Of course, this journey is not a new immigrant who has only been here for a month, but a naturalized employee of the Department of Immigration Affairs under the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It is true that he was born in Shandong, but he arrived on Hainan Island a year before the Denglai Rebellion broke out. The reason is naturally not because of the war, but because he committed a case of wounding in his hometown and was exiled to Yazhou to serve hard labor. When the riots broke out in Shilu in September of the first year, Cheng Lu was working in the mines, and he had already become a foreman in a forced labor camp. When the accident happened, he wisely chose to stay rather than flee into the mountains with the rabble, a decision that gave him a chance to be reborn after the riots subsided.

Cheng Lu is quick-witted and eloquent, and he is from the north, so after obtaining naturalized citizenship, he was recruited by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and assigned to the immigration camp, responsible for the propaganda of immigrants from the north. Before the Penghu Immigration Base was put into operation, the Department of Immigration Affairs transferred him from Sanya to take up a steward position here as a "new immigrant".

The places where Cheng Lu spent the longest under Haihan were the hard labor camps and immigration camps, so he still had a good idea of what kind of mentality these newcomers would have. The most effective way to make these newcomers feel at ease and be used by Haihan is to let them have a rough understanding of Haihan's strength and build confidence in Haihan, the "new owner".

"There is a saying that the leaders of Haihan often hang on their lips, which is called having food in their hands, and not panicking in their hearts. Think about it, the camp on Baisha Island alone has collected nearly 10,000 people from the north, and it has to consume thousands of catties of grain every day. With a radius of 500 miles on Qiongzhou Island, how many people do you want to reclaim all the cultivated land? How many people can you support when the time comes?"

"Then the old men of the Haihan Dynasty made their home by farming? This enclosure is 10,000 acres, and the style is similar to that of my imperial relatives of the Ming Dynasty. Someone didn't just stumble.

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the royal family began to directly enclose land and directly manage the farmland, and the grain and property of the income were in the hands of the special eunuchs in charge of the village, and were included in the materials and funds at the disposal of the court. It is recorded in the "History of the Ming Dynasty and Food and Goods" that "Xianzong succeeded to the throne and submerged in the public Zhuangtian with the status of Cao Jixiang, and the name of the Huangzhuang began." Shuntian, Baoding, Hejian and other prefectures in the north of Zhili have a large number of fields are included in the name of Huangzhuang, to the time of Zhengde, Huangzhuang has covered an area of more than three million acres, a large number of private fields are taken away by the royal circle, and the grievances caused are numerous.

Cheng Lu has received relevant propaganda training, so he naturally does not agree with this point of view, and shook his head and retorted: "Haihan's farm is not the same as the Ming Dynasty's Huangzhuang, and ordinary people have the opportunity to enjoy the income of the Huangzhuang? ”

Looking at the expressions of disbelief on everyone's faces, Cheng Lu pointed to the porcelain bowl on the table and said: "Brothers came all the way from Shandong, Haihan paid for food, lodging, and freight, but did he collect half a penny from you? In the future, your food, clothing, housing, and transportation will also be borne by Haihan, where does this money come from? Isn't it just from Guò farming and working? The so-called taking from the people and using it for the people, that's it." ”

Someone said, "Then can we cultivate the cultivated land on our own and collect grain from Haihan?"

Cheng Lu replied: "The land under the rule of Haihan is owned by the Haihan Executive Committee, and private individuals can also cultivate it by themselves, but they will not get the ownership of the fields, and if they want to farm the land by themselves, they will not be able to provide food and shelter." In the case of the brothers, it is better to be honest and obedient to the assignment, and after a year or two of stability, it is not too late to make other plans. When you get the Haihan naturalization permit, that's when the real beginning. ”

"If you enter the Haihan nationality, then you are not from the Ming Kingdom?"

"Da Ming can't even give you food to eat, what's the use of keeping it? From the day you got on the ship, you will eat Haihan food!" Cheng Lu reminded: "Are you willing to be a starving Ming person, or are you willing to live well?"

Needless to say, everyone's answer is naturally the same. Many people thought in their hearts that at this time, they should first seek satisfaction for their livelihood, and when there is a turnaround in the future, it is not too late to find a chance to return to Daming. Cheng Lu can naturally guess what these people think, because he was the same when he was naturalized, but after staying for a while, he can naturally compare the advantages and disadvantages of the two social systems. Especially after slowly understanding the true strength of Haihan, there are really few people who are willing to give up their Haihan nationality and restore their identity as the people of the Ming Dynasty. When these people stay under Haihan for a few more months, most of them will naturally make the same choice as themselves, and maybe they will desperately earn money in order to become naturalized as soon as possible. As for the very few who are stubborn, places like the Ishiroku Mine are the best places to go.

Cheng Lu continued: "As long as you are a Haihan citizen, whether you are working or farming, you will be paid more, and if you want to get the opportunity to be promoted to be a foreman, you must first become a naturalized person." In addition, the family must settle down under the rule of Haihan, and in the future, the children will have to go to school and study, and they will ask for medical treatment, and they can only get preferential treatment if they are Haihan nationality everywhere. After you've been there for a few months, you'll be in a hurry to become a naturalized citizen. Moreover, this opportunity for naturalization is not available all the time, and not everyone can do it, the number of places is limited, and only those who are excellent can get it. ”

These aspects of what Cheng Lu said are closely related to the lives of immigrants, and everyone naturally listens carefully. After listening to this, someone asked: "Steward Cheng, listen to what you mean, if I want to become a naturalized citizen, then I have to look at the faces of the Haihan people?"

Cheng Luying said: "No matter how rich the Haihan people are, they can't help the Ming court to support the people in vain, right? Then again, if you don't become a naturalized citizen, how can the Haihan people trust you?"

"Steward Cheng has only been here for a month, and he has already been naturalized?" someone remembered Cheng Lu's previous self-introduction, so he asked.

Cheng Lu had already thought of the set of words, and said with a slight smile when he heard this: "This is also the trust of the leaders, and they are willing to give a chance." This treatment is not available to everyone, and it usually takes at least three months to qualify for naturalization. ”

"Three months ......" Everyone looked at each other, and there was a disappointment in their eyes that could not be concealed.

After listening to Cheng Lu's explanation, everyone felt that there was nothing unacceptable about naturalization, and the left and right were working for people, so it was naturally more cost-effective to be a senior worker with better treatment, but in fact, it was nothing more than a disguised deed of sale. However, this matter will drag on until a few months later, and it may not be able to succeed, which is indeed unexpected by everyone, and it seems that the Haihan people are indeed quite different from ordinary landlords.

"There is also a fast way!" Cheng Lu saw the expressions of these people, and naturally guessed what they were thinking, and then continued: "The Haihan people have their own private army, called the Haihan Mintuan. As long as the newly arrived immigrants sign up for the army and pass the assessment, they will be considered to be directly naturalized. ”

When Cheng Lu said this, his eyes swept to Sun Zhen, who was outstanding: "This little brother's body, it's definitely no problem to eat military rations!"

Sun Zhenzhi was stunned and responded: "But I can only farm and take care of the crops, and I won't kill people and fight." ”

Cheng Lu said with a smile: "You can't learn, and this militia can choose to retire after three years of military service, and you can come back to farm again, at least you will be a steward at that time, and you don't need to start from the bottom of the junior labor." This Haihan militia is considered a second-level laborer when enlisted in the army, and the salary is higher than that of farming, and if there is any disadvantage, it is that the training is hard, but it will not be as idle as the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. ”

At that moment, someone asked what was going on with this junior laborer, and Cheng Lu had to explain Haihan's labor point grading system briefly. And this is undoubtedly like opening the door to a new world for the new immigrants, they never thought that there was such a way to do long-term labor for the landlord, and it sounds like there is also a way to promote the way to the top of the road, ordinary laborers can be promoted step by step to foremen, captains, senior stewards and even higher positions, and it is not impossible to be promoted to the Yamen of the Haihan people as officials, which is unimaginable in their original social environment.

After listening to Cheng Lu's introduction, everyone calculated in their hearts how long it would take for Cheng Lu to achieve his current position if he started as a junior laborer. However, thinking about it, this labor point has to wait until after naturalization to start calculating, which is a little discouraged.

"Steward Cheng, where is this soldier registration, please take me with you when you go back!" While everyone was still thinking about it, they heard that Sun Zhen had already made up his mind.

Cheng Lu looked Sun Zhen up and down, nodded and said, "Okay!

Cheng Lu stayed in Sun Zhen's dormitory for nearly an hour before leaving, and the second team under his command was assigned a hundred new immigrants, and each ten-person team had to be completed by several stewards and cadres on the team to complete similar conversations. In retrospect, it is estimated that the current accommodation will have to be adjusted again, and some old immigrants will be arranged to live together as dormitory leaders, so as to bring these newcomers to adapt to the environment.

At noon, sure enough, a bell rang, and everyone took the dishes and chopsticks and went out, and when they saw that the people outside were all going in one direction, they silently followed behind. After walking for a while, I saw several cauldrons lined up under a bamboo shed, and the people who arrived first had already formed several columns, queuing up to receive food. Everyone also knew that this queue was the rule of the Haihan people, as long as there were more than three people in the queue, they had to queue up, and they stood silently at the end of the queue at the moment.

The content of the first meal when I came to Haihan was not rich, but the portion was still good, and each person received a large steamed bun and a bowl of vegetable porridge with salted dried fish. The staff who kept maintaining order in the queue kept repeating loudly with a tin horn: "Go back to your accommodation after taking the food, don't stop here and block the road!"

After Sun Zhen received the food, he could hardly find his own place to live, but fortunately, there was a careful one in the dormitory, saying that there was a door sign of "C17" hanging outside the dormitory. So everyone quickly found the dormitory of the "C-column", and then found their own residence by accident. At this time, under the eaves outside each dormitory, there was a row of men squatting and eating, and the scene was quite novel.

After eating, everyone took the dishes and chopsticks to the sink in the dormitory area and lined up to wash the dishes. There is an artesian well that supplies domestic water to all the dormitories of the 2nd Brigade.

After everyone returned to the dormitory and rested for a while, Cheng Lu came again, accompanied by a man in gray clothes and gray pants, who looked very capable in a short outfit, wearing a cloth hat with a short brim on his head, and a fire gun more than a foot long was inserted in his waist. Everyone had seen similar dresses on the dock, and they all stood up immediately when they knew that this was the officer of the Haihan Militia Regiment.

"Second Lieutenant Tang, it's this little brother who wants to sign up for the army. Cheng Lu flipped through the immigration registration book in his hand and said: "The number is zero 2037, the name is Sun Zhen, a native of Dengzhou, Shandong, now 19 years old, and there is no family in the local area. ”

The officer known as Second Lieutenant Tang looked at Sun Zhen, nodded, and said, "You are in good shape!

Sun Zhen nodded and said, "I want to become a naturalized early!"

Second Lieutenant Tang smiled and said, "Okay, as long as you can endure hardships, naturalization will only be a matter of a few days." ”

"I can endure hardship!" Sun Zhen immediately responded.

"Then take your things and come with me!" Second Lieutenant Tang looked at the rest of the people, then turned his head to leave, Cheng Lu glanced at Sun Zhen and followed closely behind.

Sun Zhen didn't have any personal belongings at all, so after thinking about it, he put away the new set of clothes on the bed, along with the bedding roll and pillows, and carried him out of the house. Second Lieutenant Tang smiled dumbly when he saw it: "You don't need to bring these things, they will be distributed in the army." ”

Sun Zhen's face turned red, and he went back to the house to put down all his things, and came out empty-handed: "I don't have anything else." ”

Sun Zhen is not the only new immigrant who plans to join the army to become naturalized, and the morning propaganda activity obviously has a certain effect, Sun Zhen followed the two people around the camp, and successively collected more than a dozen people. Sun Zhen still has an impression of the faces of many of them, and they should all be this group of refugees who boarded the ship from Haizhou.

After collecting the applicants, Second Lieutenant Tang led the people out of the immigration camp and walked south to the seaside pier. Here Sun Zhen found two other groups of people led by other Haihan officers, among whom there were also many familiar faces. Together, there were forty or fifty people in the three teams, and almost all of them were young men. It seems that these people, like themselves, are planning to take the shortcut of joining the army. Soon a 200-gauge ship came to sea, and when it landed, the officers began to beckon everyone to board the ship.