Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 159 A happy event is coming
After seeing the two off, Zheng Guohui picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip. His eyes fell on the map of Nanyang hanging on the wall, as if he could never get enough of it.

He has looked at this map thousands of times and can accurately copy every detail. He knows the names and directions by heart. No one is more familiar with it than him.

Even so
When Zheng Guohui was thinking about a problem, he still liked to look at the map carefully, just like a lion king patrolling his territory, the more he looked at it, the more he liked it.

The two prefectures and six counties located in the southern part of Mindanao, except for the inland Lingshui County, are all not far from the coast and are located in the open plain and hilly areas of the bay that are easy to develop.

Continue north

We entered the mountainous central part of Mindanao. The Apo Volcano in the west, with an altitude of 2954 meters, is the highest volcano in the Luzon Islands. The continuous mountainous area occupies more than % of the island's area.

The Mindanao River is 400 kilometers long and is the largest river in the Luzon Islands. Its vegetation is mainly tropical rainforest.

The island has a winding coastline with many peninsulas and deep-water harbors. The central region has endless tropical forests. It has been sparsely visited by humans for thousands of years and has remained in a relatively pristine state.

Along the narrow coastal plains of southern Mindanao, two prefectures and six counties have developed, governing a population of over 45. In today's era of backward productivity, this is almost the limit.

If the shipping, fishing and industrial industries develop in the future, this narrow southern coastal plain will be able to accommodate a population of over 10 million.

But that's the future, not now.

Zheng Guohui greedily withdrew his gaze from the pancake-shaped Kalimantan Island (note: Borneo). The world's third largest island with an area of ​​74.33 square kilometers was not something he could consider for the time being.

He knew that Kalimantan was rich in oil resources, a huge treasure trove containing endless wealth.

this age
Kerosene is an essential resource for human beings, which is used to light lamps at night. No matter whether you are a noble from a wealthy family or an ordinary person mending clothes under an oil lamp, no one can do without this lighting device.

The mainland, Fuso, the Korean Peninsula, the British Straits Settlements, the French Government-General of Saigon, the Government-General of the Dutch East Indies, India and even further away all lacked this precious resource called kerosene.

As long as you have kerosene, you can easily open up the above-mentioned market and make amazing fortunes.

The premise is

To be able to preserve such astonishing wealth is a resource that will drive both the British and the French crazy. In this era of the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak, there is no justice or fairness.

When you don't have such powerful abilities, you can only lie low.

Looking across Asia, only the oil treasure trove on Kalimantan Island is the easiest to exploit, and it is right under Zheng Guohui's nose, only a two-day flight from the Zamboanga Peninsula.

This endless temptation made Zheng Guohui swallow his saliva and reluctantly looked away.

Zheng Guohui's attention returned to Iligan County, a newly established county seat undergoing large-scale land reclamation and a major area of ​​farmland growth.
A detailed investigation of this place will surely provide Cao and Mu with first-hand and valuable experience for their future pastoral governance, and there are many things they can learn from.

One day later
Zheng Guohui led his followers and stood on the top of the hill, looking at the large forest that was burning fiercely in front of them, with a calm expression.

The raging flames devoured the forest, thick smoke butts shot straight into the sky, and the sky was filled with warm grass and wood embers, even blocking out the sunlight.

The main way to open up new land is to burn it. An 8-10 meter wide isolation zone is opened in the designated area in advance, and then the forest is set on fire. This method saves time and effort.

Walking in the forest after a fire, every step you take will result in deep ashes of grass and trees.

Large areas of low bushes were engulfed by the flames. After the fire, the lush forest turned into a cluster of dry and black trees, which stretched straight to the sky, full of desolation and loneliness.

Everything was gray and black, and the air was turbid mixed with wood ash, giving a sense of the end of the world.

After the fire
The natives of the labor camp were the first to arrive. They were basically divided into teams of 10 people, and each team was responsible for digging up a big tree, which needed to be dug up with the roots.

Depending on the thickness of the tree diameter, a certain amount of tasks must be completed every day to get food, otherwise you will have to starve.

Thousands of indigenous convicts entered the scene and in just a few days, they had uprooted all the large trees in the hilly areas, filled the tree pits, and left the trees there.

Then the native convicts continued forward and repeated the work of planing the tree.

After the indigenous convicts had cleared the remaining large trees on the land, subsequent mule and horse teams and cleaning teams carrying knives and axes came in. These were all pioneers composed of Chinese immigrants.

The cleaning team uses tools to clear the branches from the big tree, cuts the whole tree into sections, and then ties them up with ropes. The sections are then dragged away by a team of mules and horses, usually to a lumberyard or sawmill.

After clearing these big trees, the iron plow pulled by oxen or mules will come in and deeply plow the land in front of them, burying a large amount of ashes and revealing the fertile land underneath.

After being exposed to the sun for several days, the ground is raked with iron rakes pulled by oxen or mules to break up the exposed land and rake out useless debris such as stones, grass roots, etc.

The locations of roads and ditches in such reclaimed areas are marked with small flags tied to wooden stakes. In some places, they are marked with lime, but the purpose is the same.

After this processing, the land will be divided into pieces and handed over to Chinese immigrants for cultivation.

The subsequent in-depth management will not be difficult for Chinese immigrants who have always had a talent for farming.

In this tropical land
It is indeed very suitable for growing crops. Within a few days after the seeds were sown, tender green seedlings grew rapidly. Soon, the mountains and fields were covered with green crops.

The sunshine, rain, and climate are excellent, and the newly reclaimed land can also yield a good harvest. Chinese immigrants are all experts in farming, and they were all grinning after seeing this.

Cao Yuxiu and Mu Qing simply left the Marshal's entourage and directly participated in the pioneering work organized in Iligan County, volunteering to take on the pioneering task.

He did not continue the inspection with the Marshal, but stayed here waiting for appointment.

Compared with visiting Jinsha County, the pioneering and reclamation task in Yiligan County is more in line with their future positioning and is naturally more useful.

With the assistance of some of Zheng Guohui's entourage, he returned directly to Davao Province after completing the inspection.

As soon as I returned home, I received a great piece of news.

My concubine Qiao Yue gave birth to a son yesterday evening. Both mother and child are safe and are recovering.

Zheng Guohui stood at the gate of the Marshal's Mansion, listening to the report, his heart was in turmoil and he couldn't calm down for a long time.

In this world, there is actually blood and flesh.

He could feel that he was more deeply integrated into this era and in tune with it. This was a different feeling from before.

Always

Zheng Guohui always looked at this era with a detached eye, as if he were a rootless duckweed. The birth of this child completely broke the mirror image and allowed him to find an anchor in this world.

Restraining his excitement, Zheng Guohui walked straight to the back house without changing his clothes, and came to the house with a door curtain hanging.

"Your servants and I are here to greet you, Marshal. We wish you a happy family with many children and grandchildren. Please give us some money for the celebration."

"Hahahaha... Yes, they have everything. Pass the word down that everyone involved will be rewarded double. The midwife will be rewarded 20 taels of silver and two pieces of brocade."

"Thank you, Marshal, for the reward."

"Ah."

Zheng Guohui happily lifted the door curtain and walked in. Beneath the heavy curtain, a faint scent of milk wafted in the air.

Hearing the noise outside the door, Qiao Yue, with a soft towel tied on her head, was helped by her maid and sat up with a few cushions behind her, looking outside with anticipation.

A tall figure that I had been thinking about day and night appeared at the door. He looked at me with gentle eyes and said softly, "Ayue, you have worked hard."

This simple sentence touched Qiao Yue's heart. In an instant, big tears filled her eyes and she stretched out her round, white little hands to ask for a hug.

Zheng Guohui walked over, sat on the bed, and held Qiao Yue's warm, milky body in his arms, saying, "It's such a happy thing, you should smile!"

"In reply to Master, I am crying with happiness! This is a blessing I have cultivated for several lifetimes. I feel it is worth it to be able to give birth to your child."

"What nonsense are you talking about? We still have a long way to go." Zheng Guohui hugged Qiao Yue's plump body, his heart full of tenderness.

The two of them said some intimate words, and Su Mei Niang carefully brought the baby over to show Zheng Guohui.

The baby was curled up in the quilt, his pink little hands were only a tiny bit big, he was sleeping soundly with his small nose and eyes, but his hair was black and shiny.

Looking at this little person, the kindness in Zheng Guohui's heart was awakened, and he stretched out his fingers to tease it gently twice.

Seeing the baby squirm, he quickly withdrew his finger, fearing to alarm the little guy.

He thought about it and then said;

"According to the Zheng family tree, this child should be of the Jia generation, but the child is too young to be named in a hurry. We can give him a nickname first."

"I am stupid and I will leave it to you, Master, to make the decision."

"Now that we are preparing for the Northern Expedition, it is a good omen that God has given us this child. The whole Marshal's Mansion is delighted. Let's call him Xier."

"Xier sounds nice. Oh... our child has a name. The master named him Xier. Are you happy?" Qiao Yue was so excited that she reached out to touch the baby's face.

The little baby was woken up by her pulling, and refused to register. He opened his mouth and cried loudly, his voice very loud.

Seeing this, Zheng Guohui couldn't help but burst into laughter.

He held Qiao Yue in one arm and Xier in the other. At this moment, his heart was filled with the joy of being a father for the first time, and he had put all the trivial matters outside behind him.

At this moment, just enjoy the warm family atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)