Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 322 Star Bay Fortress

May 18, 1636, 5 p.m.

The afternoon sun lazily shone on the meadow outside Star Bay (now Crescent, California), the tender green grass blades densely woven, as if spreading a soft blanket over the earth.

A gentle breeze rippled through the grass, and several Canada geese hopped about happily, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings, pecking at insects in the grass and occasionally letting out a few clear calls.

Wang Changgeng's nose was almost touching the damp soil. He held his breath and observed the flock of black-beaked geese pecking at food twenty paces away through the gaps in the bushes.

These birds, unique to the New World, were much larger than any he had ever seen in his homeland, their grey-brown feathers gleaming with a metallic sheen in the setting sun.

"Closer..."

He silently chanted in his heart, his right hand gripping the bird-catching pole made of birch branches. The deer sinew rope carefully wrapped around the end of the pole trembled slightly with his movements, like a serpent poised to pounce.

There was a rustling sound behind him. Wang Changgeng knew without turning around that Liu Mingshun and his men were crouching and hiding in the bushes.

He could imagine that Zhang Gou'er must be scratching his head in frustration right now; that impetuous young man always lacked the patience a hunter should have.

The largest male goose suddenly raised its neck, its obsidian-like eyes scanning its surroundings warily.

Wang Changgeng immediately froze, even slowing his breathing.

Sweat slid down his forehead, leaving an itchy mark on his cheekbone.

After a few breaths, the male goose lowered his head to peck at the food again, and then continued to crawl forward.

Five steps, four steps, three steps...

The scent of humus mixed with the fowl odor of the geese filled his nostrils, and Wang Changgeng's muscles tensed. He slowly raised his snare pole, then suddenly swung his wrist sharply—
"Whoosh!"

The deer sinew rope drew a perfect arc in the air and precisely lassoed the neck of the male goose.

The startled flock of geese took flight with a roar, the sound of their flapping wings like a sudden downpour.

The trapped goose struggled frantically, the crescent-shaped white spots on its tail feathers shimmering in the sunlight.

"Boss, it's caught!"

Wang Changgeng rushed forward, grabbed the goose's wing with his left hand, and deftly tightened the rope with his right.

The goose pecked his hand hard with its beak, and he gasped, but his smile only grew brighter.

A suppressed cheer erupted from the bushes.

"Hey, we can have a treat today!" Liu Mingshun grinned as he walked over, reaching out to touch the black-beaked goose's feathers.

“There are over thirty people in our village, I’m afraid it’s not enough to go around!” Zhang Gou’er smacked his lips a few times, looking at the black-beaked geese flying into the air, a hint of regret on his face. “If we used a musket, we might be able to shoot down two or three at once, and that would be so satisfying to eat.”

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Liu Mingshun slapped Zhang Gou'er on the head, making him stagger. "The muskets in the village are our life-saving tools, not something we can just use to shoot birds!"

"Hehe, boss, I was just saying that," Zhang Gou'er chuckled sheepishly. "Actually, even if we can't use a musket, we can make a bow in our spare time, which is much more useful than this bird-handling set."

"Tch, why go to all that trouble!" Hearing someone complain about his bird-catching trap, Wang Changgeng glared at Zhang Gou'er. "Besides the stupid birds that aren't afraid of people, there are plenty of slow-moving prey here, and this trap will catch them just as well."

"With a bow and arrow, wouldn't it be much more convenient? If we see it from afar, we can take it down with a single arrow. Why bother approaching the prey so stealthily?"

"You know nothing! Do you know how much material and effort it takes to make a decent bow and arrow?"

"We don't need to make a hard bow for killing enemies on the battlefield. Any bow that can be used to shoot birds and hunt will suffice. How much effort will it take?"

"Alright, alright..." Liu Mingshun glared at the two of them, stopping their argument. "What's there for a bunch of brats to argue about! We're here on patrol to investigate the surrounding area and find out the situation of the natives, not to hunt for fun!"

He had barely finished speaking when he caught sight of the black-beaked goose he had hunted in his hand, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.

Damn it, there are so many birds and beasts in this area. You can hunt a few birds or a deer with just a casual search.

Xingwan Fort was established in late April of this year, and their group of 35 people were the first settlers to move in.

After nearly a month of construction, a small wooden stockade covering an area of ​​forty meters square was erected, complete with warehouses, residences, canteens, sedimentation tanks, latrines, watchtowers, and other facilities.

Although at the Founders' Conference at the beginning of the year, the delegates rejected the radical southward expansion strategy by majority vote, and instead adopted the principle of gradual and step-by-step expansion.

However, the delegates felt it was still very necessary to establish one or two intermediate supply ports in Oregon or California.

These supply points do not require a large investment or many personnel. A simple and practical port can be built to store a certain amount of supplies, providing much-needed food and water supplies for smuggling merchant ships and immigrant transport ships.

Star and Crescent Fort was situated precisely between Zhaoye Fort (present-day Astoria, on the south bank of the Columbia River estuary) and Yongning Fort (present-day Oakland, California), serving as a crucial link between the two locations, and only a four- or five-day voyage from both.

In the past few days, the settlers have not dared to slack off. On the one hand, they continue to reinforce and improve the village's defenses and living facilities, and on the other hand, they take turns sending out armed scouts to carefully patrol the surrounding area in different directions, carefully survey the terrain, and prevent potential dangers.

Today, Liu Mingshun, following the orders of the village chief, led Wang Changgeng, Zhang Gou'er, and several others, groping their way northeast along the winding stream. After walking about three or four kilometers, a local tribe suddenly appeared before them.

The tribe is small, with only about thirty people, scattered sparsely near the stream.

They made a living by gathering berries and hunting. At a glance, women and children made up about half of them, while there were only twelve or thirteen strong young men. They were rather thin and their weapons were nothing more than rough wooden sticks and simple stone axes. Their strength was quite weak.

However, out of caution, they did not venture further.

They stopped at the edge of the tribe and took out rare items such as spices and salt that they carried with them, attempting to trade with the natives.

The locals initially looked wary, their eyes filled with doubt and suspicion as they stared intently at these unfamiliar visitors.

Liu Mingshun and the others smiled broadly, gesturing and trying their best to express their friendly attitude.

Gradually, the natives lowered their guard, and the two sides began bartering. They traded seven or eight beaver and deer skins for some spices and salt. The transaction was simple, but also full of novelty.

After the transaction was completed, Liu Mingshun and the others went to great lengths, using both words and gestures, to tell the locals that if they wanted more novel and interesting things in the future, they could go to the seaside to find them.

It was clear that these natives showed great interest in the goods they brought, their eyes filled with longing and curiosity.

At noon, they warmly invited Liu Mingshun and others to have lunch together.

Although everyone was filled with trepidation, they still followed them into the tribe.

This meal was truly unpalatable—the venison cooked in the stone urn had a strong, fishy smell, and when you took a bite, the meat was tough and had traces of blood, clearly indicating that it was not fully cooked.

However, Liu Mingshun and the others were exhausted from their journey and were starving. With no other choice, they had to hold their noses and, with great effort, force themselves to eat the food under the expectant gaze of the local people.

Watching the local people eat with their hands, without cooking in iron pots, and with such simple cooking methods, Liu Mingshun and the others couldn't help but sigh. These local people really lived a primitive lifestyle, looking exactly like savages.

"The meat was sour, it almost made me throw up in the tribal chief's face..."

After shooting down a black-beaked goose, the group continued on their way, and the village was now in sight.

Zhang Gou'er carried the leather goods he had traded for, still complaining about his lunch.

“You should be glad they didn’t use the tribe’s ‘treasures’ to entertain you!” Liu Mingshun felt a chill for no reason as he recalled the stories told by the old immigrants.

During the lean season, some tribes would consider rotting flesh and maggots as delicacies.

Liu Mingshun suddenly stopped.

On the distant horizon, a few sails can be faintly seen.

"Our ship is here!" he breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's go back and prepare for the rendezvous. Who knows, they might bring us lots of good stuff!"
-
"Oh my, you've hauled a boat full of women!" Lu Dahai, the head of Xingwanbao Village, stared wide-eyed at the sight of the small boat packed with women.

"Hey, hey..." Captain Song Taisheng of the Anlan waved his hand vigorously in front of him, "I'm warning you, you're not allowed to mess with these women. Apart from some of them being collected from Shandong, most of them were bought from Japan and Korea. They're for the thousands of bachelors in the local area to find wives."

"With your ship, you can only carry a maximum of four hundred women. That's hardly enough to feed the thousands of bachelors on the mainland!" Lu Dahai licked his lips and said with a grin, "Why don't you leave a few for Xingwan Fort to appease our frustration at being far from the mainland?"

"Old Lu, don't make things difficult for me." Song Taisheng glared at him. "You know the rules of our immigrant fleet. We only ship immigrants who have died of illness. We don't just assign people to ships randomly."

"If I leave any of your women behind, believe me, I'll be questioned and punished by the immigration and colonization officials right away! ...Don't get me into trouble!"

"Hahaha..." Lu Dahai laughed loudly, "How many women did your immigrant fleet bring back from the Ming Dynasty? Could it be that you only had one ship?"

“I’m not sure about those armed ships; they came from Guangzhou,” Song Taisheng said. “However, we have separated four of our immigrant fast ships specifically to carry women and children, about 1,200 in number. Well, they will all pass by your Star Bay Fort in the next few days.”

"They're all young women?" Lu Dahai's eyes welled up with tears.

"Hehe, there are also those with children in tow." Song Taisheng said with a smile, "This year, the officials said that the ratio of men to women should be as balanced as possible, so that, like in previous years, all the immigrants are young and strong men."

"You have no idea how ugly the officials on Beiying Island looked when our fleet handed over the official documents from the Immigration and Colonization Department."

"What, they dare to disobey orders from the mainland?"

“We dared not disobey orders, but they took out their dissatisfaction and anger on us. During the handover of immigrants, they made things difficult for us, constantly cursing and swearing, and their attitude was extremely bad!”

"Hehe, I suppose there aren't many women on Beiying Island, right? Think about it, they went to great lengths to accumulate a few women, but because of an order from the mainland, they have to reluctantly give them all up and send them all to our Xinzhou mainland. They're definitely going to jump up and curse."

“Who says otherwise!” Song Taisheng nodded and said, “According to those immigration officials, there are now more than 35,000 people on Beiying Island, and more than 70% of them are young and strong men, while women are very few.”

"They're so close to the Ming Dynasty, didn't they think of bringing back more women?" Lu Dahai asked curiously.

"In the early years, in order to quickly establish themselves on Beiying Island, they recruited mostly young and strong men. Even if there were extra women, they were all packed up and shipped back to Xinzhou to meet our local needs."

"It was only in recent years, in order to stabilize the people's hearts on the island, that the Beiying Island Colonization Team gradually left some women behind to marry and settle down. Hehe, but unexpectedly, the Immigration and Colonization Department sent them an order to provide more women to the mainland in order to alleviate the slightly unbalanced male-female ratio."

"Tsk tsk..." Upon hearing this, Lu Dahai immediately sighed, "That's exactly right! Tell me, now that we're well-fed and clothed, and have even been allocated land, shouldn't we start thinking about having children to carry on the family line?"

"I've heard that in our Xinzhou region, men who want to marry Han women don't even have a chance to talk to them if they don't have a dowry of sixty or seventy silver dollars! Damn it, in the Ming Dynasty, sixty or seventy silver dollars would be enough to buy two or three young virgins!"

"Well, in years of famine, a bag of grain might be enough to get you a beautiful and capable wife."

"Hehe, in our Xinzhou, can't you trade a bag of grain for a wife from a local tribe?"

"Forget it then." Lu Dahai curled his lip and said, "The native women are both stupid and clumsy. Not only can they not do housework well, but they are also very unreliable in taking care of children. Anyone with a modicum of ambition would want to marry a Han woman."

"..." Song Taisheng glared at him after hearing this, "Then you'll just have to suffer!"

Five years ago, he came to Xinzhou alone. Not long after, he married a local woman who gave birth to three children for him. Their life was neither particularly exciting nor uneventful.

Just as Lu Dahai said, the indigenous woman still couldn't shake off many of the tribe's bad habits after all these years, and she was indeed not good at managing household affairs, and couldn't even cook a decent meal.

As for teaching children, that's out of the question. She can't even speak Mandarin properly, and she makes a lot of jokes.

The two older children in the family were noticeably less quick-witted than the children in Han Chinese families when playing with other children.

Sigh, all I can do is hope that after my child goes to school and studies, he/she will become a little smarter and not be too different from children from Han Chinese families.

"Beep beep..."

The observer on the watchtower suddenly blew a horn and waved a small flag to signal that more ships were approaching on the sea.

"Wow, this is quite lively today! Two boats have arrived in such a short time." Lu Dahai looked at the small black flag waving on the watchtower, felt a sense of relief, and muttered, "However, our little village probably can't hold too many people!"

(End of this chapter)