Chapter 419 Negotiations with the Li people

Changhua River, also known as Changjiang, is the second largest river on Hainan Island. It originates from Limu Mountain in Qiongzhong and runs through the central and western parts of Hainan Island. The total length of Changhua River is more than 200 kilometers, with a drainage area of ​​more than 5,000 square kilometers. It has many

A tributary of the water vein. The water vein injected from the Shilu Mountain District is the second largest tributary of the Changhua River, and is called Shilu Water by the locals. And this river, which is not too wide, runs across the traffic planned by the Ministry of Construction.

On the line, east of the river is the jurisdiction of Shizidong and the location of the Shilu Iron Mine.

In order to facilitate going out to trade grain, salt, pig iron and other daily necessities with the Han people, the Li people in Shizidong arranged ferries on the river here - it is said to be ferries, but actually it is more accurately described as wooden rafts. These people living inland

The mountain people in the area do not have good shipbuilding skills. For them, a boat that can carry them across this small river less than a hundred meters wide is considered a qualified boat.

Before sending the guide across the river back, the special team was not in a hurry to cross to the other side, because if something went wrong, it would be a bit troublesome for the thirty or so people to withdraw. The wooden rafts used by the Li people to ferry

The ferry could not carry so many people at once, including their livestock and luggage. While stationed by the river, Qiao Zhiya and Fu Li took a few people and cut down a few thigh-thick trees nearby.

Strapped the raft yourself, just in case.

Originally, there were assault boats on the two catamaran sailboats, but even after deflation, the size and weight of those things were considerable. Considering that the mules and horses carried too many things, Qiao Zhiya finally gave up carrying the assault boats.

Intend.

The guide returned to the camp from Shizidong across the river before dark that day, and brought back a message from Huang Sanmu, the master of Shizidong, allowing them to enter Shizidong's jurisdiction. This unexpected news made everyone relax a little.

Because the village is located in a mountainous area, many supplies are difficult to obtain, and Han merchants who are willing to go into the mountains to provide these supplies will generally not refuse. When Qiao Zhiya sent a guide, he specifically asked him to bring samples of rice, salt and other goods.

It seems that he gained the approval of these Li people very smoothly.

In the early morning of the next day, after everyone had breakfast in the camp, they began to organize the crossing of the river. The special team's own wooden rafts and the Li people's wooden rafts took five round trips to get all the people and horses across. In order to

Just in case, Qiao Zhiya still left three people on the other side of the river. If anything happened, he would immediately rush back to the seaside fishing village to report the news. There was also stationed there a platoon of Black Earth Port militiamen who came with Tian Yeyou and old Morgan who stayed behind to look after the sailboat.

The coastal area near Changhua is almost all plain terrain, and the special team did not encounter any difficult areas along the way. But after crossing the Shilu River, it really started to enter the inland mountainous areas.

After crossing the river, we headed east for about ten miles under the guidance of our guide, and finally saw a hillside planting area unique to Li people's villages on the nearby hillside.

Fu Li should be the one who felt the most deeply among those who saw this scene. Just two years ago, Fu Shandong and the surrounding villages where he lived also used this slash-and-burn method to grow food. This kind of farming alone

By using this method, Fu Li can tell that the Li people here are still in a relatively backward living condition - of course, this backwardness is compared to that of Haihan, and the previous Fushandong was not much better.

The scale of Shizidong's cottage is not as large as that of Fushandong, but the internal structure is almost the same. They all have the same gable-roofed boat-shaped house as the main building. There is a larger boat-shaped house in the center of the village, which is the residence of the cave owner.

Most of the members of the special mission team stayed outside. Only four people, Qiao Zhiya, Liu Shanxia, ​​Tian Yeyou and Fu Li, entered the house to meet with the owner of the cave.

Huang Sanmu, the master of Shizi Cave, was a man in his prime. After inviting everyone to sit down, he ordered others to bring homemade fruit wine to entertain the guests. Qiao Zhiya also asked Fu Li to bring out the prepared gifts and presented them to Huang Sanmu.

According to the standard operation method of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the gifts are still a three-piece saber, lighter and liquor set. It can be seen that Huang Sanmu, like those cave owners who have dealt with Haihan in the past, can hardly conceal his love for these gifts.

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"Master Huangdong, I would like to ask, have you heard of our Haihan Chamber of Commerce in the past?" Qiao Zhiya asked proactively.

Huang Sanmu nodded and said: "You are a salt seller. You have a shop in Changhua City. Your salt is very cheap and better than the official salt in the past!" Although Huang Sanmu's Mandarin was not very standard, he could barely speak it.

I can still communicate.

"What we sell is not only salt, but also many other things. As long as you want to buy it, we have the ability to provide it." Qiao Zhiya immediately started self-promotion: "We can give the Li people here a better living environment.

, let you live in the same houses as the Han people, enjoy the same food, and your children can also read and read together with the Han children!"

After hearing Qiao Zhiya's boast, Huang Sanmu was not immediately overjoyed, but asked suspiciously: "We have no contact and are not friends. Why do you do these things for us Li people?"

"Of course this is not for nothing, you also need to pay certain conditions." Seeing the change of color on Huang Sanmu's face, Qiao Zhiya quickly comforted: "Don't worry, I'm not asking for your money. I know you Li people don't have much money.

.”

Hearing this, Huang Sanmu's expression softened a little: "Then what do you want?"

"I want your cooperation." Qiao Zhiya did not intend to conceal the real purpose of the executive committee, because such a large project cannot be hidden from the indigenous residents for too long: "We want to build a road from the sea to here.

, and then mine iron ore on the hillside next to your village."

"Iron ore? You said we have iron ore here?" The first thing Huang Sanmu noticed was the iron ore. Liren Village has been strictly controlled by the local government on the import of pig iron, so that most of the agricultural tools they used for slash-and-burn farming were

It's still stone tools. Shizidong is lucky to be able to get two to three hundred kilograms of pig iron through various channels every year. However, this short-haired Haihan man actually claims that there is an iron mine next to the village?

"That's right, but I'm afraid it's difficult for you to have the conditions for mining and smelting. Even if you can mine it, your cost of obtaining pig iron is much higher than ours. If you need pig iron, we can supply it to you at a very low price. We will definitely do it.

It’s cheaper than organizing your own manpower to mine and smelt iron!” Qiao Zhiya tried to persuade Huang Sanmu to accept his proposal from the perspective of commercial value, but he ignored that Huang Sanmu himself was not a businessman, but just a Li native born and raised here.

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Huang Sanmu shook his head and said: "This is our Shizidong place, and the iron ore buried here also belongs to our Shizidong. If we need pig iron, we can dig it ourselves and don't let outsiders interfere!"

"Without our help, you wouldn't have been able to find the mineral vein!" Tian Yeyou, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but interject.

Huang Sanmu looked sideways at him, shook his head and said: "That's okay. We don't know that there are iron ore in the land under our feet. We have lived here for many generations. Even if there is no iron ore, we can continue to be here.

Live on."

"It's not easy!" Qiao Zhiya and Tian Yeyou exchanged glances, and the same thought flashed through their minds.

At this time, Fu Li finally spoke: "Lord Huangdong, I am Fu Li from Fushan Cave in Yazhou. My family, like yours, is also the guardian of Li Cave!"

"You? Are you from Li?" Huang Sanmu looked at Fu Li and didn't quite believe what he said. It's no wonder, Fu Li has cut his hair short now and is also wearing Haihan-style shorts, trousers and leather shoes. Why?

He doesn't look like a Li person at all.

"I have a seal issued by the Ming Dynasty!" Fu Li said as he took out a small copper seal and handed it to Huang Sanmu.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the central court began to grant hereditary official positions of "Thousand Households" and "Ten Thousand Households" to the cave owners of the Li people. After the change of dynasties, this tradition only changed slightly, and the awarded positions were changed.

It was changed to "General Manager", "General Manager Qian", "Commander", etc. Its main function is to win over the local Li leaders to prevent them from confronting the local government every day. Of course, there is nothing important about this kind of official position.

In practical terms, the taxes that Li Dong must pay will not be less than a copper penny, and the labor that must be performed cannot be escaped at all. However, for the Li cave owners, the seal issued by the court is a way to identify their identity.

A simple method, because this thing can only be obtained by the cave owners and direct heirs of each cave, and no one will imitate this identity, because once it is exposed, it is impersonating a court official, which is a serious crime worthy of beheading.

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Huang Sanmu took it and looked at it carefully before nodding and saying: "You, like me, are the Qian President granted by the imperial court. But why do you dress like them? Have you abandoned your people?"

"I have not abandoned anyone. We people in Fushandong are living very well now, thanks to the help of the Haihan people." Fu Li started talking about the two sides since the Haihan people first visited Fushandong two years ago.

contact process.

Fu Shantong was undoubtedly a successful attempt by the Executive Committee to deal with Han-Li relations at the beginning of the landing. The agreement reached by Ning Qi and Fu Nuo at that time was later called the "Savior Plan No. 1" and became the basis of the Civil Affairs Department

A model for mass work in ethnic minority areas. From the initial exchange of materials, to hiring labor, recruiting soldiers, and finally developing to moving the residents of Fushandong out of the mountains and settling in Han residential areas, Fushandong has been in the past

We have experienced tremendous changes in the past two years, and as someone who has experienced it, Fu Li naturally feels the most.

As soon as Fu Li started talking, he couldn't hold it back, and Huang Sanmu also showed great interest in Fu Li and Fu Shandong's experience, because Fu Li described the situation of Fu Shandong two years ago.

It was so similar to Shizidong today, with the same lack of food and clothing, and no hope of becoming rich in the future.

Soon it was lunch time. Huang Sanmu asked his family to cook bamboo tube rice with the rice donated by the special mission team, and also cooked some pheasants. Tian Yeyou was bored by the story, so he took the initiative to apply to help the villagers here cook pheasants.

There are also many spices in the supplies brought this time, and as soon as they are put into the pot, the aroma immediately overflows, making people excited.

After lunch, Fu Li continued to tell the story of Fu Shandong at Huang Sanmu's request. The two of them naturally used Li people's language in their conversation. The people next to them couldn't even understand half of the sentence, and they all fainted later.

They were drowsy. However, the two people talked more and more enthusiastically, and they were still talking non-stop until dinner was served in the evening.

That night, the special team set up their own tent and stayed in Shizidong Mountain Village. Only then did Qiao Zhiya and others have time to ask Fu Li about the content and progress of today's discussion.

Fu Li was obviously very satisfied with his performance and said with a smile: "Master Huangdong is very interested in the overall relocation of Fushandong. It can be seen that he is not as concerned about the current living environment in Shizidong as he says.

Satisfied, if we can propose a more feasible plan, I think there is a high possibility that he will accept it."

The overall relocation of Fushandong is the first time that the Executive Committee has tried to allow Li people to move out of the mountains in units of caves. The resettlement of Fushandong residents has also fully taken into account their living habits and placed their residences in

In the ravine between Tiandu Industrial Zone and Tielugang, it not only maintains the independence of Fushandong, but also provides them with better living security conditions. In the new residence, naturalized Li people can have more convenience

They received various living materials provided by the Executive Committee, and under the training of the Ministry of Agriculture, they began to plant various cash crops on a large scale on the hillside near their residence, and the remuneration they received was much higher than before.

A level of slash-and-burn farming in the deep mountains.

After a successful attempt, the Executive Committee later arranged for several Lidong and Miao villages to be moved out of the mountains and to the coastal plain area of ​​Sanya. Although these mountain people had little culture, they were often very young and strong.

With good sources of soldiers, women, children, old and young can also engage in some auxiliary industries, which can change their originally very poor living conditions in a short period of time.

In this process, the relevant departments have accumulated a wealth of experience. Even Fuli himself has participated in two recent Limiao and Miao village relocations and has a clear understanding of the methods and purposes of such relocations.

The description to Huang Sanmu was more detailed, and with Fuli's own identity as the successor to the leader of Lidong, this persuasion became even more convincing.

"Xiao Fu, you did a good job!" Liu Shanxia grinned and patted Fu Li on the shoulder in praise, but his big palm-like hand almost slapped Fu Li down.

"We can set higher conditions, but some bottom lines still have to be determined." Qiao Zhiya seemed relatively calm. The executive committee gave him the responsibility of this special task force, which is undoubtedly a test of his personal ability.

He has already accumulated certain achievements in the military. If he can complete this mission well, he will have a better foundation in the future whether he joins the military or politics.
Chapter completed!