The Dutch had a foothold in southern Taiwan for many years and was defeated by Zheng Zhilong. After accepting the trade model with Taiwan as a transit station. However, with the Dengzhou camp landing in the north and immigrating to build a fort, this model underwent an essential change. In the past, sea goods were traded on the Dutch territory in the south, but now most transactions are completed in the north.

The Dutch were very dissatisfied with such changes. The Dutch Taiwan Chief Putmans has negotiated business matters many times without success. This result is naturally unacceptable. The Dutch are the bosses in the whole world, and it is already very aggrieved to be able to accept Zheng Zhilong's way of existence in distant China.

Putmans wrote to the East India Company many times, describing the current situation, believing that the Chinese people's actions had hurt the Dutch's trade interests in their eyes and hoped to attract attention. However, at this time, the Netherlands' focus was still in Europe and South Africa, and there was no spare effort to take into account the Far East. This is the sorrow of a small country. The manpower and material resources have reached the limit, and it will be difficult to rise again.

Under such circumstances, Chinese people gathered in maritime power, and Putmans was very difficult. Just one day later, he received news that a Chinese businessman, Lin Hengwan. When Zheng Zhilong reconciled with the Dutch, he was mediating in the middle. Doing this thing was related to interests, and Lin Hengwan also made his own business.

"Thaixi ships have 80 large ships, each with 60-80 cannons. Zheng Zhilong and other leading figures were all greeted at the dock. Which adult was coming to Tamsui, because of its strict vigilance, is still unknown." Lin Hengwan looked at the Dutchman with some sympathy. It is hard to say how long the Dutchman could exist in Rezhelan.

"Lin. What is the purpose of this great man from the Ming Dynasty?" Putmans' voice was trembling. This was not the kind of small boat that was common in the Ming Dynasty, but the ones came were all big guys. The ships from Tamsui. Putmans had seen it, and he knew that there were many Portuguese employed there. His intuition was that this boat was made by the Portuguese, but it could not be produced so quickly. It only took a few years, from the Xiaofu ship to the present, it has become a powerful fleet. It was the first time he had been in the waters of the Ming Dynasty for so long.

Don’t underestimate this fleet. It may not be a powerful fleet in Europe. But there are many connotations reflected in it. Shipbuilding is not just about shipbuilding, but it involves a lot of things. Among them, steel production, cannon casting technology, shipbuilding technology, shipbuilding materials, etc., you have to include them. If you build a ship, you have to have cannons, right? To build a cannon, you have to have steel, right?

I heard that Zheng Zhilong had a cannon made by the Ming Dynasty, and he sent someone to see it on the spot. The 12-pound cannon, in terms of range and weight, is not worse than those made by the Netherlands. It is even lighter in weight. It can be imagined that once a big country like the Ming Dynasty begins to march into the sea, the bursting energy is not comparable to that of a small country like the Netherlands.

After seeing off Lin Hengwan, Putmans immediately wrote a letter to India, which emphasized: "The Ming Dynasty's national policy has undergone tremendous changes. What is certain is that they are marching into the sea. This is a big country, and the resources and energy contained are far from comparable to that of the Netherlands. We must pay great attention, otherwise we may lose the senior officials in the future, or even Batavia."

When Putmans sent the letter to India, Chen Xie was inspecting the settlement in the north. This time, at least on the surface, no one could see Chen Xie's real intention of coming here.

Walking on the fields in the north of the Grand Master, there were once wastelands. The Chinese people's obsession with land was fully verified at this time. The real large-scale immigration was only a little over three years. But now, look at this settlement. The fort was built at the foot of a mountain, and the cultivated farmland was not far away. The summer harvest has ended, and the newly planted seedlings in the field are full of green, swaying and undulating in the wind. At a glance, this green stretches to the foot of the mountain at the far end and to the edge of the sea.

"They are all good paddy fields. Over the years, a total of 6 million acres of land were reclaimed. A hundred families had a fort. Adult men and women could carry guns. Speaking of which, I have to thank the master. The people sent were from ordinary families, and the women were all big-footed women. If a delicate lady came, it would be difficult to survive in this area." Luo Haiqing, who was responsible for the land reclamation, was not from Dengzhou, but a small businessman from the south who was rescued when Chen Xie went north in the spring of the third year of Chongzhen. When his business was bankrupt, he caught up with the Dengzhou camp to count the transportation spoils. He stood up to help and was left to be a small person in charge. Later, in the army, his position was promoted. When he immigrated from Liaodong, he was selected to be responsible for some things. When Chen Xie defeated Zheng Zhilong and the immigration officer, he was selected as an official in charge of agriculture.

If you want to build a fortress and roads, several Portuguese are competent. If you want to open up land and farm, you have to be Chinese. Chen Xie listened to his introduction and kept nodding while walking on the path in the fields: "Thank you for your hard work!"

Luo Haiqing smiled and said, "Thank you hard is not too hard. There are actually two things I want to do, one is to organize manpower to prevent malaria, and the other is to spend more time on the candidates for the fortress leader. For the other things, E Hongluo is responsible for organizing the fortress repairs, including Lord Fangsigu, transportation and logistics support, and Lord Gongsalu. These people are very dedicated to their work and have no say of their loyalty to the master."

Chen Xie asked quietly: "How are you doing the prospecting? How do you deal with your relationship with the indigenous people?"

The question was still Fons Valley, and said: "My Lord Huige, I have discovered coal mines and other minerals are still being detected. The indigenous people are not in good condition. They have been beaten many times, and some of them have died and some of us have also been killed or injured. Generally speaking, the stubborn tribes among the local indigenous people are now difficult to go down the mountain under our strict supervision and defense. For some indigenous people who are willing to interact with us, we have given many discounts. We try our best to make concessions in trade such as salt, iron, and daily necessities. At present, some indigenous people on the side of the Tamsui River have gradually integrated into our circle."

Chen Xie nodded and expressed his satisfaction. When he went out, Chen Xie chose a simple way of travel, and he followed him on foot, and the guards he brought were all following from afar. The three of them walked on the road, and it was really hard to see what a big man was. Seeing a settlement in front and a small market on the side of the road outside, Chen Xie was interested and smiled and said, "Go and take a look."

The settlement was just below a hill. The three of them walked along the way, and Chen Xie looked at the road under his feet carefully. Because of transportation, the cement produced in Dengzhou would not be used on the road. The dirt road passed smoothly and was compacted with a huge stone mill. Walking on it was relatively smooth. However, this kind of road would be fatal when it rained, and the officials were in a rainy place. It was normal for a rainy place to get bumpy when it rained. The road needed to be repaired regularly.

The purpose of looking carefully is to see the administrative efficiency of this. Road construction is a matter that is highly valued in Dengzhou, and it seems that it is also highly valued by the senior officials now. There are few traces of repairs on the road, and only the newly repaired places can be seen occasionally, which means that it is not the result of temporary work.

The residential area is surrounded by mountains and water, and the three-meter-high exterior wall can effectively protect the residents inside. This project is not small. According to the requirements, it cannot be enough to live in just one hundred households, but also to consider future development.

"It took a lot of effort to do this wall?" Chen Xie asked casually. Fang Sigu immediately spoke in a strange way, but he said in a very smooth official speech: "It was all new immigrants who built the construction team and formed an engineering team to be responsible for construction. In principle, every new settlement is to build the fort first and then enter the residents. This work was planned in the beginning. In the process of dealing with local indigenous people, the fort played a huge role."

Chen Xie squinted his eyes and looked at the fort, and didn't say anything. Continue to walk forward, the market on the roadside was unexpectedly lively. People who were doing business set up stalls on the roadside, including Ming people and locals. Chen Xie looked around quietly, and the goods saw a lot of goods on the roadside stalls. A piece of animal skin was spread on the ground, and some mountain goods were all local natives. The Ming Dynasty businessmen seemed to be more organized. More than a dozen stalls were made of carts, and the goods were also varied. The big ones were iron pots, plowshares, small ones had needles and threads, and there were stalls that specialized in salt and sugar. What was even more interesting was that some stalls sold various snacks.

When trading, it is basically in the form of barter. When locals rarely use money, they always put the goods in their hands on the stalls, such as animal skins, mountain goods, etc., in exchange for the items they need.

"Is this market spontaneous or special?" Chen Xie finally walked out of the market. Han Shan, who was nervous and sweaty, breathed a sigh of relief. It was messy here, and the security work was difficult to handle. Chen Xie didn't care, they cared.

"At first, local indigenous people came to exchange for some salt. Later, the head of the fort told the young man about this. The young man thought it was a good way to promote the relationship between locals and immigrants, so he made suggestions at the meeting. Now there are ten markets in the entire north. The size of the market is mainly based on the living conditions of locals." Luo Haiqing explained slowly, and Chen Xie nodded and smiled: "This is a good idea, but I have to see, you can also consider hiring locals to do things for us. Trade alone is not enough, and more contact is needed to speed up the integration." (To be continued) r466

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Chapter completed!