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Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> New World 1620 Text Chapter 35 Rumors from the Far East
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- Taking advantage of the Dutch West India Company's invasion of Brazil ten years ago, Taoyuan Island (Fernando de Noronha) fell into Huamei's pocket and became a crucial node in Huamei's Atlantic checkers.
From the perspective of later generations, Taoyuan Island is actually not suitable as a port of call. The natural geographical conditions of the small bay in the north are destined to be unable to develop into a large seaport. But at least in the 17th century, Taoyuan Island still became an important node on the north-south trans-Atlantic route between China and the United States, and could be called the crossroads of routes in the South Atlantic, Caribbean, Brazil and West Africa.
Ten years later, Taoyuan Island¡¯s settled population has barely reached 3,000, with Chinese accounting for about 80%. As the smallest overseas city-level town in China and the United States with the smallest population, Taoyuan City is small but well-equipped.
Hospitals, post offices, police stations, banks, schools, libraries, stadiums and other public facilities are all available, and there is even a City God's Temple and a small church. There has probably never been a gorgeous town that has been under construction for more than ten years, as compact and perfect as Taoyuan City.
On average, only a few dozen Ming immigrants can be diverted to Taoyuan City from the Far East route every year, while more than half of the citizens come from old national families from the mainland or the Caribbean. In addition, there are hundreds of people who have moved from the Portuguese-Brazilian colony in the past ten years. Chinese.
For more than 20 years, the Chinese who have fled to Brazil via the Far East route have taken root and thrive there, and the total number now exceeds 30,000. Leaving aside the Brazilian Indians, they are the second largest ethnic group after the Portuguese.
Most of them are located in large and medium-sized towns such as Recife and San Salvador, and they have become the most valued support and cooperation group of Huamei in Brazil. As the economic exchanges between the Portuguese-Brazilian colonies and China and the United States have become closer, many Chinese families who grew up in Brazil have become agents or business managers for Chinese and American capitalists to invest in Brazilian industries. Some young people have even traveled to China and the Caribbean. Study abroad in the state or even locally.
The Portuguese-Brazilian colonial authorities have long been extremely welcoming to hard-working Chinese immigrants. In addition, they attach great importance to the Chinese and American aspects, so the attitude of the Brazilian colonies towards Chinese immigrants is not bad. But in the past few years, some Brazilian Chinese who have already built up their wealth have simply moved to Taoyuan Island again, which can be regarded as another level of returning to their roots.
With the regular cruises of the Chinese and American Caribbean Fleet, and the gunboat Wild Weasel also using Taoyuan Island as a temporary second home port, the security environment around Taoyuan Island has changed from a pirate-ridden past to a true maritime paradise. There is only one small-sized National Guard in the city responsible for the coastal defense fortress. The city police department only has more than 20 police officers.
Taoyuan Island is small in area, with the main island only covering more than ten square kilometers. There are very few natural resources that can be developed locally, so the local economy is positioned in ocean supply and trade transit logistics.
As the smallest overseas administrative unit of China and the United States. Taoyuan Island's strategic position has led to its colonization and construction to be of high standard from the beginning, and it has enjoyed special national local construction funding. Chinese and American enterprises in the Caribbean and businessmen from various countries have benefited greatly from the construction of Taoyuan City.
Due to the constraints of the natural environment, even if a large number of South African prisoners of war were put into labor, the small northern bay of Taoyuan Island could only provide shelter and anchorage. Large and medium-sized merchant ships cannot dock at all, and most of the goods entering and leaving the port can only be transferred through special motor barges. However, the island still has a small coaling station that can supply coal for five ocean-going steam ships every month, a large warehouse storage area and a large crew hotel.
Many commodities traveling to and from the Caribbean, West Africa and South America are transited here. Every month, more than ten merchant ships from various countries come here to replenish and rest. The accommodation conditions of its comfortable crew hotel are even comparable to some high-end hotels in China and the United States. It has won the favor of a large number of Dutch and Portuguese businessmen traveling to the Caribbean, Brazil, Africa and Europe. As long as the sailing schedule is not too tight, most captains like to stay there. Stop at Taoyuan Island for rest.
Taoyuan Island¡¯s largest local agricultural economy is just the 1,500 acres of vegetable fields planted by the island¡¯s residents and the same area of ??tropical orchards, as well as the characteristic spotted pig breeding industry introduced from overseas territories in Bermuda, which can replenish fresh food for passing ships all year round. In terms of industry, there are only a few small food or salt and sugar processing industries. In addition, basically more than 95% of people's daily necessities rely on external input.
Even though the local industry is very weak. However, with the help of nearly a hundred ships docking for supplies, crew accommodation and trade warehousing and logistics every year, Taoyuan Island's per capita GDP has exceeded 400 US dollars, quickly becoming the highest in the country, directly surpassing the number one GDP per capita ranking for fifteen years. The long-standing overseas leader of Bermuda was brought down in one fell swoop.
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February 12, 1646, Monday.
If calculated according to the lunar calendar, today is still the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month in the old year. On this day, in China and the United States, the outdoor temperature in most towns is still around zero degrees. But in Taoyuan Island, the temperature is stable between 24 and 29 degrees all year round.?, except for the occasional heavy storm. It can be said that the four seasons are warm and humid, and the Chinese and American people who settled here live an extremely comfortable life.
An ocean-going merchant ship flying the flag of Huamei Xing Group is moored in the northeastern bay of Taoyuan Island. The almost completely transparent water clearly reflects every detail of the ship's hull. Several beautiful dolphins were jumping in the water not far from the merchant ship, and many brave sailors even jumped into the sea half-naked and took a dip. The scenery is extremely charming.
The barges transferring goods were still being slowly loaded and unloaded next to the merchant ships. Bags of wheat or rice produced in the South African Viceroyalty were carelessly thrown to the barges by the sailors, while another small boat lowered from the merchant ship carried a dozen people in Ming Dynasty clothes. The men and women slowly sailed towards the port.
Before the police came around, the men and women who came ashore with bad looks were kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to the east. It's like I'm missing my homeland thousands of miles away, and it's like I'm glad that I finally set foot on land after going through all kinds of difficulties.
In recent years, there have been very few new immigrants who have been diverted to Taoyuan Island. From as many as dozens to as few as ten or even a few people, the work burden of local civil affairs officials and police can be described as very light.
Just like the online games that are on the verge of closing down the server in later generations, as long as a "new person" arrives, the local old citizens often feel extremely happy.
Watching the boat carrying strange immigrants dock, several local-born children playing on the beach near the bay ran over with curiosity and shouts.
There are only fourteen Ming immigrants who came to the island, half of them men and women. There are no old people. The oldest is only in his thirties, and the youngest is still in his infancy. In addition to looking very bad, the adult men and women were all wearing gorgeous Chinese-style clothes provided by the transporter during the trip. They had stopped several times to rest during the trip, so they were quite clean from head to toe.
After handing over official duties. The immigrants were led by police to the island hospital for routine physical examinations. When the police led the team into a white three-story building, several armed National Guard soldiers locked the door.
The door behind them closed, and everyone was told to enter the small door further inside. Looking at the gorgeous soldiers at the door, the oldest man in the immigration team with only a little short hair on his scalp looked a little uneasy. He seemed a little wary of where he was staying and the police present.
"Name?"
"Chen Jiao."
"age?"
"I am twenty-six years old."
"What did you do before?"
"A monk has returned to secular life. He has some strength and can work with carpentry."
"Place of origin?"
"Fuzhou Prefecture."
The man answered each question subconsciously.
"Fuzhou? The accent doesn't sound like him In that case, Mr. Police, please take him out."
The young nurse who was re-checking the immigration information was stunned. He looked back at a Chinese policeman behind him and saw the policeman stepping forward and grabbing the man's arm with one hand.
Maybe the man had been inexplicably nervous since he got off the boat. As soon as he saw the action of the gorgeous policeman, he immediately grabbed the opponent's arm like a trigger, then twisted it to the side, and then hit the opponent's back of the neck with his palm, beating him. Fainted.
Another European policeman was frightened and hurriedly drew his gun. But before he could take the revolver out of its holster, he was punched in the abdomen by the man who rushed towards him. This arrogant policeman actually foamed at the mouth and fell limply to the ground.
The nurse's screams reached outside the door, and two National Guard soldiers broke in. As soon as they raised their rifles, they saw the runaway man holding the nurse's throat with one hand and retreating in the corner.
¡°Probably no one would think that some of the Ming Dynasty refugees who had been sent to immigrate overseas after layers of screening would still cause trouble and commit suicide. A routine immigration status check turned into a violent confrontation.
"What do you want to do?!"
The man¡¯s eyes were red, his voice was much hoarse than before, and his accent was completely different from before. There seems to be a posture of breaking the jar.
"Don't be nervous, sir We are just checking your identity so that we can fill out your personal medical health card Mr. Police is going to take you for a physical examination, that's all!"
The nurse who was held hostage fainted from fright. A young European doctor at the scene was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly.
The man was stunned for a long time before he sighed and slowly let go of the frightened nurse. The next second later, he was knocked to the ground by the butt of a rifle from the National Guard soldier who rushed towards him.
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At the Taoyuan City Police Station, a short-haired man was handcuffed on the back of a chair. A young Chinese policeman in front of him was interrogating him with a frown on his face.
"Chen Jiao. Male, 25 years old. He was registered as a Fuzhou native before boarding the ship. He alsoA secular monk who worked as a carpenter. But this identity must be fake. You are so skilled, you must have gone through many years of military training, but you have hidden it well. "
The Chinese policeman threw the immigration information aside and showed a serious expression: "We welcome any immigrants from the Ming Dynasty, and we understand everyone's difficulties and past, but we do not want any crisis of trust, let alone anyone with other purposes. Go to the island¡ªeven after going through several screenings.¡±
The young Chinese police officer is the second generation born to the first batch of Ming Dynasty refugees who arrived in Double Bay City, Bermuda. His family moved to Taoyuan Island a few years ago. In recent years, we have not seen many Ming Dynasty refugees who have lost their temper after being thousands of miles away from home. .
The man remained silent and just stared at the ground, but he did not relax after hearing the words of the gorgeous policeman opposite.
As he was talking, the door opened and an elderly Chinese man walked in.
"Uncle Li, judging by his accent, he should be from your hometown. Let's talk first." After the policeman finished speaking, he exited the room.
"My little brother is also from Songjiang in the Ming Dynasty? Hey, it's been more than 20 years Old man, my ancestral home is Jiading County, Songjiang Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty, and I am currently the deputy director of the Taoyuan Civil Affairs Bureau. It is rare to meet an authentic old friend of Songjiang! Haha" Although" The other party was still handcuffed on the chair, but the old man still enthusiastically sat across from him.
"Old man, Jiading is so miserable" Several months have passed, and today I finally heard the authentic local accent, and the man's eyes turned red.
"How can I say this? Could it be another flood? Hey, there were constant natural disasters in those years. The old man and my family went to the sea out of desperation Now life is stable, but we are getting old, and we don't know when or what month we can go back. have a look."
¡°Probably because he has heard and seen too many old stories and rumors, the old man also sighed.
"It's not a flood The Qing soldiers went south, trapped in Songjiang, and ordered to shave their heads. Soldiers and civilians in Jiading and Taicang were involved in uprisings. However, the Qing soldiers were strong, and Songjiang soldiers and civilians were killed and injured" The man finally burst out crying, his whole body trembling. , "My real name is Wang Huiwu, and I am the chief of the city gate inspection team in Jiading County. I joined the army with Shen Youlong, Chen Zilong and other adults Later, I was fooled by lard, and I surrendered halfway with General Zhang to help the Qing soldiers attack the city, causing great harm to the Qing army. Lord Shen Youlong and Lord Chen Zilong were criticized Afterwards, they had uneasy consciences and fled from the Qing camp. They were also afraid that someone would pursue the matter of betrayal and surrender, so they cut off their braids and hair, changed their names and fled to Fuzhou"
The anti-Qing uprisings in Songjiang and other places can be said to have greatly delayed the Manchu Qing's southern invasion. Li Chengdong, the former Ming Dynasty commander-in-chief who had defected to the Manchu Qing, carried out a massacre. At least 100,000 Ming Dynasty soldiers and civilians in Songjiang died directly under the Manchu suppression. Above, especially in Jiading County, three appalling massacres occurred in succession.
As the content including the Yangzhou Massacre, Jiaxing Massacre, Jiangyin Massacre, etc. unfolded one by one, the face of the old man sitting opposite Wang Huiwu turned pale.
"Here these are all serious. Why do the Chinese newspapers only have a few words about such a big thing? I only know that military disasters have happened one after another, and the Ming Dynasty has suffered disasters. I never imagined that it would be so tragic"
The old man trembled with tears in his eyes, as if he saw the endless mountains of corpses and seas of blood outside the city in his hometown.
"It's only been half a year. I saw it with my own eyes and did it with my own hands" Wang Huiwu lowered his head and broke down in tears.
"Beast! Beast! This is still a human being!"
"I don't know whether he was scolding Wang Huiwu in front of him or the Qing soldiers. The old man stood up suddenly, shouted loudly, and then a mouthful of blood spurted out, and he fell to the ground.
The alarmed policemen pushed the door in and saw the old man¡¯s chest covered in blood.
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Natural disasters are happening all over the world, and the tragedy is not just in one place.
For the new and old citizens of China and the United States, the rumors of famine, death and war in the outside world have become commonplace. On the contrary, they are the reasons for them to firmly believe that they have better luck. Apart from this, there is no greater energy that can cause deeper inner touches. .
Based on the consideration of the stability of domestic public opinion and the current focus on dealing with European affairs, Huamei officials are not willing to promote the huge trend in the Far East prematurely and too deeply.
Although there are some rumors that it arrived in the mainland through trade routes and immigrants, the official and major media have not directly interpreted the original appearance. Even if some content had to be reported publicly, the description was very vague and the real content was greatly reduced. It did not sound more serious than a drought or flood.
In the past year, the Ming Dynasty refugees in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are no longer among the priorities of the Chinese-American Immigration Department. Most of the refugees from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were assigned to Taiyuan Island and Luzon of the Yan family, while some went to Lanfang of Temasek.
Only a small number of refugees from coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang were transported into the Indian Ocean-Atlantic after being screened at all levelsAlmost all of the ocean routes are arranged in the South African Governorate and the Indian Ocean Governorate, but the total number of people is only a few thousand.
In a world where ordinary people in Fuzhou may not really know what happened in Hangzhou a few months ago, Huamei's approach is also an information isolation model. For the Chinese nationals in China and the United States, the tragedy that happened in Ming Dynasty today is, at best, similar to what happened in Shandong or Liaodong more than ten years ago, right?
At a time when all the parties involved were confused, the news that the deputy director of the Taoyuan Civil Affairs Bureau was hospitalized because of the bad news from his hometown was furious and vomited blood. News spread quietly from the hospital, and then he was killed by a Caribbean United Shipping Company. The crew heard it. What's more coincidental is that there happened to be a reporter from the "Observer" newspaper on board the ship who was suffering from the decline in newspaper sales in recent years. (To be continued.) - Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report
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