1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 308 Planning of Weihai

April 1639, 4, East of Hanzhou, Weihai (now Cairns, Australia).

Kong Xianglin put down the hoe, took the wooden basin from his Johor wife, put it on a stone platform, and washed his face with water in his hands, then picked up the clothes next to him and wiped it carelessly.

"Eat... rice." The Johor wife smiled and served him a large bowl of sweet potato polenta.

After a day of hard work in the farmland, Kong Xianglin was really hungry. Kong Xianglin ate the sweet potatoes in the bowl in two bites, and then licked up half the bowl of polenta.The production of local rice and wheat in Hanzhou was low, and because of the war with the Dutch, purchased wheat and rice from Xinxiangpu could not be imported to Weihai, which is located in the east of Hanzhou.Therefore, the more than 2000 people here basically rely on coarse grains such as potatoes, corn, and sorghum, supplemented by a small amount of accumulated rice and wheat.

Although sweet potatoes and potatoes can fill the stomach, if you eat too much, you will inevitably feel a little flatulence and fart.But for immigrants who were starving to death two or three years ago, as long as they can make their stomachs bulge and keep themselves from feeling hungry, they seem to be relatively satisfied.Didn't the adults in the city say that in the past two years, we should plant some easy-to-grow crops first, and when the soil is fully grown, we can try to grow rice and wheat.It is estimated that at that time, sweet potatoes and corn paste will not be added every day.

"Kong Xianglin, Kong Xianglin!" While eating the second bowl of rice, a rough voice came from outside the yard.

"What's the matter, what are you calling me for?" Kong Xianglin was holding a bowl, watching Hu Kuan, the captain of the village soldier, coming in from the courtyard gate.

"Starting tomorrow, it's your turn to serve in the village army." Hu Kuan walked up to Kong Xianglin a few steps, sat on a wooden bench, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Military uniform, and bring your knife. Follow me to Shiba Township to report to duty early tomorrow morning. Don’t be too late!”

"One week!" Kong Xianglin hesitated, "What will we do in the field for a week? The child is only one year old, and the mother-in-law still has to watch him."

"You are also an old man who came to Hanzhou, why are you still so ink-stained! Besides, in just a week, the grass in the field will cover the crops?" Hu Kuan took a bowl of water from Kong Xianglin Johor's wife , raised his head and drank it, "Oh, what's wrong with it. There's sugar in the water! Just get me some white water, and save the sugar for the kids."

Kong Xianglin Johor's wife smiled, turned around and went into the house to pour water again.

"There is work in your field, who doesn't have work in the field! I won't say much about the importance of rural soldier training, you should know." Hu Kuan said: "There are only two thousand of us around Weihai. What should we do if any crazy native rushes to our village? Even if those stupid and stupid natives don’t come, if the Dutch red-haired ghost comes, who will protect our family and our land!”

"Okay, okay!" Kong Xianglin said: "Go, go, go! I am reluctant to let go of the work in the field for a while. This damned Dutch red-haired ghost just doesn't want us Hanzhou people to have enough food and live a good life." Days... By the way, didn’t the news that came out in March say that our Hanzhou navy destroyed a small Dutch town and brought back hundreds of people. Is there any good news coming to Weihai recently?”

"No. However, our commander Qi of Hanzhou led most of the ships to Daming, and he should bring back many of our Ming people to come here. Is this good news?" Hu Kuan said.

"This is not good news!" Kong Xianglin said with a smile: "We have more people, so we will be able to gain a foothold in this remote continent."

"Hey, why do you still call yourself a Mingren?" Hu Kuan said seriously: "Didn't our Master Wang in Weihai say that now we are all Hanzhou people."

"We are Hanzhou people now." Kong Xianglin said disapprovingly: "But we are all from Ming Dynasty, so we are also Ming people!"

"We are from Daming, but our Ming court ignored us when we were almost starved to death by the roadside!" Hu Kuan said in a deep voice, "I have long since disowned this court!"

"Yes, I don't recognize the rotten imperial court. But our roots are there after all."

"The root of shit!" Hu Kuan scolded: "My root is now in Hanzhou! My wife and children, my house, and my land, this is my root!"
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"This time I brought more than 50 tons of rice from Xinxiangpu. You can take out some of it and distribute it to all the people in Weihai, and temporarily store the rest in the treasury." Qi Tian said softly to Wang Zhenliang, the commander of Weihai Fort. : "But when distributing, be careful to be fair and fair, and you must not let the public suspect you."

"Chief Manager, don't worry." Wang Zhenliang said with a smile on his face: "I am worried that Weihai's rice and wheat stocks are not much. If there is no external support in a few days, the food control here may not be able to It's going on. You don't know, if you eat too many sweet potatoes, your stomach will be swollen every day, but after a while, you will feel hungry again!"

"With the war, all the people of our Hanzhou will suffer." Qi Tian said with a wry smile: "In the future, the situation will be much better. The Dutch removed the blockade of the Hanzhou mainland and Xinxiangbao, which greatly eased our situation. Pressure. In the future, the transfer of materials in several places will gradually become normal."

"Director, in a few months, immigrants from Daming may arrive. Is the distribution of immigrants still focused on our side in Weihai?"

"The eastern immigration route has just been established. It is estimated that the construction of various supply points has not yet been perfected, and the capacity of the immigrants is limited. Therefore, I don't think the number of immigrants this time will be too many." Except for Xinxiangpu and Weiyuanbao, all of them are imported to Weihai. Therefore, the development of new settlements on your side must be started immediately."

"Don't go deep inland for the time being, but rely on the coastline and continue to look for new suitable settlements south. The distance, it's best not to exceed three days' voyage by boat, so that supplies and support can be carried out in time. New The settlements set up will be brought under your jurisdiction in Weihai. Oh, by the way, this time I brought you more than 400 women who were exchanged from the Kingdom of Mataland. In this way, the population of your Weihai Fort will reach [-], right? .”

"Weihai originally had more than 400 women, and with the addition of these 400 women, it is still a little short." Wang Zhenliang said: "However, if we Weihai women's bellies are more competitive, we will give birth to a few more in the first half of the year, maybe in May and June. By then, the population will exceed 3000!"

As he spoke, he felt a little smug in his heart.According to the local management system of the Hanzhou Civilian Government, if the population of the area under its jurisdiction exceeds 3000, a formal county-level management agency can be set up and brought into the unified management of the civil government, instead of this colonial-style military and political management model.If we work hard for another four or five years and the population exceeds [-], we will be able to upgrade to a government system.After several years of hard work, I can also become one of the local officials of Hanzhou.

In the next few days, Qi Tian and Wang Zhenliang inspected seven or eight large settlements around Weihai to check the reclamation of farmland and the living conditions of the people.Although it is a native of Hanzhou, the living standard of the residents here is not as good as that of Xinxiangpu and Weiyuanbao.Although Gein Xinxiangbao belongs to the territory of outlying islands, it is very close to the northern area where Hanzhou was first developed. The sugar, wine and non-staple food in Jianye City and various tools in Heishan City can be transported to Xinxiangbao at the fastest speed.

Weiyuan Fort, as the second logistics base after the Han-Dutch War, hoarded a large amount of production and living materials. Moreover, in February, the Hanzhou Fleet raided Ambon, the ruling center of the Dutch Spice Islands, and looted the entire city. , and correspondingly imported a large amount of materials and personnel, forming a deformed prosperity of a war model.

"Weihai and the areas south of it, in addition to planting to meet their own food needs, cotton should also be planted in large quantities, and strive to form a cotton textile center in this area." Qi Tian looked at the cotton field in front of him, the white flowers had already bloomed, hundreds of people shuttled In the field, hands and feet are picking cotton one by one briskly.

"After the cotton is stored, it must be kept properly. When I return to Jianye City, I will work with the craftsmen from the Civil Affairs Office to get some looms out." Qi Tian turned to Wang Zhenliang and said, "After we return to the city, we will find An open space, build a weaving workshop as quickly as possible."

"It takes a lot of people to plant cotton and build a weaving workshop," Wang Zhenliang said.

"In a few days, Xinxiangbao will carry out military expansion to the west of Timor Island. During this period, many natives will inevitably be captured. At that time, send some of those natives to you."

Wang Zhenliang nodded and promised, his face could not restrain the joy in his heart. The establishment of a cotton spinning center will definitely receive strong support from the civil government, and the cotton spinning industry spans the two major production areas of agriculture and industry, involving cotton production, ginning, spinning, Weaving, printing and dyeing, clothing and other links.If it is fully completed, it will definitely be a leap forward for the development of Weihai.

At the same time, the development of the cotton textile industry will inevitably gather a large number of people.Whether it is the natives of Timor Island or the natives of Hanzhou, I am afraid that they can only adapt to working in the fields.As for those related workshops, the civil government can't just wait and see the machines, it will definitely tilt the immigration quota of Ming Dynasty to Weihai.Perhaps, the population of Weihai will soon grow to [-], [-], or even [-] in the next few years.

While the big shots are concerned about the long-term development of Weihai, the people here are very happy to distribute the little rice in their hands.Although it fills the stomach like coarse grains, rice, as the most important staple food of the Han people, is still the most popular among the people.

Holding his musket, Kong Xianglin was absent-mindedly listening to the village captain's lecture.Thinking in my heart, hurry up and take the distributed rice home, and cook a pot of thick rice porridge for my wife and children.

"Long live!...Hanzhou is mighty!" Cheers suddenly erupted from the township soldiers.

"What's wrong?" Kong Xianglin didn't know why, maybe something came down again from above.

"It's none of your business!" A thin companion glanced at him.

"It's nothing to do with me!" Kong Xianglin was a little anxious, "Why should something good happen, it won't be on my shoulders!"

"I'm going to send a daughter-in-law!" Another village soldier said excitedly, "What's the matter, do you still want to take one home?"

"Ah?" Kong Xianglin was taken aback, and then looked at the two companions with disdain, "Look at how excited you are, there must not be many women here. Maybe they won't reach you!"

After finishing speaking, he looked at the two of them triumphantly. I have a son now, but you still have to fight for the allocation of a woman.Hmph, who told me that I came to Hanzhou a year earlier than you.

"I signed up to colonize the south, so I have to give me a daughter-in-law first!" said one of the soldiers with squinted eyes.

(End of this chapter)