Fenghou

Chapter 1403

Two days later, Chen Qing boarded the big ship and went to the big island of Ryukyu for inspection. He originally wanted to put Yu Lian and Yao Mei in Quanzhou, but both of them refused, so they must go with him, so Chen Qing had to agree.

But a group of officials did not go, they were to supplement officials from various prefectures along Fujian Road, some were governors, some were long officials, some were county magistrates, and the governor was called Cai Shu, who would be the governor of Zhangzhou and succeed Yue Fei. As a civilian, he was going to Mount Lu to move his mother's coffin back to his hometown of Tangyin County to be buried with his father, and then to honor his parents for three years. Chen Qing immediately approved his resignation.

The fleet first arrived at Penghu Island. Penghu Island was used as a transit to the Big Island of Ryukyu. The small town on the island has always been small, but a large transit warehouse was built, and then it was transported to the Big Island of Ryukyu by a ship of thousands of stones. Therefore, Penghu Island Almost all the people on the island are engaged in transportation and sugar extraction. Every household has a cargo ship to deliver supplies to Da Dao. Da Dao transports sugar cane, kapok and wood back to the warehouse. The sugar cane is initially processed on Penghu Island and squeezed into The syrup is then transported to Quanzhou for secondary processing to make frosting sugar and brown sugar.

Chen Qing only stayed on Penghu Island for half a day, inspected the warehouses and sugar mills on the island, and then continued his journey to the big island of Ryukyu.

In the living cabin, Chen Qing invited Zhou Kuan and Chao Kun to drink tea with him, as well as his son Chen Ji. Zhou Kuan smiled slightly at Chen Ji: "As early as the Three Kingdoms and Eastern Wu period, Sun Quan wanted to expand his territory. , and also sent ships to overseas to find land. Generals Wei Wenwen and Zhuge Zhizhi arrived at the big island of Ryukyu, which was called Yizhou at that time. In the Sui Dynasty, Ryukyu Island had been occupied by nobles from Funan Kingdom, and established a kingdom with the capital of Bo. In Luotan Cave, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty immediately sent Wu Benlang Chen Leng to lead an army of [-] to conquer Ryukyu, defeating the big and small Ryukyu kings. The doctor Zhang Zhenzhou led an army to destroy the capital Boluotan Cave, captured thousands of Ryukyu soldiers and civilians, and wiped out the Nanyang forces. Everything was cleaned up, and Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty contributed a lot to maintaining the control of the Central Plains Dynasty on Ryukyu Island, as recorded in the "Sui Shu".

Chen Qing said to his son: "Have you heard that, even Emperor Sui Yang knew how to maintain the Central Plains Dynasty's control over Ryukyu Island, we should go one step further."

Chen Ji hurriedly asked: "Excuse me, father, how far have we reached in governing the big island of Ryukyu?"

"Let Chao Shuling speak! He has always been in charge of the management of Ryukyu Island."

Chao Kun quickly bowed and said: "Reporting to Your Highness and His Royal Highness, we have recruited [-] laborers from Japan since the beginning of last year, mainly for logging, building docks, and building cities. According to Your Highness's regulations, each laborer can only do at most It has been two years, and it has been a year now, and about [-] hectares of land have been opened up, the wharf has been built, the city is currently being built, and [-] miles of roads have been built."

Chen Qing pointed to the map and asked, "Where is the county seat built?"

Chao Kun pointed to a river: "This river is called Zhuo Shui by the natives. It is right next to the mouth of the Zhuo Shui. There is enough fresh water here. The land to be developed is on both sides of the Zhuo Shui. The north bank is where Japanese laborers built the city. The south bank is a village for the common people."

"How many permanent residents are there now?" Chen Qing asked again.

"A little more than [-] households, about [-] households, mainly grow sugar cane and kapok for a living. They also grow rice, which can guarantee basic rations, and then other materials have to be transported from Quanzhou."

"Are these more than 1000 households at ease?"

"It looks pretty good so far. Their income is high. Each family's annual income is about 50 guan, and they are tax-free for [-] years. Of course they live very comfortably, that is."

"What is it?"

Chao Kun sighed and said, "They are just afraid of being unsafe. There are many high mountain natives on the big island, and they are living in peace at present. They are afraid that conflicts will break out in the future. There are also pirates from Luzon Island, but I haven't seen them this year. , and worried that the Nanyang natives would come to compete with them for territory, they were worried a lot.”

Chen Ji was puzzled and asked, "Is there no garrison?"

"Have!"

Chao Kun nodded, "There are 1000 troops stationed."

"Since there is a garrison, what are you afraid of?"

"My lord, this is a kind of fear of being alone overseas. There will definitely be an inexplicable sense of insecurity. We can only wait for the population to increase in the future, reaching tens of thousands, before this sense of insecurity will gradually subside. "

At this time, a soldier shouted outside: "The big island of Ryukyu has arrived!"

Chen Qing stood up and took out a monocular from his bosom. This was a lens made of crystal. It wasn't Chen Qing's sudden whim. The main reason was that glasses had already appeared on the market. But only one side is convenient for reading newspapers.

After Chen Qing found out about monocular glasses, he found a craftsman who made glasses and asked him to grind a concave lens and a convex lens for himself, which were used as eyepieces and objective lenses, and made a monocular telescope that could clearly magnify twenty times.

He stood on the corridor and looked into the distance. Sure enough, he saw the dock, half of the city, densely packed laborers, and several villages on the other side of the river.

"Your Highness, what is this?" Chao Kun asked in surprise.

"Chao Shuling, this is called a telescope, and it is used to see distant things." Chen Ji introduced from the side.

Chen Qing handed the binoculars to Chao Kun and said with a smile, "Try it!"

Following Chen Qing's instructions, Chao Kun looked towards the shore with the binoculars, and suddenly he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth, and said for a long time: "Your Highness, this thing is a treasure for sailing!"

Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "This is not only a treasure for sailing, but also a treasure for war. I made one for Yang Zaixing before, but unfortunately it was crushed by his war horse. Unfortunately, the old craftsman who grinds the lenses died of illness. The skills of his apprentice and son are not enough, and it will take a few years to reach the level of the old craftsman. I heard that there are also high-level lens grinding craftsmen in Lin'an. I have sent someone to find them. When I find them, I will make more. , for your sailing as well.”

Not long after, Chen Qing's [-]-stone ship slowly docked at the dock, and the three Wan-stone ships behind it also docked at the dock, and a thousand guards disembarked one after another.
This is Chen Qing's second visit to the Big Island of Ryukyu. The first time there were only more than 100 households. Now he can see a large piece of flat land stretching as far as the eye can see. Eighty percent of the walls of a county town have been completed, and it will be completed in a few months. 1000 Many households will be able to move into the county to live, and the first county will be born.

The surrounding area of ​​the county town was full of busy people, full of short Japanese national husbands, most of them were barefoot, wearing uniform gray and black cloth clothes, shouting chants.Carrying a bamboo basket full of big bricks on his shoulders, he walked to the top of the city step by step.

"How much do these workers earn every month?" Chen Qing asked.

Chao Kun explained: "They are paid by the day, [-] Wen a day, including food and housing, and don't even have to pay for clothes. It is at least five times higher than their wages in their hometown, so they are rushing to come."

"What if you get sick or die?"

"Illness must be determined by a doctor. If it is confirmed that you are sick, you will be given three days off, and you will be paid at half the price. If you want to rest for two more days, you can, but you will lose your wages. You can give food. If you are sick for more than ten days , they will be sent back to the country, and if they die, they will be compensated ten pennies to their families, this is a signed contract."

"Is anyone dead?" Zhou Kuan asked next to him.

"Yes! When I first came here, some people were not acclimatized to the environment, and more than [-] people died, and each of them lost ten pennies."

"Did you not die on the road?" Chen Qing asked with a smile.

Chao Kun shook his head, "It's very strange, but there were no dead people on the road, not even sick ones. Some people fell ill within a few days after going ashore."

A group of people went to the west wall, which had been repaired. It was made of red bricks and looked very solid. There were many guard soldiers on the top of the wall, looking down on the Japanese peasants who were working.

Chen Qing leaned on the battlements and looked west. To the west was the magnificent sea, about two miles away from the county seat. Below the city, there was a straight avenue leading directly to the wharf. The wharf was very wide, and four large ships were moored there.

Chen Qing looked to the north again. The north should be the labor dormitory area. They are all wooden sheds made of simple wood. You can also see some women who are busy washing and washing vegetables. Needless to say, they all came with them. Japanese prostitute.

Chen Qing saw green smoke rising from a few places in the distance, so he pointed to the smoke and asked, "What's the smoke over there?"

(End of this chapter)