Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 280: Construction of Dongshengwei and Establishment of Xuanguanwei

In the simple and even rough official hall, Xie Deyou sat on a chair and glanced at the others.

In addition to the generals of the garrison, those who participated in the meeting included a eunuch sent from the palace to supervise the army, a censor sent by the Censorate, and an official from the Ministry of Revenue's Department of Commerce.

Nowadays, eunuchs supervising the army are only stationed in the headquarters of each military commissioner, and they only have the right to make secret reports but have no right to interfere in any military affairs. Anyone who violates the rules will be severely punished.

Of course, the commander must protect the safety of the eunuch who supervises the army. If the eunuch dies in the army, the higher-ups will definitely send people to conduct a thorough investigation.

The eunuch who was sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to supervise the army in the North American Commandery was named Zhou Zhi. He was not very old, only in his twenties, and he brought two young eunuchs who were about seventeen or eighteen years old to serve him and run errands.

The censor sent by the Inspectorate was named Yu Yong, who was in his early thirties and had passed the second-class Jinshi exam in the 16th year of Hongwu.

The Military Supervisor also has no right to interfere in military affairs in the overseas military headquarters. He can only watch and listen, and his term of office is relatively short. When the fleet comes here again from the Ming Dynasty next year and brings a new Military Supervisor, Yu Yong can return to the court.

As for the officials of the Ministry of Revenue's Department of Commerce, they were naturally responsible for doing business with the Dusi and the subordinate guards.

Xie Deyou knew that in addition to the personnel outside the three-party garrison system, there were two other groups of personnel in secret, namely the Guangming Guard and the Jinyi Guard. Although these two guards also had the word "guard" in their names, they belonged to the emperor's personal army, not the local garrison army.

In this case, if he thought that America was thousands of miles away from the center and he could do whatever he wanted and become a local emperor, he would be totally wrong, not to mention that he had relatives and friends in the Ming Dynasty.

After clearing his mind of some strange and chaotic thoughts, Xie Deyou said loudly, "We said we were holding a meeting of the Dusi today, but what we are actually discussing is the affairs of the Dongsheng Guard."

"Dongshengwei is the seat of the Dusi government, and was previously the forward base established by the exploratory fleet. Now that over a thousand soldiers and civilians have been relocated here, it will be the top priority for the Dusi's development in the coming years."

"We must first build up Dongshengwei, and then we will be able to support the construction of Xianzhouwei and Jinshanwei."

Although the Ming army was not our army in later generations, it also held meetings. Generally, the commander-in-chief would raise questions, and then his subordinates would make various suggestions, and ultimately the commander-in-chief would make the decision.

Of course, if some generals have a definite idea, they can also give orders directly, and as long as there is not much opposition from their subordinates, officers and soldiers, they can implement it.

After a pause, Xie Deyou continued, "It's already early winter. Although Dongshengwei says it won't be that cold in winter, our top priority is still to ensure the safety of the soldiers and civilians in the garrison."

"To survive the winter, we simply need to ensure three things: food, clothing, and shelter! As for clothing, we brought enough cotton-padded jackets and quilts from Daming, so there's no need to worry."

"So, the main issues we need to solve for the winter are food and housing. As for food, although we have rations brought from Ming Dynasty, it's not much."

"If the Dongsheng Guards, numbering over a thousand, sit back and eat all the food, it will definitely not work. We must send enough people to hunt and fish to store enough meat for the winter."

"The housing problem is the most serious—the Dongsheng Guard has 800 regular soldiers, plus the military commanders and garrison officers, that's over 800 households."

"Of course, the eight hundred regular soldiers are basically all single men with no families, so they can live together in the barracks. But building barracks that can accommodate eight hundred soldiers for the winter is not a simple matter."

"In addition to fishing, hunting, and building houses, we also need to make sure we stockpile firewood. If we have extra manpower after completing these tasks, we can consider cultivating the land sooner..."

After Zhu Yuanzhang offered at least one promotion to the next level, many garrison officers were willing to come to North America. Xie Deyou's selection as the commander-in-chief of the North American Military Commission showed that he was quite capable.

He first raised some urgent matters, made arrangements after listening to the advice of some generals, and then discussed other matters.

"Next, let's discuss the long-term development plan for the Dongsheng Guard. Although the Dongsheng Guard currently only has 800 regular soldiers, the court will send a new batch next year. By then, the Dongsheng Guard's regular soldiers will reach over 1,500."

"In addition, the court also allows us to recruit qualified naturalized natives as military households until the shortage of regular troops in the garrison is filled."

"We definitely can't keep so many people confined to the original forward base. We must allocate personnel to establish thousand-household and hundred-household garrisons in the surrounding areas to expand the garrison's control area."

"We plan to establish two thousand-household offices in the surrounding area next year..."

Xie Deyou had someone hang up the map of Dongshengwei received from the court - on which he had already marked the two locations where he had chosen to establish a thousand-household unit.

"In the spring of next year, we will send personnel to investigate these two areas. If the actual conditions permit, we will establish 1,000-household offices there."

On the map, one of the thousand households was located on the south shore of the narrow bay they passed when they came in (later Port Angeles in Seattle), and the other was at the end of this complex bay in the south (later Olympia in Seattle).

After explaining this, Xie Deyou said, "The next thing we're going to talk about is how to help the eight hundred bachelors in the garrison get married and reassure their hearts."

"As you all know, these soldiers were previously single men left in the military. One of the reasons they were willing to migrate to North America as regular soldiers was because the imperial court promised to help them find wives."

"So we can't delay this matter for too long—if we do, I'm afraid the soldiers will become resentful, and it will be difficult to lead the team."

"And there's only one way to find wives for the soldiers, and that's to find native tribes and marry native women."

"For tribes that are friendly to us and willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty, we can help our soldiers marry their women."

"For those tribes that are unwilling to submit to the Ming Dynasty, or even hostile to it, we must send troops to destroy their tribes and capture their people!"

Upon hearing this, many generals and officers present at the meeting showed excitement.

They had heard long ago that although the North American natives were strong and brave in battle, they did not even have a single piece of iron tool and were still at the stage of using stone, wood, and bone tools.

They not only had sophisticated cold weapons and armor, but also firearms, so it was extremely easy to defeat the natives.

Although as a military action, it was impossible to allow them to plunder at will, let alone rape women (in addition to moral and court reputation reasons, the most important thing is that such behavior would seriously undermine military discipline and affect the combat effectiveness of the army, so the Ming army expressly prohibited it).

But after the war they can get military merits and rewards, so naturally many people are happy to hear about the war.

"Captain Lei, please tell us about the situation of the native tribes in Dongshengwei."

Unlike Zhang Cheng who returned to Ming Dynasty last year, Lei Ming chose to stay in Dongshengwei and has married a native woman, who is even pregnant.

In addition, he was promoted to a centurion. Although Lei Ming still has the scar on his face, he is less aggressive.

He stood up and walked over to the map, saying, "According to our reconnaissance over the past year or so, there's a Nine Natives tribe within a 300-li radius of the forward base—that is, the Dongsheng Guard seat."

"Among them, only two tribes have a population of over a thousand, one in the south and one in the north, both over a hundred miles away from our capital."

"The remaining tribes have a population of only a few hundred people, while most have between three and five hundred."

"We've only conducted a few transactions with three small tribes close to our capital, and their attitude has been quite friendly. As for whether they are willing to submit to the Ming, I'm afraid we'll need to send someone to negotiate with them before we can find out."

After listening, Xie Deyou asked, "Captain Lei, do you know the details of the two large tribes and the three small tribes nearby?"

Lei Ming said, "I do know a little about the three small tribes nearby, but as for the two large tribes, I only have a little information from hearsay."

"Then tell me as much as you know."

"Yes." Lei Ming responded and began to talk about the three small tribes nearby.

They are said to be nearby, but the shortest distance between these three small tribes and the Dongshengwei government office is about sixty or seventy miles...
···
The first long-distance exploration fleet, with the soldiers and civilians on board, stopped and traveled along the way, and it was not until late November that they arrived in the area of ​​Panama in later generations.

At this time, there were only more than a thousand soldiers and civilians left in the fleet's garrison, including the Xuanguan Guard.

Pang Ze, the commander of Xuanguanwei, was 39 years old and a Han Chinese from Guangxi. He joined the Ming army during the Ming army's pacification of Guangxi in the first year of Hongwu. He was promoted to the commander of Guangxi Fengyiwei (fourth rank) due to his merits.

Since the pacification of Yunnan, the southwest had not seen major wars for several years. The only regular battles were minor battles to suppress local officials or bandits. With Pang Ze's qualifications, promotion to commander was difficult. Of course, his current position of commander hadn't come easily—most of the officers in the Zhongmei Dusi garrisons were drawn from Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces, and the opportunity to be promoted one or two levels within the garrison was highly competitive. Pang Ze's selection as commander of the Xuanguan Guard was a testament to his exceptional qualities.

That day, the fleet anchored in a bay.

Chen Zhongming put away his telescope and pointed at the land. "Commander Pang, please look here. This should be the location of the Xuanguan Guard as shown on the map provided by the court. There are dozens of miles of jungle along the sea, and some low mountains to the east and south. It's not too bad."

Pang Ze also had a telescope, but it couldn't see as far as Chen Zhongming's.

He also looked at the jungle in front of him, frowned slightly, and said in a slightly awkward (Nanjing) Mandarin: "Although the temperature here is not low in winter, the scenery is very different from Guangxi."

Although Pang Ze joined the Ming army as a small landlord, his ancestors had served as officials of the Song Dynasty. He could be said to have a family tradition of farming and studying, and he had some family knowledge. Therefore, his speech was not as rough as most military generals.

He looked for a moment, then retracted the telescope and said, "Since the exploration fleet hasn't set up camp here before, we'll have to spend a few days looking for a suitable place to set up camp so we can land nearby."

Chen Zhongming said, "It's okay. All the soldiers and civilians from other garrisons have been sent to their destinations. Now only the soldiers and civilians from Xuanguan Garrison are left. Even if it takes a few more days, it won't be a problem."

Pang Ze clasped his fists again and said, "In addition, we must ask the exploration fleet to send out spies to assist us in landing and exploring."

"This is as it should be."

A few days later.

The Ming army not only selected the specific location for the Xuanguanwei headquarters, but also had a certain understanding of the situation in the surrounding 30-mile jungle, so they began to organize the military and civilians to land and establish camps.

The actual location chosen happened to be the location of the ancient city of Panama in later generations.

After Pang Ze assigned the task of setting up the camp, he hurriedly convened a meeting of generals above the rank of 100 households.

"I've gathered you all to discuss how to deal with the indigenous tribe fifteen miles to the southeast. According to intelligence gathered by our spies, this tribe may number over a thousand people."

"I estimate that their tribe can mobilize at least 500 men. The natives make a living by fishing and hunting, and every man is capable of fighting. They will pose a great threat to us."

"This tribe is too close to us. If we keep on guard, it will involve a considerable number of our manpower, so we must resolve this issue as soon as possible."

"According to your majesty's order, we cannot simply conquer the natives. If they are willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty, that is also acceptable."

"However, if we want this tribe to submit to the Ming Dynasty, we must first contact and communicate with them. Long Qing, do you have a suitable candidate?"

Long Qing was only a centurion, but almost all of his men were spies from the mountains of Guangxi.

Hearing this, he said in an even more broken official language: "I would like to take charge of this matter myself!"

Pang Ze nodded and said, "It would be best if you could personally lead this matter, but remember, even if they are unwilling to submit, we can first negotiate with them to paralyze them and buy time for us to establish our camp."

"After all, they are a large tribe of over a thousand people, and they are familiar with the terrain and climate. If they attack before our camp is built, it will be difficult to deal with them."

"If we wait until our camp is completed, we can attack or defend, and things will be much easier. Do you understand?"

"I will finally understand!"

Pang Ze then said to the other generals, "Except for those responsible for setting up the camp, everyone else should prepare for war. It's possible that most of these natives will be ungrateful and attack immediately upon learning of our presence."

The generals nodded one after another.

Because the distance was short, Long Qing made some preparations after the meeting, and then selected a spy from the general flag, and headed southeast with cheap and small commodities such as salt, needles and thread.

Although it was only a dozen miles long, the road was filled with dense jungles, rivers, swamps, and many snakes and insects, making it very difficult to walk.

Fortunately, most of the spies Long Qing had selected were from southern Guangxi, where the mountain roads were just as treacherous as those here. Furthermore, they had previously explored the indigenous tribe several times, so they reached the area in just over two hours.

I saw dozens of native men fishing on a small lake ahead.

These native men paddled canoes, wearing only simple aprons made of shells and fruit shells tied around their waists to barely cover their bodies, and holding uniquely shaped wooden spears in their hands.

However, most of the time, they dive directly into the water to catch fish, and only rarely do they use spears to fish on the boat.

Long Qing and others were not surprised by the scene before them - after exploring for the past few days, they had already discovered that these natives made a living by fishing and gathering wild fruits.

It is rare to see them hunting land beasts, probably because there is nothing suitable for hunting in the tropical jungle.

After watching for a while, Long Qing couldn't help but narrow his eyes and said, "It seems that these natives are good at swimming. If we fight with them, we must never enter the river or swamp."

All the soldiers under his command nodded.

Then Long Qing said to a man who looked somewhat similar to him, "Twenty of me will go and try to communicate with them. Long Sheng, you take the rest of the people and keep an eye on them. If a fight breaks out, you can come out and provide support."

Long Sheng nodded, "I understand."

Long Qing then led his men around and appeared by the lake, immediately attracting the attention of the natives.

There were about thirty or forty natives, who gathered together cautiously. After looking around for a while, someone stood on the boat and shouted a few words in a mumble.

Long Qing didn't understand at all, so he just gestured to explain his purpose.

"Hey, friends, we are merchants from the north, and we want to exchange some things with you."

As he spoke, he took off the bag on his body, shook it, and took out several feet of cotton cloth from it.

Seeing this, the other side sent a canoe closer, and two of the three Zhoushan natives came down to check.

The man touched the cotton cloth, looked carefully at the uniforms of Long Qing and other Ming soldiers, showing an interested look, then directly wrapped the cotton cloth around his waist and turned around happily to show his companions.

The other natives looked at this and made all kinds of joyful noises in their native language, and then all the native canoes came over here.

Long Qing signaled his fellow soldiers to be alert.

He gestured to the natives who had tied the cotton cloth and refused to take it off, indicating that he needed to trade.

The native understood what was happening and ran to the canoe to get a few big fish and handed them to Long Qing.

In Long Qing's opinion, although cotton cloth is cheap in the Ming Dynasty, it is definitely not something that can be exchanged for a few big fish here.

But he was not here for business, so he agreed.

Just when Long Qing wanted to continue communicating something more complicated, other natives came ashore one after another, all bringing fish to exchange for things.

The more honest ones carried three or four, while the dishonest ones only carried one!
　Two chapters in one today.

　　I have a cold and some family matters happened, so I have updated less these two days. I will try to resume the normal update rate tomorrow.

　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)