Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 119 The Ming Dynasty Government’s “Request”

"Sir, this is the Qiming Warehouse."

On May 1629, 5, in the drizzle, an official sedan chair, accompanied by a dozen yamen runners from the third shift, arrived at the dock warehouse area.

As soon as the sedan chair landed, Lin Weiqing, the clerk of Panyu County's Household Department, hurried over, held up an oilcloth umbrella in his left hand, lifted the curtain of the sedan chair with his right hand, and invited County Magistrate Chen Gongzhi to get out of the sedan chair.

"Is this where the foreign merchants from Southeast Asia store goods and recruit immigrants?" Chen Gongzhi looked at the large warehouse through the misty rain and nodded slightly.

"Your Excellency, this is exactly the place." Lin Weiqing bowed and replied, "We came in a hurry this time and didn't inform them in advance, so no one came to greet us."

"That's all right." Chen Gongzhi waved his hand. "Let's go in and take a look at what's going on inside. ...Alas, some things still need to be solved by these foreign merchants. It's really a misfortune for the court!"

"Sir, the political situation is difficult, and the Panyu County Office is empty. Therefore, we have no choice but to act swiftly."

While comforting them, Lin Weiqing winked at Feng Pingshan, the leader of the soap squad, and asked him to quickly send someone to the warehouse to call everyone out to welcome the county magistrate.

"But, it's a pity for the people..." Chen Gongzhi sighed slightly.

"Sir, if those rioting in the streets can obey orders and return to their homes safely, they are naturally good citizens under the rule of the imperial court. However, if they linger in Panyu for a long time, doing nothing all day, they are the homeless. If we don't deal with them, over time, they may cause great trouble! ... The rebellion of the refugees in Shaanxi should serve as a warning."

"That being said, I cannot bear to see the people under the imperial rule being sent to exile overseas by foreign merchants!"

"Sir, you truly love the people like your own children!" Lin Weiqing praised.

Haha, these people-friendly officials probably want to protect their own reputation and don’t want to be branded as traffickers of the people!

When Meng Shengxin learned that the Panyu County Magistrate had come to the warehouse in person, he immediately went out to greet him with a group of managers and followers.

"Shopkeeper Meng, how is your business these days?" After taking a few sips of tea and exchanging a few pleasantries, Chen Gongzhi gently put down the teacup in his hand and said warmly.

"I dare not, County Magistrate... Your Excellency is concerned about me, but I am doing well here."

Meng Shengxin was very puzzled about the arrival of the officials from Panyu County. When he welcomed them into the meeting hall of the warehouse, he looked at Lin Weiqing frequently, hoping that he would give him some clues or leak some information.

By the way, I have taken care of a lot for you, so why did he suddenly bring the county magistrate here without even saying hello?
But the other party seemed to ignore him and just served the second master of Panyu County Government diligently, which made him feel uneasy.

Fighting the autumn breeze?
Or looking for trouble?
"I heard that every early summer you recruit a large number of landless people to go to Southeast Asia to cultivate the land. Is this true?"

"Uh..." Meng Shengxin said, his heart skipping a beat, and he glanced at Lin Weiqing out of the corner of his eye.

How could a local official interfere with their affairs of recruiting immigrants?

Eh, that doesn’t seem right!
If the second master of the county yamen really wants to interfere, all we need to do is send a few quick runners to lock him up and take him back to the county yamen.

Whether it was handed over to the county magistrate for sentencing in court or he gave a warning in person, he could easily handle the case without the need for him, a county magistrate, to personally go to the door to handle the case as was the case now.

"My Lord, County Magistrate..." Meng Shengxin said with forced composure, "For generations, we have cultivated land in Southeast Asia, clearing tens of thousands of acres, planting mulberry trees, rice, and grain to supply overseas merchants. However, due to a shortage of manpower, we have been forced to recruit young and strong farmers from within the Celestial Empire to bring them to Southeast Asia for cultivation. However... we sign contracts with each farmer we recruit, either for three or five years. Upon expiration of the contract, we pay them a reward and send them back to the Ming Dynasty."

"Oh, he still has to be sent back to the Ming Dynasty..." Chen Gongzhi smiled slightly and looked at Lin Weiqing beside him.

Do you think I am a fool?

How many of the Ming Dynasty people who fled overseas can return?

I'm afraid it's only one in a hundred!
"Shopkeeper Meng, is recruiting immigrants going smoothly this year?" Lin Weiqing also smiled and asked directly.

"Thanks to the County Magistrate... and Secretary Lin's care, recruiting immigrants this year has been quite successful."

"Is there still some difference?"

"Huh?" Meng Shengxin was stunned. "What Secretary Lin means is..."

"For the past month, Panyu County has been overrun with refugees, their numbers increasing daily. Although the county magistrate has provided relief by opening its granaries and releasing some rice for repatriation, there are still many starving people, many unwilling to return home, awaiting relief from the imperial court or resorting to begging. There are over ten thousand of them. If these refugees are allowed to remain in Panyu for an extended period, they could pose a threat to the people of all directions. Not only is the county magistrate deeply concerned, but even the county magistrate is deeply concerned!"

"..." Meng Shengxin was stunned at first after hearing this, and then looked at the other party in disbelief.

"Well, if Manager Meng wants to recruit those landless farmers to go to Southeast Asia to cultivate the land, why not pick one or two from the refugees in Panyu?" Lin Weiqing's Meng Shengxin nodded slightly and continued, "I heard that Southeast Asia is hot and has three harvests a year, so there's no shortage of food. If we take these hungry people living on the streets to Southeast Asia, wouldn't that be giving them a chance to survive?"

"Since the lords of Panyu County have requested this, I, Meng, shall readily accept." Meng Shengxin said with a smile, "I wonder if there is any limit on the number of refugees we can select from among these refugees?" "There is no limit." Lin Weiqing looked at Chen Gongzhi, and after receiving the instruction, he shook his head and said, "You may select from among the refugees stranded within Panyu County. However, during the selection process, you must pay attention to controlling the situation and avoid unnecessary incidents. At that time, we from Panyu County will dispatch three shifts of yamen runners and militiamen to help you maintain order."

"In that case, I, Meng, would like to thank all the gentlemen in Panyu County for their care." Meng Shengxin stood up and bowed solemnly to the other party.

This time, the word "Sir" was much smoother than before.

In the past few days, we have been planning to set up a few more porridge stalls on the streets of Panyu County to attract hungry people to come and eat, and to seduce them at the same time, so as to make up the number of immigrants this year.

A few days ago, the Portuguese in Haojing replied, saying that they would send a galleon with a full load displacement of 600 tons to help transport immigrants to Qiming Island.

After several rounds of tug-of-war, the two sides finally reached a consensus agreement on a transportation fee of 130 taels of silver for each immigrant.

The settlement method uses precious metals such as gold or silver as the means of payment.

Given the type of Portuguese ship, if it was not loaded with too much cargo, it was estimated that it could accommodate about 400 immigrants.

Of course, if the Portuguese wanted to make more dirty money, they might cram in more than 450 people.

In this way, together with the "Polang" and "Zhengtu" that are about to arrive in Guangzhou, the number of immigrants at one time will reach a record high of more than one thousand people!

To this end, Meng Shengxin and others need to devote all their efforts to gather as many hungry people as possible who are willing to go to sea to survive on the streets of Guangzhou.

Unexpectedly, they encountered a sudden relief. The local government of Panyu County actually took the initiative to ask them to "shelter" some of the stranded hungry people to alleviate the potential refugee crisis in the area.

In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign (1627), the refugee riot launched by Wang Er in Shaanxi had lasted for more than two years and began to spread throughout Shaanxi.

After covering up the incident for two years, the Shaanxi local government realized that it could no longer hide the truth, so in February this year it was forced to report the refugee riot to the cabinet and Emperor Chongzhen. This caused an uproar in the court and even angered the new emperor, Emperor Chongzhen, who had been on the throne for less than two years.

In March, the governor-general of the Three Borders, Wu Zhiwang (who had died of illness when the decree was issued), and the governor of Yansui, Yue Hesheng, were dismissed from their posts, demoted to commoners, and taken back to Beijing for trial.

Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen issued an edict, strictly ordering prefectures and counties across the country to investigate the refugees within their jurisdiction, provide more relief and comfort to them, and not to cause the "civil unrest" in Shaanxi again.

Otherwise, the court will punish severely.

Panyu, Nanhai and other counties under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture and neighboring counties had prosperous trade and a wealthy population, which attracted a large number of hungry people from surrounding prefectures and counties to flock in and beg for food, with the number reaching tens of thousands.

This caused the Guangzhou government a great headache, so it ordered Panyu, Nanhai and other counties to strictly investigate the refugees in their jurisdiction and deal with them properly so as not to cause "civil unrest" and shock the court.

After mobilizing many wealthy businessmen and large families to provide relief for ten months, Panyu County could no longer bear the financial burden.

Those wealthy merchants held on to their wallets and rice bags, and suggested that the county should try to send the refugees back to their hometowns or properly resettle them elsewhere, so as not to "harm" the people of Panyu again.

At this time, someone suggested to the county magistrate that since the refugees had nowhere to go, it would be better to use some means to move them elsewhere to alleviate the difficulties in Panyu.

For example, the three shifts of yamen runners were ordered to drive the stranded hungry people to other counties.

For example, a small amount of rice was subsidized so that wealthy households in the county could hire them as tenant farmers.

For example, handing over refugees to overseas merchants who need labor.

As long as these troubles don't stay in Panyu County, everything will be fine.

"Manager Meng, I think your criteria for recruiting settler immigrants should be mainly young and strong men."

After the matter was settled, Meng Shengxin respectfully escorted the Panyu County officials and their companions out of the warehouse. Just as Lin Weiqing was about to wave goodbye, he turned around and asked a question seemingly unintentionally.

"...Well, if Panyu County invites us, we can also provide some for the elderly, the weak, women and children." Meng Shengxin responded cautiously.

"Haha, don't force it." Lin Weiqing said meaningfully, "When selecting immigrants, it's better to use your own standards. As for the number of people, it's better to have a slightly larger number."

As he said this, he got into the sedan chair and left the Qiming Warehouse in the drizzle.

"Hey, these Ming Dynasty officials!" Meng Shengxin suddenly realized the meaning of what Secretary Lin said.

(End of this chapter)