Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 50 Homecoming
"Sir, these are the clothes I've made in the past week." Ainoa Mir brought out more than twenty sets of fur-lined winter clothes from the house, placed them on the wooden table at the door, and then waited quietly for the instructions of the Chinese man in front of him.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Li Liang casually flipped through a few sets of winter clothes and nodded at her with a smile. "Winter will be here in a few days. We hope all residents can wear warm winter clothes and get through this cold winter safely. You have to work hard these days and catch up on the work. In addition to making more clothes, you also have to sew some fur blankets."

"Yes, sir." Ainoa nodded respectfully in response.

"Oh, by the way, are you still short of any materials?"

"Sir, the furs may have been tanned poorly before, so the smell is too strong. We need to remove the odor." Ainoa thought for a moment and whispered, "Otherwise, if these furs are sewn into clothes or bedding, they will emit a strong fishy odor and become stiff, which may make people feel uncomfortable. Maybe... maybe even make people itch and get sick."

"Oh?" Li Liang immediately took notice. "Then you can pick out the untanned furs later, and have your husband take them to Garcia when he has time to have them re-tanned."

"Yes, sir." Ainoa hesitated for a moment, then bravely said, "By the way, sir... can I ask you something? Can our 'wages' for making clothes and bedding be exchanged for some cotton and silk?"

"Of course," Li Liang replied, "your bookkeeping wages can be exchanged not only for cotton and silk, but also for anything that Shixing Fort can produce. Of course, there are certain limits on the purchase quantity, as our reserves are not abundant. However, things will get better in a few years."

"Oh, thank you, sir." Ainoa bowed slightly to him. "I want to make a few more sets of clothes for my husband and several children. You may not know that before coming here, we hadn't made new clothes for almost three years."

"Mrs. Mir, don't worry, our lives will get better and better." Li Liang said, "From now on, you will have new clothes every year, a spacious and bright brick house, and even a piece of fertile land."

"Oh, yes." Ainoa showed a bitter smile on his face.

We once had a house and fertile land in Banderas Valley (now Puerto Vallarta, Mexico), but now you have "brought" us here and we have to start all over again.

When she first arrived, she felt endless fear and extreme helplessness.

It's a desolate place with almost no people.

What frightened her even more was that there was a group of pirates living here, and the lives of their family of four could be in danger at any time.

However, after staying in Shixing Fort for several months, she found that the pirates did not seem to give them too much trouble. Instead, they gave the family of four a lot of preferential treatment, which gradually relaxed her tense mood.

Her husband helped guide the pirates in farming, while she and seven or eight Spanish women who were also captured did daily housework, including washing clothes, cooking, mending clothes, and helping to raise livestock and poultry.

The days are simple and busy.

After spending a long time together, she was surprised to find that those pirates with oriental faces were very polite and kind, and they were completely different from those Spanish pirates who always stared at them with lustful eyes.

Oh, sure, they'd sometimes secretly look them up and down.

But this kind of gaze is purely out of curiosity, an exploration of "new things".

Many of them even show a little shyness and timidity, giving people a reserved and gentle feeling.

What made these Spanish women even more gratified was that these pirates with oriental faces seemed to show them great respect.

Moreover, this kind of respect is not the kind of charity-like pretentious gentlemanly behavior of European aristocrats.

Their eyes, their attitude, and their behavior exude elegance and civilization from the bottom of their hearts.

All of them showed a positive and optimistic attitude and were full of high-spirited enterprising spirit. They had clear likes and dislikes and strictly controlled the lax and rude Spanish pirates.

A few months ago, a vulgar Spanish pirate grabbed her buttocks in broad daylight and said obscene words.

When her husband heard the news and rushed over, he immediately fought with him, but because he was small and weak, he was beaten until his mouth and nose bled.

Fortunately, the Chinese people stopped the fight in time, and the husband was able to avoid more serious injuries.

Afterwards, several leaders of Shixing Fort severely punished the extremely rude pirate, whipping him three times, giving him a verbal warning, and deducting half a month's accounting salary.

Not long after, Shixing Fort promulgated a draft law on social security management to restrict the behavior of all personnel.

Although she did not understand the law at all, it did not prevent her from expressing her sincere expectation and welcome for it.

Because the Chinese people said that although this law is relatively rough and simple, it has the highest authority and everyone must abide by it, and violators will be punished.

Even those Chinese people who were at the "ruling level" of Shixing Fort were no exception.

They used a simple and easy metaphor, "If the king breaks the law, he will be punished just like the people," to highlight the justice and severity of the law.

In other words, everyone here, whether he was a pirate in the past or a resident of the small town who was later captured, will be protected by this law.

Of course, everyone must also strictly abide by the regulations and matters stipulated by the law.

The Chinese seem to be trying their best to create a stable and harmonious social environment. Although there are only more than 150 residents here, they manage everything here very carefully, making Shixing Fort change for the better little by little.

Mr. Escutt's blacksmith shop added many new tools and equipment, and the ironmaking process also received guidance and help from the Chinese, so many better quality farm tools and implements could be made.

A small wheel kiln was built, which provided a large supply of bricks for the entire camp, enabling the construction of more comfortable and warmer dwellings.

A papermaking workshop was also built to solve the daily toilet paper needs of all residents. With the continuous improvement of papermaking technology, the continuous production of white writing paper is just around the corner.

A school was opened in Shixing Fort, and more than ten children, including her two children, began to receive education from the Chinese people, learning their language, as well as subjects such as arithmetic and basic science.

Hundreds of acres of farmland have been reclaimed and planted with crops such as wheat, corn, sorghum, and potatoes. Good harvests have been obtained in the summer and autumn, so that all residents no longer face the risk of hunger.

After nearly a year of "conversion" and civilization, hundreds of Native Americans have wholeheartedly returned to Shixing Fort, cutting wood for the residents, hunting animals, and building docks and ports access roads.

Thanks to the hard work of everyone, Shixing Fort is undergoing tremendous changes almost every day. Everything is so prosperous and full of vitality.

Perhaps, living here is a good choice.

Apart from the fact that there are no churches or priests to comfort lonely hearts, and not too many noisy crowds, life here is not as bad as I had imagined.

(End of this chapter)