Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 490
Up the Saigon River, a flotilla of considerable size was moving slowly.

On the largest ship, a man in his forties kept looking into the distance with a binoculars. He saw weeds growing on the flat land on both sides of the river, and the man felt like a cat's claw.

It's really uncomfortable that such a good land is barren in vain.

But it's good that he's here, for behind him there's plenty of seed, kitchen utensils, and above all pioneers in the fleet.

Huang Chong, the father of Huang Yuan, the head of the military merit assessment department of Yang Chao's army, is also a big landlord who owns [-] mu of land under the Lion Mountain.

But he was instigated by Yang Chao to come to the Mekong River to open up wasteland.

An ordinary landlord would never suffer this crime, but Huang Chong is not an ordinary landlord. He was just a small general in the past, and he came from a military household.

He bought every penny and tenth with his own sweat, so he cherished his family's land very much, but Yang Chao told him that as long as he brought people to open up wasteland on the Mekong River, he would give him a large piece of land.

Huang Chong's family has [-] mu of land, which is also a large piece of land, but under the [-] mu of paddy fields promised by Yang Chao, Huang Chong has no resistance at all.

One hundred thousand mu, this is one thousand hectares of fertile land, and one thousand hectares of fertile land is the standard configuration of the Ming dynasty.

Huang Chong couldn't imagine that he could elevate his family to the level of a wealthy family by relying on him for a lifetime. Not to mention this ambition, just the impact of the [-] mu figure is not something that a farmer and military household who has been farming all his life can resist. yes.

So without saying a word, he left his wife and children and came to the Mekong River alone. He worked hard for more than a year and almost two years, and now he has achieved remarkable results.

Today he led the team to go upstream to open up a new reclamation area.

This is already the tenth reclamation area he is about to establish. He has worked hard for two years and spent almost every day leading people to reclaim land and building camps. Each camp is a center for reclamation, and then expands to the four directions. A camp must have more than [-] mu of level land that can be reclaimed, and the land must be fertile.

Such land is almost difficult to find unowned wasteland in Daming, but it is everywhere in the Mekong River.It's not that no one farms here, but it's too rare. A hundred miles north of the Antong River is the frontier of the Vietnamese Nguyen Group, where there are some scattered villages.

To the south is the land of the Cambodians. Unfortunately, Cambodia is divided. The Mekong River area is the territory of King Fu of Cambodia. However, the perennial civil war makes it sparsely populated. It is estimated that the total is 200 million people scattered on the huge land. Walking hundreds of miles may not be able to find a Cambodian village.

Even if they encountered Cambodian villages, huge fleets, and armed colonizers, they could only pray that these people would not rob them of their land and property, and they would never dare to provoke them.

The other is the demeaning bandits, but they are definitely not the opponents of these murderous thugs.

There are 1000 people in a reclamation area, with more than [-] mu of high-quality land. On average, one person has [-] mu of land. In Huang Chong's view, these people don't know the blessings they cultivated in their lifetime.

Everything went smoothly. The only thing that made Huang Chong dissatisfied was that the speed of land reclamation was still too slow, which was incomparable with when he was in Xinjiangkou. It wasn't that these people didn't work hard enough, but that their hands were too rough. Huang Chong had to teach them everything by hand. Most of these people were farmers, but many of them were farmers from the north, and they had never even seen rice before.

In addition, there is a lack of various resources. Up to now, it still needs to spend 10 taels of silver every year to buy food, farm tools, livestock and other materials in Hoi An.

Compared with materials, manpower is especially lacking. Huang Chong now has less than 2 people in his hands. It is the lack of manpower that limits the speed of his development of the reclamation area. Yang Chao promised to reclaim 100 million mu of land and move 10 people , even if he has completed the task, but at the current speed, he doesn't know when he will be able to achieve what he wants.

Huang Chong had chosen the place a long time ago, and this time it was just to bring people to cultivate. When the tributary and the wooden stake he stood on the river beach to mark finally appeared in the binoculars, Huang Chong showed a smile. Li, about 150 miles away from Saigon Port, this impact plain at the junction of two rivers is enough to reclaim 30 mu of land.

The boat quickly went up to the tributary, and walked five miles forward. There was a raised mound. Huang Chong asked people to stop and began to unload the boat. To build a camp, surround a wooden wall with logs, and then build a house inside.

The house was built in ten days. Hundreds of walls were made of logs, with thatch on top, and then plastered with mud and tiles. It is simple and practical, and the most important thing is that it is cheap. The wood is felled in the forest near the port. It was a low price, and only the tiles were bought. Huang Chong had already asked Nanjing for brick and tile craftsmen, but it was a pity that Yang Chao never sent him one.

While waiting for supplies, Huang Chong also organized people to burn them himself, but unfortunately they all failed.

After the house is built, materials such as grain, seeds, and agricultural tools are transported down, and then these people are brought to burn the wasteland, and then the land is leveled and irrigation channels are dug.

Compared with the Westerners who opened up colonies, the people sent by Yang Chao were extremely happy. Yang Chao provided them with sufficient guarantees, basically in one step, and even the water conservancy projects were completed.

It will take about two months to complete all these tasks, and then the reclamation area will be able to operate by itself. The speed is still too slow, and only five or six can be developed in a year.

But Huang Chong is not an idiot, he has already picked out a dozen or so crops. He was captured by Yang Chao when Huguang followed Zhang Xianzhong to Nanjing. Huang Chong's ability to farm is not inferior to Huang Chong. Come out to be your own helper and promise to allocate [-] mu of land to them, and these people will be willing to work hard.

"There are already ten villages. Last year and this year, 1 mu of land was opened up. Although it is raw land, it is enough to feed [-] people. We should be able to open a few more next year, and strive to open ten villages a year. Open up [-] mu of land."

After setting up the camp, Huang Chong brought a few craftsmen back to the voyage.

It took five days to return to Saigon. After meeting Song Kun who was stationed here, Song Kun was very happy.

After asking the reason, Huang Chong was jealous and sad at the same time.

"Master Song really wants to leave?"

"Let's go! Why don't you go, I'm full of shit here. I thought the governor had forgotten me. Finally let me go back to fight the Tartars. It's so boring to stay here all day dealing with barbarians. "

The reason why Yang Chao sent elite soldiers like Song Kun to Saigon was only because he valued this land. After running it well, it would not lose to the large granary in the south of the Yangtze River, and it would be no problem to feed tens of millions of people.

It’s just that it’s really a bit of a waste. After all, there is no threatening force here. Song Kun’s main battle is to deal with the bandits, but he has been afraid of the bandits for more than a year. There is no bandit within [-] miles around Saigon. Nested.

In fact, compared with bandits, the real danger is disease. Many soldiers are not acclimatized and suffer from dysentery. Of the 1000 elite soldiers who came with Song Kun, [-] of them have already died on this land. The morale of the remaining soldiers is also low. .

Now I can finally go back, not only Song Kun, but also the soldiers are the same as the Chinese New Year. Speaking of the Chinese New Year, they seem to have no interest in celebrating the Chinese New Year.

"From now on, I will leave it to Mr. Huang."

Song Kun said with a chuckle, there was a taste of gloating in his tone.

Huang Chong couldn't help but smiled wryly: "What else can I do? I just hope to finish it quickly, and I will go back as soon as possible."

Song Kun encouraged: "Aren't you doing more and more smoothly? Last year, only three villages were built, and this year we have built seven. Next year, ten will not be a problem. The next year, at most, the year after, here will be There can be 10 people."

Huang Chong shook his head: "I'm too busy with only 3 people right now, and I really can't manage 10 people."

Song Kun was perfunctory: "I will intercede with you when I go back, and ask the adults to send some clerks over. Isn't your son the clerk? It would be nice to ask your son to come over as a father-son team member."

Huang Chong quickly shook his head: "It's absolutely impossible. Isn't it because of my son that I'm working so hard here? Don't ruin his future. It's ten thousand times better for him to stay with the governor than to stay here."

Song Kun nodded: "That's true. Look at that Huangfeng mansion. In the past, he was a poor scholar. I heard that he is very proud now. In Nanjing, he is calling the wind and calling the rain. Your son seems to be taking his seat. In the future, you Huang The home is about to show off."

Huang Chong hurriedly said: "Borrow auspicious words, borrow auspicious words!"

He promised Yang Chao to come here to reclaim wasteland, so he wanted to use his life to increase his son's future. If he really wants to become a wealthy family, he can't do it with land alone, and his son needs to have an official status.

After sending Song Kun away, Huang Chong felt a sense of loneliness for no reason, and this feeling was especially frightening when he was in a foreign country.

Being lonely, he could only use work to resolve it. Huang Chong built two camps in one go. At this time, there were only 3000 people left in his hands. These [-] people had to defend the pier, cut down trees, build houses, and Really can not pull to farm.

Nanjing.

After more than a month of sailing, Song Kun finally returned to his hometown where he had been away for two years. He felt like crying.

Yang Chao greeted him in person, set up a thousand cannons on the pier, and fired the cannons to welcome them.

"Good job! You have made great achievements. You have ten reclamation areas, and you have opened up 3 mu of land. This year, you can send another [-] people to Huang Chong. I don't think I need to send them food. "

Yang Chao held a banquet in honor of Song Kun and the soldiers, and Song Kun was greatly praised at the banquet.

Song Kun was more sentimental: "It's too hard. Brother Wuqian went with me, and 4000 of them came back. It's really embarrassing to see their parents."

Yang Chao was also a little sad, but he felt it was worth it: "Don't worry. Their families will be properly settled. They are all heroes. Believe me, your sacrifice today is worthwhile. Future generations will appreciate you and give you Build a temple to worship."

This point Yang Chao is not only used to comfort Song Kun, but he is indeed the case. The Mekong Delta has been acquired. Although 1000 people have been sacrificed, it is worth it. Every inch of the land has been soaked in blood. It is the blood and sweat of the ancestors. spelled.

(End of this chapter)