After the typhoon passed, the construction of the Tamsui Fort entered a relatively smooth stage. As a window to China, Fort Tamsui has decided to transfer Cai Yuanding, the captain of the Chinese Guards, to be the commander of the garrison of Fort Tamsui as well, and all the Chinese Guards with him have also been transferred to Fort Tamsui Castle.

The work seems to be relatively smooth, and the orderly mood is very good, while drinking tea while flipping through the route information.

Maiden walked into the room and slammed a proposal on the table.

Shou Xuan didn't get angry with him, and said in a joking tone: "Governor Mei has such a big temper, what's wrong with you." ”

"It's not the material you gave me. O God, gold, copper, coal, oil, volcanic ash, lime, mercury, phosphorus, alum, gypsum, graphite, sulfur. Maiden sat down in his chair angrily, "You might as well kill me if you want to mine so much ore." ”

Shou Xiang calmly asked, "Have you finished reading it?" ”

"Of course I didn't finish reading it, I only read 5 pages and I rushed to find you."

"Oh," Shou Xuan took a sip of hot tea and nodded slightly, "That's just the first phase of the development plan, you can keep looking, there is quartz sand for making glass, clay porcelain clay for making ceramics, copper and gold smelters, and tea planting. Finally, there is shipbuilding, there are so many big trees in Taiwan, it is a pity not to use it for shipbuilding. ”

“……”

Looking at Maiden's speechless expression, Shou Order's mood was very cheerful, "Governor May." I understand you, and although angry, you know how important these minerals are to the creation of a country. With the exception of iron ore, these basic minerals meet most of our near-term needs. ”

"Of course I understand......"

Without waiting for him to finish, Shou Xu continued: "And what is even more commendable is that these mines are concentrated around Taipei, and the Datun volcanic group can provide us with sulfur and volcanic ash, and Keelung Mountain has gold and copper mines. ”

Datun Volcano is an extinct volcano, but the clay formed by weathering the andesite volcanic breccia tuff below the mountain has the same properties as volcanic ash and can also be used to make cement. Limestone is ubiquitous in Taipei, and coal mines are the richest deposits in Taipei. Gold and copper ore are all in Jinguashi, mercury is in Keelung Mountain in the Taipei Basin, porcelain clay is in Tamsui Beitou, refractory clay is in Sanchongqiao in Taipei, alum is distributed in several places in Keelung Mountain, and graphite is in Yilan. Fossilized guano that is vital to agriculture is located on Cotton Island, just outside Keelung Harbor. Coupled with Miaoli's oil, tiny Taipei is a cornucopia. In fact, there are also some low-grade limonite magnetites in Taipei, and there are also iron ore accumulations in the Tamsui estuary, but compared with the manpower invested, it is not cost-effective to mine.

Although some mines are relatively small, they can also keep a micro-state of hundreds of thousands of people running for a long time; Perhaps some minerals are not of good quality, such as Taipei's low-grade porcelain clay certainly cannot produce as fine porcelain as Jingdezhen, but it can fully meet the daily use of the country.

Solve the problem first, and then talk about the good and bad.

Maiden was in the precursor to an outbreak, "I know what you said, but I need people, and if I have people, I still need food, and Taipei can't grow so much food." ”

Orderly: "I will bring you a large wave of immigrants, and you may have to rely on procurement to solve the problem of food." Have you planted the seedlings brought by the fleet? ”

When the expeditionary fleet set off, it selected some plants from the nursery of the Jincheng Research Institute and brought them on board. After such a long time, many people died one after another, but some survived.

Maiden: "It's been planted a long time ago. I have to say, although you have set up a branch office in Taipei for all three departments of the ruling government, that is not enough. ”

"I can only give you these people now, Jincheng is also very short of talents, and it is impossible to allocate enough manpower to you immediately. You have to figure it out on your own, it's very close to China, and recruit more Chinese talent. And didn't you catch the Dominican line? It is also possible to recruit some people through them. ”

Maiden sat down dejectedly: "There are too many things, I don't know where to start." ”

"Brother, spirit point." Shou Xiang cheered him up, "The Dutch have just arrived in Asia, and they have three or five boats and hundreds of guns, which is not as good as your current conditions." The Spanish heritage will cover your expenses for a year. You go back and take a closer look at the materials, sort out the clues, and sort out the order of your work. ”

Maiden said angrily: "Then you can help me think of a beginning." ”

Shou Xian thought about it, and he should still give this advice, "Taipei is different from Jincheng, in the first phase of the plan, you don't want to focus on sea trade, what needs to be purchased from outside." ”

"That requires money, as you said, the Spanish inheritance is probably only enough for more than a year."

"There is a ready-made sulphur mining base in Beitou. Jincheng needs sulfur, and the mainland also needs it, and you won't have a lot of contacts with China at the beginning, and sulfur should be enough. You can also buy deerskins from the natives and sell them to the Dutch. ”

Hearing the deerskin, Maiden sobered up a little, "The profit of the deerskin is high. The indigenous people of Tainan kill 200,000 deer every year, and this island is really strange, where can there be so many deer. ”

Orderly: "When the Dutch did not come, there were more deer, and there were herds of deer everywhere. Now they have been killing in Tainan for almost 20 years, to the point that they need to ban hunting. There are still a lot of deer in Taipei, so don't think about maintaining the deer population in order to get deer skins for a long time. Try to sell as much as possible to cash out, the most difficult thing for us is the first few years. ”

Maiden: "Well, that sounds like a solution. ”

Shou Order: "Didn't you plan to conquer the Taipei Plain in winter?" I'll bring you a batch of manpower to meet your needs. Remember to repair the grain depot and stock up on more grain. After the manpower arrived, a central city was built at the confluence of the Tamsui River and the Keelung River, and at the same time, the gold mines of Jinguashi were mined. ”

Maiden was a little more energetic, "There is also gold placer in the Keelung River, can I recruit some people to pan for gold?" ”

"The Jinguashi mining area must be firmly controlled, and you can handle the placer gold in the river."

Maiden: "The Gold Rush was the most attractive attraction to immigrants, and you know, not many people actually made a fortune in the Gold Rush, it was the aristocracy who tricked the commoners into exploiting the land. ”

Shou Xuan nodded and said, "You can arrange the specific work yourself." Brother, only if you do a good job here, I can give you greater support in Jincheng, and the two places must develop in mutual promotion. ”

Maiden: "Alright, alright. I'll think about it when I go back, where are you going to get me the first batch of immigrants? This can only be achieved by fighting, and neither China nor Japan is clearly a suitable target for war. ”

Shou Xiang leaned back in his chair and looked at North China on the map: "I want to go north." ”

"Go north, you're really not in a hurry to go back."

Shou Xuan smiled, "It's useless to be anxious." I now have to sail more than 1,600 nautical miles against the wind, and it will take more than three months for everything to go well. Running away from sea with those junk ships against the wind, it is estimated that most of them will be missing on the way. ”

Maiden: "That's just right, you can help me for a few more months." ”

Shou Xuan raised the material in his hand: "Sure." According to Chinese records, the best time to sail on the Chinese sea is April, July and October in their calendar, which is about June, August and November of the Gregorian calendar. The most unsuitable time period for sailing is July, October of the Gregorian calendar. There are many typhoons in July, and the north wind starts in October, and the nine winds are very strong, and they are not suitable for navigation. ”

Maiden: "August, so you're planning to leave next month?" ”

"Yes, I'll see the weather when I leave on the specific day. Before I go, you need to complete the first phase of the Tamsui Fort as soon as possible. ”

Taipei now does not have the manpower to mine cement clay from the Datun volcanic complex, and the orderly fleet brought two ships of Philippine volcanic ash. However, in order to put the freshwater fort into use as soon as possible, there is no pozzolane cement that needs to be maintained for 6 months. The two ships of volcanic ash will be used for the second phase of the Tamsui Fort project and the construction of the Keelung port area on the main island of Taiwan.

The Ming Dynasty sailors will definitely not go to sea to attack Taipei now, Manila has not received reinforcements from New Spain recently, they still have endless battles to fight in Mindanao, and the possibility of going north to Taiwan is also very small.

The two major forces near the Taiwan Strait that threaten Taipei are the Dutch and Zheng Zhilong. On the side of the senior minister, peaceful relations have been temporarily maintained through a paper agreement. Shou Xu wrote a letter to Zheng Zhilong, stating that he was not hostile to the Zheng family and would not interfere with Zheng Zhilong's maritime trade with the Netherlands and Japan, and that Jincheng was only farming in Taipei.

It is definitely not enough to have a letter, one hand has a carrot, and the other hand has to grab a stick. Don't worry about the order on the side of Heping Island, Heping Fort is a triangular fortress, and the Sheliao fortress is being expanded into a battery group. The Spaniards abandoned due to lack of troops were restored to the Payue Fort on Xiaojilong Island. The entire island of Peace was covered by 18-pounder guns. The city has enough supplies for the defenders to use for a year and a half, with 400 defenders and Mindanao highlanders who can be mobilized, and the indigenous captives of the Philippine Island, Zheng Zhilong will not be able to fight even if he transfers tens of thousands of people.

Waiting for the order is Fort Freshwater. The first phase of the fort is a traditional large-scale fort-style building, and the second phase will be expanded on the basis of the fort. Only one large fort will definitely not be able to withstand Zheng Zhilong's main force, but it can prevent the harassment of a small group of people and ships. Even if Zheng Zhi Longxing's army came to fight, he would have to consider the consequences of not being able to capture Keelung.

There are stones and lime in the Keelung area, and there are several remote islands, so you don't need to go deep into the chicken coop to get building materials.

In order to strengthen the firepower of the defenders of Taipei, Shou Xuan removed 21 guns from the battleship and strengthened them to Keelung and Tamsui, of which Tamsui reached 13.

Fifty-three former Spanish soldiers of Pampanga and more than 10 non-Spanish mercenaries willing to join the city were dispersed and stationed in the forts.

On the east side of Heping Island, there were more than 200 Chinese and slaves living in the Jiannei community on the other side of the Bachimen Channel, and the orderly was half forcibly conscripted and half hired, from which 30 people were recruited, and the remaining archers and orderly Chinese guards of the Keelung Fan Society, a total of 148 people together formed the garrison of Tamsui Fort. Among them, the fleet also transferred 5 skilled gunners to join the department.

Among the three companies of the army, the field company, the Meng company, and most of the subordinate detachments were assigned to the Taipei battalion in situ, with a total of 200 people. In addition to the black soldiers in the army, the fleet transferred 184 black officers and men to the Taipei battalion. These 384 people, together with the selected 400 Mindanao Highlanders, formed the core of the Keelung defenders.

The remaining more than 300 Mindanao immigrants have invested in the construction of the Keelung Inner Bay Port Area, the second phase of the Tamsui Fort, and the Tamsui Port.

With a population of just over 1,000, the community in Keelung does not occupy the fields suitable for cultivation around Keelung Bay. Maiden allocates enough land to the elderly in Medan in Keelung to motivate them to work. To Maiden's surprise, Wang Huizhi, who had always been close to Jincheng, saw that Keelung Port was thriving, and he actually asked if he could give some land to his subordinates.

Maiden reported the matter to Shou Xu, who invited Wang Huizhi to come over and ask, "Lord Da O, have you changed your mind and want to join our Jincheng?" ”

Wang Huizhi shook his head, "I have more than 100 subordinates who want to settle in Keelung City, Taipei is very close to Fujian, and it is very convenient for them to go home and see." They are all old brothers who have followed me for many years, and since they have spoken, I must definitely agree, and I can only come to ask the lord of the country. ”

Shou Xiang still wants to fight for it, "Wang Daao no longer thinks about it?" ”

Wang Huizhi shook his head, "The remaining 400 or so brothers, I want to take them back to their hometown in Chaozhou." ”

Shou Xuan sighed, "Well, it's not a problem to divide the land. My Taipei Squadron has just been established, and I need a group of sailors, and if they are willing to serve in Taipei for five years, each of them can be divided into a manor. ”

Wang Huizhi nodded and said, "I'll go back and tell them, there shouldn't be any problem." ”

Wang Huizhi's trip together with Shou Xuan attacked Borneo and Keelung Harbor, and of course he also reaped his share of the spoils. The division of land is extra, and there is nothing unreasonable about serving in the navy in exchange for land.

"Lord O, I still have something to ask for."

"My lord, please say, it's too much to ask for something else."

"In Karimata, the Lord of Tai O and the Junfu brothers talked about Jianfu. I want to go to Liaohai, I don't know if you are interested. ”

Note: Historically, the Dutch abandoned the port of chicken coop after capturing Chicken Coop and Tamsui and rebuilt the fortress in Tamsui. Probably with the foundations of a Spanish castle, construction was carried out quickly, with construction starting on October 14 and finishing on November 5.