235th New Year Reception
"Your telegram." A naturalized cadre in the Confidential Communications Room of the General Office delivered a locked folder to Wu De's desk - this is a telegram and document above "confidential" among the executive committee and the people. They have a special key to the way it is circulated among committee members and ministers.
Wu De opened the folder and took out the telegram. The telegram was stamped top secret, and the person who sent the telegram was from Sanya. Among the three elders currently staying in Sanya, he is the person in charge of civil affairs.
He telegraphed the news that the first batch of slaves from Southeast Asia had arrived. A total of 254 people have landed ashore. In good physical condition. All were young men, no children or elderly people.
The Englishman really delivered the slaves within the stipulated time. Wu De thought. The use of Southeast Asian slaves was the established policy of the Senate, both for labor force and for future strategic layout considerations. Even if Quark fails to do so, the executive committee has prepared a plan for other foreign businessmen to fill this role.
He stamped his name on the viewing list column below the telegram. Lock the folder again and give it to the confidential personnel to take away. He opened a folder marked "labor force" on his desk. The folder contained weekly column statistics of "disposable labor force", summarized by age group, region, industry... one by one. . Overall, adding 254 laborers to the Sanya region, which has already transported 4,761 people and currently has 385o people, is not a large number, but slaves will greatly reduce the mortality rate of naturalized laborers who have received basic training. The most dangerous and arduous work would be performed entirely by slaves. After tasting the sweetness of this time, Quark will bring an endless supply of slaves. Fully meet local demand and consumption of labor.
Of course, there is no end to the demand for labor. With He Rubin's retreat, the entire Hainan Island will be under their control. The Planning Institute estimates that the population under the control of the Senate will expand to 400,000 to 600,000 people. However, they must be fully mobilized and must do a series of tasks: suppressing bandits, dividing villages into households, and conducting population censuses. The most optimistic estimate is that Qiongzhou's population will not be fully and effectively utilized until the beginning of 1632. In contrast, indentured immigrants and purchased slaves were more convenient.
In addition to slaves, the Executive Committee was also looking for ways to expand its population sources. Almost all the refugees in Guangdong and Fujian have been rounded up. The Executive Committee once again turned to the Great Library - preparing to find new opportunities from the continuous natural disasters in the late Ming Dynasty.
Wu De thought: The idea is good, but the premise is that they have enough transportation capacity, and Liu Xiang, who is currently hiding, has many technical details to be solved.
While he was thinking, his personal secretary Chu Yu came in and sent a red invitation.
"Who gets the invitation?" Wu De asked strangely. The only thing that can send invitations to his table is the happy event of the elder himself - the invitation for Yun Suji to marry Liu Meilan, the grandnephew of Liu Youren, the leader of Liujiazhai, was sent yesterday. Wu De was worried for a while: Do I want to give a red envelope? Later I decided to buy some gifts.
Chu Yu said: "It belongs to Commissioner Wu."
"Commissioner Wu?" Wu Del was stunned for a while and realized that he was talking about Wu Nanhai. Wu Nanhai is getting married? He immediately thought of the women on the farm.
"It's Chu Qing..." There was a bit of resentment in Chu Yu's voice - they were from the same background, and seeing their former sisters become the wives of elders, they couldn't help but feel sour in their hearts.
"Oh, oh, it's her." Wu De nodded. Said noncommittally.
The New Year's Day reception in 1631 was held as scheduled under the auspices of Fang Fei and Zheng Shangjie. In addition to the essential personnel on duty, most of the elders attended the New Year reception held at Lingaojiao Park. In addition to the elders, we also invited local "collaborators" from Lingao, most of whom are members of the County Advisory Bureau and directors of the Dongshi Business Association: Lin Quanan, Liu Youren, Zhang Youfu, Li Sunqian... Even Fu Buer is not enough. Qualified ia landowners were also invited because they were "models" of the Tiandi Society.
The remnants of the Ming Dynasty government in Lingao: County Magistrate Wu Ya, Dian Shi Sun Ruiwu, Inspector Fu Bowen, and County School Instructor Wang Ci, including Wu Mingjin, the official of Lingao County who was completely reduced to a puppet, all received the invitation. Of course, Wang Zhaomin, who has contributed the most to the elders, is even more invited.
In addition to this group of local people's representatives, who Du Wen called "cow ghosts and snake gods", there are also representatives of naturalized people: outstanding elements selected from soldiers, cadres, workers, community members and students - Liu Muzhou is planning to build a " Model worker selection" and other tricks. Of course, once you want to be a model worker, the March 8th Red Flag Bearer is probably not exempt from the custom - otherwise Du Wen will not let him go.
All the indigenous people who were invited regarded it as a great honor. The crossing group defeated the official army, and its power subsequently expanded to the entire Qiongzhou, which made the people, regardless of high or low, have a premonition that "the sky is going to change." Regardless of whether they are from the upper or lower levels of society, there are a large number of people who are eager to get on the Australian boat during this changing situation and earn a fortune for themselves and their families. So almost all the invitees accepted the invitation. Even Wu Mingjin, who always insisted on "no surrender, no leave" and promoted himself as non-violent and non-cooperative, came in a sedan with a smile on his face.
The reception started at 17:00 on December 31st. Mu Min personally came to the venue to arrange security. Because there were many indigenous people present at the scene, although they were all "activists" or considered "reliable" figures in the security assessment, Mu Min knew that this was not an absolute guarantee - security work must be foolproof.
By then, there will be 400 elites under the "New Order" gathered in Lingaojiao Park and about 100 travelers. Once a casualty accident occurs, it will bring huge losses to the entire cause.
As the directly responsible elder and the person in charge of green zone security, Mu Min coordinated with various ministries on the security work of the New Year's reception at the internal security meeting. A defense plan was drawn up. The first cordon was set up 5o meters outside Lingaojiao Park, and the 2nd Company of Lingao Guard Battalion of Li Yayang was responsible for it; the police team composed of Bopu Police Station and the police training class of Fangcaodi was responsible for maintaining the two entrances and exits of the park. Order, check identity.
In the park, the Bopu detachment of the special reconnaissance team is responsible for guarding and controlling all commanding heights. Finally, staff from the General Administration of Political Security formed an inner cordon. On the sea, Navy spy boats formed three cordons. All ships and people are prohibited from entering within 1 nautical mile of the park coastline.
In addition to safety precautions, fire prevention and accident prevention should also be taken into consideration at the reception - there are gas lamps and barbecue grills... Mu Min surveyed the terrain and held several meetings to arrange the venue, table placement, and barbecue grills. The location, evacuation routes...and even how much additional lighting should be added were discussed one by one.
Now everything is ready, just waiting for the guests to arrive. Lingaojiao Park is decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, and the gas lamps shine brightly. The Feiyun moored at the pier was decorated with colorful lights. "Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon" and "Un Festival Overture" were constantly playing from the loudspeakers, creating a lively and cheerful atmosphere.
Guests in groups of twos and threes, some on foot, some in sedan chairs, and some on bicycles, came to the square in front of Lingaojiao Park - this is already a second-level security area, and no one without an invitation is allowed to enter. Liu Youren came to the square in a sedan chair jubilantly - Chief Xun finally clearly agreed to marry Liu Meilan. This matter that had been pending for almost a year was finalized, and the relationship between the Liu family and the elders could not be the same. Then he spoke. He twirled his beard and looked happily at the large "park" built with bamboos. Originally, only the elders could enter, and it was shrouded in a mysterious aura. Being able to go in and take a look at this "reception" in person is exciting.
The sound of whistles sounded in the square, and several police officers were running around blowing whistles, directing the sedans of each family to enter the "sedan seats" in order and line up in an orderly manner. The bearers are taken to a temporary resting shed by a special person to rest. Liu Youren knew the rules of Australians. Only the invitees could enter the venue, and no servants were allowed. Immediately, he sent the servants he had brought with him to rest. He took the invitation and went to Dakou.
Just a few steps away, I saw a middle-aged gentleman coming out of a two-person sedan chair. I took a closer look and saw who it was if it wasn't Wu Mingjin. He had been doing nothing for a long time and was fed good food and drink, so he became a little fat. Wearing a cloud scarf and a Huluo robe. He looks like a scholar from a middle-class family.
Liu Youren immediately went up and bowed as a courtesy - Wu Mingjin's Daming County Magistrate was already an empty position, so he didn't need to be too polite.
Wu Mingjin was very polite. He had heard a long time ago that Kun Ren wanted to take his grandnephew as his concubine. In his heart, he despised the country bumpkin landlord, but on his face, he had no trace of Kun Ren's "upstart" and he couldn't afford to offend him. .
"Are your parents also here for the reception?"
"Exactly," Wu Mingjin nodded. "At the end of the year, when you have nothing to do, you have the right to have fun."
The so-called end of the year is calculated according to the "Great Song Calendar", which is also the Gregorian calendar. According to the "Great Ming Calendar" which is used in parallel, there are still two months to celebrate the New Year, but under the leadership of the elders, it is used The Gregorian calendar has become a common practice, gradually changing everyone's habits.
While he was talking, a scholar wearing a Lan shirt came whistling next to him. Seeing Wu Mingjin's presence, he immediately made a court salute, causing people passing by to look sideways.
"My dear sir, why are you here too?" The person who came was none other than Wang Ci, the county scholar's edict. He came by himself, his head was covered with sweat, and his shirt was still neat, but it smelled like old clothes. a! ~!
