Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 81 Freshmen
Xu Xinghuai followed the group and slowly walked towards the wooden village.

His wife held their seven-year-old child in her left hand and the corner of his clothes in her right hand. She leaned close to him with her head lowered, looking a little panicked.

A group of residents of Shixing Fort gathered on both sides of the team, looking at the new immigrants and whispering to each other.

Some of these people were tall and strong, with Han Chinese faces; some had high noses and deep eyes, with ghostly foreign faces; and some had high cheekbones, hooked noses and looked like silly natives.

They all showed a very curious expression, with satisfaction, surprise, and vigilance.

Being in such an unfamiliar environment and being surrounded and watched by such a group of people made the immigrants feel an inexplicable panic.

Will they bully me in the future?

Xu Xinghuai and his family of three are from Zengcheng County, Guangzhou Prefecture. In August last year, floods broke out in several rivers, including the Dongjiang River, Zengjiang River, and Xifu River, destroying tens of thousands of acres of farmland, more than a thousand houses, and creating tens of thousands of refugees.

In the flood, Xu Xinghuai's mother was washed away and disappeared. The family's house and rented fields were also destroyed by the flood. They had no choice but to flee to the county town to beg for their lives.

However, in the autumn and winter, after organizing several disaster relief efforts, the Zengcheng County government and local wealthy households cut off supplies to the victims, claiming that their grain reserves had run out and the court had not issued relief funds. They also urged all victims to return to their hometowns immediately and implement "self-help production."

However, it was early winter at that time, so there was no chance for so-called "self-rescue through production"!
In desperation, the victims scattered to the surrounding prefectures and counties in order to survive.

Xu Xinghuai brought his family and a large number of refugees to Guangzhou, begging to survive the cold winter.

After a winter, although we could occasionally get some leftovers, we could barely make ends meet.

But the frost and the sudden drop in temperature still claimed the lives of many refugees.

In January, Xu Xinghuai's three-year-old daughter caught a cold and fell ill, and unfortunately died on a cold night.

After enduring the winter, I thought I could start over after returning home.

However, they did not expect that not only were their houses lost, leaving them with nowhere to live, but even borrowing some food and renting a few acres of land became a luxury.

Because of the flood, it was not only the tenants without land who suffered the disaster, but also the big landlords who suffered heavy losses and were unwilling to give up grain to help the villagers.

To make matters even worse for the victims, government officials were still demanding payment of last year's taxes and grain in order to meet performance evaluation requirements issued by their superiors.

Isn't this pushing people into a desperate situation?
Helplessly, after such a great disaster, with no relief available, Xu Xinghuai had to flee to Guangzhou with his family again.

However, although Guangzhou City is large and its trade is extremely prosperous, there is no place for refugees like them to stay.

There are tens of thousands of refugees like him, so how can they find any good jobs?

The family of three was starving one day and could not survive, so they had to beg on the streets, hoping that one or two kind people would give them some porridge and rice.

Fortunately, that day he met a group of wealthy men who called themselves "Nanyang merchants" on the street. After giving them porridge and rice, he asked them if they were willing to go to sea to make a living and seek a hundred years of wealth.

Haha, why do I need a hundred years of wealth? As long as I can have two full meals and a roof over my head, I will be very satisfied.

Wandering and begging on the streets of Guangzhou will never last long!

Maybe one day he will die in the streets, be thrown into a mass grave, and become food for stray dogs.

Following the "Nanyang Merchant" to the dock cargo yard, the family of three had their first full meal in more than two years.

What made them even more excited was that there was meat in the food!

Soon after, the "Nanyang merchants" provided them with a new set of clothes, so that they could take off their old clothes that were torn and tattered and emitted a strong sour smell.

During the four or five days in the freight yard, they did nothing and were fed and well-fed.

They said that they wanted to provide them with some nutritional supplements so that they could survive the long journey on the ship.

Oh, speaking of taking a boat, it might be the biggest disaster in his life.

At first, a few days after the ship set sail, he and his wife vomited violently and felt as if they were floating and dizzy.

Even if I am very hungry, I still feel stomach discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and severe dizziness.

A few days later, dozens of immigrants, including the couple, fell ill in the cabin.

More than ten days later, an immigrant fell seriously ill and died. He was carried out of the cabin by the crew and thrown into the sea.

At that time, Xu Xinghuai once thought that he would follow in their footsteps, abandon his young children, die on the boat, and then be thrown into the sea and eaten by fish.

However, the strong instinctive desire to survive deep in their hearts allowed them to persevere.

After lying in the cabin for ten days, they miraculously recovered and were no longer seasick.

Perhaps the body has adapted to the drifting and floating patterns of the ship, and the symptoms of seasickness gradually disappeared.

I don’t know how long I have been drifting on the sea. Every day, apart from lying in the cabin and sleeping idly, my biggest luxury is to take turns going to the deck to get some fresh air, look at the endless blue sea, and gaze at the blue sky, so that I can feel that I am still a living being.

Maybe fifty days, or maybe sixty days, he couldn't remember how long it had been. When a green land finally appeared in front of the ship, everyone cried with excitement.

This must be the end of the world!
However, after the ship docked, these immigrants were not led into the fortress, but into a wooden house area a few hundred meters north of the fortress.

Just like the cargo yard at the Guangzhou port, men and women were separated for thorough cleaning. Everyone was ordered to wash themselves clean and then change into a simple but neat set of cloth clothes.

Then there is a fourteen-day quarantine period.

During this period, no one was allowed to move around freely, let alone enter the walled city.

All their work and life also take place in the wooden house area.

Leveling the land, digging the water, processing wood, building houses...

Except for those immigrants who are unwell or seriously ill and unable to move, all have to work, regardless of gender, age or strength, from morning to night.

However, the food provided for them immigrants was quite good. Breakfast was corn porridge and a few stewed potatoes, lunch was corn buns and some seasonal vegetables, and dinner was a little richer. In addition to corn buns and a few white flour buns, there was also fish, potato stew, and delicious fish soup.

When they first arrived in this desolate place, many immigrants still had some doubts and panic.

However, when they were able to eat full meals for several days in a row, and the food was good, the immigrants immediately felt at ease.

No matter where they are, as long as they can eat, it means that everyone can survive.

In this world, staying alive is the most basic and primitive instinctive desire of ordinary people.

What's more, not only is the food here quite rich, with both vegetables and meat, but you can also have three meals a day!

You have to know that in the Ming Dynasty, except for the dignitaries, wealthy businessmen and landlords, the vast majority of ordinary people only had two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, and there was no concept of lunch at all.

Even during the busy farming season, the daily diet was simply changed from one dry meal and one liquid meal to two dry meals.

When the "masters" here arranged their work, they also reaffirmed the immigration policy promised by the "Master Luo".

That is, after four years of service and labor, the immigrants will be given land free of charge, 40 acres per person (considering that a large amount of land is needed for rotation to maintain and restore the fertility of the soil). In the initial stage of farming, the required seeds, farm tools, and even livestock for farming can be obtained in the form of loans.

After hearing about this policy, all the immigrants felt relieved, excited and encouraged at the same time.

Oh my God, forty acres of land!
If this happened in the Ming Dynasty, it would definitely be a wealthy family.

Although, those masters also said that among the distributed land, less than half of it was cultivated land, and the rest of the land was all woodland or shrubland, which required hard work to cultivate.

But this still fills all the immigrants with infinite joy and expectations.

As long as you spend some time to manage these forty acres, it will become a valuable asset that can be passed on to your descendants.

Oh, by the way, if I get married, it seems I can get another 40 acres of land.

So, if I have a son and he grows up, can I get another 40 mu of land?

When he thought of this, Xu Xinghuai trembled with excitement.

For more than 30 years, they have been struggling to survive in the Ming Dynasty, and their lives are still hard. They don’t have enough to eat or warm clothes to wear. They have witnessed too many "unbearable" things. Even their family of several people ended up losing everything because of a flood and ended up living on the streets of Guangzhou.

Unexpectedly, by chance, I followed these "big masters" on a boat to this new continent and lived a life that I had only dreamed of.

Although this "dream" has just begun, he hopes that this "dream" will continue forever.

With my own land, I can live a quiet life with my wife and children, build a beautiful house, raise a few pigs, a flock of chickens and ducks, and have a bunch of children.

"Okay, this is your temporary home!" A "steward" led Xu Xinghuai to a two-bedroom wooden house and pointed to the door. "You'll live here for the time being. There are simple beds, chairs, and furniture inside. If you need anything else, you can apply to us and we'll consider providing it."

"Of course, when conditions improve and supplies become abundant, you can also apply to the decision-making committee for a piece of land and build your own house."

"Your new life begins now!"

(End of this chapter)