September 1636 was a harvest month for Hanzhou.

Compared with February this year, more than 23,000 acres of farmland in Jianye City and Heishan City ushered in a bumper harvest season. A total of more than 3,900 tons of various food crops were harvested, with the largest proportion being The types of food are still corn, sorghum, potatoes, sweet potatoes and soybeans. As for wheat, there are only a pitiful more than 400 tons.

The significant increase in grain output, which has more than tripled compared to the previous season, is partly due to the significant improvement in soil fertility after a season of growth. On the other hand, the continued expansion of cultivated land is also an important reason for the increase in grain production.

At present, in addition to staple food, Hanzhou can be completely self-sufficient in coarse grains and vegetables. However, with the development of Hanzhou and the gradual increase in population, it is obviously unrealistic to feed thousands of people entirely with coarse grains.

After more than three months of continuous transfer, most of the more than 4,000 hungry people stranded on Xinsheng Island (Phu Quoc Island) have been transported back to Hanzhou, fully enriching the populations of Jianye, Montenegro, and Xinhuaian.

As of September 15th, the entire Hanzhou population had reached 7,243, excluding the more than 600 people still stranded in Batavia. The female population was 2,815. Among them were more than 200 Persian female slaves brought back by Qi Dajiang from Aceh, and more than 800 Acehnese women.

However, given that the immigrants brought back from the Ming Dynasty were still mainly young and strong men, the sex ratio of Hanzhou's population still reached 157:100. This means that there were nearly 2,000 bachelors in Hanzhou.

However, what is ironic is that the ratio of men to women at Hanzhou's two overseas transit points, Xinxiangbao and Xinshengbao, is close to 120:100.

Gein, Xinshengbao is relatively close to the Ming Dynasty, and there are small countries such as Chenla, Champa, and Annan nearby, so it is easier to obtain women.

As for Xinxiangbao, when a large number of women were in transit here, Chen Dalang conveniently "drifted" a considerable number of women and stayed in Xinxiangbao to calm the people's hearts, which made the local residents extremely happy.

In mid-September, Hanzhou received a rather unexpected message from Xinshengbao. Zheng Zhilong sent his servant Zheng Cai to Guangzhou to negotiate with the people left behind by Hanzhou here, claiming that they would not Then intercept Hanzhou to transport hungry people from the Ming Dynasty, and help them collect hungry people from all over the Ming Dynasty to Guangzhou. As long as Hanzhou pays eight taels of silver per Dingkou, they can pick up people at the Guangzhou dock.

Of course, Hanzhou could also go to various parts of the Ming Dynasty to gather refugees and hire Zheng Zhilong's fleet to transport them, no further than Champa.

When Luo Rucheng in Xinsheng Castle heard this, he was happy at first, and then looked confused. What did Zheng Zhilong mean by this?

"What's the point? It's nothing more than two points. One is to mix some sand in our Hanzhou and find out about our development situation; the other is to help us accumulate more people. When we become stronger, we will definitely compete with the Netherlands. People have all kinds of conflicts and even frictions. If not, they can join us to attack the Dutch from both sides!" Qi Tian said.

Yu Fukun was stunned for a long time after hearing Qitian's explanation, "Then..., should we accept Zheng Zhilong's kindness?"

"Of course I accept it!" Qi Tian said: "Even if Zheng Zhilong stuffs a thousand or eight hundred spies into the immigrants, we will still swallow him and digest him easily!"

What kind of system does our Hanzhou have? The political power has not only been transferred to the villages, but also established a rural soldier system and a police system. In another year or two, when a large number of grassroots officials have been trained, we will also establish a strict household registration Baojia system.

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Anyone who wants to engage in collusion or even think of overthrowing the local government in Hanzhou will be nipped in the bud by the well-organized social system at the first opportunity.

"To gather refugees from various places, we cannot let Zheng Zhilong control them all. We must have our own people in Ming Dynasty to do this. Also, in the future, the source of immigrants can no longer be limited to one place."

At present, there are more than 7,000 people in Hanzhou, and there are more than 5,000 immigrants from Huaibei, accounting for more than 70%. This will cause certain difficulties in personnel management in the later period, and it can easily lead to regional disputes.

The top ruling class are almost all from Shandong, and most of the sailors are from Guangdong. Although the Marine Corps, the only land armed force in Hanzhou, has a considerable number of Huaibei people, the officers at all levels are from Shandong.

people.

Now, all the people in Hanzhou are still in the stage of solving the problem of food and clothing. At the same time, the vast majority of immigrants are displaced hungry people and have no concept of power.

However, as a member of the ruling class, Qi Tian still wanted to take precautions and eliminate possible disputes in the future.

As the population increases and the expected immigrants continue to arrive in the future, the development of new settlements has been put on the planning agenda.

"The inland is vast, so why expand to the east coast?"

Cao Xiong returned to Jianye City at the end of September. In August, he led the "Pioneer" and the Dutch fleet to defeat two consecutive sea aids from the Kingdom of Aceh, sinking and damaging more than 40 large and small ships.

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By early September, the Dutch East India Company had transported two batches of materials and personnel to Urgent Bay to consolidate and strengthen the defense of this new occupation point. At this point, the Dutch had finally established a solid base on the south side of the Strait of Malacca.

The colonial point greatly improved the safety of the Dutch East India Company's routes to and from the Far East.

It was under such circumstances that Cao Xiong took a boat full of loot and returned to Hanzhou via Batavia and Xinxiang Fort.

"Uncle, Uncle Kun, although the inland is vast, the land is barren. It will take more than ten years of continuous investment to support a larger population. But in the eastern and southeastern parts of Hanzhou, the climate is mild and the land is fertile, enough to support millions of people.

.More importantly, if we control the northern and northeastern parts of Hanzhou, then the entire eastern and southeastern coasts will be safe from large-scale invasion by the enemy."

"Of course, we are still unable to develop the eastern coast on a large scale. But now, we must establish a number of supply points in advance and develop towards the eastern coast step by step. Only in the next few years can we occupy and develop the fertile land on the eastern coast.

Only then will we have the foundation for the development of a great country!"

Cao Xiong and Yu Fukun were shocked by Qitian's talk of a "big country". Hanzhou currently has only tens of thousands of people, only three cities, and doesn't even have a decent naval fleet. How dare they dream of becoming a "big country".

However, after more than a year of development, Hanzhou has established many basic industries, which can manufacture muskets and cannons, as well as transport ships of less than 100 tons. The coastal defense fortress is gradually being improved.

The goals of three years of self-protection and five years of initial development envisioned previously will now be basically achieved. Then, it may not be impossible for a "big country" to achieve it in the near future!

"Xiaotian, are you afraid that the eastern part of Hanzhou will be occupied by others?" Cao Xiong asked with a smile.

Qi Tian nodded, "I also have this consideration. Now, the Dutch must know our specific location. What if one day, they suddenly want to get involved in Hanzhou? This area of ​​Jianye City is ours.

But Hanzhou is vast, especially the eastern coastal area, and the climate and environment are much better than those in Jianye City. If it is occupied by the Dutch, it will definitely be an obstacle to our future development and growth."

Qitian remembered that the Dutch East India Company had sent ships to explore the entire Australia. They first discovered and mapped the coastline of western Australia, and then in 1642 and 1644, Apel Tasman was under the control of both the Dutch and the Governor-General of India.

dispatched, successively

The discovery of Tasmania and "New Zealand", as well as the 3,500-kilometer-long coast of northern Australia, proved that "New Netherlands" was a unified and complete continent. The south, west, and north sides of the "Southern Continent" were basically covered by

After investigating clearly, the eastern coast is still a mystery.

In 1770, British navigator James Cook was sent by the British government to explore Oceania. He discovered a piece of land near 38° south latitude, which is the eastern coast of Australia.

Later, he saw a cape and a small archipelago at 10°5' south latitude, named Cape York and the York Islands. He discovered the wide Torres Strait outside the York Islands, which leads westward to the sea. This

Proof: The coast that Cook's fleet passed was the eastern coast of Australia, and Cape York was the northern tip of Australia.

Cook's voyage of exploration clarified the direction of Australia's eastern coast, verified the existence of the Torres Strait, and proved that New Guinea is a large bay. In this way, the relatively clear coastline in the east is consistent with what the Dutch and others said in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

The discovered western coast of Australia combined together to form a basically complete continental outline, thus proving the true existence of the southern continent - Australia.

However, a group of Ming people such as Cao Xiong and Qi Tian established a colony in northern Australia in advance and immigrated in large numbers. Then, will the small wings of the butterfly flap twice in advance and shift the attention of the Dutch to

Coming up from Hanzhou Continent?

Although the Dutch are heavy on business and are not interested in the relatively desolate environment on the Hanzhou continent, they do not rule out that in the future, in order to curb the development of Cao Xiong and Qitian's power, they will turn to establish one or several colonial settlements in Hanzhou.

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Therefore, Hanzhou must slowly expand towards the habitable area to the east, without giving any space for latecomers to get a foothold.

"Why not develop to the west of Hanzhou?" Qi Dajiang asked in a low voice.

"The west is full of desert and sand." Qi Tian said. Although he knew that the west of Hanzhou was rich in iron, coal, gold and other minerals, but for now, he only relied on coal, iron and other minerals near Heishan City and Xinhuaian.

It is enough to meet the development of Hanzhou.

In addition, in the valley southwest of Heishan City, the Hanzhou prospecting team discovered a gold mine with rich reserves. Qi Tian immediately arranged for more than fifty rural soldiers to be stationed in the valley and sealed off the entire valley to ensure that news of the gold mine did not spread.
Chapter completed!