Yue Buqun stayed in Dinghai, Zhoushan for two days, learned in detail about the current situation of the Nujiao Gang and Dinghai Hall, and met with the disciples who were in charge of various affairs before setting off for Chaodong.

After passing through the Chaodong Shipyard, to the artillery factory and the gunpowder factory, and then going over the mountain directly into Chaoyang, it took two days to have a conversation and contact with all the Huashan disciples who worked in these workshops.

When he arrived in Chaoyang, Yue Buqun drove Tong Yiwen and others to work, leaving only Lin Yaohua, Yang Jian and a few others to accompany him to inspect Chaoyang Town and various factories and mines.

Lin Yaohua accompanied Yue Buqun and others from Chaoyang Town to the suburbs, and introduced: "Now there are about 10,000 people living in the town, most of whom are farmers, cultivating 30,000 acres of paddy fields outside the town. There are also four villages in the surrounding area, each with 100 households, a total of more than 2,000 people, who also cultivate nearly 10,000 acres of paddy fields. ”

Yue Buqun looked at the paddy fields outside the town that stretched all the way to the Huahe River, and saw a large number of migrant workers repairing the river embankment, and asked, "How many paddy fields can be reclaimed in this Chaoyang Town?"

Lin Yaohua replied: "The exploration around Chaoyang has been completed, and it is estimated that about 200,000 acres of paddy fields can be developed, which is enough to feed 50,000 people. ”

Yue Buqun nodded, and Lin Yaohua continued: "The coal mine is on the mountain in the south, there are more than 1,500 people, it is very close to the river, and it will soon reach Chaoyang, and the coking coal plant south of the Huahe estuary, the ironmaking plant is next to the coking coal plant, and there are more than 1,000 people living there. ”

"Over there, across from the confluence of the Hua River and the Chaoyang River. ”

Lin Yaohua pointed to the northwest and said: "Where is the shipyard, now it can only start the construction of four 500-ton warships at the same time, and the expansion of the factory dock is underway, and it is planned that by next year, the production capacity will be doubled, and now the shipwright has reached 2,000 people, which is enough for the expansion of production." ”

"Along the back of the shipyard, there were also timber mills and ironworks, both of which were five or six hundred people working. ”

"There are many small workshops in that area, including winemaking, sauce making, furniture and so on. ”

"There are also 100 shops in the town, which can basically meet the living and production needs of Chaoyang and Yuntai towns. ”

"Now these shops and small workshops are all invested by us, and we have a lot of shares with people with skills, we account for the majority, and those shopkeepers account for one to three percent, and whether it is our own factory and mine, or a joint stock shop workshop, Nanhaitang charges two percent of the management fee, which has an annual income of more than 20,000 taels of silver. ”

Lin Yaohua has been in Chaoyang for several years and is proficient in all affairs of Chaoyang.

"Now Chaoyang and Yuntai, a total of more than 94,000 acres of paddy fields, two seasons a year, can produce 700,000 stone rice. ”

"There are more than 40,000 people in Chaoyang and Chaodong, and more than 50,000 people in Yuntai, and it is estimated that 450,000 stone of grain will be consumed a year, and the remaining more than 200,000 stone can be sold to the mainland, and this income is about 150,000 taels. ”

"It can be said that from this year onwards, Ryukyu will be self-sufficient, and will no longer need the funding of the Nujiao Gang, so they can develop on their own, and they can also feed the Nujiao Gang. ”

Yue Buqun shook his head and said, "You only kept 100,000 stone of grain last year, and if you don't sell this year, this 200,000 stone will be enough for 40,000 or 50,000 people to eat." Starting this year, the number of immigrants will continue to increase, tens of thousands of people a year, and you will soon run out of food. ”

Lin Yaohua explained: "As long as there are no more than 30,000 people a year, Ryukyu will definitely be able to basically self-sufficient, you know, the speed of reclamation now, far greater than in previous years, after immigration, as long as half a year to a year, can produce benefits, support themselves, no longer need our funding." ”

Yue Buqun thought for a while, nodded and said, "I didn't expect this, I only measured it by the experience of the past two years." That's good, after investing so much manpower and material resources, you can finally see the benefits. ”

"Oh, by the way, where is the land allocated to the Zhang family?"

Lin Yaohua said: "In the southernmost part of Yuntai, about forty miles away from Yuntai Town, there are two small rivers, about seven or eight miles apart, and the land along the river in the middle of the two rivers is allocated to the Zhang family. ”

Yue Buqun instructed: "If the Zhang family has any difficulties, you have to help more, his family is our horse bones, only his family gets huge benefits here, can we attract more alliances, relying on the power of our Nujiao Gang, the speed of developing overseas places is too slow." ”

Lin Yaohua nodded yes, everyone has gone around the entire Ryukyus, knowing how much land there is in the Ryukyus that can be developed, tens of millions of acres are indispensable, which requires more than a million people to cultivate, and it will take decades to complete it by relying on the power of Huashan alone.

Obviously, Huashan can't just focus on this land, there are many other affairs that Huashan needs to manage, so the introduction of alliances is indispensable.

"Helper, now that the population of the Ryukyus is increasing, and the salt is still supplied by the mainland, should we also open a salt farm to dry salt?"

"Oh! With so much rain in the Ryukyus, you can also dry salt?"

"Helper, there is less rain in the south of the Ryukyus, and the sun is exposed to a long time, and there are many tidal flats on the seaside, so it is completely possible to dry salt. ”

Yue Buqun said happily: "Then send someone to rectify the salt field and expose our own salt as soon as possible, which is a big piece of expenditure, and it can also be sold to North Korea and the Japanese country, or it can be transported to Liaodong to exchange for timber." ”

Lin Yaohua said happily: "Since this is the case, I will discuss with Hall Master Tong when I go back, arrange for people to go over, and Deputy Hall Master Zhao will also send a fleet to protect it." ”

Yue Buqun nodded and said, "You guys discuss it, just don't miss the overall plan." ”

Lin Yaohua said: "There will be no delay in the plan, two years later, dozens of gunboats, plus more than 100 Fu ships will go south, all the pirates along the coast of Fujian will be crushed, and it will take another year to occupy the sea off Guangdong, and then all the maritime trade merchant ships will have to hang our Nujiao flag before they can go to sea." ”

Yue Buqun asked again: "What's going on over there in Penghu, are there still pirates coming to sneak attack?"

Lin Yaohua said: "Not for the time being, now I have allocated five warships to the past, there are more than 1,000 people in the Penghu Village, which is enough to deal with ordinary pirates, Nanhaitang has made an immigration plan, fill 10,000 people over, and it will be stable, just covering the southern part of the Ryukyus, and it will also become an outpost of Nanhaitang to conquer the coastal areas of Fujian." ”

Yue Buqun boasted: "It's done very well, but don't be proud, now the pirates along the coast of Fujian are still scattered, as soon as the Nujiao Gang acts, I'm afraid these pirates will form an alliance to fight against the Nujiao Gang, you must be prepared to fight hard." ”

Lin Yaohua said: "Nanhaitang already has a relevant prediction, once the Fujian pirates form an alliance, Donghaitang will also rush to help, and strive to defeat the pirate alliance in a war, which will be more convenient." ”

Yue Buqun smiled and said, "You are really confident! Then I will wait for your good news." ”

He turned to Yang Jian and said, "How is the life on the mountain cleaned up?"

Yang Jian smiled and said: "Now within a radius of 100 miles, there is no longer a single Shengfan, our two defense offices will join forces, at the end of this year, we will strive to clean up all the Shengfan in the north of the Ryukyus, and starting next year, the estuary in the east can also be reclaimed, and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land can be opened up, and it will not be a problem to feed 20,000 people." ”

Yue Bu** said: "Try to kill as few people as possible, catch those who can be caught alive, catch them down the mountain, teach them to farm, after they learn to farm, they will not return to the mountains to be savages." We also have to teach them the language, and after learning the writing, language and etiquette of our Han people, they will also become Han people. ”

Lin Yaohua and Yang Jian both nodded, and Lin Yaohua said: "Now everyone in the Ryukyus has learned simple writing and arithmetic, more than half of them can understand the decrees we issued, and most of them can calculate the income and expenditure accounts in their lives, and the calculation of buying and selling will be soon." ”

Yue Buqun said: "Very good, don't be afraid to spend money in this regard, invest in education, and you can produce the greatest benefits." ”

Seeing that the few people behind him still didn't quite understand, Yue Buqun didn't explain much, as long as he did what he asked, after more than ten years, the results would naturally appear.

All the way to the west, there are a lot of waist-thick camphor trees on the side of the road, and there are wooden signs hanging in the conspicuous part of the trunks, marking the numbers, Yue Buqun asked: "How is the management of these fine timbers now? How many are recorded?"

Nowadays, the keel and mast of sea ships are still one-piece wood, so it is necessary to manage the planned felling of suitable trees.

Yue Buqun also instructed the technical craftsmen of the shipyards to begin to study the wood splicing process, but there were no results.

Lin Yaohua said: "Everything within a radius of 50 miles has been included in the management, and the relevant regulations have also been educated in the hearts of every Ryukyuan person, and there will basically be no indiscriminate felling." ”

"There are more than 7,000 camphor trees, nanmu, teak, cypress and other trees on record, which can be cut down directly, and more than 10,000 trees that are in good condition, which have also been marked, and can enter the cutting period in the next ten years. ”

Yang Jian said: "On the mountain to the south, there are still many huge timbers, and we will not be able to use them up in a hundred years. ”

Yue Buqun shook his head and said: "How can it not be used up, we only build dozens of ships every year now, and in another ten years, I am afraid that it will be the construction of hundreds of thousands of sea ships every year, and these timbers are far from enough, so we must manage the timber on the island well, this is a hundred-year plan, and we must not be careless." ”

Yang Jian closed his mouth and nodded hurriedly, Lin Yaohua said: "We all know the severity, and there will be a plan to cut down good timber."

Yue Buqun nodded, and suddenly asked, "Yang Jian, what do you think about the matter of Miss Zhang's family?"

Lin Yaohua looked at Yang Jian with interest, Yang Jian's face suddenly turned red, and he squirmed and said, "This, you have to see the real person to say." ”

Yue Buqun laughed, this kid was sure to be from the appearance committee, and said: "It's okay, you ask the Tong Hall Master for a few days off and go to Nanjing, if it agrees, then settle it as soon as possible." ”

"Yaohua, you are the same, don't pick and choose, if you see the right one, start as soon as possible, if you are late, the good girl will be snatched away by others. ”

Lin Yaohua couldn't imagine that the war would burn on his head, so he said: "I'll pay attention to it after two years." ”

Yue Buqun snorted and said, "If it drags on any longer, your aunt will talk to you in person, so let's do it myself!"

Lin Yaohua's scalp was numb, and he lowered his head and followed behind Yue Buqun, walking towards the shipyard.

Yue Buqun spent two days walking all over Chaoyang and Yuntai, and saw that the people in all factories, mines, and villages were working with peace of mind, living a prosperous life, and their sense of belonging to the Ryukyus was increasing day by day.

Boatloads of new immigrants saw that the land was so fertile and that the people were so prosperous that they quickly integrated into it, doing their best to develop the Ryukyus and building themselves a rich and decent home.

The continuous arrival of new immigrants has further strengthened the sense of security of old immigrants.

The truth that there is great strength in numbers, even the old peasants who have not read a book know it.

As the number of immigrants from the Ryukyus increased dramatically, the desire to expand southward became stronger.