50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 466 Lanfang
"And you mentioned building a smelter, which is indeed a good way to increase income, but how do we solve the energy problem? Relying on cutting down trees to smelt iron is not realistic."

"There are still issues to be addressed, such as talent and technology, and whether there are effective sales channels."

"Finally, have you investigated what mining areas are nearby, who controls them, whether they intend to sell, and at what price?"

"Furthermore, once the mining area expands, do you have the capacity to manage the new mines effectively, and are you well-staffed?"

After Sun Zhiwei asked a long series of questions, even he himself felt embarrassed. However, he did not expect that Huang Hongxuan, a top student with a relevant major, was not just talking nonsense.

"Boss, regarding the miners, it depends on what kind of mining equipment is being replaced."

"If it is semi-automated mining, then the main improvement is the automated transportation of raw ore. Mining still requires human operation of a single-person drilling rig. This kind of machine does not require much education and can be learned quickly."

“If fully automated mining is used, with large rotary mining equipment, then it is not something that ordinary people can do. It requires highly educated personnel, but such personnel are very difficult to find in Pontianak.”

Seeing that he was somewhat sensible, Sun Zhiwei looked at him with more respect.

Indeed, the education level in places like Pontianak is very poor. It's good enough if ordinary people can read; they have to go to other islands to go to university.

If you want to receive a better higher education, you have to go abroad, such as to Singapore.

All of this requires sufficient funds, but locals generally don't have much money, and the Java Federation has no plans to spend a lot of money to improve local education levels.

The children of Chinese families here rely entirely on the Chinese schools they have built for their basic education; they don't count on public schools at all.

It's no wonder that the local Chinese elders fondly reminisce about the Lanfang era, a century that marked the most glorious period for the Chinese community in Borneo.

At that time, the Chinese community was united and hardworking, and the whole nation was mobilized for war. The entire Borneo was Lanfang's territory, so there were no bandits.

Pontianak, Dongwanlu, Shalaman, and Shankouyang, among other places, have transformed from desolate areas into prosperous "gold mines" and "land of fish and rice".

Unfortunately, without support from the homeland, it would have been very difficult for the Chinese to establish a nation overseas, and the wealth of this place soon attracted the covetous eyes of the Dutch.

Initially, Lanfang actively sought to align itself with China and, after becoming a formal tributary state, was able to suppress the Dutch ambitions by relying on the prestige of the Qing government.

By the late Qing Dynasty, when the Qing government was preoccupied with its own problems, the Dutch finally invaded.

Lanfang's swords were no match for guns and cannons. After seven generations of elected leaders and 110 years of history, Lanfang was ultimately destroyed by the Dutch.

Thus, the Dutch dared not openly declare the demise of Lanfang, but instead installed a puppet ruler to govern it.

It wasn't until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912 that the Dutch officially declared their occupation of the Lanfang area.

According to our usual way of speaking, this place is actually within the scope of 'since ancient times'.

However, Borneo is indeed too far from home, and without a deep-sea navy, it's somewhat difficult to exert influence there.

"In that case, if we're going to use new equipment, we can only switch to semi-automatic equipment. The problem of mass unemployment is not something you can solve right now."

"I agree to this suggestion to upgrade the equipment. Go and submit a budget to me, and I will review and approve the allocation."

"Thank you, Boss. I can come up with a solution within three days."

"And I've already found out about the nearby mining areas. Within a 100-kilometer radius, there's one diamond mine, two gold mines, one antimony mine, one magnesium mine, and four iron mines." The gold mine is relatively easy to find, as there are records of mining there back in the Lanfang era. He didn't expect there to be a diamond mine in such a remote place.

"Gold and diamond mines are undoubtedly in the hands of powerful figures. Ask your brother-in-law to find out who's behind them, but don't think about it for now."

"Antimony is toxic. Without good mining technology, we'll have to pay with the lives of miners. It's not an easy job, so let's not do it for now."

“The purification of magnesium requires a lot of electricity, otherwise we can only sell the raw ore, so we can’t even think about it for now.”

"Your focus should be on the four iron mines. Find out who the mine owners are, whether they are willing to sell, and where the key obstacles are. Then report back to me to resolve the issue."

"However, each additional mine requires a lot more manpower. How do you plan to address that?"

“Boss, my brother-in-law can solve the manpower problem. He already has a squadron of 200 people at the mine.”

"Oh? You've trained so many people, where are they now?"

"Boss, everyone's been taken out for training. They usually won't be back until evening."

As the two were talking, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door, and the noise grew louder and louder.

Huang Hongxuan frowned and looked outside. Just as he was about to get up and go out to see what was happening, someone knocked on the door. The knocking was urgent and frequent.

"Mine manager, something terrible has happened! The security team has been attacked and some people are injured!" someone outside was shouting as they knocked on the door.

"Let's go outside and take a look." Upon hearing this, Sun Zhiwei went outside with Huang Hongxuan.

The two arrived at the mine entrance not far away and saw many soldiers in camouflage uniforms rushing in from outside. Along with them came three stretchers, all of whom were seriously injured and bleeding profusely.

Huang Hongxuan immediately stepped forward and asked, "What happened? How many people are injured? Are they seriously injured? Who is the enemy?"

Although the guard team was trained by his brother-in-law, he was usually in charge of command. They hadn't yet developed combat capability, so if there were enemies at this time, things would be difficult.

"Mine manager, we encountered a huge crocodile. One is dead, three are seriously injured, and four others are slightly injured."

Upon hearing that the enemy was not human, Huang Hongxuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief and then quickly said, "I will send a car right away to get the wounded to the hospital."

Minor injuries can be treated at the mine's medical clinic, but serious injuries require a trip to a hospital in Pontianak city.

Sun Zhiwei had already seen the condition of the wounded; all of them had large lacerations, and if they were not treated in time, they would not be able to save their lives.

"Why send any more vehicles? These 60 or 70 kilometers of dirt roads are too difficult for the wounded to endure. Let's load the wounded onto the helicopter and fly them back to the city."

"Thank you, Boss. Quickly carry the person to the open space inside. There's a helicopter there; Boss flew it over. Take that one, it'll be faster."

When the squad leader of the escort team heard that there was a helicopter, he was a little confused. Where did the helicopter come from?

However, this was not the time to ask questions, so he quickly directed people to carry the stretcher inside.

Soon, they spotted the Black Hawk helicopter in the open space in the center of the mining area, and could even clearly see the M Army Marine Corps insignia on the helicopter's tail, causing their pupils to shrink in surprise.

(End of this chapter)