Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 222: Wochuan Development

"...Since the war began, the reinforcements have bullied and abused the Liao people, leaving them in ruins and devastated. The Liao people are filled with hatred."

"The soldier went bankrupt and sold his son, leaving behind a load of carts and cattle, and the Liao people hated him even more."

"As for the expulsion of prostitutes, they also included the three major clans of Zhang, Liu, and Tian, ​​and expelled families that had been difficult to move for two hundred years. The Liao people were even more resentful."

"When they took the surrendered barbarians and mixed them with the people's houses, they allowed them to rape their wives and daughters and take away their food and drink. This only made the Liao people more resentful."

"With these four regrets, do I expect him to keep them for me?"

"Furthermore, there's a popular saying among us Liao people: 'If the imperial court doesn't abolish taxes, the Tartars will be our vassals.'" Zhuang Yunliang glanced at the Xinzhou lord before him and said cautiously, "It's not that we Liao people don't want to defend our land, but that the imperial court despises us Liao people, humiliates us Liao people, and even kills us Liao people. Therefore, we...we must..."

"So, you were born in Liao and fled to Hu?" Wei Zhonglong shook his head and sighed softly.

"My Lord, we Liao people are truly helpless. We have been forced into a dead end by the imperial court!" Zhuang Yunliang said indignantly, "...The imperial court views us Liao people as thieves. This is truly the imperial court forcing us Liao people to be thieves!"

"Yes, this court doesn't love me, so why should I love this court?" Wei Zhonglong smiled bitterly and said something that was later adapted.

"..." Zhuang Yunliang looked at him in astonishment, feeling uneasy. For a moment, he didn't understand whether what he said was an expression of sympathy for their previous behavior of surrendering to the Tartars as "traitors" or a mockery of their shameless behavior.

"So are you now wholeheartedly serving my Xinzhou Huaxia?" Seeing his cautious look, Wei Zhonglong stared at this former "fake Tartar" with a smile.

"I will serve you wholeheartedly... Xinzhou Huaxia, and I'm willing to go through fire and water for you, even if it means death!" Upon hearing this, Zhuang Yunliang immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed several times. Then, with a sincere face, he said, "Shortly after being brought to Beiying Island, I was pardoned by you and appointed as a cavalry captain. I have clothes to wear, food to eat, and a place to live. Over the past year, you have never treated me with any disrespect or harshness because of my status. Even if I were your second parents, you would treat me the same way."

After saying this, he was about to kowtow again, but Wei Zhonglong reached out and helped him up.

"I've told you countless times, under my rule, there's no kneeling, and certainly no master-slave relationship of personal dependence. Remember, you're serving Xinhua, risking your life for it, not me."

"I'll remember this." Zhuang Yunliang expressed his gratitude, nodding repeatedly. "From now on, I will be a Xinhua man in my lifetime and a Xinhua ghost in my death. I will never have second thoughts again!"

"Get lost!" Wei Zhonglong scolded with a smile, "I'm giving you another warning. Don't pretend to be so loyal in the future. Your acting is so fake."

"Yes, sir!" Zhuang Yunliang smiled, bent down and bowed, then took a few steps back and turned to walk towards his horse.

This is Linyi Fort (now Fengqing Town), a settlement located in the lower reaches of the Wochuan River on Hokuei Island (now Tokachi River in Hokkaido). It is less than 15 kilometers away from Xiajin Fort (now Otsu Port Town) at the sea outlet and was established in March this year.

After a field survey of the Wochuan Plain in July last year, the Beiying Island Colonization Team decided to carry out large-scale colonization there in order to effectively increase the local grain production and thus provide the necessary material guarantee to accommodate more immigrants.

In September of that year, the colonization team sent 120 immigrants to Xiajin Fort, asking them and the 30 people who stayed behind to expand this temporary base into a fort that could temporarily accommodate 400 people in the shortest possible time, making preliminary preparations for the later immigration and expansion to the inland Wochuan Plain.

In March of this year, when the spring was warm, the colonization team transferred more than 800 immigrants to Xiajin Fort in batches, and successively established four settlements along the Wochuan River, including Linyi Fort, Qingyun Fort (now Urahoro Town), Anping Fort (now Makubetsu Town), and Xinliao Fort (now Obihiro City), extending their tentacles directly into the core area of ​​the Wochuan Plain.

In early September, when the potato harvest season arrived, the colonization team once again sent 1,200 immigrants to the Okawa area. In addition to increasing the population of the above-mentioned forts, they also opened up several immigrant settlements such as Wu'an Fort (now Otofuke-cho north of Obihiro City), Dingxing Fort (now Memuro-cho west of Obihiro City), and Tateyama Fort (now Ikeda-cho east of Obihiro City).

The reason why such a large number of immigrants arrived in this area before it was fully developed was because Rinkai Fort (now Kushiro City) was already "piled" with immigrants. Whether it was the population carrying capacity, daily public security maintenance, or even disease epidemic control, it had reached the critical point that the colonization team could accept, and a certain degree of diversion was necessary.

Before the arrival of the immigration fleet, the number of immigrants controlled by the Beiying Island Colonization Team had reached more than 6,800, distributed in Linhai Fort and more than 30 temporary resettlement sites in the surrounding areas, and the daily food consumption was more than 6,000 kilograms.

In mid-August, four immigrant ships carrying more than 1,700 Liaodong refugees arrived at Linhaibao.

After a short rest of several days, the fleet left behind more than 400 tons of food for them, but also left behind more than 200 immigrants in poor health.

It was originally thought that there would still be four to five Portuguese ships participating in immigration activities during this year's immigration season, which would slightly alleviate the problem of population "congestion" in Linhaibao.

However, they never expected that the other party was afraid of the possible Spanish invasion war that might break out on Qiming Island, and would directly involve them in the conflict. They refused to cooperate with each other and did not send a ship to transfer the immigrants.

As a result, the colonization team was immediately in trouble.

Within a year, the population of Linhai Fort surged from over 2,000 to nearly 7,000, which put enormous pressure on the Beiying Island colonization team.

Although the sea area where Linhai is located is the famous Hokkaido fishing ground, as long as there are enough fishing boats and fishing gear, hundreds or even thousands of tons of fish can be easily caught during the fishing season without the risk of food shortage.

But with so many mouths to feed, we can’t just eat fish and not rice all year round!
There are many swamps and dense forests around the sea, which makes the land in this area not only lacking in fertility but also extremely difficult to develop. It is indeed not a good agricultural planting area.

The Wochuan Plain is different. There are rivers crisscrossing and abundant water resources. The vast river valley area is covered with a thick layer of black soil. With a little cultivation, it can become fertile land, providing a large amount of food for the Beiying Island colonization team.

Therefore, after a brief discussion, the two leaders of the colonization team immediately made a division of labor.

Qi Yongze is responsible for the continued construction and improvement of the Linhaibao base, and is preparing to build a number of light industry workshops, ship repair shops and other corresponding infrastructure.

Wei Zhonglong presided over the development of the Wochuan area, vigorously developed agricultural reclamation, and promoted local grain production.

After going through the most difficult spring and summer, with the gradual maturity and harvest of coarse grain crops such as potatoes, corn, and soybeans, the food shortage situation of the entire Beiying Island Colonization Team was slightly alleviated, and various tasks began to shift to winter material reserves.

Beiying Island and Liaodong are located at basically the same latitude, but the region is influenced by the marine climate, so the winter is not very cold, with an average temperature of around -5 to -10 degrees Celsius, and the daytime temperature is usually around zero degrees Celsius, similar to the Shandong Peninsula.

However, precisely because of the influence of ocean currents (the Japan Current), there is abundant snowfall here in winter, creating a vast world of ice and snow.

In this case, almost all outdoor work will stop and people can only stay indoors for the winter.

Therefore, before the temperature turns cold, immigrants must not only complete the finishing work of the autumn harvest, but also make preparations to keep warm in winter.

For example, threshing corn and storing potatoes.

For example, building more wooden houses.

For example, straw from the fields is recycled back to settlements to increase fuel needs during the winter.

For example, cutting down trees to prepare firewood for the winter.

……

Wei Zhonglong had departed Xinliaobao a dozen days earlier, accompanied by a small cavalry unit, to inspect the various forts and settlements, overseeing the autumn harvest and the resettlement of newly arrived immigrants. Despite being the first year of cultivation, with many unremoved tree roots and abundant weeds in the fields, the potatoes, corn, and other crops sown this year had yielded a good harvest.

The potato yield per mu is between 800 kilograms and 1,000 kilograms, while the corn yield per mu is between 200 kilograms and 300 kilograms. With about 5,000 mu of arable land opened up in the entire Wochuan area, the total grain output is estimated to reach 2,200 tons to 2,500 tons.

If the output from thousands of acres of farmland in Linhai and surrounding areas is added, the grain reserves of the entire Beiying Island Colonization Team will reach about 4,000 tons, which can theoretically feed more than 7,000 immigrants within the jurisdiction and initially achieve the goal of food self-sufficiency.

Not to mention, there are abundant fishery resources along the coast, which can provide immigrants with a large amount of meat, which will reduce food consumption to some extent.

After inspecting the agricultural harvests of several forts and more than ten immigration settlements, Wei Zhonglong was very satisfied with the local settlement work under his jurisdiction.

Whether they are immigrants from Guangdong or from Liaodong, they all seem to cherish this hard-earned stable life very much.

Although this place is relatively remote and the colonization team can only provide them with a simple food and clothing, it still makes all the refugees who once struggled on the brink of life and death feel grateful.

You should know that from the late Wanli period to the Chongzhen period, the Ming Dynasty suffered one or more natural disasters almost every year.

Starting from the first year of the Tianqi reign (1621), droughts hit northern regions such as Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, and Hebei for several consecutive years, resulting in a large-scale reduction in grain production, which in turn triggered continuous riots by refugees from Shanxi and Shaanxi.

In addition to droughts, floods, snow disasters, locust plagues, and plagues also occurred successively in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

Every disaster causes a large number of starving people, especially droughts, which often occur in conjunction with other natural disasters.

For example, in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, in April of spring, "there was a severe drought in the two capitals and Shanxi"; in August of autumn, "Shandong and Henan were in panic, and the people were starving."

What made the people in the disaster-stricken areas even more desperate was the corruption of the local bureaucracy of the Ming Dynasty. Local officials enriched themselves in the name of disaster relief. In addition, the imperial court had to deal with the invasion of the Jiannu in Liaodong and the riots of refugees in Shanxi and Shaanxi, and could not spare enough energy to deal with the refugees. This led to instability among the local people and unrest in social order.

The Ming Dynasty, which was dominated by a small peasant economy, was simply unable to resist continuous and large-scale natural disasters. When faced with natural disasters, agricultural production would inevitably suffer large-scale reductions or even total crop failure.

When major natural disasters occur, large numbers of people are often dispersed or killed, resulting in a lack of labor, which further aggravates the local agricultural decline.

"Add to that natural disasters, famine, complicated politics, heavy taxes, external conflicts and internal rebellions. It's like a person's body, with weak vitality and carbuncle and poison. The symptoms are already very dangerous, but the doctor's advice is wrong, and the medicine used is mixed with cold and hot. The disease is incurable and there is no hope for death."
The entire Ming Dynasty was plagued by internal and external troubles, which caused many people to be displaced and it seemed like the end of the dynasty was approaching.

What’s worse is that after the Battle of Sarhu, the corruption in Liaodong became increasingly uncontrollable.

Except for the great victory of Ningjin achieved by the Ming army in the seventh year of Tianqi (1627), the Ming army was defeated in every battle thereafter, losing troops and territory. It was like a huge black hole that continuously swallowed up the accumulated afterglow of the Ming Dynasty.

Since Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he had executed corrupt officials, abolished the imperial guards, and appointed famous officials in an attempt to boost national strength. However, border troubles had not been settled and internal strife continued, which led to unprecedented waste in the army and the national treasury was also in deficit, so that "on this day when the three are empty and the four are exhausted, the strength of the world is exhausted to feed the hungry army, and the army is even more vulnerable. The army of the world is gathered in the hope of a battle, but there is no day for battle."

The frequent natural disasters in the Ming Dynasty would inevitably cause great disasters to the daily production and life of farmers. Not only was it difficult for the court to collect normal taxes, but it also had to provide disaster relief, which put enormous pressure on the already empty treasury.

The imperial court was unable to provide enough silver and grain for disaster relief. In addition, the situation in Liaodong was tense, and refugees continued to riot, causing internal and external troubles, which required a large amount of silver. The only option was to increase taxes, which was an even heavier burden on the people, forming a vicious cycle that was difficult to eliminate.

Under such circumstances, from Liaodong in the north to Guangdong and Guangxi in the south, and even in the prosperous Jiangnan region, there were millions of people starving due to various disasters.

In an environment where farmers' fields have no output and the imperial court is ineffective in providing relief, once a person becomes a helpless and starving person, there is a high probability that he will slide to the brink of death and become one of the starving people in the fields.

Therefore, when the Xinhua immigration ship only said "there is food to eat", it was able to attract countless hungry people to flock to it. They would grab a piece of dry and hard bread and board the ship without hesitation, allowing themselves to be driven.

Even if I die, I will die well-fed!

Thank God, they won the bet.

There is really food to eat!
As for felling trees to build houses, clearing land for farming, digging ditches and repairing canals, working non-stop all day long with almost no rest, what does it matter to these farmers?
It's nothing more than putting in more effort and sweating a little more.

As long as I eat a full meal and have a good sleep, the strength will come back.

Anyone who has experienced hunger will never want to relive that feeling again in their lifetime.

It is difficult to fall asleep when you are hungry, and you can have sweet dreams only when you are full.

So, we will do whatever the Xinhua masters tell us to do.

Moreover, looking at the rules they set, the output from the fields, in addition to leaving enough reserves for the next year, most of the food seems to go into everyone's mouth, thus ensuring that everyone can have enough to eat.

It’s nothing like the Ming Dynasty, where the imperial court took one layer, the landlords and gentry took one layer, and the clerks and runners took another layer. In the end, what was left was not enough to feed the whole family.

If a disaster strikes, there will most likely be no way to survive.

Comparing these two, it seems that the master of Xinhua really treats us as human beings.

There is no doubt about it. Since I have received benefits from Master Xinhua and received food and clothing from them, I will sell all my strength to them.

It is said that by next year, the entire Wochuan area will welcome more immigrants from the Ming Dynasty, and the amount of land they need to cultivate will increase several times, so that all immigrants who have no food to eat can fill their stomachs here and no longer suffer from hunger.

Just thinking about these days makes me feel motivated.

"Hey..."

There was a burst of hurried horse hooves sounds in the field. Zhuang Yunliang, who had just left not long ago, rode his horse and galloped over again. When he arrived in front of Wei Zhonglong, he didn't wait for the horse to stop, but jumped down with a somersault.

"Sir, there's an alarm coming from Xiajin Castle!"

"Hmm?" Wei Zhonglong's expression turned serious. "Tell me!"

"Several Japanese pirate ships are anchored in the waters near Xiajin Fort, intending to land."

"Hey, the devils are coming!"

(End of this chapter)