Wild North America 1846

April 9, 1857

The new appointment of the Kingdom has been issued; in view of the outstanding achievements of Baron Dongjie, the Secretary of the Colonial Office in the pioneering of Paradise Island, his outstanding ability, noble character and worthy of re-use, Your Majesty has personally appointed the post of Chief of the Royal Secretariat and Minister of the Royal Court.

He resigned as Secretary of State for the Colonies and was re-nominated by the Prime Minister.

After the warm celebration ceremony, Baron Dong Jie, his family and a group of close friends boarded the cruise ship back to the Kingdom. With the sound of the long air whistle, the cruise ship gradually left the harbor and looked back at the prosperous city standing in the bay.

, couldn't help but burst into tears.

More than 700 people worked hard day and night to create a bright future for Paradise Island today.

Two years seemed like a dream. Dong Jie looked at the beautiful and prosperous city in front of him, and felt a strong sense of accomplishment in his chest. He felt that his ambition in life had been achieved, which was enough to satisfy him.

The cruise ship blew its long whistle and sailed away from the pier towards the blue sea, taking away Baron Dong Jie who was deeply attached to this hot land. Soon, he should be called Viscount Dong Jie...

Watching the cruise ship leave, the high-ranking officials and dignitaries who were seeing off the ship at the pier, as well as the female relatives attending the ceremony, exchanged greetings for a moment and then dispersed in luxurious carriages.

The ladies wearing luxurious dresses and holding umbrellas attracted the blazing eyes of many men around them, and they simply couldn't take them back.

"Don't look at Erbao. They are young ladies from wealthy families. We farmers with our backs to the sky should never have any illusions in our lives."

"Brother Lei, it is said that these nobles from the Tang Kingdom are from the same place as us, but they came here a few years earlier. We don't lack arms and legs, and we don't lack courage, so why can't we compare with them?"

"You are right! But these nobles are the ones who followed His Majesty to conquer the world. They shed blood and sweat, and with good luck, it is not easy to get ahead. Now it is not easy."

"What's not easy... Why don't you just serve as a soldier and fight? I can do it too."

"Er Bao, are you talking nonsense again? Why don't you laugh to death if others hear it? In this peaceful time, there is no conscription or war. The entire Paradise Island is the royal palace of the Holy One, and even the local indigenous people have been wiped out.

, where can we fight?"

"Huh, I just can't give it in anyway." The speaker was a tough-looking young man in his twenties named Wu Erbao. He came from Guilin, a city with the most beautiful scenery in the world. It had been two years since he arrived on Paradise Island and he had obtained official household registration.

In the relaxed living environment of the Tang Kingdom, hearing about the success stories of refugees one after another, both those around them and those from the kingdom itself, always makes people excited and the desires in their hearts are ready to stir.

Not only Wu Erbao, almost all young and middle-aged immigrants have their own dreams.

Brother Lei was a little older, probably twenty-six or seventeen years old. He patted Wu Erbao on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Don't think about what is available and what is not available. Today we are going to register to get the land, and we have to go to the bank to apply for a loan."

, buy some practical land reclamation tools on the street, there are so many things to do, you can’t just stand here for a long time, right? Do you still want your share of land? "

"Of course I do. Otherwise, wouldn't my two years of work be in vain?"

"The Holy One didn't treat you badly. He gave you 90 acres of land (the Chinese used to use acres). Tsk, tsk, tsk... I'm so greedy after seeing it!"

Hearing Brother Lei say this, Wu Erbao showed a happy smile from the bottom of his heart, opened his mouth, showed his white teeth and said with a smile; "If you want to say this, you have to blame yourself, Brother Lei, for teaching you the golden mean all day long.

We, why can’t we stand out in our work? Those who stand out will die first. We should work seven points and leave three points for our efforts. Then it will be a great thing for us to fall into the sky. Do you regret it now? "

"It's a pity that there is no regret medicine in the world. Who knew that the Holy One would be so generous and kind, and would really give more to Tian if he worked harder? Now I can't wait to work for two more years." Lei Ge looked regretful.

He is older and has been working as a long-term laborer in his hometown since he was 13 years old. He has to work from dawn to dusk, and can only get two meals of gruel a day, and he can't see any meat all year round.

After working as a long-term laborer for more than ten years, he could not even get a wife, and he was very poor. Later, there was a gangster incident. Countless farmers fled in panic, and he was one of them.

He fled to Fuzhou Port and by chance passed the immigration screening and was able to board the immigration ship bound for Paradise Island. From then on, he started a different life path.

During the two-year contract period in Paradise Island, I had one meal and two meals a day, no matter how good I was but I was full. I could also eat meat once a week, which was basically cheap stuff like pork offal soup or beef offal soup, or...

A piece of salted fish, this is already a dreamlike day, I never dared to think about it before.

Internship workers are not given no money at all. Each person is given one yuan per month to buy some daily necessities or snacks. There are also rewards for good performance. For example, "advanced workers" like Wu Erbao can get 1 yuan per month.

2 cents a piece.

Don't worry, it's only two cents, but it makes many people jealous.

Among Chinese immigrants, few use this dollar to buy snacks or daily necessities, and basically save it.

In two years, it is estimated that 70% to 80% of the Chinese immigrants have saved more than 20 yuan, and there are very few prodigals who have spent all their money.

Everyone dreams of owning their own piece of land in the future, cultivating wasteland, marrying a woman, men farming and women weaving, having children and spreading the family branches, and living a happy life without shame or shame.

In order to realize their dreams, Chinese immigrants are willing to endure any hardships.

two days later

Brother Lei and Wu Erbao took the train to Wuxing Town with their companions, carrying large and small bags. It took more than 6 hours to arrive at their destination, which was a desolate station outside the valley.

Wuxing Town is about 188 kilometers away from Xinxi'an. It is one of the planned resettlement towns. Starting from the suburbs of Xinxi'an, the railway goes all the way east along the seaside plain, namely One Star Town, Two Star Town, Three Star Town, and Four Star Town.

Town, Five Star Town to Sixteen Star Town are all new resettlement towns.

Today, the railway has just been built to Liuxing Town, and the road construction workers are also Chinese immigrants. They are building roads and bridges deep into the mountains and forests, and are the pioneers of pioneering.

Both Lei Ge and Wu Erbao have done this job before, and it is actually quite simple. It is nothing more than building a railway embankment first, then compacting the Sanhe soil over and over again to form a long railway embankment.

To build a culvert where water passes, you need to dig a hole in the roadbed, build the culvert with bricks or stones, and then smooth it with cement. The stronger the better.

Building a bridge is a little more complicated. It basically means building the bridge piers with masonry and stones, and then erecting steel beams. This type of bridge construction is the fastest and can basically be completed in three or four months.

The round-arch bridge made entirely of stones is much slower to build, often taking a year or more to complete.

The next step is to lay road concrete, lay rails, and use sleepers to securely connect the long railway lines. This kind of work is not difficult and can be done quickly. As long as there are enough materials, more than a thousand people can lay more than ten kilometers in a day, and there is basically no pressure.

.

Lei Ge and Wu Erbao followed the crowd and got off the train. They looked at a large piece of land on the side of the valley, which was covered with various lime lines. There was also a large tree stump more than three meters high, with writing written on it with a brush.

It has three characters: "Five Star Town".

Everyone is a veteran. One look at this scene and they will know that the future Five Star Town will be located here. It is only about 2 kilometers away from the train station. There are about dozens of wooden buildings built in the town, almost all of which are semi-finished products. Obviously

Not long after construction started, not a single building was completed.

come to town

The place where the Tuanlong flag is hung is the office. The office only has a row of simple tables. The clerk with a blue armband holds a tin trumpet and shouts loudly: "All immigrants go through the procedures here. They all line up one by one. There are

Please wait in line, and it is strictly prohibited to jump in line or disrupt order, otherwise you will be disqualified and you will be responsible for the consequences..."

The clerk with the blue armband repeated over and over again that the immigrants carrying large and small packages quickly formed a long queue and then moved forward slowly.

They have become accustomed to this way of queuing. They have to queue up every day to eat when working together, queue up to receive a monthly subsidy of one yuan, queue up to receive clothes (each person has 4 sets of clothes per year, either white or gray), and queue up to go to the toilet in the morning.

.

Collective labor does not allow open defecation, which pollutes the environment, and human and animal excrement must be used for compost. It is the best thing to improve the fields, but it cannot be wasted.

The team moved very fast. After about half an hour, it was Lei Ge and Wu Erbao's turn. They followed the example of the people in front and took out their household registration books and a land grant certificate, and came to a row of simple tables.

"Give me the land grant certificate and household registration book." said the clerk sitting at the table.

Wu Erbao hurriedly handed over the certificate in his hand. After the clerk took it, he checked that the names in the household registration book and the land grant certificate were consistent. He flipped the land grant certificate back and forth, looked up at Wu Erbao, smiled, and asked; "

Huh, you can’t tell, but you are still an excellent worker. Are you willing to join the militia?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"Do you know how to read?"

"I know a few people, not much. I can barely understand what the newspaper means."

"Okay, please fill out this militia application form."

"Okay!"

Wu Erbao happily took the pen, bent down and started to fill it out carefully. Lei Ge, who was standing aside, was a little envious and asked proactively, "Um... sir, I also want to join the militia. Can I also fill out a form?"

?”

"You..." the clerk picked up his land grant certificate, looked at it, curled his lips and said, "No, you are not an excellent worker, your performance is not outstanding, and you are not qualified to join the militia. Our Wuxing Town Militia Team

Only the best people."

Brother Lei; "..."

Within a few minutes, Wu Erbao filled out the militia application form. After the clerk registered him, he stamped it with a red seal, collected the land grant certificate, gave him a wooden sign, and returned the household registration book to Wu Erbao, pointing to the side with his finger.

One of the teams said: "You go to line 1. Once you get in line, you won't be able to move around."

"Oh, I understand, thank you sir." Wu Erbao thanked him hurriedly.

Seeing that his procedures were completed, Brother Lei quickly asked, "Sir, can I also be the first in line?"

"Why are you in the first line? Doesn't the wooden sign say 17? You are in the 17th line."

"But... Erbao is my little brother. We two want to live next door from now on so that we can take care of each other."

"Haha...that's impossible."

"why?"

"Why?" The clerk was amused by his question. He simply stood up, took the iron loudspeaker and shouted to everyone;

"Fellow folks! Listen to me.

From now on, everyone just stand where they are and listen to what I say. Those who have entered the queue should not move and just listen. I will explain the field allocation policy to everyone.

After I finish speaking, you can ask questions if you don’t understand.

After completing the formalities, everyone will be given a small wooden sign. If your wooden sign says "1", you will be in the first line.

If your wooden sign says "11", then you are in the 11th team. The number on the sign and the team must be consistent, and you must not make a mistake.

If you don’t understand, you can ask. You can also ask if you don’t know the words. There are capital numbers in front of each team.

From the first team to the fifth team, they are all "excellent workers". Some of them are given 100 acres of land, some are given 80 acres of land, and some are given 75 acres of land. These outstanding workers can choose to join the militia

Team, others cannot meet the requirements.

Among these "excellent workers", according to the rules of land granting, whoever contributes more will choose their own land first. Those with 100 acres will have priority over those with 80 acres, those with 80 acres will have priority over 75 acres, and so on.

If several people have land grant certificates of 75 acres, then draw lots to determine the winner, or adopt a method that you think is fair, and try to satisfy everyone.

All the plots around Wuxing Town have been divided for everyone to choose from, but the land closest to Wuxing Town is basically the land of the "excellent workers" from the first to fifth teams.

All personnel who are no longer within the scope of "excellent workers" will be randomly grouped into groups. The nearest distance is about three to five kilometers, the distance is about ten kilometers, and the maximum distance will not exceed 20 kilometers.

When you arrive at the place, the staff will naturally explain to you how to obtain the land.

For example, there are 170 people in the 11th team. Upon arrival, the staff will make specific arrangements and supervise the whole process to be fair and just.

The basic principle is first come first served.

Everyone is given a small flag, and 170 people start running at the same time. There is also a small flag on the designated land. You only need to pull out the small flag and put your own small flag on it, then the land belongs to you.

.

Since we have issued 170 small flags, we will inevitably allocate 170 pieces of land, each of which is ten acres, which is 60 acres of land.

Of course

There are good and bad lands. The land near rivers and streams is of course more fertile. It is more difficult to open up some land full of trees. Which piece of land you can get depends on your personal ability.

Generally speaking

As long as your fellow villagers or partners are willing to live together, I can tell our staff that we will try our best to put you in the same team, and you will become villagers in the same village from now on.

Even if we don't live together, we are not far apart and we try our best to provide convenience for everyone.

But this is not possible in some cases. For example, if one of the two people is an "excellent worker", according to the rules, he can get 90 acres of fertile land near Wuxing Town as a reward.

The other is an ordinary immigrant with a land grant certificate of only 60 acres of land. The two cannot be resettled together.

Unless this "excellent worker" is willing to give up his rights and does not need the 90 acres of land near Wuxing Town, instead of going to a remote area to fight for 60 acres of land, then we can be satisfied as long as he writes an application indicating that he is completely voluntary.

Such a wish.

The reverse is not true, because the surrounding land in Wuxing Town is used to resettle "excellent workers", and ordinary immigrants do not enjoy such preferential treatment.

One pays, one gains, that’s fair.”

After saying this,

The expressions of the surrounding immigrants varied. Some were regretful, some were happy, some were sad, some were secretly unhappy, and some cursed outright in a distorted mood.

The staff member had a serious look on his face, pointed at a rude and strong man not far away who was cursing loudly, and said sternly: "A bold maniac who dares to speak evil words to slander the kingdom, I will take him to jail."

The words just fell

Several handsome men with blue armbands rushed forward, knocked this rude and strong man who couldn't help but swear obscenities to the ground, and tied him up with hemp ropes.

This rude and strong man was so frightened that he wet his pants and begged loudly, "Sir, please forgive me, please forgive me for speaking carelessly for a moment. I know I was wrong."

"Gag my mouth, it's so fucking disgusting. What's the difference between an ungrateful person like you and an animal?" The staff member looked at him with disgust. He was a grassroots official from Taoyuan Administration College. After such a long time

During my social experience, I have already developed a rough and direct work style.

The immigrant group is so large that it is inevitable that there will be filth among them, including some green-skinned hooligans and harsh scoundrels. Some of them were sorted out during the two years of bonded labor, and some will continue to be sorted out when the land is divided and allocated.

Those who dare to complain, those who attack the kingdom's policies with filthy words, those who gather to cause trouble, those who act recklessly, and those who disobey distribution and unreasonably pester are all within the scope of strict control.

The staff's bold action had an immediate effect. Lei Ge went to Team 17 with his ID and wooden sign without saying a word, behaved like a little sheep.

Other people stopped nagging, and there were even fewer whispers. Administrative efficiency has been greatly improved. People can queue in whichever queue. I feel that the quality has improved a lot.

Soon, the people who got off the train were divided into more than a dozen teams. In front of each team was a staff member holding a flag, followed by a large group of immigrants, queuing up to the narrow road in the distance.

Some teams in the outer suburbs have to walk through forests, over mountains, and across rivers, which can take at least half a day.

Wu Erbao's first team was not needed, and they started allocating fields directly in Wuxing Town. After the first seven or eight candidates were selected, it was Wu Erbao's turn. His 90 acres of land ranked quite high.

Outside the 6 square kilometers designated by the town, and next to the river in Wuxing Town, he chose a fertile land that was flat and fertile without many trees, and he felt extremely satisfied.

People rely on comparison. Compared with most other immigrants, Wu Erbao is extremely happy at the moment.

This will be his land and home from now on.

This place is close to Wuxing Town. He inquired about the wooden houses currently being built in Wuxing Town. A two-story wooden house with two floors above costs 220 yuan, and a bungalow costs 145 yuan.

Wu Erbao has already thought about it. He will not buy a house for the time being. Instead, he will buy a farm cow for 185 yuan, plus the matching iron plowshare and other agricultural tools, for a total of 228 yuan. He has just enough money.

Because an outstanding worker can get a loan of 200 yuan from the bank, plus the 28 yuan he saved, he can make a living.

Anyway, the climate in Wuxing Town is neither too cold nor too hot. During the period of pioneering, I built a shack and lived in the wild. I tried to spend 4 to 5 months plowing the entire land, clearing the roots of gravel, shrubs, and trees, and exposing them to the sun for more than ten years.

After a few days, rake the land, raise the ridges, and plant wheat and vegetable seeds.

In the remaining time, you can use your cattle to help your neighbors clear up wasteland and earn extra income. When you have money, you will pay taxes first and then repay the loan. After two years of hard work, you can pay off the loan first, and then you can think about building a house and marrying a wife. This is

All alive.

Thinking about having 90 acres of fertile fields and such a good location, Wu Erbao couldn't help but feel happy. He had a smile on his face all day long, and his future life would be wonderful!