MTL - I-Chapter 1021 1017 [The motherland is China]

   Chapter 1021 1017 [The motherland is China]

   "These are all the gold dust you panned for?" Xie Yuan's eyes lit up.

Deng Youzhang said: "Arranged 30 aborigines to squat in the river day and night to pan for gold, and they can pan for more than 80 catties of gold sand every year. There are also people who have picked up dog's head gold in the river. Most of the upstream mountains have gold mines. But we people, I don’t even know how to search for mines, so I have to send a teacher from China to find mines.”

  In fact, there are two larger gold mines in Deng Youzhang's territory, and the other one has not been discovered.

  The place where they panned for gold sand was near the original settlement, only a few kilometers away from the village. And where they are about to attack, there is also a large gold mine, which is also the first gold mine discovered in history. Only panning for gold sand can pan over a thousand catties a year.

  More gold mines on the island are mainly distributed in the east, which is not Deng Youzhang's territory.

  Let’s put it this way, after Madagascar’s independence, using the most primitive gold mining method, the annual gold production is five tons—this is what the French colonists left behind.

Xie Yuan said: "You make a list of the Chinese people who have drifted to the island, and write down the address of their hometown. Your family members have all received pensions, and the money will not be recovered. Give me the gold Afterwards, each of your family members will get fifty taels, and all the rest will be confiscated. I will not take your gold, muskets, and war horses for nothing.”

   "It's a good feeling, there is a shortage of war horses on the island!" Deng Youzhang was overjoyed.

Xie Yuan reminded: "All the stallions in the army have already gelled. On the way back, I will help you contact the King of Oman and ask him to send ships to trade regularly. You can buy some stallions to breed with him in exchange for gold. Cavalry officers and veterinarians of the mission, I will leave you a few. You learn to ride and raise horses as soon as possible, and you will have to rely on yourself in the future.”

   To be honest, the Chinese court is not very enthusiastic about overseas gold and silver mines.

  Gold and silver mines were found in Luzon Island and Borneo, Zhao Han sent mining experts to go around. Since it was not a rich mine, the imperial court was too lazy to interfere, and only sent officials to manage and collect taxes. The gold and silver in the mine were open to immigrants, and the mine was purely regarded as a thing to attract immigrants.

  Of course, the prospecting team has not withdrawn, and is still looking for rich ore in overseas territories with high wages.

  And all kinds of poor mines in the country have been closed one after another, and restored to cultivated land or mountain forests. Unlike when the country was just founded, everything was lacking, and as long as there were mines, they were mined. No matter how small the legs of mosquitoes were, they were still meat.

   Seeing that the rainy season was approaching, Xie Yuan didn't stay any longer. When Deng Youzhang took out the list, he threw down some supplies and left.

   Three hundred muskets, some ammunition, and two hundred horses remained.

  There is one bad thing about the island. Every Chinese New Year, it must be the rainy season. There is no way to reunite and celebrate at all. Chinese people can only eat heartily at home, and the real festival will have to wait until summer.

  The twenty-four solar terms have also become a symbol, existing as a thought, completely unable to guide agricultural production.

  Deng Youzhang currently controls half of the territory with a tropical plateau climate and half with a tropical grassland climate, which is not as uncomfortable as the tropical rainforest. There are occasional tropical diseases, but only a few old brothers died, especially from May to October, which is very cool and dry.

  Cool and dry, it's time for war!

  Generally, the rice is harvested before mid-May, and it will be delayed until late May at the latest.

   After obtaining the supplies, after a long rainy season, the rice was harvested and the army was ready to be dispatched.

  The targets they want to attack are one south and one north.

  The north is called Maeva Tanana, which belongs to the mountainous area, and there is a large gold mine. Of course, everyone does not know that there is gold, because even the indigenous people themselves do not know. Attacking there is purely for expansion, and it is easy to march along the river valley.

  The south side is called Marulin Tower, which is located in the alluvial plain of the river. The area along the river is very suitable for farming, and the area a little farther away from the river is full of grasslands.

  The Northern Route Army was led by Li Luosheng, who was the county magistrate in the north. Deng Youzhang sent 100 cavalry with 100 muskets. Although everyone has just learned how to ride a horse, it is enough to deal with the natives. After all, the natives on the island have never seen cavalry.

  The South Route Army was led by Deng Youzhang himself, with one hundred cavalry and more than two hundred musketeers, they were invincible on the island.

  Through the plateau hilly area, the front is full of grasslands.

   There are also two Chinese city owners in the grassland area. They built their city by the river, and raised a large number of livestock while farming. The main ones are hump cattle, which are the type of zebu in India. They also raised some goats, but there were no sheep here, and Deng Youzhang planned to bring in some.

  Materials were pulled by bullock carts, and indigenous troops continued to join along the way.

  The troops must be sufficient. Ordering the aboriginal tribes to follow them is to let the aboriginals remember their obligations and continue to demonstrate the force of the Chinese. It doesn't need too much. Each tribe can send 10 to 30 troops, and they will be given a little spoils after the battle.

   After marching for a full month, they finally reached the target area.

  Deng Youzhang also asked domestic shipbuilders to build more large ships, so that they could go to Africa for trade and send troops conveniently. For example, the current goal is on the seashore, and it can be reached by boat in two or three days, so it doesn't take a month's march.

  The weather is very cool, but relatively dry.

   During the rainy season two months ago, the grassland was lush with greenery, and some small tribes were already seen in the periphery. They belong to the nomadic people and will change the pastures regularly, but they also have their own so-called "royal court", which is actually the residence of the chief tribe.

   "Governor, let me kill you!" Deng Anshun volunteered.

   This is a 21-year-old indigenous guy who was adopted at a young age, and Chinese is his mother tongue.

  Deng Youzhang nodded: "Take twenty riders."

  Twenty indigenous teenagers, the youngest being only 16 years old, rushed forward on horseback. Before they set off, they only trained for more than ten days in riding. After marching all the way, I had to ride a horse every day to get used to it, but I was afraid that the horse would be tired, so I only rode for two or three hours a day.

  When the indigenous herdsmen saw the cavalry coming, they didn't know what kind of monster it was, so they turned around and ran away in fright, even wanting their own cattle and sheep.

  Deng Anshun rushed over to catch a few herdsmen, forced to find out where the tribal leader's tent was, and then rode his horse and continued to rush forward. He likes to ride horses, it feels so good, he thinks he is born to be a cavalry.

  The leader of the small tribe could not escape when he encountered the cavalry, so he could only kneel down and beg for mercy.

  Deng Anshun raised his knife and scolded: "We are soldiers and horses under the Chinese governor's command. Either submit to the governor or be killed by me. You choose!"

   "Submit, I will bring the tribe to submit..." The tribal leader agreed again and again, and then took ten young and strong to follow the army.

  Deng Anshun rode his horse with his head held high and his chest held high. Facing the aborigines who could not speak Chinese, he felt superior to others.

  He heard from his adoptive father and teachers since he was a child that there is a Celestial China in the far east, where everything is available, the population is 10,000 times more than here, and the food is 10,000 times better than here. The aboriginals on the island belong to the survivors of the Celestial Dynasty, and have forgotten to speak Chinese for too long. Only by learning to speak Chinese can they restore their status as commoners of the Celestial Dynasty.

  Deng Anshun is already a citizen of the Celestial Dynasty, because he can speak Chinese and write Chinese characters. His education level is roughly equivalent to not graduating from elementary school. Due to the lack of textbooks, teachers teach whatever comes to mind.

  Bringing the leader of the tribe back, Deng Anshun rode to Deng Youzhang's side: "Governor, will the emperor send someone over? When can I go back to China?"

   "Do you want to go to China?" Deng Youzhang asked with a smile.

   Deng Anshun nodded and said: "The teacher said that China is our motherland, and our ancestors came from there a long time ago. I just want to go and see if the food there is not enough to eat."

  Deng Youzhang said: "The envoy will come again next time, and you can follow the envoy back to the country to meet the emperor."

   "Great!" Deng Anshun was very excited.

   A few days later, the expeditionary force arrived at the tribal alliance's station.

   This is a large gathering place, and there are earthen cities built. There are thousands of people living inside and outside the city, and there are a lot of farmland in the river alluvial plain.

  Deng Youzhang was not in a hurry to attack the city. He already had experience in dealing with such large tribes.

   Sure enough, the chief of the alliance saw that they had only a few hundred troops, so he urgently called the army out of the city to fight. It was too late for the surrounding tribes to gather troops, civilians and slaves took up arms, and about 2,000 people came to kill them.

  Finally he could open his gun, and Deng Youzhang missed the days when he had enough ammunition.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

  More than a hundred musketeers, many of whom were adopted children of the natives, used random marksmanship and shot randomly from a long distance away.

   A volley of guns was fired, and the enemy fell only a few people.

   But it was enough to cause panic, and the natives had no idea what was going on. Near the man who was shot and fell to the ground, the native soldiers retreated one after another, thinking that the dead man had been bewitched.

   Immediately afterwards, the cavalry officer left behind by Xie Yuan, leading a hundred novice cavalry, circled around the flank in a mess.

   "Rush!"

   A hundred cavalry suddenly came from the side, and the native army, which had no formation at all, immediately began to panic and collapse. They did not dare to resist the charging monsters.

   The battle of bullying the natives is really lackluster and extremely boring.

   However, the central plateau of Madagascar has established an indigenous country. Its capital, Antananarivo, has a population of nearly 50,000 including residents outside the city. A capital with a population of 50,000 is enough to prove that the country is strong, and the handicraft industry is relatively developed.

   When the time comes, it will be a little more interesting to fight with indigenous countries.

  It's a pity that there is a mountain range between the two forces. If Deng Youzhang wanted to fight there, he had to go around from the north or the south. Counting the rugged mountain roads, the actual distance was equivalent to walking from Nanjing to Beijing.

   Take this city and conquer another territory.

  An old brother from China was appointed magistrate of this city to manage the surrounding tribes.

   It is really a system of enfeoffment, like Li Luosheng in the north, who already has the strength to expand on his own, and does not need Deng Youzhang's help at all.

  Even if the imperial court takes over the island in the future, these people will always be local clans, holding countless arable land and pastures. And through marriage, they are inextricably linked with the indigenous tribes.

  (end of this chapter)