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Among the thousands of indigenous servants dressed in colorful uniforms, Aquino, dressed in the black armor of the Qin army, looked particularly majestic and eye-catching.
In his hand he held a flag with the words "General Conquering the Barbarians" embroidered by Zhao Han, but he felt that this was not enough to explain his special identity, so he strung a large seal with the words "General Conquering the Barbarians" that Zhao Han had someone carve together with a hemp rope and hung it on his chest like a necklace, never taking it off.
When walking, the big seal kept hitting his chest, which was a bit painful, but Aquino enjoyed it.
At this time, except for the relatively civilized area near Manila, most areas of Luzon Island were still covered with primitive jungles. The natives mostly lived in the jungle, living in huts built with thatched grass, and lived a slash-and-burn life in the form of tribes.
A few larger tribes could make some crude clay pots and weave some linen, producing some relatively backward daily necessities. In short, both the social structure and the way of life and production were still very backward.
On this day, Aquino led 3,000 vassal troops to attack a tribe called Mut. The tribe was located on the seashore and had more than 2,000 people, including the elderly, the weak, women and children. Because they were unwilling to move, they were classified as enemies of the Qin Dynasty.
In order to help Aquino win quickly, Zheng Sihai sent Wang Guichen's battalion to sail. They first approached the shore with their warships and fired a volley of bullets, which made the indigenous tribes hug their rats and scream in fear. Then Aquino's vassal army rushed in.
The three thousand vassal soldiers worked extremely hard because Zheng Sihai had offered a price: for every native under the age of 45 who had not lost his ability to work, they would get five cents of silver. If they captured two natives, that would be one tael of silver!
But in the jungle, thousands of soldiers rushed in, regardless of the thorns tearing their clothes, like monkeys, shouting and shooting arrows in the forest, shouting and shouting non-stop. It looked like a group of monkeys attacking the territory of another group of monkeys.
Wang Guichen on the boat watched from afar, picking his teeth while sighing: "Damn it, it's really all thanks to Aquino's monkeys. To deal with monkeys, you have to use monkeys."
His subordinate Mo Liang chuckled and said, "Boss, let alone Aquino, even my subordinates are tempted to get five cents of silver for capturing a prisoner."
Li Sangui, the former second-in-command and now the deputy commander of the 10th Battalion, scolded with a smile: "If you feel itchy, rub the wall. If that doesn't work, catch some native women and pick some to relieve your itch."
"Hey, second in command, don't say you haven't done this before. That night, you took that Spanish woman to..."
"Shut up! What are you talking about? Who said something to a Spanish woman?"
Wang Guichen saw Li Sangui's anxious face, and he raised his inverted eyebrows and said, "Alright. Alright, Lao Li, who doesn't know about your little thing? Don't try to cover it up. What's the big deal? Dayangma is also a captive. If not, do you think that all the officials don't know? They just turned a blind eye and let you have fun."
"Um... Boss, actually this big foreign horse isn't that good. The taste is just not right."
"Okay, then I'll give you two native women later. This should suit your taste."
Several people played the flute sporadically. Holding the side of the boat and watching Aquino and his men fighting on the shore, they seemed very relaxed. It was a good thing if Aquino won, but it didn't matter if he lost. He could just go back and reorganize some vassal troops.
As for women, in the past, the Qin army had always strictly prohibited rape and plunder in the country, but the situation in the navy was rather special. They would have to drift on the sea for a long time, and their life would be extremely boring. The physiological needs of a group of men had to be taken care of.
The soldiers used the captured women to vent their anger, and the assistant officer in charge of military law turned a blind eye, which was considered tacit approval.
This can effectively relieve the soldiers' mental depression, reduce their homesickness, and maintain morale. In the Song Dynasty, there were camp prostitutes. In the Ming Dynasty, because the garrison troops were similar to farmers and brought their families with them, there was no such thing as camp prostitutes.
Aquino and his men were motivated by the generous reward and fought bravely. They ran barefoot in the jungle like the wind. With their superior numbers and advanced weapons, they quickly won the victory.
This indigenous tribe, including the elderly, the weak, women and children, were all taken captive and put on board the ship.
Since they were captives, they were not polite. They had no land, and they did not take the initiative to go to Manila. The natives were rewarded with five taels of silver. Women were sold directly to merchants, and men were sent to the military farms of the South China Sea Fleet.
This had a great deterrent effect. Each family that voluntarily moved to Manila was given 50 acres of land, five taels of silver, as well as cloth, porcelain, and daily necessities.
Those who refused to move were defeated, and the women were sold to merchants, and the men were taken to military farms to do heavy labor. If they dared to be lazy, they would be whipped. Their lives were worse than those of slaves.
In contrast, those who voluntarily moved there lived a life like heaven, while those who refused to move lived a life worse than death. Under such circumstances, the natives who voluntarily moved to Manila continued to move;
In just half a month, as many as 90,000 indigenous people voluntarily moved to Manila. This was a remarkable achievement. You should know that at that time on the island of Luzon, the number of indigenous people was only 700,000 to 800,000, and there were more than 100,000 who originally lived near Manila.
At this rate, it won’t be long before the natives on the island are basically under the control of the Qin army.
The Qin army commanded these natives to burn down the forests and open up wasteland in the areas suitable for farming by the sea. Every day, thick smoke billowed up into the sky over Luzon Island and could be seen far out at sea.
With the organized work of two to three hundred thousand people to open up the wasteland, the land burned by the fire became very soft and could be easily dug up with a hoe and planted with crops such as corn and red beans.
Paddy fields are relatively more troublesome and require plowing and harrowing. However, many of the indigenous people did not even know how to use the plow and harrow, so Zheng Sihai had to send soldiers to provide guidance.
In general, due to the increasing number of people and the proper training of the Qin army, the speed of land reclamation was very gratifying.
While Manila was busy with the development, Hai Rufeng led a squadron northward.
Years ago, when Qin Mu was reviewing the navy at Yanziji and giving instructions in person, he ordered the navy to go to a place called Baguio to look for gold mines after conquering Luzon.
How did His Majesty know that there was a gold mine in Baguio? Did the First Emperor come to him in a dream again? Hai Fengru led his team north from Manila with a lot of questions in his mind, and his mission was to find the gold mine.
Excluding the casualties in the naval battle, the Ninth Battalion still had more than 300 people left. Since they only had an approximate location, it might take a long time to find the mine. In addition to the warships, Hai Rufeng also brought two medium-sized supply ships.
In addition, of course, there are craftsmen with rich experience in mineral exploration. This is what Qin Mu specially prepared for the search for the Biyao gold mine.
There were also 500 vassal soldiers traveling with them. These 500 natives were mainly used to do miscellaneous tasks.
The fleet sailed north with the wind. In the cabin, Hai Rufeng was drinking tea and looking at the map. On the map, the coastline was basically flat from Manila Bay all the way north, until a few hundred miles north, when the coastline suddenly recessed to the east for nearly a hundred miles. According to His Majesty, landing at the recessed coast and then going eastward not far into the inland is the so-called Baguio.
Hai Rufeng asked the natives and was told that there was no place called Baguio in that area, because it was still a barren mountain area with only a small number of natives living there. In short, there was not even a place name yet.
Captain Lu Tian couldn't help but complain: "Sir, what kind of gold mine are we looking for? It's in this desolate mountain and we don't know the exact location, and we don't know when we can find it.
In my opinion, why don't we just fight our way through? When the cannon goes off, we'll get tons of gold. If we conquer those tiny countries in Southeast Asia one by one and take the gold directly from their vaults, wouldn't that be much easier than searching for gold mines all over the mountains and plains?"
Hai Rufeng put down his teacup, looked at the eastern coastline, and then said, "You know nothing. This is now the Luzon Province of our Great Qin. Do you understand?"
"so what?"
"Since it's a province of Daqin, there must be people there, right?"
Lu Tian asked in confusion: "What does this have to do with us looking for gold mines? Let the ministers in the court find a way to relocate the people in the country."
“This is the wisdom of your Majesty. Although Luzon has become the territory of Daqin, it is far away overseas after all. There is no shortage of arable land in the country now, and few people are willing to move to Luzon. If they are forced to move, the people will inevitably feel resentful.
It would be different if we found a gold mine. When we get back to China and spread the word that Luzon is full of gold, just imagine if the people in China would flock to us.”
"ah... .."
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.(To be continued..)
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