Ming East India Company

June of the 23rd year of the Wanli reign (1564), Dongfan Island.

"Get them out of the boat and get them off the ship quickly!" Bai Kecheng shouted loudly to the crew behind him from the beach.

As a member of the younger generation of the Bai family, Bai Kecheng has had a very difficult time these past two years.

The reason is simple: the position of Bai family head, which he had originally considered his for the taking, has been completely out of reach in the past two years.

A few years ago, when the Bai family's raw silk business was doing well, Bai Kecheng was always busy running around, working hard for the family business. All year round, he was either in the countryside, groveling with major silk growers, or in Yuegang, engaging in heated debates with the fleets heading to Japan.

The Bai family was a merchant family, and none of them had passed the imperial examinations. Therefore, the family's style was based on meritocracy, with the capable rising and the incompetent falling. Although Bai Wenzheng was the third son, he became the undisputed head of the family because of his outstanding talent.

As Bai Wenzheng ages, there are very few people in the Bai family who can take over the family business. Among them, Bai Ling is the most capable in business, but she is a daughter and cannot win people's hearts. This makes Bai Kecheng determined to get the position of the new head of the family.

But all of this changed with the Ryukyu campaign.

Shirono rose to prominence unexpectedly, leading his family in a desperate gamble to conquer Ryukyu, completely changing the family's fate and also altering his own reputation within the family.

Under Baiye's leadership, the Bai family has not only taken control of Ryukyu, transforming from merchants who previously depended on others into powerful lords who control a region overseas, but also made a fortune every day by relying on the closure of Yuegang Port and the exclusive trade rights of the Silver Silk Road.

Bai Ye's prestige within the family is growing, and apart from a few individuals like Bai Ling and Bai Wenzheng, ordinary members of the Bai family are not even allowed into the decision-making circle. With Bai Wenzheng's "help," it can be said that the next head of the family has essentially been decided internally.

Even Bai Kecheng's own father, Bai Wencheng, repeatedly advised him to let go of his competitive spirit and live a good life.

Even more tragically, since the occupation of Ryukyu, the Bai family's development model has undergone a major change, and the business acumen they had honed in the past, which involved reading people's expressions and deceiving them, has become completely useless.

As a result, Bai Kecheng has been doing such a boring job as a sextant operator for the past year.

Realizing that there was no future in continuing down this path, Bai Kecheng seriously considered his development model.

Ultimately, it was concluded that the only way to surpass Bai Ye in terms of merit was to emulate Bai Ye and bring more territory and wealth to the Bai family.

After staring at the map for a long time, he finally focused his attention on Dongfan Island.

Since taking control of Ryukyu, the Bai family's economic strength has greatly increased, but there is a problem that is holding Ryukyu back.

That is grain.

Ryukyu is, after all, a small island with limited land area and a long history of development. The amount of food it can provide is limited, and any future expansion will definitely require external food imports.

Since maritime merchants generally do not transport low-value grains, Ryukyu often had to spend silver to buy them from the Japanese.

The result was a severe inflation of grain prices in Ryukyu. While the standard price of grain in neighboring Japan was 800 mon per shi (a unit of dry measure), it had reached 3000 mon per shi in Ryukyu...

On the island of Tofan, south of Ryukyu, there are large areas of attractive wasteland available for development. Although there are native people on the island, they are weak in combat and are not a threat.

Moreover, the island is very close to Ryukyu, and the grain produced can be supplied to Ryukyu nearby.

After some thought, Bai Kecheng nervously wrote down his proposal and sent it to the Hakuno "palace" in Naha Port.

To everyone's surprise, Shirano agreed to his proposal the very next day, giving him five ships and more than a thousand Japanese slaves for his use. He was also appointed Governor-General of the Eastern Islands.

Overjoyed, Bai Kecheng led his fleet to Jilongtou in Dongfan.

……

"Count the number of people. How many people have arrived to disembark?" Bai Kecheng asked anxiously under the sun.

"There are over a thousand in total. About seventy or eighty people died of illness at sea, and there are still nearly a hundred sick people among those who have disembarked," reported Captain Fu Wenhe, who came with Bai Kecheng.

"Let the seriously injured rest on the ship for two days. The rest of you dig some graves and bury the dead first," Bai Kecheng said impatiently.

"Isn't that unnecessary? According to the rules set by the previous owner, these dead people could just be thrown into the sea." Fu Wenhe asked, puzzled.

"The past is the past, and the present is the present. On Ryukyu Island, land was scarce and people were densely populated, so human labor was worthless. Now, on this Dongfan Island, land is plentiful and people are few, so every slave is very precious and cannot withstand so many deaths."

In fact, Bai Kecheng had another intention: to establish his own power on Dongfan Island. Therefore, he actively absorbed any forces that could potentially become his base.

While everyone was digging the grave, Bai Kecheng began to walk deeper into the landing area.

Beneath Bai Kecheng's feet lay a wild, uncultivated land, covered with dense, waist-high reeds, and trees that, though haphazard, stood exceptionally straight, their vines intertwined and crisscrossing.

A faint miasma lingered in the distance, and the endless wasteland made Bai Kecheng dare not go any further. Instead, he chose to return to the beach.

At dawn the next day, just as the sun rose, Bai Kecheng, carrying a rusty axe, stood on a high place and waved his hand in greeting:

"The miasma here is too strong. Everyone, do not go any deeper. Take advantage of the dry weather and strong winds now and quickly set fire to this area."

Everyone took out their sickles and machetes and got to work.

Under Bai Kecheng's command, the young and strong men took the lead in cutting out a wide firebreak, piling up dry branches and grass to the side, while the women and children picked up small dry branches to prepare for burning the wasteland.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky a dark red, the first fire was lit at the start of the reeds. Sparks landed on the dry reeds, instantly igniting flames an inch high. The wind fanned the flames, and in moments, the fire spread rampantly along the barren grass. The crackling of the flames rose and fell, as withered grass and twigs curled and turned to ash in the flames, billowing thick smoke rising into the sky, obscuring the sunset and dispelling the miasma that lingered in the forest.

The fire raged from dusk until midnight, gradually turning the once desolate wilderness into a warm, scorched wasteland.

At dawn on the third day, Bai Kecheng led his men into the scorched forest. Bai Kecheng walked in front, poking at the charred ashes with a wooden stick to prevent any poisonous insects that might not be fully dead from harming them.

The people behind them swept away the charred carbonized material and then buried bean seeds in the ground.

Newly cleared land is generally not suitable for growing grains; it needs to be fertilized with beans for one or two years first. During this period, all grains and other supplies need to be supplied from outside.

Fortunately, before Bai Kecheng set off, Bai Ye promised that all the food for the first three years would be supplied by the Ryukyu headquarters, so Bai Kecheng could rest assured and burn the wasteland here.