Chapter 2966

The Haihan fleet left the mouth of the Chao Phraya River and headed south along the coast. Three days later, it arrived in the country of Pattani in the central part of the Malay Peninsula.

Pattani is more appropriately said to be a city-state than a country. The total population of its jurisdiction is less than 100,000, of which more than 70% live near Pattani City on the seaside.

There are one of the few large natural bays on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. The Pattani River that passes through the city flows into the Gulf of Siam here, providing sufficient fresh water resources for the residents here. The large alluvial plains near the sea also provide agricultural opportunities.

Production provides an excellent environment.

Because of these unique natural conditions, Pattani has naturally become a prosperous international trade port on the Malay Peninsula.

As early as the last century, the Portuguese took the lead in establishing commercial offices here. At the beginning of this century, the Dutch and the British also successively established commercial offices here. These Western colonists entered Pattani earlier than Haihan

for decades.

Affected by this, Pattani is also one of the very few countries in the Gulf of Siam where commercial operations are the main source of income. The population engaged in business even exceeds the agricultural population. Such an employment ratio is only found in a few trading ports such as Sanya in Haihan.

can be achieved.

Compared with the countries the fleet has visited before, Pattani seems relatively calm about the arrival of the Haihan Fleet. This is also due to the fact that there are a lot of local Haihan industries, merchant ships from Haihan, and the South China Sea Fleet.

The warships are no stranger to the people of Pattani.

Although the size of the armed fleet visiting Pattani this time was large, the King of Pattani had been notified through official channels several days in advance, so it did not cause panic in the local area.

The port berths outside Pattani City are limited, but the huge bay can fully accommodate the entire Haihan Fleet. The fleet command announced that it will rest in Pattani for three days. After leaving Vung Tau Port, it has been drifting at sea for many days.

Soldiers and sailors could finally set foot on land again.

The official reception level in Pattani was also very high. King Panchai personally came forward and led officials to the port to greet Qian Tien Don and others.

Even though Pattani is an international trade port, such grand diplomatic activities do not happen often. A large number of people flock to the port area to watch, which is more lively than a festival.

"Why does the King of Pattani attach so much importance to our visit?"

Regarding the question raised by Qian Tiandun, Li Yuande's answer is very simple: "Profit, this is all due to interests. The various projects operated by our country in Pattani are already a very important source of income for this country. To put it bluntly, we are Pattani

It’s a big benefactor, you can’t ignore it!”

Although Haihan is a latecomer, the scale of local projects has already surpassed that of its Western counterparts. In particular, the establishment of various cash crop plantations has not only provided a large number of job opportunities and high taxes for the local area, but also because of these

Projects often include gifts of shares from the royal family, and the powerful people in Pattani become direct beneficiaries.

In order to maintain good communication with Haihan, the King of Pattani even specially appointed a Han minister to be responsible for handling various affairs related to Haihan. Such special treatment has left his Western counterparts far behind.

The visit of the Haihan fleet this time is a very important event for Pattani. Qian Tiandun is one of the most famous Haihan generals, and his arrival is equivalent to representing the attitude of the Haihan military. This

For a small country in the South China Sea like Pattani, which has long accepted the protection of Haihan, it is an excellent opportunity to build relations.

On the morning of arriving in Pattani, Qian Tien Don met the dark-skinned and fat King Panchai on the pier.

The king was very enthusiastic. After exchanging greetings with Qian Tiandun, he introduced his family and subordinate officials to him.

What surprised Qian Tiandun was that the person who acted as the translator for the conversation between the two turned out to be the king's eldest prince. According to the king, the eldest prince had studied abroad in Sanya for two years in his early years, and he also became a Han. The name is Wenfu.

"Which school did Prince Wenfu go to study abroad?" Qian Tiandun couldn't help but curiously asked after hearing this.

Wenfu clasped his hands and responded: "I studied at Sanya Agricultural College for two years and benefited a lot."

This answer was somewhat beyond Qian Tiandun's expectation. Usually when the children of foreign politicians come to study in Haihan, their first choice is to enter the military academy to learn to lead troops in war, such as Zheng Zha, Zheng Ting and others from Annan.

The second option is to travel to various places to increase their knowledge and learn the methods of governing the country, such as the current king of North Korea, Li Zhen, and the crown prince Li Bai. During their studies in Haihan, they visited various places, walked around, and learned about the sea. The ruling experience of the Han Dynasty, rather than studying at a certain school.

Sanya Agricultural College is the highest institution for cultivating agricultural talents in Haihan. There are many overseas students who have made a special trip to Haihan to learn agricultural knowledge, but this is indeed the first time Qian Tiandun has heard of a person of the prince's level.

It seems that either Prince Wenfu is very fond of agriculture, or King Panchai attaches great importance to agriculture and specially arranged this road for his son.

After the welcome ceremony, the king invited Qian Tiandun to ride in a carriage to the palace in the city for follow-up talks.

It is worth mentioning that when Qian Tiandun saw the car of King Panchai, he recognized it at a glance as a high-end custom-made carriage produced by Haihan. After all, this carriage has spring shock absorbers, rubber tires, and large... Car windows made of flat glass, these special parts can only be manufactured by Haihan.

It is only about five or six miles from the port to the palace. Traffic has been temporarily blocked for the king's trip, so the journey is smooth. On the way, you can see that the streets are filled with various shops, and the words on the signboards are also diverse. It does have the atmosphere of an international trade port. .

Although Pattani is only a small country on the Malay Peninsula, the size of the palace is really quite large, covering an area of ​​thousands of acres. The palace buildings are all white walls and gold roofs, and are full of exquisite carvings and decorations. It looks quite luxurious.

Being able to build such a magnificent palace also shows that the economic strength of this small country in Pattani is not bad and it can provide the royal family with a luxurious living environment.

In order to entertain Qian Tiandun and his entourage, the king had ordered a banquet to be prepared. Local dishes use seafood as the main ingredient, and the taste is mainly sour and spicy, which is quite delicious.

What really interested everyone was that the wine served at the banquet was very similar to Sanya specialty wine in terms of packaging and taste, but the king claimed that this wine was a specialty of Pattani.

Later, Li Yuande quietly told Qian Tiandun that Hai Han had opened a brewery in Pattani, and the raw material was locally produced sugar cane. Of course, the farm growing sugar cane was also run by Hai Han businessmen.

This brewery has two shareholders, one is the South China Sea Affairs Department under the Haihan Ministry of Commerce, and the other is the Pattani Royal Family. It is equivalent to a special business project of official cooperation between the two countries. Therefore, the wine produced uses Sanya Special Brew. However, it was regarded as a local specialty by the royal family and became the wine for state banquets.
Chapter completed!