Chapter 417 - Digestion

Chen Haiyang nodded and had someone receive the delegation. As was customary, he offered words of encouragement and reassurance before Shi Shisi stepped forward to present the gifts. These had been specially selected from each family's treasures for today's ceremony: a pair of exquisite Japanese katanas, a pair of flawless white Hetian jade lions, a wine set consisting of a gold-inlaid jeweled ewer with four gold-trimmed jade cups, and finally, a lacquered box containing fifty small gold ingots, each weighing one tael.

Chen Haiyang cast a brief appraising glance over the offerings. These pirates certainly have substantial resources, he thought.

Yet he had already heard complaints from the sailors who'd arrived earlier—many hadn't been paid in one or two months. It seemed that while there was never money for the common crews, the leaders' personal coffers remained quite full.

Since the gifts had been publicly presented as a symbol of submission, Chen Haiyang naturally accepted them. He ordered them received and handed over to the Planning Commission for inventory and storage.

After the formalities, Chen Haiyang scrutinized the men before him. "Since you leaders have come to serve Lingao," he said slowly, "you are now people of Australia. From this day forward, we are one family. 'Working together with one heart' is not merely words—it must be achieved in truth. Do you understand?"

"Yes, we little ones understand!" Shi Shisi felt sweat prickling down his back.

A smile spread across Chen Haiyang's face. "Please proceed to the Commercial Hall for a banquet, leaders. A reception to wash the dust of the road from you."

With the ceremony concluded, Lin Baiguang led the leaders to the cafeteria in Bopu, where a welcome banquet awaited. As for the men, women, elderly, and children aboard the ships, staff from Yang He's Quarantine Camp came to count heads and compile a roster before leading them away for "purification" and meals. The inventory of materials posed a more delicate matter—since private property remained aboard, the Planning Commission refrained from boarding the vessels to tally supplies, posting guards at each gangway instead.

Eighty seagoing vessels of various sizes now crowded the harbor. The smallest were large sampans capable of carrying twenty-odd passengers; the largest reached over four hundred tons. All were Guang ships and Fu ships common to these waters.

With the Navy gaining so many vessels, not only would their maritime military strength increase dramatically, but the chronic shortage of shipping capacity could finally be addressed. The awkward practice of using warships as transport vessels would at last be relieved.

Even before the reception banquet ended, Chen Haiyang had begun planning the distribution of these ships at the Naval Department. The miscellany of vessels now under their command demanded a comprehensive reorganization plan.

But the matter was far from simple. These ships remained, technically, the private property of their leaders. Their defection had not been unconditional surrender but rather a form of "joint venture." As Chairman of the Board, one couldn't simply strip shareholders of their means of production at will. Doing so would ensure that no one would ever "join the venture" in the future.

In terms of raw power, the pirate leaders now stood at an absolute disadvantage—resistance or flight had become impossible. But winning hearts was a long and arduous undertaking.

What the Transmigrators sought was "absorption," not "alliance." This keynote served as the fundamental principle for integrating natives into the Crossing Group, which meant granting them the status of allies was never considered.

This batch of defecting pirates were neither prisoners of war stripped of everything nor desperate refugees, but an organized, established armed gang.

To completely absorb them would require overcoming the leaders' natural resistance. Such organizations possessed a strong sense of private ownership—everyone regarded ships and sailors as personal property. The question of how to "reform" this entrenched pirate structure thus became an urgent priority.

"Little Wei, this task falls to you," Ma Qianzhu said in his office. "Use that brain of yours and help us digest this force of over a thousand without getting indigestion. Understood?"

"Yes, General Secretary Ma. Leave this matter to me." Wei Aiwen brimmed with confidence.

Wei Aiwen's absorption strategy was thoroughly traditional. In essence: "Reassure the upper level, win over the middle level, and strive for the lower level."

The most crucial element was winning over the lower ranks. They were numerous and had always been neglected when benefits were distributed. They shared no great common interests with the leaders and likely harbored many grievances. Winning them over would be comparatively straightforward.

Once the lower ranks were secured, the middle-level elements would become fence-sitters, and the upper-level elements—even those with complaints—would find themselves unable to resist after losing their grassroots support. At that point, whether to treat them well as examples or to "humanely dispose" of them would be entirely at the Transmigrators' discretion.

As for the upper-level elements themselves, Wei Aiwen believed they too could be differentiated. The leaders' demands were not uniform. In his report submitted immediately after landing, Lin Baiguang had noted that the leadership's aspirations currently diverged: someone like Fatty Hu wanted to find a comfortable nest and enjoy a peaceful retirement; Lin Dan was anxious to locate his wife and children; Shi Shisi wanted to climb this great tree and continue making money...

"We divide and conquer, and we can absorb them swiftly," Wei Aiwen explained to Ma Qianzhu.

"You have full authority over this matter. That includes Ren Fu and He Xin's group—put effort into them as well. We lack ships, and we lack sailors even more. We need to win over the crews and the technical specialists among them as quickly as possible."

"There's also the issue of how to compensate the leaders," Wei Aiwen hesitated. "This too requires resolution. The sailors are simple enough—they can receive the same provisions as Navy soldiers. But what about the bosses?"

The Crossing Group had already implemented a worker classification and technical grade system among the natives, but for administrative personnel and Army and Navy soldiers, they still employed communist-style supply systems. Officers and administrators received only slightly more allowance—nothing dramatically different from ordinary soldiers and workers.

"Don't concern yourself with that for now; the Executive Committee needs to consider it." Ma Qianzhu recalled how the administrative rank system he'd proposed at the meeting had been shot down. "We're in a favorable position now. What treatment do you assign this group?"

First was the issue of salary. They hadn't relied on pay under Zhu Cailao—robbery and trade had been their sources of income...

At this thought, Ma Qianzhu's eyes lit up. Exactly! Forcing them to become Navy captains or fleet commanders living on salaries would result in low enthusiasm and endless complaints. Better to let them play to their strengths and ply their old trade.

"Their place isn't in the Naval Department—it's in the Foreign Business Committee!"

He sat down and began drafting a proposal for handling this group.

That evening, the Executive Committee convened. Ma Qianzhu presented his views and ideas.

"This proposal has merit. Otherwise, this group would be quite troublesome to manage. And having them lead troops might not be reliable anyway."

"Yes, let them do what they know best."

Someone proposed reconsidering the establishment of the "Southeast Asian Company." This concept had been envisioned by the Executive Committee for some time. Its purpose was to conduct direct maritime trade with Southeast Asia, obtain agricultural, forestry, and mineral resources, and eventually—as their strength grew—undertake colonial expansion. In nature, it resembled the East India Company.

However, the idea had been shelved because the Naval Department lacked ships suitable for long voyages and personnel familiar with the field. Now, having these leaders who had served under the great sea merchant Zhu Cailao take on this role seemed perfectly suited.

"In the past, we didn't have enough ships, and we feared that if conflicts arose locally, we wouldn't be able to protect ourselves with few men and vessels," Ma Qianzhu said. "But now, with this new force joining us, the conditions for direct trade in Southeast Asia are ripe."

Li Haiyang grew animated. "When necessary, we could even have them conduct privateering in local waters. Strike at European trade there."

"It's not time for that," Wen Desi objected. "Privateering breeds enmity. Our presence in Southeast Asia remains a blank slate—we shouldn't take such action before establishing a foothold. The Dutch, Spanish, and English are not to be trifled with. In a genuine conflict, with no base of operations, we could easily be defeated. Besides, privateering is a form of piracy. This group is already half-merchant, half-pirate. If they taste the sweetness of robbery and simply become pirates in Southeast Asian waters, we may lose control of them. That would mean endless trouble."

Wen Desi continued: "Whether privateering or pioneering colonies, we shouldn't attempt either until we have the capability to genuinely intervene in Southeast Asian affairs. For now, we simply ensure the safety of our own trade."

In Wen Desi's conception, the Southeast Asian Company's ships would travel in convoy formation. Every voyage would form a large escort fleet—similar to the annual maritime circuit trade the Venetians had conducted in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Such a substantial fleet, with sufficient personnel and military force, would be capable of self-protection during voyages. Neither Europeans nor other maritime groups would pose a serious concern.

"We in the Navy don't understand trade matters," Chen Haiyang said. "I simply want to know: what is the Executive Committee's attitude toward their personnel and ships? Do we allow them to retain their original units and command structure, or do we disband and reorganize completely?"

"Beiping-style retention of units," Ma Qianzhu replied.

This meant nominally retaining the units while actually stripping the leaders of control over their original personnel through infiltration and structural adjustments.

"According to the roster figures and verification results from the Quarantine Camp," Wu De opened his folder, "there are a total of 1,803 people. Among them, 230 are women, children, and elderly over fifty. In reality, on average, each ship has fewer than twenty sailors."

Obviously, even counting women, children, and elderly, and excluding the small vessels that required only a few crew, they were seriously short of manpower.

"So, to get these ships running again, we must supplement the crews." Wu De consulted the Planning Commission's ship inventory list. "Excluding small sampans and the like, at least 1,500 more people need to be added for these ships to operate at full capacity."

(End of Chapter)