"No, I can't suffer the disadvantage of being dumb! If you steal my woman, I will steal your sister!" Hong Xiuquan thought in his mind.
"Huang Aiqing, I wonder if you have ever been married?" he asked Huang Hao standing next to him with a smile.
"Report to the King of Heaven, I have never been married."
"Since ancient times, catching a son-in-law has been a legend. Brother Dongwang, I think your sister has reached marriageable age. How about I act as a matchmaker today and betroth your sister to Huang Aiqing." Hong Xiuquan said with a smile, his eyes full of pride.
"King of Heaven, you have just issued a decree not to arrange marriages. Although Huang Hanlin is good, the younger sister's marriage must be decided by herself, and I, the elder brother, cannot decide." Yang Xiuqing said, these words are actually very serious.
, let’s just say I won’t give you face.
"Old Hong Xiuquan, don't force me, or I'll twitch now and ask Heavenly Father to come down to earth to cure you." Yang Xiuqing thought to herself.
At this time, Yang Ximei, who had been watching the excitement, couldn't sit still.
"Your Majesty, Sister Xi doesn't want to get married for the time being. My career in the Kingdom of Heaven has not yet been completed, but Sister Xi is willing to dedicate herself to the Kingdom. Only when my career in the Kingdom of Heaven is completed will I get married and have children."
After Yang Ximei said this, Hong Xiuquan could no longer force him. However, he still wanted to make Yang Xiuqing disgusted. So he said to Huang Hao: "Although I can't force Ximei, I allow you to pursue Ximei, if Ximei agrees.
Well, Brother Dongwang won’t stop it, right?”
"Of course not. I will support all my sister-in-law's decisions." Yang Xiuqing nodded unhappily and said.
Huang Hao's little eyes glanced at Yang Ximei from time to time. Darling, this woman is taller than him, has a beautiful face, and is very heroic.
"The King of Heaven is so kind to me, and he even helps me find a wife. I am a young master from a salt merchant family, and he has had countless daughters. How can he fail to catch up with a country girl from the Taiping Army?"
Huang Hao secretly made up his mind to catch this woman. In this way, he would have the two strongest backers in the Taiping Army. Why not worry about not being able to achieve success?
When Yang Ximei saw Huang Hao staring at her, she felt extremely disgusted, as if she had eaten fly excrement. But now that the king and ministers were here, it was hard for her to have an attack. Otherwise, she really wanted to kick that man
Kicked away.
In order to relieve the embarrassment, she had to chat with Fu Shanxiang.
Both are women, and both have the great cause of the Kingdom of Heaven in their hearts. The two of them soon had a common topic of conversation when they got together.
After the banquet was over and everyone left, Yang Ximei pulled Fu Shanxiang and insisted on taking her to live in Dongwang Mansion.
Yang Xiuqing on the side was so happy that she was so good at it.
However, Fu Shanxiang refused because he wanted to go back to the women's camp to say goodbye to his sisters and pick up some things.
But Yang Ximei made an appointment with her to pick her up tomorrow.
"Brother, what position do you think I should give Sister Number One Scholar?" Back at the palace, Yang Ximei asked Yang Xiuqing.
"Uh...brother, I'm going to let her be the chief secretary of the palace. You see, she writes well and her handwriting is beautiful. If brother has any official documents in the future, he can ask her to draft them." Yang Xiuqing said seriously.
Yang Ximei immediately became unhappy: "We agreed that I would like the top female scholar to come and help me, but why did my brother regret it so quickly?
Yang Ximei is also a grown-up girl and knows what her brother is thinking. After her brother moved into the palace, he found so many sisters-in-law for himself that he could not even count them.
"Brother, you have so many staff around you, no one can help you write official documents, but there is no one around me who can help you. My sister will definitely not be able to rely on you this time." After speaking, he snorted angrily and turned back to his own room.
residence.
"Hey...this sister is getting more and more worried. Do we really have to marry her off?" Yang Xiuqing thought in her mind.
…
Malay Peninsula, Southeast Asia.
Along the Strait of Johor to the north and across Johor Bahru, the capital of the Sultanate of Johor, there are patches of undeveloped tropical rainforest. Only the side close to the coastline has undergone long-term development and is suitable for human habitation.
There is a small port city in the northeast corner of the Sultanate of Johor, called Mersing. As you can tell from the name, it is a Chinese settlement.
But here, the Chinese can only live near the port cities. Because the indigenous people living in the jungle will regularly rob the Chinese settlements like hunting.
"Director Yang, are you going to the port to receive supplies again?" An old man greeted Yang Guangquan.
Yang Guangquan is the director of Fengsheng Farm, and they are the first batch of farm workers to arrive in Nanyang with merchant ships.
Huaihai Company directly purchased the rainforest development rights in the inland areas of Mersing from the Kingdom of Johor in the name of the Lin family of Singapore.
In the past, Chinese development in Southeast Asia was mostly based on family units. The number and scale were too small, and it was difficult to withstand the attacks of the indigenous people.
In Nanyang, the biggest enemies of the Chinese are the indigenous people living in the rain forests. These people are cruel and easy to kill and will rob everyone they see unless you can scare them away.
The main reason why the Chinese in Lanfang were able to establish a country was that the number of Chinese was large enough and they also attracted a group of familiar natives, so they did not have to fear attacks from raw natives.
But in the rainforest, ordinary people are rarely a match for the indigenous people who are familiar with the environment. Therefore, the most developed places in Southeast Asia are now along the coast.
It was too late for the Huai Navy to enter Nanyang, so if they want to get more room for development, they must penetrate inland.
Yang Guangquan is only in his thirties, but he is still a single man. When he was a refugee, his wife and children all starved to death. He himself lived all the way from Huaixi to Huai'an. Because of his hard work and willingness to learn cultural knowledge, he was active in learning cultural knowledge.
He has been promoted to the section chief of a farm. This time he signed up to come to Nanyang and was directly promoted to the farm director.
The farm where Lao Yang lives is called Fengsheng Farm. It is located 20 kilometers west of Mersing Port and has a newly built dirt road connecting it to the port.
Today, Lao Yang brought more than 100 militiamen to the port to receive a batch of machinery and equipment, as well as additional guns and ammunition.
At this time, there was a sailing paddle steamer of more than 2,000 tons docked at the port.
"Lao Yang, we meet again, how about finding an indigenous wife?" Captain Du Hang asked with a smile.
Du Hang's paddle wheel belongs to the Nanyang Branch of Huaihai Ocean Shipping Company.
It is specifically responsible for shipping routes in Southeast Asia. Piracy is now rampant in Southeast Asia, so Du Hang's ship is also equipped with four artillery pieces, which are usually wrapped in gun jackets to hide them.
There are guns and ammunition at the bottom of the cabin. The sailors all have militia status and have received special training. They can be quickly armed if something happens.
"Old Du, don't joke with me, brother. I won't want an aboriginal woman. The baby she gives birth to will be colored and impure. Let me tell you, Uncle Li from Fengsheng City is already planning to betroth his daughter to me."
"Oh, that's a good relationship. I look like I'm going to bring a gift to your wedding next time I come over."
"Okay, let the brothers quickly unload the goods."
The militiamen and the sailors on the ship worked together to use the pulley crane on the dock to hoist the large boxes from the ship.
"Brother Yang, please take a look at the bill of lading and sign it if you have no problem. This time the company has prepared a lot of good things for you. Look at that big box full of big sprays. There are a total of fifty. You
Didn't we report last time that big trolls were more effective than rifles in dealing with natives and wild animals in the jungle, so this time the headquarters has transferred them to you."
Du Hang said with envy that he also coveted these trolls. Nowadays, pirates in Southeast Asia usually join gangs to fight. After all, their purpose is to rob ships and cargo. If they really use artillery to sink the cargo ship, they will not get anything.
Du Hang took advantage of this, pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger, and after being threatened by the pirates, he took the initiative to slow down. When the pirates jumped to the gang, the sailor in the ambush used a large spray gun to sweep away the pirates who jumped to the gang, just like cleaning the deck.
Enter the sea. Then fight back to the opponent's ship.
In the end, we suffered no losses and captured a pirate ship. However, those pirate ships were small speedboats and were not suitable for use as cargo ships, so they had to be handed over to the company for processing.
"What is this big guy?" Yang Guangquan said, pointing to a large box over three meters high.
"Oh, this is a steam sawmill. I have brought you a lot of spare hacksaws. In the future, you can directly process the wood into fixed sizes, which will make it easier for us to transport. Minister Chen said, in order to facilitate you in the future
Use this machine. The steam engine has been modified to burn wood directly."
"Oh, that's great. The prospector sent by the headquarters has not found any coal mines yet. When he collapsed, he found gold sand by a stream."
"Really or not? Then brother, you are going to be rich!"
"Don't talk nonsense, this is the company's property."
"Hey, brother, don't get excited. The gold belongs to the company, but the credit belongs to you. Maybe it won't be long before you, brother, will be promoted again."
"Haha, I'm already a farm manager, where can I get promoted? I'm a farmer, so I can only do it on the farm."
"How about it? Xiao Du, if you are not in a hurry, can you come to the farm with me and sit for a while?"
"Forget it, Brother Yang, there are too many mosquitoes in your forest, so I'll stay in the shipyard. And I have to load the goods back quickly. The weather in Nanyang can change at any time. When the typhoon comes, I will have some rest."
The farm encountered many difficulties when it was first established. Fortunately, Huaihai Company was well prepared for this.
First of all, in terms of medicines, malaria is rampant in the rainforest, so the company has prepared a large amount of quinine and artemisia annua for this purpose.
Farm workers usually drink Qinghao decoction for prevention when they are not sick, and use quinine when they are sick. In addition, there are cooling oil, human elixir and other medicines that are very practical in Nanyang.
In this era, people had long discovered the golden rooster tree and how to extract quinine, so Dong Shuheng, who originally wanted to make a lot of money from it, missed the opportunity.
In addition, the company has also built a health clinic for each Nanyang farm to prevent employees from being sick and going without medical treatment.
Like domestic farms, farms here in Nanyang are also equipped with schools. In terms of management, the farm director manages production and life, and the militia commander manages militia training as well as daily defense and operations.
Different from domestic farms, Nanyang's farms are larger, and the number of households is not limited to 2,000. Because the land here is all in large tracts, like the land bought by Fengsheng City, there is probably not even a county in China.
It's so big, but the rainforest is full of unruly people anyway. These people are not under the control of the Johor Sultanate at all. Selling the land to these Chinese will have no impact on the Sultan.
The Sudan is equivalent to exchanging something he does not want in exchange for money, and in this way, it can also waste Chinese lives and increase the Sudan's future tax revenue.