The diet of the locals is not much different from that of Luzon.

It's just that the amount of local rice is more, which is also related to the dense paddy fields in the Annam area, which is also in line with the eating habits of the Ming people.

The Ming soldiers present ate with relish.

Due to financial and logistical supply considerations, the Ming army had always used sweet potatoes in Luzon as the main military food supply.

In Luzon, because the Spaniards brought sweet potatoes and other genera from the Americas into Luzon in the 16th century, after hundreds of years of evolution and promotion, sweet potatoes gradually became the main food in Luzon.

This was a bitter for the Ming people in Luzon, and in the army, the ration of sweet potatoes was even higher than that of rice, the staple food of the Ming people.

This made rice even a bargain in the barracks.

It is similar to the cigarette beer in the army of later generations.

"Brother Ding, I used to be a Zheng general, and I heard that Taiwan's Zheng army went south to Luzon and fought for the South Seas with the red-haired ghosts, I don't know what is going on now." At the dinner table, Yang Yong looked at Brother Ding and asked.

Ding Ge smiled indifferently.

"The Luzon Ming Army was originally the lone army of the Zheng family brigade in Taiwan, and because of dissatisfaction with the surrender of the Zheng lord, they went south to Luzon, first defeated the Buddha Langji, and then collected the northern half of the territory of Banggui."

"Now the Luzon Ming court has more than 10,000 soldiers, 1,000 warships, 10,000 Han households under its jurisdiction, countless people, and a military salary coupon of one million taels a year." Brother Ding said indifferently.

If an ordinary businessman dared to be so talkative in front of him, Yang Yong would have chopped him with a knife.

However, the words of the Chinese businessman in front of him made Yang Yong have to believe it.

Whether it was the eight Dafu ships that came here this morning, the ten fully armed soldiers in front of them, or the silver two firearms sent by Chen Shangchuan earlier, Yang Yong had to be convinced.

Brother Ding seemed to see what Yang Yong was thinking, and continued: "Today, we and other Chinese merchants went north to Zhenla to trade with the local Ming people at the behest of the Ming Court, because the Ming Court heard that the Ming people in the Dongpu area of Zhenla were in distress, and Lord Liu Yu couldn't bear the suffering of the Ming people, so he specially let the Chinese merchants go to Zhenla to relieve the hardships of the Ming people in Zhenla with Luzon's material resources."

When Yang Yong heard this, his face immediately turned overjoyed, and he hurriedly asked, "How many taels of silver, grain and grass did you bring today?" ”

"When I meet Lord Yang, the general will naturally know." Ding Ge didn't elaborate.

After lunch, a group of people continued on the road, and before leaving, Ding Ge also took out a few taels of silver from his sleeve and handed them to several people in the house.

When those people saw this, they quickly knelt on the ground and thanked them.

After leaving the village, the group continued to march through the fields until sunset, when they reached a town.

The so-called towns are just a few villages gathered together.

Fenced courtyards can be seen everywhere.

Under the leadership of Yang Yong, everyone also entered a nearby camp.

"My lord, the Ming merchants of Luzon have come here to seek trade at the behest of the Ming court." After Brother Ding saw Yang Yandi in the camp, he immediately said the purpose of his trip.

As early as noon, a fast horse came back to report the news.

Therefore, Yang Yandi, who received the news, was not surprised by these Chinese businessmen.

"I am trapped in Zhenla, I have the intention to spend this life in a daze, who would have thought that a letter from Brother Shengcai could get the help of Nanyang nobles, it is really a blessing for the people of Annan." Yang Yandi excitedly pulled Brother Ding's sleeve.

"Since the Chinese merchants of Nanyang came here to trade, I don't know what they brought." There was also a Ming general standing next to Yang Yandi, who was born with a strong force, and after seeing this person speak, Yang Yandi pulled Brother Ding and smiled at the military generals on the side: "Let me introduce me, this is my adjutant general, General Huang Jin."

"It turned out to be General Huang Shen." Ding Ge arched his hand.

"Don't hide it from the general, the goods brought by Chinese merchants from Nanyang today include 2,000 catties of iron, 800 pieces of farm tools, 100 barrels of gunpowder, 25 barrels of whale oil, and some whale meat." Dingo Road.

Of course, these are just some of the goods that came with the trip.

Ding Ge thought about it, this trip is just the first stop, and there is no need to list all the things on it.

Yang Yandi and the general glanced at each other and spoke.

"The Ming court entrusted the Chinese businessmen to come here to carry firearms, and if there are firearms, we are willing to pay for them."

Ding Ge shook his head, "We are just a maritime merchant, and there are no firearms in the ship. ”

As soon as the words fell, several generals in the battalion were obviously a little lost.

"Alas, it's a pity, and now Zhenla has repeatedly invaded, and we are tired of running for our lives, but we have been repeatedly suppressed because of the lack of equipment, and now we are huddled in this corner." Yang Yandi shook his head and said with a wry smile.

Lin Xu, who was standing behind Brother Ding as a guard, couldn't help but glance at the other party when he heard Yang Yandi's words.

What is the use of giving you firearms, a remnant of your army?

Along the way, especially after entering the camp.

Lin Xu saw that the officers and soldiers along the way were either sitting in groups drinking or guessing boxing, and the swords and shields were scattered all over the place, and the soldiers had never been seen drilling.

Even the guards around the camp are lazy, not to mention the nearby outposts, even the guards in the camp are not wearing armor, and even because of the hot weather, the patrol soldiers are still shirtless, and the wooden cards and shields that should be held in their hands are simply abandoned on the ground.

Although at this time, neither the armor nor other heavy armor could withstand the damage caused by firearms.

But the most dangerous thing in the South Seas is not firearms, but whistle arrows or poison darts in the hands of Shengfan.

In the rainforest area, the most feared are the poison arrows and whistle arrows that have been smeared with poison by the local people, and these sharp weapons are very difficult to prevent.

Once an arrow is hit, it can be as short as a few hours, or as many as a day or two, and then it will be poisoned and killed.

In addition, it is lightweight and easy to carry, making it a weapon that is used in life.

In the Luzon Ming Army, whether it was patrolling or guarding in the battalion, the soldiers had to wear armor.

Even if the local area is humid and hot, you have to wear it, just to prevent the cold from suddenly encountering a sneak attack from the dark from time to time.

Lin Xu even secretly guessed in his heart how many dishes there were in this local real wax.

It was able to keep these people alive until now.

If you change the local Nero's native state or pirates, it is estimated that one or two hundred people can be gathered to serve them.

"It's a pity that the Ming people here are in difficulty, and we are shy in our pockets, and I am afraid that we can't afford to buy it." Yang Yandi looked embarrassed and said with a wry smile.

After hearing this, Brother Ding said with a smile: "There is no need for silver taels, now it is the end of spring, and the summer harvest is imminent, and the people of Mei Di Ming can exchange rice and other grains for these two thousand catties of iron, hundreds of barrels of gunpowder, and whale oil can be exchanged for grain and grass."

This time the merchant fleet was sent to Annam, and the Ming court did not expect the Ming people in the Dongpu area to exchange silver taels for the goods brought by the merchant fleet.

Thinking about it, I want to go to Dongpu this area for thousands of miles, it is the land of fish and rice, and it is time for the summer harvest to be soon, so it is better to let the Ming people of Dongpu Jiading exchange rice and other grains.

The generals present breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, if they can exchange grain and grass for the best, and this summer's harvest is imminent, it only takes more time to collect grain, anyway, after the grain and grass are collected, they must also ask Zhenla, Guangnan that in exchange for what they need, it is better to give it directly to Ming Shang.

"My lord, now there are more than 10,000 people in Jiading?" Ding Ge asked tentatively.

Now the Ming court is not clear about the scale of the Ming people in the area of Annam Zhenla.

I only know that Chen Shangchuan, Yang Yandi and others led 3,000 soldiers to the south and were placed in the Jiading area by Lord Ruan.

"There are not many people in the United States, and there are more than 5,000 soldiers and cultivators, and now most of the people under his jurisdiction are Zhenla people, because we have many soldiers, and the local people do not dare to gather people to rebel." Huang Jin 1510 said.

It seems that most of the Ming people in Annan are in the area of Dongpu Jiading.

However, the number of Meidi Ming people also exceeded Ding Ge's imagination, which is almost equal to most of the Ming population in Luzon.

In fact, the officials of the Luzon Ming court were still Chinese businessmen in Nanyang, and they didn't know much about the area around Annam.

At this time, the area of Higashiura and Migi and other areas of Sujinla belonged to the Sanzhi Zone.

At the beginning, with the support of Lord Ruan, he became the vice king of Zhenla, and was sealed to the southern boundary of Zhenla.

However, because he was restrained by Lord Ruan, he was drunk and dreamed of death every day, and even Yang Yandi, Chen Shangchuan and other Ming forces who were close to this foot were ignored, which naturally gave the Ming people a chance to recuperate.

However, the Nguyen lords of Quang Nam had the intention to occupy it, but they were hindered by the forces of neighboring countries such as Champa and could not reach it.

It happened to coincide with the Ming and Qing dynasties in the north, and many remnants of the Ming Dynasty who were unwilling to accept the rule of the Qing Dynasty went south to Dongpu to reclaim wasteland, which eventually made the Ming people gather in the area of Dongpu and Jiading.

In the end, Yang Yandi exchanged 8,000 stone rice and other grains for a large amount of iron, gunpowder, and whale oil from the Ming merchants.

Brother Ding also gave Yang Yandi fifty pieces of yarn.

And agreed to raise 8,000 stone of grain at the end of summer and send it to the Ming merchant fleet.

Pig iron from the Fu ship was also transported to the camp and nearby workshops.

The properties of pig iron are hard, wear-resistant, and good castability, but pig iron is brittle and cannot be forged, but it is suitable for building agricultural tools and ironware.

Pieces of pig iron were remelted and poured into molds, which were heat-treated to make the iron harder and more flexible.

The result was cast iron, which could be used to craft weapons and various tools.