Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 102 Tamsui River Estuary
The river water is as clear as a mirror, and the flat river channel makes the water flow very gently, flowing slowly into the sea along the northwest direction.

This is the third longest river in Baodao, but it is the only water system with navigable capabilities. The main stream entering the sea is called Tamsui River, and it is also known as Tamsui River in later generations.

Correspondingly, most of the other water systems on the island have steep slopes and rapid water, with dangerous shoals and waterfalls everywhere. The river sections that can be used for boating are often very short, so they can only be named creeks.

The mouth of the Tamsui River is more than two miles wide. The wetland on the south bank extends into the river in the shape of a hook, known as the Tail.

There are dense mangroves on the end of the river, which can withstand the northwest wind to a certain extent. Together with the south bank of the river, it forms a small wind-sheltered anchorage. This is the Tamsui Port at this time.

Compared with Keelung Port, Tamsui's port conditions are not really that good, but it has a decisive advantage, that is, it is backed by the Tamsui River that can go deep inland.

In contrast, although Keelung Port is surrounded by mountains and has deep water, it can only connect to the outer sea.

So Miguel was not right about one thing. The colony Lin Hai chose was not Keelung, but fresh water dozens of miles away.In Lin Hai's plan, Keelung is only a future fleet base, and its only function is a military port.

Unlike the Dutch or future Spaniards, he was not satisfied with occupying a port here to operate entrepot trade or ensure the safety of the route, but wanted to effectively control the entire treasure island.

For this purpose, Tamsui Port, the only port that could go deep into the interior, was naturally the best choice in the early days of colonization.However, the Ganfu did not anchor in Tamsui Port, but stopped on the north bank of Tamsui River.

More than 200 years later, at the end of the [-]th century, due to siltation of the port on the south coast, Tamsui Port was moved to the place where the Gump was berthed. The port area here was wider, but it could not withstand the northwest wind blowing from the entrance to the sea.

The reason why the boat stopped here was because Lin Hai's destination for this trip was Shabari Society on the north bank of Tamsui River, which was Wulang's natal family.

About half a century ago, some members of the Shabari Society migrated to Sheliao Island in Keelung and formed the current Jinbaoli Society. The two societies still have close ties to this day.

"Shopkeeper Lin, please look, my natal family's Shabari Society is ahead of me." Wu Lang stood beside the side of the Ganfu, with Lun Yi acting as a translator beside him.

Lin Hai looked in the direction Wu Lang pointed and saw a high ground two or three miles away. He could faintly see that it was covered with stilt-style huts. At a glance, there seemed to be two to three hundred huts.

"May I ask the Wulang Warriors, how many people are there in the Shabari Society?"

"Counting all men, women, old and young, there are about 600 people."

Lin Hai nodded when he heard this. The number of people was similar to that of Jinbaoli Society, but the number of houses was only one-third of the latter. Most of the houses in Jinbaoli Society were warehouses.

He then asked: "So, how big is the territory of the Shabari Society?"

"Shopkeeper Lin, right where you are standing right now, all the flat land you can see on the north bank of the Tamsui River belongs to the Shabari community, and there are even more that you can't see."

Wu Lang continued: "Of course these flat lands are not very useful. Whether it is hunting, sowing or living, mountainous lands are the best."

Lin Hai smiled and said nothing. The freshwater ground was wet, so for dry farming, high places were naturally better.What's more, the Basai people are still in the era of slash-and-burn farming, and the proportion of agriculture in the economy is far less important than hunting and gathering.

This is also the reason why he chose to support the Tuwang in Taipei. This is a hilly area. The indigenous people value the mountains, but what he needs is flat land.With this, the foundation of cooperation between the two parties will be stronger.

"So your village communities often become enemies because of the competition for these mountainous areas?"

"Yes, the biggest enemy of the Shabari Society is the Baliza Society." Wu Lang said, pointing to the Baliza Mountain on the other side. "Their village is on the back of that mountain, and they often come to us in canoes. Hunting on the hills sometimes even burned all the crops we planted.”

"Then they really deserve to die. It is right for you to avenge your mother's family. Do you want my people to help? You all take the heads, and none of my people are wanted." Lin Hai said with a smile, he thought of another group of Garhead monsters - —Border Army of the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with the Ming Dynasty's frontier troops, Taiwanese natives actually value human heads more. This has a special meaning in their culture. Men who have not hunted heads can't even get a wife.Many village communities will have a special shelf to display the skulls obtained from grass. It is said that this can obtain the blessing of the ancestors.

Lin Hai has no discrimination or prejudice against this custom. It is just a population adjustment mechanism formed due to low productivity. After all, no one can escape the Malthusian trap until the industrial revolution greatly improves agricultural productivity.

Chucao is just a low-level version of war. There are no trenches in Taiwanese indigenous villages and communities, and the intensity of the war is probably not as intense as that of the early Yangshao culture.When it comes to cannibalism, putting the first one in front of Jingguan is dwarfed by the big one. It's hard to say who is more civilized.

"Shopkeeper Lin, I am very grateful for your kindness, but I think the warriors of Shabari would rather defeat the enemy with their own strength. As long as you give me the promised weapons and iron clothes, we will definitely defeat Baliza Society." Wu Lang rejected Lin Hai. Relying on outsiders to defeat his opponents would be looked down upon by the surrounding village communities.

"Do you really not need us to take action? Why don't you think about it again." Lin Hai was a little worried. If Wu Lang was killed, he would have to find another person, and Lun Yi's efforts these days would be in vain.

"No need." Wu Lang's attitude was very firm, "The people in Balizo are not more brave than us, nor are they more numerous than us. Their only advantage is that they have more sophisticated weapons. After all, your Ming people's ships always dock in Tamsui Henan. Shore, I rarely come to the North Shore.”

Lin Hai nodded when he heard this. Tamsui was also a frequent stop for maritime merchants in the late Ming Dynasty. It seems that the two village communities on both sides of the Tamsui River estuary are not country bumpkins who have never seen the world. Perhaps it is because of the trade opportunities in Keelung. , the ancestors of Jinbaoli Society would leave from Shabari Society.

"That's fine, as long as you don't forget my conditions."

"This is not a problem. The land you want is not big, and it is just flat land. My mother will definitely agree to give it to you." Wu Lang's mother is the great wizard of the Shabari Society. When he spoke, his eyes flickered, as if Not very confident.

Lin Hai is a good at observing people's emotions. When he saw this, he said: "Please tell her, old man, the main reason why I want to cooperate with Shabari Society is because you are my friend. If she doesn't agree, I will find Baliza Society to cooperate, no matter what I was always going to get a piece of land here.”

Half an hour later, Wu Mu and a group of elders boarded the Ganfu and were taken to the place designated by Lin Hai to sit down.

Then, the light of a sword flashed in front of everyone, and the head of an adult dead deer was split in half in front of everyone.

Lin Hai picked up the steel knife, placed it flat on his chest, and pointed the blade towards Wu Mu and the elders of the Shabari Society.Everyone saw that the edge of the blade still had the cold light and was not damaged at all.

Seeing the awe-inspiring looks of everyone, Lin Hai felt very satisfied.He slashed hard at the belly of the buck wearing the chain-mail shirt with his backhand. The place where he was hit was only slightly dented. The chain-mail shirt perfectly blocked the slash, leaving only a white mark.

Lin Hai then signaled to Wu Lang, who bent his bow and nocked an arrow five steps away, and shot an arrow at the dead deer.

With a clang, the iron arrow bounced away, but still could not break through the precise double-layer lock ring.

Everyone in the Shabari Society looked at each other, only to hear Lin Hai waving the steel knife and saying: "I brought more than 100 pieces of iron clothes. I have hundreds of such sharp steel knives on the ship, and I can lend them to you."

After Lun Yi finished translating, everyone in the Shabari Society immediately started whispering to each other, and the deck of the Ganfu suddenly became noisy.

Most of these Shabarians are elderly men, and only Wulang's mother is an old woman.One thing that is very different between a matriarchal society and a patriarchal society is that there is no gender hierarchy. Members of the village community are generally equal, but the division of labor is different.

In Dongfan indigenous village communities, there are generally age organizations, and groups composed of older men are often the elders' councils that decide external affairs.

The reason why Wu Lang's mother appears here is because she is a respected wizard, and the elders usually ask her to perform divination before making decisions.

The elders made a fuss for a while, and finally an older man was elected to speak: "Shopkeeper Lin from the Ming Dynasty, why do you want to help us?"

Lin Hai smiled and said: "Because Wu Lang is my friend, and I hope to get a piece of flat land in your territory to do business with you."

The elder said again: "You can drive your boat over, and we will trade on your boat. This is what the merchants of the Ming Dynasty did in the past, and no one has ever made such a request as you."

"As you can see, my ship is very big and can bring a lot of goods. If it is just a short-term stay, my goods will not be sold out at all. Just the steel knives and iron clothes I brought this time, you can How much does a deerskin cost?"

In fact, the ancestors of the Basai people once had iron smelting technology, which was unique among the island's indigenous peoples. However, due to the lack of iron ore on the island, the technology soon deteriorated.

To this day, all the ironware owned by the indigenous people comes from overseas trade, and the price is naturally horrifyingly expensive.

The elder nodded and accepted this reason. After all, Tamsui Port is an inland river, and the people who stop here for trade are small sea-going ships that use both oars and sails. Ships driven solely by sails often just recognize the landmarks on the coastline and then continue on their way.Therefore, large ships like the Gump have never done business with freshwater natives.

The elder thought for a while and then said: "Even if your people are here for a long time, we can't afford so many steel knives and iron clothes. Even if we can afford them, we don't need so many."

"You can use deer skins from other village communities to trade with me, and then sell my steel knives and iron clothes to them, so that you can still make a fortune. Aren't the Jinbaoli Society and Dajilong Society in Keelung Did you do this? You should know that those two village communities are much richer than you."

Lin Hai patiently followed the temptation. He heard from Lun Yiyi that the two villages in Keelung were the richest among the Basai people, so many men from other villages came to the chicken coop to seduce unmarried women.The reason why Wu Lang was able to join the little wizard of Jin Baoli Society was mainly because he had the title of the first warrior of the Basai people.

Jinbaoli Society and Dajilong Society have basically separated themselves from agriculture, fishing, hunting and gathering, and have even developed a handicraft industry specializing in the production of commodities.In contrast, the two rival villages in Tamsui are much less commercialized. They have been engaged in a feud for generations over a few hills.

If he were in Keelung, Lin Hai wouldn't have to bother with this at all. Jinbaoli Society and Dajilong Society would automatically compete to donate land to him, but in Tamsui he would have to put in more effort.However, he is very confident, because human greed is engraved in the genes, and the same is true for the Dongfan natives. Otherwise, there would not be so many money-worshiping men wanting to marry into the chicken coop.

Sure enough, the eyes of all the elders lit up and they began to make uncontrollable noises again.The elderly man was still calm, and after signaling everyone to be quiet, he continued to ask: "May I ask Shopkeeper Lin, besides knives and iron clothes, what other goods do you have?"

"I can bring you whatever you want, including iron tools, cloth, grain, bells, gems, etc. No matter who among you suddenly wants something, he who can find me at any time will write it down. This way I can bring products based on your needs.”

"We haven't promised to give you land yet..." Before the elder could finish speaking, an alcoholic elder suddenly interjected: "I want wine." This immediately caused everyone to burst into laughter.

"What did he say?" Lin Hai asked Lun No. [-].

"He said he wanted wine." Lun Yi continued to explain, "Basai people like to drink, but their millet wine is not strong, so the Tang people's shochu is very popular."

"Wu Lang also likes to drink?" Lin Hai secretly calculated the value of this information.Today, the little profit from selling wine to the Dongfan natives is no longer enough to tempt him. What he cares more about is supporting a native king.

"You could say he's a heavy drinker, but he also has a really good capacity for drinking."

"Is it better than you?" Lin Hai smiled.

"We're almost evenly matched." Lun Diyi said reservedly. To be honest, his ability to hang out with Wu Lang and talk about everything was largely due to his drinking.However, although he has a good drinking capacity, he does not like to drink very much. He does not like to be sober in front of others.

At this time, a slightly younger elder stood up amidst the roar of laughter and said: "Shopkeeper Lin, we don't have so much deerskin and sulfur now. You lent us the steel knife and iron clothes, aren't you afraid that we won't return them? ?”

Lin Hai did not answer the question and said with a smile: "Everyone, let me show you something."

The Ganfu purchased ten additional revolving aircraft in Nagasaki, and transferred twenty gunners from the Bowang.Lin Hai ordered the ten franc machines to be moved to the shore and placed facing a small forest.

"Bring down all the muskets and load them with shotguns," Lin Hai ordered.The gunners loaded all thirty muskets with gravel, and then moved to the mother musket to stand by.

Following Lin Hai's order, sky-shattering gunfire sounded like a barrage of fire.The Fo Lang machine is a front-loaded cannon with a sub-gun. When firing, only the sub-guns need to be replaced. Soon all ten cannons fired three rounds. It sounded like firecrackers, but the sound was much louder.

The dense rain of bullets fired at close range instantly swept away the small woods in front of them. The messy branches were scattered all over the ground. Some trees even had their trunks directly broken and fell to the ground.

There was silence on the Ganfu, and all the elders were as silent as cicadas.

Lin Hai still had a friendly smile on his face: "Everyone, I think with our friendship, you will definitely return those steel knives and iron clothes."

(End of this chapter)