1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 132 The troubles of happiness

The time has come to mid-February in 1636, and the annoying rainy days will come uninvited every six or seven days, or even two or three days, and once again shroud the wet earth in boundless rain.

After more than ten days of investigation, there were nearly a thousand people in Jianye City and Heishanbao, and nearly two people were diagnosed, both of whom were immigrants from Heishanbaoming.They were isolated alone in a temporary wooden house outside Montenegro, waiting for their fate.Either die slowly inside, or walk out of the cabin with a pockmarked face.

But what is disappointing is that they all died in the end. At the same time, three of the isolated indigenous people died one after another, and all the close contacts fell ill.Not only that, the guards drove the aborigines to produce more than 20 suspected infections and contacts, all of whom were isolated in another temporary wooden house.

Peng Laogui led Ding Chuangen and a few aborigines to carry out the vaccinia vaccination experiment, which is still under observation, and it will take some time before it will be successful.

When the two places in Hanzhou were nervously investigating and isolating smallpox patients, "Polang 1" returned to Jianye City from Batavia with more than 70 immigrants.

In addition to bringing back the immigrants, Dong Fengshan also brought back a piece of news that surprised Jianye City, but also troubled him.More than 1000 immigrants were stranded in Batavia, and Cao Xiong and the others bought two large ships from the Dutch.Then, when they return from Daming, excluding Zhou Yingping's Fuchuan, there will be six ships carrying immigrants.It is conservatively estimated that more than 500 to [-] immigrants will be brought back.

"Then our house seems not enough?" Yu Fukun murmured.

"It's not just a house, there's not enough food!" Qi Tian said.

At that time, the population of Hanzhou will reach more than 100 people, plus seven or eight hundred natives, more than 120 pirate captives, and livestock such as mules, horses, cattle, and pigs. The daily consumption of grains will be three to four tons, which is [-] yuan a month. tons or so.Moreover, you have to keep food reserves for at least three to five months.

"Send both boats to pull people and food!" Yu Fukun quickly made a decision, "Otherwise, Batavia will definitely not be able to accommodate so many people....Don't run away when the time comes, then it's just a matter of time." Big loss!"

"Yes!" Qi Tian agreed, "It just so happens that a new galley was built in the shipyard. We have two small boats for fishing, which can barely maintain our meat consumption.... These new arrivals are quarantined for ten days. Days or so, then, all added to the two construction teams."

"You don't need additional manpower for the iron and steel smelting in Montenegro?" Yu Fukun asked in surprise.

The new 10-cubic iron-smelting blast furnace in Heishanbao has been erected, and it is also under construction as a follow-up steel-making blast furnace.A while ago, Qi Tian also said that he would add manpower to the mine to increase the ore supply.

"Wait a little longer!" Qi Tian said helplessly: "Smallpox has not been confirmed to be under control, and if more people pass by and are infected, it will be a disaster!"

"Then be careful!" Yu Fukun nodded cautiously.He experienced the plague when he was young, and the entire village died. The government blocked all passages in the affected area to control the epidemic within the established range.After three or four months, when the epidemic is over, people will be sent into the epidemic area to completely burn and clean up the dead bodies and utensils.

There are thousands of people in Hanzhou, once the smallpox spreads, it is estimated that all the people around, including the indigenous people, will die.

"The construction of the houses in Jianye City, Uncle Kun, you are here to supervise the construction. Just let the construction team follow our previous urban planning. At that time, I will let a few teenagers who have done the planning be at your command. … They should all know where to build houses and where to vacate commercial and trade blocks."

"I'm taking people with me, and I plan to build another settlement next to Montenegro Castle. ... All the city walls, stop for a while. Another group of pirates, I think we can handle it!" There are nearly a thousand of them now, and most of them are He is young and strong, and he can easily pull out an armed force of four to five hundred people.Moreover, Montenegro Fort can make all kinds of weapons, and there are 500-pound to 4-pound field guns. The pirates who come to hundreds of people are really not in my eyes.

The planning of Jianye City is relatively large, and the urban area is about 0.5 square kilometers.The city wall is designed in accordance with the current European mainstream castle-bastion shape and construction, with a height of 3.5 meters to 400 meters, and is built with large city bricks and stone strips.Today, only a section of the entire city wall has been built near the pier, and the length is less than [-] meters.

Today, in order to welcome the arrival of a large number of immigrants in the next few months, several brick kilns are bound to stop the production of city wall bricks and turn to mass production of bricks for building houses.Considering that the production speed of the wheel kiln near Heishan Fort is much higher than that of the two earth brick kilns in Jianye City, Qi Cai planned to build a new settlement in Heishan Fort, and at the same time dispose of a small amount of construction waste, gravel, etc. , Broken bricks, slag, etc., strengthen the road pavement, and increase the transportation intensity as much as possible.

At present, the two places of Hanzhou have 12 horses, 15 mules, and 17 donkeys, and more than [-] vehicles of various types, and the transportation capacity has been greatly improved.The only thing that restricts them is that the road surface is muddy and softened by rainy days, making it impossible for heavy vehicles to pass.

In addition, another factor to consider in increasing the construction of the Montenegro settlement is that it is more than ten kilometers away from the sea, so it is not easy to be suddenly attacked by foreign enemies.Who told them that they still don't have powerful coastal defense guns? It's typical to have sea but no defense.

"Do you need to build a fence?" On a flat ground more than 500 meters away from Heishan Fort, a construction team of more than 200 people gathered. Under the command of those young people with some construction plans, they are doing the foundation treatment work of house construction in full swing. .Looking at the unobstructed meadow outside, Qi Yuanshan asked Qi Tian if he needed to build defensive facilities.

"Not for now!" Qi Tian thought for a while, and said, "First build the houses around the planned camp, and build an extra section of parapet on the roof. At that time, the houses can be connected with wooden fences, so that they can be used as Temporary defenses."

There are still more than two months before the end of the wet season. Building more houses can prevent the immigrants who are coming one after another from the plight of wind and rain.Although those wooden houses can be lived in, the continuous rain makes the house relatively humid.Moreover, when the wooden house was built, the wood had not been dried, and after being soaked in rainwater, the humidity was even heavier.

To live and work in peace and contentment, we must first live in peace, otherwise how can we make those Ming immigrants who traveled thousands of miles to Hanzhou feel at ease.

According to the plan, most of the more than [-] immigrants stranded in Batavia will be allocated to Montenegro, except for some resettled in Jianye City.They will clear the nearby fields, and plan to reclaim [-] acres of farmland in the early stage.During the slack season, the river bend, which is called the Panxi River and overflows after passing through the Black Valley, will be rehabilitated one after another.

The river bend has been silted up for hundreds of years, and a large number of dead branches, leaves, and animal carcasses have been deposited in it. If it can be cleaned up, it will be a fertile field.

"Uncle." When Qi Tian and Qi Yuanshan returned to Jianye City in the evening, in the public cafeteria, he met the second brother's wife, Zheng Hualian.

"Second sister-in-law." Qi Tian stopped, looking at the still dissatisfied sister-in-law, with a slightly flustered face.

"Second aunt!" Qi Yuanshan respectfully called this woman who was not much older than him.

"Uncle, when Dajiang left Jianye City, let me help you make a set of summer clothes. It was made a few days ago, and you... come to pick it up later, okay?" Zheng Hualian said in a low voice.

"We all have clothes to wear, how can we bother the second sister-in-law?" Qi Tian looked at this too young second sister-in-law, quite embarrassed.At her age, in later generations, she might still be a middle school student.

However, in this era, it is normal for women to marry at the age of sixteen or seventeen, and it is also common for women to marry at the age of thirteen or fourteen.Qi Tian will not slander this so-called "early marriage" phenomenon too much, but in his heart, there is an inexplicable feeling of distress for those young brides.

"Why bother?" Zheng Hualian smiled, "Your second brother and third brother sailed to Daming, and in Jianye City, there are only two of you close relatives by your side. Moreover, when Da Jiang left, he asked me...to take care of you Two people."

Qi Tian was stunned. By the way, at my age, I still need someone to take care of me?
"Second sister-in-law, have you had dinner yet?"

"I just had dinner with a few companions, and now I'm going back to the house to tidy up the courtyard." After staying in Jianye City for more than ten days, Qi Dajiang cut down some tree trunks and branches neatly, and moved the three houses where he lived. Come out around a courtyard.

Zheng Hualian is very satisfied with this husband and this small family. Although she will go to the garment workshop with other women to work, and it will be relatively hard. People make all kinds of clothes.But she and all the women feel that they are living in heaven.There is no endless taxation, no oppression by landlords and evil gentry, and no never-ending hunger.

Recently, it has been heard that more than a thousand immigrants will arrive one after another, making their work easier for a while, and suddenly they become busy again.

"Second sister-in-law, I'm off work, so let's take a rest early. Don't make other odds and ends, and be careful to wear yourself out." Qi Tian couldn't help reminding her, don't work so hard, and go to the garment workshop again Busy with chores at home.

"It doesn't matter." Zheng Hualian smiled again, "The work in the workshop is extremely light labor. Compared with the busy work in Daming's house before, it is much easier....At least, you can have enough food. Uncle, I I want to ask you something."

"Second sister-in-law, please tell me."

"When Da Jiang left, he talked about Daming, and he would help me find my family. Will he find them? Will he bring them to Hanzhou?...I'm worried, my parents, and two younger brothers, with that 10 taels of silver, it won't last that long..."

Zheng Hualian is a native of Qingyuan County, Guangdong, and was bought to Guangdong by Ren Yazi, and then recruited to Hanzhou by Cao Xiong.

But Qi Dajiang and the others traveled to Daming mainly to collect people, and they may not go deep into the inland to find a family to buy their daughter.

"I will find it." Qi Tian said perfunctorily.In the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty, there were too many cases of broken families and scattered families.As a tiny overseas force, how many people can it save?
(End of this chapter)