Xiang Yong was abandoned by Zhao Xu in the Hekou settlement. There were almost 500 people here.
There are mostly forest swamps near the river mouth.
The prey here is relatively abundant. Now that winter is approaching, the water level has dropped and the swamps have basically dried up.
It's just convenient for Xiang Yong and others to hunt.
Xiang Yong divided the entire team into several parts, and everyone worked together. He still took people to hunt in the forest most of the time.
Their main hunting targets are large prey such as moose and red deer. Sometimes they also hunt bison in the grasslands near the river.
Of course, there are also many people in the river mouth settlements who are responsible for logging and building camps. The construction of infrastructure has always been the focus of several camps.
Because their pioneering team is just the vanguard. A large number of immigrants will soon come here.
After these people come, they first need a place to live.
Food and other things can be cultivated and planted after they arrive.
But it’s best to prepare your accommodation in advance.
There are two old men in the pioneering team, Xiang Yong and Zhang Sen. Zhao Xu has no one available, so he can only let these two old men go up. It just saves the two old men from continuing to run with the team.
News of the attack on settlements in Hunan reached here immediately.
Xiang Yong originally wanted to bring people to support him.
However, Zhao Xu's order was serious and told him to stay where he was, build the settlement at the mouth of the river, and hoard as many supplies as possible.
At the same time, he also asked Xiang Yong to lead people to tie all the wood into rafts. When the lake was about to freeze, he would send some of these rafts and supplies to the settlements in Hunan.
In this case, all the problems on Zhao Xu's side will be solved.
Only then did Xiang Yong give up his plan to support.
However, he now needs to use the 500 people on hand to stock up on supplies for a thousand people for the winter.
The wood is okay. There is too much wood here. As long as you have the tools handy, you can collect it quickly.
But food is not so easy to collect.
Fortunately, the fish resources here in Great Slave Lake are relatively abundant.
There are few people here and there are many big fish in the lake.
Xiang Yong simply organized a special fishing team.
Now when you come to the settlement at the mouth of the river, you can smell a strong fishy smell from a distance.
Fortunately for Gaojun, they were traveling from north to south, and the wind was blowing from the north, otherwise they would have been hit by the fishy smell.
"Uncle Xiang, I'm going to the Henan settlement to send some boats and supplies." Gao Jun met Xiang Rong at the Hekou settlement.
"Are these all boats you built yourself? They look good and very sturdy. Later I will have to get a few boats from Captain Zhao to use as fishing boats." Xiang Yong said.
Why do they all fall in love with the boat we made? Gao Jun complained in his heart.
It seems that the shipbuilding industry in the Hebend settlement can continue to expand in the future, and there is great potential.
From now on, all the surrounding lakes and rivers will be filled with ships produced in Hebend.
It's almost winter, and it's time for the appointment between Xiang Yong and Zhao Xu.
Xiang Yong simply prepared his things and followed Gao Jun to the settlement in Henan.
There is the Sanchahe settlement to the north, the Henan settlement to the southeast, and the endless forest to the west. There are some forest Indians scattered in the forest.
Those forest tribes are timid and rarely appear near the lake because this is the territory of the prairie Indians.
From its establishment to the present, the settlement at the mouth of the river has not been attacked by any attack.
Therefore, Xiang Yong could safely follow Gao Jun to the Hunan settlement.
The settlements in Hunan were also busy at this time.
Because the outgoing teams were always harassed, Zhao Xu could only gather people together to hunt or cut down trees.
Once before, the logging team went out because there were fewer people.
The Eagle Tribe found an opportunity. This time the pioneer team suffered more than a dozen casualties. It was not until the support team arrived that the Indians retreated.
After learning the lesson, the Blazers reduced the number of outings.
Zhao Xu always organizes a large number of people to go out together.
And they won't leave the camp too far. So the ghosts of the Indians are still there.
Every time the pioneer team goes out, there are a large number of guards protecting them.
In this way, many personnel can no longer engage in labor, but have to serve as combatants. Therefore, the efficiency of collecting materials has dropped.
Zhao Xu didn't know that Simpson was more anxious than him these days, and even the governor's special envoy didn't have time to pay attention to him.
There is no way, the Governor will not pay him a salary. First of all, he is from the Northwest Company. You must know that the deposit for a white bear skin is as high as one hundred pounds.
Now that there is so much shortage of goods, how can he explain it to the company?
If the company compensates customers, it will have to be doubled.
The key is that this will affect Northwest Company's credit.
Simpson first approached the Eagle Tribe, hoping they would have some inventory.
If the price is expensive, then be more expensive. He knew that the Eagle Tribe would sometimes go north to hunt the northerners who came to trade and get some furs.
But the Eagle Tribe only had bison skins.
The price of bison hides has been greatly reduced by the Americans in the south. The Northwest Company has no shortage of bison hides.
Now, all Simpson could think of was the Chinese. After all, all the goods from the north were taken away by the Chinese.
Simpson could only bite the bullet and rush to the settlement in Henan.
Since we can't do it, let's do business together.
Simpson was a businessman. At this time, he had forgotten the governor's order to expel the Chinese.
It's more important to keep your job.
Zhao Xu didn't know yet that his mortal enemy, the British, was coming here.
He recently led people to tidy up the floodplains around the camp. Next spring, he will
They used horses to pull plows to turn over all the soil.
Then the fields were surrounded by ridges. Although no food could be grown this year, plowing the land would kill all the pests in the soil in winter.
Simpson was stunned by the scene outside the Hunan settlement.
These Chinese are really tidying up their fields.
These Chinese really want to farm!
OMG!
It's unbelievable that they came to this place to farm.
At first, the Chinese envoy told them that they were going to farm here. Simpson scoffed.
Who would organize people to go to this damn place to open up wasteland and cultivate land?
Those immigrants from Britain gathered in the Great Lakes region and the southeastern region, which were suitable for farming. The land here was given to them for free, but they didn't want it.
But what does Simpson see now?
He saw these Chinese driving their pack horses and oxen to plow the land on the riverbank. They turned up the grass deeply, exposing the underlying black soil.
Simpson had never paid attention to the land here, but now it seems that the land here seems to be quite fertile.
Those Chinese guys were doing it with such enthusiasm that it didn't look like they were cheating.
Zhao Xu did not pretend to give Simpson a cold reception, but received the Northwest Company steward at the gate of the settlement.
Although this guy did a lot of harm to the development team behind the scenes.
But there's nothing wrong with doing that from the other side's point of view.
"Mr. Simpson, welcome to the Hunan settlement." Zhao Xu extended his hand and said.
"Hello, Mr. Zhao, I'm sorry to have come to visit you so late." Simpson also lowered his attitude and was no longer as arrogant as before.
"Come sit inside and have a cup of tea, Mr. Simpson." Zhao Xu guided Mr. Simpson into a reception room.
He picked up the teapot that was warm on the small stove and poured a cup of tea for Simpson, and then poured a cup for himself.
"Mr. Simpson, I wonder why you come all the way to our camp?"
"Mr. Zhao, do you really want to farm here?" Simpson changed the subject. His purpose was a bit hard to explain, so he didn't want to say it outright at the beginning.
"Mr. Simpson, you have also seen that we have reclaimed a large amount of farmland, so you don't have to doubt our determination to farm here." Zhao Xu spread his hands and said.
When they came here, they originally wanted to cultivate the land and settle here.
It's not like the British just want to make money here.
"Mr. Simpson, our country has too little cultivated land and too many people. The population of one province of our Renaissance Army is larger than the population of your country in the UK. If our people want to have enough to eat, we must cultivate more land."
"Okay, I can understand you. People have to find ways to have enough to eat," Simpson said.
"Mr. Zhao, you also know that our Northwest Company specializes in the fur business. So I wonder if you can plant your land in the future and we will continue to do our business." Simpson finally revealed the purpose of his visit today.
Zhao Xu knew in his heart that Simpson's purpose was related to the fur trade.
Sure enough!
"Mr. Simpson, farming is the main purpose of our coming here. We are willing to live in peace and equality with the people living here. This is understandable."
"At the same time, if someone takes the initiative to trade with us, we will not refuse. This is also the basis for our free exchanges with the people here." According to Simpson, it is best for the pioneer team not to conduct trade activities with local people in the future.
This is definitely unfair to the Blazers.
Zhao Xu would definitely not agree with this.
Simpson also heard the meaning of Zhao Xu's words. But originally they were doing a monopoly business, and now someone stepped in, and the business would not be able to operate normally in the future.
Simpson knew it would be impossible to persuade the other side to abandon trade altogether.
He turned to the next best thing and said: "We can not talk about this matter for now. I am here this time to buy some furs from you."
Oh, it turns out that's the case. Zhao Xu finally understood the other party's intention. It turned out that it was out of stock.
Then we need to have a good talk.
Zhao Xu refilled Simpson's cup of tea.
Simpson didn't like this unsweetened tea because it felt a bit bitter.