1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 744 New Immigrants

Although the civil affairs department thought very carefully and divided the refugees into three male and one female four-way columns for registration one by one, most of the refugees were illiterate, and the accent differences between the south and the north led to unsmooth communication. Still dragged very slowly.But it is useless to be anxious now. There are very few naturalized civilian cadres from the north available at present, and among them, those who can read and write are even rarer.The existing Guihuamin cadres can only speak half-baked Haihan Mandarin to communicate with the vast majority of refugees from Shandong.

"Name, age, and whether there are any family members here, report them one by one." The Guihuamin cadre in charge of registration repeated these words mechanically.

Every new refugee who arrives here must first register his personal situation, and in the process, identify and eliminate suspicious and dangerous people as much as possible.As the scale of Haihan's recruitment of immigrants in Daming continues to expand, no one can be sure whether Daming's secret service agencies will send people to mix with immigrants again, changing their identities to undercover in areas under Haihan's rule.In addition to some anti-espionage measures taken by the Ministry of Security, the registration work of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at the stage of introducing immigration is also a very important link.Since the Haihan Security Department has Li Qingyang, a former Jinyiwei officer who abandoned the dark side, as a special advisor, the identification ability in the immigration registration stage has been greatly improved. Any token that can covertly prove the identity of the Jinyiwei will not escape the inspection at this stage.

"My name is Sun Zhen, I'm 19 years old, and I'm here alone." A well-built young man reported his name in a daze.

This Sun Zhen stood out among the refugees who were mostly skinny, and the person in charge of the registration couldn't help but look up at him: "Have you ever served in the army or as a errand?"

Sun Zhen shook his head, and stretched out his two palms in front of the staff: "My family is farming in Dengzhou."

The staff looked carefully at the calluses on his palms before continuing to ask: "Are you alone at home?"

Sun Zhen's eyes turned red, and he nodded in response: "Kong Youde's soldiers came to the village to grab food, and I escaped from my family..."

The staff member sighed slightly, and handed him a bamboo card with hemp rope: "This is your identity card, and you are not allowed to take it off when you hang it around your neck. If you want to get food and shelter here, you must rely on this, understand ?"

Sun Zhen also studied in a private school for two years when he was a child, but he didn't know even one of the hot-stamped characters on the bamboo plaque, so he just nodded in a ignorant manner, thinking that this is probably the sea. The characters used by the Han people, right?

Of course, the words on the bamboo sign are not the Haihan characters like the heavenly scriptures, but just Arabic numerals.The first and second digits indicate the immigrant camp, the third and fourth digits indicate the team to which they belong, and the last three digits are the personal number. The seven-digit code is the immigrant’s code name during his stay in Penghu.They have to stay here for at least a month or longer before being assigned to the next real place to stay.

After registration, Sun Zhen followed the people in front into a large bathhouse built of bamboo and wood. There were several large pools of two feet square lined up in a row. The refugees were removed one by one under the command of the staff After taking off their clothes, a team of ten people went down into the water to wash their bodies.

The last time Sun Zhen took a bath was when the fleet was docked at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and he jumped into the river to clean himself briefly. After the journey to Penghu, he was already smelly, so he took off his clothes and went into the pool.But the hygiene requirements of the Haihan people are obviously beyond his imagination. Not only do people in the pool need to wash their bodies, but they also have to take apart their hair bundles and wash them.

But Sun Zhen also felt that it didn't matter, after all, he was comfortable after washing.It wasn't that the staff blew the whistle to make everyone in the pool come out to line up. He really wanted to soak in the water for a while.But when he got out of the pool, he realized that his clothes were gone, and the other people beside him obviously noticed the same situation, and they all panicked and looked around while covering their lower body.

"Don't make a mess! Now the doctor is asking the doctor to examine your body, and after the examination, you will be given new clean clothes to wear!" The staff loudly reprimanded the group of naked refugees.

Sure enough, people in white soon began to check their bodies one by one. Although Sun Zhen felt a little strange and awkward, he still accepted this arrangement.A very small number of people were singled out by the doctor, and some of them tried to refuse this selection, but soon the police in black appeared in the bathhouse and quickly suppressed them.

When Sun Zhen was inspected, the doctor couldn't help asking a question that Sun Zhen had been asked once before: "Have you ever been in the army? Have you practiced martial arts?"

Sun Zhen still shook his head and stretched out his hands, showing his calluses to the doctor: "I am a farmer."

The doctor squeezed his palm, looked at his figure, and couldn't help boasting: "It must be a good move!"

After the inspection, everyone got a set of gray coarse clothes. Although the fabric was not very good, it was clean.However, because Sun Zhen is bigger than others, it looks a bit tight when worn on the body.The Haihan people were very thoughtful, and gave everyone an extra cloth belt for tying their hair.With the sound of the copper whistle, these people were driven out of the bathhouse before they had time to get dressed, because the next group of people had to come in and wash.

"Stand according to the white line drawn on the ground, line up, and now take you to the station!"

As soon as the order from the front fell, Sun Zhen saw a black-clothed policeman holding a stick to "help" the refugees line up.Those who move slowly and unresponsively will get sticks.Sun Zhen hurriedly stood next to the white line on the ground, which is how he lined up on the pier just now. As expected, when the Haihan policemen came to him with shouts and beatings, the stick did not fall on him.

When Sun Zhen was led into the immigration camp on the island, he was indeed taken aback.All the buildings in this camp look exactly the same, they are all box-like houses.Looking along the passage in the camp, I couldn't see where the end was.And everyone in the camp is the same as the newcomers, all dressed in gray coarse cloth,
"Ten people live in each room, and personal belongings for ten people have been prepared in the room. You can pick them up by yourself, and you are not allowed to occupy other people's belongings. Anyone who violates the rules will be put in confinement! Everyone stays in the room, and someone will come here later. I will tell you the rules in the camp, and remember them carefully! If you can’t learn the rules, you will not have a good life in the future!”

The team leader assigned ten people including Sun Zhen to a room, gave a few concise instructions, and then led the team to the next room.Sun Zhen saw that there were only five double-decker wooden beds in this room, and there was not much space left for a small wooden table and two chairs. On the table was an earthen jar filled with water.There is a set of clothes that are the same as what they are wearing on each bed, which seems to be for changing and washing.There is also a large earthenware bowl and chopsticks, which are all their personal belongings.

There wasn't even a cabinet to store personal belongings in the house, but then again, they really didn't have anything of value on them, not even a single piece of silver.The money and belongings on their bodies had already been exchanged for food during the fleeing period. If they hadn't been desperate, how could these people follow a ship of unknown origin south to seek refuge with a group of overseas landlords they had never heard of in order to have a bite of food.

Seeing that the others were still standing still, Sun Zhen went to the window and took a lower berth: "I want this seat." After saying that, he took the large earthenware bowl on the bed and took it out of the pitcher on the table. He poured a bowl of water, sat down on the edge of the bed, and drank it on his own.

Seeing his composure, some bystanders couldn't help reminding: "Brother, the future is uncertain, why are you so relaxed?"

Sun Zhen replied: "The Haihan people said that they would hire people to farm in the south with food and housing. I not only know how to farm, but also do it well. I don't have to worry about starving to death in the future. How can I be so relaxed?"

Another person continued: "When I was on the ship, I heard from the crew that these Haihan people are all strangers from overseas, and their living habits are very different from my Ming Dynasty. I'm afraid they are not so easy to get along with."

Sun Zhendao: "Why one person and two people? If you are a person, you have to eat, and if you want to eat, you have to grow crops. I know how to grow crops, and my boss will naturally give me a bite to eat. When I came here, I said that this side also takes care of the rice, is it possible?" Cash it in, and you'll know later."

While everyone was talking, a man in his thirties came in from the door. He was also dressed in the same gray clothes as them, except that he was wearing a water-blue belt around his waist.After this person came in, he made a circle first, and then introduced himself: "On the next journey, I came here a month earlier than you, and now I am the manager of the second production brigade of the No. [-] battalion. I am here to say something to the new brothers. Let’s talk about the rules in the immigration camp. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask it later, and I will try my best to answer it later.”

Although everyone didn't understand what the title of "the steward of the second production brigade of the No. [-] Battalion" was, but it sounded like there was a semi-official figure in this place, so they all politely called "Cheng steward" Or "Brother Cheng" and ask him to sit down and talk.However, there was obviously nothing in the room that could be brought out to entertain him. In the end, someone brought a bowl and poured a bowl of clear water on the table.

Cheng Lu obviously didn't reject this kind of behavior from the newcomers, and he waited for everyone to complete the cutscene with a smile, before continuing to say: "I was born in Laiyang, Dengzhou, to tell you the truth, before this war, I was considered a young A country gentry with a family property. However, Kong Youde and Li Jiuzheng, two evil stars, had a quarrel in Dengzhou, and all their property was robbed. The whole family almost died in the war. Later, they fled all the way to Huai'an Mansion, and met a nobleman to rescue them. I came to this Penghu all the way. Although I don’t know the origins of everyone, it must be thanks to Kong Youde’s rebellious army that the brothers can gather here.”

Speaking of Kong Youde, the chief culprit, everyone naturally gritted their teeth. If it wasn't for the rebellion of his troops, there would be no sudden chaos in Shandong, and these people present would not have to leave their homes and come to this southern island to live under the fence of others.Even Sun Zhen, who has a straight temper, also cursed a few words bitterly.

This journey obviously has a deep routine, and I waited quietly for everyone to express their emotions before continuing: "It is naturally hateful for Kong Youde's people to poison living beings, but at any rate, the brothers have saved their lives from the chaos of war. Although this place is more I don’t know my hometown, but I can tell my brothers that it’s not a bad thing to work under the Haihan people. If you are interested in listening, I will pick up some things you know and tell the brothers casually.”

"We're new here, so we don't understand anything, so let me tell you about Cheng Guanshi." Naturally, there were curious people who expressed their support for Cheng Lu.

Cheng Lu then said, "The Haihan people are said to be descendants of merchants who went overseas during the Han Dynasty, and their country is thousands of miles away from Daming. Although there are not many Haihan people who came to Daming, they are proficient in business and trade. In a few years, a huge situation has been established in Guangdong. I heard from the crew members who come and go here that the Qiongzhou Island in Guangdong is almost all decided by the Haihan people."

Everyone seemed to have heard of Qiongzhou Island, but everyone was at a loss as to where it was and how big it was.Cheng Lu seemed to have expected this reaction a long time ago, so he continued to explain: "The Qiongzhou Island is located in the sea south of Guangdong and Guangxi, with a radius of about [-] miles. It is the largest island in the Ming Dynasty, with hundreds of thousands of residents. It is a place where convicts are exiled, but it is said that it has become the most prosperous place in the South China Sea. The people on the island are all working for the Haihan people, and it can be called a wonder in the South."

Someone asked: "This Haihan people are so publicized in the local area, aren't they afraid of the government's censure?"

Cheng Lu said with a smile: "If you have money, you can sell ghosts and grind mills. Presumably the local adults have already knelt in front of the Haihan people's golden mountains and silver mountains. The imperial court is far away, and it can't control Qiongzhou Island."

Some quick-witted people had already thought of what was in front of them, and asked, "Then this Penghu Island?"

"The islands within a radius of tens of miles above the sea are all under the jurisdiction of the Haihan people now, and the Fujian government does not interfere with the affairs here." Of course Cheng Lu also knew what this person wanted to ask, and before he could finish his question, The answer was already revealed: "The Haihan people have a great influence in Fujian. The Penghu Islands, the Fujian government has already allowed Haihan to manage them, but they are still under the jurisdiction of Ming Dynasty in name."

"Cheng Guanshi, the Haihan people have spent money and food to bring so many people from the north, and they really plan to let these people farm for them in the south?" Another person raised a question of his own concern.How to survive after coming here is probably the common question of all immigrants who have just arrived in Penghu.

(End of this chapter)