Chapter 2714

Although the mission had no specific tasks during their stay at the Sasebo base, the young officials did not give themselves a holiday because of this. In the afternoon of the next day, Tao Hongfang and others, accompanied by Shiro Amakusa in person, began to inspect the base.

Conduct visits and inspections inside and outside.

The drinking and having fun the night before did not affect the mental state of the young officials, but Amakusa Shiro, perhaps because of his age, could see that his fatigue had not gone away.

When they entered the harbor yesterday, everyone on the boat had already roughly seen the layout of the harbor. Today, Amakusa Shiro took them on a field trip, and their impression of the local area became clearer.

The westernmost side of the harbor is the Sasebo Shipyard. The dock facilities here can provide daily maintenance for most of the ships currently in service in the Navy, eliminating the need for local ships to cross the East China Sea and return to Zhoushan Dinghai Port for basic maintenance.

Everyone paid special attention to the construction of new ships here. As Shiro Amakusa said before, no medium or large ships were seen under construction. Although the place was large, it was almost empty, with only a few ships in different stages of construction.

The combined tonnage of small boats is probably far less than that of an exploration-class warship.

However, the various facilities in the shipyard are very complete, and there is no obvious gap even compared to the Zhoushan Shipyard. There is even a large wood processing workshop here, which is used to process logs harvested from nearby mountains into

Profiles needed for shipbuilding. Next to the processing workshop, there are two warehouses dedicated to storing wood. Timbers of various specifications are stacked like hills.

"The wood stored here is enough to build half a standard battle fleet." Amakusa Shiro proudly introduced to everyone: "When necessary, four warships of more than 500 tons can be built here at the same time.

At least six expedition-class warships can be delivered within a year."

Of course, special equipment such as warships are not always available in overseas colonial areas. Even if there are craftsmen and wood, the weapons and equipment and most of the spare parts used on the ship still need to be allocated domestically. For example, the sail rope system is needed

The various steel pulleys used can only be produced by the factory in Changhua, Hainan Island. The construction plan must first be approved and supported by the Ministry of National Defense before it is possible to obtain all the required materials and equipment from various suppliers.

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Adjacent to the shipyard is the Naval Terminal. In addition to a few ships preparing for combat cruising, most of the ships of the second detachment are anchored here. At this time, there is also the joint fleet that arrived here yesterday.

The berths in the port were full. In order to facilitate the landing of soldiers, several troop transport ships were specially arranged to dock at the nearby civilian ship dock.

Compared with ports where civilian ships dock, the most obvious difference between military ports is that there are more berths dedicated to supplying coal. There are also several ships equipped with steam power systems in the fleet stationed locally, so coal has become a necessity in the port.

However, since there are no coal-producing areas nearby, the coal is basically shipped from North Korea, and the cost of use is really not low.

Across a river called the "Sasebo River" by the locals, to the east of the military port is the civilian port. The planned area of ​​the civilian port is really not small, about two-thirds of the military port. But at present, it seems that this

The port has not yet been fully utilized, and most of the area is vacant. There are only a few cargo ships and some small fishing boats docked at the pier.

Near the civilian port is the urban area adjacent to it. Although it is only the size of an ordinary town, it can be regarded as the most prosperous area in the local area.

Before Haihan developed this area, the situation here was similar to that of Yulin Bay in Sanya before 1627. There were very few people settling here, and there were no problems with land ownership and division. Therefore, Haihan also had ample space for planning and construction.

urban area.

Checkerboard-style roads divide the city into several small blocks. There are also many markets, shops, inns, pharmacies, pubs, etc. that can be seen in domestic towns. However, this may be due to the limited local population.

Because of this, there are not too many cars, horses and pedestrians on the street.

The most majestic and conspicuous building in the city is undoubtedly the office of Haihan Bank. The three-story office building with a white facade occupies the best position next to the harbor. The business hall decorated with glass doors on the ground floor is in front of the building.

Facing the port center, there is a huge advertising sign on the roof. Whether you are taking a boat in and out of the port, or going to the port center to handle various procedures, you will easily notice the existence of Haihan Bank.

For a knowledgeable official like Tao Hongfang, the economic level of a region can be gleaned from the operating conditions of the local Haihan Bank. So at his initiative, everyone went to visit together.

this bank.

The shopkeeper in charge of this office is surnamed Pan. He is in his forties and is from Fujian. It is said that he studied under Cai Jinmei, the female head of Haihan Bank. Amakusa Shiro introduced that shopkeeper Pan has been transferred to Sasebo for three years and has completed the purchase of land and construction of houses locally.

, I have moved my family here from China, and I have made plans for long-term development here.

The bank was not under Tao Hongfang's jurisdiction, so he did not ask to see the account records here. He just asked shopkeeper Pan to briefly talk about the operating conditions.

As everyone can see, due to the limited population of the local area, the scale of commercial activities is actually not too large, and the commercial payments circulated and settled through banks are not particularly large. However, because this place was built by Haihan, and with the external economy

The main objects of business are Haihan merchants, which creates an excellent environment for banks to promote the circulation of Haihan banknotes locally.

At present, the main currency used in the local market is Haihan banknotes, which account for a very high proportion in circulation. Even Japanese immigrants who have just moved to the local area will take Keichang Tongbao with them due to the surrounding environment.

, Yuanhe Tongbao, Kuanyong Tongbao and other coins can be exchanged for Haihan banknotes.

Shopkeeper Pan didn’t want to brag for Shiro Amakusa, because it was the Sasebo authorities that stipulated that immigrants need to open personal accounts at Haihan Bank after naturalization, which greatly promoted the use of banking services by local people. And the services under the jurisdiction of Shopkeeper Pan

Department, and because of its outstanding achievements in developing new users, it has received awards from superiors in recent years.

Tao Hongfang also knew a thing or two about the bank's performance appraisal, and knew that what Shopkeeper Pan said should be true. Whether at home or overseas, the bank's development of new users is an important assessment criterion, and Amakusa Shiro gave it from a policy perspective

The local office is particularly supportive, and this is a new attempt.

But after all, there are not too many Japanese immigrants in the local area at present, so it should be relatively easy for banks to handle it. If the scale of introducing immigrants increases in the future, it remains to be seen whether this method can still operate smoothly.
Chapter completed!