When Ruan Yuan and Mu Yongfu took over Wilmington, more than a hundred kilometers north of Wilmington, New York State was also handing over territory to the fleet sent by the Ming Dynasty.
When the Ming fleet arrived in Virginia, it split into two groups directly at the entrance of Dongyi Inner Bay.
One branch entered Dongyi Bay, went to Norfolk, and then turned to Wilmington.
The other branch went directly north into New York Bay.
New York Bay is the mouth of the Hudson River, surrounded by Manhattan Island, Long Island, Staten Island in New York, and Hudson County in New Jersey.
These areas would later form the core of the New York metropolitan area.
Now, the eastern part of this metropolitan area, which later became the most populous place in the history of New York City, Kings County (Brooklyn) and the entire Long Island where it is located were assigned to the Ming Dynasty.
When the Ming Dynasty's fleet entered New York Bay, both sides of the bay were also crowded with people, which was far more lively than Wilmington.
Because this bay is surrounded by the largest urban area in the United States, the total population is now close to two million.
The admiral of this fleet was also the future naval commander of the Dongyi region, Vice Admiral Li Changgeng.
Now standing on the deck of the Cantonese battleship Fujian, looking at the Long Island coast on the right with a telescope, the people on the shore of King County said with a little doubt:
"The people on the shore seem to be very happy. Do they know what we are here for?
"Didn't the people in the West Factory say that the news that Changdao was ceded to the Ming Dynasty has spread locally?"
The head of the army unit on board the fleet, Army Major General Lu Junde, said noncommittally:
"It's really strange, they are all British, or American, or Canadian.
"The area where they are located has been ceded to our Ming Dynasty. Shouldn't they feel indignant and humiliated?"
The person in charge of Changdao's administrative agency, Dongyi Kingdom's Left Chief Shi Liu Daozhi, listened to the discussion of the two generals and said with a smile:
"Didn't General Lu say that they may be British, American, or even Canadian controlled by the French, so where do they come from?
"If you put the Dongyi people who belong to the Ming Dynasty together with these three identities, which new identity would they be willing to choose, as they already have some confusion about their identity?"
Lu Junde seemed to understand.
The war of independence promoted by Napoleon and Adams, they themselves did not put forward clear slogans and claims, and the participating forces were too complicated, which may have confused these ordinary people.
But Li Changgeng still doesn’t quite understand:
"Why do you want to be a Ming Dynasty person so much? If you don't look at your own face in the mirror, can you be like us Ming Dynasty people?"
The fleet just moved forward, leaving part of the patrol fleet cruising in New York Bay.
The fleet carrying officers and soldiers inserted into the fjord between Manhattan and Bricklin, and docked in Brooklyn Harbor one after another.
Representatives of the entire New York City, even the entire New York State, and even the entire northern United States, representatives of high-level officials and celebrities.
They gathered together on the Brooklyn Pier and prepared a warm welcome ceremony.
When Lu Junde followed the two rows of soldiers and walked down the gangway, he looked at the welcoming team approaching not far away and once again felt that something was wrong.
These people included young and old, and most of them were wearing the new Ming-style formal attire designed by His Royal Highness Prince Dashi.
Except for a few people with unsightly expressions, most of them were obviously welcoming from the bottom of their hearts.
Lu Junde glanced at Liu Yizhi behind him and whispered:
"Something doesn't feel right. Mr. Liu should handle it carefully. I'll pay attention to the surrounding situation..."
Liu Ruizhi nodded slightly and walked at the front of the team.
At the same time, a group of people on the opposite side had already come up to greet them, and then they took the initiative to announce their homes here.
The leader is John Adams, Duke of Massachusetts and acting Prime Minister of the United States.
Then came New York Governor, Morgan Lewis, and Lewis continued to introduce others.
Next up is New Jersey Governor, Joseph Bloomfield.
Baron George Macartney, former governor of the British colony of New York.
Former Governor of the British Colony of New York and Former Governor of the Colony of Virginia: Earl John Murray Dunmore.
James Roosevelt, son of former Bank of New York President Isaac Roosevelt (great-grandfather of Franklin Roosevelt)
There are also famous New York businessmen John Jacob Astor and Stephen Girard, two contenders for the richest man in the United States.
Other people who are not well-known at present are not qualified to be introduced to Liu Ruizhi directly.
Some people are not famous yet, such as another strong contender for the richest man in the United States, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Now he is only a twelve-year-old child, watching the fun from a distance with his father, a farmer.
Those who could be introduced were all local people who were really famous, but Liu Ruozhi was not interested.
Liu Ruizhi found an opportunity to interrupt Governor Lewis:
"We are here to accept Changdao. Are all of you here residents of Changdao?"
Lewis said of course:
“We are indeed all residents of Long Island, and we all own real estate on Long Island.
“Those of us who are still working will come back to live occasionally, but after we retire, we will come to Long Island to retire.
"Two English nobles are now retiring in their manor on Long Island.
"So I ask Lord Chang Shi to be kind and allow us to take the citizenship of Dongyi Kingdom."
After listening to Lewis's explanation, Liu Ruozhi subconsciously looked at the differences in architectural styles between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Manhattan is full of high-rise buildings and a steel jungle, especially lower Manhattan, which is full of skyscrapers.
Currently, New York counties and cities only include Manhattan Island, excluding other areas.
This island located in the mouth of the Hudson River has a total area of less than 60 square kilometers, but its total population exceeds 1.1 million people, or more than 18,300 people per square kilometer.
This has reached the scale of the core areas of modern large cities.
But in the Brooklyn area across the river, there are basically independent courtyards with courtyards.
Most of them are Thai and Western-style buildings, but there are also many Ming-style courtyards.
Some villa areas are very exquisitely decorated, and they should be housing for the wealthy class.
There are also many ordinary small yards with similar patterns, as well as a large number of sparse two- and three-story row buildings, which may be the houses of ordinary Brooklyn locals.
But all the yards and buildings were very low. When Liu Ruizhi passed by Brooklyn by boat, he didn't see a few buildings with more than three floors.
According to the information I learned before, even the number of such courtyards is actually not particularly large.
The entire Changdao has a total area of 4,300 square kilometers and a total population of over 600,000.
On average, there are 140 people per square kilometer, which is lower than Jilin Province.
Those residential areas are currently mainly concentrated in Brooklyn, and most other areas of Long Island are still farm-based.
Historically, Brooklyn has been in this state for a long time.
So much so that it is called the "City of Homes" and the "City of Trees", which shows how New Yorkers position Brooklyn.
So the current state of Brooklyn is really where these people are planning to retire.
Their current main assets and financial investments should be in Manhattan, and their factories may be in inland New York or even New Jersey.
They probably only have a few houses or a few farms in Brooklyn.
The value of these things is not particularly high, and they can all be kept at a certain limited level.
Now that the Ming Dynasty has taken Changdao to establish the new Dongyi Kingdom, these people all want to obtain national status as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
Those who have retired will live in Long Island, those who are still working hard will go back to Manhattan to work hard, and when they are old, they will return to Long Island.
After Liu Ruozhi understood what these people were thinking, he began to seriously consider whether he could allow them to do this.
