"Disembarked, disembarked! …… It's about to enter the port, and everyone is ready to disembark! ”

At the shouts of the sailors, the immigrants and indentured laborers huddled in the bilge immediately sat up, stretched their limbs vigorously, and then climbed up the wooden ladder to the upper deck, carrying the small baggage they had with them.

"It's so cold!" Standing on the deck, blown by the salty and cold sea breeze, Wang Shuigen couldn't help but feel a thrill, and hurriedly wrapped the tattered cotton clothes on his body a little tighter.

What the hell is this place, it's so warm and humid on Weiyi Island, but when I arrived on this Yinzhou continent, it was so cold.

Well, it's much colder than Wenzhou's hometown.

In fact, at noon yesterday, the big boat they were on had already sailed into the bay, but the berths in the port were limited, and all the ships had to wait for the port to enter the port in turn, so they could only temporarily anchor in the bay.

There were only a few narrow vents in the bilge, and more than 300 people were stuffed, so I didn't feel too cold except for the fishy smell of the cabin. It's just that when I go to bed at night, I need to wrap the cotton clothes I brought on my body to dispel the chill of the night.

But I didn't expect that after going on deck, it would be so cold.

Oh, yes, it's winter.

God bless, after nearly two months of turbulence at sea, we finally arrived safely on the Yinzhou mainland.

You must know that on such a long journey, eight or nine people died one after another in the big ship they were on, and all of them were thrown directly into the sea by those sailors and became food for fish and shrimp.

It's pitiful to think about, those who died, just because they couldn't survive in their hometown, or wanted to earn a good reward for their families, they all listened to the propaganda (demagogy) of the Qi people, boarded their big ships, and went to this wild Yinzhou continent to "pan for gold". But on the way, they died one by one, and what is even more tragic is that they were thrown into the sea and died without a place to be buried.

The big ship slowly docked at the berth of the wharf, and after the cable was tied tightly and the gangway was lowered, all the passengers lined up to get off the ship in an orderly manner, and then assembled in the designated area of the wharf to wait for the quarantine of Huaiyuan Port.

Yes, all passengers arriving in Yinzhou are required to go through a quarantine check at the terminal, mainly to simply observe their face and tongue coating, take their temperature, and ask about their history of infectious diseases.

After the initial screening, a thorough cleaning and disinfection is carried out in the port quarantine area, where men and women are separated, all clothes are removed, rinsed from beginning to end with hot water up to forty or fifty degrees, and then they are put on the clothes specially provided by the port department for five days of quarantine.

Of course, none of these are free, and each passenger needs to pay a fee for them.

In the case of migrant and indentured labour groups, it is paid for by the recipient and the employer, respectively.

The reason for such a relatively strict quarantine is that more than 20 years ago, during the Xuanzhou Gold Rush, a severe cholera outbreak occurred in the entire region due to the influx of gold prospectors from all over the world, killing more than 8,000 people. And those who do not have any immunity have many deaths. This made the colonial authorities deeply wary to this day, lest other deadly viruses spread to the Yinzhou mainland from outside.

After five days of quarantine, Wang Shuigen and a group of more than 100 indentured laborers were taken into Huaiyuan City by several horse-drawn carriages, rested in a warehouse for a few days, and then arranged to take a small steamer through Huaiyuan Bay (San Francisco Bay) to the mouth of the Guangfeng River, and finally along the river to Guangfeng (now Sacramento).

They would spend five years in the gold mines developed by the Imperial Household Gold Reserve Division, earning what they considered to be the richest reward of their lives.

In the warehouse, Wang Shuigen was surprised to find that the food of these indentured laborers was unusually rich, with large pieces of beef, fatty sea fish, rich bone broth, and unlimited steamed buns and rice.

His grandmother's five days in the port quarantine area were rice porridge and green vegetables almost every day, which made them think that the Yinzhou mainland was also at this level of food, and they also felt a little worried about the high-intensity work of the mine in the future.

But I didn't expect that when I entered the city and arrived at the boundary of the owner's territory, I actually gave such a good meal!

This has to be left in my Daqin, I'm afraid that the old man Kong in the township may not be able to eat this kind of meal every day, right?

Well, I didn't say it, the owner is not harsh on food, so let's get rid of our strength and work hard for others.

However, to the slight dissatisfaction of Wang Shuigen and other indentured laborers, a Qi State director who was in charge of managing them required everyone to shave their hair.

He claimed that his hair was too long to take care of, and it was easy to breed all kinds of germs. Moreover, in the mine, you have to come into contact with many machines, and if you are not careful, you may get into it because your hair is too long, hurt people, and even lose your life.

Most of these indentured laborers were from Daqin, as well as Koreans and Japanese, and they basically wore traditional long hair. When the Qin and Koreans were still hesitating about the Qi people's request, the short Japanese didn't say a word, and directly took the initiative to find the head shaving master and shaved their heads.

It was clear that the Qi people were very satisfied with the performance of the Japanese, and then stared at them, the Qin and Koreans, who were still hesitating, with a scrutinizing eye.

Dog's day, these widows originally had an ugly moon-age hairstyle on their heads, and they looked extremely obscene. Now, in order to show obedience to the people of Qi, he directly shaved a bald scoop, which is much more pleasing to the eye than before.

But we Chinese people pay attention to the parents of the body's hair and skin, how can we shave off our hair so casually?

This move by the people of Qi is not to force all of us to be exactly like them in words and deeds!

Most likely, I heard from the masters in the township that although the people of Qi live in the southern Han continent, they are bent on competing with our Great Qin for orthodoxy in terms of culture and inheritance, and think that they are the leaders and defenders of the Chinese civilization world.

What's the point of contention, our Chinese ethnic group has lived in the Shenzhou Continent for generations, and since ancient times, we have been the leaders of the civilization of the Eastern world. No matter how rich and powerful your Qi country is, it is just a branch from the mainland.

That's right, it's the side line of my big Chinese family who ran out of his own family, no matter how much he tosses, he can't be used as a long-term heir and become orthodox!

That's it, that's it, work hard to earn money in other people's lands, and be under their control, and follow them for the time being. When the hair is shaved, it is shaved. It's a big deal, after the five-year service period expires, he will return to the mainland with the money he has earned to continue to live his own small life, or in a year or two, won't this hair grow again.

——

The Guangfeng River (Sacramento River) is about 600 kilometers long, with a basin area of about tens of thousands of square kilometers and abundant water, which is one of the most important crop production bases in the Xuanzhou Governor's District. The river's flood season generally occurs at the turn of winter and spring and summer, and the runoff is very large, and it is navigable about 300 kilometers above the estuary.

On January 2, 1730, two small steamers with a displacement of 100 tons suddenly spewed black smoke and sailed along the wide river channel against the current, at a speed of 3-4 knots per hour, towards the upper reaches of the Guangfeng River.

In addition to being loaded with a large number of supplies and supplies, the small steamer was also stuffed with more than 100 immigrants and indentured laborers, pushing the waterline very low.

The two small steamers, which were obviously exclusively for cargo, although they had cabins and walls on all sides, were not well sheltered, and during the journey, the cold wind continued to blow in, so that the passengers had to wrap themselves in their cotton clothes and huddle each other to keep each other warm.

Wang Shuigen shrunk his neck, hugged his arms, his face was blue from the cold, and he continued to spew out white gas as he exhaled and inhaled from his mouth and nose.

On both sides of the river bank grew lush trees, tall and straight, reaching into the sky, and occasionally a nimble gray fox sprang out of the forest, and looked fixedly at the small steamer running in the river, and after a while, as if feeling some kind of danger, it ran back into the dense forest.

On the way, you will also see some immigrant settlements from time to time, solid wooden houses, curling cooking smoke, neat fields, vertical and horizontal ditches, and lazy grazing cattle and sheep, everything seems so quiet and beautiful.

According to the Qi people, every new immigrant can buy a large piece of land at a very low price and pass it on to future generations. If you don't have money, you can borrow money from the government and repay it in installments every year.

The taxes and fees that farmers need to pay are also comparable to those in Hanzhou, and will not exceed 10% of the total harvest. As long as you are a little diligent, it is not a problem to be well fed and clothed.

In addition, the forest is dense and the animal resources are extremely abundant. In the winter months, you can meet a few people, carry muskets and other hunting tools, hunt all kinds of wild beasts, not only to obtain a large amount of meat, but also to peel off their fur and sell it to roaming merchants to earn an extra income.

Oh, by the way, you have to be careful of the grizzly bears inside when you go hunting in the mountains. One mistake and that guy will absolutely throw you to the ground and eat at your face with ferocity.

However, if you are brave enough and agile enough, you can also reap a lot of money by hunting a grizzly bear. Many people believe that bear paw and bear bile have miraculous medicinal effects, and they are not afraid that no one will buy them with a lot of money.

Judging from the situation expressed by the Qi people, it seems that the immigrants in Yinzhou can live a good life, even if they are not as good as their Hanzhou itself, but they are definitely stronger than the ordinary people of Daqin.

Wang Shuigen tentatively asked about the price of the land here, and then got an answer that stunned him.

Only two yuan per acre of land!

It is equivalent to less than seven taels of silver!

God! You must know that in my Daqin, the buying and selling price of one acre of land is more than forty taels of silver. And if you buy those very fertile and geographically located land, the price of one mu is definitely not worth forty taels, maybe as high as fifty or sixty taels of silver.

Mother, why is this land in Yinzhou so worthless, it's the same as the price of cabbage!

Wang Shuigen secretly counted his fingers, the salary agreement in the miners' contract he signed was fifteen yuan per month, and even if three yuan of room and board expenses were deducted, there were twelve yuan that could fall into his pocket, that is, he could buy seven acres of land.

Obediently, Lao Tzu's annual income can buy more than 80 acres of land! If this is in Daqin, a proper small landlord.

How much money can you save in five years?

How much land can you buy with the money you save?!

Oh, then do I have to return to the mainland after the contract of absenteeism ends?

Wang Shuigen was suddenly a little confused.

With a "plop", a fat fish jumped out of the river, and then plunged into the water, stirring up a wave of spray.

Ahem, what am I thinking? Before I even went to work in the mines, I began to think about what I would do in five years.

That's it, that's it, let's talk about it then.

——

"Hmph, if you don't approve more gold mining areas for Yizhou Trading Company, they will get more people, are they going to increase mining efforts and dig out more gold?"

Meng Daohe, the governor of Xuanzhou, lowered the curtain of the carriage and closed his gaze with a sneering smile on his face.

"Governor, if the Yiwang Mansion wants to expand its territory, recruit immigrants, and raise soldiers, it must not need a large amount of funds!" Feng Changzhi, the governor of Guangfeng, said with a smile: "I heard that recently, the king of Yi has sent his third brother Qi Siyi to Hanzhou itself in the name of congratulating the new emperor on his enthronement ceremony, lobbying His Majesty and the cabinet to grant them more autonomous powers in the Yizhou domain, and hoping to get strong support from the government and non-governmental trading companies to explore colonization to the east." ”

"If the Yiwang Mansion is greedy for money, it is nothing more than tossing the people under its jurisdiction and extorting some big businessmen." Meng Daohe sighed and said, "I'm afraid that His Royal Highness King Yi will be determined to follow the example of Qingguo and make a great feat in this Yinzhou continent." If Yizhou is allowed to sit on the throne, it is inevitable that it will use its strong position to suppress our Xuanzhou Governorate in the future. Even, with time, the power grows and dominates the west bank of Yinzhou, won't it become a big trend? ”

"Your Excellency the Governor is too worried." Feng Changzhi listened, but he didn't think so, "The strength of our Qi country's navy is the best in the world, and the fleet is all over the world, if the Yizhou domain has misdeeds, revealing the intention of plotting against our Xuanzhou or Pengzhou in the north, just send any fleet, you can lock the entire west coast of Yinzhou and prohibit its sea access." With the output of Yizhou, it will not last, how can it pose the slightest threat to me? What's more, the land of Yinzhou, with my Xuanzhou has the most population, the most products, and the strongest strength, so I don't have to worry that Yizhou will be able to grow in the short term. ”

"In the past, Emperor Taizu once said that the land of Yinzhou is rich in products and resources, and the climate and environment are like the mainland of China. If a strong man rises up and unites the place, it will surely rise, and it may be difficult to stop. Meng Daohe glanced at this native magistrate, and said in a deep voice: "Otherwise, with the population of hundreds of thousands in Yinzhou District, why do the emperor and the cabinet have to divide this place into several parts, which are not subordinate to each other, and each is not at peace. Prevention is better than prevention! In the land of the two oceans, there cannot be any local power that is strong enough to threaten the maritime hegemony of our country. ”

"That's what the Governor said." Feng Changzhi said yes in his mouth, but he didn't agree with it in his heart.

Heh, can Yin Zhou threaten the Qi State in the future?

I'm afraid it's a joke!

The east coast of the continent was the territory of the English, the south was the Spanish, and in the middle a large expanse of plains was the territory of the French, divided into several large chunks of mixed forces.

Whoever wants to completely occupy this continent must not fight a four-nation scuffle.

In addition, the west coast occupied by our Qi people, from the Rinzhou Governorate in the northern polar region, to the Pengzhou Governorate in the middle, to the Yiwang Domain and Xuanzhou, where we are located, this is divided into four parts.

Let me ask, under such circumstances, how can the Yinzhou Continent pose a hegemonic threat to the Qi State in the future?

Cut, offshore balanced?

It depends on the location! It is not so much that in Yinzhou, a place where there is not even an industrial base, it is necessary to be so vigilant and cautious.

To put it bluntly, these upper-level colonial officials from the mainland wanted to use this excuse to suppress and restrict the development of the Yinzhou region, so that it could become a bloodsucking bag of the mainland forever.

You don't see, the Xuanzhou Governorate relies on the income from the sale of land, and has to pay half to the mainland.

The gold mining area of Guangfeng is also occupied by a third of the gold reserve department from the Imperial Household Department.

Any trading company or individual who takes gold out of the country is subject to a high mineral tax. And all the taxes collected had to be handed over to the central household finance.

You said, if all this wealth is left in Xuanzhou, then how much money will be scored by each local!

(End of chapter)