Next, Tang Menglong introduced the population situation of Sanya in detail. Sanya currently has a registered population of more than 50,000, and there are more than 10,000 slave laborers without household registration. The total population is nearly 70,000. There are thousands more that cannot be counted.
Military personnel entering the population and dispatched personnel for short-term work.
This number impressed Xu Yanliang very deeply. Not counting Guangzhou, Lingao, the "first city" of the Senate, had a population of less than 200,000.
The current population is mainly concentrated in Hexi District, Tiandu District and Jinling District. Among them, Jinling District has the majority. This district has a lot of flat land and sufficient water supply. Most of the farmers who come to Sanya live in this district. Farming in the local area
Several farms are mostly set up locally. The second gathering area is Tiandu. The third is Hexi District.
After this introduction, the conversation lasted until the evening. Tang Menglong was the host that night, and the two of them drank and chatted happily. Under the influence of wine, Xu Yanliang revealed some of Nanyang Company's future "ambitions", and Tang Menglong also promised that he would "definitely support it." Both parties had a great time.
scattered.
The next day, Tang Menglong said that he would take him to Hexi District again. Xu Yanliang declined - today he was going to meet the staff of the Southeast Asia Company's Sanya Commercial Station. It was inconvenient to have Tang Menglong around, so he only asked him to arrange a guide. Tang Menglong
They arranged for a secretary from the city government to lead the way.
This secretary is young. He just graduated from the administrative class at Fangcaodi last year and was assigned to Sanya. Xu Yanliang had just come out of the city hall. At the bottom of the steps, he was waiting with two Venus Zeros and four security guards on bicycles.
Already.
Seeing him coming out, he immediately stood at attention and nodded:
"Yuan Fei, Secretary of the Comprehensive Office of the Sanya Municipal Government, reports to you!"
There are not many departments in the Sanya Municipal Government, and the number of cadres is very small. This so-called secretary is just a "handy boy" who does all kinds of work.
"How old are you?" Xu Yanliang couldn't help laughing as he looked at the rather immature boy in front of him, wearing an unsuitable cadre uniform.
"Report to the chief, seventeen years old!"
"You are so young and you haven't studied much for a few years?"
"Report to the chief..."
"Stop talking about this and answer the question directly!"
"Yes! The veteran teacher said that I am a 'rotten wood that cannot be carved'. It is better to join the work as soon as possible. At least I can work for a few more years."
"You can't carve out rotten wood and even arranged to come to Sanya to work as a secretary. Come on, tell me who this ingenious leader is."
"Yes, it's Elder Yang Xinwu."
"It's him." Xu Yanliang almost laughed again. But he held back, "Can you ride a bicycle?"
"of course!"
"Then tell this old rickshaw to go back and we can ride there!"
"Yes, Chief!"
A group of people rode bicycles along Yuanlaoyuan Road and returned to yesterday's route, and continued riding forward when they arrived at the pier. This area is on the west bank of the Sanya River and east of the coast. It is a narrow strip of land running from north to south. In the plan, it is
The business center and life center of Sanya City.
Not far from the dock is the commercial station area. In the 17th century, commerce and freight were not completely separated. Most merchants engaged in trade used people and goods to travel together. Therefore, various countries have "commercial stations" or "commercial halls" in port cities.
"This kind of building.
A business station is roughly based on a country, a region or a company, integrating accommodation, negotiation and inventory, as well as currency exchange, remittance and other functions. Business stations generally adopt fully closed management, on the one hand, to ensure the personal safety of merchants
and property security, on the other hand, it also has the purpose of facilitating local government management and taxation. From the earliest "Steel Trading Station" of the Hanseatic League in London to the "Thirteenth Bank" Yiguan in Guangzhou, they are all similar.
institution. In the early days, this type of trading station also served as a consul.
Because Sanya was positioned as an "international trade city", land was specially allocated near the dock to set up trading stations. However, because the trade here was not prosperous, so far, only the British East India Company and the Dutch
The East India Company and the Portuguese established trading posts here.
When Xu Yanliang came to the Commercial Station District, he felt that it was deserted. There were only a few small buildings and supporting warehouses in the huge open space. A few flags were flying listlessly.
"That house is the Southeast Asia Company's business station." Yuan Fei pointed to the house in the distance while riding his bicycle.
The Southeast Asia Company's business station is located near its dedicated pier. It looks equally deserted. The open-air storage area of the pier is clean? There isn't even a broken box, only seagulls flying up and down looking for food. The heavy steam crane
And the matching boilers are all cold. There is not a single spark. There are more than a dozen merchant ships tied to the trestle. Not only the sails are furled, but some ships even have their masts removed. There are no sailors on board, only two guards.
Standing guard beside the trestle in boredom, looking like he was out of breath for the winter.
"Is this place so deserted on weekdays?" Xu Yanliang asked, becoming increasingly frustrated as he looked at it.
"It's winter now, and it will be lively when the wind turns next spring," Yuan Fei said.
Xu Yanliang stopped the car, looked around the pier, and asked, "What kind of ships are coming here?"
"Mainly British ships. There are also Dutch ships. Portuguese ships come only rarely."
"It's rare to have a business station here?"
"Not many ships come. But this trading station is quite busy. Local merchants often communicate with the Portuguese here."
"Oh, then why?"
"I don't know." Yuan Fei said.
Xu Yanliang became suspicious: he was not surprised that few Portuguese ships came - they could go directly to Macau to do business, and there was no need to go to Sanya for a trip. But since there were so few ships, why would the Portuguese set up a local trading station?
What? And many local businessmen are so-called "leather companies"? Why do they often interact with Portuguese businessmen?
Since ancient times, there must be some kind of interest connection behind these abnormal behaviors.
Yuan Fei was about to lead him there? Xu Yanliang said: "Take me for a walk in Hexi first, and then go to the business station."
Since we are going to use this place as a long-term base, it would be better to get a clear picture of the situation when we first arrive.
The motorcade passed the dock area and headed north along the north-south Xintiandi Avenue. The markets here are much more prosperous than those in Hedong District, and the city's fireworks are much heavier. The shops on both sides are "Old Guangzhou" and "Old Haikou"
"Style two-story "arcade" - very practical in a hot and rainy place like Sanya..
He got interested and immediately got out of the car and said, "Let's go over and have a look!"
Naturally, Yuan Fei couldn't spoil his interest. He immediately led the way and was escorted by four guards, patrolling along the street.
The road construction standards here are generally the same as those on Senate Street. The sidewalks are paved with local stones, and the arcades, large and small, with different heights are also built with stones and red bricks. Not only are the construction excellent, but the building design and appearance are also outstanding.
It is also very sophisticated, even better than Bairen City. Xu Yanliang even noticed the gas lamps here. Compared with the simple geometric iron lamp holders in Lingao, the gas lamps here have complicated and gorgeous patterns.
At the beginning, the Senate really had high hopes for this place. Xu Yanliang sighed in his heart. Now, the Senate's attention is focused on the mainland, and the original "pearl" of Sanya seems a bit dim.
How can we make it radiate light? Xu Yanliang couldn't help but fell into deep thought again.
He roamed under the arcade and browsed the shops. Judging from the signboard, this place had a complete range of 360 lines of travel equipment. The stores were well stocked, but he noticed that most of the shops here sold food.
It is a commercial brand for consumer goods such as daily necessities and catering, which means that their customers are mainly locals. The capital is probably not too large.
Logically speaking, this is a foreign trade port, and there will be a considerable number of brands engaged in overseas trade. For example, shops selling imported spices, textiles, handicrafts, etc. - this is very common in Guangzhou. But he walked here a few times.
One hundred meters away, I didn't see a few shops. It can be seen that foreign trade does not play a dominant role here.
Yuan Fei saw his serious expression and felt a little worried. Suddenly he heard Xu Yanliang ask:
"Besides these small business names, are there any big businesses here?"
"Yes, yes, the largest font size here is Qionghai..."
"Qionghai? Isn't this Li Luoyou's business?" Xu Yanliang blurted out after hearing this familiar word.
"Li Luoyou? No, no, the owner of this shop is named Gu..."
"Oh, yes, your name is Gu Hecheng."
"Gu Baocheng."
"Yes, Gu Baocheng." Xu Yanliang was a little surprised, "Isn't he Lingao?"
He knew that Gu Baocheng was Li Luoyou's sweetheart, someone closer than his son. Being placed in Lingao would help him save a fortune and allow him to become a rich man with peace of mind. Why did he go to Sanya again?
coming.
"It's the Sanya branch of the Qionghai. Mr. Gu is here, and there's another person in charge."
Xu Yanliang thought that this brand was an old cooperative brand of the Senate, and it could be considered to have withstood the test. Although Li Luoyou had an ambiguous attitude, after the restoration of Guangzhou, he rushed north to Nanjing. However, his brand in Guangdong
None have been relocated and are still operating normally.
“How about this local operation?”
"It's quite satisfactory. I do some sea trade business. The business is not big. There are ships that go to Kaohsiung route, and there are ships that go to Portugal."
"Is there any more?"
"There is also a branch of Dongshan Ju. The business was quite prosperous at first, but news came out a few days ago that their boss Liu was arrested in Guangzhou. The main branch of Dongshan Ju was also sealed, and now Dongshan Juli
It's a mess from top to bottom. No business can be done."
"Who is the boss of this brand now?"
"The young shopkeeper here, Chen Huamin, is said to be Liu Caidong's cousin. He came to our chief a few days ago and asked for help in interceding. He burst into tears when he spoke."