Songkhla Port is located at the outlet of Luang Lake on the northeastern coast of the Malay Peninsula in southern Thailand and on the southwest side of the Gulf of Thailand. It is the most important trading port in the central region of the Malay Peninsula.
Songkhla Port was established earlier due to the trend of tin mining. The port has a tropical monsoon climate, with southwesterly winds prevailing in summer and northeasterly winds in winter. The average rainfall throughout the year is about 2200mm. The rainfall is abundant and the land is fertile, attracting a large number of Chinese immigrants.
of moving in.
There are 3 main berths in the port area, and the coastline is 510 meters long, which can ensure the docking of more than ten medium-sized transport ships at the same time. The anchorage of large ships is on the east side of Miao Island, with a water depth of about 10m. It mainly relies on transshipment from South America, the mainland, and Southeast Asia.
Taxes are charged on goods.
With the increase in support from the Han State and the planning and construction of port terminals by the Songkhla city lord, a number of commercial organizations engaged in re-export trade emerged in the Songkhla area, such as commercial groups that were responsible for direct trade with the South American Han mainland, including and
Qin Trading Company, Xie'an Trading Company, Jintai Trading Company and other trading groups with relatively large capital import cloth, cotton yarn, frozen beef and mutton, sea cucumbers, tuna, flour, matches and other commodities from South America, and then transfer them through Songkhla
Collection and distribution channels, and then sell goods and materials to mainland China, Annan, Thailand and other places.
The goods imported from the Han Dynasty to Songkhla were mainly industrial manufacturing products. Rubber-soled cloth shoes, bicycles, matches and other products made of rubber were very popular and respected by the local Chinese in Songkhla and other parts of Nanyang because of their cheap and practical advantages.
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Secondly, there are business groups engaged in the transshipment of goods in Hong Kong and Jiangnan. They purchase silks, satins, brocades, cloths and other goods produced in Han from Songkhla, and then import them into the mainland from treaty ports such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Xiamen. This type of business groups
, the larger ones include Ruilong, Santai, Wenying, Jinfang, Caifang, etc.
In addition to commercial organizations specializing in import and export trade and transportation, a group of commercial firms engaged in specific commodities have also set up commercial outlets in Songkhla.
For example, tea merchants from the southern Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions of mainland China are responsible for purchasing tea produced in the Jiangnan region, and then transport the picked new tea to Songkhla, where they sell the tea to ocean shipping groups at Songkhla Port to supply the South American mainland.
, the Chinese demand for tea.
The second group is engaged in trade with North Korea, mainly including Changcheng, Kuncheng, Yuanfa. Faxiang, Fumei, Hengcheng Yuancheng, Fuganglong and other business groups, which export iron pots, iron tea boxes, and linen to North Korea.
and other commodities, and then purchase ginseng, animal skins, Toshiba and other agricultural products from North Korea. Finally, there is a medicinal material trading house that is engaged in the import of medicinal materials. The trading names of the medicinal material shops include Taichang, Yimei, Yuanrong. Chongyi, Changmei Yuanyi and Yuanfa.
There are about a dozen companies including Longcheng, Jiaocheng, and Jebsen.
The medicinal materials purchased and sold include cinnamon, bezoar, angelica, wolfberry, rhubarb, astragalus, asarum, schisandra, dangshen, rehmannia root, achyranthes root, yam, chrysanthemum, etc.
At the end of 1878, there were more than 70 commercial banks registered in Songkhla Port, and the number of merchants in the entire Songkhla region exceeded 200. The revenue from re-export trade reached 170,000 silver dollars, which was 100% more than the fiscal revenue of Songkhla Port in 1877.
seventy.
In early 1879, affected by the British blockade, Songkhla's import and export transshipment trade volume dropped by half. A large number of medicinal materials, cloth merchants, and ocean shipping business groups traveling to and from South America were not allowed to return because the goods in their hands were not sold or the immigration transportation tasks they undertook were not completed.
Do not stay in Songkhla to wait for news of the end of the Argentine war.
In early October 1879, the British warships carrying out the blockade mission evacuated Natuna, Songkhla and other coastal areas, and Songkhla Port, which resumed normal trade and transportation, ushered in an explosion of trade transactions.
At Songkhla Port, the shopkeepers and clerks of fifty or sixty large and small business groups were blocked from the dock. The anxious shopkeepers of the business groups sent their men to the dock every few minutes to check the situation, for fear that after the dock anchorage was vacated, they would be blocked.
Other business groups snatched it away, delaying the transportation time of their own goods.
From the inside to the outside, there are more than 30 large transport ships lined up in order in the three dock anchorages, and groups of Chinese families stranded in Songkhla are queuing up to board the ships.
The queue of Chinese immigrants stretched from the pier to the streets outside the port. There were three long queues in the open space, stretching for nearly three or four miles.
During the half-year blockade in South America, nearly 100,000 Chinese immigrants were stranded in Songkhla. 100,000 Chinese immigrants brought their families with them, and the poverty-stricken Chinese immigrants put great pressure on Songkhla. They provided enough food for 100,000 mouths every day.
It is a huge amount of expenditure, plus the cost of providing them with accommodation, clothing and medical treatment for the sick Chinese old and young. The Lord of Songkhla has posted a financial surplus of more than 100,000 silver dollars for three and a half years.
It was not in vain. The Argentine War finally ended with a complete victory for the Han Dynasty. I was so ill that I sought medical treatment and married my daughter to the King of Han Dynasty, Li Mingyuan, with the intention of using the power of the Nanyang Army to stabilize the crisis in the Songkhla area. Now it seems that it was an adventure a year ago.
The nature of political speculation brought huge returns. The Han State annexed Argentina and Uruguay, and gained an outlet covering an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers on the Pacific coast. Almost the entire Pampas Plain fell under the control of the Han State.
middle.
Where is the Pampas Plain? I learned from the telegram sent by my daughter that the Pampas Plain is equivalent to the Jiangnan region of the mainland. It has fertile land and beautiful environment. Compared with the mountainous and hilly Jiangnan region, the Pampas Plain is
The endless plains and the land that had just been reclaimed by the Spanish were far more fertile than those in the south of the Yangtze River.
In her letters, her daughter often mentioned the details of Li Mingyuan taking her and another Nanyang girl to play outside Chang'an City. For example, after Li Mingyuan finished handling official duties one day, he rode a tall horse to teach her and Zhang Baoyi how to ride, or under the protection of a group of guards,
A group of people went to the Paraná River to enjoy the scenery along the coast. Wu Lingxuan's reply was mainly about how approachable and polite the King of Han was. He was not as rude and brutal as the martial artist Jiujiu in his impression, and had a ferocious appearance. Instead, he was handsome, tall and handsome.
, being kind to others, treating her attentively and gently, she was very happy and joyful in her life in Han, South America, and did not have the mentality of a little girl such as her father's care, but her daughter's rough introduction to the environment during the trip still made the Lord of Songkhla
Wu Qian had a comparison in his mind.
The Han Kingdom today is different from the past. It covers thousands of miles from north to south, has a powerful army, and has wise leaders. The only demographic shortcoming that limits the country's development will be supplemented and alleviated by the explosive influx of Chinese immigrants in less than twenty years. If we say
Before the Second Argentine War, when the land area of the Han Kingdom had not expanded to more than 3.4 million square kilometers, Wu Jin was still a little worried about the future fate of his daughter. Now, not only is he no longer worried about the overthrow of the Han Kingdom in South America,
, the fate of his daughter is worrying but unfounded, but he is grateful for his persistence and did not marry his daughter to the barbaric Malay indigenous chief, but to the Han king Li Mingyuan who had just shown his talents.
Ten years of savings have soared into the sky. The news that Li Mingyuan will ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor on December 26 has just come from the Nanyang Army. His daughter will also officially marry Li Mingyuan on the day after the proclaiming ceremony and become the queen of Han.
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The father is more noble than the daughter, and the daughter became the queen of the Han Dynasty, and he became Li Mingyuan's father-in-law. In the previous dynasty, his father-in-law would have been granted the title of hereditary marquis at least, although the Han Dynasty must have made great achievements.
I was awarded a title, but because my precious daughter married the new emperor, out of concern for rewarding the queen’s relatives, it was not too much to grant me a title. As far as I was concerned, Songkhla was a transfer station for immigrants from South America and mainland China, and I devoted myself to it.
He conscientiously assisted the Han State in handling immigration matters, and also spent his own money to finance Songkhla's fiscal surplus for three years. It is reasonable for him to be awarded a Lungong knighthood.
At noon the next day after establishing communication with the South American mainland, Li Wencai came to the city lord's palace to pay a visit. Not only did he congratulate himself on his promotion to the throne, but he also said that His Highness the King of Han was very interested in the cooperation with Songkhla. Although the Han garrison would withdraw from Songkhla,
Songkhla, but its support for Songkhla will never waver. After the withdrawal of the 1,500 troops stationed in Songkhla, the Han Dynasty will secretly dispatch a group of outstanding officers to assist it in training the new Songkhla army. At the same time, before the garrison withdraws, some Nanyang troops will be mobilized.
The legion troops entered the central part of the Malay Peninsula to conduct a thorough cleanup of the separatist armed forces in Songkhla, in order to resolve the chaos of armed forces within Songkhla and unify the internal military and administration of Songkhla.
At the end of the chat, Li Wencai also asked for his opinion on the title issue. At that time, he was excited and had the idea of hugging the Han Dynasty and showing his determination to his son-in-law. He agreed and was willing to accept the title awarded by the Han Dynasty, but in retrospect,
Come on, after all, Songkhla is nominally under the jurisdiction of Thailand, and privately accepting titles from other countries will leave Thailand with a clue.
This kind of worry bothered Wu Jin all night, but this morning, on the way to Songkhla Port to meet the senior officials of the Nanyang Army, Wu Jin also figured out that in troubled times, strength is the first priority.
The Chinese army annihilated the separatist armed forces in Songkhla and demonstrated Songkhla's military power to Thailand. Will the King of Thailand still embarrass himself about accepting titles from other countries?
When the ceremonial frame symbolizing the symbol of the city lord arrived at Songkhla Port, the immigrant team lined up outside the port consciously gave way to Wu Jin and others.
After getting off the four-wheeled carriage, a group of more than 2,000 immigrants slowly walked towards the port. Among the crowd, many were single women with three or four children.
In the Central Plains area under the rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the immigration wave caused by the Dingwu Qi famine has not yet ended. Many families who fled have their fathers or mothers die on the way. The surviving relatives can only continue to move towards the coastal areas with their surviving children.
Go to the immigration recruitment point in the area.
The last 2,000 immigrants were obviously not the ones stranded in Songkhla earlier. Many of them were still wearing shabby autumn clothes from the north of the mainland. Although the weather in Nanyang was hot, they were penniless and had been wearing these clothes.
Ragged commoners may be their only possessions. Until the hunger crisis is resolved, few Chinese are willing to abandon their last possessions.
A thin woman with five children passed by the carriage. There were a family of six. Only two children aged seven or eight were wearing open-footed straw sandals. The middle-aged woman and the remaining three older children were all naked.
Wu Jin couldn't stand it and said to the people around him, "Go, take my warrant and go to the port rice store to borrow a batch of grain to make porridge. Let's make porridge first."