north shore, including the garrison of the Ming Dynasty Navy. This is consistent with historical records."

Ning Qi paused and continued: "However, in the Aberdeen area in the south of the island, many sea ships sailed through here to various places in Southeast Asia at the end of the Ming Dynasty. If the historical records are correct, this place should now be a place similar to

As a cargo transshipment point like Wanshan Port, its population and port size may be very limited, but it will certainly not be a no-man’s land.”

"So this matter..." Gu Kai only said half of his words and did not continue because he noticed that Yan Chujie sitting opposite was staring at him coldly. Although Gu Kai was not afraid of the other party, he was indeed

I immediately realized that some words were inappropriate to say in such a public place, so I stopped talking immediately.

It is said that the master of the Guangzhou government office is a foreigner. He has been in Guangzhou not too long and has never been to Hong Kong Island. It is not surprising that he does not know the specific situation on Hong Kong Island. However, the Liaison Office in Guangzhou

The military team has been to Hong Kong Island for on-the-spot investigation, so it stands to reason that there should not be such an unreasonable omission.

If there were indeed omissions in their previous research work and they did not understand the actual local conditions at all, then this situation can be attributed to dereliction of duty. But if they knew the local conditions but reported to their superiors that the place was a no-man's land, force

Promoting this plan is a bit complicated.

Of course, this may just be the bold act of the military team of the General Office of the People's Republic of China, but no one can rule out whether this is the intention of the military's top brass - in order to expand its territory as quickly as possible and occupy key areas, the military does not hesitate to use some slightly cross-border methods.

, which also makes sense logically.

But this is just a guess after all. Gu Kai knew that if he exposed this possibility in public, the military would not look good. Although Gu Kai had never been very good at dealing with the military, he did not want to offend the military.

Too cruel. After all, although everyone has different political views, their goals are still the same. There is no need to make things too ugly.

"...What does the military think?" Gu Kai thought for a while and handed the ball to Yan Chujie. After all, the person directly responsible for this matter was from the military, so Gu Kai decided to see the military's attitude first.

Make further plans.

Yan Chujie said solemnly: "I think everyone needs to clarify the key point of this matter. What is the reason why we have not developed Hong Kong Island? In the early stage, it was due to lack of ability, because we lacked a springboard to reach Hong Kong Island. But

Later, we had Wanshan Port, but we still did not attack Hong Kong Island. Why? Because we were worried that it would trigger a diplomatic conflict with Ming Dynasty, which would affect the stability of the mainland market. So why might it cause

What about diplomatic conflicts or political disputes? In the final analysis, we just lack a reason recognized by the Ming Dynasty government to develop and operate Hong Kong Island."

Yan Chujie paused for a moment. Seeing that no one spoke to refute him, he continued: "Then the point is coming. What is the biggest problem at this stage in our development of Hong Kong Island? Is it construction technology? No! Is there anyone on the island?

Live? No! The biggest problem is whether we have a development permit that complies with the rules of the Ming Dynasty, and whether we can get the local government of the Ming Dynasty to recognize our behavior! As long as we can solve this problem, are there any people in that area and how many people are there?

, do you think it is still important? We are building roads, building ports, and developing in Changhua. There are thousands of Ming Dynasty officials and civilians in Changhua County. Does it cause any hindrance to us? "

"But the situation in Changhua is a little different from that of Hong Kong Island. After all, Changhua is a vast place with few people..." When Gu Kai heard this, he felt that Yan Chujie had taken the topic astray, so he tried to refute a few words.

However, as soon as he opened his mouth, he was interrupted by Yan Chujie: "Changhua is a vast area with a sparse population. Are there many people on Hong Kong Island? Hong Kong today is not the Hong Kong it will be four hundred years from now. There are seven million people crowded into that small town.

In terms of local survival, even if the entire Xin'an County is included, there are only 70,000 people. The current population of Hong Kong Island is not as large as that of Heitu Port. Most of them live in the north. Even if there is a population in the south, the population is very limited. Moreover, the local population

It is across mountains and seas from the county seat of Xin'an County, and the local government has no control over it, and the official pressure it will face is much smaller than that in Changhua."

Gu Kai was about to continue arguing, but Tao Donglai stood up at the right time to smooth things over: "You don't need to argue about this issue anymore. I think everyone's views have some validity. Generally speaking, Hong Kong Island is a place where

It is a goal that we must definitely win. It is just a matter of time. In terms of details, we must conduct a more detailed investigation on the situation in Aberdeen. I suggest that some people from Victory Port be selected to form an investigation team.

The team will go directly to the local area to investigate the specific environmental conditions, and then submit a report to the executive committee."

"What should we do with the Guangdong Office?" Yan Chujie asked.

Tao Donglai responded: "We can continue with the Guangdong Office. Since we have this opportunity, why not give it a try? As you just said, it is the last word that we can capture that place reasonably and legally. Other issues can be solved

We will solve it slowly. We have eaten the tens of thousands of people in Yazhou one bite at a time, and now we have even chewed off half of Hainan Island. Hong Kong Island is so big, why can’t we chew this piece with our teeth?

bone?"

"What Lao Tao said makes sense!" Yan Chujie gave a thumbs up without hesitation, but glanced at Gu Kai from the corner of his eye, quite a bit of a demonstration.

In the end, Tao Donglai's proposal, which was slightly biased towards the military, was approved by vote. The executive committee will authorize relevant units to organize a small investigation team to Hong Kong Island within two days to conduct research on the local natural environment and people's conditions.

, and then provide a comprehensive evaluation report to the Executive Committee for reference.

As for how to arrange the construction plan if this project really gets the official permission from Ming Dynasty, there was no further discussion at this meeting because the Ministry of Construction is already overloaded and there is no way.

I'm going to open another overseas construction site.

After the meeting, Tao Donglai came to Yan Chujie's office. There were some things that were inconvenient to say at the meeting, but now they still have to communicate in private.

"Have you reported this matter to the Military Commission of the Military Team of the Guangdong Office?" After Tao Donglai sat down, he got to the point concisely. He also noticed the problems that Gu Kai noticed during the meeting just now.

However, he himself is also a member of the Military Commission, so naturally he will not try to undermine his own people outside, so most of the people in the meeting just now defended the Military Commission.

"Wait a minute." Yan Chujie stood up and pulled out a file from the filing cabinet against the wall and handed it to Tao Donglai: "These are various reports submitted by the military team of the General Office of the People's Republic of China in the past six months. You

You can take a look.”

Although Tao Donglai holds the position of second-in-command in the Military Commission, because he holds multiple positions at the same time, he usually does not have much time to intervene in the internal affairs of the army. Written reports like these are regularly submitted by military agencies stationed abroad.

Basically, it was handled by Yan Chujie and the Military Commission Staff Department. Only relatively serious matters would be notified to Tao Donglai specifically, so he had not read this document before.

Tao Donglai turned to the first page, which contained a work report for January this year. He quickly found the content he was concerned about.

"On January 17, Xiao Liang escorted the supplies to Wanshan Port. The next day, he and Chen Yixin boarded a cargo ship of Daming Shipping to Hong Kong Island for inspection. The focus of the inspection was the southwest corner of Hong Kong Island and the coastal area of ​​Aberdeen Strait. Travelers

There is also Mr. Huang, a maritime businessman who often passes by the local area. According to Mr. Huang, the Aberdeen area is a transit stop for Dongguan Wanxiang from the Mainland to Southeast Asia, and about twenty ships dock there every month to transfer goods. "

"When we arrived at Aberdeen Port that day, the local wharf was small and could only accommodate no more than five 400-ton sea-going ships docking at the same time. However, the hydrological conditions were relatively superior, and the measured water depth could accommodate large ships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons. The local

There are about 300 to 500 permanent residents, about half of whom are fishermen. According to on-the-spot information, there are no official Ming institutions there, and there are no armed personnel stationed there. The Ming Navy in the north of the island meets about every month.

We will conduct an inspection of this place, during which we will charge a certain amount of management fees from the owners of ships that have docked here for a long time.”

"Xiao Liang and Chen Yixin conducted a two-day inspection in the local area and believed that the development level of this area is still relatively primitive and has not been directly brought under the government's control. They can consider de facto occupation of the local area in the form of building a port.

"

Tao Donglai then looked through next month's work report, and there was another paragraph mentioning Hong Kong Island. However, this time it was not an on-site inspection, but the naval troops stationed in Wanshan Port who had been in the waters near Hong Kong Island during their overseas training.

I stayed there for many days and made some descriptions of the local sea conditions.

Tao Donglai continued to read the content at the end and found that Hong Kong Island, Xiao Liang, Yu Yao, and Chen Yixin, three senior officers stationed in Guangdong, were mentioned more than once in almost every month's work report in the past six months.

The experience of setting foot on Hong Kong Island, it seems that a lot of effort has been put into this area.
Chapter completed!