The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

In April, the air in Southeast Asia is thick with a sticky, humid heat.

Although the air conditioning in the conference room was blowing loudly, a fine layer of sweat still seeped from the foreheads of the dozen or so senior cabinet officials present.

At the end of the long conference table, Zhang Chi held a newly delivered urgent report in his hand, his calm expression sending chills down one's spine.

"Are they all mute?"

He threw the report on the table with a sharp "thud".

The sound made the Minister of the Interior shudder, almost dropping his pen.

“Three hundred and eighty thousand!” Zhang Chi pointed to the document, his tone unhurried. “The report clearly states that in April alone, three hundred and eighty thousand Chinese immigrants entered Southeast Asia through official customs channels.”

Three hundred and eighty thousand!

This doesn't even include those who traveled overland from the north, crossing mountains and valleys, nor those who secretly landed on various coastlines in small sampans in the middle of the night.

Many Chinese in Annam even traveled directly overland through the rainforest to enter Southeast Asia from the direction of Siam.

Zhang Chi's eyes narrowed, his imposing presence radiating authority without anger:

Does the Ministry of the Interior have a definite number? How many people are currently crammed into our major cities?

Interior Minister Ma Heng wiped the sweat from his brow and stood up with a pained expression:

"President, it's really impossible to get an exact number."

The Republic of China in the north is now in complete chaos, and the legal tender has collapsed to the point where it's worth less than toilet paper. To survive, ordinary people are desperately dragging their families to come here.

According to conservative estimates, including unregistered residents, the total influx of people this month may exceed 600,000.

Now, not only Yangon, but also Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and even Old Port, all the resettlement sites are overflowing…

The rapid influx of such a large number of new people naturally brought about a host of problems.

Clogged sewers, soaring crime rates, infectious disease risks...

Especially in housing, the rent for a basement of just a few square meters can be driven sky-high.

There were many questions. Zhang Chi tapped the table:

"The arrival of people is a good thing; they are a source of labor and a benefit."

"But if you can't catch it, that's a disaster, a bomb."

He stood up and walked to the huge map of Southeast Asia hanging on the wall.

This map encompasses parts of Bago, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and even parts of the border regions of Chittagong (Sindhu) and Annam.

The vast territory also means that the difficulty of governance increases exponentially.

"The current predicament boils down to one word: housing, which is one of the basic necessities of life: food, clothing, shelter, and transportation."

Zhang Chi turned around, his gaze sweeping over the face of Construction Minister Liu Liangping:

"Old Liu, I've read the report on the pilot project of the tenement buildings and prefabricated slabs that Nanhua Group is doing in Singapore. The results are very good, right?"

This method of building houses like stacking building blocks may be a bit ugly and offer little privacy, but it's fast and cheap!

Even though Zhang Chi, as a time traveler, knew the advantages of tenement buildings and prefabricated slabs, in order to unite most of the senior officials, he still had to first use pilot projects and prove them with tangible results.

As for the lack of privacy...

With only a thin layer of precast concrete slabs, don't expect any sound insulation. If the neighbors do something a little loud, you can hear it in the hallway. But at least it's an apartment building.

After listening to Zhang Chi's words, Minister of Construction Liu Liangping nodded quickly.

He hadn't really believed it before, that a bunch of simple parts could be used to quickly build skyscrapers like building blocks.

Now, his admiration for Commander Zhang Chi's foresight was as boundless as a surging river...

"Yes, Your Majesty, we are preparing to promote this in Yangon and Bangkok..."

“Promotion alone is not enough; we need to go all out and speed things up!” Zhang Chi interrupted him. “However, relying solely on Nanhua Group, we can’t possibly cover the market even if we work ourselves to death.”

I have decided that, starting next month, we will begin to partially lift restrictions on land transfers.

These words immediately caused a stir in the conference room.

It's important to understand that since the founding of Southeast Asia, land policies have been very tight, with land primarily controlled by the state.

“We need to get private capital involved as well.” Zhang Chi’s voice rose eight octaves. “Give opportunities to those Chinese businessmen who have plenty of money but nowhere to invest, and to those capitalists who brought money from the Republic of China.”

Let them buy land, build buildings, and rent them out.

As long as it complies with our city planning and as long as affordable housing can be provided quickly, we'll give them the green light.

Seeing Finance Minister Lim Wen Shu hesitate, Zhang Chi waved his hand, his eyes sharpening.

"However, let me make this clear from the start."

We are opening up land to address people's livelihood issues, not to allow them to engage in speculation and profiteering.

The primary function of land is for habitation.

Houses are for living in, not for speculation.

Local departments must strictly review my application.

Anyone who dares to hoard land without building anything, raise prices on the spot, or only builds luxury homes for the rich while ignoring the needs of those with genuine housing needs, don't blame me for being ruthless.

Efficiency first, people's livelihood first.

Whoever messes up on this issue, I'll strip them of their hat and send them to dig coal in West Borneo!

These words were forceful and carried a murderous intent.

The high-ranking officials felt a chill and quickly jotted down the four characters "Housing is for living in, not for speculation" in their notebooks.

Zhang Chi took a sip of water to moisten his throat.

He then raised the second issue:

"After solving the housing problem, there is still a big problem."

child.

With such rapid industrialization, there are more and more female workers in factories.

It's great that women in Southeast Asia can hold up half the sky.

But here's the problem: dual-income families are everywhere, so when the adults go to work, who takes care of the children?

Left unattended at home, they would either climb on the roof or go fishing in the river, becoming wild children.

This is not only a safety hazard, but also an irresponsible act towards the future.

Zhang Guangsong chimed in at the opportune moment:

"This is indeed a big problem."

Many local departments are now reporting that female workers are too afraid of affecting their attendance rates to take care of their children.

It's dangerous to leave 1- or 2-year-old children at home.

Those 5- or 6-year-old children who are not yet of primary school age are left unsupervised and wander the streets all day; they are easily led astray.

“Therefore, we need to establish kindergartens,” Zhang Chi said firmly, “a large number of affordable kindergartens.”

It should not only be run by the government, but also encouraged to be run by enterprises and communities.

The "factory-within-a-school" model promoted by Nanhua Group is excellent. Adults go to work, children go to school, and they're picked up together after work—it's so convenient.

Education Minister Fu Minglang, a pedantic scholar, pushed up his thick glasses and sighed:

"But the teaching staff..."

"If there aren't enough teachers, we'll train them."

Find women with some education, give them short-term training, and let them start working while learning.

With so many Chinese immigrants coming from the north, there must have been quite a few teachers, or well-educated ladies from prominent families.

Of course, the key is to introduce regulations as soon as possible to standardize the rules and regulations of kindergartens.

The fees shouldn't be too high; there should be a cap so that workers don't have to pay out their wages.

And, most importantly—"

Zhang Chi held up one finger:

"language.

All public kindergartens must use Mandarin Chinese as the medium of instruction.

This is the bottom line, and also the red line.