Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 369 The Meridian River (Part 1)

May 4, 1638, in front of Cascade Falls.

Just as an eastern expedition organized in the Jinsha River region was about to begin, an exploration activity in the southern Ziwu River (Columbia River) basin was suddenly brought to an abrupt halt due to the geographical barrier of the Ziwu River.

The swift current pushed a small flat-bottomed boat, the "Pathfinder-2," toward the rocky riverbank, the hull slamming against the rocks with a sickening groan.

Captain Zhou Yongshen gripped the gunwale tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

A little over a hundred meters ahead, the Ziwu River breaks into a waterfall like a silver ribbon, cascading down with a faint rainbow visible where the mist rises.

"Flatten the sails! Flatten the sails!...Lower the anchor!" Zhou Yongshen's roar drowned out the thunderous sound of the water.

The crew scrambled to secure the boat, and a young sailor nearly got whipped in the face by a suddenly slack rope—just like Chen Er, who lost his left eye three months earlier in Devil's Gorge.

Fifteen minutes later, after the crew's efforts and the boat's upstream movement, they finally came to a stop a few dozen meters from the pool.

Ding Dagu wiped the water droplets from his face and whispered in Zhou Yongshen's ear, "Boss, the difference in elevation is much greater than what's marked on the map."

He unfolded the sheepskin map he had obtained from the natives, now softened by moisture. The dotted lines drawn in vermilion on it ended abruptly, with a translator's annotation beside it that read "Suspected waterfall".

Zhou Yongshen's gaze passed over the waterfall.

Upstream, a series of waterfalls and rapids can be faintly seen. The turbulent river flows down like a surging ribbon, carrying the boundless power of nature.

Further away, the wide river reflects the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Perhaps there is...

“There are herds of elk, countless small animals leaping through the jungle, and ferocious brown bears,” the Cree guide on board suddenly spoke, as he was whittling a cedar branch with a knife.

After the ship docked, some of the crew members went ashore to explore the surrounding geography.

The cabin reeked of dampness and mildew. Zhou Yongshen drew a thick line in his logbook with charcoal: "May 4th, blocked by the waterfall, the vertical drop of the river is about thirty meters."

The pen paused, then added: "...fertile river valley plains may be visible upstream."

"How long will our supplies last?" he asked suddenly, turning his head as he put down the logbook.

Ding Dagu thought for a moment: "We haven't been out for more than a few days, and our supplies are still quite plentiful. At the minimum ration, we should have enough for thirty or forty days. But…"

He glanced at the waterlogged flour sack in the corner and shook his head. "...But in time, the maggots will eat more than we will."

"If we hunt some wild game on the shore, we should be able to last for two months without much trouble..." Zhou Yongshen muttered to himself.

"We're going to go uphill again?" Ding Dagu asked in astonishment. "There's no road ahead!"

"..." Zhou Yongshen paused for a moment, his eyes glancing at the order issued to him by the colonization commissioner next to the log.

"We've only been out for two days. If we turn back now, it might be hard to explain. But... sigh, let me think about it..."

At dusk, Zhou Yongshen summoned everyone.

The setting sun dyed the waterfall blood red, creating an eerie halo effect in the mist.

"Let's discuss this," he said in a hoarse voice.

Although he didn't say what they were discussing, everyone understood.

Should we continue onward, or turn back and hastily conclude this exploration mission?

The group exchanged glances, but no one stepped forward to offer their opinion.

"Shall we... turn back?" Ding Dagu first looked at the other crew members, then turned to Zhou Yongshen. "We definitely can't get any further. Unless we abandon ship and walk across. So, next time we come, we should use a few birch bark canoes to make way for this dangerous shoal!"

“Yes, this boat is a bit too big. Even if we manage to pull it out of the river, it will be difficult to drag it for several kilometers through the complex terrain on the bank and climb uphill.” Once someone took the lead, the crew members chimed in.

“That’s right, Otani is right. Next time we come, we should pick up a few canoes. Then, a few people can carry them across this waterfall and rapids.”

"Yes, if the boats can't get through, are we supposed to carry our supplies and walk along the river all the way across?"

"For this expedition, we have absolutely no detailed hydrological or geographical data. The higher-ups are sending us upstream, most likely as a trial, and probably don't expect to sail smoothly all the way to the upper reaches of the Ziwu River." "..."

“Well, let’s turn back then.” Zhou Yongshen sighed inwardly after listening to the discussion, a hint of disappointment on his face. “I was thinking that if we could use this great river, we could go deep into the inland areas and discover more indigenous tribes and vast fertile lands.”

“I think we’ve reached our limit here,” Ding Dagu said with a smile. “Even if we follow this great river deep into the inland, Xinhua won’t be able to colonize and relocate people there for at least the next ten years. With so much land along the Ziwu River and the Qiongjiang River Valley (Weilamit River Valley), it’s probably impossible to fill it with people for many years!”

“Alright, let’s rest for the night and return early tomorrow morning,” Zhou Yongshen said. “However, before we leave, we need to follow the instructions of the Colonization Office to bury a boundary marker and set up a marker here to leave our mark of Xinhua.”

As the sun sets, the afterglow illuminates the waterfall in a kaleidoscope of colors, seemingly slicing the surging water into countless fragments of silver—a truly beautiful sight.

The rushing river water, accompanied by a faint roar, instilled a sense of unease in the heart.

A cement boundary marker was buried under a boulder next to the pool. The words "Xinhua Yonggu" were engraved on the surface of the marker, and the edges were carved with intertwined branches.

It was specially ordered by the Colonization Division from the headquarters on Qiming Island. It was 1.2 feet wide and 2 feet long. The bottom of the boundary marker even had a sharp insertion structure, so that it could be embedded in the rock crevices when it could not be buried.

This was the order of the Colonization Commissioner: "Let the barbarians know that wherever a monument is erected, it belongs to Xinhua!"

The next morning, the weather was clear and the sunrise was fiery red.

The Pathfinder-2 set sail and sped downstream along the Ziwu River, hastily concluding this short exploration mission.
-
On May 6, the midday sun was particularly dazzling. Wang Xiaoshan stood on the dock, shading his eyes with his hand and gazing at the west side of the river.

A small galley was sailing upstream, heading towards their Muyang Fort (present-day Vancouver, Washington).

A migrant ship?
A supply ship?
Well, whatever kind of ship it is, it will bring something to Muyang Fort.

If it is immigration, then it will certainly increase the local population size, strengthen the power of Xinhua, and no longer be afraid of the evil intentions of the nearby indigenous tribes.

If it's supplies being transported, that would be even better, then we wouldn't have to worry about going hungry for the next few months.

"We've arrived! Everyone, disembark!" With the captain's shout, forty or fifty immigrants poured out of the deck and cabins, looking around blankly.

"Don't push, line up one by one to get off the ship! If you fall into the river, no one will come to your rescue!" When the sailors laid a plank between the deck and the wooden pier, the immigrants seemed eager to get off the ship and onto the shore as soon as possible, causing a commotion on the deck.

This provoked the sailors to come forward and kick, yell, and curse, trying their best to make the immigrants more orderly.

"A Korean?"

"Most likely, judging from their appearance, they should be North Koreans."

"Oh, there seem to be more than a dozen Japanese people here."

"What's so strange about the Japanese! I'm wondering why no women were brought on board?"

"Forget it, how could we possibly send women to a newly developed territory like this!"

"No way. A while ago, I heard some of the sailors who arrived at the port mention that more than 1,200 women were sent to Xinhua Bay in April this year. Even though this is newly developed land, it's not like we won't be given a single woman! Are we going to have to go looking for a local woman from now on?"

"What do you think? We haven't even been allocated land yet, we don't even have our own place to live. How are we going to support women? Are we going to have them crammed into a dormitory with a bunch of us men?"

"Ha ha……"

The immigrants watching the commotion on the dock burst into laughter from time to time, making the new immigrants who had just disembarked feel a little awkward and look at them timidly.

"As usual, ten people per group, lined up in a single file, all going to the quarantine area for necessary cleaning."

At the dock, an official from the Immigration and Colonization Department directed militiamen to herd the new immigrants into the sanitary quarantine area, where they were first given a body wash and then subjected to a five-day temporary epidemic prevention measure.

In fact, these immigrants who were assigned to the area had already undergone a 15-20 day quarantine upon arrival in Xinhua, which initially screened out potential carriers of infectious diseases.

However, in order to ensure the health and safety of the people in these newly established settlements, the newly assigned immigrants will undergo another quarantine and isolation process.

However, the time will be shortened slightly, tentatively set at five days.

In reality, it's impossible to discover any potential infectious pathogens in such a short time; it's just for peace of mind.

"Hey, what's in these big barrels? It smells so pungent!" After all the new immigrants disembarked, several sailors carried out several wooden barrels from the cabin. Although they were tightly sealed, a strong, pungent smell still emanated from them.

"What the hell?" A burly sailor straightened up and said with a laugh, "Poison! If we fail to meet our colonization targets on time, I'll poison you all to death!"
-
(End of this chapter)