Fenghou

Chapter 867 Penghu

Zhang Tong next to him said with a smile: "Old Jia, the lord is very concerned about Da Dao, and even wants to build a county in Da Dao, you can tell the lord what you think."

Jia Lun's eyes lit up, and he said repeatedly: "It's good to build a county! It is necessary to garrison troops. This kind of large overseas island is not like land. The army can fight all the way there, and it can occupy even wild places. The big island hangs alone overseas. , if it is left alone for hundreds of years, it may be occupied by other overseas countries.”

Chen Qingxiao asked: "Does Mr. Jia have any other good ideas for developing Dadao?"

Jia Lun thought for a while and said: "My biggest suggestion is to choose a site. There are many rivers on the Big Island that flow directly into the sea. The fresh water of these rivers is very important. In the future, the prince will develop the Big Island and must advance along the banks of the rivers. "

Chen Qing nodded and asked again: "How do the natives on the island deal with it?"

"As far as I know, the traditional natives on the island are relatively gentle. They live in the high mountains in the north and use the mountains as their territory. If the prince only develops the plains and does not enter the mountains, there will be no conflicts.

But there is another group of natives in the south of the big island. They are foreigners. They came by boat from Nanyang. They are some very small black people. I suggest that the prince send troops to exterminate this small black tribe. Only by eliminating them can the big island develop safely. "

Chen Qing nodded silently, he remembered what Jia Lun said.

Two days later, the fleet slowly arrived at Penghu Island. There was a natural harbor in the south, where the fleet could go in and berth. The south was also the settlement of the common people. Ten large ships appeared in the harbor. The news spread, and the common people ran to the harbor one after another. To see the excitement, the arrival of ten large ships is indeed a relatively rare thing for them.

There is a temporary simple pier in the harbor. The big ship pulls to the side, and groups of soldiers disembark first.

Jia Lun and Zhang Tong also got off the boat, and the people in the distance saw them, and they were surprised and happy, and they ran over and surrounded them.

At this time, the soldiers and guards surrounded Chen Qing and Zhao Yingluo and got off the boat. With their feet on the ground, Chen Qing suddenly felt extraordinarily at ease, especially after encountering strong winds and waves, the feeling of stepping on the land again was so good.

"My lord, these people are all old people from this island."

Zhang Tong brought a few old men to see Chen Qing, and the old men knelt down and kowtow respectfully, "Xiaomin see His Royal Highness King Yong!"

"Parents, please stand up!"

Chen Qingxu entrusted several elders to get up, and the first elder clasped his fists and said with a smile: "The villain Hao Wen is from Jingzhao, and he has heard the name of the prince for a long time."

The old man spoke with a Guanzhong accent. Hearing the accent, Chen Qing also felt very cordial, and asked with a smile, "How did the old man come here?"

"Reporting to my lord, when the Jin soldiers invaded Guanzhong for the first time, the villain took his family and fled for his life. He first fled to Bashu, and then went to Lin'an by boat. The family continued to flee south, fled to Quanzhou and settled down, and later heard that there is no need to pay taxes for farming on Penghu Island, so the villain simply brought the whole family to live on the island again, and it has been a full ten years."

Chen Qing nodded, "Traveling thousands of miles, he is the refugee who has escaped the farthest. It's not easy for the elderly!"

"It's not easy, but now that I've been stable for ten years, I really don't want to leave. Just now I heard from Zhang Tong that the prince promised to be tax-free, is that true?"

Hundreds of pairs of eyes were looking at Chen Qing. This was the result that the people on the island wanted to know the most. During this time, they were extremely anxious.

Chen Qing nodded, and said solemnly to everyone: "Fathers and folks, I can solemnly promise you that the small and large islands of Penghu will be exempted from taxes indefinitely, for ten, twenty, or even a hundred years."

Thousands of people on the shore immediately cheered, but Cai Shouzhi, the county magistrate next to him, was secretly shocked. What does a hundred years of tax exemption mean?
Next, Zhang Tong, the county magistrate, and Cai Shouzhi, the county magistrate, went door-to-door to comfort the people. They brought food, seeds and farm tools.

Under the guidance of Jia Lun, Chen Qing visited the school. The school consisted of three gentlemen, more than two hundred students, and more than a dozen tall houses. The climate on the main island was hot and humid, with abundant rainfall and poisonous insects. The houses here are basically stilt houses, almost all of which are made of bamboo, which is very strong and tough.

"We just started teaching students "Hundred Surnames" and "Thousand Characters". After learning a few thousand characters, we started to learn "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius", and also recited some poems."

Jia Lun is the principal, and the other two gentlemen are his students in the county school. He introduced the situation to Chen Qing, "The teaching materials are all donated by the counties in Quanzhou. Some of the pens, ink, paper and inkstones are donated by Quanzhou businessmen, and some are purchased by the county. , The tables and chairs are made by the common people, there are many trees here, and there is no shortage of wood.”

"After reading the book, what plans do these children have?" Chen Qing asked again.

"Most parents just want their children to be literate. They will not be deceived in the future. They will go home to work after the age of [-] or [-]. There are very few parents who want their children to continue to study. I have contacted the county school and asked some children to go to school. Studying in a county school means that the cost of board and lodging costs money, and their parents may not be able to afford it."

Chen Qing waved his hand, "It's a good thing to want to study, and all their expenses will be borne by the county."

"Caizhi County said that they can't afford the money, so why is there a tax, that's why."

"You don't have to worry. Quanzhou's commercial tax is divided in half with the imperial court. It will be used to subsidize the garrison and the county government. The rest of the taxes will also be used. The county government will have money."

"Then thank you so much, my lord!"

Chen Qing smiled and pointed to the front, "Is that the town?"

"It's a small town!"

Chen Qing walked over. The so-called small town is a small street about [-] steps long, with residential houses, schools and more than a dozen shops, mainly grocery stores, taverns and shops for receiving goods.

There are three grocery stores, but there is one tavern, which is very small, and the others are delivery stores. There are no inns or brothels, but after the army is stationed, these will be available.

Chen Qing stopped in front of a store that received goods, and asked, "What does this store accept?"

"Reporting to the prince, it is mainly dried fish and other seafood, and then there is kapok."

"Kapok?"

Chen Qing asked curiously: "Kapok is still produced here?"

"There is kapok on the island, but the output is not large. The main reason is that there are too many kapok trees on the big island. Every year when the kapok fruit is ripe, we will go to the big island by boat to pick kapok, and then sell it to merchants to earn some pocket money. money."

Chen Qing nodded secretly, seeing that in addition to planting sugarcane, kapok is also a good economic crop.

The town was very short, and it ended within two hundred steps. At this moment, Chen Qing saw Jia Lun's son and daughter-in-law busy packing goods in a grocery store.

It seemed that there were not many goods in the store. At this time, Cai Zhixian and Zhang Tong came back. Cai Zhixian sighed and said, "I brought too few things, and the islanders are disappointed."

Chen Qing remembered this, and said to Cai Zhixian: "On the big ship, there are two cabins full of various sundries. They are all kinds of daily necessities seized by us in the rebellion in Sichuan. We took away the useful ones, and the rest They are items that soldiers don’t need. They are all civilian goods. I originally planned to give them to the natives of Penghu Island, but now it seems that there is no need to give them away. Let’s take one cabin and distribute it to the common people! The other cabin is reserved for Penghu Island. people."

Cai Zhixian was overjoyed and thanked again and again. He quickly took Zhang Tong and followed a soldier to the big ship to carry the goods.

Jia Lun next to him looked very depressed. His son failed to open a store in Jinjiang County and owed a lot of debts, so he had to follow him to open a grocery store on Penghu Island. The prince distributed daily groceries to the islanders, and they still made a lot of money!

Chen Qing saw his disappointment, so he smiled and said: "I will station a thousand soldiers on the island soon, I suggest that your son change it into a restaurant! The business must be good."

Jia Lun's eyes lit up, and he quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, my lord, for reminding me, Xiaomin understands."

Chen Qing quickly inspected a circle of islands. In fact, there was nothing to see. Most of the islands were covered with forests. At this time, it was getting late, and Chen Qing returned to the big boat to rest.

The soldiers came up to meet him and said: "Cai Zhixian took all the people out of the cabin, and the elders left this for King Yong. They said it was called the Sea God Pearl."

The soldier handed a wooden box to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened the wooden box, and inside was a round and shiny pearl, the size of a lychee, exuding a layer of faint colorful halo.

(End of this chapter)