Chapter 240: Proposal for a Trade Expedition
Liu Zheng remained to discuss operational matters, while Bai Guoshi, seeing the hour grow late, pushed off with the others. Liu Zheng made to leave as well but was asked to stay—there was a new mission to assign.
"Your next mission happens to involve going to sea. The Exploration Team should organize its personnel and use this as an opportunity to gain maritime experience," Ma Qianzhu said.
The Planning Commission had assigned the Exploration Team the task of surveying Hainan's iron ore deposits—specifically, investigating the mines at Shilu and Tiandu. Both were exceptionally rare high-grade open-pit deposits in China. The Exploration Team's mission was to pinpoint their locations, collaborate with the Survey Team to map the terrain, and evaluate the difficulty and value of extraction.
"The difficulty of mining Shilu is likely considerable," Wen Desi said, "but we still need to determine how considerable, so we can estimate at what stage of industrial development we should begin extraction."
At this point, Mo Xiao'an proposed, "Why not organize a joint expedition involving multiple ministries?"
"A joint expedition!" Navy representative Li Haiping immediately perked up.
"Yes. Commissioner Wu just proposed resource expeditions. Since the iron ore investigation requires ships, and the scale can't be too small for safety reasons, why not simply organize a large-scale combined operation?"
"I agree." Trade Minister Lu Rong was animated. Recent intra-island trade had been disappointing; the current system of transmigrators purchasing industrial raw materials at East Gate Market fell far short of expectations. They had forgotten how abysmal transportation was in this era.
What had originally been a modest plan involving only the Exploration Team for personnel and the Navy for ships and sailors transformed into a multi-ministry joint operation. Besides the established partners—the Exploration Team and the Special Reconnaissance Battalion—it now included the Maritime Department, Survey Team, Foreign Affairs Ministry, and Foreign Trade Company. The Industrial and Energy Committee and Agricultural Committee dispatched professional technical personnel for support. Several students were also brought aboard as interns.
To address Li and Miao affairs, Mu Min was temporarily seconded from Police Headquarters to join the expedition.
Beyond resource exploration, this expedition bore responsibilities for surveying terrain and landforms, mapping, and investigating public sentiment. The team was also tasked with acquiring resources useful to the transmigrators through trade, hunting, gathering, or other means.
"We're acting just like those European adventurers, understand? Exploring new routes as we go, trading as we go..."
"And burning, killing, and looting as we go—" Li Haiping added.
"Absolutely not! Remember the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention!" Ma Qianzhu said firmly. "Of course, natives who dare challenge the authority of the Transmigration State are enemies."
Treat enemies as ruthlessly as winter. Everyone understood this.
"The primary objective is acquiring coconuts and coconut products. Whether our oil supply can keep pace with industrial development hinges critically on this." Zhan Wuya hastened to state his requirement.
"I'd also appreciate a bit more cooking oil," Wu Nanhai added.
"Timber," Wu Kuangming said. "I've nearly exhausted half the mangrove resources at Bopu. The banks of the Wenlan River offer only miscellaneous woods of limited utility, and we can't over-harvest there without damaging soil and water conservation."
"Can't we purchase it?"
"Purchase is impractical. Timber trade in Lingao is extremely difficult. The Li people are willing to sell to us, but transportation is the obstacle—there's no river system here to float timber out of the mountains."
"Timber occupies considerable space and is heavy—"
"No need to take up space on the ship. Bind logs into rafts and tow them behind the vessel."
"Would that work? This isn't an ordinary river—it's the open sea."
"We won't be venturing into deep ocean. Coastal winds and waves are manageable; it should be feasible. Historical records indicate that North African countries in the medieval era transported timber across the Mediterranean precisely this way."
"I have one more request," Zhan Wuya interjected. "It may be more difficult to obtain, but it's extremely useful."
"What?"
"Deerskins," Zhan Wuya said. "To substitute for rubber in manufacturing transmission belts."
This was indeed a pressing need. With the production of prime movers and various self-made agricultural machinery, the demand for belts in mechanical transmission had surged dramatically. The mechanical department was currently relying on stockpiled reserves, but the limited inventory obviously couldn't last until the rubber trees matured—by Wu Nanhai's calculations, at least fifteen years would pass before the transmigrators' raw rubber could achieve industrial scale.
Various raw ores were also desirable. If deposits could be located at the seaside, some should be mined and transported back. Ji Wusheng specifically mentioned quartz sand—at Haiwei Town in Changjiang, abundant high-quality reserves lay right by the sea, ideal for extraction and transport.
"We could also purchase cotton cloth," Mo Xiao'an added. To accommodate the anticipated immigration wave after the New Year, demand at the Light Industry Ministry's garment factory had surged, and inventory was nearly exhausted.
"What do we exchange for these goods? Purchase with currency?"
"Ores and such require no exchange, but coconuts, timber, and cotton cloth surely demand commodity barter, don't they?"
"We have plenty to offer," Lu Rong said confidently. "Salt."
"Please—salt is hardly rare on Hainan. Salt fields are everywhere, and smuggled salt is rampant."
"The smuggled salt we sell is cheaper, and we deliver it effectively to their doorstep. They'll be willing to accept it."
"What if they refuse?"
"We have sewing needles, liquor, rough paper, crude porcelain, silk... We've prepared quite an assortment of small items, plus some mirrors."
"Who do you intend to sell mirrors to? They're expensive."
"To bribe local officials and gentry. We aren't Spaniards—when we say 'trade,' we actually mean fair exchange, not plunder."
Zhan Wuya expressed concern: "But for such a large-scale mobilization, how many men and ships must we deploy? I worry this will disrupt cargo transportation with Guangdong and Macau." The Industrial and Energy Committee depended on maritime transport more heavily than any other department, so hearing these plans raised alarms—wouldn't this require deploying at least two 70-ton class vessels?
Wen Desi said thoughtfully, "If we concentrate resources, the shipyard's schooner should be completed within ten days."
"Using a newly built ship immediately for such an extended voyage—isn't that dangerous?"
"Not significantly." Wen Desi explained, "Since this is a circumnavigation of the island, even if problems arise, we can land in time. Consider it an excellent sea trial opportunity."
"A round-the-island voyage involves tides, shoals, and reefs. What's the safety factor? Our investment in building this ship is substantial."
"It won't be a problem. We possess a complete set of charts and nautical data. The safety factor should be the highest achievable."
"Honestly, if we had sufficient fuel, we could simply take the landing craft."
"That's wishful thinking," Ma Qianzhu said. "The reserves aboard the Fengcheng are actually considerable, but diesel consumption has grown across many sectors—fishing boats, construction machinery, vehicles. And there's nowhere to replenish."
Actually, he had another reason known only to the Executive Committee's inner circle: the Fengcheng must maintain enough fuel for a one-way voyage to Taiwan—in case the revolution suffered catastrophic setbacks, they would need an escape route.
"I think the North American sailboat would make an excellent exploration vessel," Liu Zheng said. He had been eyeing that sailing yacht for some time. "It's fast, well-equipped, and perfectly suited for maritime exploration."
"Dream on. The Executive Committee explicitly stated from the beginning that the ship belongs to them."
"Could we replicate a few? That ship is small but remarkably durable. Without the engine and modern navigation equipment, the structure isn't complex, and living facilities could be simplified."
"Very difficult," Wen Desi said. "That type of modern sailing yacht represents the crystallization of contemporary industrial technology. At our current industrial level, we couldn't replicate it in ten years."
"Right," Li Haiping suddenly recalled. "Isn't Li Huamei's Hangzhou at Bopu? That ship displaces 100 tons!"
Wen Desi said, "The Hangzhou is a single-masted schooner—as a vessel, it's excellent. But I remain uneasy about this woman's background."
"Overthinking it?" Li Haiping said. "When Xiao Meng invited her to work for us, she refused—preferring to run her own trade to make money. If she were actually a spy, she'd have agreed immediately."
"Don't underestimate the wisdom of the ancients," Wu De cautioned. "It does seem somewhat suspicious—as if someone deliberately arranged for such a person to appear. If this were a television drama, I'd understand the plotting."
"Then what do you suggest? Kill her and seize the ship?" Li Haiping was indeed a man of direct, realistic objectives. The speed of his attitude shifts was enough to leave anyone stunned.
"She is, after all, the first maritime merchant to arrive at Bopu. Such an action would cost us goodwill." Ma Jia from the Foreign Affairs Ministry said, "For safety, we should simply conduct some business with her, let her taste a bit of profit. Don't allow her to penetrate too deeply into our internal affairs."
"A pity about her ship—such excellent transport capacity..."
The Executive Committee members were genuinely hesitant. They couldn't bring themselves to trust her, yet for this joint exploration operation, a single two-masted vessel was clearly insufficient. Not to mention the ship hadn't been tested in practice—Wen Desi had expressed confidence, but inwardly he harbored doubts.
"We'll discuss it further," Wen Desi said, rubbing his temples.
The meeting stretched until seven or eight in the evening. Liu Zheng's stomach rumbled with hunger. Finally, the request Bai Guoshi had made on his behalf received Executive Committee approval—though with the anticipated discount: the personnel establishment was cut, granting only six transmigrators—essentially all "deadwood" rejected by other departments. The committee's reasoning was high-minded: There is no deadwood, only undiscovered talent. As for how to discover that talent, well, that was Liu Zheng's responsibility.
"Why must I train deadwood—" Liu Zheng muttered. "If they were female rejects, I'd welcome them, but then it wouldn't be my turn to develop them."
However, he had expended considerable breath finally securing one additional slot. Multiple arguments were required, primarily because the few forestry majors on the team also worked part-time in the Agricultural Committee's biological lab. Thus Zhao Xue from the IT group was retained for intelligence collection and organization—the IT group had already complained of overstaffing. He was quite satisfied with Zhao Xue's transfer. Though this woman wasn't much of a combat asset, having a decent-looking young woman in the department would have a healing effect on morale, and it gave Bai Guoshi a useful buff.
Equipment wasn't cut significantly: six crossbows were added—all experimental prototypes manufactured by the Machinery Department, varying in size and style. Along with the steel crossbows, two domestic scopes and one Russian-made infrared night vision scope were issued. Two walkie-talkies were added. Additionally, the power access for the Exploration Team's computers was upgraded from priority to absolute—uninterrupted 24-hour supply.
(End of Chapter)