Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 224 Northern Exploration
"Captain, after these Japanese return to Fushan City, will they regret their decision and bring their men to attack us?"

Liu Pingshun watched as three small boats belonging to the Matsumae clan left the dock one after another and turned southwest, obviously intending to return directly to Fukuyama Castle on the Oshima Peninsula, even ignoring the original mission of exploring the Ezo region. He then asked the question in his mind.

"There are only a few people in the Matsumae clan, how could they have the courage to attack us?" Wei Zhonglong said with a smile.

"What if they cross the sea to seek help from several nearby Japanese daimyo, or report directly to the Tokugawa clan and ask for support from the shogunate?"

"Not to mention, it would take at least a year or two for the Matsumae clan to seek help. By then, we would have already made all the necessary defensive preparations." Wei Zhonglong shook his head and said, "Even if a war really breaks out later, the Matsumae clan will suffer the most, as they will definitely be pushed to the front and used as cannon fodder. Just imagine, with their small population, how long can they withstand the attrition?"

"Once that Matsumae retainer has a rough understanding of our strength, he will undoubtedly report the situation to their lord. As long as they're not a fool, they'll naturally think it over and carefully assess the relative strength of our two forces."

"We have a population of over 7,000, and with the Ainu who have surrendered, we have over 8,000. Furthermore, we have artillery, muskets, and sturdy forts. We are not to be trifled with by those ignorant and backward natives! If they truly wish to completely annihilate or expel us, they would need to mobilize at least several thousand warriors, over a hundred ships, and a vast amount of war supplies."

"Given the scale of this war, not to mention the Matsumae clan joining forces with the Japanese feudal states across the strait, even the Tokugawa shogunate would have difficulty mobilizing such a large number of troops and resources in such a short period of time. Although the Tokugawa clan was appointed Shogun, a long-distance expedition to Ezo would still be quite difficult."

"Therefore, engaging in an armed conflict with us with an uncertain outcome is the worst option for the Matsumae clan. On the contrary, if they can establish a trade cooperation relationship with us, it will be a hundred benefits for them and there will be no harm."

"This not only prevented the calamity of war, but also enabled them to act as our trade intermediaries, leveraging their special status and position, to import countless Ming Dynasty goods from Mutsu (present-day northern Honshu) into the heartland of Japan, and even to the Kanto region centered around Edo."

"You know, the Matsumae clan has relied on fishing and the entrepot trade with Ezo since their establishment. If they can expand their trade with us, their profits will increase exponentially, which will surely bring their Matsumae clan a better life."

"Well, just like the Tsushima clan, they earned no less than 30,000 taels of silver in just over a year of cooperation with us. Don't you think that's much easier than pretending to be a grandson in front of the Koreans?"

"Then..." Liu Pingshun hesitated for a moment, then continued, "So, will we just continue to coexist in harmony with the Matsumae clan on Beiying Island?"

"What do you think?" Wei Zhonglong glanced at him and then turned and walked towards the wooden village.

"Oh..." Liu Pingshun thought about it, then suddenly realized it and hurriedly followed, "Captain, when we are strong enough, we will directly drive the Matsumae clan out, right?"

"A gentleman hides his talents, waiting for the right time to act." Wei Zhonglong paused, gazing at the desolate wilderness in the distance. He recited a line from the Book of Changes and breathed a long sigh of relief. "In two days, return to Linhai and report our affairs with the Matsumae clan to Captain Qi, so they can prepare."

"Yes, Captain." Liu Shunping bowed in response.

"Oh, by the way, let's check out the short-term management training class over there and try to pick out some capable students. We have a lot of things to do here, so we need to have some people who are close to us."

"Yes, Captain."
-
On November 11, a freezing rain mixed with light snow hit Linhaibao, causing the local temperature to drop suddenly to around zero degrees.

The sea breeze roared in from the sea, bringing with it a salty and humid breath, rolling up fine snow particles and scattering them in the air.

The sky was gray and the clouds were low, as if they would press down on the earth at any time.

The sea in the distance was surging, and the waves hit the rocks on the shore, making a low roar.

In the cold wind and rain, a dim light appeared through the cracks in the doors of several wooden buildings near the port, bringing a touch of warmth to people.

Wisps of smoke rose from the chimney on the roof, intertwining with the cold wind and quickly dissipating into the air.

A simple wooden fence roughly enclosed these houses. In the sudden cold temperature, a thin layer of icicles grew on each wooden stake.

However, in such cold weather, a Guangzhou ship with a displacement of more than 200 tons slowly approached the dock.

A thick rope was thrown over by the sailors on the ship. Two Ainu coolies wearing heavy fur coats immediately picked it up and then struggled to drag the boat to the berth.

"I was wondering, it's almost winter and you haven't come back yet. Have you all been fed to the turtles in the sea?" A thin dock manager looked at the sailors getting off the ship one after another. While feeling relieved, he said jokingly.

"Bah, Zhang Mazi, you should sew up that mouth of yours so it won't keep spewing shit!" A sailor who had just disembarked cursed back, "When we went out to sea, we burned incense and kowtowed to the Dragon King, promising him that he would bless us and bring us back safely."

"Hey, you never know!" the man called Zhang Mazi continued to grumble, "What if the dragon kings of other seas get what you burn and kowtow to? Then the dragon king of the Beiying Sea (the Sea of ​​Okhotsk) gets nothing, and he might be in trouble for you."

"Get lost!" Several sailors cursed with laughter, stretching out their legs and kicking weakly. "Hurry up, call someone to unload the cargo. It's so cold, I'm frozen. I need to warm myself up by the fire and drink some wine!"

"Oh, you brought back some goods?" Zhang Mazi looked over at the boat in surprise. "What kind of goods is this? Where did you get them from?"

"Leather! All of it is the best leather, brought from the natives on that big island in the north (Sakhalin)."

"The first time you explored the northern islands, you encountered the natives there?"

"Isn't it? Our ship arrived at the big island and sailed along the coastline for less than two days before we encountered a native tribe. Wow, they were so warm and hospitable, they treated us like gods of wealth. A can of salt could be exchanged for several hides, and two knives could be exchanged for a whole bear skin."

"Once we take out the cotton cloth, spices, and iron tools from the ship, the natives will immediately take out all the valuable goods from the bottom of their houses. We have the final say on how to exchange them!"

"Wow, you guys have come back with a lot of rewards!"

"We only made a half-circle around the south of the big island, visited seven or eight tribes, and brought back about 1,800 hides. If it weren't for the cold weather and the fear that the port would freeze over, we really wouldn't have wanted to come back!"

"Hey, you brought back so many skins. The captain will definitely be happy to see them. He might even reward you handsomely!" Zhang Mazi said with some jealousy.

"Of course!" a sailor was also very proud, "If you can reward me with a woman, that would be the best."

"Hehe, I'm afraid your wish is doomed. A few months ago, when the immigrant fleet returned to Xinzhou, they left almost no women in our Linhai Fort. If you want to get married, you'll probably have to wait a few more years!"

"Damn it!" the sailor cursed. "I finally have enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear, but now I have to worry about not being able to marry a woman in the future!"

"Hehe, if you really feel like you can't hold it in any longer, you can go pick and choose among the natives. Maybe you can find a woman you like!"

"That's right!" another sailor joked, "Women, as long as the lights are turned off, they are all the same."

"How can it be the same? You spend every day together, and suddenly you look up and see your woman with a mustache. It's always uncomfortable! I say, our Linhai Fort should ban those native women from getting tattoos, especially those with fancy facial tattoos." "Ban people from getting tattoos? Believe it or not, if our Linhai Fort issues this decree today, they'll start making a fuss tomorrow. Don't you know that at the beginning of this spring, our Linhai Fort required the surrounding native tribes to send all children under the age of fourteen to school, and they immediately opposed it."

"It's like we're holding their children hostage. They're about to jump up and fight us!"

"Just them? No matter how much trouble they cause, can they still threaten us at Linhai? If we weren't so short of manpower here and needed their help with logging, road construction, and house building, we would have slaughtered them all!"

"Go away, you Liao people only know how to fight and kill! Don't you know that God is merciful? Besides, two months ago, a coal mine was discovered in Qingling Fort (now Kushiro Town, 12 kilometers northeast of Kushiro City). When the time comes, a large number of local coolies will be needed to dig it up. We can't let them all be harmed so easily."

"Yes, these natives aren't good at farming, but they can still do some hard work. At the very least, they can hunt plenty of game and furs in the forest, which means a lot more meat for us. And if we sell those furs back to the Ming Dynasty, we can get a lot of silver."

"Whoa..." As someone was speaking, they noticed a group of knights running towards them from the direction of the castle. They immediately stopped talking and looked over there.

There are not many horses on the entire Beiying Island, less than thirty in total. After a dozen or so were distributed to Wochuan, there are not many left in Linhai Fort.

Therefore, those who could ride horses were either high-ranking officials of the colonization team, scouts for delivering messages, or those precious cavalrymen.

"...It's the captain!" a sharp-eyed person whispered.

In a flash, the team of knights rushed forward, Qi Yongze lightly pulled the reins and stopped at the edge of the berth.

"grown ups!"

"grown ups!"

"..."

The crowd gathered on the dock bowed to him and responded to him eagerly.

"Where is Sun Da?" Qi Yongze dismounted, raised his whip and waved to the crowd with a smile, while looking around.

Just now, he was leading a small team of cavalry to inspect the forts and strongholds around Linhai to check on the immigrants' preparations for the winter. Upon hearing that the exploration ship sent out more than two months ago had returned to the port, he immediately ran over to ask the captain about the results of their exploration.

The entire Beiying Island colonization team received more than 4,000 Ming Dynasty immigrants this year. While gaining abundant human resources, they also endured tremendous economic pressure.

Because, to send so many immigrants to Beiying Island, they would have to pay a large amount of shipping costs.

The price of sending immigrants from Guangdong is twenty taels of silver per person, and the price of transferring them from Dongjiang Town is twelve taels of silver.

If we add in some additional craftsmen, artists and young women who need to be "recruited" with money, it will be another huge expense.

Although gold mining is underway in Xinzhou, there is no need to worry about funding issues for the time being.

However, Qi Yongze, who is determined to develop Beiying Island into an important strategic base in the Far East, is unwilling to rely solely on local transfusions.

Otherwise, it would appear that he is lacking in ability.

So how to better build a base?

Without food there is no stability, without commerce there is no prosperity, without industry there is no strength.

After the large-scale development of the Wochuan black soil plain, it can be foreseen that in the next two to three years, Beiying Island will not only be able to achieve complete food self-sufficiency, but may even produce a large surplus.

Under such circumstances, the Beiying Island colonization team can consider introducing some cold-resistant rice, oats, and rye, while continuing to increase the production of high-yield coarse grains such as potatoes and corn, to improve the living standards of immigrants.

So, after initially solving the problem of agricultural poverty, isn’t it time to think about how to develop some industry and engage in some business?

After receiving a large number of immigrants this year, Linhaibao has successively built fishery product processing plants, grain processing plants, wood processing plants, paper mills, furniture plants, as well as a brick kiln and a cement kiln. It has also expanded the previously crudely built ship repair shop to simply build some inland flat-bottomed boats and coastal fishing boats.

In early September, another coal mine was discovered near Qingling Fort. After recruiting some immigrants and Ainu people, they prepared to carry out preliminary development of the mine.

Without a certain amount of talent and population size, industry cannot be developed.

These workshops and factories were basically established and developed around the production and life of local residents, and they could not grow big in a short period of time.

But doing business is different. As long as you have valuable things and resources to sell, all that remains is to find a market.

What is there on Beiying Island?
Timber, furs, and fish, these commodities are not only large in quantity but also of high quality. As long as they can be developed, they will surely bring in a lot of money.

Moreover, not only Beiying Island, but also the nearby Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island, and the Outer Northeast region in later generations, have extremely abundant fur resources.

By the way, the Russians were chasing the high returns from furs, and they moved all the way from the Ural Mountains to Heilongjiang and even to Kamchatka, and finally incorporated this resource-rich area into their territory.

Since we have occupied Hokkaido, the above-mentioned areas naturally cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the Russians.

Therefore, with the same pursuit of fur resources in mind, more than a month ago, Qi Yongze sent out the only Guang ship in Linhai. In addition to exploring the situation in the northern part of Beiying Island, he also conducted preliminary exploration of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island, drew maps, and explored routes to make preliminary preparations for occupying and developing these territories in the future.

Now, the exploration ship has returned safely and brought back more than 1,800 furs of good quality, which made Qi Yongze overjoyed.

When the spring comes next year, in addition to this Guang ship, a few more small boats will be sent to follow it, and they will cover the northern part of Beiying Island, the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin Island, and try to bring back thousands of furs. By the way, they will also survey the geographical terrain and choose several suitable locations to establish strongholds.

We also learned the Russians' colonization methods, using fur resources as a starting point, and gradually established some scattered colonization points, eventually bringing all the vast land and islands in the north under the rule of our Xinhua.

(End of this chapter)