Emperor Ming Dynasty

As expected, the ship from the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrived at Jinshan City in less than five days.

At this time, the city's foundation was just being laid.

To everyone's surprise, three ships arrived this time.

When a large number of women came down, all the workers were excited.

Even Zhao Dezhu couldn't help but cheered:
"Master Zhang, you are so interesting."

Director Zhang smiled slightly: "The Ministry of Internal Affairs understands that everyone is working hard, so it has recruited some women."

"There are some widows and so on, I guess everyone has no objections!"

"Of course!" Zhao Dezhu said, patting his chest: "A sow competes with Diao Chan, as long as she is a female."

Director Zhang smiled and nodded, and immediately with the support of everyone, he entered the embryonic city, observed it, nodded and said, "Not bad."

"There are bricklayers, so there is no need to waste time!" Zhao Dezhu smiled.

Mr. Zhang sat down and the pottery cup brought hot water.

"This is what the big guys burned, just a few good ones."

"It seems that the big guys can support themselves."

Director Zhang pondered for a while: "Zhao Qianhu, what do you think of Jinshan here?"

"The land is fertile, there are many mountains and forests, and it's not as cold as in the north, just like in the south."

Zhao Dezhu said truthfully.

"Then the imperial court allows you to take root?"

"What?" Zhao Dezhu was dizzy and almost collapsed. He cried: "Didn't you say three years?"

"Alas!" Director Zhang patted him on the shoulder and said, "How can it be so easy?"

"Everyone in the Ministry of Internal Affairs can't bear to leave the gold mine, and they can't bear to leave skilled workers like you!"

"But, wasn't it agreed upon for three years?" Zhao Dezhu cried so hard that he almost became hoarse.

"Don't worry, the court won't treat you badly!"

Director Zhang smiled and said: "After this city is built, you will serve as the first governor. This is a seventh-grade official, and in the Ming Dynasty, you are the county magistrate."

Zhao Dezhu stopped crying as soon as these words came out.

"In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has transported [-] families this time, including about [-] women without husbands."

"In the next two years, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will transport [-] households, and the majority will be women. They will definitely satisfy you."

Director Zhang said softly: "Besides, aren't there still savages?"

"There are about 50 people who married savages, right?"

Zhao Dezhu was shocked.

No matter how crude he is, he still understands that this is a subtle warning.

Even though Jinshan was thousands of miles away at this time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was keeping a close eye on it.

Right.

How can anyone not care about thousands of taels of gold being mined every month?
Now that people are migrating here again, I am afraid that more and more gold mines will be mined.

Chief Zhang said nonchalantly: "The land here is fertile, so how is it different from the Ming Dynasty? Isn't it the land of the king in the whole world?"

"When more gold is mined, I will propose to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send some scholars over to teach your children to study."

"This is also Ming's overseas territory."

"If there are too many people waiting, the imperial court may seal the vassal state!"

Zhao Dezhu laughed along with him, his thoughts changing a thousand times.

For one day, half of the men were diligently building houses and showing off themselves in front of the women.

They were not fools. When they saw a man coming with his wife and his sister, or older sister, or a widow, they immediately understood the meaning.

By dusk, everyone had a temporary place to stay.

In front of the bonfire, Chief Zhang pointed at the newcomers and said, "Don't bully them. They will also be your brothers in the future, and they are all part of the same family."

"You must have seen that some women don't have husbands. As long as you like them, they can get married."

"But before I say anything ugly, don't force me, otherwise the Ming Dynasty will take care of you."

"Don't be afraid if you don't get married. There will be a batch of ships next month, and people will be shipped over in the next few months. There will be wives!"

This time, a lot of restlessness was immediately suppressed.

In this world, we don't worry about scarcity but inequality.

In the past, those who married wild women were all strongmen and leaders among the miners. Now they are all Han, so they are more likely to be tempted.

I heard that there was more to come, which made many people who were full of energy calm down for a while.

The next day, after a night of howling ghosts and wolves, many miners entered the mine with thick dark circles under their eyes.

Mr. Zhang made a rare trip to the mine.

"Master, it was an open-pit mine at the beginning. If you dig a shovel, you will find gold and nugget gold. Later, it gradually disappears and you can only dig in the mountains."

Zhao Dezhu introduced: "After the ore is dug, it is calcined, which requires a lot of wood, so there are about two hundred people responsible for cutting firewood every day."

The dark and rumbling mines, with the cool breeze, make people shiver.

After browsing around, he saw a few mice and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Why are there still such things?"

"They are raised by everyone." Zhao Dezhu said with a smile: "In this mine, nothing can survive. Only the rats are still there. Once there is any landslide, the rats are always the first to run away."

"Everyone keeps rats to prevent landslides."

"Okay, it is indeed an auspicious beast." After praising it, Director Zhang couldn't wait to leave the mine.

At noon, while eating rice and meat, Chief Zhang sighed: "It took you a year to transport food to make you self-sufficient. How much land did you open up?"

"About three thousand acres."

Zhao Dezhu said solemnly: "There is a shortage of cattle here. We rely solely on manpower. There are only 2000 people in total. I have to arrange for about [-] people to take time off to farm. In fact, there are only a thousand people mining."

"Normally, we would trade salt with savages for meat and raise some chickens and ducks to barely fill our stomachs."

"Cow?" Director Zhang nodded: "I will bring cattle and sheep when I come next time."

"Don't worry about food. The ship arriving next month will bring five thousand stones of food, which is enough for you to eat for half a year."

The two were chatting. When Zhang saw the friendly savage with feathers in the distance, he couldn't help but ask:

"Can we capture these savage slaves?"

"It's hard to discipline a rebellious man!" Zhao Dezhu shook his head: "Even if he is caught, he would rather die than live."

"Besides, there are thousands of savages near us. If they learn about the slaves, even though they don't belong to the same tribe, there will be hostility."

"Don't even think about mining."

"That's a pity!"

Director Zhang sighed.

Returning to the temporary residence, the clerk on the side stepped forward and said, "Sir, there are a lot more scraps of gold than last night."

"Humph, if you can't go back, why do you need gold?"

Director Zhang sneered and said: "Zhao Dezhu was afraid that he would reveal everything last night. He originally found a group of bachelors to come here. Now that there are women who can settle down, he is naturally afraid."

"Are you saying that they are afraid of hiding gold and not being able to marry a wife?"

"That's right!" Director Zhang said with a smile: "I brought a lot of cloth, sugar, shoes and other food and drink items this time, all of which were sold to them."

"But, I only collect silver coins. I can't take out the gold, and I can't take it back, so I can only put it back."

"This trick of yours is really good. According to the old rules, you can deduct 2000 taels this time."

The clerk narrowed his eyes and said.

"Hahaha!" Director Zhang chuckled: "A bunch of mud-legged guys, fight me, it's early!"

In the evening, Director Zhang re-appointed the judge in charge of the trial and the director in charge of supplies.

Zhao Dezhu, a member of the Qianhu family, is still responsible for mining and commanding military force, and his power has been reduced by half.

However, settlements in North America are growing day by day. …

Songjiang Prefecture, Pingan Shipyard.

Early in the morning, before the mist had cleared, there were many ships moored at the dock of the shipyard, and many merchants wrapped in silk clothes were chattering about prices.

As the chief shopkeeper of the shipyard, Guo Xun negotiated the price without any boredom, and then raised the price as much as possible.

When the sun hung in the sky, there were already two ships moored at the dock for repairs.

Guo Xun looked at the workers who were knocking and wandering around on the boat like apes, and couldn't help but shake his head in pride.

It only takes three days for these two ships to be overhauled, and he can earn 50 yuan, which is so comfortable.

Sitting on the lounge chair, feeling the warmth of the sun, the dampness and coldness of spring seem to have gone away.

In the distance, carpenters were taking measurements and preparing to repair the deck, deck, or bottom of the ship.

Some big men were shirtless and holding big shovels, digging out the sticky and tough barnacles on the bottom of the boat.

They eat away at the bottom of the ship and are the most disgusting existence for the captains. If they are not careful, the bottom of the ship will leak and a whole ship's worth of supplies will be lost.

After eradication, someone would apply tung oil to prevent the barnacles from attaching again.

But often in less than half a year, the bottom of the boat will be covered with barnacles again, and if it is not painted, it will be full in a month.

The young men held wooden buckets and waved hairbrushes, constantly scrubbing the deck and cabin.

Everyone is busy.

"Shopkeeper, we don't have enough manpower!"

At this time, the housekeeper ran over.

"Continue to recruit people. It's hard to find three-legged toads, but there are plenty of people with two legs."

Guo Xun said lazily: "Don't block my sunshine."

"Go and put some money on the counter! Remember, it's peak season recently, so hire more people."

"Yes!"

At this time, another ship arrived at the shipyard.

The hanging white sail made his eyes light up, and Guo Xun couldn't wait to wait.

When I got closer, I saw that it was indeed a big deal.

The canvas had several big holes in it and was unusable.

The deck was dirty, and several holes were extremely conspicuous, revealing graded wooden spikes.

The smell of blood is still strong even after being washed away repeatedly.

Of course, what is noticeable is that on both sides of the ship's sides, several artillery pieces have ceased to function, exuding a strong smell of gunpowder.

One of the doors exploded directly and could no longer be used.

According to the rules promulgated by the imperial court, artillery is not allowed to be carried on inland rivers, and the number of artillery carried on sea ships cannot exceed twelve.

And every artillery must be registered, and even if it explodes, it must be recorded.

Of course, the reason why the court was so generous was that this artillery was only a French cannon, not a red cannon, so it did not pose much of a threat.

The threat at sea is less than half that on land.

Of course, whether it is the imperial court or private shipbuilding yards, artillery imposes expensive taxes.

The tax on an iron cannon worth 100 yuan can reach 40 yuan.

Moreover, during wartime, the imperial court could also recruit merchant ships to suppress bandits at no cost.

However, Guo Xun privately speculated that the biggest reason why the imperial court allowed ships to install artillery and even sell artillery was because Batavia was selling artillery.

It is impossible for the Dutch to earn all this money.

"How long will it take to repair?"

If you only ask about the time but not the price, you will look like a fat sheep at first glance.

Guo Xun smiled and narrowed his eyes: "Sir, your ship has two thousand materials. It looks like it is going to the sea. It only takes ten days."

"It's too long. I have a batch of goods waiting to be loaded!" The captain said without hesitation: "How much does it cost to repair it in three days?"

"100 dollars."

The lion Guo Xun opened his mouth.

This made several sailors angry. It was too expensive and did not meet the market price.

"Okay!" the captain gritted his teeth and said, "I'll come find you in three days. If I can't fix it, I'll take advantage of you!"

"Sir, do you want to replace your artillery?"

Guo Xun said with a smile.

"how?"

"I have a way to make cannons for the navy. Each cannon only costs 50 yuan!"

"How many pounds?"

"Eight hundred pounds."

"The price is okay!" The captain nodded.

After a while, Guo Xun took the captain to the artillery field in the distance and bought a [-]-pound French cannon.

A donkey cart was delivered to the door, and even ten pounds of gunpowder was delivered.

After receiving the escort fee, Guo Xun smiled so hard that his teeth were exposed.

But privately, he was envious of the artillery range.

A pound of iron is worth ten coins, and eight hundred pounds is only eight silver coins.

But the price of the artillery was as high as 50 yuan, and the spread was unimaginable.

After working hard for several days to repair the ship, the net profit is not as much as the cost of a cannon.

"The imperial merchants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs must be comfortable and make money while lying down!"

Not far away, the Jinshan Artillery Field was already a bustling scene.

The shopkeeper bowed to greet him outside the door, and it took a long time to wait for a carriage.

"Mr. Chen, you are tired!"

As soon as the dignified-looking civil servant got off the car, the sound of horse hooves stopped and a military attache nimbly turned over and dismounted.

"Wei experience, you have great riding skills!"

"Stop talking nonsense and go see the cannon!" Wei Zhang said casually.

Manager Chen on the side shook his head: "Let's go!"

The shopkeeper stood behind the two of them.

The Navy's purchase of artillery this time is a big business for major artillery sites.

Unlike the ordinary ordnance department that purchases troops and horses for the imperial court, the artillery on naval ships has its own special characteristics, so it is purchased from the private sector.

Of course, the main reason was that the Ordnance Department was too large to be bothered to expand its yamen specifically to cast cannons for the Navy.

And the major artillery ranges were affiliated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and operated by the imperial merchants. They were also considered to be members of the imperial court, so procurement was a matter of course.

"You see, this is a gun made by our artillery base based on the Dutch multiple guns. It weighs five thousand kilograms and can fire 25 kilograms of artillery shells with a range of one thousand five hundred steps."

The shopkeeper introduced the artillery in red with a smile on his face: "The price is only 200 yuan, and it also comes with an additional [-] kilograms of gunpowder."

"Not enough!" Wei Zhang shook his head and said: "I heard that in Batavia, I heard that their country has the Amelia, a ship with three thousand materials. It has a total of 57 guns, and it weighs only five or six thousand kilograms. There are four heavy artillery pieces.”

"Nowadays, the Dutch's plywood giant ships are equipped with thirty-pound cannons, which is about thirty kilograms."

"European warships have as few as twenty or thirty light and heavy guns, and as many as a hundred or so. It is difficult for the imperial court to defeat them."

"Thirty kilograms of cannonballs?" The shopkeeper was surprised: "Isn't that a seven or eight thousand kilograms of heavy artillery?"

(End of this chapter)