Kaohsiung was still busy at night, and like all the port cities under the Senate, workers here worked day and night to build the empire's newly returned territory, from the lighthouse to the various docks, and the warehouses and shops to the north of the port.

The shipowner who brought Shen Yourong to Taiwan did not say something right, and in the exchange between Master Shen and Akashi Daoyou, he learned more about the administrative structure of the Senate in Taiwan. It is true that this place is the government of Kaohsiung Prefecture, but the area under the jurisdiction of the entire Kaohsiung Prefecture is extremely vast, and the prefecture area even extends all the way to the mountains of fifty or sixty miles inland. But at present, the Australians are actually only controlling the southwest corner of it, and at best they are only going a little deeper along the Dagou River.

A long and narrow natural peninsula in the open sea protects Kaohsiung in the middle, and the waterway is inconvenient for large warships to enter and exit due to reefs and sandbars, and the coast near Dagou Mountain to the north of Haikou has become a natural commercial port, which is the so-called Kaohsiung Port in the mouth of those ship owners.

Around the commercial port and some fishing ports to the east of the commercial port, the original town pattern was formed, and it is now the largest commercial market in Taiwan. The triangle surrounded by Dagou Mountain and Dagou River is the natural core of the current Kaohsiung area, and from there they go to the southeast and northeast respectively, until the west bank of Xiadanshui Creek, and within a radius of nearly 200 square kilometers, it is divided into nearly 30 fortress villages of Qianjin, Xinxing, Cen Ya, Qianzhen, Xiaogang, Fengshan, Daliao, etc., each village has nearly 100 Han immigrants, and now there are nearly 10,000 Han people resettled in this Kaohsiung Prefecture alone. Outside these fortress villages and further inland, there are more than ten fortress townships composed of Tu people, with a number ranging from hundreds to nearly a thousand, and the total number is more than three or four thousand. The so-called governance territory of Kaohsiung Prefecture is composed of these fortress village communities.

On the opposite side of the Kaohsiung Commercial Port, at the northernmost tip of the natural Qijin Peninsula, under the cover of the Qihou Mountain Fort is the center of this rule, Qijin Fort. The oval fortress is only a few hundred meters square, and several key places on the fort wall are all set up with forts and gun emplacements, so that the firepower of this fort can block the entire Xiziwan channel, and the special terrain also makes it very difficult to attack the veteran garrison here by land. It is only because of the inconvenient natural conditions of the waterway here that the port of Qijin can only be used as a docking place for ordinary patrol ships, and the larger naval ships are all in the port of Zuoying in the north.

At this time, the lights of Qijin Fort were still on, and in a sturdy house located in the north of the fort, the two elders were talking about Shen Yourong and his party.

"What does Chang Gong say about tomorrow's arrangement?"

"What can I say, since that Akashi Daoyou is sure of this person's identity, it should indeed be Shen Yourong, at present, we are still mainly Huairou for the officials of the Ming Dynasty, and Shen Yourong still has some ability."

Akashi Michido did not rush back to the barracks after coming out of the hotel, but went to report to the patriarch again, it is a rare experience for a person like him to be able to personally tell the supreme governor of Taiwan Road to say things alone, and he made everything clear, naturally this is also because he knows that the chief has no ill will towards Shen Yourong.

The military and political affairs of Japan, the Ryukyus, and Taiwan were all in charge of Ping Qiusheng, but he was in charge of the work with Japan in Hirado, and now the actual supreme governor of the Taiwan Road is Chang Kaishen, the envoy of economic strategy, and the person who is discussing with him is Zheng Jiefu, the intelligence director of the Senate on the Taiwan Road, and the other two deputy envoys of the Economic Strategy are all patrolling around the country and are not in Kaohsiung.

Regarding Daming's understanding of the Senate, the intelligence gathered from all over the country for analysis can be said to be non-existent.

On the one hand, the constant news of the Ming Dynasty indicates that there is a force under the banner of the former Song Dynasty in the southern seas of the empire that is rapidly rising, but on the other hand, the so-called Australians are not regarded as a whole, and the Song people may have their own courts, but they are all loyal ministers, and those who are stranded in Qiongzhou and Guangzhou obviously do not play a very important role in this force, at least in the minds of Ming officials.

And the image of the Australians does not seem to be bad, they expelled the Westerners at sea, cleared the pirates, and destroyed the Erfan State that had not fulfilled its tributary obligations to the Celestial Empire, but it was a matter of commerce and trade, and more importantly, they also produced all kinds of useful and cheap Australian oddities, even though some of these things have affected the livelihood of the people of the Ming Dynasty, but on the whole, the Australian Song Dynasty is still a good image in the minds of the Ming Dynasty. The Australians seem to be sharp and good at boats, but they have not touched any piece of land in the Ming Dynasty, Taiwan is only in the east, and the armed force in Qiongzhou is just a group of training in Guangdong because of Pan Zhizhou. As for the Australians in Nanyang, they falsely claimed that Ji Song was just a small trick by the Han people to gain a foothold overseas, just like the old port propaganda and consolation division in Yongle.

Zheng Jiefu took out the conclusive news, "We basically confirmed through intelligence sources on the mainland that the Ming Court's latest appointment to Shen Yourong is indeed to go to Dengzhou to preside over the water division. ”

This is the content of Fu Xiaofei's copy of the mansion sent back from Tianjin, along with speculation about the candidate for the governor of Denglai.

Chang Kaishen put down the teacup and said: "So this is good for us, hasn't the Senate always wanted to make a nail in Liaodong, I think this is an opportunity." ”

"Actually, if you want me to say that there is no need to get involved in the affairs of Liaodong so early, it is beneficial for us to let Daming and Houjin toss for a few more years."

"Advantageous is advantageous, but after all, most of the people who died were Han Chinese, and it was heart-wrenching to see so much population loss, besides, the natural resources of Liaodong are also what we need." Strategically, Chang Kaishen seems to have a more long-term view, which is naturally inseparable from the constant indoctrination of Ping Qiusheng.

"Natural resources? Could it be that there are really people in the Senate who believe in the efficacy of ginseng? "Speaking of the natural resources of Liaodong, Zheng Jiefu can only think of Liao Shen, after all, now with Nanyang and Taiwan, there will be no shortage of timber and animal skins, I really can't think of any resources in Liaodong that are worthy of the urgent layout of the Senate.

"It's not ginseng, it's wood." But Chang Kaishen's words disrupted Zheng Jiefu's thoughts.

"There are not many in Nanyang, and the rebuilding of the three major halls depends on the golden silk nanmu of Myanmar and Annam."

"But there are not many sleepers in East Asia, and the larch in the Northeast is the best, and after 49 years, almost all the railways in the country use Northeast pine."

"And what are the specific plans of the Senate?"

"The specific strategy has not been formed, all kinds of signs show that in the coming year, Jiannu will inevitably attack Shenyang on a large scale, and the war will be unpredictable, if you can take advantage of the chaos to open up a port in southern Liaoning, it is a good way, those Han people who want to enter the customs, the Ming Dynasty does not want us."

"Will the supply be too long?"

"Probably not, originally the Senate planned to take Jeju Island first, so the supply distance would not be long, but since Shen Junmen is here, we can have an extra backhand, and don't forget, we still have a way in Tianjin." Chang Kaishen's words were full of confidence.

"Have you thought about the two prefectures where the stronghold of Liaodong is located?"

"It should be in southern Liaoning." Chang Kaishen glanced at the map on the table, and his fingers slid all the way through Gaizhou and Fuzhou, stopping at the tip further south, "Lushun Peninsula." ”

"It's a big deal." Zheng Jiefu was a little excited, "Okay, I'll go and meet this Shen Junmen tomorrow." Jeff Zheng thought for a moment.

…………

The morning sun crossed the southernmost tip of the Dog Hill and shone into the port area.

After yesterday's banquet, Shen Yourong soaked alone in the celadon bathtub in the bedroom, changed into a thin robe and straw sandals provided by the hotel, and slept comfortably all night.

On the windowsill of the sun, Shen Yourong got up and finished freshening up, and Akashi Daoyou was already waiting outside, and there was a delicate carriage that appeared with him.

Like his son and the two family members, the first thing that attracted Shen Yourong's attention was not the exquisitely shaped body, and when everyone's eyes moved to the horse in front of the car, it was difficult to leave.

This horse is inevitably too powerful, and has been defending the border in the north for a long time, Shen Yourong can even assert that there has never been such a tall and beautiful horse in the entire Ming Dynasty. Two pure black Australian black horses without a trace of stray hair (note: Orlov horses), the shoulder height is almost the same as his family, if you can ride it under the crotch what it would be like, I believe not only him, those family members are also in the reverie in their hearts.

"This black horse is domesticated by the chief in a secret way, and it is said that there are only about 100 horses in the Song Dynasty in Australia, and even the Beiwei army is very greedy." Seeing Shen Yourong's expression, Akashi Daoyou explained, in fact, Shen Yourong's expression was already very calm in his opinion, and he was even more shocked when he saw this horse for the first time, after all, compared to the Mongolian horses on the mainland, the Japanese horses are even smaller.

The two horses snorted a few times in the envious gaze of everyone, and Shen Yourong's gaze fell on the carriage next to him.

Because of his official duties, he had been to Beijing more than once, and he had sat in the northern mule and horse-drawn carriage, which was not a comfortable memory. But when this red flag carriage came into view, it made him secretly surprised.

The first feeling was that it was neat, just like many Australian goods that flowed into Fujian before. What makes him feel most relieved is that there are four wheels that are half a person high, and the natural shape can not see much artificial carving, but any craftsman of the Ming Dynasty obviously can't make such flawless wheels, and the concave and convex patterns on the rim also make him feel that the workmanship of this car is a little unfathomable.

Stepping on the pedal into the carriage, just enough to accommodate four people, Akashi Daoyou and Shen Shouyu sat side by side in the rear position, while Shen Yourong and He Qiaoyuan sat in the front seat, and the two family members stood behind the carriage, and a groom in front of them was also tightly packed.

When he got into the car, Mr. Shen realized that there was really something in the carriage, not only were the seats covered with good woollen wool, but also there was a sense of comfort in the seats, and I don't know what strange tricks the Australians used. Although the performance of the new trial spring is average, it is still a little worse when used in industrial machinery, but it is still reluctant to make mattresses and sofas, but Shen Yourong and others are enjoying it for the first time, and the feeling is much stronger, which is reflected in the sitting posture It seems slightly stiff.

Akashi Michido skillfully pulled down the small table on one side, and opened the secret compartment next to it and took out a bottle of Lang Mu wine and four glasses, the small table was quite considerately pierced with four round holes, and the large and small glasses were just able to get stuck in it, which was a lot more reassuring.

And the carriage window was inlaid with a whole piece of flat glass, which made He Qiaoyuan feel even more surprised, you must know that this thing is not common in Quanzhou now, and such a large piece should be worth a lot of money. Mr. He even has a feeling that the Australians have a lot of means in glass, whether it is the window of the car, or the wine bottle and wine glass, all made of glass, and when he looked up, he also found that there was also a glass cover wrapped in utensils on the roof of the carriage, and he didn't know what to use, but the perfect curvature of the glass cover has shown that it may be very expensive.

At this moment, the horsewhip sounded outside the window, and the carriage moved slowly.

[References]

1, "Daming Huidian"

2, "Records of Emperor Mingshen Zongxian"

3, "History of the Late Ming Dynasty" Fan Shuzhi

4, "Wanli Ye Ed" Shen Defu

5. "Examination of the Origin of Science in Fujian, Volume 75, Mr. Situ He Jingshan, Qiao Yuan"

6, "History of the Ming Dynasty • The Biography of Shen Yourong"

7, "History of the Ming Palace"

8, "Chronicles in the Middle" Liu Ruoyu

9. "Research on Folk Literature in the Ming Dynasty" Zhang Bo

10, "Records of Emperor Mingguang Zongzhen"

11, "Book of Min" He Qiaoyuan

12, "Quanzhou Mansion Chronicles"

13, "Dongfanji" Chen Di

14, "Minhai Gift" Shen Yourong

15, "Shen Yourong's Three Entry into the East "Annihilation of the Japanese and the Lotus" Examination" Chen Jiuru, Yao Yongsen

16、《Port of Ta-kau (1893)》