On June 17, 1695, it was raining moderately, and ships gathered near the mouth of the Zambezi River.

The ships gathered here, except for a few sail warships that escort, are mostly cargo ships filled with various commodities, and of course fishing boats that sell seafood. In fact, the state-owned Nanhai Fisheries Company invested in a seafood processing plant here, specializing in the production of various storage-resistant canned foods. They basically produce and sell them themselves, that is, they fish on the east and west coasts of South Africa, and then transport them here for unified processing. Considering the cost of refrigeration and processing of fishing catches, the cost of these canned foods is not low and the sales volume is not very good. Most of them are for the consumption of rich people in the Zambezi River Basin and the migrant army passing through this area.

In addition to the large state-owned factories, there are more dense small-scale seafood processing workshops here. Countless fleets of fishing boat owners and even small and medium-sized fishing companies unload goods here, and then quickly process the goods at a dumping price, selling them to these small workshops to process them into salted fish, dried fish, fish sauce and other foods for ordinary people to consume. Ximen Fisheries Company and Chengxin Fisheries Company are among the best, and today the bosses of the two companies, Ximen Xiao and Zhu Chengdong, also came here.

Ximen Xiao and Zhu Chengdong have been old friends for many years. They have been fishing and hunting sea beasts on the west coast of South Africa and the Namib Desert. The two companies are not large in size, but they are not small. So far, the former has seven fishing boats and the latter has eight, which is a relatively well-known figure near the coast of the Namib Desert.

After the Nanhai Fisheries Company also developed a fishing business offshore South Africa, the two companies merged to better integrate resources. However, after some disputes over business philosophy broke out between the actual controllers of the two companies, the merged companies quickly separated and re-run their respective businesses. Fortunately, the division of the two companies did not affect their personal relationships. They were still very good friends. This time they made an appointment to develop in the Indian Ocean area, which was also the final decision they made after they reconciled.

Ximen Xiao and Zhu Chengdong's plan was to invest 100,000 yuan each to purchase equipment and hire personnel in the local area, and then choose a location near the mouth of Zambezi River to open a seafood processing factory and advance downstream. After all, fishing alone is still too limited. From the perspective of corporate operations, the risk is also high. It is better to take advantage of the accumulation of some funds and start developing downstream products.

They have been here twice before and have inspected the situation of New China Island. After a comprehensive comparison, they decided to set up factories on the Portuguese territory. Because New China Island is no longer allowed to use black slave labor, but Portugal does not have this restriction. In addition, East Coast investors almost do not have to pay any taxes here, so how to choose is clear at a glance.

Their initially selected place was near Xindy in later Mozambique. The East Coast people called Yuejin Port, which means leaping towards the inland area through this port. There was almost nothing on the Yuejin Port, and there was only a small Portuguese colonist manor standing there alone. When the East Coast government chose this place as an immigration port leading to the inland area, the Portuguese manor suddenly became in short supply. They first made a small fortune by selling a large amount of stockpile, fruits and palm oil, and then continued to recruit people. Well, in fact, they captured the blacks to open up wastelands and tried to produce more grain for sale to the East Coast people, because now everyone knows that the prosperity of this port is not a one-time thing, but will be long-term.

More wastelands in Yuejin Port were later developed, mainly due to the influx of East Coast merchants. They purchased land to purchase various industries, grocery stores, repair shops, food factories, etc., and various stores were increasing almost every day, targeting the Indians, Mestiso, Malays and even Arabs who were on the road. Of course, their existence objectively facilitated these immigration teams divided into stocks, saved the cost of transporting various goods by the East Coast government and accelerated the immigration efficiency.

The idea of ​​Ximen Xiao and Zhu Chengdong was the same as these people, but they had greater capital and larger goals. They were not without knowledge. If you ask people about it, you will know that the number of immigrants to be transported is huge. And this is just the number of immigrants that need to be immigrated at this stage. Will there be no more in the future? How is it possible! Paraguay, Charcas, Peru, etc., which is not a densely populated place. God knows how many years it takes to immigrate to clear those lands, and more likely that those lands may never be cleared.

"I heard that the Portuguese planned to open Yuejin Port into a free port. These guys came over to collect a tax a few months ago. Why did they suddenly change their temper?" Ximen Xiao asked strangely when he walked on the factory site that was still a piece of weed.

"Change? Humph, it's not that our government has put pressure on us. The leader hopes that this place will become a free port, so the Portuguese will not interfere in particular. The rapid development of various industries here will be conducive to the immigration cause that may last for decades in the future. Therefore, this happened. Otherwise, do you think that the Portuguese's virtue of a wealth-keeping slave would do such a thing?" Zhu Chengdong patted Ximen Xiao on the shoulder and said with a smile.

Everyone understands what it means. The lowest level of operating tax, zero tariffs, no red tape, and almost none of them make investors happy. However, it is hard to say whether Yuejin Port can develop like Cape Town. After all, this is not the East Coast, and there is competition for Bella Port under the British rule.

"The factory building needs to be accelerated, and the equipment will be installed and debugged as soon as it comes. Workers who are postponed from the local area should try their best to stay. They are not very high-level people in China. When they come here, except for the inconvenience of life, they are all top-notch. If they don't believe it, they will not be moved." Zhu Chengdong habitually took out a cigarette and lit it, and continued, saying: "Ximen, since you have turned your focus to the Indian Ocean, then take more responsibility here. I will deal with the final industry on the Namib Desert. At the latest, I will come here to accompany you at the beginning of next year."

"Well, it's better to lose it there. Nanhai Fisheries Company is becoming more and more aggressive. Who can still do the business? It's better to be free here and come here as soon as possible." Ximen Xiao shook his head and said, "I don't know what the immigrants in the inland areas are like?"

Just as Ximen Xiao was talking about the immigrants who were advancing along the Zambezi River Basin, the first batch of the Eight Banners, which arrived in the island, had already established the first stable base on the shore of Lake Malawi.

They went north along the Sire River, a tributary of the Zambezi River. It was a relatively deserted road. If you don’t treat those black people as humans, it was not easy to move forward. In early 1694, after defeating a black tribe, they established the first colonial stronghold, Vaihe City, near the city of Sanjay in later generations.

The Weihe City was established by the Eight Banners of the island from New China Island. The leader was a Malay named Ma Hu. He controlled about 6,000 people, nearly half of which were soldiers and their families of the Eight Banners of the Island, which was considered a relatively capable force. The Weihe City they established was not large in area, and it was probably just a piece of land within a range of more than ten kilometers by the river. If it was far away, it would be a little uncontrollable.

After the establishment of Weihe City, the New China Island soon sent some agricultural officials to help them plan agricultural production and settle them down as soon as possible. These are all paid items. The expenses will be paid from the local agricultural output in the future. Because the East Coast people promised to help them coordinate their relationship with the Portuguese and use Weihe City as their fiefdom, Ma Hu left about 2,000 people here, and then the rest was taken away by him, and continued northward to the area around Lake Malawi. There was the end point designated by the East Coast people. The land of his banished country in the future depends on how much territory he could occupy.

Perhaps because the Portuguese slave hunting team continued to capture for many years, the 4,000 people from the Ma tribe heading north from Weihe City did not encounter much obstacles. At this time, he was able to pull out thousands of soldiers using hot and cold weapons, many of whom had many years of war experience. With the small number of black people and the gap between them, it only took about half a year to fight and advance, cross the Heihe Highlands and arrive at the shore of Lake Malawi.

Midway through, he set up a second settlement at the suggestion of the East Coast intelligence officials who were accompanying him, and it was also the second city of his small capitulation. Dalong City, located near the city of Chikwa, was named after killing a huge python here. He only left about hundreds of old, weak, women and children in Dalong City, and sent 200 soldiers to protect it. The remaining main team continued to move forward after waiting for the supply. After about a year of time, he finally arrived at Mangoche, located between Lake Malawi and Lake Malonbe.

In Mangoche, Ma Hu and others were in short supply, and they had reached the limit of logistics supply, and the number of personnel was reduced to more than 2,000. Therefore, after discussing with the core generals, he decided not to leave for the time being and built the city here, with the name Merrilling City to commemorate a nearby scenic wood. If nothing unexpected happens, Merrilling City will be the capital of the country established by Ma Hu's troops for a long time in the future.

The accompanying East Coast officials also agreed to Ma Hu's request for "repair and recuperation" because they felt that if they continue to move forward with a deep distance, they would be afraid that both the personnel and the materials would be consumed quickly. Instead of doing so, it would be better to steadily, enrich the population first and stabilize the supply line. After gaining a foothold, they would send people to guide the four sides, and it would be not too late to expel the black people, and the efficiency would be higher.
Chapter completed!