Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 279: The Chief's Gift, the Talents of the Military Settlement [Please Subscribe]

It's not the Xiongbai people's fault for being short-sighted. Truly, after he changed into the attire of a Ming general, he looked no different from the other Ming soldiers. Plus, there were so many generals and officers following Xie Deyou off the ship that the Xiongbai people naturally didn't notice him for a moment.

It was not until Xiong Bai came in front of the tribesmen that he was recognized.

Suddenly, several young tribesmen shouted in surprise, "Chief!"

Xiong Bai laughed and said, "Hahaha, you guys only recognized me when you came to pick up that brat. Could it be that I've only been gone for half a year and you didn't recognize me?"

The young crow laughed and said, "How can you blame us? Who can recognize the chief dressed like this?"

Because the White Bear tribe is relatively small, Xiong Bai became much kinder as he grew older. The teenagers and children in the tribe all regarded him as their grandfather and were quite close to him, especially after the White Bear tribe suffered a disaster.

Now, one by one, they came up and touched the Ming army captain's battle jacket on Xiong Bai's body. Although they saw this piece of clothes every day in the camp, they had never touched the captain's battle jacket, so it was naturally very strange.

Xiong Bai said, "What's the point of touching a battle jacket? I brought you a lot of delicious and fun things from the capital of the Ming Dynasty."

Because the tribesmen who came to greet them were mainly teenagers and children (most of the women had married Ming soldiers), Xiong Bai took off the bundle and distributed it on the spot.

He first took out a wooden box and took out pieces of malt sugar from it and distributed them, explaining: "This is Ming Dynasty malt sugar, specially for children to eat. It's very sweet. Come and try it."

When teenagers and children put it in their mouths and chew it, their taste buds and brains are immediately filled with an unprecedented sweetness, which gives them a fresh feeling of happiness and satisfaction.

Seeing this, Xiong Bai said with some distress: "You can't chew it like meat. You have to hold it in your mouth and wait for it to melt, then savor it slowly."

As he spoke, he took a piece and put it in his mouth to demonstrate.

The native boys and children followed suit and immediately uttered bursts of vague exclamations of praise.

"So sweet!"

"How can there be such delicious food?!"

"It tastes better than the food cooked by the Ming army uncle in the camp!"

"It's so delicious! Did all the children in the Ming Dynasty grow up eating this kind of malt candy? No wonder they are so powerful!"

"···"

Hearing these words, Xiong Bai laughed again, feeling happy and emotional.

Because he knew that children in the Ming Dynasty did not grow up eating malt sugar. In fact, even in the capital, many children could only eat malt sugar once during the New Year and other festivals.

He was able to buy these things because he received rewards from the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and served as a captain of the Ming Dynasty’s garrison.

After coming to his senses, Xiong Bai took out some long-lasting dried fruits and candied fruits from his bag and distributed them to the children of the tribe.

Finally, there are some toys and supplies such as bamboo dragonflies, spinning tops, small glass mirrors, and daggers.

The native children and teenagers were naturally happier when they saw this, and they cheered around Xiong Bai.

Not far away, Xie Deyou, who was instructing his officers to organize the disembarkation of the soldiers and civilians, saw this scene and said to a deputy commander of the Dongsheng Guard, "General Bai Xiong is a model for us naturalized natives. Xiong Bai is now a centurion and should not be underestimated. Arrange for someone to deliver the things he brought back with him as soon as possible."

"You will finally understand."

Although Xiong Bai only carried a bag with him, it actually contained some small food and toys that he had bought in the capital with his own money. The cloth, ceramics, iron pots, pens, ink, paper and inkstone that Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded him with, as well as some large items purchased by Xiong Bai, were all on the boat.

After explaining the arrangements for disembarking and settling the military and civilians, Xie Deyou approached the exploratory fleet and looked at Liu Wenzhong. "This is Captain Liu Wenzhong, the one who stayed behind here, right?"

Liu Wenzhong also just realized that he had been promoted twice, from a sixth-rank centurion to a fifth-rank thousand-householder.

But even though he became a thousand households, he did not dare to be arrogant when facing Xie Deyou, a commander-in-chief of the second rank.

Although Xie Deyou was not his superior, he still clasped his fists and said, "It is you, General Xie. What are your instructions?"

Xie Deyou pointed to the distant camp, the surrounding fields, and even the salt pans on the beach, and said with a smile, "It seems that although you are a small group, you have managed this place well. Why don't you take us around and show us around while the day is still good?"

Liu Wenzhong said, "I obey your orders!"

According to the court's arrangement, this camp was to be handed over to the relocated North American Command and Dongshengwei Command. Sooner or later, Liu Wenzhong would have to take charge of all the affairs of the camp.

Although it has only been more than a year, the land here is fertile and convenient for fishing and hunting, and Liu Wenzhong has already developed a fondness for it.

If it weren't for the court's order and his family wasn't here, he would have wanted to stay here and farm and hunt.

He was originally worried that some things would not be explained clearly when handing over the camp to the generals under the commander, causing the commander to neglect certain matters. Now that he can explain it to Xie Deyou in person, he is naturally happy.

After Liu Wenzhong reported to Chen Zhongming again, he took Xie Deyou and other generals of the North American Command to the camp.

"Thank you, Master. Look, there was a large area over there that used to be a coastal mudflat. Now we've turned it into a salt pan. Although it's only 20 mu, it can produce dozens of kilograms of coarse salt a month during the dry season."

"Over there is the dry land we've reclaimed. We're growing wheat, millet, beans, corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Although this is our first good harvest, and we need to save a lot for seeds, it still provides the soldiers in the camp with plenty of food options."

"The area closest to the camp is where we grow vegetables. It's now over a hundred acres."

"Xie Duzhi may have heard that fishing and hunting are easy in North America, so it's easy to eat meat. But if we want to eat vegetables, we have to grow them ourselves. I remember there was a popular saying among the military garrisons: 'If you grow your own food, you will have enough clothing and food!'"

"Oh, there's a field over there where they grow a local wild fruit. We privately named it blueberry. It's delicious..."

Led by Liu Wenzhong, Xie Deyou walked around the camp and its surroundings and found that the business here was much better than he expected.

He had originally heard that when the fleet left, it left behind less than a hundred regular soldiers, dozens of surrendered natives, and hundreds of native prisoners of war, and he thought these people were just trying to get by here.

Unexpectedly, Liu Wenzhong of this exploration fleet is quite capable of farming, so much so that he now wants to ask Chen Zhongming for people.

Unfortunately, the navy has now been separated from their garrison troops, and this place is far away from the center. Even if Chen Zhongming agrees to release them, Liu Wenzhong and others will have to wait until the imperial court's transfer order comes down next year before they can be transferred to the North American Military Commission...

Three days later.

The fleet set sail again and continued south with the remaining people.

Most of the nearly 100 soldiers of the exploration fleet, including Liu Wenzhong, who had stayed behind in the camp, left. Only dozens of people who had married native wives stayed behind to continue helping the newly arrived soldiers and civilians of the garrison to familiarize themselves with the area.

The day after the fleet left.

After breakfast, Xie Deyou summoned all the officers of the garrison above the rank of centurion to the former centurion official office for a meeting.

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)