If someone had been to Beigang before the first year of Chongzhen, he would have thought that his memory had gone wrong when he arrived at this port again today, because this place had changed from a private port to a real city.

After the imperial court promoted the development policy of Taiwan, Beigang and Keelung have become the two most important ports of the Ming Dynasty in Taiwan. In particular, Beigang not only undertook the task of importing immigrants from the mainland, but also was the largest trading port for merchant ships trading in the East and the West, so the prosperity of the port has surpassed that of the former Dayuan Port.

Although the geographical location of Dayuan Port is better than that of Beigang, the Chinese merchants who control the main trade in East Asia prefer to trade on their own territory, after all, Beigang is officially managed by imperial court officials, and if something goes wrong, they can still ask the imperial court for justice. In places like Dayuan, although the Dutch seem to be relatively well-behaved, the maritime merchants who have encountered Dutch merchant ships at sea know that as long as there are enough interests, these foreign devils can turn their faces and deny people at any time.

Moreover, the sugarcane fields opened up by immigrants from the mainland in Tainan have turned southern Taiwan from exporting deerskin and a small amount of rice to a cane sugar export port only in Guangdong. The transport of raw silk, cotton cloth and ironware from the mainland to the North Port of cane sugar, deer skins and dried venison became the most lucrative short-distance trade between the two places.

Because of this convenience, coupled with Zheng Zhilong's excellent management of Beigang, Beigang has now become the capital of Taiwan and an important town in Tainan. On November 1 of the third year of Chongzhen, the streets of Beigang were crowded with people, in addition to standing on both sides of the street to watch the lively mainland immigrants, Taiwanese natives wearing various costumes were walking along the street to the land temple in the center of Beigang.

The land temple has obviously just been completed, but the big banyan tree in the square in front of the temple has long existed. A platform has been erected under this big banyan tree, and Taiwan prefect Zhou Kangeng, Chiayi County man Zheng Zhilong, and the two commanders of the Sihai Battalion, Dong Weixian, Wang Jiayin, and others, these officials who were distributed all over Taiwan in the past have gathered together rarely.

After entering the square in front of the Land Temple, the local people who had been marching on the street before entered the square in front of the temple lined up one by one in the order of entry in the square in front of the temple according to the instructions of the officials in charge of the field. These natives either hold clay pots or bags of things in their hands, and very few of them have their hands empty.

After all the natives in the march had entered the venue, Zhou Kangeng got up and read aloud with a proclamation. Whether it was the natives or the onlookers, they basically didn't understand the gorgeous articles read out loud by Zhou Kangeng. However, their expressions were solemn at the moment, as if the words in this article were full of divine aura.

After reciting the green words of sacrificing the land in his hand, Zhou Kangeng put away the proclamation, looked at the local people in the audience and shouted: "Okay, now the toasts and heads of the families will pour the soil you brought from the village community on the earthen platform in front of the temple in order, and pour the water you brought from the village community into the pool.

From now on, you are the people of my Ming Dynasty; The land of your village community is also the land of my Ming Dynasty. You pay taxes to the court, obey the laws of the court, and the laws of the court will protect you..."

Just when Zhou Kangeng announced the significance of dedicating water and soil to the Turen, Zheng Zhilong behind him was also thinking about the fact that after the 59 societies of the flat land and the 23 societies of the high mountains donated water and soil to the imperial court, in addition to the area south of Dayuangang and the deep mountains in the east, there are still places in Taiwan that are not subject to Wang Hua.

Wang Jiayin watched expressionlessly as these natives stepped forward one by one, either pouring water from the clay pot into the pool, or pouring a bag of soil onto the earthen platform.

Since being forced to come to this overseas island, Wang Jiayin has found that he can't even continue to fight against the imperial court. On this island, there are only three groups of people, mainland immigrants, indigenous people, and those of the Dutch colonists.

Both the natives and the Dutch are eyeing these continental immigrants. If it weren't for the overwhelming naval and land forces possessed by the Sihai Battalion and the Taiwan Strait Patrol Office, Wang Jiayin estimated that whether it was the local natives or the Dutch, what they wanted would be to turn these mainland immigrants into their vassals.

In just three years, the number of immigrants from the mainland has exceeded 100,000. Most of the 30,000 people in northern Taiwan are immigrants from the northern part of the mainland, mainly working in mining and logging.

Because there are many plains in southern Taiwan, immigrants take farming as their main business, with Fujian as the majority of the population, and a small number of immigrants from Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

At the time of Yan Siqi's opening, there were nearly 10,000 immigrants from the mainland, and there were about 100,000 natives on the island. Because of the vast land and sparsely populated area, the two sides were at peace, and the natives also obtained advanced farming techniques and iron farming tools from mainland immigrants.

But when the number of immigrants exceeded 100,000, Taiwan's undeveloped land suddenly decreased dramatically. Later settlers began to destroy some of the forests, building houses and tools for themselves, and converting these woodlands into arable land.

Although the actions of the mainland immigrants accelerated Taiwan's opening up, they also clashed with the local aborigines. When the forests used by the indigenous people for hunting are cleared, the deer they hunt are constantly moving away from their traditional habitats.

Not being able to get enough prey means that their traditional lives are being destroyed. They will either move to the depths of the mountains and compete for territory with the more vicious creatures, or they will have to submit to the management of the mainland settlers, settle down in earnest, and learn the farming methods from the mainland.

In the past three years, the indigenous people have not resisted, but under the joint strangulation of the Sihai Battalion and the Taiwan Strait Patrol Office, and the cooperation of those mainland immigrants, the indigenous villages and communities that did not obey Wanghua were either wiped out or forced to flee to the mountains in the east.

For example, Wang Jiayin and his subordinates were among the representatives who were forced to cooperate with the official army to suppress the natives. After all, in the eyes of these natives, they are no different from those immigrants, if they do not help the official army to eliminate the rebellious natives, then it is tantamount to suicide, and when these natives attack the lone immigrants, they will not ask whether they are the minions of the imperial court.

Wang Jiayin, who was born in the border army, and his subordinates were stronger than ordinary soldiers of the Sihai Battalion in terms of combat quality. After just a few battles, Wang Jiayin and his subordinates were released from residential surveillance and became part of the Four Seas Battalion.

In this vast sea, Wang Jiayin feels that there is no difference between surveillance and residential surveillance. As northerners, it's probably okay for them to swim in a small pond and cross the strait in a boat, so forget it.

After staying in Taiwan for a long time, except for the food and climate, the supply of other materials is much stronger than that of them in Shaanxi. His men also grew to like life on the island, where they had their own food fields and could go hunting and earn pocket money when they were not on a mission.

More than a year has passed, even the lazy soldiers of the Sihai Battalion have saved at least 3 or 40 silver dollars, and if they return to Shaanxi, they will be able to buy 3 or 4 acres of land. At this time, even the soldiers who were dissatisfied with the court no longer had the idea of separating the high and low with the court at this moment.

And the large number of young women transported back from Quang Nam by the Sihai Battalion also satisfied the large number of bachelors in the battalion, and even extinguished the idea of returning to their hometown. Without the help of these subordinate brothers, Wang Jiayin wants to return to Shaanxi alone, and it is estimated that a few young men in the township can tie him up and go to see the official.

Under the influence of this environment, Wang Jiayin's original ambition and ambition were quickly eroded. At this moment, he finally realized that his current situation was almost no different from the natives in front of him, either obeying the court to gain some glory and wealth, or rebelling against the court and disappearing into that place.

When the ceremony of the natives offering water and soil was completed, Zhou Kangeng and Zheng Zhilong personally walked to the pool and the earthen platform, one scooped up a porcelain ** water, and the other used a cloth bag to fill a small bag of soil, and soon the two put the water ** and soil bags into a box.

Zhou Kangeng took Dong Weixian, Wang Jiayin and other Taiwanese officials to bow to Zheng Zhilong and said: "Send this Taiwan's water and soil to the capital and dedicate it to Your Majesty's important task, you have to ask the men of Chiayi County, and from then on, there will be no distinction between Taiwan and the mainland." ”

Zheng Zhilong, who was holding the box, was a little nervous, and he quickly replied: "Please rest assured, this official will properly escort Taiwan's water and soil to the capital and dedicate it to Your Majesty..."

Since the sixteenth year of Hongzhi, Yang Mengying dredged and cleared nearly 3,500 acres of fields formed by encroachment on the water surface of the West Lake, and built a long causeway in a north-south direction on Xili Lake with the silt and grass produced by dredging. The West Lake has restored the beautiful scenery of the rippling blue waves in the past, so the rich and famous, the gentry and the powerful all build manors around the West Lake, thinking that they are their own industries.

Yongjin Gate outside the high gate of the big households abound, north to the foot of Renshou Mountain, Maling Mountain, south to Chishanbu, the east foot of Qianliang Siling, Dingjia Mountain, under the Mianniu Mountain, it is also everywhere to see the exquisite house, it can be said that it is the first into the clouds, the famous garden is intricate.

In addition to these manors on land, there are also many large painting boats in the West Lake, like a building floating on the water, which can be docked on the shore and boated on the lake, and people live in it as if they live in their own courtyards.

Wang Ruqian's words are clear, there are several such painting boats, with the self-proclaimed "not tied garden" is the most spacious and exquisite, in addition to the "rain silk wind piece", "group scoop", "view leaves", "with the joy of the hermitage" and other smaller painting boats. In addition to receiving his own guests, he also generously lent them to others, but not "celebrities, monks, confidants, and beauties".

As a salt merchant, he is naturally not too much of a burden for such expenses. The act of befriending celebrities, beauties, and eminent monks also made him a Yajia who could be befriended in the eyes of scholars, rather than a layman who only knew copper coins.

However, this Yajia, who was compared to a "yellow-shirted high-roller" by celebrities, is now sitting on his own "untied garden" and looking out of the window worriedly, and it is the first time for Lin Tiansu and Yang Yunyou, a famous Fujian prostitute invited by him to accompany him, to see this wealthy businessman show such a look.

After the two women glanced at each other, Lin Tiansu, who was close to Wang Ranming, couldn't help but get up and asked, "Why is Master Wang so worried today, is it possible that Meigong missed the appointment today." ”

Wang Ranming looked back at her and said with a wry smile: "Meigong will not miss the appointment, I have already asked the servant to pick him up." What worries me is that I'm afraid that the resumption of the society is going to be yellow. ”

Although the sons of the Fushe are very famous, Lin Tiansu, who is nearly thirty years old, has already passed the adolescence of fantasizing about talented and beautiful women, and she cares more about the people in front of her, so she can't help but say with relief: "There are two Mr. Zhang in the Fushe, and there are rising stars in my Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, how can they be yellow?" ”

Wang Ranming was also a little bitter in his heart, yes, the confidant in front of him said very much, a month or two ago, he really didn't believe that the society was suppressed by the imperial court. It was precisely when he saw these Jiangnan Junjie joining the Restoration Society that he made a big investment in the Restoration Society, looking forward to the rewards that this group of young scholars would give him after they joined the company.

However, now, because of the Nanjing scientific research case, there has been a split within the Restoration Society. Although Chen Zilong and others of the Restoration Society simply left Beijing, although they did not officially announce their withdrawal from the Restoration Society, it undoubtedly showed the break between these people and the comrades who remained in the Southern Restoration Society. Although the scholars who remained in the south were led by Zhang Pu, the result of their exclusion from the undergraduate examination caused a great blow to the reputation of the Restoration Society, and many scholars began to quietly sever their relationship with the Restoration Society.

When the scholars in Jiangnan were still crying out for Zhang Pu and others, Wang Ranming had already felt the chill from the north, and it was obvious that the young emperor today, like his brother, did not have a good impression of the academy, the association, and the party. What worries Wang Ranming even more is that his salt business has also begun to become difficult to do, and the newly established Lianghuai Salt Company is constantly suppressing salt merchants outside those companies, which makes Wang Ranming's business shrink a lot.

At present, his problem is whether to completely cut off from the Restoration Society and climb the line of Qian Qianyi; It seems that his own salt business is difficult to last long, how to find a way out. These two questions made him, who has always been calm, finally worried in front of outsiders.