"I agree!"

After listening to Garcia's briefing, Zhu Daolin, who was eager to introduce excellent horse breeds to improve Mongolian horses, agreed without hesitation:

"I have to admit, it's a good idea!"

Garcia and his assistant were overjoyed, and were glad that they had been able to continue the lucrative horse trade, and both stood up to thank Zhu Daolin.

Zhu Daolin humbly invited the guest to sit down and began to talk about the secret agreement between the two sides: "Mr. Garcia, how many ships do you have to assist me in going to Tamsui Port this time?" ”

Garcia explained apologetically: "I am sorry, Your Excellency, and I have to express my great apologies to you on behalf of the Spanish East India Company and the honorable Mr. Sánchez! ”

"Due to the increasingly serious war situation in Europe, after the return of our fleet to Manila, three of the 800-ton cargo ships carrying silk and porcelain will return to Europe with the ocean-going fleet, so it will not be possible to transport builders to Tamsui Port for His Excellency General."

"In order to make up for the losses caused to the general, we have recruited 220 first mates, gunners and skilled sailors with more than seven years of experience in long-distance voyages in Manila, and 22 outstanding retired army officers and senior artillerymen from the Manila garrison and our guards, and sold to Your Excellency two new 500-ton Galen cargo ships, which are very willing to serve His Excellency the General, and are willing to sign employment contracts with the General's army for a period of three to five years, just like Captain Simeno."

Zhu Daolin didn't expect such a change, pondered for a moment, and looked at the master Ye Liangchen who was sitting behind him.

Ye Liangchen suggested in a low voice: "You can instruct the instructor captain Simeno and the deputy captain Vargas to meet with the new 242 people as soon as possible, tell them about our military discipline, salary, treatment, etc., and sign a contract if you are willing to stay, and then consider the implementation of the plan." It really can't be delayed for a few days. ”

Zhu Daolin was unhappy, turned to the nervous Garcia, and asked, "The 27 Spanish officers and soldiers stationed at Tamsui Port didn't leave, did they?" ”

"Of course, our troops will not leave until the general's army arrives, and this is not only a contract stipulation. It is also a principle that we must uphold. Garcia replied solemnly.

Zhu Daolin felt a little better: "1,200 dock workers and 2,000 newly recruited soldiers are unloading their cargo, working in three batches continuously, if nothing else, all the goods in this transaction will be loaded onto your five large ships by three o'clock tomorrow afternoon." ”

"Since it will take half a year to build the hotel for the reception of distant guests and crews, you can only let your crew stay in this barracks temporarily, and if Mr. Garcia does not mind, you can lead the attaché to temporarily stay in the courtyard next to Mr. Feng Shengtai, which is fully equipped. It was quieter, and tonight's welcome dinner was set in the newly built courtyard. ”

Garcia was very grateful to Zhu Daolin for his generosity, apologized to Zhu Daolin again, expressed his willingness to obey the master's arrangement, and then took his assistant to the dock to meet Zhu Daolin's trade manager Feng Shengtai, and seize the time to start accounting and trading.

As soon as Garcia and the two left, Zhu Daolin immediately sank his face: "The nature of the Spaniards' breach of contract this time is very bad. If it is not seriously investigated, there will be a second and third time. ”

Ye Liangchen nodded slightly: "It's to beat it well." But I'm afraid you'll need to adjust your immigration plans, and with the two new ships that have just arrived, you won't be able to transport 6,000 people to Tamsui Port at once...... Why don't you postpone it for half a month? Maybe in a few days, the Portuguese fleet will arrive. ”

Zhu Daolin waved his hand: "No! According to the original plan, the two large cargo ships in the waters of Longtan will stop transporting the victims from tomorrow, and all the officers and men will rest for a day to prepare for the long voyage. The two newly arrived 500-ton Galen ships were unloaded and immediately loaded with food, tents, tools, pots and pans, and the selected five directors and five doctors rushed to Longtan tomorrow morning to select 500 families whose heads were in good health around 40 from the 50,000 victims around Xiaobeishan. ”

"This time I will personally lead the personal barracks and 500 recruits to the port of Tamsui with the ship. Arrive at Tamsui and let the fleet return immediately, after which there is no need to load any supplies on the ship, all the recruits and craftsmen will be transported, and two more trips will be made as soon as possible......"

"In about 45 days, we will enter a two-month season of strong winds and waves, and our officers and soldiers of the naval division will definitely not be able to sail in the strong winds and waves, so we must send 3,000 soldiers and 5,000 craftsmen to Tamsui Port before the Zheng family and the Dutch in Fujian wake up!"

Although Ye Liangchen didn't know what the wind and waves were like at sea, he knew that time was very precious and knew the importance of occupying the freshwater port, so he didn't persuade Zhu Daolin again, but silently went out to gather people to allocate materials.

At the end of the reception dinner, Zhu Daolin summoned 8 core staff, 5 young directors stationed in Tamsui Port, and 3 captains and deputy captains, including Yang Dading, the captain of the pro-army, to gather in the study conference room behind the main courtyard of Hushan to officially announce the plan and implementation plan for immigrating to Taiwan.

Among the participants, except for the four seniors such as Xuan Qing, the abbot of Ziyangguan, Ye Liangchen, the chief staff, Zhao Xunting, the head of industry, and Yang Dading, the captain of the pro-army, the rest of the people had never heard of this huge immigration plan, which would take several years, and they didn't even know where Taiwan was, let alone that there was a freshwater port and a big river called the Tamsui River in the northwest corner of Taiwan Island, so everyone stared closely at the large hand-drawn "Map of Taiwan" hanging on the wall and listened to Zhu Daolin's detailed explanation.

After Zhu Daolin talked about the location of the island of Taiwan, the reasons for immigration, the 1,080-kilometer shipping route between Tamsui Port and Shangyuan Port, and Taiwan's strategic significance in terms of national sovereignty and foreign trade, the participants gradually understood the importance of Taiwan, but they still did not consider elevating the immigration to Tamsui Port to a strategic height.

Some aides even felt that it was not worth the loss to spend such a huge amount of manpower and material resources to occupy an island two thousand miles away from the mainland.

Zhu Daolin looked at everyone's expressions, and he pointed to the map and explained to everyone in depth: "Don't underestimate the island of Taiwan, the undeveloped Keelung Port in the north is a very good natural deep-water port, occupying Keelung Port and Tamsui Port, it can curb the trade route from the southeast coast of our Ming Dynasty to the Japanese Kingdom and North Korea." ”

"According to the information we have secretly obtained, there are two high-quality coal mines with reserves of more than 5 million tons in this mountainous area within 100 miles of Keelung Port, as well as a sulfur mining area and two shallow gold mining areas."

Before the words fell, the exclamations were exclaimed, and the ** of human greed was instantly revealed, and everyone finally understood why Zhu Daolin had to spend so much effort to immigrate to the desert island. (To be continued......)