On the third day of the first month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, after more than two months of confrontation with the North Pacific storms and waves, the fleet formed by five Ming merchant ships finally sailed into a relatively quiet sea area.

Looking at the constant appearance of whales and dolphins near the fleet, and the rainy weather from time to time, the captain of the pilot Good Luck finally relieved his heart, and the fleet was finally about to arrive on the North American continent, and the voyage was finally passed safely.

As the captain had expected, within three days the fleet had seen the endless coastal mountains of the west coast of North America. Due to the oceanic climate, the eastern slopes of these coastal mountains are mostly low shrubland, but the coast below the mountainside is lush with tall forests.

With blue skies, white clouds and the sea as a backdrop, this is a beautiful coast. The few immigrants who were allowed to go up to the deck to breathe in the fresh air were either excited or apprehensive about the sight in front of them. Excited are the immigrants who have taken the initiative to apply to come to North America, and in the face of the uninhabited coastline in front of them, they feel that it is not a fantasy to get a piece of their own land, and a new life to say goodbye to the past is finally about to begin.

As for the Cao family from Nanyang, Henan Province, in the face of this desolate coastline, they began to worry about their future life, how could they survive in such an isolated place, did they really have to become savages? As for the prisoners who had been forcibly exiled to North America, they were mostly indifferent to the news of their arrival in the New World, and they were only relieved that they finally did not have to stay in their cramped cabins and watch their dead companions be carried out of the cabins every day.

On the morning of the seventh day of the first lunar month, the fleet arrived at Grand Bay, where the small city of Los Angeles is located. Guided by a small boat from the small town of Los Angeles, the fleet entered the harbor and anchored in front of an unfinished wooden boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk is the wood and stone wharf that is still being built, and with the near-infinite forest resources of the West Coast, everything in the small town of Los Angeles is almost all about wood.

Wang Wuwei, the deputy general stationed in Los Angeles, was originally a hundred households in the Dengzhou Left Battalion, and after the reform of the Denglai Naval Division, the Dengzhou Left and Right Battalions were also reorganized and became the attached land battalion of the Bohai Fleet. The left and right battalions of Dengzhou were each set up with an establishment of 1,500 men, and in addition to being stationed in Dengzhou, Lushun, Qingdao, and Yantai, they also undertook the defense of the North American colonies, sending 300 men to Los Angeles every five years.

Wang Wuwei, who was originally only a hundred households, was promoted to deputy general by leapfrogging, and finally accepted the dispatch of his boss and took his subordinates across the vast sea to the North American continent. After months of rough seas and the first half-year run-in period, he and his men fell in love with the land.

The vast coastline is not only rich in fish resources but also a large number of sea beasts, and after crossing the mountains by the sea, there is a vast valley covered with forests, and to the west of the valley is what the local natives call the difficult to climb Rocky Mountains. While the mountains by the sea may seem like a continuous stretch, there are also many traverse valleys that not only provide access to the central valley, but are also habitable areas.

North of Los Angeles, there were no foreign colonists other than the mild-mannered indigenous tribes. Although there were occasional British pirate ships and Spanish transoceanic merchant ships that would come to Los Angeles to rest, replenish water, food, and repair ships, they had little interest in the area and merely came to pass through.

The closest formed town to Los Angeles is Puerto Acapulco, 3,000 kilometers to the south. In fact, more than 300 miles south of Los Angeles, there is a European colony, which was pioneered by Portuguese explorers in the mid-16th century, but after the Spanish occupied Mexico, this colony called Santiago was abandoned by the Portuguese and became a Spanish possession.

But despite its excellent harbors, abundant fishing resources, and fertile land, San Diego lacks the precious metals that European colonizers sought after. The Spaniards were dismissive of the place, and only a few Europeans settled here because of the climate and the uncontested environment.

After the Ming appeared in Los Angeles and built the city, San Diego, with a population of only a few hundred, immediately made a friendly gesture to Los Angeles, which had a regular army. Although they were behind the entire Mexican colony, the Mexican colonial government had little interest in the remote and unprecious Santiago, and even the supplies for the colony came from the church rather than the Mexican colonial government.

After the Ming people immigrated to Los Angeles, the first to benefit was the European immigrants from San Diego. The various metal farm tools and daily necessities transported from Daming immediately solved the problem of scarcity of materials in Santiago. And the animal husbandry and agriculture of San Diego also ensured the livelihood of the Ming people who had just migrated to North America.

More importantly, the Ming gained some experience from these Europeans on how to farm and fight natural disasters, which not only allowed the Ming to normalize agriculture on the west coast of North America, but also greatly reduced the mortality rate of immigrants.

In the past three years, the population that migrated from the Ming to the North American continent was about 1,100, including Wang Wuwei and 300 of his men. But three years later, only about 700 migrants survived, and nearly 60 of Wang's men had lost. But even so, half of Wang Wuwei's subordinates decided to stay on the continent after their service expired.

Not only is there a vast area of land to occupy, but there is no need to pay a land tax. In order to encourage immigrants to colonize North America, no field tax was charged on the fields cultivated by Ming immigrants, but half of the grain had to be sold at a fixed price to the colonial government. The colonial government only collected trade taxes, rent for houses in the city, and berthing fees for ships in the harbor to maintain daily expenses.

Compared with the natural disasters in the hometown at this time** and the heavy conscription, the North American continent has really become a paradise in the eyes of the Ming immigrants. In this rich land, as long as you pay for your labor, you will get something, which is exactly the truth that the people at the bottom of China like the most. They are happy to make it their home, and they don't even need to interfere with it.

In the past two years, Wang Wuwei has not only built a small Los Angeles city, but also built a settlement on a peninsula in a bay more than 1,100 miles north of Los Angeles, called New Xiamen. More than 2,000 miles north of the new Xiamen, it entered the bay through the Juan de Fuca Strait discovered by the Greeks, and built a second settlement, which he called the new Hangzhou.

The reason why the new Hangzhou was built is because there is a small island in the north of the new Hangzhou, with a mild, humid climate, pleasant environment, and rich fur resources. The island is inhabited by three indigenous tribes, hence the name "Three Surnames Island". The main settlement of New Hangzhou was to trade furs with the island and to communicate with the local natives.

Unlike the European settlements, which isolated all the indigenous settlements, the Ming were willing to accept the natives who were willing to live with them, and taught them the culture, such as writing, language, clothing, and food.

The skin color of the natives of the west coast of North America is more similar to that of East Asians, and there is a clear distinction between them and the indigenous tribes of other parts of the Americas. In contrast to the indigenous tribes who accepted the Europeans as Indians, the natives of the West Coast of North America did not recognize them as the same people as the darker-skinned natives.

However, in the eyes of several scholars who migrated to the North American continent, it is difficult to say that the natives north of Los Angeles are the same people as the natives south of Mexico. Because when the Indians in Mexico and other places had begun to grow crops such as corn, pumpkins, and potatoes, the natives north of Los Angeles were still dependent on fishing and hunting for their livelihoods, and did not develop much agriculture.

As a result, the indigenous tribes along the west coast of North America never exceeded 300 people, and it is difficult to compare with the Mesoamerican Indian tribes who established the Inca Empire. However, this is a good thing for the Ming immigrants, the scattered and sparsely populated West Coast natives, at least will not refuse the expansion of the Ming immigrants on the West Coast.

The small town of Los Angeles is located in an open basin surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side, and is flat except for a few hills. The Los Angeles River, which stretches the entire basin from east to west, is known for its seasonal flooding in the summer and the diversion of its downstream channels.

The town is located south of the Los Angeles River and was originally a village of an Indian tribe. After obtaining the iron tools of the Ming people, this small tribe of 277 people decided to join the Ming Dynasty, a large tribe with the same skin color as himself. Wang Wuwei took the son of the patriarch of this small tribe as his adopted son and named him Wang Xihai.

Through this relationship, the Ming people gained the recognition of the 17 indigenous tribes that inhabited the basin and obtained their assistance in surveying the Los Angeles Basin, the San Antonio Mountains, the Central Valley, and the Rocky Mountains.

More than 90 percent of the nearly 20,000 hectares of the Los Angeles Basin are covered by forests, and one species of redwood, in addition to pine, cypress and birch, is the most noticeable. This redwood tree has a straight trunk, several people hugging each other at every turn, and it is 7 to 80 meters tall, surpassing other trees.

These trees are fireproof and antiseptic, not afraid of termites, and are so tough that strong winds can hardly knock them down. If it weren't for the fact that the forest was full of such giant trees, the Ming people would probably have worshipped these redwoods as tree gods. But even so, every time you walk into the forest near Los Angeles, everyone feels as if they have arrived in the world of giants.

With the abundant forest resources in the basin and the fertile river valley plains in the south, a small city with a radius of one mile began to take shape, and about 600 acres of land had been opened up in the vicinity of the small city, although it could only solve a part of the population ration in the city, but everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before enough land was opened up to feed the inhabitants of the city.

Before the arrival of the Ming fleet, Wang Wuwei had signed an agreement with the 17 indigenous tribes in the basin, and formed an alliance with these 17 tribes in the name of Los Angeles City. The city of Los Angeles, as the leader of the Alliance, will defend the territories of these tribes from invasion, and will also provide these tribes with iron tools and weapons. In return, the tribes recognized the Ming dynasty's suzerainty and paid an annual tribute to the city of Los Angeles at the rate of one full beaver pelt per adult male. After this alliance, Daming theoretically already has ownership of the entire Los Angeles Basin.