Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 87 Military Training
Lin Quanwu stood anxiously in the queue, his body hunched, his head lowered, his hands uneasy, constantly pinching the corners of his clothes, looking even more timid.

"You, stand up straight!" Wei Zhonglong felt very uncomfortable when he saw his condition, and immediately ordered loudly.

"Hey..." Lin Quanwu was frightened by the loud voice. He responded in a panic, straightened his back slightly, and tried to stand up straight.

But fearing the other party's stern expression, he still kept his head down, not daring to look at the tall and strong "steward".

It's so cold, but instead of letting people stay indoors for the winter, they are all dragged out for military training.

It's really weird!

I have been here for almost four months since I came here, and I found that there are no bad guys in the surrounding wild areas except for wild wolves and grizzly bears that appear from time to time.

No, there shouldn’t be anyone at all!

Looking around, there are lush forests everywhere, elk, lions (cougars), groundhogs, wolves, grizzly bears roaming around, and all kinds of birds flying into the fields during the autumn harvest.

It can be said that the animals here are more than ten times, or even a hundred times, more numerous than the humans.

I don't know what the point is of these managers organizing them for this "military training"?
It's not like you would go and fight the animals in the forest with a knife or a spear!
It’s true that these immigrants can eat some meat and have some seafood from time to time, all thanks to these animals.

Those hunters who looked like natives could hunt a lot of birds and beasts almost every day.

The animals' skins were carefully peeled off and then processed and saltpetred, saying that they would be shipped to the Ming Dynasty to be sold at a high price.

The skinned animal flesh and blood naturally became food for all the residents, allowing them to often enjoy a delicious wild game meal.

After more than four months of good food and drink, these refugees and beggars, who were originally pale and thin and would almost fall down at the slightest breeze, now have rosy complexions, their lost strength has gradually returned, and they are full of energy.

No doubt, I saved my life by traveling across the ocean to come here.

No more wandering the streets begging, no more sleeping in the streets, and no more worrying about being on the verge of death when a freezing rain falls.

Although there are so many tasks here that it is breathtaking, you have to get up before dawn to work, harvesting crops, cutting trees, processing wood, making bricks, repairing houses, applying base fertilizer, burning weeds... From morning to night, you never have a moment to rest until every last bit of energy in your body is drained.

But, you can eat your fill here!

No matter how good or bad you eat, three meals a day will keep you full.

Not to mention, they can occasionally have some meat to satisfy their hunger.

What’s even more exciting is that the “masters in charge” promised to distribute land to all of them in four years.

Regardless of anything else, based on this point alone, all the Ming Dynasty immigrants, including Lin Quanwu, have expressed their loyalty to Shixing Fort from the bottom of their hearts and regarded it as their parents.

The busy and heavy autumn harvest season was finally over, and the temporary wooden houses were completed one after another. With the fall of several heavy snowfalls, the temperature dropped day by day, and many outdoor work also stopped.

Just when these new immigrants had nothing to do and were planning to stay in the warm wooden house to recuperate, they never expected that the "manager" would call them all over, form militia squads, and start military training.

Alas, why are these "gentlemen" so troublesome!

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Lin Quanwu couldn't help but shiver, and his hands couldn't help but subconsciously tucked into his sleeves.

"stand at attention!"

"Stand up!"

"Look at you, all of you are standing crookedly and distortedly. You don't have any spirit at all." Wei Zhonglong scolded the immigrants angrily, holding a tree branch in his hand.

"You, you, and you..." He raised a tree branch and pointed at several immigrants in the queue. "Why aren't you wearing cotton clothes? Aren't you afraid of freezing outside? ... Do you want to get sick and die?"

"Replying to the master..." Lin Quanwu replied timidly. "I've told you countless times, there's no master here," Wei Zhonglong interrupted rudely. "During military training, everyone must address me as instructor! ... Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, sir... Oh, no, instructor, instructor!" There were mixed responses from the entire queue.

"What's your name?... Keep answering my previous question!"

"In reply to the instructor, my name is Lin Quanwu..." Lin Quanwu bent over and forced a smile. "The reason I didn't wear a cotton coat was because I was worried that my clothes would get torn or dirty during military training, which would be heartbreaking."

"Are you worried about getting your clothes torn?"

"In reply to the instructor, this cotton coat is a treasure in my eyes, and it must not be damaged."

"Oh, so you don't want to wear the cotton-padded jacket just because you're worried about damaging it?" Wei Zhonglong was stunned.

Am I wrong? We are giving each of you a set of winter clothes stuffed with cotton wool. Isn’t it because we are afraid that you immigrants from Guangdong will freeze to death?

For fear of getting your cotton-padded jackets torn and dirty, you actually came out for military training in such thin clothes in such cold weather!
Aren’t you afraid of getting sick or freezing to death?!
During this period, although cotton was already widely planted in the Ming Dynasty and it was world-famous for its cotton cloth that "weaved blankets all over the world", the vast majority of the lower-class people still generally faced the dilemma of being unable to shelter themselves from the cold and having no clothes to cover their bodies.

In winter, there are even fewer warm clothes. Even worn-out cotton-padded jackets are passed down from generation to generation and used as heirlooms.

Many poor families could not afford winter clothes made of cotton and had to wear a kind of clothes called "paper fur".

This kind of raw material is generally made of thick and hard oak paper. It has a tough texture and is not only durable after being crumpled, but also can withstand wind and cold. It is also relatively breathable. In addition, it is cheap, making it a must-have item for poor scholars when going out.

If an ordinary family owns a cotton-padded jacket, it is definitely a "house-guarding treasure". When the family falls into poverty, a worn cotton-padded jacket that can keep out the cold can even be used as "hard currency" in a pawnshop and can be pawned for a lot of money.

Different clothes have different pawn values.

Generally speaking, the clothes that people change into throughout the year are, from most to least, leather jacket, cotton jacket, padded jacket, and single garment.

This is basically consistent with the saying "If leather is placed on cotton, you will have to pay the change; if cotton is placed on clipping, you will have to pay the change; if single is placed on top of head, it will turn around; if single is placed on cotton, you will have to pay more; if cotton is placed on leather, you will be anxious."

Many poor people would use food to exchange for the clothes they had pawned in order to survive the cold winter.

After the spring, they would weave the cloth into yarn and then trade it for rice. In May, when the farm work became urgent, they would trade the rice for winter clothes to use as rice for farming.

This situation is even more common in the northern regions.

Often, after winter, people would sell their cotton-padded clothes and buy light clothes; and in autumn, they would sell their light clothes again and use the extra money to buy cotton-padded clothes.

Ten months ago, each of these Ming Dynasty immigrants was given a set of thick cotton-padded clothes with a strip of sea otter fur sewn around the neck. At night, they also had warm quilts to sleep in, just to prevent these newcomers to Qiming Island from getting cold.

If you catch a cold or a severe flu, it might be difficult to treat.

What’s worse, if you’re not careful, you might freeze to death, which would be a huge loss!
We finally got it back from the Ming Dynasty, so don't damage it easily.

Well, these immigrants who were afraid of poverty actually left their precious cotton-padded clothes in the house during military training and were reluctant to wear them.

How does this make!
"Everyone has it!"

"turn back!"

"Run and walk!"

Under the instructor's command, a disorganized team ran from the drying yard towards the village.

No matter what, we still have to make these stingy immigrants wear cotton clothes and keep themselves warm!
(End of this chapter)