Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1335 New Atmosphere of the Amur River ([-])

The armed transport ship "Kuril Islands" with a displacement of 250 tons sailed gracefully on the broad Amur River.

This is the fifth ship of the classic "Yaksa" class armed transport ship of the Heishui Shipyard. It was decorated by Shao Shuguang, the executive deputy general manager of the bank, and used as his own ship.

The cabin of the ship has been slightly modified. Not only has a well-decorated room been added, but the restaurant next door has also been roughly modified, with a bar, wine cabinet and other facilities. In addition, a local Haidiao Musical Instrument Factory The latest piano—this kind of semi-handcrafted luxury is expensive in China, and only a few local tyrants can afford it—waiters, chefs, musicians and other personnel are all available, which shows that the head office of the Bank of Taiwan Shao Shuguang's life is extravagant, well, these rooms are now taken by Han Dezhi as a matter of course.

Sitting at the bar with Han Dezhi and Liao Xiaoyao, captain of the trusted Blackwater Pioneering Team, they sipped the fine wine produced in Yantai and chatted lightly about the future development of the Blackwater area.

"Now the whaling industry in Heixiazi Port is very popular. Every year, several whales are caught, and they are basically processed on the spot. The government of the former Blackwater Pioneering Team set up a seafood processing factory there, specializing in the processing of whale skin. , whale oil, whale meat, and some pollock, salmon, sardines, flounder, squid, shrimp and crabs are also processed there. There are regular ships in Dabo County every year to transport grain and other daily necessities When I went to Heixiazi Port, I brought back the seafood and mountain products there to sell in the south. The business scale was not too big, so I can only say that it was okay. In addition, there are seasonal sea animal hunting and reindeer hunting in Oha County. The breeding and small-scale fishing industry is more than enough to feed the small population there, but grains and vegetables also need to be imported from Dabo County. The current Dabo County and the area under the jurisdiction of the South Sakhalin Reclamation Bureau probably cover the entire island The barn and the vegetable basket." Liao Xiaoyao sat in front of the bar, drinking a small wine comfortably, and said slowly.After learning that he was about to be transferred to the position of captain of the Blackwater Pioneering Team, he also spent time sorting out the information he had come across about Sakhalin Island and the Amur River, and conducted a deep understanding, so this meeting can be compared with Han Dezhi talked eloquently.

The population growth rate on Sakhalin Island has been relatively slow in recent years, perhaps because the potential of the indigenous population in the mountains has been exhausted. The four counties of Dabo, Heishui, Picheng, and Oha plus some independent towns, Its total population has still not exceeded 400 (excluding the immigrants waiting to be transported for temporary resettlement), which is also worrying enough.District Commissioner Liang Xiangjian almost begged the mainland to send more exiled prisoners here when there were no immigrants from outside. After Portuguese and Indian prisoners were taken prisoner, he immediately detained them with a cheeky face, and planned to resettle these people in two newly established settlements within the jurisdiction of the Southern Sakhalin Reclamation Bureau, which are located near the later town of Sokol Birch Township, Jinman Township near the later town of Staro Dubskoye.

These three townships (including Nanku Town, where the Headquarters of the Reclamation Bureau is located) are located in the flat valley in the middle of the South Sakhalin Mountains running north-south. The largest land reclamation area on Sakhalin Island in later generations is basically located here, which can be said to be the entire island. The essence lies.Moreover, this is also the basic base of the soon-to-be-established Nanku County. The structure of the five counties of Sakhalin Island in the future has been completely established so far, and this big island is probably also the one where the people on the east coast have the strongest control around the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. It's an area.

The five counties of Sakhalin Island plus the three counties of the Amur River, as well as scattered settlements such as Heixiazi Port, Rishiri Island, Rebun Island, and Okushiri Island (Ezoji Island is counted separately), the population controlled by Liao Xiaoyao is only a few With 8 to 8 people, there is still a long way to go for future development!However, in many cases, you can’t just look at the number of people, but rely on Heishui County’s basic industry that represents the budding industry, Dabo County’s relatively developed sea fishing industry, and the well-developed relationship with Denglai, North Korea, Japan, Ningbo and even Southeast Asia. The energy generated by these [-] to [-] people is still very strong, especially because their opponents are the natives of the Northeast, the Qing Dynasty, and Russia, which are relatively backward in productivity. The premise is that they strengthen the united front in the Amur River Basin and attract more natives to join them.

"The power of the three counties in the Amur River Basin is still a little weak, the infrastructure is also very backward, and the population is even rarer..." Liao Xiaoyao took another sip of wine, and then said: "Whatever you do, people who leave are useless. Now that we have drawn a boundary with the Russians—although it is extremely careless and even full of loopholes—then we must explore and conquer within our legal jurisdiction as soon as possible, and remove a large number of Feiyaka people scattered in the mountains as soon as possible. , Oroqen, Hezhe, Sauron, Daur and even Buryats have been counted and naturalized so that they can be used by me instead of being drawn over by the Russians. These tasks are very urgent and must be carried out as soon as possible Yes. Of course, while naturalizing the aborigines, we'd better continue to emigrate to the local area, preferably with a few thousand people every year..."

"Such as these Indians? To be honest, I regret sending these poor people to you now. It would be better to let them build horse-drawn train tracks in Ningbo Prefecture. Take these Indians from hot areas, The Portuguese and Mesticos are sent to the snow-covered Amur River. This style of painting is a bit wrong, and it is likely to force them to die." Han Dezhi ordered a bag of Congo shredded tobacco by himself, while puffing and puffing. Chao Liao Xiaoyao joked.

"Indians are human beings too. People with two legs are easier to handle than animals with four legs. They can always be useful." Liao Xiaoyao laughed when he heard the words, and then said: "Besides, human beings are very adaptable to the environment. Strong, didn’t the black people say that they are not used to cold places, but now they are still used very well. These Indians are a little stupid, but they do farm work and manual work in the Northeast, and when they have time, they go to war again, and they are the pioneers of the king. Isn't that what they should do? Don't worry, it's not that exaggerated, the adaptability of two thousand Indians is not as low as you think."

"What about the expedition to the Northeast?" Han Dezhi asked looking at the towering green hills outside the porthole.

"I plan to deploy excellent personnel within the entire army, supplemented by some aboriginal scouts who are familiar with the local geography and social conditions, and at the same time conduct colonial expeditions on the left and right banks of the Amur River. The focus is on searching and registering aboriginal settlements for convenience. In the future, lay a solid foundation for ruling the large tracts of natives living in the nearby mountains." Liao Xiaoyao spoke out his thoughts with great confidence, his thinking was very clear, and his purpose was very clear.

In other words, Liao Xiaoyao's move will undoubtedly change the previous policy of using big rivers as the main colonial route, but it's no wonder that there was no rule over this place before, and there was no decent influence, and the natives didn't know much about you. Sometimes, it is right and reasonable for you to do so.But after establishing colonial rule in the Amur River Basin for so long, and having accumulated considerable strength at hand, it seems a bit inappropriate to be so low-key.After all, you have defeated the Bogd Khan of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the Cossacks of Tsarist Russia many times before through military operations, proving your force and establishing a certain commercial order through strong productivity, so now you can There is no need to shrink back, but go directly to the front stage and rule the natives in the vast area nearby.

A fleet of five "Yaksa" class motor sailboats arrived at the mouth of the Amur River on August 8.The "Yaksa", which was filled with Nanyang rice, took the lead. Relying on the lighthouse and other markers set up in the shallows of the river mouth, the captain steadily crossed the deep water channel and entered the wide Amur River.Seeing this, the other four ships followed suit one after another and sailed slowly towards Temple Street Port on the north bank of the river.

The "Yaksa" and the "Nerchinsk" anchored in the port, ready to trade here, and the other three ships, including the "Kuril Islands", will go all the way up the main channel of the Amur River. Trade towards the cities further upstream, and at the same time send some building materials, coal and military supplies to various ports along the way - there is no profit in transporting building materials, coal and military supplies, but the Bank of Taiwan, as a responsible large-scale syndicate Enterprises, of course, also want to vigorously support the cause of national defense, so every ship has to allocate a certain amount of space to transport these materials, and this is also the condition for the Okhotsk Sea Squadron to hand over all five armed transport ships to the Bank of Taiwan for lease. one.

Han Dezhi and others went further upstream, while Liao Xiaoyao disembarked at Miaojie Port, and then, surrounded by his entourage, lived directly in the government compound in the county seat.Wang Shichuan, the county magistrate of Temple Street and the commander of the Amur River garrison, had just been informed of the new personnel appointment of the Blackwater Pioneering Team, so he immediately ran to Liao Xiaoyao's side, with a low eyebrow and a pleasing look, listening to instructions, which made Liao My heart is dark.

"Major Wang, I think the market in Miaojie County is getting more and more prosperous. Why, are there many natives coming to the market?" Liao Xiaoyao sat down on a big bearskin chair (this is probably Wang On the throne handed down from generation to generation), fiddling with a delicate knife on the table, he asked with a smile.

Beside him were more than a dozen young staff officers, secretaries, and guards who followed him from the Southern Theater Command. They nodded kindly to Wang Shichuan, and then directed a few Feiyaka guards who stood there in a daze at the door. , Let them go to the dock to move Commander Liao's stuff in.The emotional intelligence of the guards seems not to be very high. This may be a common characteristic of the natives of the Amur River Basin. They looked at Wang Shichuan who was there respectfully and respectfully, and rushed towards the pier after getting permission. While walking, he greeted the other guards in the compound to help.

"Commander Liao, the entire county of Miaojie has a population of more than 800 people, and they are distributed in a vast area of ​​tens of kilometers on the north bank of the Amur River. It may not be a big deal in the mainland or even in Ming Dynasty, but in this bitter cold place, it is definitely first-class. It has become a big and famous city, attracting a large number of people from Shandan to trade with each other." Wang Shichuan took out a stack of thick booklets from the filing cabinet next to him, turned to a certain page, and pointed to Liao Xiaoyao Said: "In fact, the ministry of labor is planning to organize personnel to conduct a new census in various townships in a few days. The following people have repeatedly reported that in recent years, a large number of Jurchen tribes have moved to settle near our townships, and our local fishing and hunting There was a lot of disputes among the tribes. These natives are fierce by nature, and they will fight to the death if they disagree with each other. The security risk is quite serious. The idea of ​​the ministry is to gather these people together, show righteousness to them, and demand that they Be loyal to my Great East Bank, pay taxes, and undertake a certain degree of military service and labor service. From then on, it has been used by my Great East Bank. Of course, the Northeast land is sparsely populated, with mountains and forests, and there are many places where there are no people. Therefore, I plan to place some of the tribes on the roads west of Miaojie County, and set up a village at a certain distance. First, build the transportation and supply network, and extend our influence step by step. Well, I have arranged for the first batch of thirteen villages, with a total of more than [-] Shandan residents, and plan to extend our power to the Udi River area..."

"The Udi River is so bold." Liao Xiaoyao stood up with a snap, walked to the hand-painted map hanging on the wall, pointed to the winding river on the map, and said, "This is your river. The mouth of the Udi River that I have been to by boat? It is about a few hundred kilometers away from the county seat. This is really a staking. I remember that there is also a stronghold set up by the Russians, it is called Udi Fort, right? Well, If we want to swallow the vast land between Udibao and Miaojie County, we still have to win over the natives in the mountains. The environment there is complicated and it is not easy to give full play to our advantages. Wherever these natives fall, the land will belong to us. Which side controls it. Well, the boundary agreement with the Russians was too vague, it only talked about the division of the Amur River Basin, and did not talk about the division of the seemingly uninhabited mountain in the north, it was really a mistake."

"How about this, Wang Shichuan, you can choose capable scouts and guides for me now. The number should not be too many, dozens of people are enough. I want to go into the mountain to have a look, and take advantage of the good summer season to clear the surrounding settlements. Turn around and be aware of the surrounding environment." Liao Xiaoyao turned around from the map, looked at Wang Shichuan, and said in a commanding tone.

(End of this chapter)