Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1240 Understanding
Thinking of this, Sun Hao comforted Huang An, telling him that the rebellion in Yunnan had been basically quelled and that the tung oil supply would be restored once Yunnan was stable. He only needed to wait patiently for a year or two, and once the tung oil supply was restored, there would be no shortage here.

"That's great! Once we have tung oil, Yongguo can start trying shipbuilding." Huang An was very happy.

“However, shipbuilding is no easy task. Is Lord Huang confident in his abilities?” Sun Hao asked.

Huang An laughed and said, "I might not be able to guarantee anything else, but shipbuilding is my old profession. It's normal that Lord Sun doesn't know. I used to work in the Ministry of Works. Back when our Great Ming Dynasty obtained shipbuilding technology from Europe and tried to build ocean-going ships, I was in charge of the shipyard."

"I see!" Upon hearing this explanation, Sun Hao suddenly realized why Huang An had thought of shipbuilding and was so confident. It turned out that Huang An was a true technical talent! However, he was also puzzled. Logically speaking, such a technical official should have been given a great deal of use. Why was he sent to the New World?
Unable to resist asking about it, Huang An didn't hide anything and told Sun Hao that he had also arrived in this new continent rather haphazardly. He was doing well in the Ministry of Works, but suddenly became the Chief Clerk of Prince Yong. He later learned that it was because he had no background or connections in the officialdom. Even though he had excellent technical skills, his honest and meticulous personality unintentionally offended people. When the court was selecting officials for Prince Yong, the order was sent to the Ministry of Works. When his colleagues in the Ministry of Works were unwilling to go, his superiors chose him in the end to find someone to take the blame.

Speaking of this, Huang An couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of life. To be honest, when he received the transfer order, he felt like he had been struck by lightning, and he even felt like dying. He, a perfectly good official in the Ministry of Works, suddenly became the Chief Secretary of Prince Yong and was even exiled to the New World, where he might never be able to return to his hometown in his lifetime.

When Huang An first set out for the New World, he was filled with despair, but as time went by, he gradually accepted the reality. Later, after settling down there, he helped Prince Yong gradually build the new Yongzhou city. Watching Yongzhou grow from nothing to what it is today, Huang An couldn't help but feel proud and began to devote himself wholeheartedly to his new endeavors.

Huang An has now completely abandoned his previous identity and become a qualified chief secretary to Prince Yong. Because Prince Yong is young and has grown up in the inner palace without the experience of Prince Song, Huang An's role as chief secretary is particularly important.

It can be said that everything in the new Yongzhou is today thanks to Huang An's assistance; Huang An played a crucial role in it.

Huang An led Sun Hao on a tour of the city before arriving at his residence.

Although it was called a mansion, it was actually just an ordinary house, no different from the residences of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty.

Huang An came to the New World with his family. His parents had passed away long ago, leaving him with only his wife and two children. His son was eight years old, his daughter was five, and they had two elderly servants. The family of six lived comfortably in the small courtyard. Although he was the Chief Secretary, holding not only an official position and salary but also real power in the Prince's Palace, Huang An set an example by also being allocated land due to the insufficient population in the new Yongzhou. His wife and servants took care of the land on weekdays, and he would also work in the fields when he wasn't busy with official duties. As someone from a farming family, Huang An was no stranger to farming, especially since he had once been a technical official in the Ministry of Works. For him, farming was a matter of course.

"Can you manage to cultivate all this land?" Sun Hao couldn't help but ask when he learned that Huang An had fifty acres of land.

"It's alright," Huang An said with a smile. "The climate in Xinyongzhou isn't as good as in Xinjing, but the land is quite fertile. We only plant one crop a year, so it's not too busy. Besides wheat, most of what we grow are local grains from the New World. These grains are easier to manage than wheat and don't require much attention. Otherwise, how could my wife and the servants manage to grow them all? However, I sometimes go to the fields to help out when I have free time. It's not just me; all the officials in Xinyongzhou do the same, and even our Prince often goes to the fields."

This surprised Sun Hao somewhat; he hadn't expected Prince Yong to be involved in such matters. Although Prince Yong's status couldn't compare to that of Prince Song, he was still, after all, a son of the retired emperor! It seemed this Prince Yong was no ordinary man. It was said that when His Majesty the Emperor intended to grant titles to those overseas, he didn't choose Prince Yong, but instead planned to grant titles to the former retired emperor's crown prince and Prince Yong's elder brother. However, it was Prince Yong himself who ultimately expressed his willingness to be granted titles, which led to the later arrangement.

These words reminded him of the conversation he overheard between Huang An and the immigration officials from the Ming Dynasty at the dock. Huang An did mention something about his prince going to the ground, but Sun Hao hadn't paid attention to it at the time. Now, thinking back, it seemed that this Prince Yong was not simple at all!

At home, Huang An entertained Sun Hao with tea. Although the tea they drank overseas wasn't of high quality—it was the kind of tea ordinary people drank in the Ming Dynasty, and it was even aged tea that had been stored for some time—here, the price of tea was quite high. According to Huang An, if a pound of this tea were sold to Europeans in the eastern and southern parts of the New World, the price would be at least ten times higher, and the supply would far exceed the demand. Unfortunately, tea exports to the Ming Dynasty were subject to quotas, and the imperial court strictly restricted the outflow of tea trees. Without the approval of customs, ordinary merchants, no matter how much tea they had, could not sell it overseas. This was true not only for tea, but also for porcelain, silk, and other unique products of the Ming Dynasty. It was only because this was a fiefdom of a Ming prince that the Imperial Household Department would make an exception and bring some tea with them each time. While drinking tea, Huang An told Sun Hao that even with this kind of tea, ordinary people, apart from officials within the royal palace, simply couldn't get their hands on it, and even if they had money, there was nowhere to buy it. Drinking tea is harder than climbing to heaven, so ordinary people can only drink barley tea made by roasting wheat and brewing it, or drink a beverage called "jiang" like the local natives. This beverage is similar to barley tea and is made from a local crop called corn. The corn is ground into powder, then brewed with hot water to make a paste, which is then drunk as a beverage.

In addition, there's honey water, but even among the natives, only elders can drink this beverage; ordinary people can't get their hands on it. There's also something called cocoa that came from the south; it tastes rather strange. Huang An did manage to get his hands on some and try it. It smelled good, but the taste was inexplicably odd. Finally, there's coffee, which Europeans often drink, and some of it also came from the south to the New World.

Huang An is a good person. He is very knowledgeable about government affairs, especially the development of the new Yongzhou. He can talk about many things in a very eloquent way. Moreover, because he came from the Ministry of Works, he is also a technical official. He is not only familiar with construction and shipbuilding, but also has a good understanding of craftsmen.

Huang An spearheaded most of the planning for the new Yongzhou, and his contributions are undeniable. However, when discussing the population issue, Huang An shook his head and sighed. The key problem for the new Yongzhou is the lack of population. Due to the Xinjing Gold Mine, the population of the new Yongzhou is severely insufficient, which has hindered its development, causing Huang An great concern.

Although the resettlement treatment for immigrants in Xinyongzhou was better than that in Xinjing, it still couldn't match Xinjing's appeal to immigrants. Moreover, even if Huang An and Prince Yong intended to further improve the immigrants' treatment, it wouldn't be permissible. Both Prince Yong and Prince Song were princes of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming had specific regulations for immigrants from the New World. Appropriately improving treatment within these regulations was fine, but exceeding those limits was unacceptable. Wouldn't that be tantamount to directly opposing the court? If someone with ulterior motives used this as grounds to impeach Prince Yong, it would be a disaster.

Moreover, given the different status of the Prince of Song, the Prince of Yong dared not risk offending the Prince of Song and the imperial court by doing so. Therefore, under these circumstances, the population problem of the new Yongzhou became the biggest issue. Without solving this problem, it would be impossible for the new Yongzhou to develop as soon as possible, which greatly troubled Huang An.

“The beginning is always the hardest, but things will gradually get better. Look, didn’t the new Yongzhou also grow from nothing to what it is today?” Sun Hao comforted Huang An.

Huang An nodded and sighed, "Even so, time waits for no one! There's nothing I can do about this. As for the Prince..." He shook his head, "That's all we can do."

The two talked about these topics for a long time. Huang An even invited Sun Hao to stay for dinner and called his children to meet Sun Hao.

In the afternoon, Huang An originally planned to invite Sun Hao to stay at his home overnight, and then take him to visit the area outside the city the next day, so that he could see his land outside the city and also meet Prince Yong.

However, Sun Hao rejected this suggestion. Although Sun Hao had a good impression of Huang An and planned to go outside the city to see the farming situation in person, he was, after all, a subject of the King of Song. As a person of the King of Song, it was not a problem to have tea and a meal with Huang An when passing through Xin Yongzhou, and to chat casually. But it would be really inappropriate to stay overnight at Huang An's house, or even to have Huang An take him to see the Prince of Yong.

Sun Hao knew Huang An meant well, but this good intention carried a risk. Only then did Sun Hao truly understand why Huang An had been ostracized in the Ministry of Works, despite his ability and competence, and had been relegated to the position of Chief Clerk under Prince Yong. It turned out Huang An was utterly inept at worldly affairs and knew nothing of officialdom. Luckily, he had encountered him; if it had been someone else, Huang An's words might have easily provoked a direct confrontation.

After declining Huang An's offer, Sun Hao made up an excuse and took his leave. After leaving Huang An's residence, Sun Hao didn't linger in the city. He went directly outside the city, took a stroll through the nearby farmland, and after a brief look, returned to the dock.

Upon arriving at the dock, he returned to his warship and began to write down his observations and conversation with Huang An. By the time he finished writing, it was getting dark. Huang An stood up and stretched, then went to the deck. Gazing at the nearby new Yongzhou, he reflected on the day's events, lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)