"These are the gold sands you dug for?" Xie Yuan's eyes lit up.
Deng Youzhang said: "Thirty indigenous people were arranged to squat in the river day and night to pan for gold, and they could dig out more than 80 kilograms of gold sand every year. Some people also picked up gold nuggets in the river, and there are probably gold mines in the mountains upstream. But we people,
They don’t even know how to prospect for minerals, so they have to send masters from China to do it.”
In fact, there are two larger gold mines in Deng Youzhang's territory, and the other one has not been discovered.
The place where they panned for gold sand was near the original settlement, only a few kilometers away from the village. And where they were about to attack, there was a large gold mine there, which was also the earliest gold mine discovered in history.
More than a thousand kilograms of gold sand can be recovered every year.
There are more gold mines on the island, mainly located in the east, which is not Deng Youzhang's territory.
Let’s put it this way, after Madagascar became independent, using the most primitive gold mining methods, the annual gold output was five tons—this was what was left from the mining by the French colonists.
Xie Yuan said: "Make a list of the Chinese people who have drifted to the island, and write down their hometown addresses. Your family members have all received pensions, and this money will not be taken back. Give me the gold.
After that, each of your families will be given fifty taels, and the rest will be confiscated. I will also use your gold, muskets, and horses to leave some for you."
"This is such a good sentiment, but there is a shortage of war horses on the island!" Deng Youzhang was overjoyed.
Xie Yuan reminded: "All the stallions in the army have been gelding. On the way back, I will help you contact the King of Oman and ask him to send ships for trade regularly. You can exchange gold with him and buy some stallions for breeding.
I will leave you a few cavalry officers and veterinarians from the mission. You must learn to ride and raise horses as soon as possible, and you will have to rely on yourself from now on."
To be honest, the Chinese court is not very enthusiastic about overseas gold and silver mines.
Gold and silver mines were discovered in Luzon and Borneo, and Zhao Han sent mining experts to look around. Since the mines were not rich, the court did not bother to interfere and only sent officials to manage and collect taxes. The gold and silver in the mines were open to immigrants.
, purely using the mine as a tool to attract immigrants.
Of course, the prospecting team has not withdrawn and is still looking for rich ores in overseas territories with high wages.
Various poor mines in the country have also been closed down one after another and restored to cultivated land or mountain forests. Unlike when the country was just founded, everything was in short supply. As long as there was a mine, they would mine it. No matter how small the mosquito legs were, they were still meat.
Seeing that the rainy season was approaching, Xie Yuan did not stay any longer. When Deng Youzhang came up with the list, he dropped some supplies and left.
Three hundred muskets, some ammunition, and two hundred horses were left behind.
One thing that is very bad about the island is that every Chinese New Year is always during the rainy season. This makes it impossible to get together and celebrate. The Chinese can only eat sumptuously at home, and the real big festival has to wait until summer.
The twenty-four solar terms have also become symbols. As an idea, they cannot guide agricultural production at all.
The territory currently controlled by Deng Youzhang has a tropical plateau climate and a tropical grassland climate, which is not as uncomfortable as the tropical rainforest. Tropical diseases occasionally occur, but only a few old brothers died of the disease, especially from May to October, which is very cool and dry.
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Cool and dry, it’s a good time to fight! …
Generally, the rice harvest is completed before mid-May, and it will be delayed until late May at the latest.
After obtaining the supplies, they went through a long rainy season and after harvesting the rice, they were ready to send out troops.
There are two targets they want to attack, one in the south and one in the north.
The north is called Mahevatanana, which is a mountainous area with a large gold mine. Of course, no one knows that there is gold, because even the indigenous people themselves don't know about it. The attack there is purely for expansion, and it is easy to march along the river valley.
The Northern Route Army was led by Li Luosheng, who was the magistrate and city lord in the north. Deng Youzhang sent 100 cavalry and 100 muskets. Although everyone had just learned how to ride horses, it was enough to deal with the indigenous people. After all, the indigenous people on the island had never seen cavalry.
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The Southern Route Army was personally led by Deng Youzhang, with one hundred cavalry and more than two hundred musketeers, making them invincible on the island.
Passing through the plateau and hilly areas, there is grassland all ahead.
There are also two Chinese city lords in the grassland area. They built the city by the river. While farming, they also raised a large number of livestock. They mainly raised hump cattle, which are the zebu cattle in India. They also raised some goats. There were no sheep here yet, and Deng Youzhang planned to introduce them.
Some.
The supplies were hauled by bullock carts, and indigenous troops were constantly joining along the way.
The military strength is definitely sufficient. Ordering the indigenous tribes to follow suit is to make the indigenous tribes remember their obligations and to constantly demonstrate the Chinese force. It doesn’t need too many. Each tribe can send 10 to 30 troops. After the war, there will be more troops.
Distribute a small amount of loot to them.
After marching for a full month, we finally reached the target area.
Deng Youzhang also asked some domestic shipbuilders to build more large ships, so that they can trade in Africa and send troops easily. For example, the current target is on the seaside and can be reached by boat in two or three days. There is no need to march.
One month.
The weather is very cool, but relatively dry.
The rainy season two months ago made the grassland green, and some small tribes can already be seen on the periphery. They are nomadic people and change their pastures regularly, but they also have their own so-called "royal court", which is actually the residence of the chief tribe.
"Governor, let me kill him!" Deng Anshun volunteered.
This is a 21-year-old indigenous boy who was adopted when he was a few years old. Chinese is his mother tongue.
Deng Youzhang nodded: "Take twenty cavalry with you."
Twenty indigenous teenagers, the youngest of whom was only 16 years old, rode forward on war horses. They had only trained riding skills for more than ten days before setting off. After marching all the way, they had to adapt to riding horses every day, but they were afraid that the horses would be tired.
Now, I only ride two or three hours a day.
When the indigenous herdsmen saw the cavalry coming, they didn't know what kind of monster it was. They were so frightened that they turned around and ran away, not even taking their own cattle and sheep.
Deng Anshun rushed over and captured a few herdsmen, and forced him to find out where the tribal leader's tent was. Then he galloped forward on his horse. He liked riding horses, it felt so good, and he believed that he was born to be a cavalryman.
When the leader of a small tribe encountered the cavalry, he could not escape and could only kneel down and beg for mercy.
Deng Anshun raised his sword and scolded: "We are soldiers under the governor of China. We must either submit to the governor or be killed by me. It's your choice!"
"Submit, I will bring the tribe to submit..." The tribal leader agreed repeatedly, and then went out with ten young men to accompany the army.
Deng Anshun was riding on horseback with his head held high, and he felt superior to the natives who could not speak Chinese.
He has been listening to stories from his adoptive father and teachers since he was a child that there is a Celestial China in the far east, where everything is available, there are 10,000 times more people than here, and the food is 10,000 times better than here. And the indigenous people on the island all belong to the Celestial China.
The remnants have forgotten to speak Chinese for too long. Only by learning to speak Chinese can we regain our identity as common people of the Celestial Empire.
Deng Anshun is already a commoner in China because he can speak Chinese and write Chinese characters. His educational level is probably equivalent to not graduating from elementary school. Due to the lack of textbooks, teachers teach whatever comes to mind.
After bringing the leader of the tribe back, Deng Anshun rode up to Deng Youzhang: "Governor, will the emperor send someone here? When can I return to China?"
"Do you want to go to China?" Deng Youzhang asked with a smile.
Deng Anshun nodded and said: "The teacher said that China is our motherland, and our ancestors came from there a long time ago. I just want to see if there is not enough food to eat there."
Deng Youzhang said: "Next time the envoy comes, you can follow the envoy back to the country to meet the emperor."
"Great!" Deng Anshun was excited.
A few days later, the expeditionary force arrived at the headquarters of the tribal alliance.
This is a large gathering place with an earthen city. Thousands of people live in and around the city. There is a large amount of farmland in the river alluvial plain.
Deng Youzhang was not in a hurry to attack the city. He had already had experience in dealing with such large tribes.
Sure enough, when the alliance chief saw that they only had a few hundred troops, he urgently summoned troops to go out of the city to fight. There was no time for the surrounding tribes to gather troops, and civilians and slaves took up arms, and about 2,000 people came to fight.
Finally, he could open his guns and let go. Deng Youzhang missed the days when there was plenty of ammunition.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
There were more than a hundred musketeers, many of whom were indigenous sons. They used casual marksmanship and fired randomly from a long distance.
A volley of guns was fired, and only a few enemy soldiers fell.
But this was enough to cause panic, and the natives had no idea what was going on. Near the man who was shot and fell to the ground, the native soldiers retreated one after another, thinking that the deceased had been possessed by witchcraft.
Immediately afterwards, the cavalry officers left behind by Xie Yuan, together with a hundred novice cavalrymen, circled around the flanks in a chaotic manner.
"Charge!"
One hundred cavalry suddenly came from the side. The indigenous army, which had no formation at all, began to collapse in panic. They did not dare to resist the charging monster.
The battle to bully the natives is really lackluster and extremely boring.
However, an indigenous country has been established in the central plateau of Madagascar. Its capital Antananarivo, including residents outside the city, has a population of close to 50,000. The capital with a population of 50,000 is enough to prove that the country is strong and the handicraft industry is relatively developed.
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At that time, fighting with the indigenous countries will be a little interesting.
Unfortunately, there was a mountain range blocking the two forces. If Deng Youzhang wanted to get across, he had to either go around from the north or the south. Counting the rugged mountain roads, the actual distance was equivalent to walking from Nanjing to Beijing.
After taking this city, he conquered another piece of territory.
An old brother from China was appointed as the magistrate of this city, responsible for managing the surrounding tribes.
It is really a feudal system. Li Luosheng in the north has the strength to expand on his own and does not need Deng Youzhang's help at all.
Even if the imperial court takes over the island in the future, these people will always be a local powerful family, controlling countless arable lands and pastures. And through marriage, they are inextricably linked to the indigenous tribes.
