On May 16, 1691, Dongfang Port, the capital of the East Coast Republic of China, was sunny.

"The population growth rate has been lower than expected in recent years..." Shao Yaoguang, wearing a leather jacket, had just left the restaurant of the Port Authority. Despite the dissuasion of everyone, he insisted on going down to the pier.

The storm on the sea was a bit big, but Shao Yaoguang didn't care. Instead, he bent down and stroked the rough concrete floor of the trench, as if he was remembering something. After a long time, he stood up and said to the officials: "I think my ancestors landed here, overcoming obstacles and all the bumps, and it was very difficult. Look, this steel and concrete trench bridge has become a waste of its old nose. Especially in that era, technology was not as developed as it is now, machines were not popular on a large scale, and everything was all up to people. It was not easy to think about it."

After hearing this, everyone nodded repeatedly. They were also convinced of this trestle. They had to reclaim the sea, transport materials, and construct the cost. The cost was indeed quite high. Speaking of which, it was the ancestors who suffered and laid the foundation. Because even their later expansion of Dongfang Port was based on this foundation, the project volume was quite large at that time, let alone the years after they first landed.

In recent years, there have been calls for the expansion of Dongfang Port three times and to expand this port into a large port that can accommodate hundreds of ships. It is said that it was a very exciting task, but as soon as the capital was moved, the huge cost of project was stopped. The reason given was also very high-sounding, that is, the hydrological conditions near Dongfang Port are not good, and it is easy to silt. The annual dredging cost is huge, so it is not recommended to expand.

Of course, these reasons are obvious, and the real reason is the problem of capital and manpower, especially the latter. The construction of the new capital Luoyang Prefecture is imminent, which will inevitably consume huge manpower and material resources. Shao Yaoguang has already met with several other executive committee members and set the tone, that is, to make every effort to ensure the construction of the new capital. For this reason, a railway from Santa Fe to Luoyang Prefecture and from Shanghai County to Luoyang Prefecture - Yancheng to Luoyang Prefecture also needs to be planned, but the sorting may be slightly lower.

Building a railway undoubtedly requires a lot of labor. In addition to collecting corvee labor in the old district counties, we can only find ways to find ways to get more non-national labor workers! The senior executives of the Executive Committee have discussed this many times, and some people directly suggested that France and Spain are famine now, and Germany is just a pot of porridge, just recruit them from there! There are many people, so it will definitely be easy to get people to survive. The single voyage is only three months, and the cost is low, so how good!

The person who made this suggestion was Chen Ke, the executive committee member in charge of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery. Two others also supported him. The reasons were sufficient and sounded good. However, Shao Yaoguang felt that this matter was unreliable and raised objections and put it aside. He felt that most of the 7.5 million people in the East Coast are Ming people and their descendants from the Far East. If too many Europeans are introduced at once, it will greatly change the composition of the domestic race and may lay hidden dangers for the future. This hidden danger does not mean that they will rebel. This is impossible. The main concern is the chaos caused by culture and thought, and delay the integration of the East Coast ethnic groups.

In response to this view, Executive Committee Qiu Haiyang, who is in charge of science, education, culture, health, religion and ethnic affairs, also expressed his approval. He was the first generation of middle school students who traveled through time. He used to be a commissioner of the administrative office in Yicheng area, and later served as the Minister of Science and Technology. He was an old-fashioned executive committee member and had a great influence. Mr. Qiu believes that now, those who believe in Catholicism in China are basically European immigrants and their descendants, and assimilating them will take time. If too many people come in one go, it may increase the difficulty. Therefore, he does not agree to let too many Europeans immigrate here, and believes that the rhythm of becoming a group of non-nationals every year is just right, no more, no less, just right.

Qiu Haiyang said this, and it was difficult for others to refute him, so the matter was rejected.

However, the labor gap required for road construction and capital construction really exists, and no one can ignore it. Therefore, after careful consideration, Shao Yaoguang came up with a new countermeasure, which is to introduce a large number of refugees from Europe, but not to the local area, but to the Yellow-and-Black Dividing Line in South Africa to settle and reclaim the land and enrich the local population. In addition, colonies such as New China Island and Australia also have quotas to make their empty land somewhat popular. In exchange, the above-mentioned colonies are no longer allowed to intercept immigrants from the Far East to the East Coast at will. Even if immigrants have to stay in the local area for various reasons, they will be repatriated to the local area in the future and cannot settle in the local area.

Of course, this is not enough. Shao Yaoguang also plans to allocate funds to rebuild the Immigration Department's transportation fleet, especially the "sprint champion"-class transport ships specially built for immigrants, to make up for the losses over the years. You should know that in the past ten years, the local government has really slacked off in immigration affairs and has not invested for many years. The huge "sprint champion"-class immigration transport ship that year has shrunk by nearly half due to shipwrecks and retirement factors. In terms of quantity alone, it is even worse than the flute-shaped sailing transport ships and large flying cargo ships that also undertake immigration transportation tasks.

Of course, this is also related to the current situation of the increasingly exhausted source of immigration in the Far East. The situation in mainland China has entered a stalemate. The Denlai and Ningbo vassals have been stable for many years, and people’s willingness to go to sea is not very strong. Even in the Ningshao area, where there are few people and many lands, locals are more willing to immigrate to Denlai, Heishui, Manchuria and Mongolia, and even to the Southeast Ocean to Brunei and Timor Island feels good, rather than going to the east coast, which is thousands of miles away. After all, it is too dangerous and too far from home.

Therefore, under the joint squeeze of these two factors, the central government's money invested in immigration gradually became less and gradually transferred to various local construction projects to calm some people's dissatisfaction with spending huge amounts of money on immigration.

However, Shao Yaoguang obviously did not agree with this view. He was deeply influenced by his father, believing that the East Coast industry has developed to a critical moment, and the demand for the population is getting bigger and bigger. Even if the local population can offset some gaps, it is still a bit insufficient and must be imported from the outside world. Therefore, he planned to increase his investment in the Far East and order a large number of new "sprint champion"-level immigrant ships, and strive to double the number of about 30,000 immigrants who have arrived on the shore every year in a few years - well, this may be a bit difficult, but even if it cannot be doubled, it is good to increase by more than 50%. This time, the Lianwu Management Committee in the south was established and captured a large number of prisoners, which was transported back to the local area in batches and invested in the new land of La Plata. On the one hand, it was built infrastructure, and on the other hand, it settled and reclaimed land, killing two birds with one stone.

Today, Shao Yaoguang came to Dongfanggang Wharf. In fact, the so-called inspection was just a cover. His real purpose was to speak publicly and convey his ideas and will. This was the third major event since he came to power. It has been brewing for several months. Today, I will take this opportunity to publicize it. The policy program should be known to everyone. He is not afraid of debate or arousing opposition. He does some things as long as he should do without hiding it.

"...Sixty years ago, the early immigrants were on the shore of this pier. The arrival of these immigrants injected new strength into the development of our country. We built a series of facilities such as houses, roads, docks, factories, farmlands, reservoirs, etc. through immigration, and built the entire country beautifully. Therefore, I think the nature of our immigrant country will not change, nor should it be changed." Shao Yaoguang said to everyone following him with the sea breeze: "A country can only achieve maximum development only if it is inclusive. Think about the prosperous Tang Dynasty in our country's history, how many foreign talents and external cultures have been absorbed? The noodles we eat, cakes we eat, chairs we sit on, tables we use, etc., which one does not come from the outside world? Even many of the playing instruments we call traditional musical instruments nowadays are now used as traditional musical instruments?

, aren’t it all coming from the Hu people? It is not good for a country to close itself, it is necessary to lag behind! As the saying goes, running water does not rot, the door hinge does not rot, culture needs to be developed, and cannot absorb foreign cultures for its own use. If you always revolve in your so-called traditional small circle, then this culture will easily fall into depravity and dust. I am very confident in our traditional Chinese culture because it is tolerant, profound, and full of vitality. It can assimilate things from other nations, then take its essence to remove its dross, and finally achieve the purpose of innovating, sublimating, and enriching one’s culture. This is something that has been proven countless times in history, and I have no doubt! Therefore, it is very necessary to continue to increase the input of external immigrants, just like constantly adding nutrients to our cultural furnace."

Shao Yaoguang said this and everyone was stunned. They subconsciously felt that the news that had been rumored before was indeed true, and the central government would probably restore its previous investment in immigration. However, the direction of immigration seems to be focused. If there is no accident in the Far East immigration, it will account for an absolute majority, and the number of immigrants from Europe will still be smaller, although it seems easier to obtain it at present.

However, there are reasons why the Far East immigration has gradually decreased over the years. Although there are factors such as poor local investment, the more important reason is the exhaustion of the source of immigration on the other side! Chairman Shao’s new officer took office and wanted to make a fuss about immigration. This is understandable. But are you sure you can get enough immigrant population? Could it be that the central government’s policy to the Far East vassals will undergo new changes? Then this is a big deal!

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Chapter completed!