Morgan looked at the footprints on the ground around him, and although they were numerous and chaotic, they all led to the riverbank, which was obviously the mark of his own group, and the direction to the inland was clean, and it seemed that no one else had approached the area in the past two days. The reason why he wanted to study this kind of detail was to use it to judge the areas where local indigenous activities were frequent, and to make corresponding adjustments to the deployment of troops in the Houlongxi basin in the future.

According to Morgan's plan, it was planned to set up bases in four places: the coast of the estuary, the two large river bays on the way to the waterway, and the oil fields out of the sulfur pit, and the distance between these four bases would be roughly the same, so that the responsibility for guarding the 30-kilometer waterway could be evenly distributed and the loopholes and pressure of the guards on the way could be reduced. If the convoy transporting supplies has a problem on the way, as long as the ship releases an alarm signal, the nearby stronghold can rush to the aid at short notice.

On the other hand, Morgan also considered that the fertile land along the river in the plain area of Houlongxi was convenient for irrigation, which was just right to settle immigrants for reclamation and farming, subsidize local food needs, and reduce dependence on external material supplies. After two or three years of the local population of a few thousand residents, there will probably be no need to worry about the threat from the nearby indigenous tribes.

The territorial expansion of the Haihan Dynasty has never been just a one-line operation in the military field, but colonial resettlement and long-term operation are the means that must be used to truly occupy a region. In the past few years, Haihan was able to take all kinds of ownerless lands as his own, and in addition to the use of force, skillful and efficient colonization was also one of the important conditions. After that, there was about 40 square kilometers of plain land in the Longxi Valley, and it was not a problem to accommodate 10,000 or 20,000 agricultural people, as long as the Ministry of Civil Affairs was willing to stuff people here, it was possible that this barren land would be transformed into a large agricultural county in a few years.

Morgan and his entourage returned to the temporary camp on the coast that afternoon, and before he got off the boat, he saw Tian Yeyou standing on the dock on the shore, slowly waving to him. Tian Yeyou set off from Jilong Port in Taipei early yesterday morning, and arrived at the base in Miaoli when it was dark, and he had been waiting for him for a long time. Although the two haven't seen each other for a long time, their relationship is as harmonious as ever, and when they meet, it's a big hug. Tian Yeyou traveled to the Black Soil Port of Annam with the North American Gang in his early years, and he had long adapted to the European and American etiquette of these gangs, so there was no barrier.

"I didn't expect you to come out to lead the troops one day!" Tian Yeyou quipped: "I thought you had started to retire in Sanya and would not leave Hainan Island again." ”

"I have to go out and move more while I can still move, because if I stay in Sanya, people will really get moldy. Morgan made no secret of his true thoughts: "Several of my partners, except for Johnson, who remained in Sanya for family reasons, everyone else is out developing their own careers. I didn't cross half the world to participate in the crossing, I didn't do it for pleasure, I also wanted to do something so that my name could be left in the history books of future generations. ”

"Such a serious ......" Tian Yeyou patted Morgan the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, when you get to Taiwan Island, you will have something to do!"

Morgan frowned and said, "Why do you hear you say that this island of Taiwan seems to be very unpeaceful?"

"There are no big things, small things are constant. There will always be some disobedient people who will jump out to challenge Haihan's authority. Tian Yeyou took the initiative to change the topic when he said this: "What have you gained from entering the mountains in the past few days?

"I did run into a few, but none of them made contact. Morgan rubbed his stomach and said, "I'm hungry after a day of running, so I went to the headquarters to sit and eat and talk." ”

In March 1633, the Haihan army captured the original Spanish control of the port of Jilong, and immediately blockaded the area, and then found a gold vein in the nearby mountains to mine, and the person appointed by the Ministry of Industry to take charge of this mining project was Tian Yeyou. He has been staying in Jonlong Harbor for the past year, directing and supervising the operation of the local gold mines, and he is responsible for exploration, mining and smelting.

In the past year's operation, the Jinguashi gold mine has produced nearly 200 kilograms of gold, which not only offset the military expenses of the Haihan army to attack the Taipei area, but also a large amount of surplus through the division into the Haihan treasury and the military's advance military expenditure. The decision to take the initiative to start a war to seize the Taipei region is also regarded as one of the wisest decisions of the Haihan Executive Committee in the past two years.

Two hundred kilograms of gold sounds like a lot, but there are not many real objects, and after being cast into gold bricks, there are only seven or eight bricks, which can be packed in a small box. But the executive committee and the military are not just interested in the first year's production, but also on the prospect of mining here. According to the information known, the highest annual output of the Jinguashi mining area in the original time and space once reached more than two tons, which is ten times the current output, and its value is even much higher than the current tax that can be levied on Hainan Island in a year, and this huge income from Jilong Port is impossible for anyone to ignore.

The number one contributor to the relatively smooth mining of the ore vein is naturally Tian Yeyou, who is fully responsible for the project, but in addition to being able to send his family to the local area to visit relatives and create the best possible conditions for life, it seems that he cannot give him better treatment for the time being. Tian Yeyou is not able to move out of the mining area for the time being, because most of the local gold mines exist in small rich ore bodies, and experienced professionals must be able to identify the clues where these deposits are located, so the exploration work must continue for a long time.

In addition to gold, there are many associated minerals in the area, such as pyrite, quartz, calcite, sulphur arsenic-copper, sphalerite, galena, barite, alum and so on. Some of these associated minerals are also valuable for mining and can be used to extract useful substances from them, while others are of little economic value but are important indicators for gold exploration and cannot be ignored.

Identifying these minerals and formulating a mining plan, most of the time can only be done by Tian Yeyou himself, although he has a group of apprentices with him, but there is still a big gap between the technical level and professional experience. Before this batch of apprentices finished their studies and left the school, Tian Yeyou probably had to stay on Taiwan Island all the time. This time, I happened to encounter the special nature of Miaoli's project, and the proximity to Taipei, so I sent him a paper order to come from Jilong Port to provide technical support for oil exploration.

"Last year, the Ministry of Construction worked overtime to build a two-story villa on the beach near the mine for me, and when I opened the bedroom window, I could see the Pacific Ocean and the large flower garden downstairs, which really faced the sea, and the spring flowers were blooming, and I didn't have to do any hard work to feed the horses and chop firewood. The next day, I went to the mining area, walked around, and it was over in half a day. It's a leisurely life, but to be honest, I don't know if this kind of life is happy. When Tian Yeyou said this, there was no smile on his face, and there was even a little confusion in his eyes.

Morgan said: "Then didn't you participate in the crossing just to live this aristocratic life? It only took seven years to achieve your goal, and there are still decades to enjoy slowly." ”

"That's true, but it's a little different from what I expected. Tian Yeyou sighed and said: "In the place of Jinguashi, most of the time I am there alone, and the others are all naturalized people, sometimes I want to find someone to talk to, but if I can't say a few words, I will feel that the bull's head is not the right horse's mouth." They didn't understand what I said, and I didn't bother to explain it slowly, Morgan, can you understand that?"

Morgan shook his head and said, "The Executive Committee values you very much, is willing to provide you with the best living conditions, and supports you as an expert in this field, I think there should be many people who want to live your current life." ”

Tian Yeyou said: "Yes, since I was in Annam, the executive committee has given me very good treatment, at that time I lived in Halong Bay, and I only had to go to the mine for two days a week, which was more idle than now." But at that time, there were still Qian Tiandun, Xie Chun, and Zhou Hengxing, and it was better to be able to get together at night to chat or something, than not even finding someone to talk to now. ”

Morgan said: "I understand, you probably just have no friends around you to communicate with for too long, and your life is too leisurely, you can only think crankily when you have nothing to do all day, and there are psychological problems." ”

Tian Yeyou said: "Maybe! If this is the case, then it should be able to be relieved a little recently." When the work starts here, I may have to keep going back and forth between the chicken coop and the Miaoli, and when I get busy, I probably won't be cranky. I never thought that people could be idle when they were idle!"

Morgan said: "In two days, Bai Kesi and Liu Shanxia will also come over, they will probably stay in this place for a few months, and you won't have to worry about no one being able to talk to you at that time." By the way, you mentioned earlier that there are no big things in this place, there are always small things, what's the trouble here?"

"What kind of trouble can it be, isn't it the natives in the mountains?" Tian Yeyou said helplessly: "You also know that a safe zone must be demarcated around the gold mine, so we forcibly drove away an indigenous tribe, and then formed a bond with the natives. They seized the opportunity to come to the mines to cause trouble, and if they saw a lone Han Chinese, they would find a way to hunt them. Last year, more than a dozen people died at the hands of the natives, but fortunately, they were all prisoners in the hard labor camps, and when they died, they died, and there was no follow-up trouble. ”

Morgan asked, "Then you didn't order the garrison to fight back?"

"Of course I ordered it, I'm not a virgin, how can I watch them make trouble. Tian Yeyou explained: "When the natives come to the mine to make trouble, it is difficult to get out of the mine most of the time, and at most we intercept more than 30 people. I didn't shoot them, I just went straight to the mine as laborers. We also organized two sieges into the mountains, but these indigenous tribes had retreated into the mountains, and they could not be cleaned, and they could only manage the operation for a month or two at a time, and then the natives had the audacity to probe out. However, their strength is limited, and they can't make any big mess, so they keep going back and forth. It is definitely impossible for our side to withdraw, so it depends on how long the natives can hold up!"

After hearing this, Morgan basically understood the environment in which the chicken coop gold mine was located, and the scale of Haihan's garrison in the local area was limited, so it was necessary to ensure that the mines that used a large number of hard labor could have normal production order, and to prevent the natives from the outside world from making trouble, and it was impossible to divide many troops into the mountains to encircle and suppress, most of them were just symbolic expulsions, and the effect was good for a period of time. This method can only temporarily cure the symptoms, but it must not cure the root cause, but the conditions are limited, and Haihan really has no good way to completely solve the problem at present. The inland areas of the island of Taiwan are all endless mountains, and even if a few thousand troops are transferred, it will be difficult to form an effective network if they are scattered into the mountains.

And the situation encountered by Tian Yeyou in Taipei is very likely to become a model for Miaoli. During his three-day investigation, Morgan had identified at least two indigenous tribes located in the area that the Haihan wanted to control, and that future conflicts with the Haihan would inevitably occur.

Morgan also served in the overseas garrison of the U.S. military before he crossed over, and he was well aware of the troubles of public security warfare, and with the various black technologies mastered by the U.S. military at that time, he could not completely eliminate his own combat losses in public security warfare. Of course, Morgan was sure that the Haihan Army under his command would never fall into the situation of the American army, and the confrontation with the local indigenous tribes would not go to the step of law and order warfare.

After the two finished chatting, they turned to the topic. Morgan explained to Tian Yeyou what he had seen and heard in the oil-producing area, and although his main task in this errand was to find out the condition of the route, in the next period of time, the military must cooperate with the exploration team, and it is necessary for the two sides to communicate well before starting construction, so that they can direct their subordinates to act together.

In addition to Tian Yeyou, who has successfully arrived in Miaoli, the second batch of laborers sent from Penghu has also arrived here yesterday and quickly put into the construction of the camp under the command of the foreman of the Ministry of Construction.

Since the next large army from Penghu will be in the size of thousands of people, they will have to assemble here before entering the mountainous area, so some of the infrastructure of the camp must be built first. If the fleet from Penghu goes well, it should be able to reach Miaoli tomorrow.