Chapter 419 Negotiations with the Li people
Changhua River, also known as Changjiang, is the second largest river on Hainan Island. It originates from Qiongzhong Limu Mountain and runs through the central and western parts of Hainan Island. The Changhua River is more than 200 kilometers long, with a drainage area of more than 5,000 square kilometers and many water veins and tributaries. The water vein injected from Shilu Mountain is the second largest tributary of Changhua River and is called Shilu Water by the locals. This river, which is not too wide, lies across the transportation line planned by the Ministry of Construction. To the east of the river is the jurisdiction of Shizidong and the location of the Shilu Iron Mine.
In order to make it easier for them to go out and trade grain, salt, pig iron and other daily necessities with the Han people, the Li people in Shizidong arranged a ferry on the river here - it is said to be a ferry, but actually it is more accurate to describe it as a wooden raft. These mountain people living in inland areas do not have good shipbuilding skills. For them, a boat that can carry them across this small river less than a hundred meters wide is considered a qualified boat.
Before sending the guide across the river back, the special team was not in a hurry to cross to the other side, because if something went wrong, it would be a bit troublesome for the thirty or so people to withdraw. The wooden rafts used by the Li people to ferry The ferry could not carry so many people, their livestock and luggage at one time. While they were stationed by the river, Qiao Zhiya and Fu Li took a few people, cut down a few thigh-thick trees nearby, and began to bundle the raft themselves, just in case.
Originally, there were assault rubber boats on the two catamaran sailboats, but even after deflation, the size and weight of those things were considerable. Considering that the mules and horses carried too many things, Qiao Zhiya finally gave up carrying the assault boats. Intend.
The guide crossed the river from Shizidong and returned to the camp before dark that day, and brought back a message from Huang Sanmu, the owner of Shizidong, allowing them to enter the jurisdiction of Shizidong. This unexpected news made everyone relax a little. Because the Li village is located in a mountainous area, many supplies are difficult to obtain, and Han merchants who are willing to take the initiative to provide these supplies in the mountains will generally not refuse. When Qiao Zhiya sent out a guide, he specifically asked him to bring samples of rice, salt and other goods. It seemed that he successfully gained the approval of these Li people.
Early the next morning, after everyone had breakfast in the camp, they began to organize the crossing of the river. It took the special team's own wooden rafts and the Li people's wooden rafts to cross over five times. Just in case, Qiao Zhiya still left three people on the other side of the river. If anything happened, he would immediately rush back to the seaside fishing village to report the news. There was also stationed there a platoon of Black Earth Port militiamen who came with Tian Yeyou and old Morgan who stayed behind to look after the sailboat. .
The coastal area near Changhua is almost all plain terrain, and the special team did not encounter any difficult areas along the way. But after crossing the Shilu River, we really started to enter the inland mountainous areas. After crossing the river, we headed eastward for about ten miles under the guidance of our guide, and finally saw a hillside planting area unique to Li people's villages on a nearby hillside.
Fu Li should be the one who felt the most deeply among those who saw this scene. Just two years ago, Fu Shandong where he lived and the surrounding villages also used this slash-and-burn method to grow food. Just based on this farming method, Fu Li can tell that the Li people here are still in a relatively backward living condition - of course, this backwardness is compared to Haihan, and the previous Fushandong was not much better. go.
The scale of Shizidong's cottage is not as large as that of Fushandong, but the internal structure is almost the same. They all have the same gable-roofed boat-shaped house as the main building. There is a larger boat-shaped house in the center of the village, which is the residence of the cave owner. . Most of the special team stayed outside. Only four people, Qiao Zhiya, Liu Shanxia, Tian Yeyou and Fu Li, entered the house to meet with the owner of the cave.
Huang Sanmu, the owner of Shizidong, was a man in his prime. After inviting everyone to sit down, he ordered others to bring some homemade fruit wine to entertain the guests. Qiao Zhiya also asked Fu Li to take out the prepared gift and give it to Huang Sanmu. According to the standard operation method of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the gifts are still a three-piece set of saber, lighter and liquor. It can be seen that Huang Sanmu, like those cave owners who have dealt with Haihan in the past, can hardly conceal his love for these gifts. .
"Master Huangdong, I would like to ask, have you heard of our Haihan Chamber of Commerce in the past?" Qiao Zhiya asked proactively.
Huang Sanmu nodded and said: "You are selling salt. There is your shop in Changhua City. Your salt is very cheap and better than the official salt before!" Although Huang Sanmu's Mandarin is not very standard, it is still barely We can still communicate.
"What we sell is not only salt, but also many other things. As long as you want to buy, we have the ability to provide it." Qiao Zhiya immediately started self-promotion: "We can give the Li people here a better living environment. , let you live in the same houses as the Han people, enjoy the same food, and your children can also study and read together with the Han children! ”
After hearing Qiao Zhiya's boast, Huang Sanmu did not immediately become ecstatic, but asked suspiciously: "We have no contact and we are not friends. Why do you do these things for us Li people?"
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"Of course this is not for nothing, you also need to pay certain conditions." Seeing the change of color on Huang Sanmu's face, Qiao Zhiya quickly comforted: "Don't worry, I'm not asking for your money. I know you Li people don't have much money. .”
Hearing this, Huang Sanmu's expression softened a little: "Then what do you want?"
"I want your cooperation." Qiao Zhiya did not intend to conceal the real purpose of the executive committee, because such a large project cannot be hidden from the indigenous residents for too long: "We want to build a road from the sea to here. , and then mine iron ore on the hillside next to your village.”
"Iron ore? You said we have iron ore here?" The first thing Huang Sanmu noticed was the iron ore. Liren Village has been strictly controlled by the local government on the import of pig iron, so that most of the agricultural tools they used for slash-and-burn cultivation were It's still stone tools. Shizidong is lucky to be able to get two to three hundred kilograms of pig iron through various channels every year. However, this short-haired Haihan man actually claims that there is an iron mine next to the village?
"That's right, but I'm afraid it's difficult for you to have the conditions for mining and smelting. Even if you can mine it, your cost of obtaining pig iron is much higher than ours. If you need pig iron, we can supply it to you at a very low price. We will definitely do it. It’s cheaper than organizing your own manpower to mine and smelt iron!” Qiao Zhiya tried to persuade Huang Sanmu to accept his proposal from the perspective of commercial value, but he ignored that Huang Sanmu himself was not a businessman, but just a Li native born and raised here! .
Huang Sanmu shook his head and said: "This is our Shizidong place, and the iron ore buried here also belongs to our Shizidong. If we need pig iron, we can dig it ourselves and don't let outsiders interfere!"
"Without our help, you wouldn't have been able to find the mineral vein!" Tian Yeyou, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but interject.
Huang Sanmu looked sideways at him, shook his head and said: "That's okay. We don't know that there are iron ore in the land under our feet. We have lived here for many generations. Even if there is no iron ore, we can continue to be here. Let's live on." "It's not easy!" Qiao Zhiya and Tian Yeyou exchanged glances, with the same thought running through their minds.
At this time Fu Li finally spoke: "Lord Huangdong, I am Fu Li from Fushan Cave in Yazhou. My family, like yours, is also the guardian of Li Cave!"
"You? Are you from Li?" Huang Sanmu looked at Fu Li, not quite believing what he said. It's no wonder that Fu Li now has a short haircut and is dressed in Haihan-style shorts, trousers and leather shoes. He doesn't look like a Li person.
"I have a seal issued by the Ming Dynasty!" Fu Li said as he took out a small copper seal and handed it to Huang Sanmu.
Since the Yuan Dynasty, the central court began to grant hereditary official positions of "Thousand Households" and "Ten Thousand Households" to the cave owners of the Li people. After the change of dynasties, this tradition only changed slightly, and the awarded positions were changed. It was changed to "General Manager", "General Manager Qian", "Commander" and so on. Its main function is to win over local Li leaders to prevent them from confronting local officials every day. Of course, this kind of official position has no practical effect. The taxes Li Dong should pay will not be less than a copper penny, and there is no chance of escaping from the labor service he should perform. However, for the cave owners of the Li people, the seal issued by the court is a simple way to identify their identity, because only the cave owners and direct heirs of each cave can obtain this thing, and no one will counterfeit this identity. , because once it is revealed that he is impersonating an official of the imperial court, it will be a serious crime worthy of beheading.
Huang Sanmu took it and looked at it carefully before nodding and saying: "You, like me, are the Qian President granted by the imperial court. But why do you dress like them? Have you abandoned your people?"
"I have not abandoned anyone. We people in Fushandong are living very well now, thanks to the help of the Haihan people." Fu Li started talking about the two sides since the Haihan people first visited Fushandong two years ago. contact process.
Fu Shantong was undoubtedly a successful attempt by the Executive Committee to deal with Han-Li relations at the beginning of the landing. The agreement reached by Ning Qi and Fu Nuo at that time was later called the "Savior Plan No. 1" and became the official document of the Civil Affairs Department. A model for mass work in ethnic minority areas. From the initial exchange of materials, to the hiring of labor, the recruitment of soldiers, and finally the development of the residents of Fushandong moved out of the mountains and settled in Han residential areas, Fushandong has experienced tremendous changes in the past two years. As someone who has experienced it, Fu Li naturally feels the most.
Fu Li couldn't hold it back as soon as he started talking, and Huang Sanmu also showed great interest in Fu Li and Fu Shandong's experience, because Fu Li described the situation of Fu Shandong two years ago. It was so similar to Shizidong now, with the same lack of food and clothing, and no hope of becoming rich in the future.
Soon it was lunch time. Huang Sanmu asked his family to cook bamboo tube rice using the rice donated by the special mission team, and also cooked some pheasants. Tian Yeyou was bored by the story, so he took the initiative to apply to help the villagers here cook pheasants. There are also a lot of spices in the supplies brought this time. As soon as they are put into the pot, the aroma overflows and it makes people's fingers tantalize.
After lunch, Fu Li continued to tell the story of Fu Shandong at Huang Sanmu's request. The two of them naturally used the Li language in their conversation. The people next to them couldn't even understand half of the sentence, and they all fainted later. Drowsy. But the two people talked more and more enthusiastically, and they were still talking non-stop until dinner was served in the evening.
That night, the special team set up their own tents and stayed in Shizidong Mountain Village. Only then did Qiao Zhiya and others have time to ask Fu Li about the content and progress of today's discussion.
Fu Li was obviously very satisfied with his performance and said with a smile: "Master Huangdong is very interested in the overall relocation of Fushandong. It can be seen that he is not as concerned about the current living environment in Shizidong as he says. Satisfied, if we can propose a more feasible plan, I think there is a high possibility that he will accept it.”
The overall relocation of Fushandong is the first time the Executive Committee has tried to allow Li people to move out of the mountains in units of caves. The resettlement of Fushandong residents has also fully considered their living habits and placed their residences in In the ravine between Tiandu Industrial Zone and Tielugang, it not only maintains the independence of Fushandong, but also provides them with better living security conditions. In the new place of residence, naturalized Li people can more easily obtain various daily necessities provided by the Executive Committee, and under the training of the Ministry of Agriculture, they have begun to plant various economic crops on a large area on the hillside near their place of residence. crops, and the rewards they received were much higher than the original level of slash-and-burn farming in the mountains.
After the successful attempt, the Executive Committee later successively arranged for several Ledong and Miao villages to be relocated out of the mountains and to the coastal plain area of Sanya. Although these mountain people have little culture, the young and strong are often excellent sources of soldiers, and women, children, old and young can also engage in some auxiliary industries, which can change their originally very poor living conditions in a short period of time.
In this process, the relevant departments have accumulated a wealth of experience. Even Fuli himself has participated in two recent Limiao village relocations and has a clear understanding of the methods and purposes of such relocations. The description to Huang Sanmu was more detailed, and with Fuli's own identity as the successor to the leader of Lidong, this persuasion became even more convincing.
"Xiao Fu, you did a good job!" Liu Shanxia grinned and patted Fu Li on the shoulder in praise, but his big palm-like hand almost slapped Fu Li down.
"We can set higher conditions, but some bottom lines still have to be determined." Qiao Zhiya seemed relatively calm. The executive committee gave him the responsibility of this special task force, which was undoubtedly a test of his personal ability. He has already accumulated certain achievements in the military. If he can complete this mission well, he will have a better foundation in the future whether he joins the military or politics.
(End of chapter)