Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1037 1032 [The criminals of the Ming Dynasty are also high-quality talents]

There are no couples in Fuqi Feipian, and there are no monkeys in Hougang itself.

But now monkeys are almost rampant, probably brought by the Malay aborigines next door. The Malay aborigines were assimilated by the black pygmies, but the monkeys have reproduced wildly because they have no natural enemies.

The pygmies on the island hate monkeys very much because bananas are one of their staple foods.

The treasure hunting trio was busy replenishing fresh water, but the six second-generation officials were wandering around. Not long after they walked, they saw groups of monkeys.

Monkey Harbour is a natural harbour located in Port Blair, the administrative centre of the Andaman Islands in later times.

Due to the limited human resources of Lin Riyan, he only leveled some land to build the wharf. Next to the wharf were some simple warehouses, and next to the warehouses were the settlements of the Ming army and civilians.

Outside the settlement are vast tracts of farmland!

"Are they planting rice here?" Fan Chengda asked in surprise.

Qi Qi'an couldn't help but laugh and said, "Those short black people, although they don't know how to wear clothes to cover their shame, they do know how to grow food."

However, the farmland near the settlement was mostly cultivated into rice fields, with only a small part used to grow vegetables and beans. The soldiers took off their armor and planted rice with their wives, most of whom were their wives brought from home.

There are also some women who have high noses and deep eyes like Westerners, but their hair and skin color are like East Asians.

It is probably not very peaceful and stable here. While the military and civilians are planting rice, there are soldiers patrolling at the edge of the farmland.

A middle-aged man came up to Lin Riyan and happened to hear the conversation between the second-generation officials. He couldn't help but say, "How can these black people know how to farm? We reclaimed it all by ourselves. In two whole years, we only reclaimed a few dozen acres of paddy fields. First we had to cut down the forest, clear the tree roots and rocks, and dig ditches for drainage and irrigation."

Lu You praised: "You have worked really hard to open up the mountains and forests from scratch."

"As a criminal, it's good enough to be alive." The middle-aged man smiled bitterly.

Lin Riyan introduced: "This gentleman was a former agricultural promotion official. He used to be the director of the Agricultural Promotion Bureau. He was also personally taught and given a name by the retired emperor."

The middle-aged man bowed to everyone and said, "My name is Xu Zhishu, nice to meet you young gentlemen."

"Excuse me, excuse me..."

The second-generation officials hurriedly returned the gift. Although he was a criminal official exiled overseas, he was a person named by the emperor himself after all.

Xu Zhishu pointed to the farmland and said, "There are about 100 to 200 islands of various sizes here, and the main island where we are is the largest. From more than 100 miles north of Hougang to other islands in the south, the climate and soil are similar to Palembang. Rain and heat occur at the same time, and the land is fertile, so two or three crops can be harvested a year. Further north, it's not the same, as there is too much rain, which is not conducive to farming."

To put it more directly, throughout the Andaman Islands, the tropical monsoon climate is suitable for farming, while the tropical rainforest climate is not suitable for farming.

The criminals thrown over by the Ming Dynasty court occupied the most prime areas of the archipelago.

Lin Riyan took them for a stroll and pointed at the short black people who were watching the rice planting nearby and said, "These black people are too short, weak, and stupid. They are not even qualified to be slaves. When they are asked to cut down the forest, their speed is so slow that it is outrageous."

Bai Shihou asked, "Are they all slaves?"

Lin Riyan explained: "There are dozens of tribes on various islands. I destroyed two tribes near Monkey Harbor. I killed their chieftains and captured the rest of the tribesmen as slaves. Don't think it's cruel. They were the first to attack. They came to raid just a few days after we settled down. Damn it, a bunch of barbarians with no clothes on, holding earthen bows with bone arrows, dared to rob the Ming soldiers!"

Xu Zhishu explained in more detail: "At the beginning, we also wanted to coexist peacefully with the blacks and traded some goods with them. They didn't want cloth or food, but only our weapons and iron pots. We traded an iron pot to them, and probably because it was so useful, these blacks wanted to take all the iron pots away."

Li Zuqia pointed at the women with high noses and deep eyes and asked, "They don't seem to be Chinese?"

Lin Riyan said: "We are all criminals in the Ming Dynasty. When we were convicted, some of our wives wanted to divorce us. The women on the island are too evil, and we cannot let them live on the island for a long time without wives. I have a small warship. Once we have a firm foothold in Monkey Harbor, I will lead the soldiers to plunder northward and grab some foreign women from the coast for them."

Where are you going north?

The southwestern coast of Myanmar in later generations!

The ancient Rakhine people lived there, and they were somewhat different from the modern Rakhine people. They were the mixed descendants of Aryans and Southeast Asians, with high noses, deep eye sockets, and skin color similar to that of Chinese people.

At this time, the Rakhine region did not belong to any force. The country had been destroyed long ago and it only existed in the form of a tribe.

Lin Riyan's three maids were robbed. One of them was prettier and had become his concubine.

Six sons of officials were invited to stay in a simple house. The wooden house, with leaves covering the roof, was located next to a row of warehouses. It should be an inn used to entertain passing sailors.

Lin Riyan also sent a few maids to serve, all of whom were mixed-race women with high noses and deep eyes.

Needless to say, it must have been stolen from the north.

Bai Shihou was a man who didn't care about food or meat. He thought the maid looked good and had an exotic style, so he held her in his arms for half the night. He hadn't touched a woman since he went to sea, and now he was so pent up that he would probably be as good as Diao Chan if he met a sow.

Others who also touched the maid included Qi Qinan and Li Zuqia.

The simple wooden house was not soundproof, and Lu You couldn't sleep because of their noise. He woke up the next day with dark circles under his eyes.

Seeing their state, Lin Riyan laughed and said, "If you like, you can take those maids away. It will be a blessing for them."

Fan Chengda declined, saying, "A gentleman does not take away what others love."

Lin Riyan waved his hand and said, "It's okay. I can still lead the troops to rob it."

Don't expect a soldier who is thrown onto a remote deserted island to have any sense of morality.

This guy not only robbed mixed-race women, but also robbed some children from mixed-race tribes, saying that they could be trained to become Han Chinese through education from a young age.

After all, the population on the island is too small - the pygmy blacks are not considered human beings. The Andaman Islands are actually a natural maritime military base, controlling the exit of the Strait of Malacca to the east, the sea route to Bangladesh to the north, and reaching India and Sri Lanka to the west.

Moreover, half of the island is suitable for growing rice, and there are also top-quality woods for building warships - oak and teak.

There are also Andaman rosewood, mahogany, walnut and other woods suitable for making furniture.

There is nothing missing and the location is excellent.

In the era of steamships, this location became even more important, as it could serve as a coal supply point for warships and passenger ships.

The Ming Dynasty will definitely develop this place, but not now.

The main development directions nowadays are Jambi, Palembang and Malacca. By the time we focus on developing Mahkota, Lin Riyan will probably be old and outdated.

The six continued to wander around and soon found some cages containing more than a dozen animals that looked like cats but were not cats.

Wang Lianqing asked: "What is this?"

Lin Riyan said: "There are many civet cats on the island. The fur of civet cats is very expensive, and they also produce civet incense. It is an expensive spice and can also treat sudden heart and abdominal pain and hernia pain."

"So this is a civet cat." The second-generation officials watched excitedly.

They knew about civet incense, and Bai Shihou had even used it, but today was the first time they had seen a civet cat.

Lin Riyan already knew the backgrounds of the six people and took the initiative to invite them to go hunting.

He pointed at the 1.3-meter-tall attendant and introduced him to everyone: "This Kunlun slave is very smart. After only one year, he can already understand some human language. He also has a sense of shame and is willing to wear the clothes I give him."

After saying that, Lin Riyan pointed at the coconut tree and ordered, "Go!"

The dwarf black man immediately rushed over, climbed to the top of the tree like a monkey, spun the coconut and threw it down.

Lin Riyan picked up a coconut and cracked it open while saying, "These pygmy blacks are great swimmers, but they are all very lazy. They have no worries about food, they can pick fruits, hunt, and fish. They like to catch monkeys the most, and they can easily catch them by using bananas as bait. There is also a kind of wild boar on the island, which is not big but there are a lot of them."

Qi Qi'an took the coconut and asked, "How many Chinese are there on the island?"

"There are more than 500 soldiers, officials and their families," Lin Riyan said. "If we count the women and children we robbed, that's nearly 800 people. We plan to reclaim another 100 mu of paddy fields this year. We have to do it no matter how hard it is. Otherwise, we will just sit back and enjoy the fruits, hunt and fish, and be no different from the black people on the island."

We chatted all the way and reached the edge of the forest.

The Andaman Islands have nothing but a lot of trees. Forests are everywhere you look, and the forest coverage rate is as high as 95%.

Moreover, there are a lot of precious woods.

The second generation of officials came at the wrong time. Although coconuts were edible at this time, they were not as delicious as they would be a few months later. Jackfruits were not yet ripe, and the bananas were of primitive varieties.

Lin Riyan bent his bow, drew his arrow, and shot towards the treetop in front of him. A pig-tailed macaque fell to the ground.

There were many monkeys nearby, which fled in panic, then bared their teeth and screamed at humans.

Lin Riyan said: "The monkeys on the island are particularly hateful. There are too many to kill them all, and they will come and destroy the crops. Whenever I have time, I will take the soldiers to shoot the monkeys and throw them to the black natives to roast and eat."

Monkeys are an invasive species here, and their only natural enemy is humans.

Lu You took out a bow and arrow he brought from home, pulled the bowstring and pointed it at a monkey. The monkey sensed the danger and immediately jumped away.

"Whoosh!"

Lu You shot at the other one and hit it accurately.

Some soldiers went into the forest to explore the way and soon drove out several wild boars, which were smaller than normal wild boars.

The second-generation officials all drew their bows, all of them excited.

After playing in the forest for a long time, they returned to the settlement at the port with their prey. They skinned the wild boar and ate it themselves, while the monkeys were given as a reward to the pygmy blacks.

Wang Lianqing was organizing materials. He recorded all the animals and plants he saw along the way, and spent more time drawing than shooting arrows.

"What is this?" Wang Lianqing pointed at a plant painting.

Hong Chang, the only doctor on the island, said: "Tangria sanguinea can also be found in Guangdong and Guangxi. The bark and leaves can be ground into powder and used as a preservative. The leaves can be used to feed livestock. It is also a medicinal herb that can help with constipation."

Wang Lianqing was very disappointed: "It turns out there are also such cases in China."

Hong Chang smiled and said, "The thorn trees on this island are slightly different from those in China. They grow taller and have bigger leaves. Although the black natives are barbaric, they know some medicinal herbs. I have been studying the herbs on the island for more than a year."

Xu Zhishu said: "Although some places on this island are not suitable for growing rice, they are very suitable for growing spices. When enough paddy fields are cultivated, we will plant some spices. Hundreds of people were exiled to this island. We can't just eat and wait to die. We have to earn a family business for our children and grandchildren."

"This is a long-term plan," Lu You praised.

They were just a group of criminals exiled to a deserted island, but in most parts of the world at this time, they were considered high-quality people. Even high-tech people!
In a few dozen or hundreds of years, the level of development here will most likely surpass that of many city-states and small countries.

(Has anyone defeated the Black Monkey?)

(End of this chapter)