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 got on the boat.
Well, now there are three women on board. Shen Xuan stayed in Nagasaki for more than three months and learned a lot of island dialect from Lu Jun; Xue Wu also had no problem with the island dialect.
After the initial unfamiliarity, the three of them quickly started talking. Shen Xuan and Lu Jun showed great interest in Xue Wu's strange birch bark clothes; while Xue Wu was also envious of Shen Xuan and Lu Jun's 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 Jun stayed in Nagasaki, the child would have to stay in the island country after birth and eventually take Lu Jun's maiden name. And this is absolutely unacceptable to Shen Jingdan.
In addition to Shen Xuan, his adopted daughter, he now has two other daughters, but he has no heirs. If Luyun gives birth to a son, even though he is a concubine, someone will inherit the family business; otherwise, the jealous relatives in the family will have to take advantage of him.
Zhao Xin actually had a disdain for leather goods. This thing was of no use except to buy a fur coat for himself. He originally wanted these things to open up trade with Qing merchants.
So after the Thor set sail, Zhao Xin specially conducted a detailed interview with Shen and Huang. The content, quantity, and price of goods for future trade between the two parties have been determined.
Zhao Xin gave a very favorable price for the leather goods sold to the two of them. 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 laborers from Shandong, Shaanxi, and Huaibei. Others, such as doctors, blacksmiths, carpenters, and cooks, are welcome. Zhao Xin specifically pointed out that the chef 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.
Regarding antiques, Zhao Xin wants to have many types. He wanted complete sets of Song-printed books, Ming and Song Dynasty official kilns, calligraphy and paintings, various mahogany furniture, Shoushan stone, and chicken-blood stone. As for the silver, let’s talk about it later. Anyway, it is not needed in Beihai Town at present.
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 piece of flat glass was proposed by Shen and Huang after seeing the porthole glass of the Thor; the cigarettes were Zhao Xin's idea.
Shen and Huang greatly appreciated the filter cigarettes given by Zhao Xin after tasting them, and decided to make this the main product of future trade. However, Shen Jingdan suggested that Zhao Xin divide cigarettes into three grades, with the top grade sold to dignitaries, the middle grade sold to gentry businessmen, and the last grade sold to ordinary people.
Zhao Xin said that this is not easy to handle. The last grade can be distinguished without a filter. As for the upper and medium grades, they can be distinguished by using filters of different colors. There are so many old people and women in Beihai now, so it would be a good time to open a large-scale cigarette workshop. The old people can 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 then 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 sowing has begun in a small part. The land clearing reserved for industrial areas on the east bank has been completed. Now it’s time to wait for the equipment to come in and level the land. "
"Are the children late in class?"
"Half a day goes to school and half a day to work. After all, there are a lot of children over ten years old now. Just going to school alone will not be enough for their families."
"It looks like the equipment is coming in soon."
Chen Qingsong added at this time: "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 not bad, Katayama has someone to take care of it. It's all trivial matters, and occasionally we 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 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 houses or along the alleys between yards. The owner's family often lived in the machiya on the street, and the maids, waiters, and apprentices traveled between the machiya and the longhouse on the back of the street.
The longhouses are small in area, with each room mostly only being more than ten square meters. The room in the back is usually a single room with five seats (the area of a tatami is 1 seat, and the area is about 1.51.6 square meters). There is no closet, 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 entirely 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. All we can do is demolish the house and create a fire break.
"Then we will build wooden houses as we discussed before. There will be two houses in one house, each building is 100 square meters. The kitchen and toilet will be shared by both families."
The "woodcut ridge" Zhao Xin mentioned is a typical heavy wooden house wall construction in high latitudes. Generally, on a solid stone foundation, the two ends of the wood are first slotted, then the wood is stacked layer by layer, and the positions for doors and windows are reserved; finally, a pitched roof is built.
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, you can fill them with moss. However, there is no shortage of supplies now, and the gaps between the wood can be smoothed out with cement.
Zhao Xin used a similar method when he built an observation post on Bear Island before.
"No problem. Let's build one public bathroom for every twenty households. I will start arranging carpenters to work tomorrow. But there is a question, what will be done 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 standard.”
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 was considered excellent. As for the refugee soldiers being trained now, most of them can only score around 1520 minutes, and some can score 13 minutes.
"Starting from tomorrow, shooting training will be increased 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 seems that there is nothing going on; there is a fight every time we go to other places. Just like this time when we went to Nagasaki, there were not 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. Playing tricks is no match for those ancient bureaucrats. So every time I go In this place, we can only lift the table when we come up. Let those people go our way, and I will beat anyone who doesn't listen."
Chen Qingsong said with a smile: "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 are friendly with them, they will think you are weak and can be bullied. So. , out of this batch of 5,000 refugees, we need to 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 to have 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 in Ezochi starts, we will station at least one or two hundred people, and we will gradually expand it in the future. As for the Beihai side, it cannot be less than five hundred. "
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 find it slowly."
