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Chapter 930 Shalian Port

In order to support Yuan Keli's work in Yunnan, Hong Tao tried his best. Not only did he present facts and reason, he also set an example and persuaded court officials to invest in Yunnan.

In later times, this would be called speculation. Officials are big investors, and they took advantage of the information gap to grab land first. They waited for small investors and ordinary people to get wind of the news, and the price immediately went up, and then they sold out. They did nothing, but got the first bite of fat meat.

This is still good. No matter how expensive or cheap it is, it is still possible to see the real thing. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can still eat meat and bones if you can't eat the fat.

What we fear is that there is nothing but speculation, building high-rise buildings on the beach and building a dragon palace under the water. After all the speculation, it ends up in a mess. The people all become the ones who take over the business, and their accumulation of half a lifetime is gone in one day. Eating meat? They even want to eat people, but they can't find the culprit.

"Of course I will follow suit. After the court is dismissed, I will ask my family to go to Yunnan to find Governor Yuan and reserve 500 acres first!"

When it comes to handling state affairs, Ye Xianggao has basically nothing outstanding, but when it comes to supporting the emperor, he is absolutely the best, and he is very generous, buying at least several hundred acres of land without even asking.

And it was definitely not a secret purchase, it had to be announced so that everyone in the court knew about it. He also had a good grasp of the technical details of when to speak and when to keep silent.

"Well, Jin Qing has good vision! Yuan Keli should not bother. Ruan Daxueshi's family is handling this matter for the queen. Ask him to write to help you choose a piece of land so that we can grow tobacco together."

But no matter which organization is in existence, such people are indispensable. Hong Tao not only cannot be annoyed but also has to cheer along with them, give them substantial affirmation, and even get a share of the pie.

"Your Majesty, Yunnan is rich in copper and tin. In addition to opening farms, mines are also very profitable. I wonder if you are allowed to invest in mining?"

Seeing that the emperor had taken the lead in investing in Yunnan, the officials present immediately became excited and started discussing the interests among themselves. They were much more enthusiastic than studying the policy of converting natives to officials and immigration.

But people's habits and preferences are different. Some people are willing to invest in farms, while others think that mining is more profitable. Left Censor-in-Chief Gu Dazhang was the first to raise this question, which instantly attracted the attention of many people.

"Why not? It's also my share. However, if you want to open a mine, you can't avoid interacting with the local tribes. They are not very good at business. You should be careful and don't embarrass the court for a little money."

Hong Tao did not hesitate for a moment, and immediately affirmed Gu Dazhang's idea, and took the initiative to join in. If you want to develop Yunnan, it is far from enough to rely on a large number of immigrants. If you can't find a way to rapidly develop the local economy, the conflicts between ethnic groups will still be very sharp. To put it bluntly, it's poverty.

In addition to agriculture, Yunnan is also developing mining, especially copper mining. Introducing foreign capital can not only expand the scale and increase production, but also drive employment for local mountain people of all ethnic groups.

But there is one thing that must be controlled, and that is predatory mining. Don't let it go on and on, only enriching a few copper bosses and the bureaucratic capital behind them, while the people still have nothing but their blood and sweat, and a lot of resources are lost in vain.

It is not that you cannot get rich from mining, but there is a prerequisite, that is, you must actually boost the local economy and make appropriate compensation. The royal family's investment is to control them. If they dare to conceal their accounts and underreport their income, they don't need to find any illegal issues, and the crime of deceiving the emperor alone is enough.

Just as the court was discussing vigorously about investing in Yunnan, a huge fleet without any flags was quietly sailing through the Strait of Malacca and appeared in the northern Andaman Sea.

"Commander, we have arrived at the rendezvous point. We are more than an hour ahead of schedule and no targets have been found around us!" "Leave only the main mast bottom sail and search the sea."

After hearing the first mate's reminder, Huang Nanping, commander of the South China Sea Fleet, sat up from the recliner, looked at his watch, and lay down again. He took out a cigar from his jacket pocket, lit it, and gave orders.

Since following the emperor to the Cape of Good Hope, the captains of the ships have acquired a piece of furniture and a hobby. A foldable reclining chair and a cigar that smokes when held in the mouth. Every time they sail, they half-lye on it to command, and the position is basically the same as that of the emperor, at the right rear of the steering platform.

"Commander Li on the Fuzhou requests to board the flagship!" The first mate and the navigator were not so comfortable. They could only lean on the side of the ship and look up at the lookout from time to time, constantly conveying various information sent from the fleet.

"Permission granted... Have Ships 6 and 7 cruise at half speed on both sides. Watch carefully. This place is less than 100 miles from southern Myanmar. We might encounter Arakanese ships. Don't let irrelevant ships in."

The temperature and humidity have been rising sharply since we left the western entrance of the Strait of Malacca. Even on the deck where the sea breeze blows from time to time, I still can't feel any coolness. I just sit there doing nothing and my clothes are soaked in an hour.

Upon hearing that the commander-in-chief of the Marine Corps who was on an armed cargo ship was coming on board, Huang Nanping had to get up and go to the cabin to change into a cleaner military uniform even if he was unwilling.

Almost all of the South China Sea Fleet went out in full force on this voyage. Not only did they mobilize more than half of their warships, but they also brought on board all the armed cargo ships they could, carrying a total of two guard forces, Cancer and Alligator, and were commanded personally by Li Rumei, the commander-in-chief of the Marine Corps.

Such a large-scale operation was naturally not to wipe out the pirates, but to implement the combat plan drawn up by the Naval Staff and approved by the General Staff, with the target directly aimed at the port city of Thanlyin in Lower Myanmar.

The navy originally planned to build a supply port in the Nicobar Islands, but after careful exploration, the plan was overturned. The natural conditions of the Nicobar Islands are too harsh, with strong winds, rough and steep coastlines, and lack of conditions for a deep-water port. In addition, it is hot and rainy all year round, but lacks fresh water.

Going north to the Andaman Islands, there are two places suitable for building deep-water ports, but the waterways are too complicated and full of reefs, which will make the cost of construction soar.

In the end, it was the General Staff that decided to abandon the idea of ​​building a supply port in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and instead establish a naval base in Thanlyin Port.

In this way, not only can we obtain the ability to supply ships on the east side of the Western Ocean, but we can also have the functions of repair, maintenance and garrison, which is more cost-effective than building a supply port alone.

This plan not only received the emperor's approval, but also won the praise of Sun Moon Bank Prime Minister Oyani. Even though the cost was more than three times that of the supply port, he still approved a three-year navy loan totaling 300 million taels.

As the saying goes, a dog will always eat shit, and a wolf will always eat meat. Merchants will never forget to make money. Oyani lent out 300 million taels of silver, not only for the interest, but also for the exclusive agency of Sun Moon Bank to attract investment in Shalian Port for ten years.

Of course, the prerequisite is that it can be occupied for ten years, otherwise the investment will be a complete failure, the navy will have worked in vain, and the Sun Moon Bank will have thrown away 300 million taels of silver in vain.

(End of this chapter)