Chapter 2356: The Lonely Tang Menglong

Sanya's declining status was also reflected in the choice of mayor. Previously, Wang Luobin had served here. After Wang Luobin was transferred back to Lingao to become Chairman of the Senate, Tang Menglong had taken over.

Of course, Tang Menglong had been the first Senator to leave Lingao and serve as a regional leader—albeit governing just a coal mine. By that measure, his qualifications were quite senior. However, at the Senate level, he hadn't held any particularly important positions since leaving the Jiazi Coal Mine. Before assuming the mayorship of Sanya, his resume consisted only of serving as County Director of several counties in Hainan. He could be said to have experience as a local chief executive, but these were all small, sparsely populated counties with almost no industry or commerce. The so-called County Director position involved little work and no construction tasks. Naturally, Tang Menglong hadn't accumulated any noteworthy political achievements either.

With him serving as Mayor of Sanya, one could readily imagine Sanya's actual status within the Senate.

"Old Tang himself must be depressed enough," Xu Yanliang thought to himself. By any measure of his qualifications, he could have gone to Guangdong to coast as mayor of a prefecture-level city. Instead, he'd ended up here guarding the blue sky and sea. Who knew how long this title of "Special City" could last.

But then again, if it were really a desirable place, the Nanyang Company probably couldn't stay either.

Xu Yanliang somewhat understood the psychology of Zhou and the others. Whether in Lingao or Guangzhou, they would be just one of countless departments and enterprises competing for resources. There might not be many benefits, but being constantly watched through a magnifying glass was certain.

Coming to Sanya meant somewhat jumping out of the Three Realms and not being bound by the Five Elements. A vast world where much could be accomplished.

Moreover, Sanya had another advantage: infrastructure. Because it had been designated as a "Special City" back then and was essentially a blank slate, its infrastructure, while not comparable to Lingao's, was much better than other Hainan counties.

Furthermore, there were preferential tax policies here. Many merchants with long-term trade relationships with the Senate had set up "branch companies" or established separate signboards and branches locally to avoid taxes. Though most of these "branches" were little more than an office and a sign, as long as there was profit to be had, these shell institutions would eventually become "entities."

The key was how to attract these wealthy people to Sanya.

Xu Yanliang was lost in thought when the guard beside him whispered: "Director Xu, Mayor Tang has arrived."

Looking up, Xu Yanliang saw a modified Daihatsu boat approaching Anleyou Pier from the entrance of Dadonghai Bay, Tang Menglong's Senator flag fluttering from its mast.

"He's certainly taking his time," Xu Yanliang thought. He recalled someone roasting Tang Menglong for having served as a local chief executive for several years without producing many political achievements—but producing quite a few children. Almost enough to form a squad.

Still, having such a local leader was useful; at least he would be relatively easy to cooperate with. A strong-willed, opinionated one would have made things harder for the Nanyang Company in Sanya.

With such thoughts, he descended from the tower and waited at the pier for this Marquis of a Hundred Li.

Though this Sanya Mayor was getting on in years, he had kept his figure well. He stepped down from the small boat quite nimbly and approached, waving enthusiastically the whole way.

"Director Xu!"

Xu Yanliang hurried forward to greet him, and the two clasped hands tightly. Anyone watching might have thought they were comrades long separated; in reality, they were mere nodding acquaintances in the Senate. Had they not crossed paths once at a Senate General Assembly, they would have been complete strangers.

For Tang Menglong, since the Tiandu Mine had gotten on track, Sanya had become a corner forgotten by the Senate. Even the Navy Senator stationed in Yulin had been transferred away. Except for the occasional technician Senator who came to fix mechanical problems, there wasn't a second Senator to be found in all of Sanya.

Naturalized citizens, of course, were plentiful. Among them were quite a few "sensible" and "interesting" ones. But they were residents of this spacetime after all—they knew very little about the Senators' experiences, thoughts, and culture, let alone being able to converse freely and contentedly.

It was fine when handling government affairs, but once free, the boredom was explosive.

He was tired of the beautiful scenery of Sanya Bay and Dadonghai. He had drunk too much coconut water. As for women—Tang Menglong had once fantasized about having three wives and four concubines, but only after actually having them did he realize it wasn't so wonderful. With the growing number of maids and children, family conflicts had multiplied daily. Just thinking about his four maids and seven "Calabash Brothers" left behind in Lingao gave him a headache. So now he had become rather "Buddhist" about food and sex.

With a Senator finally arriving—and the prospect of quite a few more being stationed here—Tang Menglong's enthusiasm was understandable.

"I'm so happy your company chose Sanya as a base," Tang Menglong laughed. "I've truly dreamed of you all coming."

"Surely not that exaggerated?" Xu Yanliang was somewhat surprised by his enthusiasm. "This is a Special City—isn't it normal for our company to come looking for development opportunities?"

"Everyone's anxious to go to the mainland right now. Who still remembers there's a Special City here?" Tang Menglong shook his head repeatedly, looking lonely. "Come, let me show you around."

Xu Yanliang agreed readily. Though he had learned much about Sanya's specific situation from materials, seeing it with his own eyes was better. Besides, declining the local landlord's hospitality wouldn't do.

"Where you're standing is Anleyou Pier—now the dedicated export pier of the Tiandu Mining Bureau." Tang Menglong waved his arms around as he spoke. "Honestly, having such a thing on the shore of Dadonghai is quite a scenery-killer."

The small town of Anleyou had long since changed beyond recognition—this was now the location of the Mining Bureau's pier management department. Rows of red brick houses served as offices and dormitories. Huge silos and various loading and unloading machines lined the pier. The vast stockyard was piled with iron ore and other minerals and stones screened from the ore processing plant.

Like all similar mineral terminals, dust filled the air, black grime and sewage everywhere. More than a dozen steam engines tirelessly spewed black smoke and white steam. Xu Yanliang had already gotten a full taste of the pollution from the observation tower.

"It's nothing. When the Tiandu iron ore is exhausted, this will naturally transform into a resort area with hotels," Xu Yanliang said. "In any case, this is the steel industry's lifeline."

"The environment here is too poor. Let's cross the sea to Yulin Fortress opposite."

The two immediately boarded the traffic boat and crossed Dadonghai. Xu Yanliang noticed few ships at Anleyou Pier—mostly vessels loading ore—and asked about it.

"There's no local production here, and not much business to be done. Where would ships come from?" Tang Menglong said. "Iron ore is the biggest export."

They soon reached Yulin Fortress. The fortress had undergone large-scale expansion during Sanya's development and was now a defensive complex with two walls, ten bastions, and twelve towers. Designed to house a full-strength infantry battalion, it was currently the Army's largest military base in southern Hainan.

The battalion commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion stationed at Yulin Fortress was already waiting to welcome Xu Yanliang at the gate. Normally when a Senator arrived, the garrison would have customary ceremonies like "inspections" and "reviews," but Xu Yanliang had notified them in advance to skip these. So only the garrison battalion commander and main officers came out to greet him.

Xu Yanliang accepted their respects, exchanged a few polite words, and inquired about the local garrison situation. The 2nd Infantry Battalion commander was the garrison commander here.

The garrison battalion commander had been transferred here during the "military expansion and reorganization" shortly before the Mainland Campaign. This reorganization had replaced more than eighty percent of the 2nd Battalion's veterans, so it was essentially a brand new team now.

"...Only the Light Infantry Company is still composed mostly of veterans; the others are basically recruits. The veterans have all been promoted to sergeants," the battalion commander reported.

"How is local security?"

"No large-scale battles—mainly counter-insurgency operations."

Many Li villages were scattered across southern Hainan, some quite close to Tiandu. Though many villages had been gradually "registered and incorporated as citizens" through missionary work, trade, recruitment, and medical outreach, small-scale disturbances were still common. Each time, the 2nd Battalion had to mobilize.

"...In the early years, riots were very common. The Tiandu Mine itself was attacked multiple times, and lone workers were killed and robbed. The situation has improved considerably in recent years," the battalion commander said. "There have also been several slave riots locally, but the scale was limited, and all were suppressed."

"That's good." Security was naturally Xu Yanliang's primary concern. A question suddenly occurred to him. "Are there pirate harassments here?"

"Not in recent years," the battalion commander said. "The Coast Guard would know more about pirate harassment of ships specifically. But there haven't been any landing battles by pirates."

"Coast Guard—is there no Navy stationed here?"

"There's a Special Service Boat Squadron stationed at Luhuitou Base, plus a local Coast Guard Patrol Boat Squadron. Currently, both are under the Navy Commander's authority."

Another sign of Sanya's declining status was that the Navy had lost interest in the place. Back then, both Army and Navy had competed fiercely for military dominance in Yulin. The Navy had also formulated a quite ambitious Yulin Port Naval Construction Plan—things like a Nanyang Fleet, a Naval Petty Officer School... They had even planned to relocate the Navy General Hospital here, and Senator Hong had once wanted to build a joint logistics sanitarium.

Naturally, these remained just plans.

Tang Menglong took him around Yulin Fortress. The coastal plain area of Dadonghai was very small. Except for Anleyou City and Yulin Fortress, there were no large settlements—just several fishing villages and a few camps used for "purifying" laborers. It was quite desolate.

"Where's the industry here?" Xu Yanliang asked.

"Industry and commerce are all over in Sanya," Tang Menglong said. "There's too little land here for construction."

(End of Chapter)