This thought, after Li Xiao's heart suddenly flooded, Li Xiao could feel that his strong heart was immediately beating violently. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Taiwan Island, China's treasure island, is located on the continental shelf off the southeast coast of Chinese mainland, bordering the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Ryukyu Islands in the northeast, the Bass Strait in the south and the Philippine Islands opposite, and the Taiwan Strait and Fujian Province in the west, with a total area of about 36,000 square kilometers.

According to modern statistics, 25% of Taiwan's area is suitable for agricultural cultivation, and 80% of the suitable cultivated land is located in the western plain area conducive to farming. Another 20% of the arable land is scattered in the narrow coastal zone of Taitung and the empty land of the Taichung Mountains.

It can be easily calculated that there are 9,000 square kilometers of land, and one square kilometer is equal to about 1,500 acres of land, and the area of cultivated land suitable for reclamation reaches 13.5 million mu, and the total amount of cultivated land located in the western plain of Taiwan can reach 10.8 million mu!

These 10.8 million acres of developable cultivated land are the places that Li Xiao wants to firmly occupy.

The 1,080 acres of fertile cultivated land is 7 times the area of Li Xiao's existing cultivated land, and the quality of the land is much better than that of the wasteland and saline-alkali land in Shandong.

According to historical records, in the Yongli period, the average yield of rice per mu on the 200,000 mu cultivated land developed by immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong reached more than 2 stones, and even many lands yielded as much as 3 stones of rice per mu.

It can be seen that if there is more than 7 times the arable land, Li Xiao will have a huge granary, and the grain problem will no longer be controlled by others.

The place Li Xiao wants to occupy is the vast and fertile western plain of Taiwan. As for the Taitung and Taichung mountain ranges, because most of them are occupied by the indigenous people of Taiwan, and the land is barren and the terrain is treacherous, it is difficult to conquer for a while, so it is not within the scope of Li Xiao's collection for the time being.

You must know that after Japan occupied Taichung and Taitung, it was still strongly resisted by the local aborigines of Taiwan, and paid a considerable price to reluctantly occupy these lands. However, Rao is like this, and the local natives continue to rebel, making it impossible for the Japanese to rule peacefully. For example, the movie "Saidek Bale" once reflected the resistance movement of Taiwan's indigenous people at that time.

After all, it is impossible for oneself to become a fat man in one step, and it is quite difficult to develop and absorb the western part of Taiwan. Taitung and Taichung, after they have completely gained a foothold in Taiwan, they should absorb and digest the land and residents in these places.

At present, this vast western plain of Taiwan has been occupied by three different forces.

Among them, the area from the chicken coop to Tamsui in the north is occupied by the Spaniards, the area of Nanshe, Erlin and Da Belly in the central part is occupied by Zheng Zhilong, and the southern part of Taiwan, the most plastered part of Taiwan, is firmly occupied by the Dutch.

Therefore, what Li Xiao wants to buy now is the land occupied by Zheng Zhilong in the Nanshe Big Belly area of the Western Plains of Taiwan.

With this land as a foothold, Li Xiao was able to use this as a base to implement a series of expansion plans to drive Spain north and destroy the Dutch in the south in the future, and finally bring the entire western plain of Taiwan into his own rule.

Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Li Xiao's face.

"Zheng Shoubei, your lord wants to trade with my Chifengwei, and this soldier is welcome, but there is one condition for this soldier."

Listening to Li Xiao's indifferent words, Zheng Cai hurriedly said, "What conditions does Lord Li want?" ”

Seeing that he was so eager, Li Xiao chuckled, and did not rush to answer him, but asked instead: "I heard that Vice General Zheng has now occupied the Penghu Islands and Jinxia and other places, and his subordinates have strong troops and many sea ships, but is the truth?" ”

Zheng Cai was puzzled for a moment, he didn't know where Li Xiao heard these news, but after thinking about it, he smiled proudly: "That's true, my family Lord Zheng has defeated Liu Xiang and the Dutch in a row in the past two years, and the entire southeast coast, big and small pirates, have all surrendered. Now he has more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and more than 2,000 sea ships. If it weren't for Zheng's boasting, my family stomped their feet in Penghu, and the entire southeast coast had to tremble. ”

The younger brother Zheng Lian on the side also interjected with a smile on his face: "Master Li, if you are free, you can go to my Penghu to have a look, and you will know that what we said is true." ”

Seeing the smug appearance of the two, Li Xiao smiled and said: "Vice General Zheng's power is so strong now, which makes the soldiers envious. It's just that the soldiers heard that since the early years of Chongzhen, Vice General Zheng has been constantly going to Taiwan west of Penghu to arrange displaced people and pioneer production, but I don't know what the situation is recently? ”

Zheng Cai saw that Li Xiao was interested in Taiwan, a wild land, and he was very surprised, he shook his head and said: "What about Taiwan, it is still a wild land, the east is mostly occupied by local barbarian aborigines, the north is occupied by the Spaniards, the south is occupied by the Dutch red hair, and only the central Nanshe, Erlin, Datui and other places are occupied by Lord Zheng. It's just that few people are willing to immigrate to the past, and most of these lands are still desolate. ”

"Yes, originally Master Zheng arranged for a total of nearly 20,000 Fujian immigrants to go over, but after these people arrived in Taiwan, they found that life was hard and the land was so bad, but over the years, they secretly ran back a lot. At present, there are more than 5,000 immigrants in Taiwan occupied by our army, and they are still farming in Taiwan. Master Zheng has said that this land of Taiwan is really chicken ribs, tasteless food, and it is a pity to abandon it. Zheng Lian added on the side.

After listening to Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian's introduction, Li Xiao was silent on the surface, but he was secretly happy in his heart.

He remembered that the history books also recorded that it seemed that in the ninth year of Chongzhen, because he felt that the investment in the land of Taiwan was greater than the income, and it was not cost-effective, Zheng Zhilong, who only wanted to be a sea merchant and pirate king, was not very interested in occupying Taiwan, and even had the idea of moving the remaining Taiwanese immigrants back to Fujian and Penghu.

It's really the vision that determines the future.

Hmph, you Zheng Zhilong is short-sighted and regards Taiwan as a chicken rib, but I, Li Xiao, love it like a treasure.

Li Xiao coughed lightly twice, and his face changed to a solemn attitude, and he said to Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian: "Two, that soldier should also get straight to the point." The terms of trade between our army and your army are that the land in Taiwan that your army will occupy will be funded by our army and exchanged for our army's control, so that our army can trade with your army for a long time and benefit each other. ”

Hearing Li Xiao's conditions, Zheng Cai's face was overjoyed, and then he was full of doubts: "This Taiwan is a deserted place, and it is very far away from Chifengwei in the north and south, but I don't know what Lord Li wants to do with these lands?" ”

Li Xiao smiled, but he didn't intend to hide it, and said bluntly: "This soldier lacks land, and plans to open up wasteland in Taiwan and cultivate grain to supplement military supplies." ”

When Zheng Cai heard this, he looked hesitant and puzzled.

This Li Xiao has been going around for a long time, but it turns out that he is trying to plot a place like Taiwan. This person's plan is very strange.

Zheng Cai pondered for a moment, and then said hesitantly: "Then Mr. Li's condition, wait for me to reply to my family Lord Zheng, and then reply?" ”

Li Xiao nodded: "Of course you can, in addition, this soldier has two suggestions, and Zheng Shoubei can also return to your family Master Zheng together." ”

Zheng Cai's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Please speak clearly, Lord Li." ”

"The first is that our army hopes to get some craftsmen and technicians with rich shipbuilding experience from your army to help our army build ships." Li Xiao said calmly.

"Oh." Zheng Cai blinked, and said: "Lord Li wants shipbuilders, and there are many suitable candidates for this army, but these people have lived in the south for a long time, and they are only afraid that they are unwilling to come to the north." ”

"Hehe, Zheng Shoubei, you can tell those craftsmen that as long as they are willing to come to Chifengwei, our army will provide them with preferential treatment. The salary can reach more than five times that of Fujian and other places, and in addition, if each craftsman comes, the soldier can give your army an introduction fee of 50 taels. ”

Zheng Cai was very happy when he heard that Li Xiao had such generous conditions and was so generous: "Master Li is so generous, if there are such conditions, I believe that many craftsmen will be willing to come to your land." When I get back, I'll report the suggestion to the adults immediately. ”

After Zheng Caifang finished speaking, Zheng Lian on the side interjected: "Then Lord Li, what is your second suggestion?" ”

Li Xiao said with a smile: "This second suggestion is that if Vice General Zheng agrees to exchange Taiwan for our army, then our army can re-invest and rent your army's ships to transport soldiers and displaced people from Chifengwei to take over Taiwan's land." ”

After listening to Li Xiao's suggestion, Zheng Cai secretly said in his heart, it seems that this Lord Li is going to make up his mind to occupy Taiwan. Maybe I just went back and just played it, but I saw what Lord Zheng thought.

"Lord Li, don't worry, your two suggestions, after you promise to go back, you will immediately convey them to Lord Zheng, and ask him to give you a reply as soon as possible." Zheng Cai smiled unnaturally.

"Okay, that soldier, just wait for the good news from you." Li Xiao also smiled and replied.

Subsequently, Li Xiao arranged a banquet to entertain Zheng Cai and others, and there was a harmony between the guests and the hosts.

After the banquet, Zheng Cai and others begged Li Xiao in a low voice, saying that since the fleet had come to Chifengwei, it was not good to return empty-handed, hoping to buy commercial goods and go back, and hoping that Li Xiao would give them a preferential price.

Li Xiao smiled and agreed to their request.

So Zheng Cai and others bought 20,000 horses of wool at a price of 5 taels per horse. At a total price of 100,000 taels, he bought 200,000 pieces of iron tools of various sizes. At a price of 1 tael per catty, I bought 100,000 catties of raw silk. A total of 300,000 taels of silver were spent,

Zheng Cai and others returned with a full load, and everyone was smiling.

They have inspected all kinds of goods produced by Li Xiaojun, the quality is quite good, and the prices are very favorable. If these things are resold to Japan or the South Seas, the price will increase several times.

Seeing Zheng Cai's fleet go away, Li Xiao's face was deep, and he was very emotional in his heart.

His own sailor is still too weak, and if he wants to develop as soon as possible, he has to ask for help from external forces.

Only when we have a strong sailor can we ensure that Taiwan's grain will be smoothly transported to the north in the future. Protecting the smooth flow of grain roads will become Li Xiaojun's top priority.

It's just that in the short term, it's not easy to build a strong sailor.

In addition to the shortage of craftsmen and sailors, the most basic point is that Li Xiaojun's ships are extremely lacking.

Li Xiao actually knew that even if there were qualified shipbuilding craftsmen, it would be unrealistic to build a large number of ships in a short period of time.

Because, to build a ship, you must first build a dry dock.

Speaking of which, this dry dock is a craft handed down from our ancestors. The first dry dock in Europe was built in 1495 in Portsmouth, England, and it was only from the time of its construction that England was on the way to its maritime hegemony.

However, 90 years before this, the Longjiang Shipyard in Songjiang, the home of the treasure ship of the Ming Dynasty, had built seven dry docks, three of which were about 500 meters long and 40 meters wide, which could build 10,000-ton ships or a large number of 1,000-ton ships at the same time.

Relying on these seven docks, the Longjiang Shipyard built more than 200 large ships within three years, which sailed to East Africa as the main force to go to the Western Ocean.

Of course, it is impossible to test whether the treasure ship has really reached the displacement of 10,000 tons, but let alone 10,000 tons, just building 200 ships of more than 1,000 tons in three years is an extremely staggering figure.

This huge number of shipbuilders exceeded the entire shipbuilding capacity of Europe at the same time, and even Britain, which claimed to be the empire on which the sun never set, was not able to catch up with this number until the end of the eighteenth century.

This is the Ming Dynasty in its heyday, with the country's abundant financial resources, to do such a thing that is unique in the past and the present, and the current self, is not the same day at all.

Li Xiao estimates that under the guidance of qualified shipbuilders, it may take at least half a year to build this suitable 1,000-ton dry dock at the Ocean Island Shipyard.

And even with the right dry dock, it can take a lot of time to build a big ship that will last a long time.

Because, if you want to build a durable ship, you need to use large dense wood, and then slowly dry it in the shade to remove water without deforming the wood, so that it can be used for shipbuilding. It usually takes almost a year, or even longer.

The wood used in Zheng Zhilong's Fujian shipyard is generally Tieli wood imported from Vietnam, and it is slowly dried for a year before it can be used for shipbuilding.

Now in the world, the fastest shipbuilding is the Netherlands, because the Dutch shipbuilding industry is developed, many materials have long been reserved, and a merchant ship is often built in a few months.

But like other fledgling European countries, the speed of shipbuilding was much slower, such as the large sail warship of the Swedish man-made Vaasa, which took three full years, from 1625 to 1628, to build this ship, a symbol of national power.

In other European countries, it takes about a long time to build similar ships, such as the Spanish galleon, which is quite talked about by history buffs, and its manufacturing time generally takes about two years.

Therefore, even if Zheng Zhilong agrees to sell Taiwan to Li Xiao in the future, for a long time foreseeable, Li Xiao will have to rely on Zheng Zhilong's snort and rent his ships to transport soldiers, displaced people, and grain produced in the future.

This is a very helpless, but unavoidable thing.

In a word, if you want to build a qualified big ship, it is by no means a one-time achievement, but a very time-consuming and laborious thing. Especially in the initial stage, there are many difficulties and obstacles waiting for Li Xiao.

It's just that now that Li Xiao has made up his mind to embark on the road of maritime expansion, the matter of shipbuilding has become a top priority that must be faced.

It wasn't until he saw Zheng Cai's fleet, disappearing between the sea and the sky, that Li Xiao, who had been pondering, took a long breath and turned back to the city.

Li Xiao originally estimated that it might take more than half a year for Zheng Cai to return this time and send someone over next time, so after Zheng Cai and the others left, his original anxious mood gradually faded over time.

It's just that Li Xiao didn't know that Zheng Cai, who led the crowd back, actually made Li Xiao more anxious.

Soon after leaving Chifengwei, Zheng Cai wrote a letter, explaining Li Xiao's suggestions in detail in the letter, and then wrapped the letter in oiled paper, tied it to the pigeon's leg, and released the carrier pigeon that reported the news, so that the pigeon could return quickly and in advance.

Shandong to Fujian is about 1800 kilometers, a carrier pigeon can fly more than 500 kilometers a day, counting the foraging and rest on the way, it is enough to arrive within a week.

In fact, only five days later, Zheng Zhilong received Zheng Cai's letter in his official residence in Penghu.

Zheng Zhilong, who was sitting on the official hat chair, carefully read Zheng Cai's letter, and was silent for a long time, falling into deep thought.

(Thank you for the reward from the shadow cold wind brothers, thank you for the royu222 monthly pass, thank you for your support) (To be continued.) )