Chapter 44: The Aftermath

The Nanhai Experimental Farm had a small residential area, built by the Agriculture Committee for its naturalized citizen workers. They were standard dormitories constructed by the General Construction Company, similar to old-fashioned “tube buildings.” Wu Nanhai and a few other Transmigrators who worked for the Agriculture Committee had partitioned off a small plot of land on one side of this residential area and built the Agriculture Committee’s Transmigrator dormitories.

The exterior of the Agriculture Committee’s apartments resembled the residential buildings of the 1980s, but they were only two stories high. The structure was similar to a row of townhouses, with each row having eight units, each with two floors and a small courtyard. The area ranged from 80 to 120 square meters.

Wu Nanhai had applied for a large unit and, after a lottery, ended up in Building 4, Unit 404. The entire “villa” had a layout of four bedrooms, one living room, two bathrooms, and one kitchen, with a usable area of 120 square meters. The interior walls were simply painted with white lime. The living room and bedroom floors were laid with bamboo flooring, while the bathroom and kitchen floors were tiled. The bathroom fixtures were a blue and white porcelain set that Wu Nanhai had chosen according to his own taste. The kitchen was equipped with a multi-burner stove. All of this was uniformly decorated by the General Office. The furniture and soft furnishings were configured by the Transmigrators themselves according to their personal preferences. To ensure the safety of the Transmigrators, these apartments, like those in Bairen New City, had an electricity supply, with electric lights and power outlets.

Wu Nanhai’s home was decorated in a completely traditional style. A large, south-facing room on the second floor was Wu Nanhai’s master bedroom. A Huali wood canopy bed with pendant posts stood at the far end of the room. Beside the bed were three large official’s chests stacked five high. A Huanghuali wood clothes rack was used for hanging clothes, and a Chinese-style dressing table was placed against the wall, with a large Lingao-produced glass mirror embedded in it. In the middle of the room was a flat-topped table, on which sat a mechanical alarm clock bought from Taobao. These, along with two round stools, were all the furnishings in the master bedroom. Wu Nanhai had bought these pieces of furniture from the Planning Commission’s spoils of war warehouse. Most of them were spoils from various battles. For example, the canopy bed was said to have been taken from a wealthy family in Sanliang Market, Guangdong, during the Pearl River Delta campaign. The official’s chests and clothes rack were seized during the pacification campaign on Hainan Island. For the distribution of these suites, the Planning Commission had specially sorted out a batch of furniture from the warehouse and held a unified auction for the Transmigrators.

Because there were rumors that the previous owners of this furniture had all been killed, not many people were actually willing to buy it.

In addition to the issue of usage habits, more people still preferred modern furniture. But purchasing modern furniture required at least a six-month advance order, and due to the priority production tasks of the “Engine Project,” the specific delivery date was far off. Wu Nanhai, being a believer, was not too concerned about these things. He also liked this “retro” style, so he bought them cheaply to decorate his apartment.

After washing up in the bathroom, Wu Nanhai went to the living room and sat down in an armchair, taking a sip of the light tea from the square table. On the table were the publications subscribed to for every Transmigrator by the Propaganda Department. Normally, there was only the Lingao Times. But since it was Monday, there were also the weekly internal publications: Weekly Bulletin and Morning Star. These were the most important “two publications and one newspaper” of the Lingao propaganda machine. Among them, Morning Star, a theoretical journal, was restricted to Transmigrator readership only and was considered classified material, not to be circulated. Weekly Bulletin, on the other hand, was open to high-level naturalized citizen readership.

Wu Nanhai opened the Weekly Bulletin. Besides publishing the Senate’s current proposals and topics, the Executive Committee’s work plans, projects, and execution progress, this publication also contained a compilation of important current events from the areas under the Senate’s rule, the Ming Dynasty, and other parts of East Asia.

He skipped over the series of reports on the recent Operation Overlord; the final installment was published today. He wasn’t very interested in military matters. His eyes fell on the appendix, which was the latest inventory of spoils compiled by the Planning Commission:

“…In the entire Operation Overlord, a total of 340,000 shi of grain, 1.1 million taels of silver and silver products of various purities, 21,000 taels of gold and gold products, 40 standard 50-liter transport boxes of various jewels and valuables, 10,000 bolts of silk, 5,000 dan of raw silk, and 3,000 dan of aged raw silk were seized. Also seized were 10,000 dan of various spices, 55,000 pieces of porcelain, 30,000 bolts of cotton cloth, 2,000 bolts of woolen cloth, and countless miscellaneous goods, the specific types and quantities of which are currently being inventoried.”

“Seized cannons, cannonballs, firearms, swords, and spears amounted to 280,000 jin, and another 150,000 jin of various metal materials such as copper, iron, and lead were also seized…”

The Planning Commission had struck it rich this time, Wu Nanhai thought. If the newspaper hadn’t said that the Zhongzuosuo docks were burned down, the spoils would probably have been even greater. The shortage of money and materials since the start of the “Engine Project” should be greatly alleviated. His long-pending application for the purchase of large agricultural machinery could finally be approved.

However, at least a large number of people had been captured. These people, taken from Fujian, could be used to populate Kaohsiung. The climate and environment of Taiwan were, after all, difficult for the northern refugees to adapt to. Appropriately supplementing the population with Southern Min people who could adapt to the environment would be beneficial to the development of the Taiwan Development Group. Wu Nanhai knew that the Executive Committee had high hopes for the agricultural development of the Tainan area and was determined to develop the Tainan Plain into a major granary for the Senate. He had to achieve some results. But the population loss in Tainan was too great. The northern population was not accustomed to the climate and environment of Tainan. Although strict disease control measures had been implemented, the mortality and morbidity rates of the immigrants in the development of Kaohsiung were still very high. Now, with these tens of thousands of Southern Min people, it should be a great help to the agricultural development of Tainan.

Although the “two publications” did not have many pages, they contained a great deal of information. Wu Nanhai only browsed through them briefly before breakfast to get a general idea of the situation. He would read and study them in detail at night when it was quiet. He then picked up today’s Lingao Daily.

The layout of the Lingao Times was becoming more and more professional. Each newspaper was a large sheet, with a total of 10 pages. The Lingao Times had already abolished the internal and external editions. The content of the pages was biased towards editorials, policy propaganda, and popular science. Today’s front-page news was a long report on Operation Overlord, “Pacifying the Seas and Calming the Waves,” with a banner headline in the largest font size. Beside it, in bold, was a special commentary article, “Establishing a New Maritime Order, Promoting Great Economic Development.”

Wu Nanhai had no intention of reading it closely. He had already read the content of the report in the Weekly Bulletin. In terms of detail, it was more comprehensive and closer to the real situation than this long report. He turned to the B section. The main part was a commentary article written under the pseudonym “Heroine Yao Long”—that is, Du Wen—affirming the Jeju Island model. The entire article was full of affirmation and praise for the Jeju model. Compared to Du Wen’s usual lengthy criticisms, this editorial was truly a rare sight.

Below it was a “Character Profile: The Heroic Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi.”

Reported by Lingao Times intern reporter Ge Sanpang.

Today was the day of the attack on Zhongzuosuo. The sun was bright on the sea, and the wind was strong and the waves were high. Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi, the eternal helmsman of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, insisted on landing with the marines to personally command the battle. Hearing this news, the commanders of the expeditionary force were alarmed and did not know what to do. They all tried to dissuade him, saying that the waves were particularly rough and that landing by boat was risky. But Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi said heroically, “I love sitting in our marines’ landing craft the most. You say the waves are rough and that charging ashore by boat is difficult. But in fact, a charge that does not fear hardship and danger can truly reflect the blood and courage of our marines. As the commander of the First Expeditionary Force, I should fight alongside the marines.” He said that he wanted to go deep among the broad masses of marines and become one with them, and that there was no need to worry, and to set sail. Hearing this, the commanders, with tears in their eyes, looked at Chief Shi with reverence and secretly resolved to capture Zhongzuosuo.

Thus, Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi boarded a landing craft and charged into the turbulent sea…

“Look! How fast our marines are progressing, their faces are all new…”

“Our navy’s combat readiness is second to none,” Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi said, standing on the swaying, wave-splashed deck, watching the departure of the First Expeditionary Force with satisfaction. He continued to stand on the deck, talking with the reporters and pointing out the programmatic guidelines for the further development of the marines’ military strength to the accompanying commanders.

At this moment, a huge, terrifying wave came, so powerful that it seemed as if it would swallow the small boat. The commanders earnestly asked Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi to quickly sit down. But he remained standing, holding his command sword like a spear, nailed to the deck. He said, “Don’t worry about me, just continue sailing.” The people on the boat looked at the lieutenant colonel’s pine-like back with admiration, and their eyes couldn’t help but moisten again. Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi said that to understand the life of the expeditionary force, one must come to the sea and see how they fight against the turbulent waves.

The waves grew higher, and the wind grew stronger. The waves crashed against the craft, and the boat rocked violently. Even the well-trained marines found it difficult to stand. Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi’s clothes were soaked by the splashing waves, but he remained unmoved. At this moment, he was the stabilizing force of the First Expeditionary Force.

Closer, as the landing craft approached the beach, Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi gave the order for the First Expeditionary Force to disembark. At this time, the Fubo Army military reporters were the first to jump off the boat. They carried their cameras, ready to record the moving scene of Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi wading ashore. Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi, with a pipe in his mouth and a command sword at his waist, strode forward with his head held high, the seawater rising above his knees… What an exciting scene! The photographers did not miss the opportunity to capture this moving moment. It was only a few dozen steps from the landing craft to the shore, but Lieutenant Colonel Shi Zhiqi’s heart was filled with emotion. “Although I only took a few dozen steps to reach the land, these few dozen steps are the most meaningful steps of my life. When I finished these few dozen steps and stood on the beach, I knew that the First Marine Expeditionary Force was invincible. We have come to strike the enemies of the Senate, because on the bodies of the enemies there, shines the glorious insignia of the First Expeditionary Force!”

“Are the people in the propaganda department all graduates of the North Korean Propaganda Academy!” Wu Nanhai put down the newspaper, feeling tasteless.