Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 130 "Let's go digging for gold"

"417 immigrants, total shipping cost 54210 taels of silver. Well, if converted into Spanish pesos, that's... well, over pesos!"

Luo Zhenhui couldn't help but gasp when he heard that he had to pay the Portuguese for immigration transportation fees.

"So, the money we earned from the furs our two ships brought back wasn't enough to pay the Portuguese for their shipping?"

"Well, it's not enough at all!" Wei Yingbin also laughed bitterly. "This year, we brought nearly 4,000 furs of various colors to Guangzhou, and they sold for less than 35,000 taels of silver. Not only did the dealership we work with take advantage of the situation to lower the price, but the market capacity in Guangzhou was also insufficient to absorb so many furs that suddenly arrived, so the sales prices generally fell short of expectations."

"I'm thinking, next time we go to Ming Dynasty, should we also establish a smuggling channel in the Jiangnan region? The market there should be large enough to consume the large amount of furs we bring, and we can sell them at a suitable price."

"Jiangnan? There's no open port for us to enter." Luo Zhenhui shook his head. "Besides, to reach the Jiangnan coast, we have to pass through the waters of Fujian and Zhejiang, and there's a high probability that we'll encounter Zheng Zhilong's naval forces. We can't expect to pay him a toll every time, right?"

"By the way, how much silver do we have in stock?"

"We still have over 430,000 silver pesos. Converted to silver, that's 330,000 taels." Li Xianqing immediately reported a figure. "...Oh, by the way, that Spanish smuggler still owes us over 60,000 pesos. However, if he can help us buy a large ship and bring in some craftsmen and some production materials, the amount he can return won't be much."

"Adding the portion of money Pedro can return, let's say we have 350,000 taels of silver." Luo Zhenhui pondered for a moment and said, "This amount is only enough for the Portuguese to help us transport more than 2,500 people. Even if we add in the subsequent smuggling of Eastern goods through Pedro, such high immigration costs will be difficult to support!"

"But at the moment, we don't have much income other than smuggling and the fur trade." Li Xianqing nodded and said, "If the Portuguese, greedy for the huge profits from immigration, directly send two or three ships to help us transport immigrants, it won't take more than a few years for our savings to be completely depleted."

"Unless our smuggling trade in Spanish America can grow rapidly in the shortest possible time, bringing us an annual income of 200,000 taels of silver."

"Of course, with more manpower, we can organize more people to hunt furs, doubling or even tripling the trade volume. However, as the number of furs in the Ming market increases, prices will inevitably continue to fall, and our overall profits may not increase proportionally with the increase in volume."

"..."

"Or, let's go to the Fraser River area to dig for gold." Seeing the committee members fall silent, Li Liang said slowly, "There's no need to organize too many people. We can just row a small boat up the Fraser River, set up a temporary camp, and go down to the river to pan for gold. In the early stages, the gold reserves should be quite abundant. We won't need specialized large-scale mining equipment. We just need to provide the daily necessities of the gold miners."

During this period, gold mining technology was still very simple.

Gold diggers usually use shovels or pickaxes to dig out gravel from the riverbed containing gold, put it in a shallow-sided plate and wash it carefully with water. The heavy gold sand will sink to the bottom of the plate, thus obtaining precious gold.

A slightly more complex and efficient tool is nothing more than a ore flow chute, which is probably a long, wrinkled box of base color.

The gold-containing gravel is shoveled into the trough and continuously flushed with water, and the heavy gold flakes gather behind the horizontal bars at the bottom of the trough.

If a water wheel is used to feed the ore flow chute, the gold mining efficiency will be much higher.

In other words, gold panning is not a complicated and difficult job.

"If we pan for gold in the Fraser River basin, we'll have to establish a base on the mainland and relocate some residents there to provide logistical support." Luo Zhenhui turned to look at Li Xianqing. "But we've just established Fenzhou Fort a hundred kilometers north of Shixing Fort. Add to that Linhai Fort in Hokkaido and the future Baisha Island supply point. That means we have five widely separated bases. Isn't that an overly aggressive expansion?" "It'll be hard to form a joint force, and communication won't be able to be responded to in a timely manner. Doesn't this hinder our management?"

"This is inevitable," Li Xianqing said. "Rinhai Fort in Hokkaido serves as the final resting place before crossing the Pacific Ocean. It will allow the crew and the numerous immigrants to catch their breath and regain some strength and energy for the upcoming months-long voyage. Baisha Island, as a key maritime supply point on the way to Ming Dynasty, can provide fresh water for the ships and allow for a short rest period, allowing the crew to rest and catch their breath, which will surely boost morale."

"In order to expand our immigration, we must win over the Portuguese. And to win them over, we can only pay a high price for their immigration. Therefore, in order to support this huge immigration expenditure, we have no choice but to take a huge risk and establish a colonization base in the Fraser River Basin, mine gold, and raise enough gold and silver."

"I'm worried that one day in the future, the Spanish will come," Luo Zhenhui said worriedly. "Shixing Fort currently houses the vast majority of our population and supplies. It shouldn't be difficult for us to protect ourselves from a potential Spanish threat. However, if the Spanish discover our other outposts, it will be difficult to withstand their attack."

"Director Luo, it's only a matter of time before the Spanish discover our existence," Chen Rui said. "But as long as we can raise more gold and silver, we can hire more Portuguese ships to transport more immigrants. And as long as our population continues to grow, our strength will inevitably increase exponentially. By then, if the Spanish don't come, it's fine. But if they dare to attack us, we will destroy them all on Qiming Island!"

Luo Zhenhui couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

After gradually adapting to this world, these former soldiers became more and more anxious, even more radical.

They were eager to expand the population of Qiming Island to tens of millions in the shortest possible time, so as to occupy this fertile American continent and create a wider living space for the Chinese nation.

You can say they are enterprising or ambitious, but the fearlessness and positive attitude they demonstrate is the greatest driving force for the continuous development and progress of their entire group.

They will not look back or hesitate, but will meet any challenge or threat with a majestic and transcendent attitude.

Some of them even think that they are the savior of the world, that they have come to save the gradually declining Chinese nation and to lead the Chinese civilization to the top of the world again.

As for the corrupt and declining Kingdom of Spain, how could it be taken seriously?

Well, it’s like selling Seoul!

Or, just the dry bones in the grave!
"Since all the committee members present here agree to establish a gold mining base in the Fraser River basin, we'll organize personnel and supplies and head there after the autumn harvest," Luo Zhenhui finally decided. "As for who will lead this project, we'll collect everyone's interest later and then collectively discuss and approve it."

"Next, let's discuss the resettlement of immigrants. Originally, our personnel allocation plan was based on approximately 600 new immigrants. However, Meng Shengxin was able to persuade the Portuguese to help us transport people, bringing the number of immigrants arriving to Hong Kong to over 1,100."

"This has not only slightly disrupted our original plans, but also posed a serious challenge to our food reserves. In the coming year..."

"report!"

A rapid and high-pitched report came from outside the conference room, interrupting his speech immediately.

"Report to the two directors, report to the committee members..." A half-grown soldier saluted the committee members seated, panting. "There's chaos at the dock... Portuguese sailors are fighting with our people!"

(End of this chapter)