Chapter 83 of 100
Chapter 83
14 min read3,469 words
On September 12, after a week of intense effort, the appearance of the initial landing site of the expedition team had been completely transformed. A brand new wooden pier extended twenty meters into the lake, and the "Eagle of the East Bank" was moored at the pier. This was the new port that everyone had chosen.
"The new port is located at the tip of the peninsula, facing the Bass Island across the water. The water here is about 200 meters wide, with a gentle current and a depth of 4 to 5 meters, making it an excellent natural harbor. We plan to build fortifications at the tip of the peninsula and on Bass Island in the future. This will not only protect our safety but also block the passage to and from Duck Lake, making it a strategically superior location." Lu Ming, who had returned to Eastern Harbor with the "Galician Flying Fish," was reporting to Shao Shude in the temporary office of the coal working group in the city center. He flipped to the next page and continued, "Currently, many new shelters have been built on shore for the laborers and expedition team members. These shelters are simple houses made of reeds, and the rooms have been disinfected with lime powder. Thanks to everyone's hard work, by September 12, several hundred acres of land have been initially cleared, mainly by removing reeds and shrubs. We have also started digging the foundations to prepare for the construction of formal brick and tile houses and the city walls. Team Leader, I'm here mainly to ask for more people. Hehe, as you know, this is the construction of a new city, which will serve as a transfer port for coal exports from the northern part of Duck Lake. It's a significant matter, so please think of a way to get the executive committee to allocate some more people, okay?"
"Where isn't there a shortage of people these days?" Shao Shude sighed, holding his forehead. "In the recent war with the Spanish, we lost over 120 people and had 30 to 40 injured, some of whom can no longer do heavy labor. That's nearly 200 able-bodied workers gone. We were already short-handed, and this has made things even worse. It's the post-war reconstruction period, and everything needs to be rebuilt. Where can I find more people for you?"
"Hehe." Lu Ming chuckled and continued, "Right now, Dingshanyang has a population of 2,500, which is already at saturation. With the current scale of farmland cultivation, it's enough to feed everyone. As for Dongfang County, the city is now crowded with nearly 5,000 people, which is too many. The shipyard, steel mill, armory, textile factory, and others don't need so many people with their current production scale. I've calculated that at least a thousand people can be spared. How about it, Team Leader Shao, go to the executive committee and try to get some more people? Otherwise, the construction at Duck Lake will take forever, and I might as well go back to my job as the principal of the navigation school. Let someone else deal with the mess at Duck Lake."
"Alright, alright! Don't talk about quitting! I give up." Shao Shude waved his hands, smiling bitterly. "To be honest, even if you hadn't come to ask for people, I was planning to send a batch to Duck Lake in the next few days. I'm concerned about your shortage of people. I've already requested people from the executive committee, and I've managed to get about 200, including men and women. Don't be ungrateful. With the trade agreement with the Spanish, all the factories are expanding, and there's a huge labor shortage in infrastructure construction. Getting this many people for you is already quite good. If it weren't for the recent capture of nearly 300 people by Chang Kaisheng from the First Outpost of the Army, I wouldn't have been able to get anyone to Duck Lake in the short term."
"Alright, Old Chang did a good job." Lu Ming praised. "Since he did so well, why not send him more people to capture more natives? We really need more people."
"It's not that easy. Capturing these natives is getting harder. They're not stupid; they know we're after them and won't just stay put. They've already fled with their families." Shao Shude looked at Lu Ming with disdain. "There are probably no more Charuian villages around Big Fish River and Big Fish Lake. To capture more Charuians, we'd have to search north to Milin Lake or even go into the mountains to capture the natives on the west side. Anyway... let's not get sidetracked. Go to the Civil Affairs Department of the Government Affairs Office with this document, and they'll tell you where the people are. Once you find them, organize them to board the ship. Try to leave by noon. I'll finish up my work and join you. The construction at Duck Lake has been going on for a while, and it wouldn't be right for me, as the team leader, to not be there."
Lu Ming ultimately didn't manage to get everything done by noon. The 200-plus residents heading to the new city at the southern end of Duck Lake, which didn't even have a proper name yet, spent too much time packing their belongings. When Lu Ming arrived at the dock, Captain Julien de Aubry of the "Galician Flying Fish" was organizing the sailors to help the residents load their luggage onto the ship.
The dock where the "Galician Flying Fish" was moored was bustling like a market, with residents carrying large and small bags. The settlers, who had been relatively generous to the free citizens under their control, now had a minimum monthly wage of 1 to 1.5 yuan, with an average wage of nearly 2 yuan. Therefore, these residents who had been there for a few years had accumulated some savings.
The wave of land purchases in the Dingshanyang reclamation area, which is now Dingshanyang Township, before and after the war with the Spanish, greatly stimulated these so-called "urban residents." Many of them had relatives or friends in Dingshanyang, where the "rural residents" had permanently bought the land they cultivated at relatively low prices, freeing themselves from the status of hired laborers and becoming envied independent farmers with fixed assets. Now, the executive committee promised that the residents moving to Duck Lake could also buy the land they would cultivate in the future, which made many people eager to move to Duck Lake. The climate, natural conditions, and the threat of savages were no longer obstacles, and many "urban residents" tried to get on the list through connections. Lu Ming himself had received several tentative inquiries, but he had always brushed them off, saying that the list was decided by the executive committee.
It was clear that the residents' enthusiasm for land and their desire for a better life had overwhelmed everything. They sold all the unnecessary items they had and bought seeds, farming tools, fishing nets, chickens, ducks, geese, lambs, piglets, and everything else needed to settle down from the livestock farm and the supply and marketing cooperative. Some wealthy veterans even pooled their money to buy some oxen to use for farming in Duck Lake.
This chaotic and lively scene continued until around 3:00 PM. Shao Shude and a few members of the coal working group hurriedly boarded the "Galician Flying Fish" transport ship. Additionally, the "Red Trout" escort gunboat, commanded by Lieutenant Guo Zili, loaded with building materials and food, also set off. At 4:00 PM, after submitting the departure documents to the port authority, the two ships slowly left Eastern Harbor, heading for Duck Lake.
On the morning of September 17, the two ships successfully docked at the new port pier in Duck Lake. Shao Shude enthusiastically headed straight to the construction site of the new town to observe the progress. A few days had passed, and the construction on the land behind the port was in full swing. Over 200 reed houses had been built, and the breeze carried the flying reed fluff everywhere. The weather had been good, and the over 100 laborers and 80 naval sailors had worked hard, leveling the land within the planned city area. Many foundations had been compacted, and the construction team was preparing materials to start building the brick and tile structures.
"The first phase of the city can accommodate 3,500 residents, with two concrete piers at the port to ensure that at least 25 to 30 ships can dock simultaneously. The planned city wall is 1,800 to 2,000 meters long, 5 to 6 meters high, and 3 to 3.5 meters thick. A man-made reservoir will be built in the southern part of the city to serve as the water source, and irrigation channels will be constructed around the reservoir to allow for farming." Bo Sen, the political secretary of the coal working group who accompanied Shao Shude, said, "Additionally, for defense, two coastal artillery fortresses will be built at the southeastern corner of the city and on Bass Island across the port. In the future, when conditions permit, two more fortresses will be built at the tip of the small peninsula to the south of the narrow waterway and on the north side of Bass Island in North Saint Joseph. Once these artillery fortresses are completed, the rich Duck Lake will become our internal lake, free from any maritime threats."
"Ha ha." Shao Shude chuckled. It would take a long time to complete such a grand plan. "By the way, I remember that the main function of this new port city is to serve as a transfer port for the future north-to-south coal transportation policy and to block the entrance and exit waterways. The city doesn't have a formal name yet, right?"
"Uh... not yet." Bo Sen adjusted his glasses.
"Let's call it Zhenhai Fort!" Shao Shude decided.
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