Lu Ming

Prior to this, the strategy set by the Nanyang Raiders team was to use the North Vietnamese as cannon fodder as much as possible to invade more southern land.

But things are constantly changing.With the development of the current situation, the Nanyang team found that it was a little overthinking before: the huge power of industrialization is omnipresent, even in unfamiliar areas far away from the mainland, it can still make the travelers strong and healthy and everything goes well.

In this case, there are some things that need not be too cautious, and the development process can be promoted appropriately and quickly.

Based on this idea, the traversers turned against Prince Zheng without any scruples about the unification of the North Vietnamese court. Not only did they save the Ruan clan as planned, but they also stepped in and armed the core Ruan troops.

In this way, publicly supporting the rebellion is tantamount to completely turning against the new North Vietnamese dynasty.

But at the same time, it also gained a relatively loyal peripheral force.

Then, on the day when Saigon broke the city, the last remaining value of the North Vietnamese soldiers was also squeezed out: before the coalition forces burned, killed, looted and raided Caogu on the Mekong River Plain, they were all done in the name of the North Vietnamese court.

Now, Wang Bo is going to send the North Vietnamese away.In the future, good things like running the Mekong River grain-producing area and even attacking Siam have nothing to do with the new North Vietnamese court.

Although this journey has been made, the North Vietnamese general also saw the benefits of occupying Saigon for the country.However, the new North Vietnamese court far away in Hue is still busy rectifying its internal affairs, and has no time to cast its sights on the Mekong Plain.

Therefore, in the face of Commander Wang's timely request, the North Vietnamese general, who had just had a little idea of ​​occupying a hole, could only grit his teeth and nod yes, agreeing to take his troops "back to the country."

The North Vietnamese general knew very well that the situation was stronger than the people.Right now, the Ming people's musketeers have occupied the city, and there are soldiers from the Ruan family to support them. They are no opponents at all.If there is a quarrel, the family will definitely suffer a big loss.

Besides, the chief general didn't actually get any authorization to make trouble from his prince.

The arrogant and domineering Commander Wang didn't pay attention to the actions of the general at all... People who don't know current affairs will end badly. If I see you wandering around Saigon tomorrow, I might shoot them off.

After dismissing all the boredom, Commander Wang rubbed his face, put on a smile, and ordered to summon a group of guests outside the door.

What guest?Ming merchants.

In later generations, there were buddies who went to Africa to sell small commodities. In the [-]th century, there were also merchant groups of the Ming Dynasty who opened their doors to do business in various city-states in Southeast Asia.

These Ming merchants are familiar with the local conditions, can write and count, and have the same blood. Is there a more perfect leading party than this?

In fact, the reason why the Nanyang Governor's Mansion dared to make big strides in "occupying land" was that these Ming merchants who were familiar with the situation in various places were important bargaining chips, and they had long been included in the overall plan.

This is also the reason why Ming merchants were able to come to the Vice-Prince's Mansion to meet General Wang at the first time: the intelligence department sent people to Saigon to communicate and communicate before dispatching troops.

The businessmen were not disappointed.

As a soldier, Wang Bo was extremely straightforward. As soon as the two sides met, the Commander took out a stack of letters of appointment issued by the General Military Office of Guangdong... The Ming Dynasty called him to sue himself, and began to engage in front-line promotion.

The cadres on the front line are copying this time. From this moment on, they really got on the rocket, and they were promoted from civilians to the deputy county level overnight... The entire Chao Phraya River plain was divided into several districts and counties by the Governor's Office. The cadres on the front line All were promoted to deputy second official on the spot: county magistrate.

This kind of big scene where everyone has skills... and officials do it, the local Ming merchant who originally planned to be a leader for a few days and get a little distribution rights for industrial products was shocked!

At the next moment, Lord Wang promised: as long as you honestly assist the local county magistrates sent by the fleet, then everyone's good days are still to come.At that time, each of your family can staking land on both sides of the fertile Mekong River, open plantations, and earn a family business for your descendants.

Chapter 635: Zheng He Island

For a long time, with the thriving development of a self-contained small society, today's Great Yan Kingdom basically has a fixed development process for every place where its tentacles extend.

According to local conditions, the core procedures remain unchanged.

Saigon City, which is far away from Ming Dynasty, is no exception.

The small and cramped traditional city lacks various municipal facilities, not only cannot adapt to the urban development planning pattern of the "new era", but also often breaks out various infectious diseases, which can be said to be harmful but not beneficial.

Facing Saigon, which is not a big traditional city, Xingyuan, the governor of Nanyang who settled in, had a deeper consideration: in a place where everyone is an enemy, at least in the beginning, it is best to only live in the city.

After thinking it over clearly, the boss entered the city on the first day, and issued a decree on the second foot, and began to rectify according to standard routines.

The first step, of course, is emigration.

A blank sheet of paper is good for drawing.Only by moving out the residents can the city be transformed.In the end, only the functional buildings of military barracks + official houses + storage will be left in the city.

It can be understood as a concession in the seventeenth century.

The order of relocation is very clear, first the slums in Saigon, then the middle class, and finally the rich.Within a month, they were "moved" one after another by soldiers with knives and guns, and they went out of the city to live elsewhere.

To do this in Daming, those in power must consider the proposition of "the people's grievances are boiling".At the beginning, the people who traveled through the city would rather build a new area from scratch than develop Guangzhou City. This concern is in it... Large-scale relocation is prone to accidents.

However, in Saigon, the lawless Governor Shao had no intention of discussing with the locals at all. Everything was efficiency-oriented, and he refused to accept... speak according to my knife! ?

Needless to say, the Cambodian natives who had no choice but to be driven out of the city must have resentment.Surprisingly, within a few days, the resentment first dissipated among the poor...

Some people's methods will always be the same old, but it will always work.

First of all, the poor who were driven out of the city immediately got a job: demolition of "messy" buildings in and outside the city, cleaning up garbage, and collecting construction materials.

All hands are divided into three parts.Part of it is responsible for leveling the foundation in the city, excavating the drainage system, and constructing new functional building areas.

Another group is responsible for building new housing estates outside the city... affordable housing.

In rainy and hot areas, the so-called affordable housing is actually the most common stilted building.It's just that the stilted building built this time is a standardized product, and the construction speed is very fast.

The last group of people is responsible for going to the surrounding area to collect building materials.

While the poor get jobs, they also get the opportunity to live in affordable housing communities outside the city.Most of all, the generous outsiders paid their wages with shiny coins and various daily necessities.

The wages are paid in the rice-rich plains of the Mekong River. The common food in the north is not easy to use, and the hard currency is daily necessities shipped thousands of miles away.

In fact, in the vast Southeast Asia region, many ancient countries that existed in the past and present were all built by Chinese businessmen.As early as the Han Dynasty, the Chinese promoted the civilization process in the barren areas, and also made the aborigines aware of various Chinese daily necessities.

The poor who usually do the same hard work and earn meager pay, after having a shelter and receiving exquisite cast iron soup pots and porcelain bowls, soon forget all the unpleasantness before, and happily serve outsiders .

It cannot be blamed for the rapid change in the minds of the poor.

No matter which era or regime, the impoverished poor class is the easiest group to change.

What's more, it is the seventeenth century, the era of the family, the earth king, the tribe, the nobles and the vassals.The ideology of the nation in modern times is far from being formed among the people, and the first object of human allegiance is one's own family.

Therefore, when the poor find that their lives are better than before, they soon feel at ease to work for outsiders, without any of the ideological burdens that future generations have.

After the largest group settled down, the remaining middle class and rich people, the Governor's Mansion did not confiscate their property, but generously allowed these people to choose freely: return to the northern plateau with their floating wealth, or stay as obedient citizens.

Of course, the private land owned by the former in the plains will be confiscated.

The so-called good fortune is hard to give up, and some people finally took the risk to stay.Most of these people were former businessmen with an adventurous spirit.They gambled this time, hoping that the so-called governor's mansion that popped up suddenly would not rob their family wealth afterwards.

Most of the people who returned to Phnom Penh with their families and gold and silver were Cambodian dignitaries.These people were masters in Saigon before, relying on the authority of the kingdom.This time, the Cambodian forces withdrew from the lowlands, and the so-called dignitaries before had nothing to rely on, so they naturally had to run away.

Shao Qiang let all these dignitaries go.In his eyes, the private farms left by the rich and powerful are the most precious.As for the floating money...it's not a problem at all for industrialized countries.After the Chinese New Year, I will do business with the Cambodian guys, and I will be done with groceries in exchange.

Time: At the end of October 1634, two months after the allied forces occupied Saigon.

Location: Outside Saigon city.

The former city, except for the unique stone city wall, has changed its appearance inside and out.

Things like the poles used to defend the city on the top of the city have disappeared, replaced by defenders with muskets and gleaming blue cannons.

Under the city, the messy and scattered vegetable market, rice market, fish market, etc., including the residents of Chengguan, have been rearranged.The neat and bright functional bamboo and wood greenhouses are being built according to the plan.

Among them, the wharf area, which is located in the south of the city and extends along the banks of the Mekong River, is currently a key infrastructure project.

In the future, a series of piers and warehouses will appear along the banks of the river.A large rice trading market will appear here.

Whether it is locally produced rice, or rice from Siam, India, or even the Dutch territory in Indonesia, it will be traded in this market in the future.

Today's topic, however, is not the rice market.

In the dock area just outside the city, warships gathered and soldiers watched.All the bigwigs in the Nanyang Governor's Mansion are gathered at the pier at the moment, and are seeing off an expedition fleet.

The fleet consists of three advanced shallow-draft steam carriers and a Whampoa-class cruiser, and the commander is Sha Zhengming, commander of the Nanyang Fleet himself.

The cargo warehouse of the fleet was not only filled with various supplies and building materials, but also carried 200 pioneer soldiers.It can be seen from the pier that the waterline of the fleet is very deep and belongs to the heavy-duty fleet.

This expedition fleet is of great significance.

For the first time, it was the first substantive effort to reach out to several strategic resources produced in Southeast Asia: rubber, nickel-chromium ore, and oil.

Seven years have passed since the first batch of traversers came to the original plane in 1627.

7 years of financing and 7 years of preparation.Today, the traversers really can't wait.The thirst for rickshaw tires and stainless steel was overwhelming.

Therefore, the newly released Great Yan State did not hesitate to adopt the risky "leapfrog" strategy, and did not hesitate to leave Vietnam as a huge unstable factor behind it, but also established a base in Saigon, which is far away from the mainland.

Everything is for today... Only 2 months after the occupation of Saigon, the expedition team set off regardless of everything before the land was even familiarized.

"Lao Sha, the situation in Shanghai is complicated, so be careful."

Holding Sha Zhengming's hands tightly, Governor Shao Qiang, who came to see him off, urged him repeatedly.

"Hehe, it's all right." Sha Zhengming is tall and broad, with a reassuring look on his face: "What are you afraid of with radar and sonar? Speaking of which, these equipments also caused those few people to bleed. imported."

Sha Zhengming's joke seemed to relax the serious farewell scene, and everyone laughed in agreement.

However, the laughter could not conceal the worry in the eyes of those in the know: the destination of the expedition fleet had strange sea conditions and complex terrain, surrounded by thousands of scattered islands and reefs.In the primitive environment of the [-]th century, there are still countless hidden reefs standing under the sea surface, which is extremely dangerous.

So where is the destination of the expedition that hastily set sail?

The answer is "Zheng He Island".

In later generations, Zheng He Island was called Palawan Island.

This is a long island located in the southwest of the Philippines, opposite Saigon across the sea, with a sea distance of more than 1000 kilometers between the two places.

The sea area between Saigon and Zheng He Island is the South China Sea, which is familiar to the people of later generations.There is another familiar place name in the sea: the Nansha Islands.

As mentioned above, all the islands in the Philippines including Zheng He Island, many ancient countries that existed in the past were built by Chinese businessmen and have always been Chinese vassal states.The Philippines did not exist in history. This colony begged for independence from the United States after World War II. It cannot represent "Zhengshuo".

China has enjoyed suzerainty over many ancient countries around the South China Sea since ancient times.And in later generations, since the Philippines changed the South China Sea to the "West Philippine Sea" without authorization, the voice of calling Palawan Island "Zheng He Island" among the Chinese people has become increasingly strong.

This is also the reason why the cabinet sent a special telegram to the Nanyang Governor's Mansion to confirm the place name "Zheng He Island" before the expedition fleet set off.

In fact, in the previous joint meeting of the cabinet, the industrial sector, and the agricultural sector, there was a grand strategy for the development of Nanyang. The first stop was not Zheng He Island, but Luzon Island, which is located north of Manila.

But plans are worse than changes.

No one expected that the Southward Team's operation skills were superb, and a series of slapstick operations, finally engulfed a group of Vietnamese aborigines and opened the gate of the Mekong River Plain.

As a result, the high-level executives of Dayan Kingdom in Guangdong suddenly discovered that the nickel-chromium mining area located at the westernmost tip of Zhenghe Island and the local tropical geographical environment have become the most suitable comprehensive development pilot site at the moment.

Of course, the root cause of all this is that the traversers once occupied the Mekong Plain.

Rice is the basic driving force behind various large-scale actions going south.

For the increasingly tense situation in Ming Dynasty, there is no need for another blood transfusion from Guangdong, and it can support a large number of immigrants by itself. The Mekong River Plain, which transports rice to the north by the way, can fully assume the role of a strategic support point.

This is also the fundamental reason why Zhenghe Island eventually replaced Luzon as the first test and development base in Nanyang.

Chapter 636 Deck Discourse

In the South China Sea in the primitive environment, the sky is as clear as washing, white clouds are like yarn, and the sky is bright.

Looking down, it is the clear ocean current unique to tropical seas.The tender green seabed reflects colorful light, colorful sea fish shuttle among the red corals, and the scenery is wonderful.

The next moment, something unpleasant came.

After a "poof", someone spat into the sea.

Wu Sanye, who didn't realize that his quality was poor, wiped the corners of his mouth, and stuffed a new celluloid cigarette holder into his mouth as if nothing had happened.

I cherished it so much that I took a few puffs until the cigarette was burned out... Then the third master inhaled the unpleasant smell of plastic, and only then did he find that the cheap celluloid cigarette holder had been burnt and could not be used.

After swearing at the fake products in the small commodity market in Shipai Village, New District in his native dialect, Mr. Wu flicked the cigarette holder into the clear sea water...opening a new chapter in the human pollution of the ocean.

It is already the 10th day since departure.

The previous voyage was fairly smooth. In the South China Sea in November, the probability of encountering a storm is not high.Departing from Saigon, the fleet slowed down to adapt to the local sea conditions, went round and round, taking measurements along the way, and traveled southward at a speed of 11-3 knots during the day and 4 knots at night.

In this way, the 500-kilometer sea journey has been wandering for 10 days.It was not until this morning that the fleet entered the Nansha waters from the north.

The waters off the Nansha Islands are complicated.According to the statistics of later generations, there are more than 230 islands, sandbars, hidden reefs, dark sands and dark beaches in this sea area.

However, in the seventeenth century, this number was probably inaccurate.No one knows how many hidden reefs and dark beaches there were hundreds of years ago, where they were located, and how much they have moved relative to later generations.

So, after reaching the periphery of the Nansha Islands, the bottom of the boat anchored directly in a large lagoon area, and did not enter the archipelago in a hurry.This is also the reason why everyone can enjoy the shallow water landscape in the depths of the ocean. However, most of the people in the fleet are immune to these, and they have seen too many such scenery all the way from Daming.

It can only be said that the temporary anchorage of the fleet gave Mr. Wu and his crew a chance to go out of the cabin and harm the environment.

"Third Master, smoke me!"

Wu Sanye threw away the cigarette holder on his front foot, and the clever little brother handed over the goods to his elder brother on his back foot.

"Well, yes, the shoulder pole has grown!"

It was He Biandan who handed the cigarette and spoke.

He Biandan, a porter who never gets enough to eat, is doing well in the Pioneering Army now.

Eating well is a small matter.After several previous missions to fight various thieves, He Biandan's reputation has already been established.Many people in the Pioneering Army now know that Wu Sanye has a eight-foot fierce man who is in charge of the battle.

Of course, people like to hear heroic stories.As for the timeless protective gear that He Biandan wears every time he falls into battle, no one mentions it.