"Archduke, this is the Bay of Panama that you marked. The subordinates did discover the Pearl Islands you marked here, as well as the islands of Tavoga and Tavojira. It's just that the Panama City you marked didn't find ...... subordinates" Ben was a little puzzled.

Marin smiled - of course you can't find it, I made a mistake and marked Panama City on the map. In fact, the Spaniards have not been to Panama, where did they come from? However, the construction of a city in the location of Panama City was a plan that had to be carried out. With Panama City, it was beneficial for the invasion of the Peruvian Inca Empire, as well as the transpacific trade with the Ming Dynasty. Among them, the trans-Pacific trade with the Ming Dynasty is currently the most important.

Arben continued:

"Although I didn't find Panama City, my subordinates inquired close to the coast, and in a seaside fishing village more than ten kilometers east of Taboga Island, they did find a place where the pronunciation of 'Pnama' was called. It's just that...... It seems to be a small fishing village......"

"The fishing village is right!" Marin interrupted Ben.

"So, Ben, you've found this little fishing village called Panama, and you've done your job. How about I send you with a fleet to occupy this fishing village called Panama and build a castle there? ”

"Huh? But...... But...... I can only sail......" The bald Ben was a little entangled.

"It doesn't matter, I'll send someone else who knows how to build castles to help you. Your mission is to organize the construction of a shipyard in the local area. In the future, it will become an important base for shipbuilding and repairing ships. As for the construction of the city and the development of the local area, I will arrange for you to arrange a deputy to solve it. When Ghorald's men have cleared the way here, and all matters are taken care of by him, you can return home. ”

"This ...... This ......" Ben hesitated. After all, he wasn't good at running a colony.

"The matter is done, I will give you the title of hereditary knight!"

"Okay, I'm done!" With almost no hesitation, Ben agreed.

Ben's current merits are barely enough to canonize knights. However, that is just an ordinary knight, he died, and the descendants cannot be hereditary. And Ben already has a one-and-a-half-year-old son, if he can get the title of this hereditary knight, then the son will definitely be a nobleman in the future, and his children and grandchildren will be in the future. It's a good deal!

Besides, Ben only needs to be responsible for running the shipping line and the dockyard, and there are professional people in charge of other things, which is very much in line with his heart.

"So, is there a suitable place to build a dock near that little fishing village?" Marin asked with concern.

You know, the ships of this era are all wooden boats. Wooden boats are afraid of the erosion of sea maggots, which can only live in seawater areas and are afraid of freshwater areas. Once the boat enters the freshwater area, the sea maggots that cling to the bottom of the boat to gnaw on the hull will leave on their own.

Therefore, in this era, many of the good ports of later generations were unsuitable. Only those freshwater rivers have an outlet to the sea, which is a good port.

Ben thought for a while, and tried to remember for a long time before he said:

"There is a river on the edge of that little fishing village, but it's not big. The river estuary is okay for building a small dock, but it is not enough for a large dock......"

"Then change places! Is there a larger river estuary nearby? It's best to bring your own harbor. ”

"Yes, a few kilometres east of that little fishing village, there is the mouth of a larger river, and it might be more appropriate to build a dock and dock there!" Ben thought for a moment and said.

"Okay, that's it, build Panama City there!" In this way, the address of Panama City, at the suggestion of Ben, was moved a few kilometers eastward from the original historical location of the ancient city of Panama......

However, this did not make a difference. Anyway, Marin does not have the ability to dig the Panama Canal for the time being. All he wanted was to build a rustic concrete road from Colón to Panama City. And translating Panama City a few kilometers to the east will have little impact.

Because the matter is too important, it will affect the trade route with the Ming Dynasty, as well as the future control of Peru and Chile. To this end, Marin put aside all other matters for the time being and began to help Ben choose his assistants.

The construction of Panama City naturally required a person who was proficient in construction. As a result, Marin found an architect named Storm and appointed him as the deputy lord of Panama City, in charge of the construction of Panama City.

Because Panama City is surrounded by tropical rainforests, it is too difficult to collect stone from the rainforests to build a city. So, Marin simply planned to send a few ships pulling bricks and cement to accompany him. Once there, a small walled compound was built directly from the bricks and cement that came with it. Then, the buildings in the city walls were slowly built.

Panama City, on the other hand, is actually a port for trade with the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, this small city must have been built on the edge of that big river.

Storm was mainly responsible for the construction of the city. Presumably, with a few boatloads of bricks and cement, it would not be a problem to build a fortress that could accommodate a few hundred people.

What the? You say that the fortress that can accommodate a few hundred people is too small? Don't worry, it's just for emergencies. After all, at the beginning of Panama's new construction, the population was certainly small, and it was necessary to guard against indigenous attacks. Therefore, it is the right choice to quickly build a fortress that can accommodate a few hundred people. As for the fortress being too small, wouldn't it be possible to continue to expand it when there were enough bricks and cement in the future?

In addition, the focus is on the construction of ports and dockyards. To this end, Marin sent several supervisors from the Emden shipyard to follow Arben to Panama City, where he was responsible for the construction of the dockyard and the Long Bridge Pier. In addition, they would be accompanied by three hundred craftsmen who would be responsible for the manufacture and repair of the ships. Of course, this is only the first craftsmen, and there will be people to go in the future. It's just that Ma Lin is now short of shipbuilders, so he can only send 300 to build the grass platform team first......

In order to solve the problem of the lack of shipbuilders, Marin has imitated the captain's school and set up a special shipbuilding technical school to recruit young people who are willing to become craftsmen. Then, after a round of selection, some of the ones who are too clumsy are eliminated, and those young people who are more flexible are left for further technical training. And their training method is also very simple and rude - start with small canoes, and when they are done, they change to small fishing boats, and when the small fishing boats are built, they try to build large fishing boats (fishing boats of more than 50 tons can be called big fishing boats in this era)...... The big fishing boats can be built well...... Well, qualified, sent to the shipyard......

At present, the shipbuilding technical school is training 1,500 young craftsmen, but because of the tight schedule, it is estimated that it will be another year or two before these people can be sent to shipyards in Emden and North America......

In addition to shipbuilding talents, Marin also selected several agricultural talents to be responsible for growing grain and fruit outside of Panama City. After all, transporting food from home used to be too expensive. It would be best if you could grow food on a large scale in the local area and be self-sufficient in advance. Considering the hot and humid climate, rye cultivation is no longer suitable. Therefore, growing crops such as Indian rice and bananas outside of Panama City is the best option. And, of course, there's the amazing crop that comes with the Americas, the sweet potato...... This is definitely the only magic weapon to fight hunger, and Kang Mazi has achieved the first emperor through the ages by relying on sweet potatoes......

In addition to growing food, Marin plans to plant wormwood and pyrethrum in large areas around Panama City to isolate the dreaded Panamanian mosquitoes. Of course, you have to have people cut down those damn trees first. You know, those poisonous mosquitoes hide in the woods and in the bushes near the water during the day.

So Marin intends to then pay tribute to the Duke of Coimbra of Portugal, Jorge. Morality. Lencastree buys 1,000 black slaves. Then, let those black uncles take saws and go and sawn down all the trees outside Panama City. At the same time, all the shrubs along the river were uprooted...... In this way, it is difficult for the poisonous mosquitoes near Panama City to find a place to hide, and they can only be sunburned to death during the day......

In addition, Marin will also supply large quantities of home-made mosquito coils to Panama City. The so-called home-made mosquito coil is to mash pyrethrum and wormwood, add a small amount of yellow mud, and knead it into strips. Then, make an incense burner, which is specially used to light mosquito coils, smoke and kill mosquitoes, and protect the lives of the colonists...... After all, Panama's poisonous mosquitoes are so deadly that a bite can kill you......

This kind of home-made mosquito coil, Marin personally tried it, and the effect is very good, no less than modern mosquito coils. Moreover, the toxicity is not great. Unlike the mosquito coils of later generations, chemical agents are used to endanger people's health. Of course, pyrethrum is also poisonous after all, so children, especially infants, should use it with caution. It is a mosquito coil of pure wormwood, although the effect is almost good, and the taste is big, but the health is guaranteed. As for why the mosquito coil is not made into a disc shape in later generations, but into a simple and crude long strip, it is because making a disc shape requires a special mosquito coil plate, which is very troublesome. And to make a long strip, it is very easy, just find an earthen incense burner can be lit, and even find a bowl can be used, it is not troublesome at all, it is very in line with the principle of "simple and rude......

Finally, there's the issue of security. To this end, Marin specially selected 200 militiamen to protect the new port city. In order to enhance their combat effectiveness, Marin specially provided them with 200 clockwork rifles. Panama City has a tropical rainforest climate, where arquebuses can easily go out. Therefore, it is most suitable to use a clockwork that is not afraid of rain......

It is backed by a concrete wall, plus it has 200 clockwork guns. Even though these militias were far inferior to the regular army, it was no problem to hold Panama City and repel the attacks of the natives......