Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 196 Nine Departments and Three Agencies (Please support with monthly tickets and recommendation tickets, thank you!)

When Li Hezhang finished writing, Zheng Guohui flipped through the documents in his hand, looked at them for a while before putting them down and said solemnly;
“Since arriving in Southeast Asia, Chinese immigrants have migrated and settled in large numbers. In the early days, in order to seek the most economical and convenient way, most of them were young and strong men.

Now the entire Hainan Islands are under the control of the Great Chu Kingdom. Um... I won't record this."

Zheng Guohui looked at Li Hezhang who was writing furiously again with his head down, and had to interrupt his train of thought and raised his hand to signal.

This is a confidential topic that cannot be disclosed, so just keep it to yourself.

Li Hezhang understood immediately and immediately dropped the brush in his hand, laughing and saying to himself, "Your Majesty always gives good advice, and I cannot help but feel it. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."

"The Prime Minister is a man of great talent. When he comes to Southeast Asia, he will transform into a dragon when encountering storms. He will be able to control the clouds and rain and perform extraordinary deeds. I am very optimistic about him!" Zheng Guohui praised him.

"I am grateful for Your Majesty's kindness. How could I not serve you with all my strength?" Li Hezhang said this, bowing solemnly. "Your Majesty, your insight is clear, and I am all ears."

Having said that
Zheng Guohui pondered for a moment and continued along the same lines of thought;

“As the saying goes, those who do not plan for eternity are not qualified to plan for the present, which shows the importance of the provisional government’s forward-looking policies.

Now that the Hainan Islands are under the control of our Great Chu, we can do whatever we want with them.

However, indigenous populations have limited and non-renewable resources.

According to the all-Chinese policy implemented by our Great Chu, it is impossible to allow the indigenous barbarians to reproduce and survive, live side by side, and share the prosperity of the Great Chu Kingdom.

Barbarians are foreign races.

They are cunning and cruel by nature, and only fear power but not virtue. They are temporarily dormant under the suppression of our army, pretending to be harmless and submissive, but they will definitely rebel in the future.

Only by bravely facing the constant criticism and using drastic measures to eliminate it once and for all, and adopting the strategy of "emptying the cage and replacing the bird" to lay the foundation for the overseas Chinese homeland in the Nanyang Islands, can we achieve a peaceful and prosperous situation for generations to come.

In view of this
There are about 110 million unnaturalized indigenous people in the South Pacific Islands, and less than 40 indigenous women of marriageable and childbearing age. At the current growth rate of Chinese immigrants, this will only take about five to six months.

In order to achieve social population balance in the future, it is advisable to appropriately adjust the ratio of male to female immigrants and increase the influx of female immigrants to a ratio of 2:8 or 3:7, so as to avoid serious imbalance in social population.

The balance of yin and yang is the key to long-term success."

The meaning of King Zheng Guohui of Chu is very clear
Now we can rely on indigenous women to solve the problem of population gender imbalance, but it will not last long.

Li Hezhang naturally understood the importance of this matter, and he answered after considering it:

“I report to my king;
The fourth task reported by me and others includes the above considerations, which is to promote the in-depth development of the resettlement of Chinese immigrants on the premise of appropriately balancing the genders of immigrants.

With the current rapid growth in immigration, Chongming Island is no longer able to accommodate the needs and all refugee camps have been emptied.

When I was still in the mainland, I focused on setting up multiple immigration points and reported to His Majesty.

Currently, there are three more locations, one of which is in Weihaiwei, which was a leased territory of England and an important area for England to supply labor to the Straits Settlements.

Qi and Lu are densely populated and have always been populous provinces on the mainland.

In recent years, it has suffered frequent wars, droughts, locust plagues and man-made disasters, with a large number of refugees, making it a good place to set up an immigrant reception camp.

I have already sent personnel to set up a refugee camp in Weihaiwei, and to run the Renjitang soup kitchen to gain a good reputation while screening the population going to Southeast Asia.

One is located in Hankou, a prosperous place in the two lakes. Brother Hanzhang is in charge of this area, so he can provide a lot of conveniences.

The last one is located in Zhangzhou, Meizhou, Heyuan and other places. The fighting between the native and Hakka people in this area is becoming increasingly fierce, causing a large number of people to migrate, which is suitable for absorbing the whole clan.

With these three places, plus Chongming Island as a transit point, the continued number of Chinese immigrants can be guaranteed, and there is no need to worry anymore!
The interim government has increased fixed immigration routes to Weihaiwei and Heyuan Laolongkou. Immigrants from Heyuan are particularly active, with almost entire families relocating, including men, women, and children.

"Well, okay." Zheng Guohui nodded thoughtfully, agreeing with the interim government's move. He thought about it for a moment and then explained;
"The Hakka people are traditional, strong-willed, and combative, making them excellent military recruits and a great source of immigrants.

But they need to be arranged to a suitable place, oh... let's relocate them to the Cebu Islands, which is more suitable.

With the Hainan Islands to the north and the Tongzhou Islands to the south, I don't think they can cause any major trouble."

The Hakka-Punti conflict in Guangdong Province originated from the late Taiping Rebellion. In the tide of rebellion everywhere, the Tiandihui also launched an uprising, and most of its organizers were from Cantonese.

In order to suppress the rebellion, the imperial court recruited local militia. The Hakka people chose to join the imperial court's Green Camp, serve as soldiers and receive food, forming the so-called Hakka militia.

The Green Camp soldiers had lax military discipline, and in some areas, the Hakka warriors took revenge on locals, slaughtered locals indiscriminately, and looted their property.

In order to seek revenge and protect themselves, more and more local people united to boycott the Hakka people and wanted to drive all of them out.

As time went by, the fighting between the two sides became more and more intense, and it has reached the point of no return. So far, it has caused hundreds of thousands of casualties and affected the entire western and eastern Guangdong.

When people fight each other and kill each other, they naturally have no bottom line.

Since this time
The entire area from central to western Guangdong was plunged into war, with corpses and ruins everywhere. It was even more tragic than a foreign war.

The corrupt imperial court was busy dealing with foreign invasions and was overwhelmed by the payment of indemnities. Naturally, it had no time to deal with these disputes among the people and completely let them run their course.

This has caused the Hakka-Punti conflict to continue for many years, and it is showing signs of intensifying.

The refugee camp set up at Laolongkou Port in Heyuan provided the Hakka people with a new option to go to Southeast Asia. It was undoubtedly a good opportunity to escape from this war-torn land, so they naturally flocked to it.

According to the data provided by Li Hezhang
In September and December, the number of Chinese refugees from Heyuan Laolongkou Port was around 3 each month. Every immigration ship was overcrowded, and there was an urgent need to increase the transport capacity.

Zheng Guohui approved the plan of the provisional government. Instead of letting these strong populations be consumed in internal strife, it would be better to send them to Southeast Asia to participate in construction. Is there still any fear that they will not be able to be resettled?

When most of the Chinese immigrants in the Cebu Islands were settled, these Hakka people were sent to Irian Island, which is now New Guinea Island.

Speaking of the world's second largest island, Zheng Guohui wants to change the name of the island. New Guinea Island really doesn't sound good, and it sounds like an island in Africa.

He planned to change the name to "Guangming Island", which came from Guangming Town on Chongming Island, or "Dongsheng Island", which came from the legendary Dongsheng Shenzhou.

Or just call it "Shangri-La Island", which sounds much better than New Guinea Island.

There’s no rush, let’s talk about it in a year or two.

The last and most important topic the two discussed today was the selection of government officials for the "Nine Ministries and Three Agencies."

The interim government has been in trial operation for more than a month, and its personnel have been adjusted many times during this period. Now it has become generally stable and needs an appointment from the King of Chu.

In the "Nine Ministries and Three Agencies"
The Ministry of Military Affairs didn't need to be considered for the time being. It consisted of the Army Department, the Navy Department, the Logistics Department, and the Administrative Department. It was temporarily under the direct jurisdiction of the King of Chu, who personally served as the Grand Marshal of the Army and Navy, and no one else could interfere. The Minister of Finance was He Daozhi, the former head of the Nanyang Bank. Under his control, the Nanyang Bank was thriving, and he was a native of Tongzhou, so the two sides had a deep connection.

The Minister of Police was Zheng Shun, the former commander of the Second Expeditionary Division, nominated by the King of Chu. He was the earliest captain of the royal guards. He had been a loyal dog to the royal family for generations, so there was no need to say more about him.

This time, he took off his military uniform and took up the position of Minister of Police in charge of the kingdom. It was naturally at the instruction of the King of Chu, and no one else could order Zheng Shun.

In this way

The military, police and financial powers were all controlled by the King of Chu, and the provisional government could only become a yes-man. This also showed the King of Chu Zheng Guohui's strong desire for control.

Although they keep talking about delegating power, they only delegate a small amount of power.

The candidate for the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Transportation was a strange one. He was the Dutch priest Father Wehorst. The King of Chu was optimistic about this man because he was proficient in five languages. He was not only a historian, but also an extremely experienced engineer who was responsible for supervising the construction of many large projects and bridges.

Minister of Industry Zheng Guotai, one of the earliest aides to the King of Chu.

The position of Minister of Foreign Affairs is temporarily vacant. The person who can take on this position is the current US Trade Representative Zheng Xin. He is quite methodical in dealing with foreigners, but he still needs a few years of training.

The foreign policy is still controlled by the King of Chu himself. If necessary, he can arrange someone to take over at any time, but he is just a tool.

The Minister of the Interior, Dong Huanzhang, was nearly thirty years old. He was a Jinshi and the brother-in-law of the King of Chu. He was one of the original four secretaries.

After two years of hard work in Jinling City, his methods of handling affairs have become more mature, and he is indeed a young talent.

However, Li Hezhang did not agree with the sudden promotion to such a high position and had some complaints about it, but that was all.

Dong Huanzhang was appointed Minister of the Interior because he could not resist the powerful.

In addition, there is the Director of the Correctional Bureau, Zheng Jiabao, who has been the right-hand man of the King of Chu for many years. There is no need to say more about him.

The provisional government consisted of nine ministries and three agencies. King Zheng Guohui of Chu directly arranged his trusted confidants to take control of seven ministries and one agency, all of which were government agencies of Uncle Shi. This was unprecedented.

Fortunately, some leftovers were left for Prime Minister Li Hezhang, who recommended He Ruilin to the Ministry of Commerce and Culture. He was from Sanyuan, Shaanxi, and had served as the prefect of Tongling, the governor of western Sichuan, and the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites. He resigned from his post and returned to his hometown to observe mourning for his father when he died.

Seeing the corruption and darkness of the imperial court, this man had no intention of becoming an official. Instead, he returned to his hometown and became the principal of Zhengyi Academy. He was a master of Guanzhong Neo-Confucianism and a master of Chinese studies.

He Ruilin's political experience and resume were impeccable for his appointment as Minister of Commerce and Culture, and King Zheng Guohui of Chu also expressed his satisfaction.

It is impossible to get this big Buddha statue just because of Li Hezhang's favor.

In fact, it was during his spare time, Li Hongzhang, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, who was not fighting against the Nian bandits, that he specially visited Guanzhong and revealed the idea of ​​Chinese people establishing a nation overseas.

The desire for talents expressed in his words touched He Ruilin, who was unwilling to be lonely.

He Ruilin was a man of rare talent. He passed the examination for a scholar at the age of 15, the examination for a juren at the age of 19, and the second place in the imperial examination at the age of . His official career was smooth sailing with few setbacks.

At this time, he was not yet forty years old, and still had great ambitions to achieve great things.

After being persuaded, he took 55 outstanding young men from Guanzhong and embarked on the journey to Southeast Asia.

Nowadays, most of these young people from Guanzhong are assigned to work at the grassroots level in prefectures and counties to accumulate experience, which will be of great use in the future.

Li Hezhang's real close friend was Zhongqiu, a famous scholar in northern Anhui. He was recommended to be the Minister of Agriculture. He was highly valued for his well-organized and effective measures in the recent resettlement of immigrants.

Wang Luming, director of the General Audit Office, is a capable official who has emerged from a group of staff. He has an upright character, does not like to flatter the powerful, and is unwilling to curry favor with the powerful. It is just right for him to take on this offensive task.

The final candidate for the director of the State Administration of Taxation was his former colleague Lu Junxi, who was recommended by Li Hezhang and was described as "a person who is worthy of being a pillar of the country."

This man was a Jinshi graduate, and had served as the Six Departments Censor, the Tongzhou County Magistrate, the Ministry of Revenue Langzhong, and the fourth-rank Imperial College Jiji. He was suppressed in the party struggle and lost his official position, and from then on he lived a life of leisure.

King Zheng Guohui of Chu agreed generously. Anyway, if Lu Junxi did not do a good job, Li Hezhang would definitely have to take the blame and bear the wrath of the royal family.

to be frank

Zheng Guohui really can't find any more talented people among his team. Instead of appointing people based on personal connections, he should boldly promote talented people.

cough cough...

This is just a superficial statement. In fact, Zheng Guohui was worried that he would anger Li Hezhang and quit, which would be a big problem.

The two men discussed the issue of candidates for the interim government privately more than once and had different opinions on many candidates. Li Hezhang believed that some of them were not worthy of their positions.

Zheng Guohui admitted that what he said made sense, but he refused to listen to the advice and insisted on entrusting his confidant to take on the important task.

From his perspective
These trusted confidants may lack some abilities, but they are loyal. Moreover, we know them well and can control them at will. Why not make use of them?
Li Hezhang had no choice but to submit, but that didn't mean he had no opinions in his mind.

Just look at the candidates he recommended, such as He Ruilin, Zhongqiu, and Lu Junxi. They have resumes, knowledge, and talents, and are much better than the King of Chu's confidants.

After the nine ministries and three agencies of the Provisional Government had reached an agreement, Zheng Guohui smiled and said in a friendly manner:
"Brother Xian Que, we have agreed on this matter. Today, I am in a good mood. As the time is getting late, how about you and I go to Ganquan Palace for a few drinks?"

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I am not feeling well and need to recuperate for some time. It is not appropriate for me to drink for the time being." Li Hezhang declined.

He was furious about what they discussed today and had no interest in continuing to chat with the King of Chu. Wouldn't it be nice to go home and rest?
"If you don't want to drink alcohol, then drink tea. Brother Xianque must not be absent." Zheng Guohui made the decision directly.

For the long-term benefit, he must win over this trusted minister, otherwise who will do the work?

This forced pulling and dragging made Li Hezhang at a loss. He had no choice but to go.

He could only stand up with Zheng Guohui, instruct his subordinates on some matters, and then board the King of Chu's carriage and head towards Ganquan Palace.

At this time, the sunset covered the sky, giving the entire city of Manila a golden hue, making it look magnificent.

Coconut trees sway gently by the bay, and the sea is blue and the sand is white.

The ruins of the Fort Santiago, which had originally been reduced to ruins, have been cleared thanks to the day and night labor of more than 2,000 convicts, and a new city wall is under construction.

On the sea-facing side of the castle fortress, a three-story Chinese palace with flying eaves will be built in the future. It will stand tall on the seashore and become an eye-catching landmark building.

Restoration work is also underway in Intramuros, Manila. The ruins of the fort along the Pasig River have been cleared and new city walls are rising from the ground.

The city's wounds are slowly being healed, and a new construction boom is emerging, which will continuously and profoundly change this coastal city and add more Chinese color.

(End of this chapter)