Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 237: The General Banner's Salt-Making Hundreds Open Up the Wasteland, and I, the Small Banner, Will Make a Great Contribution! [Please Subscribe]

Standing on the beach, General Lin Defa said, "Chopping wood and burning it is secondary to boiling salt. The most important thing is scrap iron pots. The fleet didn't leave us many when they left."

"It's been over half a month since the fleet entered this place, and it hasn't rained at all. The sun is so strong, I think it's a good place to make salt using the salt pan drying method."

Liu Wenzhong was also nearby and said, "Then we can use the salt pan drying method—didn't you learn this technique before?"

Lin Defa said, "It is precisely because I have learned the salt drying method in salt pans that I want to tell the centurions about this matter - salt pans must be built on tidal flats, and we happen to have a large area of ​​tidal flats here."

"I want to build a larger salt farm, but ten people won't be enough. I'd like to ask the captain to allocate more people to help."

Liu Wenzhong thought that salt could be used not only for trading with the natives, but also for pickling fish and animal meat. So he said, "I will transfer two men from General Wang to help you. But once you have built the salt fields, you have to return them."

"No problem," Lin Defa agreed happily. "We won't need so many people after the salt fields are built."

After Liu Wenzhong finished talking to Lin Defa about the salt fields, he went back to assign some staff to him.

General Wang Dayou was already feeling that the sixty men he brought to reclaim the land were not enough, and now when he heard that another twenty men were to be withdrawn, he became somewhat unhappy.

"Captain, cultivating the fields and planting vegetables and crops is a matter of great importance to our brothers' food supply. If you withdraw twenty people at once and miss the planting time, don't blame me in the future."

Liu Wenzhong said, "I don't blame you... I'll go to the fields and help you cultivate the land, right? Besides, I'm just loaning the land to Lin Defa temporarily. I'll return it when he's done using it."

Hearing that Liu Wenzhong, a centurion, was willing to take the lead in going to the fields, Wang Dayou no longer had any objections.

In fact, as an army, Liu Wenzhong could have given direct orders.

But he understood that now was not a war, but a time for everyone to farm and live together in the wilderness of North America. He could not be too arbitrary and act on his own - otherwise, over time, people's hearts would be broken and something unexpected would happen.

The officers and soldiers of the First Long-distance Exploration Fleet were all elite soldiers drawn from various naval forces. Before becoming regular soldiers in the garrisons, they mostly did farming or fishing. They were young and strong, so naturally they were very good at their work.

Seeing that Captain Liu Wenzhong also took the lead in the work, the soldiers were more efficient in reclaiming wasteland.

Although there are many hills and dense forests here, the area is large. The soldiers specifically picked out vacant land that is easy to cultivate. On average, each person can cultivate nearly four mu of land a day (one mu = ten mu).

Liu Wenzhong led forty soldiers to work hard for five days and reclaimed eighty acres of land!
That afternoon, as the sun was setting, Liu Wenzhong stood on the cultivated land, leaning on a hoe with a bright smile on his face.

"The dozens of acres of land here are a little far from the river. Once we have cultivated 100 acres, we will plant wheat as soon as possible."

"Then we'll cultivate 20 to 30 mu of vegetable land near the river and plant the vegetable seeds left by the fleet. With the current weather, we'll be able to eat fresh vegetables in a month or so."

A small flagman nearby flattered him immediately upon hearing this, "If we hadn't worked together to reclaim the wasteland this time, we would never have thought that the centurion was actually an expert in farming."

Liu Wenzhong smiled modestly and said, "I can't be called an expert, but I come from a farming family after all. Before I inherited my father's military rank of centurion, I had to work in the fields every day."

Dozens of people were chatting, preparing to work for a while longer, ready to call it a day once the sun had completely set, when they heard someone patrolling to the south shout, "Zhang Xiaoqi and the others are back!"

Because when the fleet was resting here, it had sent an exploration team to search the area within a radius of 20 to 30 miles, but did not see any indigenous tribes.

Therefore, when the two flag bearers Zhang Cheng and Lei Ming went out to explore again, they had to go to farther places and would not be able to come back on the same day.

The two previous exploration flags only came back once, and after resting for a day, they went out again.

Lei Mingqi came back this afternoon, and Zhang Chengqi came back when it was almost dark. Either they were delayed by something, or they explored further.

Sure enough, after Zhang Cheng came back, he learned that Liu Wenzhong was in the field, so he came directly to report.

Zhang Cheng was beaming with joy. He clasped his fists and saluted, then said, "Captain, I have finally found a native tribe over fifty miles southeast of our base!"

Liu Wenzhong was delighted when he heard this and asked anxiously, "Have they discovered you? How many people are there in this native tribe?"

Zhang Chengdao said, "We weren't discovered at the time, but I'm not sure if they'll notice us later."

"But even if they noticed, it wouldn't matter—this native tribe is very small, with only about 60 households. Even if they can produce 100 or 200 men, they may not be our match!"

"Small tribes are good." Liu Wenzhong was even happier after hearing this. "Small tribes are easy to deal with."

The flagman who had been flattering Liu Wenzhong came over and said, "Captain, since it's just a small tribe of a few dozen households, why don't we go over and wipe them out, snatch all the young women back, and make them wives for our brothers!"

Liu Wenzhong frowned upon hearing this and said, "What are you thinking? We are the Ming army after all. How can we destroy a tribe just to steal a woman?"

"We don't know how long we'll have to operate here. If word gets out and other tribes around us unite and become hostile, wouldn't that be disastrous?"

Upon hearing this, the little flag retreated in embarrassment.

Liu Wenzhong continued, "We still have to try to contact and trade with them first. By the way, Zhang Xiaoqi, did you see what those natives look like? Are they similar to us Han people, as the imperial court said?"

Zhang Cheng pondered and said, "From a distance, he does have yellow skin, black hair, and black eyes, but if you look closely, he looks more like a Mongolian Tartar."

Like the Mongol Tartars?
As part of the Ming army during the Hongwu Dynasty, although Liu Wenzhong and others came from the navy, they were very familiar with the Mongolian Tartars and had naturally seen Mongolian women.

So after a moment of surprise, Liu Wenzhong laughed and said, "If they look like the Mongol Tartars, then they don't look very similar to us. If they look like the Semites, then the difference in appearance is huge."

Zhang Cheng smiled and said, "I think Semu women are more attractive."

"So Zhang Xiaoqi likes strong smells, hahaha." Liu Wenzhong couldn't help but make fun of him.

The other soldiers also laughed in a good-natured manner.

Zhang Cheng didn't care at all - he had no chance, but if he had the chance to really marry a Seljuq woman, that would be great.

After laughing, Liu Wenzhong instructed, "Rest for a day. The day after tomorrow, take twenty men with Lei Ming, along with salt, needles, and thread. Hunt some game along the way and try to trade with that tribe." "I must warn you, don't show any intention of targeting the women of their tribe yet. Wait until you're familiar with them and understand their situation before making any plans."

Zhang Chengdao said, "As long as Lei Ming can control his men, there will be no problem on my side."

Among the newly formed centurions, Xiaoqi Leiming was notorious for his lust and frequent misconduct, often resulting in numerous military punishments. He possessed considerable martial arts and investigative skills, and if not for his constant missteps, he might have been promoted to centurion.

Liu Wenzhong nodded and said, "Lei Ming... I will give him strict orders."

One day passed.

Zhang Cheng and Lei Ming took a few small bags of salt and a bag of needles and thread and left the base camp, heading southeast.

The group were all spies within the army, the elite among the elite. They were able to climb mountains, cross rivers, and weave through forests with ease. Furthermore, having previously explored the route, they arrived at a small river in just half a day.

There was a mound beside the stream, with a stone wall on the mound. Inside the wall were houses made of stones, trees, animal skins and thatch. The walls of the houses were also coated with a special mud, so they were not afraid of wind and rain.

It was just as Zhang Cheng had said before, there were only about sixty households.

After the group hid in a relatively secluded place nearby, Lei Ming looked at the tribe with a gleam in his eyes and said, "Is this the native tribe? They really know how to choose a location, and the houses they build are better than those of the natives on Ice and Fire Island."

Zhang Cheng warned again: "Don't do anything rash or you'll ruin the centurion's orders."

Lei Ming smiled, revealing his big white teeth, "Don't worry, I know what's going on."

After observing for a while, Zhang Cheng realized that most of the men in the tribe were not there, so he decided to take this opportunity to contact them - after all, there were only twenty of them. Although they were not afraid of the natives, they were worried that the natives would underestimate them and have bad intentions.

Zhang Cheng was the leader of their group, so Zhang Cheng asked Lei Ming, a small flag, to continue hiding and keeping watch, and only took his small flag with him.

There was someone on guard in the tribe, so Zhang Cheng and others were discovered as soon as they showed up.

After a burst of rapid shouting, a dozen men came out of the tribe - mostly teenagers and old men, with few young and middle-aged men.

Then dozens of women inside also picked up various weapons and stood behind the men, all with vigilant looks on their faces.

Zhang Cheng had experience in trading with the natives in places like Ice and Fire Island.

He carried an elk he had shot on the road, walked to a place within an arrow's reach of the stone wall, and threw the elk out.

"We are here to trade!" he gestured.

The old man in the lead mumbled something, which Zhang Cheng couldn't understand at all, so he pointed at the elk corpse and repeated what he had said before.

The old man spoke a few words to the women behind him, and soon one of the women came with two leather bags and a wicker basket about a foot in diameter.

The old man brought out a young man, placed two leather bags and a wicker basket next to the elk's body, said a few words, and then slowly carried the elk away.

Zhang Cheng didn't know what was in the leather bag, but he didn't stop it.

When the two men carried the elk back to the village, the natives immediately cheered with joy - this elk was not small, enough for their entire tribe to have a meal.

Zhang Cheng had someone bring the wicker basket and leather bag over for another look. He found that the basket contained a kind of blue wild fruit (blueberry), one leather bag contained flesh-colored beans with spots on the surface (spotted beans), and the other leather bag contained a kind of dried fruit (sunflower seeds) with a gray-black surgical head and a large tail tip, which was no bigger than a fingernail.

Seeing these three unfamiliar things, Zhang Cheng was overjoyed, even happier than the natives who got the elk carcass.

What did they come to America for?
Wasn't it just an order to find American crops?
Although these three things were not the corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes that Zhu Yuanzhang specifically sought, they were not available in the Ming Dynasty.

"I wonder if these three things were picked wild or planted. If they were planted, then I've accomplished a great feat this time!"

That’s right, the exploration fleet’s greatest achievement is finding new crops, medicines, and more!
Immediately, Zhang Cheng took out a small bag of salt, only half the size of his fist, threw it on the spot where the transaction had taken place, and shouted, "Salt!"

After saying this, he was afraid that the natives didn't understand, or had never seen salt before, so he took out another small bag, dipped his finger in the salt, licked it in front of the natives, and showed an intoxicated look.

Seeing this, the old man came out immediately and picked up the small cloth bag.

He first touched the bag material curiously, with a look of surprise on his face.

Then he imitated Zhang Cheng, dipped it in salt and licked it, then his old eyes lit up and he shouted: "@#!"

As soon as Zhang Cheng saw it, he knew that this should be a tribe that knew about salt but did not know how to make it, and the local dialect the old man had just spoken was most likely "salt".

He then pointed to the cloth bag in his hand and said loudly with a smile: "Salt!"

The old man immediately understood and said, "Salt, @#!"

Zhang Cheng immediately pointed to the wild fruits, beans, and dried fruits he had just exchanged, and said with gestures: "More, exchange for salt!"

The old man understood it immediately and turned around to give instructions to the people in the village.

Soon, the natives sent out three baskets of wild fruits, two bags of beans, and two bags of dried fruits, and the amount of each bag was larger than the previous one!
Seeing this, Zhang Cheng was even happier.

Since this native tribe can produce so much, it is very likely that these wild fruits, beans and dried fruits are grown!

Just when Zhang Cheng wanted to continue communicating with the old native, he saw that the old man and the natives behind him showed vigilance.

He looked back and saw Lei Ming had left his hiding place at some point and was walking towards him quickly.

　Second update.

　　Thanks to [楦棉] for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!
　　Thanks to [zxdao123] for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!
　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)