North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 116 Coming for a Woman! (5,000 words)
"I never imagined that there would be such a talented person as Mr. Zou in the Qing Dynasty!"

Zou Boqi chuckled: "What great talent! Just a poor, pedantic scholar. If it weren't for Lord Lin's recommendation, I wouldn't even be able to afford food."

Azu put down his binoculars and grasped Zou Boqi's hands with both of his: "No, no, no, in my eyes, Mr. Zou is absolutely a great talent!"

"Mr. Zou did not have a systematic study of Western science. He relied entirely on his own exploration to create cameras and telescopes. With this spirit of research and ability to draw inferences from one instance to another, he absolutely deserves the title of a great talent!"

Zou Boqi felt a little embarrassed by Azu's flattery and said awkwardly, "Mr. Li, my strange skills are completely useless in the Qing Dynasty!"

"This is not the Qing Dynasty. What you call ingenious skills and tricks are considered extraordinary talents here!"

In his excitement, Azu finally remembered who this Zou Boqi was!
A Chinese physicist and scholar during the Qing Dynasty, and a pioneer of modern Chinese science.

He was not only known as the "Father of Chinese Cameras" by later generations, but also manufactured telescopes, microscopes, and the Seven Luminaries Instrument, and was also known as the first person to study Mohism in modern times.

Therefore, Zou Boqi, who looks unremarkable, is definitely a remarkable person in modern Chinese history!
Having managed to recruit such a talented and extraordinary person to his side, Azu felt that all his previous efforts had been absolutely worthwhile!
When it was the last person's turn to stand up, he was a young man with dark skin, large hands and feet, and a strong and powerful appearance.

This one seems completely out of place compared to the previous three scholars!
"Mr. Li, my name is Feng Zicai, I'm from Qinzhou, Guangdong, I'm thirty-two years old, and I only had a few months of formal schooling, but I've learned excellent martial arts. During the Qing Dynasty, I worked as a bodyguard for a cattle trader. While on a delivery mission, I met Master Lin, and we had a bowl of tea together at a roadside teahouse..."

Upon hearing this, Azu was stunned again: "You said, what's your name...?"

"My name is Feng Zicai!"

Azu's pupils dilated instantly: "You're Feng Zicai?"

"Oh, Mr. Li, have you perhaps heard of me?" Feng Zicai asked in confusion.

"I've heard it, I've heard it way too many times!"

Ah Zu was absolutely overjoyed!

This person had an exceptionally complicated life. He lost his mother at the age of four and his father at the age of ten. He had worked as a salt smuggler and a carpenter. In his youth, he lived a precarious life, constantly hungry and cold.

He only started practicing martial arts after the age of twenty, but unexpectedly, he became a martial arts prodigy!

After mastering martial arts, he worked as a bodyguard for a cattle trader, rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, joined the Heaven and Earth Society, and was later recruited by the government and suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

At the age of sixty-seven, this old general led his troops into battle with his own coffin, becoming a national hero who won the Sino-French War and the Zhennanguan Victory, securing the only major victory in the late Qing Dynasty's foreign wars and directly leading to the downfall of the French cabinet.

Now, Feng Zicai was actually standing right in front of him!
Ah Zu excitedly grasped Feng Zicai's rough hands and shook them repeatedly: "Mr. Feng, I had heard of your great name when I was still in Guangdong. I knew that you were a master of martial arts and could fight against a hundred men. Having Mr. Feng by your side is better than having a thousand troops!"

Feng Zicai's martial arts skills, which allowed him to fight against a hundred men, were not an exaggeration, but a true historical fact!
Feng Zicai was so brave that he once broke through more than seventy camps of the Taiping Army in a single day! When he was nearly seventy years old, facing the overwhelming French army, in a critical moment, the old general personally took up his spear and led his two sons to charge ahead, defeating the French army in one fell swoop!
Ah Zu recalled his past life experiences, and realized that by 1850, Feng Zicai should have already begun leading a rebellion against the Qing Dynasty.

Perhaps it was a letter he wrote that inadvertently became the butterfly's wings flapping. In order to recommend talented people, Lin Zexu actually got to know the bodyguard Feng Zicai and recommended him to him.

Ah Zu held Feng Zicai's hands tightly, unwilling to let go, for fear that if he did, this rare talent would be lost!

"Mr. Feng, no, Brother Feng, to tell you the truth, I have a militia of over two thousand men under my command, and I'm just worried about not having a commander to lead them!"

"Brother Feng, if you don't mind, you can stay with me and gain some experience. You'll definitely be of great use to me in the future!"

Faced with the extremely enthusiastic Azu, Feng Zicai felt flattered and overwhelmed.

"Mr. Li, I'm new here and will follow your orders! As long as I have food to eat, I'll do anything, even if it means starting as a lowly soldier!"

"Excellent, excellent, hahaha!"

Ah Zu was overjoyed and immediately ordered a grand feast to entertain the four talented individuals who had traveled across the ocean.

At the banquet, Azu made some arrangements for the future of the four men: "Brother Guangshan, Brother Boqi, I plan to send you two brothers to a church school for a period of preparatory studies to build a solid foundation and learn English. Then you can go to the top universities in America to systematically learn Western science and technology. After you have completed your studies, that will be the time for you two to truly make your mark. What do you think?"

"We have come to America to pursue our studies. This is our wish, and we dare not refuse!"

Azu then said to Xu Kaiping, "Brother Kaiping, since you are already fluent in various languages, there is no need for you to attend school anymore. I will arrange for you to join my newspaper, where you will specialize in translating Western books into Chinese. How about contributing to the enlightenment of the Chinese people?"

"Extremely happy!"

Finally, Ah Zu said to Feng Zicai, "Brother Feng, I know you are exceptionally skilled in martial arts! But in this American territory, you must know how to use a gun. I will first arrange for you to practice marksmanship in the militia camp, while also reading more books, learning more English, and studying Western tactics, strategies, and military leadership. Are you willing?"

Feng Zicai stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I am but a martial artist; I will submit to your arrangements!"

Azu continued, "From today onwards, you will also be considered official employees of my Huamei Industrial Company. Your monthly salary, well, will be set at $100 for the time being, which is about fifty taels of silver."

"Ah...so much?"

Upon hearing that the monthly salary was a full fifty taels of silver, all four were greatly surprised!
Azu smiled and said, "This is just the starting salary for the four of you. If you achieve something in the future or make some contributions, this little bit of salary will be nothing."

Hearing this, the four of them gained an even clearer understanding of Ah Zu's wealth and power.

Azu continued, "It is my great fortune to have four such talented people! The four of you should write to Lord Lin as soon as possible and explain everything here in detail."

"I earnestly hope that more talented individuals like the four of you can travel across the ocean to broaden their horizons, acquire knowledge, and make the most of their talents!"

Zou Boqi said with a worried look, "We really need to send a letter as soon as possible. When we boarded the ship to leave the Qing Dynasty, Lord Lin was already bedridden and I feared that his days were numbered!"

Azu knew that Lin Zexu would pass away at the end of this year.

To leverage Lin Zexu's prestige and recruit as many talented individuals as possible, we must expedite the process.

After arranging the future of the four people, Ah Zu turned his attention to arranging the three thousand Chinese laborers who had just arrived in San Francisco.

The more than 2,000 Chinese workers from six months ago are now skilled workers in various positions at Huamei Company, basically meeting the company's manpower needs.

Now that these three thousand Chinese laborers have arrived, Azu does not intend to put them into factories and mines, but has other plans.

Azu personally led three militia companies, escorting several inland merchant ships northward along the Sacramento River, past the city of Sacramento, and into the open and flat northern part of California's Central Valley.

The Central Valley is a vast plain of 4.7 square kilometers, stretching 725 kilometers from north to south and 64 kilometers from east to west.

The Central Valley experiences hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The north is rainy with a dense network of waterways, while the south is relatively arid.

In later generations, this fertile plain produced fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, grains, and cotton that held a significant place throughout the United States.

This place is practically the land of plenty in North America!

Now, this vast and fertile plain is almost completely barren, with only Native American tribes fishing and hunting for a living.

Most of the land here is now unclaimed.

According to the Prior Occupation Act (1841), these unclaimed public lands were valued at $1.25 per acre. Six months ago, Azu bought 400,000 acres of land in the northern part of the Central Valley, on both sides of the river, which was the most conveniently irrigated and fertile.

In addition to these 400,000 acres, Azu continues to purchase land in the Central Valley.

Originally, due to a lack of sufficient labor, these hundreds of thousands of acres of land remained in a primitive, barren state.

Now that there are three thousand Chinese laborers, Azu is preparing to begin cultivating this vast and fertile land.

Two days later, the fleet finally arrived at its destination.

After disembarking from the boat, Azu stood on his own vast piece of land, squatted down, and grabbed a handful of fertile, loose alluvial soil with both hands.

This type of impacted soil is rich in various minerals and is naturally suitable for growing most crops!

Even without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, this vast land would still be a naturally fertile field with abundant produce.

Here, Azu chose a high ground near the river, felled logs, and built a wall and watchtowers. Inside the wall, hundreds of prefabricated houses were quickly erected, followed by the construction of wells, drainage pipes, and other infrastructure.

Once the infrastructure is completed, a village that can accommodate a thousand people and has basic defensive capabilities will be basically formed.

Azu built three of the same villages.

Once the three villages were basically completed, three thousand Chinese laborers were transported over by merchant ships and settled in the three villages, with about one thousand people in each village.

Azu provided them with all the necessities of life, such as pots and pans, clothes, quilts, towels, soap, etc.

There were also farm tools, seeds, oxen, and everything else needed for farming. In the first year, Azu also gave each person 100 catties of grain per month.

Then each person was given ten mu of fertile land. The first year they could cultivate it for free, and from the second year onwards, they had to hand over fifty jin of grain per mu.

All the land belongs to Huamei Company; they only have the right to cultivate it, and have no right to transfer or sell it.

Depending on the fertility of the land allocated to them, they could plant one season of corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, or soybeans a year, and then plant one season of rice or wheat. Each acre could easily yield five or six hundred catties of grain.

Ten mu of land can produce five or six thousand jin of grain, which is enough to feed not only one person, but also a whole family.

Besides the 500 jin of grain that each person had to hand over, the remaining grain was enough to exchange for daily necessities, and life got better year by year.

If someone has extra capacity beyond cultivating ten mu of land and wants to cultivate more land, they can apply. However, the amount of grain they need to hand over will increase to one hundred jin per mu.

A village was formed with 1,000 people, and a production cooperative with 100 people. Village chiefs and cooperative leaders were elected openly. Each village also had a barefoot doctor who had received basic training and was equipped with commonly used medicines and the miracle drug penicillin produced by Huamei Company.

Furthermore, Azu had his father-in-law, Peter Parker, lead the doctors at the church hospital to vaccinate all the Chinese people against smallpox, thus preventing a massive loss of population due to smallpox, the deadliest infectious disease of the time.

Every week, all villagers must set aside one day to participate in militia training. Those who pass the training are issued firearms, but the ammunition is kept in centralized custody by the militia company commander and village chief appointed by Huamei Industrial Company.

In addition to being responsible for the annual grain tax, village heads and militia company commanders were also responsible for mediating disputes, maintaining public order, and organizing militia training.

Most importantly, we must defend against any possible external enemies!

In the Central Valley, the most likely external enemies are bandits and Native Americans, as well as gold prospectors who are everywhere in the wilderness searching for gold.

Aside from greedy gangs and gold prospectors, the Native Americans weren't all friends either; they were surrounded by enemies. Ensuring the safety of every villager was the top priority.

Therefore, Azu left three militia companies in the three villages and trained each villager for a period of time until some of them became qualified militiamen and had sufficient self-defense capabilities.

Moreover, the three villages are only a few miles apart, so they can support each other in case of a major incident.

After doing all this, Azu left several 20-foot-long boats for the three villages, which were used for fishing to supplement their livelihoods. In emergencies, they could be used to transport the sick and wounded downstream, as well as to call for help.

Having considered everything that needed to be thought of, the three villages were completely established. It took Azu more than two months, on and off, to transform these villages into experimental fields and models.

More and more Chinese will arrive in the future. In addition to some becoming workers, miners, sailors, and full-time militia members, many more will be settled in this way.

Many of the Chinese arriving now are young bachelors. Once they settle down and live a prosperous life, their entire families may migrate from across the ocean.

It was only then that they were able to take root in this new continent and gradually spread their influence.

Now, Ah Zu faces another very important problem: how to solve the marriage problems of those bachelors who do not have wives?
If you can't start a family, how can you build a career? How can you have children and expand the Chinese community quickly?

After much deliberation, Azu set his sights on the Blackfoot tribe.

Led by Youma, Azu took only Victoria, Feng Zicai, and a few Chinese militiamen deep into the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

This place is thirty or forty miles away from their mining camp, and it is a remote and sparsely populated area.

After being repeatedly massacred and driven away by white people, the surviving Blackfoot tribe had no choice but to move into the deep mountains, where they barely managed to survive.

Following the course of an unnamed stream upstream, and rounding a nearly 180-degree bend, the Blackfoot tribe's camp suddenly appeared in sight.

This is a small open area surrounded by mountains.

A clear stream flows gently through the center of an open area.

Along the banks of the stream are countless white Native American tents!

Unlike tents anywhere else, these conical tents are framed by thirteen to twenty wooden strips, each four or five meters long, which are then covered with a layer of cowhide.

A small ventilation hole is left at the top of the tent. This type of tent is very easy to set up and dismantle, and it is usually women who are responsible for making and setting up the tents.

Among the countless tents, many Blackfoot children were playing and frolicking carefree.

The women of the Blackfoot tribe were washing clothes by the river.

A small group of Native American riders were galloping towards them on horseback.

"elder brother……!"

Upon seeing the leading knight, Youma cheered joyfully and spurred his horse forward to meet him.

"Hahaha, Yuma, my dearest little sister, it's been so long, you've grown even more beautiful!"

The Stone Chieftain and the Ghost Horse dismounted almost simultaneously and embraced each other tightly.

The Giant Stone Warchief looked at Azu, who was smiling at him from not far away. As he returned the smile, Giant Stone whispered in his sister's ear, "Youma, my sister, why aren't you pregnant with Azu's child yet?"

“Brother…!” Youma blushed instantly, pushed her brother away, turned away in embarrassment and anger, ignoring the boulder.

"Hahaha...!" The giant rock opened its arms, took a few steps forward, and gave Azu, who had jumped off his horse, a solid hug: "Azu, I am your brother from the far east. Welcome to the Blackfoot Tribe!"

Azu patted the giant's broad back: "Giant Rock, my brother, if I hadn't been able to get away, I would have come to visit the Blackfoot Clan long ago!"

"Ah Zu, you should have come long ago! I've prepared the finest wine, the tenderest beef, the freshest mushrooms, and... the most beautiful girl for you!"

As he spoke, the Stone Chieftain winked at Youma.

Elder Bearskin stepped forward and gave Azu a gentle hug: "Azu, thank you for everything you've done for the Blackfoot Clan! In the past year, many fewer people have died in our Blackfoot Clan, and many more of the loudest-crying babies have been born!"

"This is what I should do, and the Blackfoot Clan has also helped me a lot!"

Then came the embraces from the other two elders, and from Blood Eagle himself.

They welcomed Azu and his companions to the longhouse where the Blackfoot tribe held meetings and received distinguished guests.

After the host and guests were seated, Youma, accompanied by a group of beautiful women with elegant features and curvaceous figures, laid out fine wine and food in front of the guests.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Azu felt that all these beautiful Native American women were giving him ambiguous smiles!

In Native American tribes, there are no tables, chairs, or benches to get in the way; everyone sits on the ground with wooden plates and forks in front of them.

But to be honest, the wild mushroom stewed with wild beef cooked by the Blackfoot tribe using primitive methods tastes quite good and has a unique flavor.

Because the raw materials are so good, the taste won't be too bad no matter how you cook it.

After a simple yet grand reception, Ah Zu got straight to the point.

"Elder Bearskin, Chief Rock, to be honest, I've come here for a woman!"

(End of this chapter)