Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 52: The Beginning of Colonization
Occupying Zamboanga was only the first step. By evening, dozens of bonfires were set up in the open space of the seaside market, and corpses were being burned in large numbers.

Thick black smoke rose straight into the sky, emitting a smell that made your scalp tingle.

Zheng's army's consistent practice is to screen prisoners.

In Zamboanga
This traditional practice was continued. As the captives identified each other, more than 170 Moro tribal leaders and elders were selected and taken directly to the seaside market for execution.

This brutal practice greatly frightened the indigenous captives.

In the evening
The corpses in the city have been cleared away, and lime has been sprinkled on many places for disinfection. The advance team set up camp near the river near the city, and densely packed tents were erected.

Hundreds of large pots were lined up in a row, with the stoves lit, cooking food and hot water.

The soldiers' laughter and joyful chatter, along with the rich aroma, filled the air, creating a completely different world from the sad atmosphere of Zamboanga town.

Commander Zheng Shouxin strictly followed the hygiene regulations set by the general. All soldiers, immigrants and crew members who came ashore were required to take a bath in the river.

Clothes need to be boiled in hot water for a few minutes, no one is allowed to drink raw water, and the toilets in the camp are built in deep pits and disinfected with quicklime.

In the fleet heading south this time, two ships transported more than 1,500 stones of quicklime alone, which was mainly used for disinfection and epidemic prevention, and to kill tropical mosquitoes and flies.

In the camp
Hundreds of soldiers had just finished bathing and were helping in the kitchen at the stove, bare-chested. They gutted and plucked the feathers of several cows, donkeys and some chickens and ducks that were accidentally injured in the battle, and then handed them over to the cooks in the camp after cleaning them.

The chefs, holding sharp knives, skillfully cut the slaughtered livestock into pieces of meat, threw them into a large pot to stew, and added various spices.

There is no shortage of spices in Zamboanga. This 14th largest island in the world produces spices itself, and it is close to the Spice Islands further south. There are many small vendors selling spices in the market.

The captured spices were piled up in the tents in carts, filling up more than a dozen tents, and the cooks had no psychological burden in using them.

Qian Jiang accompanied Zheng Shouxin to inspect the camp. Seeing that the soldiers were following the hygiene regulations and many people were bathing in the river, a hint of complacency appeared on the corner of his mouth.

He said, "Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief. Before leaving, the General repeatedly stressed the importance of enforcing the military camp hygiene regulations to prevent the occurrence of epidemics.

You see, the big pot over there is used to steam bamboo pots to prevent the soldiers from carrying dirty drinking water. They need to be steamed once every half a month.

Urinating or defecating anywhere in the camp is not allowed. Everyone must go to the public toilets downwind, and mosquitoes and flies must be disinfected in a timely manner. All these measures are implemented.

To date
Our soldiers haven't experienced symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, or chills and fever, and this is entirely thanks to the good implementation of hygiene regulations."

"You must continue to implement it, Lord Qian. More than ten people in my advance group's immigration camp have developed diarrhea and symptoms of chills and fever. They are all caused by drinking raw water at will." Zheng Shouxin has always carried out the general's orders without leaving any room for negotiation.

When this situation occurred in the immigration camp, more than ten people were immediately isolated, their vomit was disinfected and buried with quicklime, and a doctor was sent to treat them with medicine.

This is not free, all special initiatives cost money, and they are quite expensive, and they will be charged to these people's accounts.

Zheng Shouxin was displeased with those who turned a deaf ear to his repeated orders, and murderous intent began to rise in his heart.

If the doctor really couldn't cure the patient, he was prepared to kill him immediately and bury him deep to prevent the spread of the tropical disease.

Of course, there is no need to speak out these plans.

The two men talked as they walked, quickly inspected the camp, and then returned to the central military tent.

The personal guards served tea. Zheng Shouxin and Qian Jiang sat on either side of the table. After eating a few snacks, they talked about the subsequent rewards.

Qian Jiang asked, "Master Zheng, now that our army has captured Zamboanga, what are your plans for the next steps regarding the use of civilians and rewards?"

"This is as it should be, and I have a plan in mind." Zheng Shouxin was the highest commander of the advance group, in charge of all matters except military affairs. He put down the teacup in his hand and continued;

"The general instructed me: 'Reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have committed crimes. Being just and fair is the way of a superior.'"

I deeply agree with this and will do my best to implement it.

Zamboanga has been initially decided. In order to motivate the enthusiasm of the soldiers and immigrants, starting from tomorrow, it is planned to first distribute indigenous women.

According to camp statistics
There were about 1300 people in the entire city of Zamboanga. More than stubborn resisters were killed in the battle, leaving less than people.

Among them, there are about 13 young indigenous women aged 25 to 3020, which is not enough to be distributed to everyone.

If the age limit is relaxed to 30, more than a thousand local indigenous women can be included.

My allocation plan is for officers and administrative staff at all levels to take the lead in selection, with each person limited to selecting two indigenous women to serve in daily life.

After the selection, 500 soldiers in the army will choose an indigenous woman as a reward for free to boost morale and let the brothers see the benefits.

The remaining ones were divided into three categories according to their age and appearance: the first category received five taels of silver, the second category received ten taels of silver, and the third category received twenty taels of silver.

The advance group of immigrants can choose according to their needs. Those who give up the choice will have their debt reduced by five taels of silver.

Do you agree with this approach, my Lord?"

"Very good, I have no objection. I will do as Lord Zheng says." Qian Jiang agreed readily. After hesitating for a moment, he asked again, "Lord Zheng, those foreign women..." "Oh... hehe... Lord Qian, are you interested?" Zheng Shouxin understood immediately after hearing it, and asked back with a smile.

In Zamboanga City, 37 white people were captured, including men, women and priests. Among them, 34 were Portuguese people and the other three were Dutch, called "Red Indian people".

Before heading south

The General has made it clear;

The Portuguese are going to turn against us anyway, and you can deal with the captives as you wish: kill, detain, or sell them. If they are officials or nobles, you should detain them and use them as bargaining chips.

As for the English and Franks, they must be handled with extreme caution. Far from being killed, they must be treated with courtesy and generosity. Once the situation calms down, they can be released to avoid sparking conflict among the great powers. This must be handled with caution and with great care...

As for other nationals, such as Italians, Germans, Americans, etc., do not treat them arbitrarily after verifying their identities.

To avoid leaking the news, just stay in one place temporarily.

When Zheng Shouxin heard General Qian ask about the foreign women, he realized that there were indeed several beautiful white girls among the captives, as they were Portuguese. So he decided, "Since General Qian is interested, then go ahead and pick one. I'll keep the rest at home and deal with them when the general returns south."

"Hehe... Thank you very much, Lord Zheng." Qian Jiang licked his lips happily. He was envious of these white girls and wanted to taste the flavor of foreign women. There was no need to hide it in front of Lord Zheng.

After talking about the reward, the two then discussed the next step of city construction.

In Zheng Shouxin's eyes, Zamboanga, a coastal indigenous city, is completely useless. There are so many places that need to be built, and it is difficult to sort out the complicated things at once.

General, this is the foundation for eternity, how can we be careless?

Fortunately, when Zheng Shouxin went south, the general equipped him with a lot of literate scholars, including dozens of scholars and two staff members who were juren.

Of course, skilled craftsmen are also indispensable, and relevant urban planning requires the strengths of everyone before it can be finally drawn up.

Before going south
The general once had a private conversation with Zheng Shouxin. He said that the cities in Southeast Asia have sufficient sunshine and abundant rainfall, much like Guangzhou and Foshan in southern China, so it is imperative to have good urban drainage facilities.

Drawing on European experience, they dug trenches under the city streets, built dome-shaped holes with bricks and stones, connected them into a network, and drained the accumulated water from high to low.

Considering the construction needs, the top priority is to build more than ten brick kilns.

In the future, bricks will be indispensable whether it is building city defenses, constructing brick and stone houses in the city, sewer pipe network facilities, or building bridges, etc.

The two discussed for a while
It was decided to carry out the distribution of indigenous women and the establishment of labor camps simultaneously, with priority given to leveling the roads in the city. Those shacks and thatched houses that were in the way were to be demolished and leveled, and they were quickly cleared out.

First, the framework of a 20-meter-wide cross avenue in the city will be built, and then the construction of other roads will be carried out in succession, with the goal of making the entire city look brand new within a year.

First, more than a thousand people from the hard labor camp were allocated to build brick kilns under the command of Chinese masters, and another thousand people were allocated to build charcoal kilns, wood drying kilns, lime kilns and other infrastructure.

Building brickyards, lumberyards, quarries, etc., and forcing hard labor to quarry stones and rebuild docks were all major projects.

The current Zamboanga Pier is a wooden pier deep in the sea. After more than two hundred years of wind and sun, it is no longer usable.

The construction of a new wharf needs to be put on the agenda. It is not far from the old wharf and is planned to be built with mined mountain stones. It will require at least three to four thousand strong laborers.

Qian Jiang then proposed
It was necessary to build strong stone fortresses on the high ground on both sides of the encircled harbor of Zamboanga, which would be used to set up artillery batteries in the future to defend against invasions from the sea.

This makes the project enormous.

Even if a mere three or four thousand indigenous laborers worked themselves to death, they would not be able to complete such a large-scale project.

"What are you afraid of? If there is no one, we can go to the countryside to catch them. There are more than 100,000 indigenous people in the villages around Zamboanga. The military has taken this job and will guarantee to bring back the convict labor force that Lord Zheng needs." Qian Jiang was full of confidence at this time and said while patting his chest.

"Mr. Qian, we cannot exhaust all the fish in the pond. We must proceed step by step."

"what do you mean?"

"It is now the spring plowing season. The thousands of immigrants we brought here must be settled as soon as possible. They must cultivate the fields and store millet for food, providing a steady supply of food and vegetables for our army.

In August and September
The general will send a second wave of pioneers here, and there may be a third wave by the end of the year.

With so many people eating horse fodder, agricultural production must be put on the agenda as soon as possible, and the indigenous labor force should not be consumed too much.

Moderate enslavement is necessary, and gradual progress is the best policy."

"In your opinion, how many natives should be eliminated?"

"Twenty or thirty thousand, no more. The rest can be planned slowly."

"Okay, I'll do as you say, sir."

(End of this chapter)