Xu Zi first knew what would become of it, and if it continued like this, the Eastern Domain would degenerate into a means of bartering trade, and then if it went down, civilization would be limited to a period of stagnation, and only external stimuli would bring the island back to life, and if the foreign contact was completely cut off suddenly, these Han immigrants would be easily limited to the point of semi-barbarism and semi-civilization, just like the alpine natives.

It is impossible to say that it has become completely barbaric, but it is impossible to develop civilization without cutting off exchanges.

Only by being open, more self-confident, tolerant, and attracting more outsiders can the Eastern Domain be revitalized, more vigorous, and truly successful.

Xu Zixian's current capital is 1.56 million guan, and with the investment of the Marquis of Changwen here, the investment in the Eastern Domain will exceed 2 million guan in the first half a year.

Coupled with the cloth trading house that the Marquis of Changwen promised to set up, there will be considerable changes in the Eastern Domain in the short term.

The next step was the innovation and change in agriculture, in addition to cotton fields and cloth, more foreign crops should be settled in the Eastern Domain.

At the gate of the camp, Chen Duzhong asked Xu Zi to stage the general platform of the martial arts box first, most of the more than 3,000 box troops wore ordinary battle jackets, wore cyan folded scarves, held obstacle knives or long scarves, or strong crossbows, bows and arrows, and looked like a look, but most of the people had yellow faces and thin muscles, and obviously the treatment was the same as that of ordinary box troops, in a state of starvation and not enough to eat, as for the scattered formation, the swords were shabby, and the banners were chaotic, which was more of the norm of the box army.

Chen Duzhong's expression was slightly uneasy, and he whispered to Xu Zixian: "Don't blame Mingda, the rest of your thoughts are not used for the Xiang Army...... Although I am not short of money, I do not prohibit the officers of all levels of the army from deducting corruption, and the army is similar to the rest of the garrisons......"

"Uncle Nine doesn't need to say much," Xu Zixian said with a smile: "Before coming here, I was already mentally prepared. ”

Although he didn't quite understand what psychological preparation meant, Chen Duzhong was also obviously relieved.

If Xu Zi didn't give him face first, he reprimanded himself and his subordinates in public, and he could only endure it for the sake of the overall situation, which would be a big loss.

The officers of the Xiang Army below were also obviously quite nervous, Xu Zixian did not save face for everyone in Qizhou and Penghu, leaving a legend all the way, if he did the same in the Eastern Domain......

The ordinary soldiers of the Xiang Army looked indifferent, and even vaguely looked forward to it.

These are some bitter people, it is drudgery to garrison in the Eastern Domain, garrisoning in other places, you can always get some benefits, or take the time to go home to see, on the island and in Penghu, there is no chance to go home until the deadline is met.

Unexpectedly, Xu Zixian's performance was completely different from that in other places, with a simple lecture, and he did not watch the drill and proofreading, and after saying a few words of encouragement, he asked everyone to disperse.

In the signing room, Chen Duzhong was obviously still relieved, and he said to Xu Zixian: "Your other courtyard is also under construction, before it is completed, Mingda You can only live in the military village, the military village over there is rough, and the conditions are far worse than here, do you live here, or go to Nan'anxi?" ”

The difference between the two streams is more than 20 miles, and in the middle is a large plain area, the core boundary of Xu Zixian is in Nan'anxi, the new military village, the Houfu Annex, a large area of Tunmin residential areas, and cotton fields, all of which are in Nan'anxi.

However, the future commercial area, docks, boat yards, and some factories that must be built are all between the two rivers or here in Huaxi, and Xu Zi does not plan to move away first.

It's all your own, so why favor one over the other?

"Go to Nan'anxi."

Xu Zixian's answer was expected by Chen Duzhong, and the style of this young marquis's behavior was probably also understood by the people of the Chen family.

"It's better to go first." Chen Duzhong said with a smile: "Look at how the construction of the other courtyard is, if everything goes well, you and Wen Jun will be able to get married this autumn." ”

Although he already had a concubine, Xu Zixian's heart still skipped a few beats.

The Chen family originally planned to get married in the main house of the Hou Mansion, and then Chen Wenjun would live in Nan'an Courtyard for a long time, where a lot of flowers and trees had been planted.

Before King Qi died, Xu Zixian's plan was the same.

Although the development of the Eastern Domain is quite important, it is almost the same to live for two months a year, Qizhou and Nan'an, this is Xu Zixian's most important foundation at present.

Nan'an can already earn millions of yuan a year, even if there is no such number, it is almost the same.

Qizhou Port is operating well, and the annual income of hundreds of thousands of yuan is also expected.

These two places are the foundation, and Xu Zixian can't ignore them.

Now of course, the plan has changed, Xu Zixian estimates that he will return to Fuzhou and Nan'an for at most one month a year, sort out the relationship over there, stabilize the foundation, and prevent people with intentions from reaching out to deter lawlessness, which is enough.

Most of the time will stay in the Eastern Domain, or Penghu, these two places have become the real foundation, and the courtyard that Chen Dujing built here in advance will naturally become the place where he and Chen Wenjun will live in the future.

It's good to have a rich old man......

"If the other courtyard is almost there." Chen Duzhong reminded: "You need to take Ling Mei and other family members over, although Nan'an has group training, it is not a particularly safe place." ”

Xu Zixian was stunned, the person in front of him was experienced, and he obviously knew that there was nothing that political opponents could not do under the political struggle. Nan'an Hou Mansion and Zhao Wangfu have reached the stage of life and death, of course King Zhao can do everything, Chen Duzhong's reminder is quite timely.

"Thank you, Uncle Nine," Xu Zixian said sincerely, "I was negligent in this matter." ”

"After the death of His Royal Highness King Qi, our Chen family had a family meeting." Chen Duzhong said with emotion: "Judging from this incident, the internal friction of Great Wei is already extremely serious, and it is even more difficult to fight each other. If the Northern Expedition wins this time, it is good, the power of the center of the Great Wei is still very strong, enough to deter lawlessness, if it is defeated, then all forces will be ready to move, and at that time, assassination will be considered a means of restraint. ”

Xu Zixian nodded, knowing that the mood of the Chen family must be quite heavy.

For the civil official family, the stability of the situation is the result they want to see the most, and the power of the civil official is easy to exert within the system of the Great Wei under the premise of the stability of the system.

Once it enters the troubled times, the power of the Changwen Chen family will be seriously weakened, and the absence of rules means that the Chen family will lose the power of the rules, leaving only favors, connections, and relatives.

At this time, the Chen family will have a more urgent need and thirst for the military strength of the Nan'an Hou Mansion.

Chen Duzhong's cooperation and goodwill, on the one hand, are the foundation of the previous friendship, and on the other hand, it is also obviously the mainstream will of the Chen family.

At this time, what they can rely on the most is the force of the Nan'an Hou Mansion.

The two sides have been bound so tightly, even if the Chen family wants to go home and rely on King Zhao and serve King Zhao, there is no way to obtain an equal status on the side of the Nan'an Hou Mansion, and they can only follow Xu Zixian to the dark.

"On your way to Nanxi Harbor, do you want to meet some people here?"

Chen Duzhong's proposal contained deep meaning, and Xu Zixian smiled: "Please say it to Uncle Jiu." ”

"When you came, more than 10,000 people greeted you, and this is not only my credit." Chen Duzhong said casually: "The least number of immigrants on the island was during the Taizu period, and then it was the peak during the Xuanzong period, and then it stagnated. At present, there are more than 1,700 households, more than 1190 people, more than 6,000 men, more than 5,000 women, more than 2,000 elderly people, and more than 2,000 children. ”

Xu Zixian nodded slightly, that is to say, excluding about 5,000 old people and children, there are more than 7,000 immigrants on the island, half men and half women, and there are slightly more men than women, about a few hundred to a thousand.

"It is not easy for men on the island to find a wife, and women want to leave the island to marry." Chen Duzhong said with a smile: "Over the years, foreign sailors, man, can take away a big girl with a few stones of rice, and after a long time, there are more men and fewer women. ”

"I thought it was still a drowning baby."

In Fujian, there has been a written record of infant drowning since the Tang Dynasty, men are the main force in doing farm work, and no matter how poor the family is born, they will raise it, and they will grow up to be strong laborers, not a loss.

Girls are different, Fujian or the whole country has a tradition of thick marriage, and it is not the same as later generations. A woman who does not marry generously is either a concubine, or she can't hold her head up in her mother-in-law's house, and there is no way to even be insulted by her mother's family.

In this era, every girl goes out to get married, which means that her mother's family has to lose a lot, before she gets married, because there is no male power, there is no way to contribute much labor, can only do some chores and chores, the contribution is very small.

Human beings can become extremely cruel in the face of reality, and drowning a newborn baby girl is one of them, and even the baby's immediate family, including biological parents, grandparents and grandmothers, is quite common.

"This side is different from Fujian Road." Chen Duzhong frowned and said: "There are already more men and fewer women, and if you drown baby girls, everyone will be single." ”

"Is the dowry still rich?"

"It's all poor people...... Chen Duzhong said: "It's that the man's family gives more, and there are more men and fewer women." ”

"Haha, that's true."

One is the progress of modern society, which has led to the decline of men's physical strength, and many living women can do the same, and do better than men, which leads to women being able to receive education, and work to support themselves, and have more independent choices in marriage and love.

This is only one aspect, but on the other hand, there are social problems, reproductive options and traditions, which have led to a much higher birth rate for boys than girls for a long time.

After decades of mutated reproduction, it ended up with tens of millions more men than women.

No matter how ugly a woman is, she doesn't have to worry about getting married, as long as the standards are lowered, men are not certain, and there are many people who beat singles.

This distorted the culture and values of society, and men were to kneel and beg women to marry, and to pay more than the bride price, which was taken for granted at the time.

These realities, when Da Wei says it now, will definitely surprise the eyeballs.

"These things are just trivial things...... Chen Duzhong didn't quite understand Xu Zixian's interest in bride price, so he continued along his train of thought: "The residents of the island, there have been fewer since Xuanzong, but there are still a lot of them coming one after another. Among the immigrants, forty percent were northern immigrants during the Taizu period, mainly with the surnames Zhang, Li, Liu, and Wang, and the remaining sixty percent were Fujian immigrants to the Xuanzong period, with Lin, Chen, and two surnames as the mainstay. In addition to these six surnames, there are dozens of surnames, but some surnames only have a dozen families, which is nothing. The remaining six surnames are the big ones among the islanders. Welcome to Mingda this time, the elders of the six clans have made a lot of efforts, they are still very happy to become the official of Nan'anhou, and they all want to see Mingda in person once to express their gratitude. ”

"Oh." Xu Zixian muttered: "Are the various clans still grouped? ”

"Of course." Chen Duzhong said with a smile: "There are only ambassadors on the island, canons, and tax collectors, and there is no military state and county governance, so although the state has officials, and the administration is also handled according to the rules of the Great Wei, but the control cannot be compared with Fujian Road, so some small things in ordinary times, even cases of stealing and injuring people, are mostly handled by each ethnic group themselves." ”

"In addition to rebellion, murder, and rebellion, I'm afraid that the officials on the island won't have time to take care of them, right?"

"Pretty much." Chen Duzhong sighed, spread his hands and said, "It's really powerless." ”