The next day, Zhao Xin and his party boarded the Thor with a large number of leather goods half sold and half given away by the Shachuan people. Of course, Tuka's sister also boarded the ship.
Well, now there are three women on the ship. Shen Xuan stayed in Nagasaki for more than three months and learned a lot of island dialect from Lu Jun; Xue Wu also has no problem with the island dialect.
After the three met and got over the initial unfamiliarity, they quickly started talking. Shen Xuan and Lu Jun showed great interest in the strange birch bark clothing on Xue Wu; while Xue Wu was very interested in Shen Wu. Xuan and Luyun were also envious of their silk clothes.
It is said that the reason why Shen Jingdan took Lu Yun away was because she was pregnant with his child. If Lu Yun stayed in Nagasaki, the child would have to stay in the island country after he was born, and eventually take Lu Yun's maiden name. And This is absolutely unacceptable to Shen Jingdan.
Apart from Shen Xuan, his righteous daughter, he now has two daughters, and has no heirs. If Lu Yun gives birth to a son, even though he is a concubine, someone will inherit the family business; otherwise, he will have to take advantage of the jealous people in the family. of relatives.
Zhao Xin actually had a disdain for fur goods. They were of no use except to buy fur coats for himself. He wanted these things because he wanted to open up trade with Qing merchants.
Therefore, after the Thor set sail, Zhao Xin specially conducted a detailed interview with Shen and Huang. The content, quantity, and price of the goods that the two parties would trade in the future were determined.
Zhao Xin gave a very favorable price for the leather goods sold to the two of them, and the condition was that the two of them would transport people and some antiques from the Qing Dynasty to Beihai.
It is best to buy strong labor from Shandong, Shaanxi, and Huaibei. Others such as doctors, blacksmiths, carpenters, and cooks are welcome. Zhao Xin specifically pointed out that the cooks must be from Suzhou and Shandong.
For Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng, these foodies, the food they have had in the past few months is really unbearable, and they often cook instant noodles to cope with things.
As for antiques, Zhao Xin wants many kinds of things. Complete sets of Song-printed books, Ming blue and white official kilns, Song official kilns, calligraphy and paintings, all kinds of mahogany furniture, Shoushan stone, and chicken blood stone. As for silver, he will talk about it later. Anyway, Beihai is currently There is no need to use it in and out of town.
As for the main commodities exported to the Qing Dynasty through Shen and Huang in the future, Zhao Xin decided to focus on large pieces of flat glass and cigarettes. The large pieces of flat glass were proposed by Shen and Huang after seeing the porthole glass of the Thor; cigarettes were It was Zhao Xin's idea.
After tasting the filter cigarettes given by Zhao Xin, Shen and Huang greatly appreciated it and decided to make this the main product of future trade. However, Shen Jingdan suggested that Zhao Xin divide the cigarettes into three grades, with the top grade sold to dignitaries and the medium grade cigarettes. They were sold to gentry and merchants, and the last grade was sold to ordinary people.
Zhao Xin said that this is not easy to handle. The last grade can be used without filters. As for the upper and middle grades, they can be distinguished by using filters of different colors. There are so many old people and women in Beihai now, so it is just right to open a large cigarette workshop. Old people If you have nothing to do, just roll cigarettes at home and contribute to Beihai.
One day later, the Thor finally returned to Beihai Town.
This time, because Zhao Xin had been away for a long time, as soon as the ship stopped and the gangway was lowered, Chen Qingsong, Wang Yuanfang, Hong Tao and other left-behind personnel, as well as Sheng Haizhou and others, couldn't wait to board the ship to meet Zhao Xin and others.
After everyone greeted them cordially, Zhao Xin asked Sheng Haizhou and others to quickly arrange for the newly arrived refugees to disembark. He also asked Lu Shoushan to call the two children of the Xu family and Pan Xiucheng to arrange a meeting with Shen Xuan.
After handling these matters, he took Chen Qingsong and Wang Yuanfang to the meeting room on the ship.
As soon as they sat down, Chen Qingsong said first, "Mr. Zhao, you guys have been away for a long time this time."
"We didn't expect it to take so long. This time we went out, everything we encountered was linked to each other, and we had to do it."
Zhao Xin was eager to understand the progress of Beihai Town these days, so he briefly introduced the affairs of Ezo and Nagasaki, and also mentioned the affairs of Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang.
"We will discuss the detailed process at the plenary meeting tomorrow. Lao Chen, how is the situation over there? Let's talk briefly."
Chen Qingsong thought for a while, sorted out his thoughts, and then said: "Except for the military people, all the other people who can work are busy opening up wasteland. We have told these refugees before that we must Allocate land to them. My dear, these people are clearing land like crazy every day.
At present, we have basically cleared 5,000 acres of wasteland on the west bank of the Xila River, and a small amount of it has begun sowing. The land cleared for the industrial zone on the east bank has been completed. Now we are waiting for the equipment to come in and level the land. Already."
"Are the children late in class?"
"Half a day to go to school, half a day to work. After all, there are a lot of children over ten years old now, and just going to school alone would not be enough for their families to work."
Chen Qingsong then added: "In addition to agricultural equipment, we also want to buy a radio station. You guys have been away for a long time this time, and there are many things I want to discuss with you."
"Okay. I'll take care of this."
Zhao Xin suddenly asked the two of them: "Are there many disputes among the refugees now?"
Chen Qingsong thought for a while and said: "It's okay, Katayama has someone to take care of it. It's all trivial matters, and we occasionally quarrel and fight. They are all poor people with nothing, and everything is distributed by us. Everyone has the same food and clothing, so there is nothing to argue about. I also asked Katayama to check if anyone was gambling, but the result was no. I think the key is that we don’t have any use for money here, and the refugees have nothing to spend even if they have a few copper coins. .”
Zhao Xindao: "After the large-scale equipment arrives, many people can be freed up. We are going to start building towns."
Chen Qingsong said: "Sheng Haizhou mentioned to me before that he wanted to build several longhouse areas, but I rejected it."
The most common layout of longhouses in island cities is a large courtyard arranged along the back of other courtyards or the alleys between courtyards. Often the machiya house facing the street is occupied by the owner's family, and the maids, clerks and apprentices go to and from the machiya house. Between the longhouse on the back street.
The area of the longhouse is small, with each room mostly only about ten square meters. The rooms inside are usually single rooms with five seats (the area of a tatami is 1 seat, and the area is about 1.5 to 1.6 square meters). There are no closets and the bedding is stacked. In the corner of the house. This is not only used for eating and sleeping, but also for working during the day.
The biggest disadvantage of this kind of building is that it is all made of wood and is densely populated. Once a fire breaks out, the whole area will be burned, and there will be no time to put out the fire. The only option is to demolish the house and create a fire break.
"Then we will build wooden ridges as we discussed before. There will be two houses in one house, each building will be 100 square meters. The kitchen and toilet will be shared by both families."
The "woodcut wood" that Zhao Xin refers to is a typical heavy-duty wooden house wall construction in high latitudes. It is usually based on a solid stone foundation. The two ends of the wood are first grooved, and then the wood is stacked layer by layer, leaving a gap.
The location of doors and windows; and finally the pitched roof.
This kind of house can be built without a single nail, and all key parts are reinforced with wooden wedges. As for the gaps between the wood, moss can be used to fill it. However, there is no shortage of supplies now, and it can be replaced with felt cloth.
Zhao Xin used a similar method when he built an observation post on Bear Island before.
"No problem. We will build one public bathroom for every twenty households. I will start arranging carpenters to prepare it tomorrow. But there is a question, what will happen after the first batch is built?"
"According to the order of following us, you let Sheng Haizhou arrange this matter."
After Zhao Xin finished speaking, he asked Wang Yuanfang: "Brother Wang, where are you?"
"Basic training is still going on, and Katayama is currently assisting me and Wu Siyu. The obedience of these refugees is very good, but their physical fitness is average. Now they are just strengthening the five-kilometer run and the three-kilometer run once, but the effect is average. Most of them
If you can persevere, don’t think about reaching the target.”
It is said that when Wang Yuanfang and others joined the army, the passing standard for the three-kilometer run was 13 minutes and 20 seconds, and 12 minutes or less were considered excellent. But most of the refugee soldiers being trained now can only run in 15 to 20 minutes, and some of them can complete it.
13 minutes.
"Starting from tomorrow, we will increase shooting training every day. Target shooting will be done once every three days."
Wang Yuanfang was surprised: "Is it too early?"
Zhao Xin muttered: "It won't work sooner or later. The environment around us is too bad now. We have just started cooperation in Sendai, and it looks like nothing is going on. There is a fight every time we go to other places. Just like this time when we went to Nagasaki, we didn't have enough manpower.
, we didn’t even dare to get off the ship. Liu Sheng and I had discussed it before, and all the soldiers who went with the ship this time were returned to strengthen training, including the security police recruited before."
Chen Qingsong said: "Why do we have to use force every time? Can't negotiation work?"
Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "Old Chen, to put it bluntly, you are a technical official; we people have never worked in the system before. We are no match for those ancient bureaucrats who play tricks. So every time I go
In this place, we can only come up and lift the table. Let those people go our way, and I will beat anyone who doesn't listen."
Chen Qingsong smiled and said: "Are you referring to Lu Xun's allusion to 'removing the roof' and 'opening the windows'?"
"Yes. In fact, the island country and the Manchu Qing Dynasty are similar. The Manchu Qing Dynasty raised a bunch of bannermen, while the island country raised a bunch of warrior uncles. They follow the old ways and have solidified classes. If you play nice with them, they will think you are weak and can be bullied. So
, out of this batch of 5,000 refugees, we will recruit at least 300 more soldiers."
Chen Qingsong was speechless, and after a while he said, "Isn't this too much for you?"
Zhao Xin explained: "It's not much at all. We are not short of food for the time being, so there is no need for so many agricultural people. When large machinery arrives in the future, there will be no need to cultivate so much land.
When the coal mine project on the Ezochi side is launched, we will station at least one or two hundred people, and we will gradually expand the number in the future. As for the Beihai side, it cannot be less than 500."
Chen Qingsong said in surprise: "Five hundred people? Why do you need so many people?"
Zhao Xin said with a smile: "We are going to Shandong next year. By then we will not be strolling along the beach, we will be going inland."
Wang Yuanfang suddenly asked: "Do you think the Bear Island side has been exposed?"
Zhao Xin knew what he was asking, so he stood up, looked out the window, and said calmly: "Let them search slowly."