Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 116: Guangzhou Incident (Part )
Guangzhou in May welcomed the hustle and bustle of early summer, and the city's commercial activities became more prosperous. Masts were like forests outside the harbor, and merchants from all over the world flocked to the city.

Near the port, there is a large warehouse with a tall, solid wooden door half-open. A group of dock workers are pushing wheelbarrows, bringing in bags of rice that have just arrived at the port.

The warehouse was paved with stone slabs, which were smooth and shiny from being frequently trampled on.

Inside the warehouse, a group of young men formed a simple relay team, transporting the rice unloaded on the ground into the warehouse one bag at a time.

Several huge warehouses were already filled with all kinds of goods, including bundles of embroidered raw silk, soft silk, packages of solid tea bricks, fragrant South Asian spices, and beautiful porcelain.

When Meng Shengxin entered the warehouse with several followers, the young and strong immigrants who were carrying rice bowed and greeted them respectfully.

"Where's Shopkeeper Zhong?"

He came to the main hall, sat down to take a breath, took the teacup from a young man, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Reporting to Master Meng, Master Zhong is in the side room looking through the account books."

"Oh, I'm afraid the warehouse has received a lot of goods in the past month or so?"

"Yes, Master Meng." Ding Sangen nodded. "A batch of rice arrived from Siam yesterday, and Master Zhong bought it all. Look, he's still loading it into the warehouse!"

"Yeah, very good." Meng Shengxin nodded, picked up the teacup and drank it in one gulp, then stood up. "There's nothing to do here, you can go and do your thing."

As he spoke, he walked towards the house at the back.

"father……"

A boy of four or five was squatting at the doorway, playing with a pile of pebbles. When he saw Meng Shengxin approaching, he immediately stood up and called him "Dad" with a slightly awkward expression. Then he turned around and shouted into the house, "Mom, Dad is back!"

"Shenzi, come here, I'll give you some cakes!" Meng Shengxin reached out and rubbed the child's head affectionately, then handed him a piece of cake bought at the dock.

"Husband, you're back!" A woman came forward with a baby in her arms, looking surprised.

"Well, we encountered some minor troubles in Haojing, which delayed us a little." Meng Shengxin walked forward and looked at the woman and baby in front of him with gentle eyes.

"Mom..." The boy reached out and tugged at the woman's dress, looking at her longingly.

"Didn't we just have lunch? Your dad said that eating too much sweet food will ruin your teeth."

"It's okay." Meng Shengxin squatted down and pinched the boy's cheek with a smile. "I bought this cake for him, didn't I? Are you going to give it to his baby sister as well?"

"You just spoil him." The woman said this, but her face was filled with a happy and satisfied smile.

How lucky I am to meet such a good man!

"Yuerong..." Meng Shengxin took the baby from the woman's arms and teased it gently. "In another ten months, our Qiming Island immigration ship will arrive in Guangzhou. I'm thinking about whether to send Shenzi back so that he can receive a more systematic education. What do you think?"

"Ah?..." Song Yuerong was surprised when she heard this. She looked at her son who was happily eating cakes, and then looked at her husband nervously, "Shenzi... he is only five years old. If he leaves us, who will take care of him? Husband, are you..."

"Yuerong, you don't need to overthink it." Meng Shengxin said in a gentle voice, "Although Shenzi is not my biological son, I treat him as my own and not as an outsider. I just feel that the situation in the Ming Dynasty may fluctuate, and it may endanger the south, or even Guangzhou."

"We have almost no roots here, nor much to rely on. If we were to encounter any disturbance or danger, we would be unable to cope and would have no choice but to flee overseas. Although our Qiming Island is remote, it is far away from the interplay of various forces and free from any external intrusion. It is truly a paradise."

"You just mentioned that Shenzi is five years old. At this age, he should be ready for primary school. However, I'm busy with my duties in Guangzhou, running around a lot, and I rarely have time to teach him to read and write. Wouldn't this hinder his future studies and career? Don't worry too much. Shenzi will be well cared for by our people on Qiming Island, and we will teach him knowledge and culture far beyond the reach of the Ming Dynasty."

"Are you serious about what my husband said?" Song Yuerong's face was still filled with worry as she looked at the boy reluctantly.

"Have I ever lied to you?" Meng Shengxin smiled, beckoned the boy closer, and said, "Shenzi, let me ask you something. Do you want to learn some great skills?"

"..." The boy looked at him in confusion, then turned to look at his mother, who was looking concerned. Then he asked, "Great power? Like the Monkey King in the story my father told me?"

"Yes." Meng Shengxin nodded. "In the future, when you learn great skills, you will not only be able to create magical instruments that can fly, but also possess the ability to enter the sea, and even create mechanisms that can travel a thousand miles in a day."

"Can you make delicious cakes like this every day?"

"Hahaha..." Meng Shengxin laughed. "You have great abilities now. You can create more than just delicious cakes like this! From now on, you can find a way to make anything you want."

"Then I'm going to learn some great skills!"

"If you want to learn great skills, you might have to leave your parents for a long time. Are you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid." The boy looked at his mother again, shook his head and said, "Dad always taught me to be a brave man."

"Good boy!" Meng Shengxin freed up one hand and gently patted the boy's tender shoulders. "In the future, when you learn great skills, you must repay your mother." Upon hearing this, Song Yuerong hugged the child in her arms, tears streaming down her face.

Two years ago, my husband had just passed away and my parents-in-law were seriously ill. As a lonely woman, I not only had to raise a child who was less than three years old, but also had to take care of my broken family. My whole life was like a huge rock, pressing down on me so hard that I couldn't breathe.

More than a year ago, Qiming Warehouse was recruiting a cook and offered three taels of silver. She came to apply with her child in her arms.

Fortunately, Meng Shengxin, the owner of the warehouse at the time, felt sorry for her and selected her from the many women who applied. In addition to paying her a full monthly salary, he also allowed her to bring food home from time to time to help her parents-in-law, giving the whole family a glimmer of hope.

After several months in the warehouse, through constant contact and understanding, she found that the two owners were extremely kind and did not have any domineering attitude towards them, the helpers who did odd jobs. Moreover, they were quite knowledgeable and knew almost everything. From time to time, they would tell them some overseas anecdotes and miscellaneous things in the world.

Later, a nosy woman tried to bring her together with Meng Shengxin, the owner of the warehouse.

After a few interactions, with the idea of ​​finding a man to rely on, she reluctantly married this man who was a dozen years older than her.

That’s right, although she already has a son, he is only twenty-two years old, a full generation younger than Meng Shengxin.

However, she was a widow and her family was very poor, so what could she complain about?

In the Ming Dynasty, although Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism had become the mainstream thought, great Confucian scholars and many other scholars also tried their best to encourage widows to remain chaste.

But among the people, it is very common for widows to remarry.

During the Zhengde reign, the eunuch Liu Jin, who controlled the government, even forced all widows in the capital to remarry.

At that time, the popular Sanyan Erpai was clearly in support of widows remarrying.

According to the Ming Dynasty Law, commoner women could remarry after their husbands died, but they could not take away their dowry and the property of their husband's family.

Well, that means you have to leave the house with nothing.

Only those ladies who were granted titles by the imperial court had stricter restrictions on the marriage system. Generally speaking, they were not allowed to remarry.

With a situation like Song Yuerong's, her family was penniless and she had almost no external possessions, and she could not say that she had any property from her husband's family. So she had no constraints when she remarried to Meng Shengxin.

What's more, after she remarried, she often helped and supported her parents-in-law who were in trouble, which was considered an extremely virtuous and filial act.

A year after their marriage, the couple gave birth to a baby girl more than a month ago.

The newly married husband not only did not beat or abuse the children brought by his ex-husband's family, but instead treated them as his own children and showed great care for them.

She also loved the girl she gave birth to very much and had no intention of disliking her gender at all.

Moreover, after the birth, the husband took care of the mother and daughter day and night regardless of the filth, which moved her deeply.

You know, a few years ago, when she gave birth to her first child, her deceased ex-husband never showed any concern for her, and even didn't take much care of the newborn child, and she raised the child alone.

For a woman like her who has such an unfortunate life, marrying her current husband is truly the best marriage God has given her.

"Instructor Meng..."

The couple was trying to comfort their crying baby when they heard a call from outside the door.

However, Zhong Minghui, who stayed at the warehouse, heard that Meng Shengxin had returned from Haojing, and immediately came to find him.

"Husband, Manager Zhong must have something to talk to you about. Please go ahead." Song Yuerong held the child and rocked him gently.

"Okay, I'll be back soon." Meng Shengxin nodded and turned to leave the room.

"How is it?" Zhong Minghui asked impatiently as soon as he saw Meng Shengxin.

"The purchase of artillery and muskets is basically a done deal, barring any unforeseen circumstances," Meng Shengxin said with a smile. "Also, the Portuguese have shown great interest in using their unused ships to transport immigrants."

"Great!" Zhong Minghui breathed a sigh of relief. "If the Portuguese are willing to cooperate, even if they only provide one ship, they can transport an additional three or four hundred people each year. For us, this means that the rate of population growth will be much higher than we expected. ... Hey, every additional person will increase our strength by one point."

"Yes. If we can offer an attractive price, it's not impossible for the Portuguese to send two or three ships to help me transport immigrants!"

"Oh, yes. Have you tried to find out the Portuguese's true intentions? Will they sell us out to the Spanish?"

(End of this chapter)