The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 131 Reconstruction Measures
a few days later

After the bloody battle, Anzhu City had changed its appearance. The corpses that could be seen everywhere on pillows and the corpses floating on the river disappeared. They were transported to the outside of the city and burned intensively. The fire continued for several days.

The charred ruins were torn down and flattened, the rubble was swept away, and teams of convicts were demolishing walls and houses. Most of the demolished buildings were messy shacks and huts, as well as some prominent buildings in the city streets.

One wide city avenue after another has been cleared, and there are still large charred empty spaces.

The more than 3700 new Chinese immigrants who have just arrived here heard a lot of good news when they arrived;
You can get a woman on credit, or you can get a house on credit, as long as it doesn't have a round mark, it's just that the prices are different.

The procedure is very simple, just sign a loan contract with Nanyang Bank. The interest rate is also extremely favorable, with an annual interest rate of 6%.

Such good news made all the new Chinese immigrants excited, and they started to get busy calling friends.

Throughout Anzhu Castle

Shops, buildings and the manor houses of indigenous princes and nobles along the main streets are basically affixed with circular talismans representing the property of the Nanyang Army. These properties are sacred and inviolable.

In the future, they will be allocated to municipal management committees, city, county and district police stations, police stations, taxation, industry and commerce, municipal administration, urban construction, telegraph bureaus and banks, as well as Nanyang department stores, etc. according to needs. Some will also be allocated to military and political chiefs.

Those who disobey will be whipped ten times in the street, or taken back by the police to be fined, usually ranging from three to five silver coins.

The entire police appointment process is like this. It is basically settled in a few words, and then the work begins.

The immigrants would stick their own paper on whichever house they chose, and then invite a convenience mobile team composed of Nanyang Bank and the Municipal Committee to sign the loan contract and record it.

Some immigrants rely on their skills and want to open shops along the street to do business, so the prices of some of the houses they choose are relatively high, even one or two hundred silver coins or more.

"Report, sir, Cao Min went to private school for a few years and knows a little bit about writing."

As for the appointment of the police, it was also very simple and efficient. When the municipal committee members saw Kong Wu, a strong and powerful Chinese male immigrant with a reputation for authority, they would step forward to ask a few questions about the situation.

"Okay, put the police badge on your chest, and now go on the mission with me. I will take you to the police station to register. Which market is specifically arranged to be inspected?"

"Okay, it's up to you. From now on, you are a police officer and enjoy the fixed monthly salary of the police station. Now it is a basic salary of 1.6 yuan per month. In the future, there will be other subsidies of varying amounts. Are you willing to bear the police officer's salary? This responsibility?”

If there is a dispute or robbery among the immigrants, whoever comes first will win. If it is impossible to tell who came first, the winner will be decided directly by guessing.

The whole process is very simple, efficient and straightforward.

The housing that new immigrants can choose on their own is basically ordinary housing such as detached houses, wooden buildings, courtyards, and townhouses. There are some good and some bad. Basically, every house has a piece of paper stuck on the door.

"Sir, I am willing."

"As you command, sir."

Then in two months, the new immigrants can get the property ownership documents of the house.

This piece of paper is stamped with a red seal and records the size, price and other information of the room.

For example, a wooden building is divided into three houses, each with two upstairs rooms, and the price ranges from 85 silver coins to 92 silver coins.

at the same time
The loan contract has also come into effect, and the principal and interest of the loan from Nanyang Bank need to be repaid on time. There are specific terms for this, which I will not go into details here.

Some immigrants are more cautious and choose shacks with lower unit prices. The lowest twenty or thirty silver coins can solve the housing problem, but the conditions are just a little worse.

Different ideas lead to different housing choices.

If you are satisfied, you will be awarded the police badge.

"Do you know the words?"

After two busy and chaotic days, more than 3,700 new Chinese immigrants chose their favorite houses and settled down with excitement, eagerly anticipating the arrival of their next choice.

The Anzhu City Municipal Committee has already posted a large notice that the Magpie Bridge Conference will be held at 9 a.m. on March 3 in the square opposite the mosque in the north of the city.

The so-called Magpie Bridge Conference is all about buying women.

Every new Chinese immigrant has the right to buy a woman on credit. This is a reward from the Marshal's Mansion, a special discount given to Chinese immigrants.

Of course, cash purchases don’t count. If you have money, you can buy three, five or even ten without anyone asking, and you have the right to choose first.

The Queqiao Society has already made it clear that 5000 indigenous women have been prepared, while supplies last.

Don't think that 5,000 people is a lot. Basically, the Chinese who immigrate across the oceans are not simple-minded. It is difficult for people who spend their whole lives to work on the fields to appear in the immigrant group.

Regardless of whether she is an aboriginal or not, a strong woman is a strong laborer who can work both at home and abroad. One more person means one more helper.

With this in mind, as long as these new immigrants have some savings, they want to buy more than one woman.

These five thousand indigenous women are really not enough.

Early morning on March 3rd
The entrance of the mosque in the north of the city

There is a large piece of charred land here, which was originally a manor owned by the local indigenous prince. It was burned down due to stubborn resistance during the battle, and the entire manor was razed to the ground.

After it was cleared, it became a charred square.

on the edge of the square
There are also piles of charred wood, neatly stacked stones and other building materials, and piles of swaying indigenous stone carvings, all remaining relics of the past. At around 8 o'clock in the morning, more than 5000 indigenous women, escorted by soldiers, entered the blackened square one after another.

Then the classification was carried out, and the soldiers held tin trumpets and shouted: "Are there any people under the age of 15? If there are, all of them will come out and stand on this side. No running around in the designated area is allowed. Do you hear that?"

"Everyone between the ages of 15 and 17 is standing in this area. Others, please don't run around. What about you... what are you doing here and there?"

"Is there anyone between the ages of 18 and 20 standing here? Don't make a mess, don't push and shove..."

Before these women arrived at the square, many Chinese immigrants who could not suppress their excitement had already arrived one after another.

Shortly afterwards, almost all the new Chinese immigrants arrived, looking forward with eagerness and expectation to find the woman of their dreams.

In fact, they are all extravagant hopes.

Because there are two lime lines separating the two, the distance is more than 30 meters. From a distance, you can see a bustling crowd of women. Where can you see it clearly?

There are 40 police officers in the middle of the lime line to maintain order. They are not allowed to cross the lime line. Violators will be immediately disqualified from the Magpie Bridge Association.

Therefore, although these new Chinese immigrants are itchy, no one dares to cross the lime line.

Near 9 o'clock

Director Wu Mingshi came to the venue with more than 20 staff members, carrying more than a dozen tables and a large stack of white documents, which immediately caused a commotion among the crowd.

The police and soldiers immediately suppressed the crowd to stop the noise and commotion of the itchy crowd.

And over there

The staff of the Municipal Committee and the staff of Nanyang Bank were basically in groups of two, using a table and lined up next to the lime line.

In this way, 12 groups of business can be processed at the same time to match people participating in the Queqiao Meeting.

Director Wu Mingshi and several other major municipal officials did not need to be involved in specific business. They gathered together to talk, taking out their pocket watches from time to time to check the time.

At 9 o'clock, Director Wu Mingshi stood up, held up a tin trumpet and announced;
“Dear Chinese immigrants, you are welcome to take root in Anzhu City and join in the hot reconstruction work of Anzhu City.

The benevolence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Nanyang Army has spread far and wide and is highly regarded by the public. The Commander-in-Chief cares deeply about our fellow Chinese people and gives preferential treatment to all the people who participated in the reconstruction of Onchu City.

One grain and one meal should not be easy to think about.

The great favor of helping our Chinese children build new homes and have children should be kept in mind at all times and rewarded with loyalty. Only those who know how to be loyal and have a heart of filial piety.

Now I declare that the Magpie Bridge Conference has officially begun..."

At this time, the Chinese immigrants group burst into warm applause, and countless people shouted: "The Marshal is loyal and righteous," "The Marshal is kind to the world," "Long live the Marshal!" and so on.

For a time, the warm atmosphere was high.

for a while
Only then did the heated emotions calm down, and then began to enter the substantive stage.

As expected, those who were willing to spend money were given priority, and these people all gathered together.

Pay the money first, choose the person later.

These indigenous women are divided into pieces according to their age. Those aged 18 to 20 are the most expensive, with a non-negotiable price of 35 silver coins per person. .

It is cheaper for those aged 20 to 22, 32 silver coins per person, non-negotiable.

The cheapest ones are for those over 30 years old, and the price is ten silver coins without negotiation.

Each time, 20 people are allowed in to choose, with a time limit of one and a half minutes. If they can't finish picking, they will just throw in one, and then they will drive people away, and no wasting time is allowed.

Fortunately, most of these people who spend money choose strong women, and they do so very quickly.

Some people picked more than ten in a row, and they were really not short of money.

A strong woman who can both work and give birth to a child is certainly in demand.

In less than two hours, more than 2,000 indigenous women had been picked off by those who spent money.

This caused the crowd behind to become restless for a while, but under the pressure of the police, although they were anxious, there was nothing they could do because they had no money in their pockets.

Women who pay on credit shouldn't have too high demands.

If it really doesn't work, I can only comfort myself in my heart. Even if I lose a little weight, I can grow strong again if I go back and feed myself good food and drink.

The bustling Queqiao Assembly lasted for most of a day, and all 5000 indigenous women were led away.

At the bottom of the list are those women under the age of 15. The price of 16 silver coins is not negotiable, and whoever grabs it will get it.

In this era, population was a matter of course, and almost no one thought it was inappropriate. With this, the Anzhu Municipal Committee received more than 24 silver coins, and the credit portion was transferred to the municipal committee's account from Nanyang Bank.

Through house sales and the Magpie Bridge Association, the Anzhu Municipal Committee raised nearly 70 silver coins, thus starting a massive reconstruction boom.

(End of this chapter)