......On July 2, 1651, Pei Soning, who had become the director of the health bureau and the director of the agriculture bureau, was using his professional geographical knowledge to introduce the only three-story stone building in the Xinhuagang urban area.

It had been a week since Ma Wanpeng's envoy arrived at the port, and Shi Qinjie, who had just returned from an inspection tour of Naturalized Island (St. Mary's Island), immediately decided to convene an emergency meeting as soon as he heard the news of the port of Mianhe. The meeting, which included mid-level and above officials from the New China Pioneer Team and Xinhua Port, focused on how to deal with the armed conflict with the Sakarava and how to expand into the western part of the island in the future.

At the beginning of the meeting, Shi Qinjie instructed Pei Soning, a former Finnish immigrant, Menghu's student and now a senior official in New China, to give a rough overview of the island's western coast. At this moment, I saw Pei Soning holding a wooden stick, pointing to a crude hand-drawn map of the north and west of New China on the wall, and said: "The western coast of New China Island is a typical tropical savanna climate, and what determines the precipitation here is the power contrast between the northwest monsoon and the southeast trade winds. It's almost the hottest place on the island, but luckily, the air is dry, which is not conducive to the growth of germs, so the death rate of residents is not higher than that of Xinhua Port, which we have operated for many years. ”

"The hot climate and scarce precipitation make it extremely dependent on river irrigation for any outsider who wants to establish himself in the area, unless you want to be nomadic or nomadic like the Sakarava people. The Sakarava people are not skilled in agricultural labour. They were fierce in temperament, nomadic and raiders, and had long maintained a military advantage over the Melina in the Central Highlands. From time to time, he rushed up to hit the grass valley, and he was very arrogant. ”

"But to be honest, this is actually the most suitable area for outsiders to settle and colonize the entire New China Island, rather than the northern forest area with a lot of rainfall, humid and muggy. In the western region, the wide coastal plains, mountain valleys, and estuarine impingement plains are ideal for the initial foothold of outsiders. The sun is strong, the environment is not as harsh as in the rainforest areas, and the soil created by the impact of the river is more fertile. Not as barren as the brick-red clayey soil of the rainforest area, it has all the elements of agricultural production. i.e. light, soil, and water. The port of Cotton River and its vicinity, which we are currently vigorously operating, are located in a coastal basin stretching from the Unilahi River in the south to the Mangoki River in the north, and are blessed with unique agricultural conditions, especially for the cultivation of cotton, which is in great demand in the country today. ”

"Of course, in addition to cotton, which is a cash crop, there are also some other crops that are well suited to the basin. To the north, for example, the Sakarava tribesmen on both sides of the Mangoki River. Tobacco was cultivated on the ground in the aftermath of the receding floods, an agricultural activity that did not seem to have been around for a long time, and which was mostly purchased by Arab merchants; In the coastal plain between the Mangoki River and the Mulundawa River to the north, we have gathered information that the local Sakarava people have also developed some dry farming, such as peanut cultivation in the Manza-Mandabe region. In this dry climate and crunchy soil, they carry out semi-agricultural and semi-extensive animal husbandry agricultural activities, and they do not know how to grow leguminous crops to maintain soil fertility, so they live a migratory life, and their production efficiency is very low. ”

"On this coastal plain (lower reaches of the Mulendava River) that the locals call Mahab. It was briefly ruled by the Melina people, a farming people in the central highlands, who built many reservoirs, dams, irrigation canals and other agricultural facilities there, so that some of the irrigated rice fields and orchards (rice is the staple food of the Melina people) are still left in the area. It's amazing. Of course, most of these facilities are now abandoned, and the people of Melina have retreated to the central plateau to fight the civil war, and the local Sakarava natives are unable to manage this rare agricultural area properly, so most of those rice fields and orchards have been degraded, and now they are basically dry farming such as cassava and peanuts. Occasionally, there are bananas, citrus orchards, and in any case there is a very bad decline here -- and on the other hand, this is also an opportunity for us. ”

"Our enemies. That is, the confederation of Sakarava tribes, which claimed to be called the Kingdom of Manaber, and its agricultural techniques were very primitive. With the exception of a few nomadic (migratory farming) dry farming practices developed by plundering slaves, the vast majority of the population lived on nomadic herds, and these barbarians distinguished their status and wealth from each other by the number of hump cattle. Their methods of grazing cattle are also very primitive, and most of the hump cattle live a semi-wild life in the river valleys and in the few forests along the coast. It is worth noting that this tribe attaches great importance to trade with the outside world, the Portuguese, the French, the Dutch, and the Arabs are their trading partners, they import guns and ammunition, export leather and slaves, and constantly accumulate wealth through guò foreign annexation wars, so its power has expanded very quickly, and in just a hundred years, it has developed from a tribal alliance in the Unillahi River valley to such a powerful kingdom with more than 5,000 troops spanning hundreds of miles, which cannot but attract our attention. ”

"This time, it is not unusual for this Manapor kingdom to move north to annex the small tribe of the Sakarava people on the steppe. But the courage to advance quickly northward to the mouth of the Cotton River and at the same time engage in armed clashes with us and the Dutch is very strange, and we have analysed it that it is highly likely that there are outside forces involved, and that their aim is nothing more than to try to seize Turare or Cotton Harbor, the only area in the southwest of the island suitable for a large port, which may be supported by our long-cherished enemy, the French, for only they would be interested in a deep-water port in good condition. ”

Pei Soning paused at this point, and the others began to talk to each other.

The reason he pointed out is very good, because after the French East India Company (known as the Oriental Company before 1644) had established itself in the southeast of New China in recent years, and the French had to thank the East Coasters for this, because it was their aggressiveness that made the French East India Company decide to increase its investment and relocate the country's already strict surplus population here, so as to avoid their doom of being driven out by the natives as in history - they began to take an interest in the western steppes, which were rich in "slave resources", They had always wanted to acquire a port on the southwestern coast in order to establish a colonial stronghold to capture or buy slaves while supplying French ships that had made their way to India.

The French were no secret to the "old-fashioned" colonists, the Dutch and the Easterners, but they were not in a hurry, as the best deep-water port in the region had already been divided between them. There are many coral reefs near other coastlines, and the turbulent currents, complex sea conditions, and the influence of sedimentation have made the water in many coastal areas very shallow, making it difficult for large ships to dock. For example, the mouth of the Mulundava River in the north can only be a port for small boats - because ships can generally only dock in the river of the Mulundawa River, and the open sea is not suitable for harbor (this small port was called Beibei Port in later generations); The same is true of Mulumbe, a little further south and in the fertile valley of the Mangoki River, which in later generations was only a small port for the export of beans (mainly snow peas), which could not be approached by large ships and was of low value.

Therefore, if the French want to extend their power from the southeast to the southwest of New China, it is extremely important to obtain a port with good location and conditions in the local area, and the choice is actually the most suitable for the Dutch Tullare and the east coast of the Cotton River port (both near the mouth of the Cotton River), but they are both civilized countries, and they are not warring, even if the French want to do so, they cannot openly occupy these two places. They can only secretly instigate and instigate the natives to attack, and then they will see if there is a chance to intervene according to the situation, and there is no other way.

"Leave the situation of the French alone, this second fleet of the Navy will take care of it. We don't care what others do, just the thousands of French Huguenot immigrants (oppressed and discriminatory Protestants) in Fort Dorvan and Saint-Louis don't care. I've been thinking a lot about this in the past two days, and now I've finally figured it out. Shi Qinjie, the top local governor, the captain of the New China Pioneer Team, and the commander of the New China Security Guard, said in an unhurried voice, "Since the natives have provoked a conflict, then we will resolutely respond to the war, and for this reason, we must subdue them even at any cost!" I have written to South Africa and the mainland to request the deployment of the South African Infantry Company (the former 5th Army Company was reorganized into the South African Infantry Company on the spot after the abolition of the Joint Staff Headquarters), the South African Cavalry Company and the South African Artillery Company to assist in the operation at the port of Cotton River. In addition, among the Polish and German prisoners of war who have just been transported from the port of Suez, I will also withdraw some of my manpower and transfer them to the port of Mianhe together with the New China Infantry Company and the New China Artillery Company to participate in the conquest of the Manaber Kingdom. Either you don't fight, or if you want to fight, you can subdue them all at once! The natives are afraid of power but not virtue, this time let them see the iron fist of a civilized country! ”

"In addition, with such a big battle dispatched this time, naturally we can't just teach the natives a lesson!" "The area near the mouth of the Mulundawa River and in the delta of the Mangoki River has very good agricultural conditions, with fertile soil, strong sunlight and no shortage of water. In particular, the area around the mouth of the Mulundawa River is not as harsh as other areas, with slightly more precipitation, abundant fish near the estuary, extensive mangrove forests along the sea, and soil suitable for growing sugar cane. The sugarcane that we have brought back from Tahiti Island has been successfully transplanted in the botanical garden of Naturalized Island, and the next step is to find a good place to grow them, and I think the impact plains near the mouth of the Mulundawa River are good. This time the army went and fought down together, and then the immigrants took possession! As for the manpower, I will write to the Executive Committee and ask that an additional batch be deducted from the emigrants, and that another batch be drawn from those Polish slaves for a good amnesty, and that the land be distributed uniformly to settle down, and that they will be cheaper! (To be continued)