Tho Chau Island. （）

This one has an area of only 1. The 4-square-kilometer island, or the size of a school, is located in the middle of the Gulf of Siam and is the farthest outlying island in Vietnam. Lin Youde and Chen Mo, who returned to West Borneo from Siam, ordered people to board this island to get water, because the cargo ship was crowded with three or four hundred people at once, and this cargo ship is not a ship dedicated to transporting immigrants, so it can not adapt to today's situation, first of all, the consumption of fresh water is relatively large, but fortunately, there are not many places that can replenish fresh water along the way, and the captain chose this isolated island, so as not to encounter any accidents when the Khmer or Annam docked.

It's just that when the boat approached the shore, they found that this small island was unusually crowded, and after docking at the simple dock on the west side of the island, Lin Youde and Chen Mo noticed that there were many wooden houses that had just been built on this island.

"Could it be that someone colonized here?" Lin Youde touched his head and was a little suspicious.

The arrival of the big ship emitting black smoke obviously disturbed the inhabitants of the island as well, and they gathered in some panic, and lined up on the shore, which should be an organized army or something, but it was more like a group of Hanako, they were in rags, and their weapons were not uniform at all, and the formation was sparse and unorganized, and they did not know how to deal with it.

Chen Mo was also a little confused, so he said, "Send someone to ask what's going on, and tell them that we are just passing by to get water, and there is no malice." ”

So a brave crew member and an overseas Chinese rowed a sampan to the island, and the reason why they had to bring another overseas Chinese over was because this overseas Chinese was proficient in Thai and Vietnamese, and had now been appointed as the ship's interpreter, enjoying a monthly allowance of 60 Tang Yuan.

Not long after, the crew and overseas Chinese interpreters came back from the island, and the army on the island did not embarrass them, and the overseas Chinese hurriedly said to Lin Youde and the others: "Master Qiyu, I have already asked clearly, the people on the island are from Annan." It was Nguyen Phuc Anh, the nephew of the lord of Quang Nam Nguyen, and the Tay Son army rebelled and almost killed the Quang Nam Nguyen clan, so he escaped from him, the only seedling, and hid on this island of Tho Chau. He heard that the master was from the Tang Dynasty's official mansion, and he wanted to meet the two masters, so he specially untied the jade pendant on his body. As a gift. ”

This overseas Chinese defected to the Tang people to do things, just because they felt that although the Tang Kingdom was far away. But he is also a man in the official government, a petty official on an errand, and he is just a broker in Siam, and now he can be regarded as a "civil servant", plus he has an allowance of 60 Tang Yuan every month, so he is naturally happy. In fact, an identity like his was very common in the modern era, and the so-called supernumerary temporary workers were also.

Chen Mo listened to the words of the Chinese translator, and suddenly felt a sense of relief. After Datang decided to recruit female immigrants from Vietnam. He wanted to communicate with the authorities, but the governor of Borneo, Hu Fa Kui, confirmed that it was unnecessary, and Vietnam was in chaos, and his pirates only needed to land and then use force or money to bring a large number of women. If you cooperate with those in power, it will do all kinds of bad things.

In fact, he can't be wrong in this thought, for example, Lin Youde is bent on having a good relationship with Siam and then pulling people, but Zheng Xin doesn't take him seriously at all, and he doesn't help at all at this time. Hu Fakui, an ancient person, knew very well that no monarch would take the initiative to send the population out. Population is national strength, this is the simple cognition of feudal kings, so it is naïve to hope that good relations can get immigrants.

Nguyen Phuc Anh was not originally on the list that the Tang people intended to befriend, although this one would become a founding king in the future, but now he has no territory, his strength is insufficient, and he can't speak.

But now it's happening. It's better to take advantage of it, Chen Mo said in his heart.

"Brother De, this Ruan Fuying is a strange commodity to live in now, although it will take some years to become a real dragon, but it is not too early to invest."

Lin Youde was surprised: "What do you have in mind?" ”

"It was our cabinet's previous instruction to install a pro-Tang regime in Vietnam, and although Nguyen Phuc Anh has little power now, when he returned to Gia Dinh (Saigon, that is, Ho Chi Minh City) at the end of the year, he immediately pulled up a group of old and young people of the Nguyen lords, and also defeated the unsuccessful Nguyen Van Nguyen. Although he still failed in the face of Nguyen Van Ngao, and it took more than ten years to successfully eliminate the Tay Son Dynasty, this person has an advantage, that is, in order to restore the country, he can sell anything, he has sold the interests of Annam to Siam and France, and it is not a problem to cede land to allow missionary missions. This is a typical politician, without indecency and shame, and if we nurture him and get the population from him, it should not be a problem. ”

Lin Youde thought for a while and said, "What you said is quite reasonable, but how much does it cost to support Ruan Fuying?" ”

Chen Mo said with a smile: "It is relatively easy to borrow troops, our Governor Hu has pulled up a group of people, and a group of pirates, in history, Chinese pirates have been deeply involved in the Xishan Uprising, at least we can mobilize thousands of troops equipped with modern firearms, it just so happens that Governor Hu is still shouting to let his troops accumulate actual combat experience, I am a good place to go." We also have large ships that allow Nguyen Phuc Anh to attack any coastal city he wants by water. If needed, using West Borneo as a base to help Nguyen Phuc Anh train a little army, we still have funds in hand, and these things are not difficult to do. ”

Lin Youde said: "It's so feasible, so what benefits do we want?" ”

"Like Siam, trade is a must, but since we pulled Nguyen Phuc Anh so that he can enjoy his hegemony, then we must get more. For example, Datang commercial goods sold in Vietnam do not need to be subject to customs duties, and our ships do not need to pay port entry tax. Our businessmen are able to invest freely in Vietnam and enjoy tax breaks, and most importantly, we are free to recruit immigrants locally, and Nguyen Phuc Anh is obliged to provide us with a certain number of immigrants, I think, 100,000 is not much. You must know that after Nguyen Phuc Anh was victorious, a very large-scale liquidation was carried out, and there were many dead participants in the Tay Son Army, and there were also a lot of Vietnamese refugees. As for women, we can naturally bring them back to Gia Chau directly, and these prisoners of war exiled by Nguyen Phuc Anh I think on the one hand can be trained as a servant army to fight for us in the colonies, and on the other hand, they can also be used as hired laborers to help us open up land in the new colonies. Chen Mo said cheerfully.

Lin Youde nodded, "In that case, let's go to the island to meet this down-and-out prince and grandson." (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for the recommendation ticket, your support is my biggest motivation. )