Chapter 976 Going to Changhua Port

Of course, it seems not fair to attribute these historical errors to the improper command of the former Governor Cohen. After all, during Cohen's term, the primary goal of the East India Company was not to eradicate the irrelevant armed forces such as Hai Han, and there were many more important things waiting for adventurers to complete. Portugal and Spain, who also came from Europe, were the most powerful competitors of the Netherlands in the Far East at that time. With the strength of the East India Company, it was indeed impossible to divide some of its energy to establish a new opponent for itself. But who would have thought that Hai Han had just spent a few years to become the most powerful armed force in the South China Sea region from scratch? This unreasonable situation is indeed difficult to make accurate predictions several years ago.

As for the bureaucrats in the Batavian Council, most of them are just interest agents sent by major shareholders far away in Europe to the Far East. What they pursue is purely economic gains and are not willing to accept the military expenditures required for combat operations. Even when fighting Portugal, Spain and the Ming Dynasty, they first consider whether they will obtain direct benefits after the war, rather than the long-term impact of the war. For these people, it is better not to do anything like fighting Hai Han, or save military expenses and purchase more than a few hundred dan of raw silk.

After succeeding as governor, Vandimen naturally had his personal ambitions he wanted to realize, but Batavia's post-war reconstruction project greatly slowed down his development plan for the East India Company. Most of the funds and resources could only be given priority in Batavia, otherwise the East India Company's ruling foundation in the Far East would be a little unstable. Haihan's development and expansion speed during this period can only be described as leaps and bounds. When the Dutch had not recovered from the last battle with the Ma Blue Kingdom, he found that Haihan had quietly extended his tentacles to his doorstep. Although Vandimen did not like Haihan, he was a very pragmatic person. After he made it clear that his side could not defeat Haihan by force, he endured humiliation and chose to compromise, hoping to exchange it for time to restore the East India Company, adjust its development direction, and then seek opportunities to compete with Haihan.

To be honest, the Hai Han people were willing to arrange such an island-round inspection trip for Van Dimen. After all, this was equivalent to exposing their own strength to the competitor of the East India Company. Van Dimen knew that the value of the information he had gained during this trip was immeasurable. If you only rely on the intelligence agencies under the East India Company, you might not be able to achieve the same effect after spending ten years. Van Dimen hopes to use this inspection to more accurately estimate the strength of the Hai Han, and find out their possible weaknesses in politics, military, economics, and people's livelihood, and use them when launching a counterattack in the future.

However, after visiting Yacheng and Yinggehai, Fan Dimen found that the weakness of the East India Company compared Haihan is not only in military aspects, but also in a frustrating and all-round way. In comparison, Haihan's soft power in social management, organization of production, transportation and sales seems to be more difficult to catch up than the advantages in the military field. In time, Fan Dimen was confident that he could retrain a strong army in combat style, but he was not sure that the East India Company's business system could also reach the operating level of Haihan.

"Mr. Vandimen, if the East India Company is interested, we can consider finding a suitable coast on Java Island to build a Haihan-style salt farm and introducing high-quality and low-cost salt into the local market. With your company's local commercial distribution channels, it is probably not difficult to make a profit from it." Anxi's words made Vandimen come to his senses from his thoughts. He did not expect that the other party would take the initiative to mention this matter and plan to bring the East India Company together.

Fan Dimen couldn't figure out whether this kind of cooperation was harmful or beneficial to the East India Company, but his fear of Hai Han made him unable to agree to Anxi's invitation at the moment. The business minds of Hai Han people are well known, and Fan Dimen is not sure what kind of secret tricks are hidden behind the attractive transaction conditions. After opening this opening, Hai Han's goods may very likely pour into the market that originally belonged to the East India Company in the South China Sea like a flood. At that time, the Batavian authorities may not be able to come up with any effective measures to stabilize the market.

"Mr. Anxi's proposal is good, but I cannot make a decision here immediately. An important trade agreement like this requires the company's council to discuss and vote in the process. After I go back, I will ask the council to study the proposal carefully to see if we can find a way of cooperation that both of us feel is reasonable." Fan Dimen said very tactfully, and he did not argue with the feasibility of this business, but he was very careful.

Anxi stood up with his hands in a little disappointed mood and said, "Okay, we will wait for your reply. But I must remind you that there are many people who want to be our agent in Nanyang. If the East India Company gives up this opportunity, it will be a great business opportunity."

Fan Dimen thought it was hard to say whether this was a business opportunity or a crisis. Haihan initially started with the salt industry in Guangdong and Guangxi, Annan, and even forced into the market at low prices that were not profitable. In the later stage, it almost controlled most of the local import and export trade, and the profits were much more considerable than selling salt. The commercial form of Nanyang was far more primitive than the Ming Dynasty, and it lacked resistance to the endless commercial means of Haihan. Once Haihan entered this market, it was estimated that it would be much less difficult to obtain control than in the previous regions.

If Hai Han found someone else to cooperate in Nanyang, Fan Dimen would not be afraid. The East India Company has been operating in Nanyang for more than ten years, and its distribution channels are far from comparable to other companies. Even Hai Han people are very clear about this. If other companies do the same thing, it would probably take several times more time, so Anxi would try to persuade Fan Dimen to join the great cause of selling Hai Han salt.

During the visit to the salt field, Fandimen noticed that ships were constantly entering and leaving Yinggehai Harbor, and mountains of salt were piled up on the shipping terminal. Although it was not clear where the next stop of these salt ships was, judging from the frequency of ships entering and leaving the port, the business here was indeed quite good. Anxi boasted that the salt here could supply the needs of Guangdong, Guangxi and northern Annan, and it seemed that it was not like bragging.

Anxi's inspection work was actually over before Ningqi and Fandimen arrived. However, in order to brainwash the Dutch, Anxi stayed to serve as a tour guide for a day at Yinggehai Salt Field. Although Fandimen was not persuaded in the end, Anxi at least made him convinced one thing--in the entire Far East, Hai Han was the first to make salt production capacity, and the adjustment of the salt farm production capacity of the salt field under his command would even affect the fluctuations in salt prices in other countries.

Fan Dimen's mind is not on the salt business. Haihan uses steam engines, advanced equipment to improve production efficiency in various production sites, which is what he cares most about. Although Haihan people say that the production capacity of steam engines is seriously insufficient and cannot be exported to the outside world, Fan Dimen believes that this is just an excuse to paralyze himself. The gap in productivity between the two sides will inevitably be further widened due to the promotion and application of this kind of machinery. Compared with this unstoppable trend, Haihan's attempt to use salt to open up the Nanyang market is not that important.

Fan Dimen's inspection itinerary in Yinggehai lasted only half a day before it ended. The production model of Haihan Salt Field could not be copied, and even imitated was difficult. The inspection at this station seemed to have nothing to gain except confirming Haihan's terrible salt production capacity.

After saying goodbye to Anxi and left Yinggehai Salt Field, Fan Dimen continued to take the "Speed ​​Speed" sailboat to head north along the coastline. His next stop was Changhua, the main industrial base on the west coastline of Hainan Island.

The construction project of Changhua Shilu was started in June 1629, and the land channel connecting the two places was completed in November 1630. In 1631, the Shilu Mine was officially put into production. In the same year, the large smelting plants in Changhua were gradually put into use. The ore mined from the Shilu Mine arrived in Changhua via special freight railways, and then smelting was completed locally. The local people have more than 10,000 employees in the mining and smelting industries, and the scale is definitely the second best in the Far East.

Through intelligence, Fan Dimen also knew that Changhua was the main place for Hai Han people to produce steel, but the level of smelting technology and production capacity of Hai Han people has reached, but lacks a deeper understanding. This time, if you have the opportunity to visit here in person, Fan Dimen can finally witness the hard power of Hai Han people in industry.

When it was still more than 20 nautical miles away from Changhua Port, Fandimen could already see black smoke rising above the northeast coast. It is obvious that this is probably the smoke released from the local blast furnace chimney smelting in steel.

The Changhua fishing village, which used to be only a few dozen families, has disappeared now, and has been replaced by a freight terminal that stretches for several miles at the entrance of the Changjiang River. When Fan Dimen came, he thought this place was not a commercial port and there should be not many ships coming and going, but after he came here, he found that his idea was very wrong. There were at least thirty or forty coal ships docked on the dock alone. There were also a large number of merchant ships loading and unloading goods here, which made Fan Dimen’s eyes straight.

These coal ships basically come from Annan Heitu Port, transporting coal needed for smelting from the local area to Changhua unload, and then transporting some cargo back to Annan from here. Therefore, these coal ships that travel to and from Beibu Gulf all year round not only transport coal, but also carry part of the task of transporting other goods. Since these ships are almost empty ships when returning, they can earn a little by little, so the freight is relatively cheap. Therefore, many goods that need to be shipped from Sanya and other places to northern Annan will be transported to Changhua Port for transshipment, and the freight is much more cost-effective than transporting to Annan by itself. The freight terminal that did not involve commercial functions has gradually become a transshipment center on the west coastline of Hainan Island in actual operations.

The cargo ships here are not just loading goods that need to be transferred to Annan. The permanent population of Changhua and Shilu is more than 20,000, and the largest local output is only ore and steel. The food, clothing, housing and use of so many people almost all depend on the supply of the outside world. The food transported here alone is as many as hundreds of tons every month, and the transportation capacity required for various daily necessities is by no means a small amount.

"We have several special fleets responsible for transporting daily necessities here every month." Ning Qi explained to Fan Dimen: "Nine half of the cargo ships you see are actually supplied to the local area, and the rest are the part that is transferred to Annan through Changhua Port."

Due to the relatively large cargo transfer volume, the docks of Changhua Port are obviously much busier than those visited by Yacheng, which Fan Dimen visited before, and the number of dock workers is even more than the previous two places combined. Although it is not as good as Shengli Port and Sanya Port, it is already quite prosperous as a non-trading port.

The person who came to the dock to receive Ning Qi and his party was Qiao Zhiya, the head of Changhua area. He had been in this place for several years and had not moved. He had not even participated in various military operations in the past two years. He had basically given up his position as a military and devoted himself to politics.

Still far away, Qiao Zhiya took the initiative to greet him: "Teacher Ning, you are less likely to come to our place! Is it always good?"

"It's pretty good. Looks like you are a lot richer, Old Qiao!" Ning Qi smiled and shook hands with Qiao Zhiya tightly, and then introduced Fan Dimen to him.

The itinerary arranged by the Executive Committee for Van Dimen had notified all over the country in advance by telegram, so Qiao Zhiya was not surprised by the arrival of the Dutch and went forward to greet him. Qiao Zhiya was originally an ABC born in North America. Seeing Van Dimen's European face, he naturally used English, and there were no communication barriers. Fan Dimen was very surprised. Among the Hai Han people he had come into contact with, there were really many people who could use English fluently, and his proficiency was far greater than the oriental people he had come into contact with in the Far East. Could it be that these people had lived in Europe for a long time before coming to the Far East?

"Stay here, you can stay at home, canteen, and unit every day. It's not like you can go out to sea to do activities often, so you can get fat!" After Qiao Zhiya and Fan Dimen met, he responded to what Ning Qi said just now. His current work content is not as large as in the military, and he is pampered every day, so naturally he will get more weight.

Ning Qi smiled and said, "I heard that life in Changhua is very difficult and there is nothing delicious, but looking at you like this... the rumors are untrue!"

Qiao Zhiya smiled and said, "Whether it is true or not, you will know after the reception banquet... Mr. Fan Dimen, why is his face a little bad? Is he unwell?"

Ning Qi smiled and said, "No, he just had a little allergic symptoms... he was allergic to Fengyan."

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!