Chapter Eighteen My Territory

  That evening, Mr. Yang entertained the two at Wang Cui wine house, which was located next to the lotus pond in the southwest corner of the city. From the third-floor window where Chen Xin was staying, he could see the famous Huan Cui building on the northwest wall of Weihai (which still exists today), and looking north, he could see Songding Mountain and Diaowei Mountain. Mr. Yang told him that this was the best wine house in Weihai, and if they came in summer, they could see the lush greenery of Songding Mountain from afar, as well as the blooming lotus flowers up close.

  Chen Xin followed the official rules and still wrapped up a gift of twenty taels of silver to present to Yang Daren, two commandants and vice commanders each received ten taels, except for Wang Yuanzheng, another one surnamed Jiang, four commandants and deputy officials, each received five taels. The gift was an unspoken rule that everyone accepted, and the several dignitaries did not decline, after taking the silver, they looked at Chen Xin with much more favor.

  Chen Xin attended this kind of official banquet for the first time. Since Song Wenxian didn't have an official position, the standard should be relatively low, so it wasn't a big table this time. Each person had their own small table, and each dish was served individually. This meal cost three or four taels of silver in public funds. Although Chen Xin is now a wealthy man, he has never eaten such an expensive meal before. The room was warm as spring with high-quality charcoal burning in the stove, and two actors were invited to sing opera that Chen Xin couldn't understand. As he drank wine and ate dishes, he thought of those military dependents who took shelter from the wind at the city gate, and it was simply a world of difference.

  Chen Xin and Song Wenxian rested in the city that night, and early the next morning, Wang Yuanzheng set sail with the two of them, heading north around Songding Mountain and Diaowo Mountain, and arrived at Mazigang, where they were to be stationed, in the afternoon. Chen Xin stood beside Wang Yuanzheng, carefully observing the surrounding terrain. The entire bay was shaped like an ear, with the northern side facing Liaodong Peninsula like a trumpet, and the other three sides being land. Except for the southeast coast, which was sandy, the rest of the coastline was rocky. On the east side, there was a piece of land protruding into the sea, with a small hill on top. There was also a small hill on the southwest side. Generally, typhoons come from the east or south, and this place is more sheltered than Weihaiwei's anchorage, but the bay entrance has no obstruction, so its ability to resist waves is poor.

  "Mr. Song, Chen Qianhu, this is Mazigang." Wang Yuanzheng pointed to the small mountain in the southwest, "That mountain is Mazishan, and the port is also named after it. The river in the south is called Qin Village River, and the fort on the riverbank is Mazidun."

  Chen Xinyuan looked far into the distance, and the mound was about a few dozen meters away from Qin Village River. The outside was surrounded by a wall, and the inside could not be seen. Along the river on both sides of the mound, there were some overturned fields, but it was unclear whether they would be allocated to him or not.

  Wang Yuanzheng continued: "Chen Qianhu, the commander has exempted you from taxes and labor services, and allocated land to you, which is located at the foot of the mountain in the east. As for your residence, you can choose a suitable place in the bay area by yourself."

  Chen Xin and Liu Min, among others, discussed it for a while and chose the foot of the small mountain on the east side. That place is close to their fields, the coastline is rocky, and there should be a place to moor. There are more trees on the mountain, making it easier to cut wood and build houses, and firewood can also be collected there later.

  At this point, the two ships lowered three firewood boats. The scar and Wang Zugui were all old sailors, rowing with oars and holding bamboo poles, heading east along the coast, using long bamboo poles to probe the water depth, running back and forth for two laps, finding several shorelines that could be used for anchoring the treasure ship. Two trackers guarded the shore, and the three firewood boats returned to the side of the large ship. The treasure ship had already lowered its sails, and the firewood boat threw out ropes, tied to the mast, waiting for the treasure ship to lift its anchor. Several small boats turned around again, and the people on the small boats rowed together, towing the treasure ship towards the shore. When they reached the shore, the small boats untied the ropes, and the rowers disembarked first, pulling the treasure ship slowly closer to the shore wall. The people on the deck of the treasure ship used bamboo poles to support the rocks, adjusting for a while before finally stabilizing the treasure ship by the shore.

  Liu Minyou saw how laborious it was and said to Chen Xin, "We must hurry up and build a dock, otherwise every time we stop the boat, so many people will be needed, and in the future, fishing boats will not be easy to moor."

  "Indeed." Chen Xin said as he got off the boat from the gangway and stood on his own territory.

  Wang Yuanzheng supported Zhu Guobin across the plank, bid farewell to the two men, and then rushed towards Mazidun. He wanted to call the hundred households and left thousand households who were stationed in Mazidun to come over and clarify the situation face-to-face.

  Five soldiers disembarked one after another, and after lining up in their respective squads, they all looked around at their new home. The shoreline was flat, and not far from the sea were fields that had been abandoned for a long time, with a desolate landscape after the frost. Lu Zizi ran over to take a look and came back to report to Chen Xin: "Sir, the land allocated to us is all barren land, I'm afraid we won't be able to harvest much grain even next year."

  Chen Xin nodded ambiguously, no wonder Yang Yunhong was so generous in giving him 1,000 mu of land. The emotions were all abandoned, but he didn't rely on this piece of land either. Good military land was either swallowed up by officers or occupied by the wealthy and powerful. As a mere hundred-household head, how could he have a share?

  Liu Min was arranged by Chen Xin to take charge of civil affairs, and after listening, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious. He said to Lu Zhu Zi and Dai Zheng Gang: "You are all experienced farmers, can you still grasp the time now?"

  "Mr. Liu, it's already past the farming season this year, and the fields are all frozen hard. We can only think of a way to fertilize the land when spring arrives."

  Liu Minyou listened with a slightly strange expression. He had a classmate from Weihai who said that winters weren't too cold, and since the area was surrounded by ocean, why would it be so cold in the morning? Shaking his head, he whispered to Chen Xin: "Comrade Qianhu, we'll have to spend a lot more money. At least for half a year, there won't be any harvests. From what I've heard, even after one or two years, production will still be low. With nearly 100 people in our group, the men need 2 jin of grain per day, and the women and children need 1 jin each. We'll need over 40 shi of grain per month."

  Chen Xin didn't lack that bit of money, but food was more important than money at the end of the Ming Dynasty. It's something we must fight for later. For now, let's keep a low profile since we just arrived. Chen Xin changed the subject: "How many women and children do we have exactly?"

  "There are 50 laborers from Zhangjiawan, including 6 women and 7 children. From Yanggu, there are 21 men, 2 women and 3 children. Among the artisans, there are 5 households with 5 men, 5 women and 9 children. Adding our original crew and a few sailors from Dengzhou, we have a total of 89 men, 13 women and 19 children. And let's not forget to add Wang Daixi and 20 more children. Director Chen, you now have a total of 121 people under your command."

  Chen Xinyi smiled and said to Liu Min, "There are eleven men left in Yanggu. These people will not be trained for the time being. There are also twenty military households that have been assigned. Select the remaining ones and hand them over to you to arrange, with civil affairs as the main priority. The other five teams of soldiers will focus on training after their quarters are repaired. If you need to adjust personnel during the busy farming season, let me know again."

  "What about those women and children?"

  "Treat your wife as you would a man, treat your children as you would your wife, and give them management."

  Liu Min secretly wiped away his sweat, he had never done anything like this before, only reacting to situations as they arose. For now, the most important thing was to repair their living quarters and stockpile food, then start farming in the spring. As long as he grasped these two main points, everything would be fine.

  Chen Xin called Dai Zhenggang and asked him to bring his two teams of people with axes, go to the small mountain on the east side, cut down some trees and come back, first build a few large sheds.

  Dai Zheng led the two teams of soldiers away, heading up the mountain and stopping at the edge of the forest to start chopping down trees. Chen Xin withdrew his gaze just as Wang Yuanzheng returned with two people following behind him.

  "Chen Qianhu, this is Zuo Qianhu's former superior, Chen Xing. This is Ma Zi Dun Bai Hu Gong Pingkang." Wang Yuanzheng introduced as soon as they met, and this former Qianhu wore a worn-out Qianhu official uniform, thin and dry, who was actually Chen Xin's direct superior, but the higher-ups now had no way to deal with Chen Xin, let alone this broken Qianhu.

  Chen Xin followed the official etiquette and paid his respects to Zeng Qianhu, then looked at the hundred officials, who looked even more unimpressive. Not only did they not wear official uniforms, but their clothes were tattered and worn out, with two different shoes on their feet, each with several large holes on the back. Such a hundred officials had no qualifications to gain benefits, and their salaries were also meager. Just by looking at them, one could see that they were no better than ordinary farmers, and the decay of the Wei and Su systems was evident.

  This hundred households are called Gong Pingkang, a forty-year-old man looks like he's sixty years old. Chen Xin is at least a thousand households, he nodded and greeted Chen Xin, looking at the three teams of thin men standing behind Chen Xin with weapons in hand, not having any of the spirit of a local snake, but instead worrying that this new neighbor would bully his own Mazi Duan.

  It's not just him, Wang Yuanzheng and Zeng Qianhu also felt shocked when they saw Chen Xin's men, most of whom were adult males with neat formations and a strong momentum, seemingly even more powerful than the twenty house slaves commanded by the governor, and with the governor as their backing, it's unclear how to get along with such subordinates.

  Chen Xin wore a professional smile, without putting on any airs, and said to Gong Baihu: "Gong Baihu, you've worked hard. In the future, we'll be neighbors, so let's visit each other often."

  "It's alright, it's alright." Kong Baihu looked at Chen Xin with a calm face and put his mind at ease.

  "Qianhu Lord, Gong Baihu, I have come to Weihai on the orders of the Governor, to patrol and defend the coastal borders, strictly investigate the construction of slave labor, this is a long-term deployment. At present, the most urgent task is to build a place of residence first, but there are still many shortages of materials."

  Zeng Qianhu and Gong Baihu listened to it, thinking that the autumn wind was coming, but the Tongzhi gentleman was beside them, and neither of them dared to refuse directly, their faces immediately turned black.

  Chen Xin continued: "I plan to buy some wood, thatch, wheat straw and firewood from the two of you. If there are any original helpers, I will provide two meals a day."

  "Ah, of course we do, we have both straw and firewood." As soon as the two heard that they were going to get money, their faces immediately brightened up. These military households all had some thatch and straw, used for keeping warm or burning in winter, normally not worth much, but as long as it could be sold for money, who wouldn't want to? In the winter, the military households didn't have much to do, so being able to come out and get a full meal was something nobody would refuse.

  Chen Xin didn't care about the silver at this point, what's most important now is to quickly set up the huts on land, otherwise everyone will be living on the boats, which are overcrowded and uncomfortable. Some people who have never been on a boat before are already feeling weak, and if they stay like this for long, it's easy for them to get sick.

  "Now we can call them to come and sell, wheat straw and firewood are five cents per ten catties, the price of wood will be determined after inspection."

  Hong Baihu turned around and ran, without any sign of fatigue from earlier. The village was over a mile away, but he sprinted back in no time. Before long, a group of people burst out of the village gate, old and young, men and women, all carrying bundles of wheat taller than themselves on their backs, as well as wooden frames with firewood. They rushed towards this direction like they were attending a market fair, each one trying to outrun the others, fearing that if they didn't hurry, they wouldn't be able to sell their goods. It was like they were participating in an Olympic walking competition.

  Liu Min gave Chen Xin a thumbs up, and soon they were able to set up the illegal building. Everyone could then get off the boat first. However, it seemed that the price was too low, so he whispered to Chen Xin: "Isn't the exploitation a bit too severe?"

  Chen Xin smiled and said, "Look at how anxious they are, it's definitely not serious."

  Several children in their teens ran the fastest, all barefoot, and two of them didn't even have pants on. They ran to the front but didn't know who to look for, standing stupidly thirty or forty steps away. That Geng Baihu was older after all, and he himself had a bundle of wheat straw on his back, still panting at the tail end of the group.

  Liu Min led the remaining eleven people from Yanggu, calling over those children, Chen Xin had his own soldiers maintain order, lining up those military dependents.

  The elderly aunts, mothers and grandfathers who walked slowly behind arrived one after another. Seeing the ones in front paying with straw, they immediately took out their silver and started chattering away. Everyone was discussing while sizing up the newcomers, especially that tall thousand-household chief. The county magistrate seemed like an inferior in front of him, and even the military households were a bit confused about who had the higher official rank.

  Liu Minyou was also sizing up these military dependents, a bunch of beggars, to say nothing of their filthiness, their clothes were tattered and worn out, with patches covering patches, most of them barefoot, some kids didn't even have pants on, they were fine when running around, but now that they'd stopped, they were all shivering.

  The eleven people from Yanggu, Liu Min had organized them into a logistics team. At this time, they were collecting wheat straw and firewood. They didn't have scales, but they were all experienced in delivering grain year after year. By simply lifting it with their hands, they could roughly estimate the weight. In total, Liu Min only paid more than two taels of silver to collect a large pile of nearly 5,000 catties of wheat straw and firewood. Looking at the delighted expressions of the soldiers, he suddenly felt that silver was even more valuable.