Chapter 790 – Trading Post

The difficulty didn't lie in reliability—according to the Li and Miao Affairs Office's report, at least all Li hamlets and Miao fortresses within Lingao's borders "wholeheartedly supported" the new regime. Three years of cultivation hadn't been in vain. Rather, a substantial portion of the Li and Miao population suffered from malaria. Hainan gazetteers frequently mentioned that "Li people are sickly." Though health teams dispatched by the Ministry of Health deep into Li areas observed that most malaria cases among the Li and Miao were benign, the intermittent attacks made fully utilizing them as general labor or soldiers problematic.

"I don't see a significant problem. Don't the Li people revolt frequently? They have strength for revolting but not for soldiering?" Si Kaide pressed. "Besides, some must have developed immunity. Otherwise, how could the Li have survived in the mountains for so long?"

"That's precisely why Li revolts are frequent yet their combat power remains limited. The Ming, relying on a handful of beggar-like Wei-Suo troops manning a few forts, can keep them in check," Dongmen Chuiyu explained. "The army requires daily drilling, training, and guard duty. If you can't predict which day a soldier will be struck by the shakes, the army can't function."

"It's wasteful not to use such a manpower resource," Si Kaide couldn't release his grip on the Li people idea. "Can't we treat them?"

"Let's develop specific methods later." Dongmen Chuiyu didn't wish to reveal the military's concrete ideas and glossed over the topic. Since the Executive Committee was reluctant to expand military personnel by cutting from the labor force under its governance, yet demands for military power from all quarters only increased, the proliferation of highly dispersed public security and internal defense tasks impacted the army's normal education and training. The notion of recruiting mercenaries for public security missions to liberate the regular army from such duties had been raised informally in internal Military Affairs Command meetings. Li and Miao soldiers represented just one option under consideration.

Once the Hong Kong development plan was announced, it immediately triggered a fresh wave of office-seeking. Though the Second Plenary Session had established the "voluntary registration, organizational review" principle for official selection, many people—besides signing up through the internal Organization Department website—privately visited various figures they considered influential. Ming Lang was forced to barricade himself within the General Office compound for days to avoid being dragged out for "a meal and a chat."

After fierce behind-the-scenes maneuvering, the list of officials for the Hong Kong region was finally announced: Tiandihui technician Luo Chen would serve as Commander of the Hong Kong Reclamation Regiment; Shi Zhiqi as Hong Kong Garrison Commander; Le Lin as Commander of the Hong Kong Navy Detachment; and Hong Shuiyin as Hong Kong Commercial Representative.

Additionally, a group of technical cadres was assigned to Hong Kong, including Shi Jiantao, a vocal advocate for building a shipyard there. Originally with the Planning Academy and keenly interested in shipbuilding, he had volunteered to serve as director of the Hong Kong Shipyard.

Shi Zhiqi's appointment as Garrison Commander initially faced opposition; the Army felt it unreasonable for Navy personnel to hold all senior military posts in Hong Kong. However, consensus was eventually reached: the Garrison Commander should be someone with amphibious warfare experience, and Shi Zhiqi was clearly the most qualified candidate.

In response to the increasing number of dispatched elders, the House of Elders formally implemented the "Elder Committee" and "Collective Decision-Making for Major Affairs" system for all groups of two or more dispatched elders. Any location with more than three elders was required to form a local Elder Committee; major local policy decisions had to be announced or voted on in committee meetings. The committee was to meet regularly and maintain minutes.

Escorted by two patrol boats, the Qionghai Coal slowly docked at Central Pier No. 1 on "Saintess Bay"—the Central State Council had officially issued a naming document renaming Xiangshan Ao to "Hong Kong Island," Base 852 to "Central," and Victoria Harbor to "Saintess Bay," replacing the name of the nonexistent Queen Victoria.

Several figures in gray and green uniforms stood on the Qionghai Coal's deck, gesturing at the Central Base under construction. Their tall, robust builds and superior clothing identified them as so-called "elders." Soldiers working as stevedores on the pier whispered among themselves—did the arrival of another batch of elders signal a new operation? After military operations in the Pearl River basin had concluded, many elders had departed Hong Kong one after another. Now only two or three remained on the island.

Towed by a Daihatsu landing craft, the Big Whale slowly came alongside the trestle, and a gangplank was extended. While port personnel boarded for inspection, several elders disembarked. A young man of twenty-five or twenty-six, who had been waiting in a small shed by the pier, walked quickly to meet them.

"Engineer Mei! You've arrived." The young man greeted an elder in his thirties coming off the ship—Mei Lin from the General Construction Company.

"Little Shi, you've done well here." Mei Lin surveyed his surroundings. "Four months, and it's already taking shape."

A sharp whistle pierced the air—the port authority had spotted the red warning flag symbolizing highest danger flying from the Qionghai Coal. Laborers and soldiers working near Pier No. 1 quickly evacuated the area.

"What's this? You brought dangerous goods?" Little Shi's expression shifted slightly.

"Explosives," Mei Lin said tersely. "Didn't you apply for explosives for quarrying?"

"Right, right. Let's move." They skipped pleasantries and quickly followed "Little Shi" toward the trading post at Central Base. The trading post stood over a kilometer from the seaside pier; the construction team had laid a wrought-iron standard-gauge track to transport goods and personnel between the two points.

Since the Pearl River Detachment had landed in Hong Kong in September 1630, development of Base 852 had proceeded continuously, and the planned Central Base had taken rough shape. The trading post formed the core building of the entire complex—the fortress and foundation of rule. This structure had been designed comprehensively, based on the nineteenth-century armed trading post model while incorporating modern government public building design experience. Though not large, its supporting facilities were complete.

The main citadel was a rectangular multi-story hollow structure—essentially multi-story buildings surrounding a large open central space. At the four corners rose four bastions, each five stories high and seventeen meters tall. Their tops served as open-air gun platforms. Below were guard quarters, ammunition depots, and gymnasiums. The lowest level housed toilets flushed with seawater.

Apart from the bastions, all floors were four stories high, reaching fourteen meters. The first and second floors facing outward had no windows; windows began from the third floor up, equipped with iron shutters that could be closed during attacks. The floors facing the internal courtyard, however, featured windows on every level for ventilation and light. The roof terraces incorporated defensive works.

The south-facing building served as the external office area; the ground floor housed the main hall and gate. All agencies dealing with the public were located here, and in the center of the south building rose a five-story clock tower. The east building was the dormitory area, housing guard troops along with naturalized staff and cadres. Each floor contained large washrooms. Part of the ground floor served as the cafeteria and kitchen, part as the armory. The west side was also four stories: the first and second floors for warehouses, the third for a health clinic and inpatient ward, and the fourth for dormitories. The north side held auxiliary utility rooms, including the boiler room, pump room, and wind power station. It also housed a temporary detention center and various storerooms—including a ground-floor garage.

The trading post wasn't yet fully finished, but the four corner towers, the south main gate building, and the clock tower were complete. Though clock towers had been designed into many Lingao buildings, no large clock had yet been manufactured—not because they couldn't produce one, but because the Planning Academy felt it wasn't urgent and preferred to wait for more abundant raw materials.

At the foot of the main citadel, following the model of East Gate City's construction, roads had been paved. A commercial hall and customs house were under construction. Piles of yellow sand, barrels of cement, and stones of various sizes lay scattered everywhere. Laborers bustled back and forth. Work shanties and the chugging of steam rollers merged into a din of activity.

The labor force consisted of personnel from the locally established purification camp. Guangdong civilians and soldiers captured or volunteering during the Pearl River estuary campaign underwent quarantine there while serving as construction workers. The Lingao General Construction Company had dispatched an elder named Shi Dafu to oversee all local engineering construction. Shi Dafu was a civil engineering graduate who had worked at construction companies—a practical doer with both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience.

Shi Dafu led the group into the main citadel and invited them into the conference room located in the south clock tower. Introductions followed. Among the newly arrived elders, Mei Lin had come to supervise several reservoir projects on Hong Kong Island—to establish viable operations in Hong Kong, the Planning Academy had calculated a need for two million cubic meters of water storage by 1631-1632, and 7.7 million cubic meters by 1633. This would effectively supply the needs of industrial and agricultural production on Hong Kong Island.

"Most Hong Kong reservoirs will utilize existing mountain terrain, so earthwork volume is limited," Mei Lin explained. He had brought a complete set of hydrological data on Hong Kong from the old time-space, provided by the Grand Library. "However, the cost remains significant."

Given the premise of occupying all of Guangzhou after the Second Five-Year Plan, the Planning Academy considered excessive investment in Hong Kong unwarranted. Therefore, the scale of industry and agriculture in Hong Kong was strictly limited. The projected total population for Hong Kong and the outlying islands—including garrison, workers, reclamation personnel, and those awaiting purification who would reside for over thirty days—would not exceed thirty thousand.

(End of Chapter)