Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 100: Mixed Reactions
more than a month later
During this period, Zheng Guohui traveled between Zamboanga and Davao, conducting detailed research, solving many difficult problems he encountered, and finally building a stable social governance structure.

The provinces of Zamboanga and Davao were established, and the government offices were modeled after the six ministries. In addition, the police station, tax bureau, industrial and commercial development bureau, agriculture bureau and other institutions were added to further enhance the integration capacity.

What made him particularly happy was
The high enthusiasm for work among the Chinese immigrants in Mindanao led to a bumper autumn grain harvest, and the bottleneck that restricted the development of immigration was broken through in a short period of time.

under these circumstances
Even the natives in the labor camps were given food and steamed buns. The scene was like a festival, and many natives were so excited that they cried and laughed.

Don’t talk about fruits or kelp and seaweed. The real thing that makes you hungry is food.

September 22th, 2025

The last batch of Chinese immigrants of the year arrived in Zamboanga again following the large fleet. This time the fleet brought more than 26700 Chinese immigrants, mainly refugees affected by the war in provinces such as Shandong and Henan.

Among the immigrants heading south this time were 1600 soldiers, mainly from the garrison troops of Jinling and Tongzhou.

The arrival of these soldiers has greatly strengthened the standing armed forces of Mindanao, with the total strength reaching more than 5800 people.

With repeated voyages to Southeast Asia, the large fleet trained many experienced captains.

This laid a solid foundation for breaking up the large fleet into smaller ones, and transforming them into smaller fleets of seven to eight to a dozen ships in the future, to regularly transport Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia.

As the power of the Tongzhou Zheng family soared, they bought a large number of new ships in the past two years, bringing the size of the family's fleet to over 330 ships, making it the largest transportation business in the entire Yangtze River Basin.

in it

The ships specially used for voyages to Southeast Asia are large and powerful ships with a capacity of more than 1,000 stones. These ships have stronger ability to withstand wind and waves, larger transport capacity, and are more suitable for long-distance voyages.

The rest of the medium or smaller ships are mostly used in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River or for canal transportation, and there is a clear distinction between the two.

The Zheng family's business has expanded from illegal salt to grain and cloth, and now has added tropical fruits, imported stones, rare shellfish and other categories. The business is becoming more and more prosperous.

Especially tropical fruits, after being transported long distances to Chongming Island, a portion of them were taken out for sale in Shanghai, Suzhou, Weiyang, Jinling and other places, and they became popular instantly.

After peeling the ripe pineapple, cut it into slices, soak it in salt water, and eat it. It has a crispy and sweet taste and is rich in juice. It is loved by everyone from the elderly to children.

I have never seen such a tropical fruit before. I heard that it came from Southeast Asia, which has invisibly doubled the value of pineapple.

In Shanghai, a pineapple can be sold at a high price of 200 coins, and the price is similar in other places, and it is very popular.

The real wealthy families have large populations, often dozens or even hundreds of people, and they are very generous when buying pineapples, buying them in truckloads.

Ordinary people can afford to buy one and give it to the elderly and children at home to try.

Pineapples and bananas sold in Jiangnan Province and Shanghai became very popular after entering the market.

Chief of Staff Li Hezhang wrote a special letter, in which he detailed the current situation in Jiangnan Province, the court's movements, and the two attempts of the Nian Army to move south, both of which were wiped out by the officers and soldiers stationed in Xuzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture, achieving great success in one fell swoop.

Finally, they discussed the tropical fruit issue. Li Hezhang's original words were, "No matter how much, all will be shipped north. A single pineapple can fetch five or six hundred coins in the capital, making it even more profitable than illegal salt. We are all proud of this."

Zheng Guohui was overjoyed when he saw this. These pineapples and bananas no longer had to be fed to the convicts. All they had could be shipped north, and the shipping fee could be earned back in one trip.

In his letter, Li Hezhang also expressed optimism about pure white and yellow marble with natural patterns.

He is an expert in knowledge. Pure white marble is smoother and purer in white than domestic white marble. It also has a better finish after polishing. It is definitely a high-end stone.

The yellow marble with natural patterns looks more upscale. Li Hezhang now ordered people to open "Stone-Jiang Halls" in the capital, Jiangnan Province, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and other provinces. They used yellow marble with natural patterns as floors and pure white marble to carve various stone statues for display.

Nowadays, many wealthy families are interested in purchasing the houses for the purpose of building ancestral halls and mausoleums, decorating manors, etc., and future sales are promising.

Li Hezhang also specially reminded
If we could use Westerners as a cover and run this kind of business in the form of a foreign company, we would avoid a lot of trouble.

These two pieces of good news made Zheng Guohui so happy that he couldn't stop smiling and laughed happily.

"General, why are you so happy?" The speaker was his uncle Zheng Shouxin, who is now the governor of Mindanao and is in charge of all matters.

Zheng Guohui smiled and told Zheng Shouxin about the hot sales of pineapples and stones. Zheng Shouxin also smiled happily after hearing that, and he felt much more confident.

Since this island has fruits and stones needed by the mainland, as well as rich copper and iron resources, these are all guarantees for the long-term existence of Chinese immigration routes.

If it is one-sided, even mountains of gold and silver cannot withstand consumption and it will not last long.

Chatted for a few words

Zheng Shouxin's expression grew serious, and he clasped his fists and saluted, asking, "Your Excellency, General, how should the newly arrived Chinese immigrants be allocated? Please give your instructions."

This is not redundant. Although such matters fall within Zheng Shouxin's responsibilities, if the general is not there, he will arrange it directly.

But since the general is here, I must ask for his instructions to show my respect.

Zheng Guohui didn't hesitate and waved his hand, saying, "These 6,700 people will be settled in Zamboanga Peninsula. We must seize the opportunity to cultivate the abandoned land in the indigenous villages.

By March or April next year, there will be another good harvest.

The remaining 2 people were all sent to Davao, which had already made all preparations to receive them and just had to follow the rules.

The matched indigenous women were also taken home by Chinese immigrants on credit.

But please note that each male household can only borrow money from one indigenous woman.

There will be more Chinese immigrants arriving next year, and the existing population of indigenous women is already insufficient, so we need to keep a steady flow.”

"I understand. The number I have here is that there are still more than 58000 Indigenous women of marriageable age who have not been allocated. After this round of allocation, there are only a little over 3 left."

"Well, from now on, immigrants going to Southeast Asia will no longer be transported in large fleets. Instead, a route between the two places will be opened, and immigrants will be transported in small fleets on a regular basis. This will also reduce the resettlement burden on you."

"Thank you, General, for your compassion. Honestly, every resettlement is like a battle. Bureaucrats from top to bottom are working non-stop. Sometimes it's hard to close your eyes for days, fearing that something might go wrong."

"I, the General, have seen all your efforts. All of this is for the great cause of the Chinese colonization of Southeast Asia. It is truly a great achievement!"

"I am so fortunate to be able to join in this grand event."

“Gentlemen, now that we are able to establish ourselves in Mindanao, it is the beginning of a foundation that will last for generations. Once we succeed, the wealth and prosperity for generations to come will be limitless…” Zheng Guohui seized the opportunity to start giving spiritual chicken soup, and his words were full of great persuasiveness.

The effect was very significant. The general's promise gave the officials a boost of enthusiasm. Their faces turned red with excitement and their enthusiasm increased significantly.

in recent times
A mysterious Chinese force landed on Mindanao in large numbers and spread rapidly throughout the Southeast Asia region, attracting Chinese immigrants living in various parts of Southeast Asia to come with their families.

As time went on, this trend became increasingly apparent. While there were indeed some wealthy Chinese businessmen and clansmen who thrived in Southeast Asia, the majority remained at the bottom of society, enduring oppression and exploitation at the hands of white colonists and living without dignity.

Now that they know there are territories dominated by the Chinese, wouldn’t they all come and join them?

From September to November

The Chinese population from all over Southeast Asia has grown rapidly, from 2000 to people per month to nearly people per month, providing a powerful supplement to the local population.

Zheng Guohui also opened his door to accept people, but the only condition was that they could not leave after being placed in the institution.

Prevent the immigration situation on the island from being leaked out, so that malicious Western forces can find out the truth.

these months
Some merchant ships from England and France also arrived, but they were all required to stay in the port. Personnel were not allowed to go deep into the city and were confined to the port.

The purpose of doing this is also to maintain confidentiality.

In Zheng Guohui's view
The foundation built on Mindanao is still very fragile, like a castle built on the beach, which cannot withstand the invasion of wind and waves.

So he adopted a conservative strategy, trying his best to keep very sensitive population data from being leaked.

Even if it lasts a few more months, it will be good.

However, the rapid expansion of Chinese influence on Mindanao did attract the attention of some surrounding European colonists, including the English, French and Dutch, and all kinds of speculation were flying around.

According to relatively reliable information
This Chinese force seems to come from the Taiping rebels who turned the Chinese mainland upside down and called themselves "King of Jinghai", which sounds very confusing.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had more than 2000 kings, so who exactly was this "King of Jinghai"? For a time, no one could tell.

In mainland China

The foreign rifle teams of Britain, France and other countries have been fighting against the remnants of the Taiping rebels, and the two sides have deep resentment. When they learned that the Chinese force was the "King of Jinghai", the British and French were all shocked.

It was useless to report this to the Zongli Yamen of the imperial court through diplomatic means, because the Taiping rebels were originally rebels, determined to "expel the Tartars and recover our lost territory", and the two sides were in an irreconcilable blood feud.

With the power of the current imperial court, there is no hope of sending out an expeditionary fleet to completely wipe out the Chinese forces entrenched in Mindanao.

European powers such as Britain and France have nothing to do with this matter. That should be a headache for the French. They generally hold a laughing stock attitude and wait and see how far this Chinese force will develop.

It was the Dutch in the south who were the first to become alert. This was because Mindanao, where the Chinese were entrenched, was very close to Borneo, where the Dutch colonial power was weak.
How close?

It only takes 2 to 3 days by boat from Zamboanga to reach the major ports on the west coast of Borneo, which are right under your nose.

It takes about a week to reach the above-mentioned western ports from Batavia.

The presence of such a powerful force in Mindanao made the Dutch colonists feel a real threat, but they were helpless.

The Dutch had the same problem as the French: their population was too small and they had very little power to deploy to the East Indies.

After more than three hundred years of colonization, the descendants of white colonists have only developed a population of less than 20 at most, most of whom are on the island of Java where Batavia is located.

Java Island was the center of Dutch colonial rule. It was also an island with a long history and a high level of development. It housed 60% of the population of the entire Dutch East Indies.

It is ridiculous to ask the descendants of Dutch white colonists to abandon the more favorable plantations in Java and go to the wild and backward Borneo in order to prevent possible imaginary dangers.

To put it another way, it simply doesn't work.

The Dutch colonists' anxiety contrasted sharply with the French colonists' blind arrogance.

After sending four companies of soldiers to land in Cagayan, the local indigenous tribes held a warm welcome ceremony for the Frankies.

The local indigenous warriors attacked the Franks with spears and bows and arrows. The battle lasted from morning to night and the two sides fought for more than 10 days.

In the case of heavy casualties
The local tribal chiefs painfully realized that they were no match for these foreign troops equipped with sharp weapons, and they could only sit down and negotiate.

The results of the negotiations

The local tribes marked out the best port territory and assumed part of the food supply for the Franks in exchange for the Franks' protection of the indigenous tribes.

The French army led by Colonel Fabian once again won the colonial war at a slight cost of only two deaths and 17 injuries.

News spread back to Manila

This caused a sensation among the local white colonial community, and various praises came in like a tide, greatly boosting the confidence of the French. What followed was the denigration, insults and disdain of the Chinese forces.

When these fanatical remarks were repeated 100 times, they became the truth universally believed by the French colonists.

They do have reason to be proud. Throughout history, they have defeated their enemies countless times with heroic battles and even occupied the entire South American continent.

The Chinese forces of King Jinghai are just another medal to add to the bravery of the French soldiers.

Amidst this conflicting mood, time quietly passed the last day of 1865...

Hamda Valley

January 1866, 3

When Zheng Guohui and his party arrived here again by boat, the scene in the valley had undergone a drastic change. New settlements of Chinese immigrants had been built, and most of the originally abandoned land had been cultivated again.

on the basis of

New wasteland is being continuously reclaimed, and various fruit trees on the wasteland are being uprooted and transplanted to concentrated fruit plantations for large-scale planting.

Windmills stand in rows along the river, channeling clear river water into irrigation canals to nourish the growth of crops.

There are vast fields stretching as far as the eye can see, and many new houses have been built in the immigrant village. They use rough wood as frames, green tiles as roofs, and flying eaves. The white walls and green tiles are full of Chinese architectural charm.

Due to the huge demand, the mining village has expanded rapidly and formed a small town with up to 3,000 residents. Urban construction has begun to take shape.

All these changes
Zheng Guohui was delighted. The marble produced here was a good thing. The entire mountain was enough for mining for hundreds of years, which would allow the mining town to prosper for a long time.

Just relying on this one resource, you can eat your fill.

(End of this chapter)