Next to him, Zhang Tong smiled and said: "Old Jia, the prince is very concerned about Da Dao and even wants to build a county on Da Dao. You can tell the prince your thoughts."
Jia Lun's eyes lit up and he said repeatedly: "It's great to build a county! We also need to garrison troops. This kind of large overseas island is not like land. The army can kill all the way and occupy even the most barbaric place. The big island hangs alone overseas.
, if left alone for hundreds of years, I’m afraid it will be occupied by other overseas countries.”
Chen Qingxiao asked: "Mr. Jia, do you have any other good ideas for developing the big island?"
Jia Lun thought for a while and said: "My biggest suggestion is to choose a site. There are many rivers on the big island that flow directly into the sea. The fresh water of these rivers is very important. In the future, when the prince develops the big island, he must advance in depth along both sides of the river.
"
Chen Qing nodded and asked: "How to deal with the natives on the island?"
"As far as I know, the traditional native people on the island are relatively gentle. They live in the mountains in the north and use the mountains as their territory. If the prince only develops the plains and does not enter the mountains, there will be no conflict.
But there is another group of natives in the south of the big island. They are foreigners who rowed over from Southeast Asia. They are some very short black people. They are relatively fierce and cruel. They live in the plain forests and are always looking for opportunities to kill Han Chinese farmers on the coast.
I suggest that the prince send troops to destroy this small black tribe. Only by eliminating them can the big island develop safely."
Chen Qing nodded silently, remembering what Jia Lun said.
Two days later, the fleet slowly arrived at Penghu Island. There is a natural harbor in the south where the fleet can park. The south is also a gathering place for people. Ten large ships appeared in the harbor. The news spread and the people rushed to the harbor.
To see the excitement, the arrival of ten large ships was indeed a relatively rare event for them.
There is a temporary simple dock in the harbor. The big ship pulls alongside, and groups of soldiers disembark first. The people watching from a distance retreat one after another. The arrival of the army makes them somewhat scared.
Jia Lun and Zhang Tong also got off the boat. When the people in the distance saw them, they were suddenly surprised and overjoyed. They ran over and surrounded them.
At this time, soldiers and guards surrounded Chen Qing and Zhao Yingluo as they disembarked from the ship. With their feet on the ground, Chen Qing suddenly felt particularly at ease, especially after encountering strong winds and waves, it felt so good to set foot on the land again.
"Your Majesty, these people are all elders from this island."
Zhang Tong brought several old men to see Chen Qing. The old men knelt down and kowtowed respectfully, "Young people, please see His Highness King Yong!"
"Fellow elders, please rise!"
Chen Qing asked several old men to stand up. The old man at the head held his fists and said with a smile: "This little man, Hao Wen, is from Jingzhao. I have heard about the reputation of the prince for a long time."
The old man spoke with a Guanzhong accent. When he heard the local accent, Chen Qing felt very friendly and asked with a smile: "How did the old man get here?"
"Reporting to the prince, when the Jin soldiers invaded Guanzhong for the first time, the villain took his family to escape. First he fled to Bashu, and then took a boat to Lin'an. As a result, he encountered the Jin soldiers searching the mountains and seas again. The villain led him again
As the family continued to flee south, they fled to Quanzhou and settled down. Later, when they heard that there was no need to pay taxes on farming on Penghu Island, the villain simply brought his whole family to live on the island again, and it has been ten years."
Chen Qing nodded, "After traveling thousands of miles, he is the refugee who has escaped the farthest. It's not easy for the elderly!"
"It's not easy, but now that I have been stable for ten years, I really don't want to leave. I just heard Zhang Tong say that the prince promised to be tax-free, is that true?"
Hundreds of pairs of eyes looked at Chen Qing. This was the result that the people on the island were most eager to know. During this period, they were very anxious.
Chen Qing nodded and said solemnly to everyone: "Dear fellow citizens, I can solemnly promise to you that the small and large islands in Penghu will be tax-free indefinitely, for ten, twenty, or even one hundred years."
Thousands of people on the shore suddenly cheered, but Cai Shouzhi, the county magistrate nearby, was secretly frightened. What does it mean to be exempted from tax for a hundred years?
Next, the county official Zhang Tong and the county magistrate Cai Shouzhi began to visit the people from house to house. They brought grain, seeds and farm tools.
Chen Qingze, led by Jia Lun, visited the school. There were three teachers, more than two hundred students, and more than a dozen stilt houses in the school. The climate on the main island is hot and humid, with abundant rainfall, and there are poisonous insects infested, so the island
The houses are basically stilt houses, almost all made of bamboo, which is very strong and tough.
"We just started teaching students "Hundred Family Surnames" and "The Thousand-Character Classic". After learning a few thousand characters, we started to learn "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius" and recite some poems."
Jia Lun is the principal, and the other two gentlemen are his students in the county school. He introduced the situation to Chen Qing, "The teaching materials are all donated by counties in Quanzhou. Some of the pens, inks, paper and inkstones were donated by Quanzhou businessmen, and some were purchased with money allocated by the county."
"Tables and chairs are made by the common people cutting down trees. There are many trees here and there is no shortage of wood."
"What plans do these children have after reading?" Chen Qing asked again.
"Most parents just want their children to be literate so that they won't be deceived in the future. After they reach the age of fourteen or five, they have to go home and work. A very small number of parents want their children to continue studying. I have contacted the county school to let some of the children go
Studying in a county school requires money for food and accommodation, and their parents may not be able to afford it."
Chen Qing waved his hand, "It's a good thing if you want to study. All their expenses will be borne by the county."
"Zhixian Cai said that they couldn't come up with the money, so why should they tax it? That's why."
"You don't have to worry. We will split the commercial tax in Quanzhou with the imperial court in half, and it will be used to subsidize the garrison and the county government. The rest of the taxes will be the same, and the county government will have the money."
"Then thank you so much, Your Majesty!"
Chen Qing smiled and pointed forward, "Is that a small town?"
“Exactly the town!”
Chen Qing moved over and saw that the so-called town was a small street about two hundred steps long, with houses, schools and more than a dozen shops, mainly groceries, taverns and goods collection shops.
There are three grocery stores, but there is one tavern, which is very small. The others are all delivery shops. There are no inns or brothels, but after the garrison, these will be available.
Chen Qing stopped in front of a store that was collecting goods and asked: "What does this store collect?"
"Reporting to the prince, it is mainly dried fish and other seafood, and then there is kapok."
"Kapok?"
Chen Qing asked curiously: "Is kapok still produced here?"
"There is kapok on the island, but the output is not large. The main reason is that there are too many kapok trees on the big island. Every year when the kapok fruit matures, we will take a boat to the big island to pick kapok, and then sell it to merchants to earn a little pocket money.
money."
Chen Qing nodded secretly and saw that in addition to growing sugar cane, kapok is also a good economic crop.
The town was very short, and it ended in less than two hundred steps. At this time, Chen Qing saw Jia Lun's son and daughter-in-law busy sorting out goods in a grocery store.
It seemed that there were not many goods in the shop. At this time, Cai Zhixian and Zhang Tong came back. Cai Zhixian sighed and said: "I brought too few things, and the islanders were disappointed."
Chen Qing remembered something and said to Magistrate Cai: "On the big ship, there are two cabins filled with all kinds of sundries. They are all kinds of daily necessities seized by us during the rebellion in Sichuan. All the useful ones have been taken away, and the rest are all
They are items that soldiers do not need. They are civilian goods. I originally planned to give them to the natives of Penghu Island, but now it seems that there is no need to give them. You can take one cabin and distribute it to the people! The other cabin is reserved for Penghu Island.
the people.”
Cai Zhixian was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly. He quickly took Zhang Tong and a soldier to the big ship to carry the items.
Next to him, Jia Lun looked very depressed. His son failed to open a store in Jinjiang County and owed a lot of debt, so he had to follow him to Penghu Island to open a grocery store. The prince distributed daily groceries to the islanders, and they still made a lot of money!
Chen Qing saw his disappointment and said with a smile: "I will station a thousand soldiers on the island soon. I suggest your son change it into a restaurant! Business will definitely be good."
Jia Lun's eyes lit up and he quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for reminding me. I understand."
Chen Qing quickly inspected a circle of islands. In fact, there was nothing interesting to see. Most of the islands were woods. It was already getting late, so Chen Qing returned to the ship to rest.
The soldiers came forward and said: "Zhixian Cai and his people moved all the things in the cabin. A few elders left this to King Yong. They said it is called the Sea God Pearl."
The soldier handed a wooden box to Chen Qing. Chen Qing opened the wooden box and found a large round pearl inside, as big as a lychee, exuding a faint colorful halo.