Hushan main courtyard, back study conference room.

Seeing that the discussion in the room had been heard for a long time, Zhu Daolin motioned for everyone to be quiet, and drew a straight line from north to south on the map of Taiwan:

"You see, from north to south through the entire Taiwan Island 600 miles of mountain ranges, accounting for nearly eighty percent of the island's area, up and down the mountain are thousands of years of red cypress, cypress, red pine, camphor, lacquer, banyan and other dozens of precious tree species, even if cut down for two hundred years can not be finished, the deer herd is countless."

"The deerskin of 12 taels of silver and 1 piece of deerskin used by our musketeers, shipbuilding workshops and ironwork workshop leather factories was shipped from Taiwan!"

"There are tens of millions of acres of wasteland waiting to be reclaimed in this 300-mile area of the Danshui River Plain to the central coast, as long as 3,000 farmers are sent to reclaim the fertile Danshui plain within 45 days, plus the help of thousands of recruits, there will be no need to send a grain of grain after half a year, and the yield of rice per mu is likely to be more than twice that of Jiangnan!"

The exclamation sounded again, and no one dared to believe that Taiwan's land was so fertile!

The yield of rice per mu in the Jiangnan region is more than 5 stones, and it took hundreds of years to improve rice seeds, and how can the fields that have just been reclaimed in the light level reach 10 stones per mu?

Zhu Daolin was not in the mood to talk about high-quality rice seeds and scientific farming with everyone in detail at this important meeting, so he returned to his seat and immediately announced:

"In the early morning of the day after tomorrow, I will follow the maiden voyage fleet to Taiwan, only tomorrow one day of preparation time, I ask you to put down your work and go all out to prepare for the maiden voyage to Taiwan, and later Master Ye will send you a piece of paper, which lists everything that needs to be done, and I will be responsible for the army."

"Secondly, after I leave, I need you to continue to select 1,000 masons and 2,000 farmers from among the victims. Send it to Baoshan Port as soon as possible, it must be completed within ten days! ”

"Finally, and most crucially, this meeting is top secret and must not be leaked, only done but not said. And do it quietly! After I finished my words, I would like to ask Master Ye to announce the specific matters. ”

The top-secret meeting did not end until late at night, and the staff members who were shouldering various heavy responsibilities left quickly, and Yang Dading, who was appointed as the first commander of the "Tamsui Battalion", and two deputies returned home with excitement and apprehension.

Early tomorrow morning, Yang Dading and his two deputies will select 300 unconcerned brothers from among the 500 personal soldiers as the team, and then go to the arsenal to receive 300 Tang knives symbolizing the status of officers, 300 "Tianshu brand" flintlock pistols, 3,000 "Tianshu brand" embroidered spring knives, and 20 pairs of steel crossbows made by Tianshu Pavilion in stock. Then 3,000 were selected from the 6,000 naval recruits to be trained, and the "Tamsui Battalion" rooted in Taiwan was formally formed.

Zhu Daolin talked with the master Ye Liangchen who stayed behind in the middle of the night, and then returned to the main room in front of him, and set up a banquet with the wives and concubines who were gathered in the tea room and did not want to sleep, and talked about deep love while drinking. It didn't end until 3 a.m.

######

Chongzhen five years, the seventh day of the seventh month. August 22, 1632 in the Western calendar.

The sun rises over the sea level in early autumn, and the Baoshan Acropolis on the south bank of the Yangtze River estuary looks particularly old and small in the morning glow.

Zhu Daolin and Shi Qingyang, a bearded Baoshan Weiqianhu, climbed the earthen mountain more than 30 meters high by the river, looked at the more than 300 tents and curling smoke that surrounded the acropolis below, and whispered about whether it was appropriate to set sail just after the typhoon.

The earth mountain under their feet is the Baoshan that the Yongle Emperor built with soil when he built Baoshan Port, and the name Baoshan is derived from this.

Shi Qingyang looked at the thousands of soldiers and civilians around the Acropolis who had rested for three days due to the typhoon. Very worriedly, he said to Zhu Daolin:

"As soon as the strong winds and waves of six days and six nights in a row passed, Chongmingzhong in the middle of the river and Nansha Island to the north of us were almost half submerged, and I heard that Chongmingzhong lost six fishing boats, and nearly half of the two rows of newly built brick houses collapsed, and the roof was completely gone. There are also a lot of people who have died, and no one knows if there will be another strong wind next, alas! There will be three to four strong winds and waves at this time of year, and my subordinates are worried! ”

Zhu Daolin smiled lightly: "This gale that has just passed has made me feel at ease, so I decided to set sail today." ”

"I judge that there will be no more storms in at least half a month, and it is difficult to say until mid-August, because every year in mid-to-late August is when the Siberian cold and high pressure moves southward, and at this time, the cold and hot air currents collide and meet, which is most likely to cause a major storm."

"In September, the sea conditions will improve again, and until mid-April of the following year, it will be almost a calm season for half the year, so I must hurry up and try to make two more trips in 40 days, and complete the difficult task of relocating 20,000 households by April next year."

"Baoshan, as the port of departure for immigrants, still needs you to worry more!"

"Within half a month, 30,000 households and 800 cattle and horses will arrive in Baoshan, and the expansion of Baoshan Port, the dredging of the river embankment, and the reclamation of 500,000 acres of paddy fields in the initial stage will require you and the 1,200 brothers of Baoshanwei to cooperate closely, and the burden on your shoulders is not light!"

Shi Qingyang nodded solemnly: "This is a matter within the subordinate's duty, and I will never live up to the general's expectations...... As long as there are enough manpower and material resources, it will only take half a year to make Baoshan Port a prosperous place, and then not to mention 500,000 acres of paddy fields, even 800,000 acres can be opened. ”

"It's just...... Some of the subordinates did not understand why the general was reluctant to plant cotton on half of the cultivated fields? It is much easier to cultivate cotton than to cultivate all the rice fields, and it will be effective next year, and the income is much higher than that of growing rice...... For decades, eighty percent of the land in the four counties of Songjiang has been planted with cotton, and the landlords and old fortunes are so rich! ”

"Can you eat cotton?" Zhu Daolin asked with a smile.

Shi Qingyang smiled: "That's right, my subordinates also think that the general probably thinks the same way, so I can't help but ask, haha!" ”

Zhu Daolin asked again: "Are we short of silver?" ”

Shi Qingyang immediately understood the true meaning of Zhu Daolin's words, and scratched his head embarrassedly: "There is indeed no shortage of silver, although our 1,200 brothers stationed in Baoshan have trained hard, they have no shortage of food and clothing, sufficient food and clothing, and there are big fish and meat every day. ”

"If it weren't for the subordinates who strictly followed the general's orders, strictly guarded Baoshan Port and the two million acres of swamp reeds behind them, and refused to allow everyone to take refuge, at least 3,000 military households would have moved here now."

"This time, the general sent us 3,000 sets of military uniforms and leather armor and 1,200 flintlock pistols, I am afraid that the brothers in the surrounding guard will not be able to sit still, and they are looking forward to the general to rectify the Baoshan guard as soon as possible!"

Zhu Daolin thought for a moment, put his plan to rectify Baoshanwei, and told Shi Qingyang truthfully: "The day before I left Jinling, the appointment letter came down, and I became the commander of Baoshanwei as I wished, and General Mingwei's title was also upgraded to General Sanpin Zhaoyi, and the long-planned expansion plan of Baoshan Port can finally be implemented, and the plan for the whole army has also been ......."

"The Baoshan Thousand Households and the Wusong Thousand Households on the west bank of the Huangpu River Estuary remain unchanged, the Chongming Central and the Chongming Sha Institute upstream are merged into the Chongming Thousand Households, and the Wei Guogong divides the Wolf Mountain Guard, which has been abandoned for many years on the north bank, into my Baoshan Guard, and establishes the Wolf Mountain Thousand Households, and there, you see the ...... over there"

"Hengsha Island? It is full of reeds and swamps, and when the tide is high, most of it is flooded, and no one has dared to live on it since ancient times, so should the general build an outpost on it? Shi Qingyang asked suspiciously.

"You're right, not only to build an outpost, but also to build a lighthouse, a wharf, a fort and a barracks, and within two years to build it into a training base for sailors who can accommodate 20,000 officers and soldiers stationed for a long time, I believe you can see the important position of Hengsha Island."

Zhu Daolin put down his hand pointing forward and stared at the two long and narrow islands floating in the vast water ten kilometers away, and there was indescribable emotion in his heart.

The long and narrow island inside is Changxing Island, a famous shipbuilding base hundreds of years later, if it weren't for the worry about the accumulation of sediment and the lack of technology and capital, Zhu Daolin would definitely put his shipbuilding base on it.

Now, Zhu Daolin can only make use of Hengsha Island, which faces the sea on the outside, and build Hengsha Island into the first gate of the Yangtze River in two years, otherwise it will be difficult to ensure the safety of the Yangtze River estuary and the nearby sea areas by relying solely on the two thousand households of Baoshan and Wusong at the mouth of the Huangpu River.

This time, the Spanish fleet arrived directly at Jinling City, hundreds of kilometers upstream, without being escorted by the Chongming Navy, bringing Zhu Daolin not only urgently needed goods and precious horse breeds, but also brought Zhu Daolin worries about homeland security, which was also the fundamental reason why Zhu Daolin quietly changed his original plan and was determined to build Baoshan Port into a major trading port in the East.

However, the most important thing in front of us was not Baoshan Port and Hengsha Island, but to lead a fleet of 3 warships and 4 cargo ships to transport 4,200 soldiers and civilians across the sea to Tamsui Port in the northwest corner of Taiwan.

************

PS: Thank you Lin Jun, Yannan Zhaobei, and 77 White Bear for your encouragement!

Yesterday there was something at home that delayed the update, and tomorrow the fourth watch broke out, and the first one will be updated in the early morning! Please continue to support Xiaohuo, I want subscriptions, tips, referral tickets and monthly passes! (To be continued......)