Chapter 3573
Chapter 3573
Chapter 3573
Shi Diwen could understand the attitude of the Fujian Xu family in actively requesting to go to war. In addition to operating Fujian, the Xu family has been trying to keep up with the overseas expansion of Shanghai Han and expand overseas.
If this goal is achieved simply through trade channels, the effect will be too slow, and it will not reflect the advantages that the Xu family has over private merchants. Sending troops to participate in Hai Han's overseas military operations is the most effective means.
Using military merit to exchange for the qualification to participate in the development of new overseas colonies is definitely a profitable business in the long run. However, there are not many local wealthy families that have both such awareness and corresponding strength. The Xu family, which now controls Fujian and parts of Jiangxi, can be regarded as one of the best.
The current head of the Xu family, Xu Yuzhuo, participated in the election for the executive committee last year. Although he was only a runner-up, he also revealed that the Xu family's political ambitions are not just to become a local emperor in Fujian.
I just don't know whether Qiu Yuan and Xiao Liang, who are now in charge of the Luzon region, are willing to open the door and allow the Xu family to participate in the development of the South Pacific region.
As for the military supplies needed by the Luzon Region during the war with Spain, Shi Diwen believed that there might be no need for the Executive Committee to dispatch them. If the Xu family was allowed to send troops to participate in the war and subsequent development, Xu Yuzhuo would probably be happy to provide assistance to the Luzon Region.
With Fujian's resources and economic level, it should not be difficult to help the Luzon region. The sea transport capacity that Fujian can provide alone is much better than that of the Luzon region, and this is exactly the resource that the Luzon expeditionary force urgently needs.
Perhaps Xu Yuzhuo had already conveyed this intention to the Manila authorities through some secret channels, which would undoubtedly increase the weight in the hands of the Xu family.
However, the Executive Committee will certainly not sit idly by and watch them form alliances in private, and has already prepared means of checks and balances for this.
Shi Diwen continued to ask: "Since Xingdao District has already taken the lead over Luzon District, how is their development progress in the New World?"
Ji Yuanqing said: "It is said that Xingdao District has sent a second colonial fleet to the New World, and several settlements have been established there. In terms of progress alone, it is much faster than Luzon District."
Shi Diwen asked: "Is there any new development in the Xingdao region in the Indian Ocean?"
Ji Yuanqing said: "After General Qian's troops took control of the southern part of Ceylon, Xingdao did not even send a full-fledged troop to station there, but only sent a few officers over symbolically. I think they must have concentrated all their resources in the direction of the New World and are temporarily unable to assist General Qian."
This news did not surprise Shi Diwen. After all, Sing Tao's strength was limited, and it would be beyond its ability to expand in two directions at the same time.
The progress made in the Indian Ocean is the result of the joint efforts of the two companies. Future profits will need to be split equally with Qian Tiandun. For Sing Tao, it is of course more cost-effective to take over the New World on its own.
However, Shi Diwen was not optimistic about the huge resources that Sing Tao had invested in the New World. In his opinion, the two places were too far apart, and the New World was located in a remote and sparsely populated area. The early development could only rely on external investment, and it would take a considerable amount of time to achieve output.
However, Xingdao's own population base and resources are very limited. If a large number of people and materials are transported to the New World, it will inevitably affect its normal operation. This may not be a wise choice in Shi Diwen's opinion. Instead of investing a large amount of resources in the development of the New World, it is better to cooperate with Qian Tiandun to open up the route to the Indian Ocean. If a colony can be established in the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East, it will be a great event that will benefit future generations.
However, this was only Shi Diwen's unilateral idea. He knew that Roger was a very opinionated person and would not be easily disturbed. Even if he went to persuade him in person, it might not work.
Moreover, one of the reasons why the Executive Committee allowed Xingdao to develop the New World was to check and balance the Luzon Region. They might not be happy to see Xingdao rushing too hard and too fast in the direction of the Indian Ocean.
The conflicts of interest here involve many parties, and it is difficult to simply determine which plan is more beneficial to Hai Han’s long-term development. We can only take one step at a time. Perhaps at some point in the future, the situation will become clear.
Since they were talking about the Indian Ocean, Shi Diwen also took the opportunity to learn about the situation on Qian Tiandun's side.
According to Ji Yuanqing, Qian Tiandun's special warfare division had already built a port in Hambantota, Ceylon. The Portuguese had previously relied on the special warfare division to rescue the city of Colombo, and they owed a huge favor to the special warfare division. Naturally, they could only accept Hai Han's entry into Ceylon and showed no resistance.
The Dutch suffered a not-so-small loss in Colombo, but they did not dare to break off relations with Hai Han because of it. They knew that they were too weak to deal with the combined forces of Portugal and Hai Han, so they could only swallow their anger.
However, although the armed forces under Qian Tiandun's command are quite powerful in siege cities and strongholds, business development is not their forte. In addition, the special operations division has no real base in the South China Sea, so their subsequent actions still need to rely on the support of the domestic and Sing Tao regions.
After Xingdao invested a large amount of resources in the South Pacific, there were not so many available resources to continue to provide to the Special Operations Division. In addition, the Executive Committee's attention had been focused on Japan in the past few months. The Special Operations Division could not get enough logistical support and could only temporarily stay on several islands at both ends of the Bay of Bengal.
Shi Diwen knew that Qian Tiandun was a man who could not sit still. If he asked his troops to stay in the Indian Ocean for half a year without moving, he would probably be fed up and would definitely find a way to pass the message to the Executive Committee and request the next step of action.
At the executive committee meeting the next day, someone indeed spoke up for Qian Tiandun.
Defense Minister Yan Chujie pointed out that it is very unreasonable that such an elite combat force as the Special Operations Division has been idle in the Indian Ocean for nearly half a year.
Since Qian Tiandun is determined to expand the country's territory and open up the Indian Ocean waterway connecting the Middle East, the Executive Committee should support him and provide all the resources needed for his actions as soon as possible.
"Nowadays, there are more places asking the Executive Committee for support, and we don't have enough resources to meet the requests of each place. Besides, when Lao Qian led his troops south, he also agreed that his troops would mainly be provided with logistical support by the Xingdao region. It's only been two or three years, and he is asking the Executive Committee for help again. Does that mean that the original agreement is automatically invalidated?"
The person who questioned Yan Chujie was Schneider. As a senior official in charge of Hai Han's financial power, when he heard Yan Chujie raise this issue, he knew that the next step would be to apply for additional military spending.
(End of this chapter)