Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 225 New Continent, New Outlook

November 1632, 12, light snow.

In April of this year, a group of outsiders suddenly broke into Yunqi Valley (now Comox Valley on Vancouver Island).

They took three flat-bottomed boats and went upstream from the mouth of the Guixi River (now the Sulom River) to the intersection with the Huilong River (now the Pontlegi River). They then landed and began to build cities and forts and establish settlements.

After hearing the news, the surrounding Indian tribes observed the movements of these people from a distance with curiosity and a bit of caution.

These outsiders had very magical tools. In a very short time, they cut down all the tall trees near their settlement, and then built a high fence to roughly surround their residence.

They also have a powerful weapon in their hands that can easily kill a ferocious grizzly bear.

They also have excellent fishing skills and can catch huge amounts of fish every day.

What amazed the surrounding Indians even more was that the food they cooked was extremely delicious, and just the smell of it made people salivate.

As the two sides slowly explored and contacted each other, the Indians found that these outsiders were very gentle and friendly. Not only did they not exclude them without reason, they also warmly invited them to visit the fort.

They ate food they had never enjoyed before, drank magical wine, spoke different languages, grilled venison and salmon together, sang loudly together, and danced happily together. The barriers between them were broken down, and they gradually became familiar with each other.

Subsequently, simple transactions also increased.

A deerskin could be exchanged for a handful of salt, a beaver skin for a small bag of cornmeal, an otter skin for a jug of wine, and a whole bear skin for two pieces of soft cotton cloth or a few knives.

In less than half a year, this fortress called Hejiang Fort (now Courtenay City on Vancouver Island) became the most bustling "commercial center" within a radius of dozens of miles, attracting all the surrounding Indian tribes to come here to trade in exchange for all kinds of rare items.

It is the dead of winter and everything is quiet. The once active animals and hunters roaming the forests all hide in their dens to avoid the freezing weather.

However, on such a cold and windy day, a small boat with a displacement of about 100 tons was making final preparations for sailing at Hejiangbao Wharf.

The bundles of furs had been neatly stacked in the bottom hold according to categories, and the supplies needed for the journey had also been shipped. More than 20 sailors, wrapped in thick winter clothes and wearing fur hats, laughed loudly and waved goodbye to the people who were seeing them off on the shore.

This ship belonged to the Xinhua First Transport Company. Almost every two or three months, it would transport large amounts of food, wine, hardware tools and other supplies to several northern strongholds including Hejiang Fort. The accumulated furs would then be pulled back to Shixing Fort for simple processing. Finally, they would be taken back to Ming Dynasty by the immigration fleet in exchange for the population and supplies urgently needed by Xinhua.

In order to obtain more fur resources and expand its influence, the Xinhua government has established several strongholds in the north of Qiming Island over the past two years, including Xing'an Fort (now Campbell River), Hejiang Fort, Guangxin Fort (now Parksville), Liangping Fort (now Ladysmith), and Long'an Fort (now Sydney).

These strongholds have as many as seventy or eighty people, or as few as thirty or forty people. They are just simple wooden forts, and the garrisons only have self-defense weapons such as muskets, swords, and spears. They should be able to cope with the invasion of local Indian tribes.

Considering that these places are deep in the north, and the coastline is winding and deep, with countless broken islands, even if the Spaniards attack in large numbers, they will not be able to find them without careful search. Therefore, the above-mentioned strongholds are not equipped with artillery.

In addition to collecting local furs, the mission of these forts was to declare Xinhua's sovereignty and inform all local Indian tribes that from then on they were all subjects of Xinhua's rule, subject to Xinhua's jurisdiction and protection.

Of course, considering that these Indian tribes are still a group of poor people who have not been bathed in the "sunshine of civilization" for a long time, they are not taxed or conscripted for the time being.

In addition to expanding its influence to the northern part of Qiming Island, the Xinhua government also established three strongholds in the eastern mainland: Zhenjiang Fort (now Richmond City near Vancouver), Shunde Fort (now Vancouver City) and Raozhou Fort (now Surrey City).

These settlements were all located at the mouth of the Jinsha River (now the Fraser River), which not only laid the early foundation for the subsequent development of the mainland, but also made use of the local fertile alluvial plains to vigorously expand agricultural planting and provide necessary material support for gold mining activities in the middle and lower reaches of the Jinsha River.

The above-mentioned series of strongholds are no more than 200 kilometers away from the base with Shixing Fort as the core, and most of them are within a range of more than 100 kilometers. They are connected by sea, and the travel time only takes two or three days. If any major event occurs, the necessary aid and support can be obtained in an instant.

Unless the Spaniards surrounded Shixing Port and cut off the supply exchanges between various places.

"You said, if Spain doesn't come this year, will it come next year?"

After carefully checking the contents on the freight bill copy page, Liang Wengen, the person in charge of Hejiangbao, took out the ink from his pocket, dipped his thumb in it, pressed it hard on the bill, and then handed it to the captain of the "Hongyun-2" transport ship.

"Who knows?" Zhang Mingfu took the signed form, glanced at it, then put it in his arms. He smiled and shook his head, saying, "But even if the Spanish really attack, they won't be able to reach you. There's no need to worry too much. You can still do what you need to do here. It's just that you're short of supplies."

"Even if we in Xinhua fight the Spanish for a year or two, you won't starve to death here. There are fish in the river, reindeer in the forest, and with your food reserves and the chickens and ducks you raise, you should be able to last at least a year. Don't you agree?"

"That being said, I still feel uncertain!" Liang Wengen sighed. "Hejiang Fort is located in a remote area, and the area around it is sparsely populated. There are only about forty or fifty people in total. Besides the barbarians and natives, there are only a few animals like bears, wolves, and reindeer. If I say I'm not afraid, I'd be lying."

"Thankfully, transport ships like yours keep coming and going every few months, giving us a sense of security and a feeling that we haven't been abandoned in this desolate land. But if the Western Barbarians were to attack us and cut off the flow of people and supplies, we'd be a little apprehensive and uneasy."

"Look at what you're saying!" Zhang Mingfu said disapprovingly. "Xing'an Fort is further north than you, and there are only a few thirty people stationed there. Wouldn't they be scared out of their wits? Don't worry, you have swords, spears, and a dozen muskets. You are invincible in this area. Even without the support of your headquarters, you can easily defeat all the surrounding native tribes."

"When I say fear, do you mean the threat from the natives?" Liang Wengen glared at him unhappily. "All we want is to be able to keep in touch with headquarters regularly, to truly feel that Hejiang Fort is not isolated and helpless. Humph, even if the surrounding natives unite to attack us, with Hejiang Fort's defenses, we can easily keep the enemy out!"

"Haha..." Zhang Mingfu burst into laughter upon hearing this. He patted the other person's shoulder and said mischievously, "I get it. You're just afraid of being alone, aren't you? If all else fails, you could go to the surrounding Indian tribes and find some women to warm your bed. That should make things a little better!"

"..." Liang Wengen was stunned for a moment when he heard that, then pointed at him with a helpless smile, "Damn it, it's so fucking hard to talk to you! Get out of here now, don't waste your time here. Humph, be careful of big waves on the road." Zhang Mingfu didn't take it seriously, smiled and waved at him, then jumped onto the boat in one step, then waved his hand and ordered the sailors to set sail immediately.

The fjord between Qiming Island and the mainland is isolated from the ocean. Apart from the occasional cold wind blowing from the far north, there are rarely any strong winds and waves (the annual winter storms are affected by the narrow terrain of the Strait of Georges, occasionally causing local strong winds and waves).

Even a small boat like theirs, which weighs over a hundred tons, can move back and forth easily and freely as long as it sails close to the coastline, without any risk of wind and waves.

At about 2 p.m. that day, the transport ship "Hongyun-" arrived at Guangxin Fort and stayed there for a day to load the fur resources collected there.

Guangxin Fort is less than 40 kilometers away from the sub-state (now the city of Nanaimo), with a population of over 70. The local economy is mainly based on agriculture and fisheries. It cannot yet achieve complete food self-sufficiency and needs to rely on the neighboring sub-state to support part of its needs. Life is quite hard.

Of course, life in the newly developed land was difficult. Immigrants came all the way to the new continent, not to enjoy themselves. If they wanted to live a good and prosperous life, they could only create with their own hands and work hard to build it.

In order to increase the production enthusiasm of new immigrants, the Xinhua Decision-making Committee stipulated that all those who settled in the newly developed colonial outposts would have their labor service period shortened by three months to six months, and would enjoy preferential conditions for some agricultural loans.

After all, colonizing remote and wild areas is not only dangerous, but the environment is also extremely harsh at the beginning, and you may even lose your life if you are not careful.

You know, these branch bases far away from the headquarters do not even have basic medical conditions.

Once you have a headache or a fever, you can only endure it.

If his condition was critical and we wanted to save him, he would probably have died on the way before the boat reached Fenzhou or Shixing.

That's right, although the Xinhua government is trying its best to train more medical and health talents, due to the lack of skilled personnel and the limitation of training time, the number of doctors who can simply handle basic diseases is still very small, so that these overseas bases are not equipped with corresponding medical and administrative personnel.

However, compared with the high death rate of immigrants in the Spanish American colonies, the death rate of immigrants in the many strongholds controlled by Xinhua was much lower.

All immigrants arriving in Xinhua must learn and receive simple hygiene and epidemic prevention training during the quarantine period.

For example, drinking raw water is prohibited, taking frequent baths is required, and daily cleanliness and hygiene should be maintained.

For example, building public toilets can avoid the presence of filth and sources of infection in residential areas.

For example, once an infectious epidemic is discovered, patients will be immediately isolated and separated to prevent the disorderly spread of the epidemic.

After the quarantine period, the immigrants will be assigned to various strongholds. They will still be emphasized to maintain good hygiene habits and abandon their previous bad habits. They will also be vaccinated against smallpox to prevent the breeding and spread of any potential infectious diseases.

In this world, no country or region attaches as much importance to health and epidemic prevention as Xinhua does, and no ruler cherishes the lives of immigrants as much as the Xinhua government.

It’s because immigrants are too “precious”!

Every extra immigrant who survives means more power for inheritance.

On December 12, the crew of "Hongyun-21" had a delicious dumpling meal in Guangxin Fort and then continued to sail south.

By 1:00 p.m., we arrived at Fenzhou Port.

Fenzhou was one of the three major "cities" of Xinhua, with a town population of over 7,000, second only to the cities of Shixing and Guangfeng (present-day Saanich).

If the surrounding settlements and workers in several coal mines and lime mines are included, the population under the jurisdiction of the state exceeds 1,600, which is also a relatively densely populated area on the entire Qiming Island.

Fenzhou Fort underwent some expansion last year. Not only was a simple city wall roughly built, but several factories were also opened, making it an important industrial and trade center in the north.

Moreover, the place is located right in the center of several strongholds in the north and the Jinsha River gold mining area on the mainland. Traveling from the south to the north and connecting the land and the island all pass through Fenzhou, making it quickly become the transportation hub of Qiming Island.

The former wooden pier has been replaced by a permanent pier made of cement and stone slabs. A breakwater about 400 meters long has been built in the bay to block the surging sea water and provide better berthing conditions for ships in the port.

Several artillery batteries and bastions were built on Qinglong Island (also known as Guard Island), located not far from the port, to protect the safety of Fenzhou Port.

On land, Fort Fenzhou is surrounded by mountains and forests, and the terrain is quite dangerous. In addition, it has hundreds of trained militiamen, so it can hold out for a long time even in the face of a large-scale siege by the Spanish.

However, even if the Spaniards learned the location of Fenzhou Fort, they might not dare to ignore their own retreat, give up the siege of Shixing Port, and rashly attack such a distant rear area.

Initially, the Xinhua government established Fenzhou Fort in order to obtain the local coal resources to support the industrial development of the base.

After three years of construction, the area not only established coal mines, lime mines, timber yards, food shops, and fish product processing plants, but also, relying on the local rich mineral resources, added coke yards, cement yards, woodworking workshops and other related industrial facilities, effectively supporting the colonization activities in the northern region.

After the transport ship "Hongyun-2" entered the port, the sailors were about to go into the city to relax as soon as they came ashore, but they unexpectedly felt a strong sense of tension.

The natives of Fenzhou are in chaos!
(End of this chapter)