Chapter 1417 New Colony

When Liu Shang was in Sanya, he had taken time to study the history of Haihan's fortune. He had a much deeper understanding of this country than his colleagues who stayed in the Ming Dynasty. He knew that Haihan's external military methods were only to attack his opponents.

It is just a tool to capture the land, and the process of actually turning the captured land into one's own is mainly completed through a steady stream of immigration activities. The indigenous people are moved away, people are moved in from other places, and then local establishments are made.

Governing institutions, this is a trick that Haihan will use in almost every overseas colony.

The effect of this set of measures is of course obvious. Haihan has occupied many areas along the coast over the past few years, but I have never heard of any major reversal. Haihan has recently occupied the territory in Liaodong, and will prepare to mobilize troops to capture it later.

The southern region of Jinzhou obviously plans to follow the old rules.

Liu Shang has personally experienced Haihan's powerful organizational and maritime transportation capabilities, and he would not be too surprised by plans to transport thousands of people to Lushun in the short term. He believes that as long as Haihan is willing, he can even plunder the Denglai area

It is also possible to forcibly move tens of thousands of people to Liaodong. Of course, doing so may cause chaos in Denglai, which is certainly not a scene that Haihan, who needs Shandong to maintain peace, wants to see.

Liu Shang could not speculate yet on what specific plans Haihan's senior officials had for Lushun. However, with Lushunkou as a natural port, Liu Shang believed that it would be easy to build this place into a commercial port or a military port in the future. He landed the day before yesterday

I carefully observed the situation of Lushun Port when I was here. The geographical conditions of this port are far better than the ports operated by Haihan in Shandong, Zhejiang and other places. It was indeed a waste of money to stay in the hands of Hou Jin. Now that it is occupied by Haihan, it is the real

It’s time to give full play to the role of this place. Of course, everything can only be implemented after there is enough labor here.

The efficiency of the civil affairs and shipping departments was higher than Liu Shang imagined. Two days later, the first batch of immigrants from Shandong arrived at Lushun Port by boat. These more than 700 immigrants were divided into four immigration ships, and there were also

Four Yugong-class cargo ships and an Exploration-class warship transported supplies and food.

Although Liu Shang and Qin Wei were not from the civil affairs department, their propaganda expertise was needed at this time. Liu Shang had many dealings with immigrants when he was on Hainan Island, and was later transferred to Shandong Province.

Likewise, as soon as the new immigrants arrived in Liaodong, the work of the propaganda organization was naturally handed over to his hands again.

Fortunately, these immigrants had already spent some time in the Haihan Immigration Camp before coming to Liaodong, received relevant publicity and education, and were informed of the conditions at their destination in advance, so the burden on Liu Shang's shoulders was much lighter.

, there is no need to waste any more time explaining to these immigrants why they were sent here to settle.

In fact, only about half of the immigrants sent to Liaodong were real Shandong people. Some of the other half were immigrants recruited in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, and the remaining part were all people from Liaodong. Almost all of these Liaodong Han people

During the invasion of Hou Jin, he crossed the sea and fled to the south. During this period, he took refuge under Haihan's banner through various channels. If Haihan wanted to build a colonial area in the Liaodong Peninsula, he naturally needed to select a group of immigrants who were familiar with the local conditions as the backbone.

In order to address the immigrants' safety concerns about the arrangement of returning to Liaodong, a special item was added to their propaganda content, which is to popularize the glorious record of the special operations battalion of the main force currently guarding Lushun, especially after the heavy losses here last year.

The battle of Jin Shoujun is a top priority, letting the people know that the army guarding them here is Haihan's most powerful ace army, so as to gain a sufficient sense of security.

However, the garrison barracks at Fort Lushun have not yet been completed. Naturally, these new immigrants do not have ready-made residences. They can only live in tents set up first, and then the officials organize the construction of houses. There are large forests near Fort Arthur.

, several brick kilns built outside Lushun Fort have also been under construction for a few days. The materials required for building houses are not a problem at all, just waiting for the labor force to be in place.

Of course, all the current construction plans are just small wooden stakes nailed horizontally and vertically in the snow. It will take at least a month or two to turn the outside of Lushun Fort into a vibrant coastal town.

.

Areas managed by the military have never been slow to arrange projects. On the second day after the immigrants arrived in Lushun, the engineering staff organized them to start construction in the planned area outside Lushun Fort. Although most of these immigrants

I have not learned to be a carpenter or plasterer, but there will be no technical difficulties in letting them work as laborers to dig earth and carry building materials.

Although snowflakes still fall from the sky from time to time, the project of building residential areas is carried out quickly under the official organization. The old, weak, women and children are assigned to the logistics department to help, while all men between the ages of fifteen and fifty are assigned to the construction site.

Of course, the labor they put in was not without reward. In fact, as the first batch of immigrants who came here as the pioneers of the Liaodong colony, the government gave them extremely generous promises. In addition to immediately obtaining Haihan nationality,

Each person will also receive fifty acres of land based on the number of laborers. Even those families without strong labor will be given no less than thirty acres of land to each household for their future livelihood needs. This is for those who are impoverished and impoverished.

For the immigrants who had just taken refuge in Haihan, the temptation was really hard to resist.

Four days after the first batch of immigrants arrived in Lushun, the second batch of more than 500 immigrants also arrived by boat. This group of people was also from Shandong. However, considering the maritime transportation capacity and the resettlement capacity of Lushun, they were transported in two batches.

Come over. The arrival of this group of people finally freed up part of the local labor force to start building barracks for the garrison troops in Lushun Fort.

But the arrival of more than a thousand immigrants was just the beginning of the subsequent surge in the local population. On January 30, 1,500 Han immigrants sent from Pidao also successfully arrived at Port Arthur.

The current second-in-command of Pidao, Ming Dynasty Councilor General Shen Zhixiang, personally led a team to escort him here.

Shen Zhixiang can be considered an acquaintance of Haihan. After Haihan and Pidao agreed to cooperate the year before last, Shen Zhixiang stationed at the Zhifu Island base as a representative of Pidao. He was also very familiar with the senior officials of Haihan garrison. The winter before last

He even went to Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province with the Northern Fleet that was heading south for the winter, and received a winter of military training there.

After Shen Zhixiang saw the scale of Haihan Navy's Northern Fleet and East China Sea Fleet in Zhoushan, as well as its influence in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, he quickly became a loyal supporter of Haihan. If it weren't for Haihan's military request that Pidao retain the Ming Dynasty's establishment

For the sake of convenience, Shen Zhixiang may take the initiative to instigate rebellion against his uncle Shen Shikui, or abandon his military position and defect to Haihan directly.

Haihan's achievements in Liaodong were finally given to Pi Dao, and Shen's uncle and nephew reported their merits to the Ming Dynasty. The thousands of Houjin heads sent to Shandong Dusi were finally exchanged for Shen Zhixiang.

Of course, it is difficult to say whether the Shandong Dusi and the Ministry of War offered this benefit as a reward for merit, or as a way to contain Haihan, who was already on the line with Pi Dao.

However, Haihan didn't mind this at all. The top military officials even wished that the official position of Shen's uncle and nephew could be climbed higher so that they could act more conveniently in the future. The two of them were based in Pi Island. If they left this place and were transferred back

In the Ming Dynasty, it can be said that they are not even worthless. If Pi Island wants to maintain its long-term stability, it cannot rely on the Ming Dynasty. The only way is to hug Haihan's thick legs tightly.

Although there are tens of thousands of people on Pi Island, this place does not have the conditions for large-scale agricultural farming, so the excess population can only be gradually transferred to Haihan, and then in exchange for Haihan's supplies and armaments.

Assistance and support. However, Shen's uncle and nephew also understand that the population of Phi Island is limited after all. Although some Han people can be brought out from the northeastern region every now and then, the inflow is not as fast as the outflow. After all, there will be a loss of people just by exporting immigrants.

The day when resources are exhausted. But before that, you must think about your future direction and livelihood, otherwise what conditions can you come up with to discuss cooperation with Haihan?

Shen Zhixiang went to Zhejiang and met with many senior officials of Haihan. He gradually understood why Haihan needed the Pidao Ming Army to retain the Ming Dynasty's establishment. Haihan wanted to march into Liaodong, but he did not want to be ruined because of it.

If there is a conflict with the Ming Dynasty, then a more high-sounding name is needed to do it, such as attacking Liaodong in the name of the Ming army.

Regarding the arrangements for the spring offensive, the Zhifu Island Command has informed Pi Island after the Battle of Lushun, so Shen Zhixiang is also relatively aware of the role Pi Island needs to play in the changes in the situation in Liaodong. If the Ming army attacks Liaodong and recaptures it,

The land in the southern part of Jinzhou is naturally a great achievement for Pi Dao, and Haihan's actual control over the local area can also be concealed to a certain extent, preventing the big shots in the court from giving excuses such as "invasion"

.

Although such a cover-up cannot be hidden from the people in the court, the Ming Dynasty is currently in the midst of internal and external troubles, and it really cannot afford to provoke enemies like Haihan. As long as the situation in Liaodong is justified on the surface, I believe the court will

He consciously pretended to be deaf to Pi Dao and Haihan's little moves.

Taking a step back, if Haihan had captured a large area of ​​land in Liaodong, it would be better to just give a piece of it to Pi Island so that the Ming army commanded by Shen's uncle and nephew could move back to the mainland and settle down.

It is much better to live a hard life on Phi Island. Therefore, Shen's uncle and nephew also have the same attitude towards assisting Haihan in launching the spring offensive. That is to seize this rare opportunity and fight for Haihan more. See

Let’s see if we can make a fundamental change in Pi Dao’s situation this year.

It was with this attitude that when Pi Dao sent the immigrants to Lushun, Shen Zhixiang followed him in person. Firstly, he wanted to understand the progress and arrangements of Haihan's preparations, and secondly, he wanted to find an opportunity to test the senior management of Haihan. attitude to see if the other party is willing to give Pi Dao some more affordable benefits.

Morgan did not go to the port to welcome Shen Zhixiang's arrival, but when Shen Zhixiang entered Lushun Fort, Morgan received him immediately. The two had interacted with each other on Zhifu Island before, and they had some pleasantries after meeting.

Shen Zhixiang is no stranger to Morgan's current residence, and took the initiative to explain the origin of this place to Morgan: "This place used to be the residence of Qianhu Zuo in Jinzhou Wei Zhong. The house where your Excellency lives is Qianhu." It is a household residence. There were originally many buildings in this city, but it seems that they were all demolished after Hou Jin occupied this place."

Morgan actually knew that this place used to be an armed stronghold belonging to Ming Dynasty. Hearing this, he nodded and said, "General Shen should have been to this place before, right?"

"Before the fall of Jinzhou, I came here with my uncle several times." Shen Zhixiang frowned slightly, remembering that he came here with his uncle Shen Shikui on business. At that time, Shen Shikui had just abandoned business and joined the army, and he himself was Shen Shikui's personal soldier. Serving around. However, this place has now been returned to Haihan, and its name has been changed to Lushun Fort. If there are no major changes, it is estimated that it will be difficult for this place to return to the hands of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

But Shen Zhixiang doesn't have too many regrets about this. His sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty has become less and less in recent years, and now he relies on Haihan to earn a living. In his opinion, this place belongs to Haihan. It is much better than letting Hou Jin Manzi take control. At least Haihan will naturalize the Han people, and it will be easy to live and work here in the future. However, Hou Jin Manzi only treats the Han people as slaves and does his best to oppress them.

Morgan then added: "We gave you a rough outline of the battle plan after the spring when you came to Zhifu Island last time. By then, there should be no problem with Pi Island sending troops to join the operation, right?"

Shen Zhixiang responded: "General, I have already discussed this matter with my uncle. A battalion of elite soldiers will be transferred from Pidao for your army to command. Pidao will also try its best to organize the transport ships needed by your army."

The establishment of Pi Dao had actually become very chaotic due to various historical reasons before Haihan arrived. It was not until Haihan provided military assistance to Pi Dao that it was gradually cleaned up and reorganized. The elite infantry battalions on Pi Dao totaled There are more than 2,000 officers and soldiers, including 1,000 gunmen, 120 artillerymen, more than 700 pikemen, rattan soldiers and other soldiers equipped only with cold weapons, and the rest are clerks, handymen, and craftsmen. There are hundreds of military doctors, cooks and other support staff.

Of course, almost all the various standard firearms equipped by this elite infantry battalion were provided by Haihan. The gunmen and artillery were also trained by Haihan. These are all part of Haihan's military aid. It is not an exaggeration to say that this unit sent by Pidao is Haihan's auxiliary army. Although its combat power is far inferior to that of Haihan's regular army, it is intended to provide support on the battlefield and bully the Houjin Army, which has more primitive equipment. In fact, It's enough.
Chapter completed!