Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 129 New Expansion

"These Indians seem quite docile. If we try to win them over a little, we should be able to bring them under the management of your state fort."

After six days of overtime construction, more than 50 workers from the Fenzhou Fort advance team have initially established the camp. Several wooden houses in the shape of courtyards have risen from the ground on this desolate coast, and a circle of simple wooden fences surrounds the entire camp in the middle.

More than 20 meters southeast of the camp stood a seven or eight meter high watchtower. A hunting dog was tied underneath, barking non-stop at the dozen or so Indians who came to trade.

Zhou Bochao, the captain of "Shunyun-1", stood on a crude wooden pier and stomped his feet hard, as if he wanted to verify whether the project was shoddy.

Then, turning around, he saw the timid Indians at the camp gate and said to Zheng Yuexin with a smile, "However, you still need to show your strength at some point. For example, declare war, demonstrate your power, or let them see the might of your muskets. This will definitely make them both fear and envy your state fort. ... Well, this can be considered a combination of kindness and force."

"Later, we need to find someone to ask if they know the exact location of the nearby coal mine." Zheng Yuexin nodded and said, "If possible, we can organize these Indians to help dig some coal first, burn it, and verify the quality of the coal. If they dig a lot, we won't need to cut so much wood and can directly use the coal as fuel for our winter fires."

"Hey, when you burn coal, you must be careful about gas poisoning," Zhou Bochao said with concern. "Don't let us wait until we come to deliver supplies and personnel and find you all lying dead in the wooden house!"

"Bah, you're really mean!" Zheng Yuexin pushed him in anger. "I'm going to live a good life in Fenzhou Fort. I'm going to see our influence expand throughout America and even the vast Pacific Ocean."

"Haha..." Zhou Bochao laughed. "Then you'll have to live to be around a hundred years old! At our current rate of development, by the time we're in our seventies or eighties, we'll have at most extended our influence to the Central Plains. Even then, it might not even be actual control, but just a series of strongholds."

"That's okay. As long as we increase our population to three to five million, we'll be invincible throughout the Americas. From now on, we'll slowly encroach eastward, and sooner or later, we'll reach the Atlantic."

“I’m really looking forward to this day!”

"Don't worry. As long as we persevere and work hard to develop, this is just a matter of time." Zheng Yuexin pointed to the camp, which was beginning to take shape, and felt proud. "In four years, we have grown from a few dozen people to over 1,800. We have two forts, no, now we have three, eight settlements of various sizes, and four large and medium-sized ships. We have basically established a firm foothold on this island."

"Now, we have established a new base here and are preparing to dig coal and expand production. This is a key step in our overseas expansion. I believe that in another four years, our situation will improve further and our strength will grow exponentially."

"Hehe, by that time, maybe we can leave Qiming Island and start heading south, occupying San Francisco, taking over Los Angeles, and reaching the frontier of Spanish Mexico."

"Xiao Zheng, I think Director Luo and Director Li made the right choice by entrusting you with the task of developing Fenzhou Fort."

"What, are you discovering my amazing abilities now?"

"I haven't seen your amazing talent yet, but I admire your extremely optimistic spirit."

"Damn it!" Zheng Yuexin rolled his eyes at him. "I volunteered at the expanded meeting to preside over the development and construction of Fenzhou Fort, just to show off my abilities. How could you say that? It makes me sound like I'm just some idiot."

"No, it's precisely your optimism that's so rare in our group," Zhou Bochao said solemnly. "Where there's a will, there's a way. As long as you have a strong belief, you can create a beautiful painting on this blank canvas. Furthermore, we possess knowledge and concepts far beyond our time, so achieving something shouldn't be difficult."

"Why do I feel that your tone is like an elder giving earnest advice to the younger generation?"

"Haha..." Zhou Bochao smiled, hugged the other person in his arms, and patted his back heavily with both hands, "Be careful here, take care!"

"Well, take care of yourself too."
-
On September 9, when the transport ship "Shunyun-26" returned to Shixing Port, it was surprised to find that the "Polang" and "Zhengtu" were quietly anchored at the slightly cramped dock, and more than 1 young and middle-aged residents were busy unloading goods and transporting supplies.

The immigration quarantine point on the east side of the dock was even more bustling and lively, with people densely packed everywhere. Armed militia, epidemic prevention personnel, and managers at all levels were shouting at the confused and bewildered new immigrants, guiding them to designated areas or conducting routine cleaning and sanitation.

"Hey, why is there another large foreign ship?" A sailor noticed a 1-ton carrick ship moored to the west of the dock. Numerous prominent-nosed, deep-eyed foreigners were crouching on either side of the ship, chatting and laughing among themselves, while also pointing and commenting at the Shunyun-, which was slowly entering the harbor. "Could it be that the Spanish have come knocking?" Zhou Bochao stared suspiciously at the ship and the European-looking sailors beside it.

"They're Portuguese!" a Spanish sailor exclaimed. "I guess they're Portuguese. Look, they have high noses, thick lips, prominent features, and dark skin—typical Portuguese features. ... But the question is, how did they get here?"

"Macau!" When Zhou Bochao heard the word "Portuguese", his mind immediately changed.

Niubi!

Unexpectedly, Instructor Meng and his colleagues stationed in Guangzhou were able to persuade the Portuguese in Macau to help transport Ming Dynasty immigrants!
If the Portuguese had helped, Qiming Island's immigration transportation capacity would have increased by at least 30%.

This means that the annual immigration scale will also increase by hundreds of people!
If the Portuguese could be offered greater benefits, perhaps they could be persuaded to provide more ships to transport immigrants.

If this can be accomplished, the population of Qiming Island will usher in a period of rapid growth.

It is not impossible to increase the number by one thousand, two thousand or three thousand people every year.

"Then guess how much the Portuguese charged for transporting each immigrant?" Liao Meng looked at Zhou Bochao who ran ashore excitedly with a constipated expression on his face.

"Oh shit, I almost forgot. The Portuguese are helping us transport immigrants, so they must be paid. ...So how much is each immigrant?"

"One hundred and thirty taels of silver!"

"So expensive!"

"What did you think?" Liao Meng laughed bitterly. "If it weren't for Instructor Meng and the others' resolute opposition, the Portuguese, eager to earn the 130 taels of silver per person in shipping fees, would have stuffed every available space on their ship with people! Just like how they trafficked black slaves, they packed them in regardless of life or death. Even with our restrictions, that ship still had over 480 people on board, practically bursting the cabin."

"How many people will be left when we arrive at our Shixing Port?"

With so many people crammed onto one ship, the living conditions must have been terrible.

The turbid air, the filthy garbage and feces everywhere, the poor food and the brutal weather will put the immigrants on the ship in an extremely dangerous situation.

Death is inevitable.

But the question is, how big is the “discount rate”?

"Four hundred and seventeen," Liao Meng said grimly. "This morning, four more bodies were pulled out of the quarantine camp. Medical Officer Dong and his apprentices have barely had a break or a wink of sleep these past two days. They've been working non-stop, busy with epidemic prevention and treating the weakened immigrants."

"When we settle the shipping fee with the Portuguese, the standard should be that they arrive at the port alive."

"Of course not! But the Portuguese are still finding all sorts of excuses to harass us. When we arrived at the port three days ago, these uncouth Portuguese people insisted on counting several recently deceased immigrants as having arrived safely, and they kept pestering us for extra shipping fees!"

"Hey, aren't they afraid that we'll turn against them?"

(End of this chapter)