1635 Han style rises again

Seeing the thick man in front of him, Liang Yun'an's expression changed several times in an instant, and finally forced a smile, and then pulled his arm out of the opponent's hand in a subtle way.

"... Shopkeeper Wu, why are you so shocked? It really scared me."

"What are you afraid of?" Wu Shanming, who is also a leather goods merchant, said carelessly: "Could it be that you are still a spy of the Qing Dynasty, afraid that I will catch you and report to the police? Hahaha..."

"Shopkeeper Wu, you can..., you really know how to joke." Liang Yunan couldn't help but twitch his eyelids, and said with an embarrassed smile: "A few years ago, I was in the... It’s easy to escape to Hanzhou, and it’s too late to hate them to the bone, so how can you be their spy?”

"Qinglu will not jump for too long as a clown. I think that as long as Daming's people are united and dare to work hard, how can the population of Qinglu be able to occupy our former China mainland!"

"Shopkeeper Wu...that's what you said." Liang Yun'an laughed along with him, and nodded against his will.

"By the way, shopkeeper Liang, in a few days, I will wait for a few fur colleagues to take a boat to Weihai (now Cairns, Australia), Guangling (now Townsville, Australia) and Yunyang (now Mackay, Australia) and other places. In the prefecture and county, I want to buy some local furs as a stock of raw materials. I don’t know, do you intend to go with me?”

"Ah?" Liang Yun'an was stunned for a moment, and then said: "I applied to go to Batavia more than ten days ago to see if I could collect some furs. No, I'm still waiting for the application to be approved."

"How can the red-haired ghost have good fur!" Wu Shanming shook his head and said disapprovingly: "Most of the goods in their hands are sold by Nanyang Trading Company or Ryukyu Trading Company from the north, and they are all second-hand goods. There are definitely not many discounts. On the meadows in the north of Jianye Mansion and in the northeastern regions such as Weihai, Guangling, and Yunyang, there are tens of millions of livestock, and most of them are high-quality wool. Moreover, we can also buy cotton from Weihai. The factory sells some cotton cloth by the way, pulls together a whole big boat and pulls it back, and the earned Lilan must be twenty or thirty points!"

"However, it has been a long time since my application was submitted, and the approval will probably be within a few days." Liang Yun'an shook his head and said, he thought it was better to run to Batavia, and then look for an opportunity to escape back to the mainland, back to my territory in the Qing Dynasty as well.

"Treasurer Liang, according to the information I got from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Police Department, recently, special controls have been imposed on individual merchants and private citizens leaving the mainland of Hanzhou and several overseas territories. So, your application may not be approved Especially for someone like you who has immigrated to our country of Qi for less than three years, most likely you will not be allowed to leave."

"Ah?" Liang Yun'an's face changed, "Why is this so? Didn't the Qi State always preach that it would give me more freedom, more life security, and a more hopeful future for ordinary people?"

"Freedom, security, and a hopeful future, we must ensure the safety and stability of our Qi country, so that all people can get all of these." Wu Shanming patted Liang Yunan's shoulder with a smile, "You were in Daming territory before, Presumably, I can appreciate how precious a safe and stable environment is.”
-

On July 7, Beikou (now the small town of Newlandby in northern Australia).

...

Liang Yun'an got off the boat with several businessmen, and after stepping on solid land, he couldn't help but let out a long breath.After all, he was not allowed to go to Batavia. Instead, when he applied with a group of fur traders to go to the eastern part of Hanzhou, he was immediately allowed to pass.Afterwards, the group of people took a regular carrier ship under Hanzhou Transportation General Trading Co., Ltd. and embarked on a trip to Weihai.

This small coastal city about 20 kilometers away from Jianye City was established more than [-] years ago. It was the first supply point set up by Qi State to go to the eastern part of Hanzhou.

Today, the area has a population of more than [-] people, distributed in a coastal plain.Because the land here is not very fertile, except for a small amount of corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, melons and fruits, most of the residents mainly graze cattle and sheep.Of course, because it is located by the sea, the rich fish resources are also one of the main sources of income for this area. There is a small fish canning factory here.

The scale of Beikou City is very small, with a radius of less than 800 meters and a population of only 500. There are only a few hotels and restaurants in the city, which provide the necessary food and accommodation for passing passengers.

In fact, in the mainland of Hanzhou, there are many small towns like Beikou, all of which are sparsely populated. Often within hundreds of kilometers, there are only a few settlements.If you want to think about those densely populated places, you can only go to Jianye Mansion and several coastal counties in the east, which may be a little more prosperous and lively.After all, such a huge piece of land only has a population of more than 120 million. Isn’t it just like pepper noodles, where some settlements can only be set up in the elite areas or necessary routes to migrate some people.

Although the population of this settlement is small, what makes Liang Yunan quite jealous is that the living standard of the residents here is not bad at all.Not to mention being able to eat three meals a day—although most of the meals are coarse grains such as sweet potatoes and corn mixed with a little rice or flour—and you can still be full after every meal.Even the clothes they wear are neat, their faces are flushed, and their spirits are high. They don't have the appearance of many low-level people in the Qing Dynasty who are generally disheveled and sleepy.

Except that there is no bustling and bustling hustle and bustle here, and the spiritual level may be a little barren—in other words, in this period, eating a full stomach should be the greatest spiritual enjoyment—you can say that you can live and work in peace and contentment, and even have a few pockets in your pocket. spare money.Because this is the customs supply point for the eastern part of Hanzhou to and from Jianye Mansion, many ships like to stop here temporarily to recover from the fatigue after the long-distance voyage, and then go to the temporary capital of Qi State in the most energetic state. .

Food, lodging, and vegetable and fruit supplements can all allow the residents of this small town to harvest lovely silver coins (or gold coins).

Because of the vast land and sparse population, thousands of cattle and sheep are herded in the surrounding large forests and meadows, enabling many fur traders to purchase local wool and cowhide when passing through this area, which also brings more income to the local people.

Liang Yun'an and several fur merchants with him bought more than 100 bags of wool during the two days of staying on this regular ship, and temporarily stored them in a local warehouse. The purchase price here is much cheaper than that of Jianye Mansion. , even if the shipping fee is added, the Lilan earned is fully guaranteed.

...

In fact, on several small islands near Beikou, the local government has also stocked thousands of deer and roe deer, which are regularly hunted by people every year to obtain meat and fur, which are sold to fur traders who come to buy them.But Liang Yun'an and others came at the wrong time, and the deadline for hunting was not approaching, so they could only leave by boat regretfully and continue to travel east.

On July 7, the ship arrived at the northernmost settlement in Hanzhou - Cape City (now the small town of Bamaga near Cape York, Australia).Here, far away from Weiyuan Island (now New Guinea Island) on the opposite bank, it controls the key Hanzhou Strait (now Torres Strait), and is an important node leading to the eastern part of Hanzhou.

Cape Fort and Yanjin Fort on the north shore of Weiyuan Island on the opposite bank (now Daru City in southern Papua New Guinea) not only built strong coastal defense forts, but also built a naval supply base to defend and shelter the rich land in the east of Hanzhou.

This place is only more than 500 kilometers away from Weiyuan City (now Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea), so it is closely related to this place. When the grain, timber, copper ore, copra, and tuna in Weiyuan area are exported to the mainland of Hanzhou , will pass here and stop here for a short time, which also drives the active business environment of this small town.

In addition, the shallow seas of many islands not far from Cape Fort are rich in pearls and sea cucumbers. Residents there often drive fishing boats in groups of three or four, bring enough supplies, and find a small island to station for ten and a half months to collect pearls and sea cucumbers.Occasionally, many tortoises can be found on the seashore. These things are the specialties that businessmen like to buy most.

"In such a small town, it is estimated that the accumulated wealth is no less than 5 to [-] taels of silver." Liang Yunan looked at the small market in the city, where crystal clear pearls, colorful tortoises, and blooming The thick sea cucumbers in the bucket and wooden basin couldn't help muttering to themselves, "If you snatch a handful, it will be enough for me to spend my whole life."

Damn, any small place in the Qi Kingdom is so rich, it is really like what they said in recruiting immigrants, coming to the Qi Kingdom will not only make you full, wear warm clothes, but also save a lot of money. Little gold and silver.

Thinking of me in the Qing Dynasty, which occupies half of the country, the ordinary people living there are miserable. Not to mention a full stomach, it is a luxury to be able to eat a dry meal a day.

No wonder, the people in the coastal areas of the territory will try their best to sneak out to sea, holding a piece of wood, plunge into the sea, or flee to the pseudo-ming side, or try their luck to climb on the ship of Qi State passing by the coast or drift to Changzhou. mountain island.I heard that the hypocrisy in the south seems to be that many people were fooled by the Qi immigrant boat, and they boarded their boat without hesitation, and sailed across the ocean to the Hanzhou continent.

In the future, if you can return to the Qing Dynasty safely, you must let the masters in power know that you must implement the ban on sea border transfer more strictly.If all the people in my Qing Dynasty knew that the people in Qi State were so rich, they would have run away!

On July 7, the ship left Cape Fort, rounded the headland, and continued south along the long and narrow east coast of the peninsula.

In the early morning of July 7, Liang Yunan was awakened by his companions, who invited him to watch the beautiful barrier reefs on the deck.

Although he traveled tens of thousands of miles to Hanzhou mainland, until today, Liang Yun'an still doesn't like to take sea boats. The boundless and endless sea always makes him feel a kind of inexplicable fear and panic. He can only step on solid land. Only then will he feel completely at ease in his heart.Therefore, when he was on board, he was generally accustomed to stay in the cabin, lie on the hard deck, and pass the time half asleep.

...

They are all a bunch of rough old men, who are interested in admiring the beautiful barrier reefs on the sea, they are nothing more than deserted islands on the sea.

"How, have you never seen such a beautiful sea scene?" Wu Shanming, a fur trader who was traveling with him, saw Liang Yunan's dazed eyes, and pointed to the not-too-distant Barrier Reef (Great Barrier Reef) with a smile, "When I passed here a few years ago, , was attracted by this scene. His grandma’s, this is simply God’s pearl necklace dropped into the sea, and it turned into such a long string of beautiful barrier reefs.”

I saw that on the sea surface hundreds of meters to several kilometers away on the left side of the ship, colorful coral reefs loomed, including red, pink, green, purple, yellow...their shapes are also in different poses and with different expressions. Some are like peacocks spreading their tails; It forms a natural art picture in various poses and with different expressions.

Moreover, this series of beautiful barrier reefs stretches endlessly to the south, as if there is no end, it is really a "pearl necklace" dropped by God, um, it is so beautiful, it really looks like shining pearls A pearl of cerulean, indigo, azure and pure white light.

The weather here is calm and the sea boats are moving very slowly.These beautiful barrier reefs are like natural havens. All kinds of fish, crabs, seaweeds, and molluscs are colorful and dazzling, vividly visible through the clear water.Schools of minnows feed on plankton outside the reef.Giant clams with a weight of nearly [-] kilograms that are strange and terrifying in appearance, ferocious sharks that want to dominate the ocean, soft, boneless and shellless snails, huge sea turtles, crabs with blood-red spots... and the monsters washed up in the distance by the tide. Shells, big and small, sparkle with countless bits and pieces of light under the sunlight.

But there are also times when people are very disturbed. When passing by a beautiful barrier reef along the way, I found some fishing boats docked here and there. Many people wielded shovels and picks and were struggling to mine guano on it.According to the sailors on the boat, the fishermen who mined the guano would pull the guano onto the land and sell it to the farmers to improve and increase the fertility of the land.

Of course, there are also some fishermen near this barrier reef, who don't pay attention to these beautiful barrier reefs at all. Like the fishermen near Cape Fort, they collect sea cucumbers and fish mother-of-pearl on a large scale.

"His grandma, this country of Qi really relies on the mountains to eat the mountains, and the sea to eat the sea, and there are treasures everywhere. No wonder the people are so rich!" Liang Yunan slandered enviously.

On August 8, after more than 5 days of sailing, the ship arrived at Weihai, the most important economic center in Northeast China.

Although Weihai City was surpassed by the rising Daxing City (now Brisbane, Australia) not only in terms of population size but also in terms of economic scale three years ago, due to the influence of immigration policies and capital construction, it still relies on its 20 years of development background, as well as the most important local cotton textile center and sugar center, has an important position that cannot be ignored.

...

The entire Weihai Prefecture has six counties under its jurisdiction, Chengde (now Cooktown, Australia), Panjiagang (now Port Dougdas, Australia), Tonggu (now Atherton, Australia), Gaoping (now Innis, Australia) Fair City), Guangling (now Townsville, Australia), and Huating (now Ingham Township), with a total population of more than 13.

Weihai Prefecture is second only to Jianye Prefecture and Daxing Prefecture in terms of industrial scale, and it is also the second largest livestock production area in Hanzhou. The number of cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, camels, pigs, sheep and other livestock far exceeds that of other prefectures. The county provides a large amount of fur raw materials and processed meat food for the local people.

Moreover, this place is the second largest whale product processing center after Linzi City (now Sydney, Australia). There are more than [-] various whale product factories and workshops in the city, and a large amount of whale oil, whale bone, and whale meat. Whale products such as canned food are shipped out from here. In addition to meeting domestic demand, they are also exported in large quantities to Southeast Asia, the Malay Peninsula, and the territory of Daming, which greatly stimulates the local economy.

"Hey, how did you catch such a big fish? Besides, it's so big, I'm afraid hundreds of people can't finish it!" After Liang Yun'an boarded the Weihai pier, he saw several nearby whale processing factories processing them on the spot by the sea. Several whales sent by whaling ships.He was dumbfounded at the sight of a whale the size of a hill.

"Later, when we enter the city, let's taste the taste of these big whales." Wu Shanming couldn't help laughing secretly when he saw his surprised appearance, "Not to mention, the taste of this whale is like beef, quite It is chewy. Although it has a fishy smell, as long as the seasoning is sprinkled a lot, it still has a special flavor. Our army of Qi has a lot of canned food, which is made of this whale meat. The quantity is large and sufficient, and it is definitely a necessary military supply for marching and fighting one of the products."

"You Qi officers and soldiers are marching and fighting in the wild, do you eat stuff?"

"How strange is this! Our country of Qi is surrounded by the sea. There are not many other things, but fish and meat. Even if there is a shortage of food in the future, people will not starve to death when they go down to the sea.... Hey, shopkeeper Liang, you It has been two years since I came to Qi, why are you still so alien? You have to remember, this Qi is our common Qi!"

1635 Han style rises again