On July 2, 1724, Jianye (present-day Darwin, Australia).

A navy ship slowly sailed into Jianye Port, and before it approached the berth of the exclusive military dock, both sides of the ship were crowded with naval officers and men, and their eyes were eagerly looking towards the shore.

It is true that there is no exact date for the arrival of any Navy ship at the port, and naturally there will be no military family members to greet them at the pier. But the sailors, who had been wandering for months, still looked eagerly at the pier and at the crowd of people, as if their relatives and friends would appear here and bring him a great surprise.

On the deck, Li Yanliang, dressed in the uniform of an army officer, stood out in the crowd of naval officers and soldiers.

With a long sigh of relief, Li Yanliang left the side of the ship, squeezed out the crowd, and walked towards the cabin. It's about to dock, pack up your luggage, and get off the boat.

"When I arrived at Jianye, what were the arrangements?" Captain Renyong (Lieutenant) Cao Ge patted Li Yanliang on the shoulder and asked with a smile.

"What can I do?" As he walked, Li Yanliang replied: "I don't have any familiar colleagues in Jianye, let alone relatives, so I can only go to the Army Service Agency to rest for one night and take the train back to Daxing (now Brisbane) tomorrow." ”

"Along the way, I fell in love with you, if you don't mind, go to my house for a night. At that time, I will invite a few more colleagues in the military to come over, and we will have a drink and talk about important things at the same time. ”

“…… It's too abrupt, so let's not bother. Li Yanliang hesitated for a moment, shook his head and declined: "You just came back from overseas for a vacation, and it is the time to reunite with your parents and family, how can I disturb you to talk about family affection?" He has a fate, and I will meet one day. ”

"Yanliang said this, but he was a little insincere." Cao Ge said: "We serve in the army, and we must obey the dispatch of the peak at any time. If you say goodbye today, I am afraid that there will be no goodbye day. Maybe one day, you'll be stabbed again by some of the natives from overseas, or maybe I'll sink into the sea with my ship and meet the dragon king. Hehe...... don't blame me, I have no taboos to speak. I don't want you to say that my parents and family are all in Chang'an (now Toowoomba, Australia), and the house in Jianye City is a family courtyard, the place is very spacious, and there are no elders to live in, only a few relatives live in it on weekdays. It didn't get too much of a hindrance for us to invite acquaintances to gather. ”

“…… That being the case, then it is better to be respectful than to obey fate. Li Yanliang listened to Cao Ge's words and smiled bitterly.

Although I am not afraid of life and death, I am somewhat shy of words, who does not want to return to my hometown alive and reunite with my parents, wife and children while making meritorious contributions.

Half a year ago, the garrison army in western India encountered 5,000 Mughal cavalry on the Rajput desert, and after a big battle, although the Mughal army was defeated, more than 2,000 killed, wounded and captured, but it also had a lot of casualties, more than 160 killed, more than 500 wounded, and nearly 30 percent of the losses.

And Li Yanliang was also seriously injured in this battle, and was pierced in the back by a sharp blade, almost injuring his internal organs, killing him. Fortunately, the military doctor rescued him in time and pulled him back from the brink of death.

Subsequently, the Xizhou garrison army divided its troops into several routes, attacked the Rajput area, and instigated the local Rajput to launch an uprising and expel the Mughal military and political officials. At the same time, they stood in solidarity with several major local powerhouses and suggested that they unite to create an independent Rajput kingdom.

After stirring up the situation in Rajput and attracting the attention of the Mughal Empire, the Xizhou garrison retreated to Multan, and after a short rest, they withdrew to Jinmen (present-day Karachi) in batches.

Li Yanliang spent more than four months recuperating in Jinmen before he fully recovered from his injuries. Just when he was gearing up to go north to Afghanistan with the Xizhou garrison army, attack Kandahar, and cooperate with the Persian expeditionary force to attack the Khandaki puppet dynasty established by Namahmud. But he never thought that a transfer from the local area shattered his dream of making a contribution.

It is said that the order was sent to Jinmen as early as mid-January, but he happened to be wounded in the Rajput area at that time, and then he was sent to Multan to recuperate, and it was never handed to him.

Subsequently, Li Yanliang was sent down the Indus River by a small river steamer and sent back to Jinmen to continue his treatment. The local military and political officials were busy with the expedition to Afghanistan, began to prepare all kinds of ordnance and logistics supplies, contacted the Kharat Khanate, and took over the garrison of the Moroccan garrison, and for a time forgot his transfer order.

At the beginning of May, all preparations for the northern expedition to Afghanistan were completed, and the combat troops and the people who were requisitioned were also in a state of readiness. Li Yanliang's injuries also basically improved, and he immediately asked the officers to return to the team and follow the army to make meritorious deeds.

However, his direct commander informed him that according to the order of the Home War Department, Li Yanliang would need to return to Chang'an by boat immediately after his health recovered and accept a new job arrangement. His post as commander of the third company of the second battalion of the first regiment of the Xizhou garrison army has been replaced by a new officer.

After Li Yanliang received the order, he was shocked and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

According to the comprehensive intelligence of all parties, the tribal armed forces in Afghanistan are extremely backward, and there are few decent firearms. When Mahmud left Kandahar to raid Persia, he took almost all of his elite troops with him. This time, the Indian garrison joined forces with the Kharat Khanate, sent nearly 10,000 troops, well-equipped, and abundant materials.

Under such circumstances, it is a sure thing to establish outstanding military merits, and for future promotions in the army, you will obtain a dazzling qualification.

Unexpectedly, I didn't expect to get this credit for myself.

It stands to reason that the appointment and transfer of a low-ranking officer like him will not alarm the local War Department at all, and it will not even pass through the overseas garrison headquarters. Therefore, when his immediate superiors handed over the order to him, his eyes were full of inquiry.

Could this guy be the son of a high-ranking official or a noble in China?

With doubts and regrets, Li Yanliang arrived in Jianye on May 6 on a warship that had returned to the mainland and after more than two months.

During the long journey, as an army officer, he was inevitably ridiculed and verbally squeezed on a navy ship, which made him depressed along the way. However, as the exchanges between them grew, they also got to know several like-minded officers on the ship.

Cao Ge has a big temperament and is relatively cool, and he doesn't care about the so-called "door" dispute between the sea and the land. On weekdays, as long as he is not on duty, he will always come to Li Yanliang to talk. The opinions and opinions of various places, the conquest of overseas territories, and the comments on the state of the world, each expressed their own opinions, discussed them passionately, and attracted each other as confidants, which made the boring journey a little more interesting.

After decades of construction, Jianye Port is not only the largest port in Hanzhou, but also the economic and trade center of the entire Nanyang region, and the most important maritime transportation hub. Hundreds of ships pass through the harbor every day, and towering masts, hanging sails, and smoke from steamships fill the bay.

"Hahaha...... Lao Tzu has finally come to the country of Qi!" A migrant who had just disembarked from the ship couldn't help but roar when he saw the busy and noisy wharf, the bustling crowd, the layered warehouses and warehouses, and the towering landing monument in the port, which attracted the attention of the surrounding crowd.

"Tu San, don't yell!" A companion immediately stopped: "This is the Qi country, don't be angry." …… Look, I've recruited all the bad guys! ”

Two dock patrol officers heard the roar, and walked over with batons in their hands and a wary face.

After carefully checking the entry documents of the other party, there was nothing wrong with them, and the police sternly warned them not to make loud noises and wanton arrogance, otherwise they would be arrested and returned to the camp to mine.

"The people of the Qin State on the mainland." Cao Ge carried his duffel bag, looked at the small episode that happened over there, and said with a smile: "How do you feel, all outsiders who set foot on the land of my Qi country will look so excited." ”

"If you get an errand in my Qi country, you can get at least five or six yuan a month, which is equivalent to nearly a dozen taels of silver. In less than three or five years, you can save a lot of money. This is simply unimaginable in the Qin State. Li Yanliang shook his head and said: "If this were to be me, I would be so excited to get an income that is seven or eight times higher than now, or even more than ten times higher." ”

"That's right! I heard that in the past few decades, the Qin State has been strictly controlling the escape of the people in the country without permission to prevent all kinds of smuggling behaviors, so as to avoid population loss. Cao Ge said as he walked: "But even so, there are no less than 100,000 Qin people smuggled into the overseas territory of our Qi State and the Han continent itself every year. With so many people, if you want to put aside that remote place on Weiyuan Island, you can build several counties! ”

"A few years ago, I heard an economist in Daxing put forward such a theory." Li Yanliang said: "He said that with the development of cities, several large cities with a high concentration of population will gradually be formed, and then various advantageous resources will be gathered, so that large cities will have more job opportunities, better education, perfect medical security, and so on." This is fatally attractive to economically backward rural and small towns, which will absorb the population, resources, and cheap labor of these disadvantaged areas into the big cities. In this way, the development of large cities will be further promoted. I believe that this phenomenon of population attraction due to economic factors will also occur between countries. After all, water flows low, and people go high! ”

(End of chapter)