The southeast trade winds in early autumn are still very violent, and walking on the endless sea, Zhang Jinhua only feels refreshed.

The heavy solid bow of the new Chinese red sandalwood split the waves, splashing a large canopy of mist. The constant westward currents provided ample power for the ships to sail, and even without sails to take advantage of the southeasterly winds blowing on the sea, the fully steam-powered Tahiti could reach speeds of about 7-8 knots. Although it is not as fast as those sailing ships, it is still extremely impressive in this era when the great voyage has just entered the middle of the world. What's more, this is the first fully steam-powered large ocean-going vessel on the planet (except for small river steamboats), with a standard displacement of 1,300 tons, which is extremely significant, and is not comparable to those steam engine sailing ships of a transitional nature.

Thanks to the efforts of Ping'an Iron and Steel, Tieling Special Steel, First Heavy Machinery, Railway Machinery, Western Forging, Zhenhai Shipbuilding and other enterprises, the quality of the "Tahiti" is very good, and the overall performance is extremely reliable. In the past few days, they have replaced parts of the steam engine and propeller propulsion system much less frequently than before, which means that the level of materials and machining on the East Coast has reached a new level.

The appearance of some seabirds in the sky lifted Zhang Jinhua's spirits, and he gently flipped through the charts in his hand, then carefully read the logbooks of these days, and finally performed the calculations on the papyrus, feeling that his small fleet should be extremely close to the famous island of Tahiti.

"I don't know what happened to those people." Zhang Jinhua looked at the seagulls flying above the sea and muttered. When he left Tahiti, he left behind 16 expedition members and 16 strong sailors on the island. Although they had barracks, and food, and seeds, and livestock. And, of course, weapons and armor. But God knows if these people are still alive, if they died from disease or by indigenous attacks. Although Zhang Jinhua also informed the deputy captain of Australia's security and asked him to send some people to this island to garrison, God knows if they did so. Without the support of immigrants and soldiers sent by Australia, once the indigenous people on the island changed, it would be difficult for Zhang Jinhua's 30 or so people left on it to hold out for long.

They sailed from the west side of Tahiti to bring Tahitian sugar cane (high sugar and high yield), as well as local crops such as Tahitian lemons, which are important to the world's sugar industry. At present, it has been transplanted to St. Mary's Island Botanical Garden on New Huaxia Island. It is believed that after a period of breeding and cultivation, people on the east coast will be able to find a site for small-scale cultivation on the tropical island of Xinhuaxia.

Of course, this matter is very important and must be carried out in extreme secrecy, otherwise Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries that have invested heavily in the sugar industry will come to ask the people on the east coast for this "big killer". At that time, these countries that already have a first-mover advantage in the sugar industry will inevitably use their advantages in raw materials, technology, markets, and even capital to completely suppress the sugar industry of the people on the east coast, and then they will be dumbfounded. Therefore, when their own sugar industry has not yet improved, it is better for the people of the East Coast to honestly and secretly cultivate improved seeds, expand the scale of sugarcane cultivation, and at the same time learn the latest sugar production technology and strive to open up the market. In this way, they can effectively protect their own industry.

"Sir, all models of astronomical clocks have been compared." With the sound of footsteps. A young sergeant walked up to Zhang Jinhua's side and said softly: "Among them, the 'East Coast-7' series produced by Haidiao Watch Factory is the best, and it is only less than five seconds away from your mechanical watch. The watches of other astronomical clocks are uneven, and the good error is only seven or eight seconds, and the difference is more than ten seconds and tens of seconds, so I really can't look at it......"

Reporting to Zhang Jinhua was Liu Fubo, the son of Navy Captain Liu Dafa, who has been serving in the Navy after graduating from the Navigation School with the rank of sergeant. This time, Zhang Jinhua's "Tahiti" set sail, and when recruiting sailors, the navy recommended Liu Fubo and more than a dozen other young people, which can be regarded as a kind of exercise for them. Of course, this is also the second time that Liu Fubo and Zhang Jinhua have collaborated, and Liu Fubo was in that expedition when he first sailed to Tahiti in 1648, so it can be said that he is no stranger to this island at all.

"Since the East Seven series of nautical astronomical clocks are the best, then I will write a report on the use of them truthfully. After returning home, compared to the navy, large orders will continue to fly to the Sea Eagle Watch Factory. Mo Ming's house has a good business to make money, and he has to knock him a few meals when he goes back. After listening to Liu Fubo's report, Zhang Jinhua nodded slightly, and then made up his mind about the matter. Many years ago, the watch factory co-founded by Mo Ming and Torrey Divilli, after so many years of dismal operation, finally achieved positive results, and it is expected to embark on the fast track of development in the future.

The two chatted for a while, and soon the navigator sent someone to summon the news: Tahiti Island has been discovered! After repeatedly confirming that the news was true, Zhang Jinhua decisively ordered the signal flag to be raised, allowing the other three ships to follow closely and sail towards the place where they had landed last time.

Thankfully, our people are still around! This was the first reaction of the sailors on the East Coast who paddled to the shore in dinghies. Because they saw a wooden camp of considerable scale on the edge of the island, and a high flagpole was erected in the camp, on which the national flag of the Republic of China on the east coast of China was hunting and flying.

There was also a rude trestle made of logs on the shore, which brought great convenience to the sailors on the east bank who landed on the shore. Some men in khaki short-sleeved uniforms were waiting on the pier with muskets, and after confirming that the sailors who had landed were indeed from the east coast, they smiled and put down their weapons, motioned for them to come ashore, and then immediately sent someone to carry the news to the camp.

Soon, after hearing that there were four large ships in the camp that had arrived in the open sea, they were immediately excited, and Wang Sizhong, a sergeant of the Dongao garrison in charge of local security, immediately walked out with a group of people. Zhang Jinhua, who had just come down from the boat, looked around and saw these people lined up in two neat columns, carrying muskets with bayonets on their shoulders, sabers hanging from their waists, and leather boots. All in all, it appears to be a regular force - at least a well-trained militia force.

Sure enough, after negotiations, Zhang Jinhua immediately knew that these people were all from Jinshan Port, Australia, with a total of about 100 people, who were sent by An Shu, the deputy captain of the Blackwater Pioneer Team stationed in Australia, and arrived around the middle of last year, and were in charge of the security of Tahiti Island. The leading officer of this unit was an army sergeant named Wang Sizhong, a nephew of Wang Jiazhong, a former Shandong bandit leader and one of the three Jeju tribes who had settled on the east bank. His soldiers were also from a variety of sources, with half coming from eastern Daming Mountain, the rest mostly from Shandan, Japan, and Korea, and even a dozen Spaniards who were exiled to Australia and "reformed" (renounced the Catholic faith and naturalized on the East Coast).

After landing in mid-'49, they joined up with Zhang Jinhua's 32 expedition members (only 21 were still alive at the time) and took over the defense. In the second half of 49, more than 1,000 migrants were sent to Jinshan Port - including Ming immigrants (about 60%), exiled prisoners (mostly Qing officers and soldiers), and indigenous residents (including Australian aborigines and Ainu in Hokkaido) who were forcibly relocated here.

After the arrival of the immigrants, Wang Sizhong immediately organized them, and then requisitioned them to cut down trees and build houses, build a camp wharf, and at the same time explore the terrain outside the village, measure the land, and prepare to clear out some land to grow food. However, their actions apparently aroused the hostility of the island's indigenous population, and relations between the two sides immediately became strained. After the request to buy land was rejected by the indigenous chieftains, skirmishes between migrants and natives from outside the East Bank were common.

More than three months ago, after an East Coast soldier accidentally killed two natives, a large-scale armed conflict broke out between the two sides: the indigenous chieftains gathered hundreds of men and attacked the camps built by the East Coasters on the seashore.

In the aftermath of this incident, relations between East Bank outsiders and indigenous peoples could no longer be eased. The natives stopped supplying coconuts, limes, sugar cane, black pearls, etc., and were no longer willing to accept the East Bank's hired hire to cut down trees, and the two sides escalated to an open armed confrontation.

After learning of these information, Zhang Jinhua immediately used his status as a local commissioner to announce the implementation of military control on Tahiti Island, and at the same time recruited people with good conduct and strong health from among the immigrants to join the garrison, expanding the original 100 soldiers to 200, and officially named them Tahiti Garrison. As for the armament and protective gear needed for the expansion of the army, the four ships carried a lot of them, and they happened to be sent down at the same time. Among them, there were even three or four small-caliber guns, which made Wang Sizhong and others look very excited.

After doing this, on March 25, Zhang Jinhua ordered the new immigrants on the ship to disembark and settle down, and together with the old immigrants on the island, they worked hard to build their homes with their own hands. In addition to the more than 300 Guarani exiles, the new settlers will include dozens of shipyard workers, experienced farmers, and technicians such as carpenters, construction engineers, gunsmiths, veterinarians, etc., who will also be ordered to work there to help build a rudimentary micro-base - an ocean-going supply base capable of repairing ships and providing freshwater vegetables.

After settling down to this base, the three migrant ships set sail and left the island of Tahiti and headed for the port of Golden Mountain in Australia, where they still had to hurry up to transport the migrants. As for Zhang Jinhua, he will leave a few days later, but the destination is Yantai Port in the Heishui region, and according to the plan, he will meet with Shao Shude, Wei Boqiu and others there to discuss immigration and trade. (To be continued......)