417 Old Jack’s Suggestions (Part 1)

To explain, the original name of the previous chapter "Our Territory" was "Reception (Part 1)". The name was temporarily changed when it was published. The next chapter "Reception (Part 2)" continued to use it, and the content of the chapters is consistent.

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Compared with the bustle in the two places over there, the third place where people gathered at the banquet was much quieter. Some European businessmen gathered here. Although the number was not large, in terms of financial resources, they were actually the most powerful in the business community of Manila.

A powerful group.

As the largest Spanish colony in Southeast Asia, Manila was originally dominated by white people, and Europeans were the undisputed masters here. Unfortunately, such good days were broken by Qiong Haijun not long ago - and were severely punished by Wang Haiyang and others.

Afterwards, the Europeans were almost completely deprived of their political power. However, in terms of commercial trade, due to their past accumulation, they still occupied a major position in Manila.

Of course, in an environment where the Chinese control the political power, the status of Europeans will gradually be replaced by Chinese businessmen. This trend is very obvious. Many European businessmen lost confidence in the future and evacuated Luzon, but some people still stayed -

-For example, the dozen or so people standing here right now. On the one hand, their roots are all here, and they will have no future if they leave Luzon and return to Europe; on the other hand, among these weird Chinese rulers, there are actually

There was a European, and the way they ruled was completely different from the Ming Dynasty that these Westerners knew, which gave the remaining European businessmen a glimmer of hope.

At this moment, these people are being introduced one by one by Old Jack and Andrew to Professor Li, Tang Jian, Zhao Lide and others. Jack took good care of these people when he was here, and had already told them that he was leaving Manila.

Return to the headquarters. This made the businessmen quite panicked. However, Jack promised to introduce them to the new leader. As for what to do in the future, it depends on their own actions.

It can be imagined that these businessmen were a little frightened when they first entered the Governor's Mansion. However, after they talked with Professor Li for a while under Jack's translation, the old man had a strong scholarly temperament and always smiled.

Their amiable attitude quickly resolved their initial worries. It even greatly reduced the psychological pressure on the businessmen brought by Tang Jian, who was wearing a military uniform next to him - the Qiong Haijun military uniform on Tang Jian was exactly the same as what Wang Haiyang and Beiwei had worn previously.

, and the reputation of those two people among the Europeans in Manila can almost stop children from crying at night.

However, since those European businessmen dared to travel across the ocean and come to Asia to seek opportunities to make money, they were certainly very courageous. Even though the two parties had only just gotten to know each other initially, and neither of them had deep friendships, some businessmen still had the courage to make a request: Can they

Can't Dr. Jack stay here? He has saved many lives here and is deeply loved by everyone.

To this, Professor Li just smiled and replied: Hainan Island also needs Dr. Jack’s superb medical skills. In one sentence, he silenced all those businessmen. In the past, these people might have been arrogant and thought that their white people

Life is more important, but under the current circumstances, even if they are killed, they dare not show this intention.

The conversation between the two parties did not take long. After all, there was a language barrier, and it was too inconvenient to rely entirely on Jack and Andrew to translate. So they just exchanged a few ordinary greetings and gave up. The old man did not make any promises to them, just

Through dialogue, convey the message to the other party that the Qiong Navy is an organization that pays attention to rules and will not do unreasonable things. No matter what race, as long as they are willing to abide by the rules of the Qiong Navy, their life safety, property and

Your career can be protected.

A few businessmen wanted to go further during the conversation and bring the topic to aspects related to actual interests, but the old professor calmly turned away every time - it is too early to talk about this at this stage.

.

After dealing with those businessmen, the old professor, Jack and Ade Tangjian found a relatively secluded place to sit down. They also had some internal matters that needed to be discussed.

…………

"So, my successor has not been completely determined yet?"

Jack played with a homemade cigar in his hand, but did not light it. He just put it under his nose and smelled the smell - he was addicted to cigarettes, but he also had good self-control. As a doctor, he knew where the limit was, and he gave it to himself every day.

It is stipulated that you can only smoke a certain amount. If you exceed the limit, you will just take one out and smell it. You will be addicted to it, but you will never break through.

Zhao Lide nodded helplessly:

"Yes, everyone has their own duties and no one can spare time."

Old Jack shook his head as if he was a little disappointed:

"It's a pity. I thought Xie and Pang's team could come over and replace me."

"They are developing a base in Shandong, which will be the key for us to obtain population resources from the mainland in the future. Most of the troops, personnel, and resources in the current team have been sent there."

Ade responded, and seeing the half-smiling look on Jack's face, he added:

"This place will be managed by a few of us for a period of time: Professor Li will make the decisions on policies and major policies; Captain Tang will be in charge of the military; I will be in charge of daily management and intelligence investigation; and Julie will be in charge of the economy..."

Jack still smiled. This lineup is actually very luxurious. It can be said that the core members of their group have gathered here, so it cannot be said that the collective does not pay attention to Manila. However, if it were not for the fact that there are always some people in the team

If he is always obsessed with Huayi defense and is always wary of him, a foreigner, and the European team behind him, there is actually no need to move the entire central leadership here in Manila. This is something that everyone here knows

It is the understanding of the heart.

"Okay, then as the previous manager, I think I have an obligation to introduce the situation here to my successor..."

After that, Old Jack spent some time giving a general introduction to the current political and economic situation in Manila - just a very rough introduction. More detailed information is all implemented in text and needs to be gradually handed over in the next few days. However,

The content discussed at the moment plays a key role in providing an outline.

Jack particularly emphasized the military threat:

"According to some unreliable intelligence, the Spanish are concentrating their warships in the Americas, while the Dutch East India Company is drawing warships from Europe... Recently, many Europeans have been inquiring around the Manila port and city.

There are sailors and of course locals too, and there are more of them.”

"Why not arrest him?"

Tang Jian immediately questioned, Jack glanced at him and smiled:

"There are not enough manpower - I can only command one company of armed personnel here, and no auxiliary paramilitary force has been established. According to the order of the committee, those prisoners of war can only perform non-military tasks."

This sentence made both Tang Jian and Zhao Lide look embarrassed - their habit is to use prisoners of war and former military personnel as much as possible to establish auxiliary military forces such as "urban management" every time they occupy a place.

As a supplement to the regular army. But here in Manila, the committee specifically requested not to do this - the prisoners of war and former military personnel here are Westerners, and weapons cannot be issued to them.

Old Jack complied with the committee's request, so so far he only has a local Chinese company left by Wang Haiyang, plus the hospital escort brought from Hainan Island - the latter can be regarded as his personal guard, and it is also the only complete company in Manila.

A military force equipped with advanced weapons such as Qionghai rifles and grenades. In addition, almost all the navy was transferred to the mainland during this period. If the Europeans took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, Old Jack's side would be really in danger.

"Leave this matter to me."

It’s hard to talk about this kind of topic, so Ade quickly took over the responsibility. Tang Jian also coughed and said a little embarrassedly:

"As for the military aspect, we must ensure the safety here. This time we brought the Qionghai here, which means we plan to use her to scare the secret enemies before the main force of the navy returns from Shandong."

Jack nodded and did not dwell on this topic any further. Anyway, as long as the Qionghai is here, the city of Manila will be as stable as a rock even without a single soldier.

There was an awkward silence between the two parties for a moment, and the old professor who had been listening attentively finally spoke:

"So, Jack, do you have any good suggestions for us regarding the future development direction of Manila City?"

This sentence made Jack change his always casual sitting posture, put his hands on his knees, and became serious:

"Since this topic has been asked, Professor, Captain Tang, and Xiao Zhao... I do have some things that I want to talk to my colleagues on the committee. Although we have tried to avoid it in the past, there are some things that don't seem to be relied upon.

It can be solved by avoiding it.”

The three people across from each other looked at each other, and their expressions turned serious. Old Jack was easy-going on the surface, but he had a PhD in psychology. He didn't say many things, but he understood it very well in his heart.

"First of all, I want to know, what are the plans of the committee, or most of us in this group, for Southeast Asia? Do we intend to include this area under our control in the future?"

"Of course, there is no doubt about that."

Ade responded without thinking, and Jack nodded:

"So, how does the committee view the European colonists who have already established themselves here? Are they purely regarded as competitors and do they want to be driven away completely?"

This time Zhao Lide thought for a moment before nodding and saying:

"I'm afraid that's the case. We won't be able to gain a foothold here unless we drive away those colonists."

Jack smiled slightly and gently shook his fingers to express his disapproval:

"If Jie or Pang were here, I believe they would not give such an answer - very simple, if they had adopted such an approach, they would never have been able to control a city with more than thirty people, and they would have been disgraced long ago.

Liu Liu is back in a hurry."

"The situation in Qiongzhou Prefecture is different..."

Ade tried to argue, but then realized that he seemed to have fallen into the foreigner's language trap, and immediately shut up.

And Jack smiled quite proudly:

"Different? Well, there is only one difference - there is a Chinese community there, and except for me, a foreigner, all of our group are Chinese, so we dare to trust the locals, right?"

Seeing that the three people opposite him were silent and had expressions of acquiescence on their faces, Jack threw the cigar in his hand on the table and laughed:

"If the committee has the same idea about Southeast Asia, then I suggest that it is best to fortify Manila City and station heavy troops here - because this is already the limit of our expansion. What our group will establish in the future,
Chapter completed!