Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 236 Seattle Forward Base, Farming and Making Salt in Exchange for a Wife [Please Subscribe]

Chen Zhongming ordered the fleet to rest in this natural harbor for most of the day. After breakfast, they set sail to explore the bay.

After entering the bay, Chen Zhongming divided six ships and sent them in various directions. The map of North America given by the court only showed the general topography of the North American continent, such as the outline of the coastline, islands, and markings of large areas such as mountains, plains, and Gobi deserts.

If they want to know the detailed terrain and environmental conditions of a certain place, they need to explore it themselves.

Two days later, the exploration ships returned one after another and reported the situation in various directions to Chen Zhongming, Zhang Bingyi and others. They also had a preliminary understanding of this place.

In a larger cabin on the flagship Chengfeng, Commander Chen Zhongming, Supervisory Eunuch Wang Shun, and two Associate Commanders Zhang Bingyi and Li Qiming gathered for a meeting.

"Based on the intelligence we've gathered over the past two days, the situation in the Seattle area is roughly the same as shown on the map provided by the imperial court."

"From here, whether heading south or north, there are numerous islands and peninsulas. The sea to the north is very deep. It should be the same as shown on the map, leading to the ocean outside."

"As you go south, the vegetation is slightly denser, which means the climate is warmer."

"According to the imperial court's order, we need to establish an exploratory base in the Seattle area. What are your thoughts on the location?"

After saying that, Chen Zhongming's gaze fell on Zhang Bingyi.

Obviously, he was mainly asking Zhang Bingyi this question - after all, Zhang Bingyi was the only "literary man" among the four and had the most knowledge.

Zhang Bingyi had no intention of shirking his responsibility and immediately said, "Although this is an exploratory base, according to the instructions above, it will most likely be converted into an immigration base in the future, so we have to consider the long term."

As he spoke, Zhang Bingyi pointed to a place on the map on the table.

"I think this place is good. It's not far from the sea outside, there are rivers connecting it to the inland, and it's located in the middle of this area."

"Whether it's exploring inland or relocating people to new land in the future, there's plenty of convenience."

Chen Zhongming, Wang Shun and others looked and saw that this place was more than 80 miles north of the "Seattle" marked by the court, and there was indeed a long river flowing into the sea from the east.

"What do you think, General Wang?" Chen Zhongming asked Wang Shun for his opinion.

Although Wang Shun was a eunuch, he possessed a rather mature and steady personality. He glanced at the map for a moment, but finding no further information, he said, "Let's explore that area before making a decision. Since we're going to establish a base, we need to understand the surrounding area to be on the safe side."

"Then let's go here first to explore the surrounding area and let the soldiers rest for ten days or half a month."

Staying at sea for a long time is a test for the soldiers' physical and mental health.

Therefore, the First Long-distance Exploration Fleet would dock and rest for a day or two whenever there was a suitable opportunity.

Combined with their explorations along the way, it took them just over two months to reach the Seattle area. If they had headed straight here after setting sail from Ice and Fire Island, it would probably have taken just over a month.

After arriving at the place Zhang Bingyi pointed out (Everett), Chen Zhongming sent several teams to explore for two days and found that most of the coastal areas here were covered by rivers and swamps. It was estimated that floods would occur during the rainy season and submerge many places.

Although there is a natural harbor, it is not very deep.

After learning about these situations, even Zhang Bingyi, who had chosen this place in the first place, couldn't help but shake his head and put forward new suggestions.

"Let's go to the place marked Seattle on the map."

So the fleet set sail again and headed south along the bay. In less than a day, they arrived in Seattle.

Then came a few more days of land exploration.

The more they explored, the more satisfied Chen Zhongming, Zhang Bingyi and other fleet leaders became with this place.

The port conditions here are much better than the previous one - the wind and waves are smaller, and the water is deeper. Although the sea surface is slightly smaller, it is still large enough to serve as a port.

To the east is a narrow hilly area, and across the hills is a huge freshwater lake!
In addition, there is a not-too-wide river winding southward, and its source is unknown.

So, when the exploration teams returned to the beach one after another and reported their respective exploration situations, Chen Zhongming and the other three convened another high-level meeting.

This time, Chen Zhongming spoke first. "Aside from being unsuitable for large-scale land reclamation and farming, and a bit far from the ocean, this place is excellent in every way. It's a perfect location for establishing an exploratory base."

Zhang Bingyi said, "It's true that the land here is not very suitable for farming, but there are still suitable places. With the farming skills of our Ming Dynasty, if we cultivate all the land that can be cultivated, it will not be a problem to support 100,000 people."

"If the imperial court wants to carry out large-scale immigration here, they can go south along the river and most likely find better places suitable for farming."

After a pause, he continued, "In fact, our Ming Dynasty already has a small population. Even if we want to open up overseas territories, it is unlikely that there will be large-scale overseas immigration within the next 20 to 30 years."

Hearing this, Wang Shun smiled and asked, "Does Zhang Tongzhi also agree with choosing this location?"

Zhang Bingyi nodded, "Not bad."

"Then let's choose this place." Wang Shun also voted for this place.

Afterwards, Chen Zhongming symbolically asked Li Mingqi for his opinion and decided to establish an exploration and advancement base in Seattle.

The First Long-distance Exploration Fleet had more than 3,000 people. They established several important supply points along the way and arranged for one or two hundred people to leave the ship to work. Now there are more than 3,000 people left.

Since Seattle needs to build an exploration and advancement base, it must have a lot of people staying.

So, after some discussion, Chen Zhongming and his men decided to transfer 100 men from each ship, forming a hundred households and leaving them there. The base commander was a Shandong general named Liu Wenzhong.

After the fleet rested here for half a month and helped build a temporary base camp, they prepared to set sail and continue sailing south.

The main purpose of the First Long-distance Exploration Fleet's visit to America was to search for the several American crops mentioned by Liu Kuan - these crops were said to be in Central America, or even South America, so the fleet's voyage was still very long.

Before the fleet was about to leave the port, Chen Zhongming, Zhang Bingyi and three others called Liu Wenzhong to the flagship and gave him instructions in person again.

After Liu Wenzhong saluted the others, Zhang Bingyi spoke first, "You, the centurion, are destined to be stationed here for quite a while, perhaps a year, or even two or three years."

"That's why when we formed your centurion, we specifically selected soldiers who were unmarried."

"In order to allow the soldiers to stay here and run the base with peace of mind, after you have discovered the surrounding native tribes, try to find wives for them."

Zhang Bingyi deliberately emphasized the word "try to".

Liu Wenzhong understood immediately: this was a hint that they could rob native women as wives.

Hearing this, Liu Wenzhong was delighted. They had been sailing for months, and the brothers were all very bored. If they had known that stationing at this exploratory base would give them the opportunity to marry native women, I'm afraid many of them would have been happy to do so.

As for him, although he was already married and even had a pair of children, he didn't mind taking one or two native concubines.

On the ship, he heard that the natives of the American continent looked not much different from the Han people, but he didn't know if it was true.

Just as Liu Wenzhong was lost in thought, Zhang Bingyi continued, "However, you must remember that the safety of you and the camp always comes first. Don't wait until we return to the voyage and find that you have provoked a powerful native tribe and are destroyed. Remember this?"

Liu Wenzhong clasped his fists and said, "I'll keep this in mind!"

Then, Chen Zhongming also spoke up, "Our destination is Central America. If all goes well, we can return here before winter."

"In addition to further exploring the surrounding area, you must also stockpile wood and meat to facilitate the fleet's wintering here."

"Of course, if we don't return before winter, you don't have to panic. Just lead the soldiers here and manage the business."

Liu Wenzhong clasped his fists again, "I understand!"

After Chen Zhongming finished his instructions, he watched Liu Wenzhong get off the boat, and then ordered someone to send a flag signal, ordering the fleet to set sail.

Liu Wenzhong watched the nine Ming Dynasty warships leave the port, then looked back at the vast forest behind him and the temporary camp standing on the shore of the bay. He suddenly felt insignificant and had a sense of insecurity and urgency.

Seeing that more than a hundred skilled soldiers were also looking at the fleet going away like him, he ordered: "All the general and small flags come to the Hundred Households Hall to discuss the matter!"

Upon hearing the order, several low-ranking generals immediately followed Liu Wenzhong into the Hundred Households Hall.

There were two general flags, ten small flags, and Liu Wenzhong, a total of thirteen people.

They were all low-ranking officers, so naturally, there weren't many rules to follow. Seeing everyone present, Liu Wenzhong spoke up, "Although the fleet left behind a batch of food and other supplies, it's only enough for the hundred or so of us to consume for two or three months. Therefore, our top priority right now is to increase our reserves of food and other supplies."

"According to Mr. Zhang's suggestion, the climate here is mild and humid, and it's only June, so we can try planting some wheat."

"Also, we need to plant a vegetable garden. Although fishing and hunting are easy here, we can't just eat meat all the time without vegetables. That's not good for our health."

"Then we boil or dry the salt. We have enough salt, but not much. If we can find any native tribes nearby, salt will be the best commodity to trade with them."

"If we produce enough salt, maybe we can buy a native wife for everyone in the future."

Hearing this, more than a dozen generals laughed.

We've been stuck at sea for several months, who wouldn't want a woman?
If we can exchange it for salt, it is naturally better than taking the risk of fighting with the natives to rob them.

Liu Wenzhong also smiled, then said, "Speaking of the natives, our other priority is to continue exploring the surrounding area and try to find the location of the nearby native tribes as soon as possible."

"One is to facilitate trading with the natives, and the other is to prevent them from discovering us first and letting them gather people to make dumplings."

"Does anyone have any objection to the three things I mentioned?"

The two general flags and ten small flags all shook their heads, indicating no.

"Well, Zhang Cheng and Lei Ming, each of you will select nine elite soldiers to continue exploring the surrounding area!"

Two elite flag officers stood up and clasped their fists, "As you command!"

"Lin Zongqi has assigned ten men to produce salt; Wang Zongqi has assigned sixty men to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land."

The two generals also stood up to receive the order.

Liu Wenzhong stood up and said, "I will lead the remaining small flag and be responsible for patrolling and guarding the camp."

On the other side, Chen Zhongming and others left the sea area of ​​Seattle, re-entered the ocean, and sailed south along the coastline...

　First update.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)