I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 590 Civilization mixed with barbarism

Hawaii not only has pigs and livestock that are not found in the Americas, but also has American potatoes and sweet potatoes. It also shares part of the language with the Ban people in Daming Taiwan Prefecture. This in itself is no coincidence.

Historical research from another time and space has confirmed that the Native Hawaiians are actually Polynesians, and their ancestors can be traced back to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. They have close relatives in Southeast Asia and Taitung. The Maori natives of New Zealand, discovered by the Dutch, also belong to the same language family as them.

Kang Zifei and others were surprised that the wild boars raised by the Hawaiian natives were not found in the Americas. That was because these were the livestock that the ancestors of the native Hawaiians brought with them when they migrated by boat.

Moreover, in recent years of research, original traces of sweet potatoes have been discovered in China. They are at least more than five thousand years old, which is older than the sweet potatoes in the Americas. This also makes people wonder whether the sweet potatoes in the Americas are actually the same. The past varieties spread here in Asia (don’t be stubborn, it’s just a point of doubt).

These native Hawaiians regard the British exploration ships of another time and space, as well as the current Ming Dynasty voyage galleys, as the incarnation of the god Longnuo. This may be because their god Longnuo evolved from the ships that originally transported them to the island. Come.

This can also explain in disguise why God Longnuo only comes back once a year and leaves quickly, bringing a good harvest.

Kang Zifei led the fleet to live on the island for more than half a month. Not only did he observe the language and customs of the island's indigenous people, he also sent a fleet to explore around the island.

The Big Island of Hawaii is very large, much larger than Tamluo County, covering a quarter of the area of ​​Taiwan Prefecture.

By sending a fleet to explore outside, five other islands were soon discovered in the northwest. The closest and second largest island is Maui, which is less than one-fifth of the size of the Big Island of Hawaii.

The remaining islands nearby are all smaller than Maui. That island was later called Honolulu by the Qing Dynasty. Even Oahu, where Mr. Sun once discussed matters, was one of the five islands discovered by the exploratory fleet. long distance.

Further to the northwest of Kauai and Niihau, the exploration fleet did not go deeper because they were too far away.

Of course, what really made Kang Zifei change his attitude was when he saw sandalwood on the big island. There was so much sandalwood here that the natives used it as a tool for burning firewood for cooking.

This is simply a waste of natural resources!

The demand for sandalwood in China's sandalwood market during the Ming Dynasty has remained high for a long time, especially the sandalwood in Guangzhou has been sold to almost astronomical prices.

In order to reverse the trade deficit, the British kept cutting down sandalwood in Southeast Asia and selling it to Chinese merchants, but this was not enough.

Historically, the natives of Hawaii relied on selling sandalwood to the British in exchange for military assistance from the British, thus quickly uniting the chiefs of the Hawaiian Islands and establishing the de facto Kingdom of Hawaii.

Previously, there had always been an island chieftaincy system. Although the islands fought wars, they were limited by conditions, which basically meant plundering slaves and people.

Yes, there were slaves in the Hawaiian Islands, and their slavery even existed until Hawaii was annexed by the United States.

The slaves here belong to the chief's private property from birth, and are no different from the rails and wild boars raised by the indigenous people. The slaves' foreheads are usually left with various special totem marks in the shape of half-moons, triangles, or dots.

Because Hawaiians believe that the forehead is the spiritual place of a person and cannot be touched at will. If touched, the person will no longer be a person.

During the few days he stayed on the island, Kang Zifei, as an envoy of the gods, was invited to watch a human sacrifice event in honor of the volcano god.

The Big Island of Hawaii is not only the largest in area, it is also a volcanic island. The volcanoes on the island are very active and erupt from time to time, continuing to increase the area of ​​the island.

Whenever a volcano erupts, these natives believe that the gods are angry, so they kill slaves and perform human sacrifices to appease the gods' anger.

Barbaric, too barbaric!

In addition to slave human sacrifices, there is also a Kapu system. Under the Kapu system, the levels of people are strictly divided. The highest status are chiefs and wizards, civilians are in the middle, and the lowest are slaves.

Under the Kapu system, there were strict restrictions on where civilians and slaves of different classes should fish, hunt, farm and harvest, and even eat and dress. Anyone who violated the rules would be sentenced to death. In Hawaii, men's status is naturally higher than that of women, even to an extreme degree.

In the concept of native Hawaiians, men and women are naturally opposites. Men are light, women are darkness, men are purity, and women represent evil... Women here are not allowed to eat at the same table with men, and they are also prohibited from eating. Coconuts, bananas, turtle meat and roast pork are all specialties of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Moreover, when a man marries a woman, the woman is not allowed to sleep on the bed. She can only lay a floor beside the man's bed. There are also other tribal tasks such as shipbuilding, fishing, and farming that women are not allowed to touch. , which is ominous, as women’s jobs are just to give birth to children, make clothes and weave various shoes and accessories from leaves.

In short, there are many rules here, the class rule is very strict, and the high degree of civilization is at the same time barbaric and ignorant.

Native Hawaiians also believe that people's bodies have a kind of "ma Na (spiritual energy)", which is where the chief's authority lies, because the "ma Na" of ordinary people will gradually disappear, and the chief can ask the gods for it at any time.

Kang Zifei summoned the crew officers again: "This island is too big, and there are too many indigenous people on the island. It is almost as much as one-third of Taiwan Mansion. Even if we conquer this place, it will be difficult to control and manage it." , sufficient troops and immigrants must be left behind.”

The record officer said: "I have carefully observed the indigenous people on the island these days and found that although the indigenous people here are very friendly to us, many of them are very afraid. Moreover, it is obviously our first time here, but they But they collectively called us 'Rono'. This didn't seem to be used to describe people. On the contrary, I heard a similar tone more than once during their sacrificial activities. To put it bluntly, it was like those barbarians who believed in gods. , and we are the gods in their eyes. I think this should be used."

Kang Zifei was a little surprised. He did not expect that the ship's record officer sent by His Majesty was not only proficient in calendar astronomy, but also had such meticulous observation skills.

If they are really regarded as gods by the natives on the island, then they can indeed use one or two of them.

Kang Zifei thought for a while, then nodded and said: "If that's the case, then I will use the method of negotiating with the Indians before to negotiate with these natives first. See if I can imitate the Boxu Port in Yinzhou without using force. , and also exchanged a piece of plain land on the island as a colony. If there are no prisoners to immigrate, then I will leave some soldiers to station here. For those soldiers who are willing to take the initiative to stay, I will leave them enough supplies and firecrackers and ammunition. And , these soldiers will not stay in vain. After returning to the Ming Dynasty, I will personally report to His Majesty and request additional stationing rewards for these people. I will come here to pick them up for rotation by this time next year at the latest."

Wang Hu hurriedly patted his chest and said: "There is no need to volunteer. I can directly lead the first battalion of brothers under my command and stay here for a year. Anyway, it is the same as when we were reclaiming wasteland in Taitung, and this time we still have muskets in hand. It’s just one year.”

Kang Zifei smiled and said: "Of course it would be best if Wang Yingguan volunteered. I am not very grateful here."

The recorder suddenly asked: "What if the natives are unwilling to sell their land to us, and even resort to force with us?"

Kang Zifei suppressed his smile: "Then I can only feel sorry for them. Barbarians are still barbarians after all. This island is located in one-third of the Yinzhou route. As long as we capture this place, my Ming Dynasty will colonize Yinzhou in the future and use it as a supply. . Both the loss and the danger of going out to sea will be greatly reduced. Moreover, it is too close to the Spanish route. Although the Spanish have not noticed it yet, they will find it one day. Even if Spain If people can't detect it, other Europeans may find it."

To put it bluntly, an ordinary man is not guilty, but he is guilty of having a jade.

From the moment Hawaii was discovered by the Ming Dynasty, its location would be exposed sooner or later, because there were so many accompanying merchants on the island, and they would always leak the news.

The only way is to seize this place first and let the meat rot in the pot. The Spaniards will not sacrifice the trade with the Ming Dynasty for the sake of a broken island as a transit station. And as long as it takes a year or two to establish a complete colonial military port in Hawaii, the Spaniards may not be able to defeat it.

Of course, the most important thing is that there is too much sandalwood here, and it may not be possible to cut it all in twenty years. This is all wealth!

If the native Hawaiians are willing to sell their land, then Kang Zifei will be a friendly angel and businessman. If the other party is unwilling to sell, then the Ming army can turn into a murderous executioner at any time.

It was impossible for these natives to defeat the Ming army. The British had only one big ship and it was damaged by the storm. Then I returned to Hawaii and wanted to get help from the natives on the island. The British brought less than a hundred soldiers.

Even with guns, they couldn't defeat the siege of thousands of natives. It was not unreasonable for the British captain to die miserably.

(End of this chapter)