Changhua River, also known as Changjiang River, is the second largest river on Hainan Island, originating from Limu Mountain in Qiongzhong, traversing the central and western parts of Hainan Island, with a total length of more than 200 kilometers, a basin area of more than 5,000 square kilometers, and a number of water vein tributaries. The water veins that flow into the Shilu Mountains are the second largest tributary of the Changhua River, and are known as Shilu Water by the locals. This not too wide river lies across the transportation line planned by the Ministry of Construction, and to the east of the river is the jurisdiction of Shizitong and the location of the Shilu Iron Mine.

In order to facilitate the exchange of grain, salt, pig iron and other necessities with the Han people, the Li people of Shizitong arranged ferries on the river here - it is more accurate to say that they are ferries, and their practical wooden rafts are more accurate. These inland mountain dwellers did not have good shipbuilding skills, and for them they could be considered qualified boats to carry them across the river, which was less than 100 meters wide.

Before the guide who crossed the river returned, the special team was in no hurry to cross to the other side, because if something went wrong, it would be a little troublesome for the thirty-odd men to withdraw from it, and the wooden raft ferryboat used by the Lebanese could not carry so many people at once, plus their livestock and luggage. Taking advantage of the time they were stationed by the river, Qiao Zhiya and Fu Li took a few people to cut down a few thigh-thick trees nearby, and began to tie up the raft themselves, just in case.

Originally, there were assault boats on the two catamarans, but even after the deflated thing, its size and weight were considerable, and considering that the mules and horses carried too many things, Qiao Zhiya finally gave up the plan to carry the assault boat.

The guide crossed the river from Shizitong and returned to the camp before dark, and brought back a message from Huang Sanmu, the lord of Shizitong, allowing them to enter the jurisdiction of Shizitong. This unexpected news made everyone relax a little, because the Li village is located in the mountainous area, many materials are difficult to obtain, and the Han merchants who are willing to take the initiative to go into the mountains to provide these materials, they generally will not refuse. When Qiao Zhiya sent a guide, he specially asked him to bring samples of rice, salt and other goods, and it seemed that it was very smooth and won the approval of these Li people.

The next morning, after breakfast in the camp, the group began to organize the river crossing. The wooden rafts that the special team tied themselves and the wooden rafts of the Li people. It took five rounds to cross the men and horses. Just in case, Qiao Zhiya still left three people on the other side of the river, and once something happened, he immediately rushed back to the seaside fishing village to report the news, where a platoon of Heitu Harbor militiamen who came with Tian Yeyou and old Morgan who stayed in the local area to take care of the sailboat.

The coastal area near Changhua is almost all plain, and the special team did not encounter any difficult sections along the way. But after crossing the small river of Shiroku, it is considered that it is really beginning to enter the inland mountains. After crossing the river, I was led by a guide and traveled about ten miles eastward. Finally, I saw the appearance of the nearby hillside in the unique hill cutting fence planting area of the Li people's cottage.

Fu Li should be regarded as the one who felt the most deeply among those who saw this scene, only two years ago. The village where he lives and the surrounding cottages also use this slash-and-burn method to grow food. Based on this farming method alone, Fu Li can judge that the Li people here are still in a relatively backward living situation - of course, this backwardness is compared to the Haihan, and the previous Fu Shan Pass will not be much better.

The scale of the cottage in Shizitong is not as large as that of Fushantong, but the internal structure is almost the same, all of them are the same herringbone roof boat-shaped houses as the main building, and there is a larger boat-shaped house in the center of the village, which is the residence of the owner. Most of the members of the task force stayed outside, and only Qiao Zhiya, Liu Shanxia, Tian Yeyou, and Fu Li entered the house to meet the lord here.

Huang Sanmu, the owner of Shizitong, is a man in the prime of life. After inviting everyone to sit down, he instructed others to bring the cottage home-brewed fruit wine to entertain the guests. Qiao Zhiya also asked Fu Li to take out the prepared gift and give it to Huang Sanmu. According to the standard operation method of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the gifts are still a three-piece set of sabers, lighters and liquor, and it can be seen that Huang Sanmu is the same as those who have dealt with Haihan in the past, and it is difficult to hide his love for these gifts.

"Lord Huang Dong, I want to ask. Have you heard of the name of our Haihan Chamber of Commerce in the past?" Qiao Zhiya took the initiative to ask.

Huang Sanmu nodded and said: "You are selling salt, there are your shops in Changhua City, your salt is very cheap, better than the previous official salt!" Although Huang Sanmu's official language is not very standard, he can barely communicate.

"We sell more than just salt, but a lot of other things. As long as you want to buy it, we have the ability to provide it. Qiao Zhiya immediately began to promote himself: "We can let the Li people here have a better living environment, let you live in the same houses as the Han people, enjoy the same food, and your children can also love novels and books and read with the children of the Han people!"

Huang Sanmu was not immediately ecstatic after listening to Qiao Zhiya's boasting, but asked suspiciously: "We have no contact with each other, and we are not friends." Why are you doing these things for us?"

"Of course, this is not done for nothing, and you also need to pay certain conditions. Seeing the change in color on Huang Sanmu's face, Qiao Zhiya hurriedly comforted: "Don't worry, I don't want your money, I know that you Li people don't have much money." ”

Hearing this, Huang Sanmu's face softened a little: "Then what do you want?"

"I want your cooperation. Qiao Zhiya did not intend to hide the true purpose of the Executive Committee, because such a large project could not be hidden in front of the indigenous people for too long: "We are going to build a road from the sea to here, and then mine iron ore on the hillside next to your cottage." ”

"Iron ore?you say we have iron ore here?" Huang Sanmu first noticed the iron mine, the Li people cottage has been strictly controlled by the local government The import of pig iron, so that most of the farm tools used in their slash-and-burn cultivation are still stone tools, and it is fortunate that Shi Zitong can get two or three hundred catties of pig iron through various channels every year, but this short-haired Haihan man actually claims that there is an iron mine next to the cottage?

"That's right, but I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to have the conditions for mining and smelting yourself, even if you can, the cost of obtaining pig iron is much higher than ours, if you need pig iron, we can supply it to you at a very low price, and it will definitely be lower than the cost of organizing your own people to mine and smelt iron!" Qiao Zhiya tried to persuade Huang Sanmu to accept his offer from the perspective of commercial value, but he ignored that Huang Sanmu himself was not a businessman, just a Li native born and raised here.

Huang Sanmu shook his head and said: "This is the place of our Shizitong, and the iron ore buried here also belongs to our Shizitong. If we need pig iron, we will mine it ourselves, and no outsiders will interfere!"

"If it weren't for our help, you wouldn't be able to find the veins!" Tian Yeyou, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but interject.

Huang Sanmu looked at him sideways, shook his head and said, "That's nothing, we don't know that there is iron ore in the land under our feet, and we have lived here for many generations." Even if there is no iron ore. We can continue to live here. ”

"It's not easy to do!" Qiao Zhiya and Tian Yeyou exchanged glances, and the same thought flashed in their hearts.

At this time, Fu Li finally spoke: "Lord Huangdong." I am the runic power of Yazhou Fu Shan Tong, and my family, like you, is also the guardian of Li Mountain!"

"You, are you from Li?" Huang Sanmu looked at Fu Li, a little not quite believing his statement. It's no wonder that Fu Li now has a short haircut, and his clothes are also Haihan-style shirts, trousers and leather shoes, no matter how you look at it, she doesn't look like a Li person.

"I have a seal letter from the Ming Imperial Court!" Fu Li said, taking out a small copper seal and handing it to Huang Sanmu.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the central court began to grant hereditary "thousand households" and "ten thousand households" official positions to the lord of the Li people, and this tradition has only changed a little after the change of dynasty. The positions awarded were changed to "General Manager", "Thousand General", "Commander", and so on. Its function is mainly to encircle the local Li leaders, so that they do not have to deal with the local government for three days. Of course, this kind of official position has no practical effect, and the taxes that Li Tong should pay will not be less than a copper plate, and the labor he should serve will not be able to escape at all. However, for the Li lords, the seal letter issued by the imperial court was a simple way to identify themselves. Because this thing can only be obtained by the owners and direct heirs of each mountain, and no one will imitate this identity, because once it is exposed, it is a big crime to pretend to be an official of the imperial court, which is worthy of killing the head.

Huang Sanmu took it and looked at it carefully, before he nodded and said, "You, like me, are the president of the imperial court." But why are you dressed the same way as them? Have you abandoned your people?"

"I'm not abandoning anyone. Our people in Fushantong are living very well now, thanks to the help of the Haihan people. Fu Li started from the first visit of the Haihan people to Fu Shantong two years ago, and talked about the contact process between the two sides.

The agreement reached between Ningqi and Fu Nuo at that time was later called the "Savior No. 1 Plan" and became a model for the civil affairs department's mass work in minority areas. From the initial exchange of goods, to the hiring of labor, and the collection of soldiers. In the end, it developed to move the residents of Fushantong out of the mountains as a whole and settle in the Han residential area, Fushantong has undergone great changes in the past two years, and Fu Li, as one of the witnesses, naturally feels the most.

When Fu Li opened the conversation, he couldn't hold it back, and Huang Sanmu also showed great interest in Fu Li and Fu Shantong's experience, because Fu Li's description of Fu Shantong's situation two years ago was too similar to Shi Zitong's now, the same lack of food and clothing, and he couldn't see any hope of becoming rich in the future.

Soon it was time for lunch, and Huang Sanmu instructed his family to cook bamboo rice with rice donated by the special team, and cook a few pheasants. Tian Yeyou listened to the story and listened to it boringly, so he took the initiative to apply to help the villagers here cook pheasants. There are also a lot of spices in the materials brought this time, and as soon as they are put into the pot, the aroma is overflowing, which is appetizing.

After lunch, Fu Li continued to tell the story of Fu Shantong at the request of Huang Sanmu, and the two of them naturally used the language of the Li people in their conversation, and the people next to them couldn't even understand half of the sentence, and they all fell asleep later. But the two of them talked more and more energetically, and they were still talking endlessly until dinner in the evening.

That night, the special team set up their own tents and stayed in the Shizitong cottage. Qiao Zhiya and the others only had time to ask Fu Li about the content and progress of today's negotiations.

Fu Li was obviously very satisfied with his appearance, and said with a smile: "Lord Huang Tong is very interested in the overall relocation of Fu Shan Tong, and it can be seen that he is not as satisfied with Shi Zidong's current living environment as he says, if we can propose a more feasible plan, I think he has a great possibility to accept it." ”

The overall relocation of Fushantong is the first attempt by the Executive Committee to allow the Li people to move out of the mountains on a unit, and the resettlement of the residents of Fushantong has also fully taken into account their living habits, and their places of residence have been placed in the ravine between the Tiandu Industrial Zone and the Iron Furnace Port, which not only maintains the independence of Fushantong, but also gives them better living security conditions. In their new settlements, the Lebanese naturalized people had easier access to all kinds of daily necessities supplied by the Executive Committee, and under the training of the Ministry of Agriculture, they began to grow various cash crops on a large scale on the slopes of the mountains near their residences, and the remuneration they received was much higher than the level of slash-and-burn farming in the mountains.

After a successful attempt, the Executive Committee later arranged for several Litong and Miao villages to be relocated out of the mountains and to the coastal plain area of Sanya. Although these mountain people have little education, they are often excellent soldiers, and women, children, old and young, can also engage in some auxiliary industries, which can change their originally very poor living conditions in a short time.

In this process, the relevant departments can be said to have accumulated a lot of experience, even Fu Li himself has participated in the recent two Li Miao cottage relocation actions, for the way and purpose of this relocation has a clearer understanding, in the description to Huang Sanmu is more detailed, plus Fu Li himself Li Li leader of the successor identity, this kind of persuasion is even more convincing.

"Xiao Fu, good job!" Liu Shanxia grinned and patted Fu Li's shoulder in praise, but his big fan-like hand almost fanned Fu Li down.

"We can open a little higher, but some of the bottom lines still have to be set. Qiao Zhiya seemed calmer, and the executive committee handed over the task force to him this time, which was undoubtedly a test of his personal ability. He has already accumulated a certain amount of merit in the army, and if he can accomplish this task well, then he will have a better foundation for both military and political work in the future.