Chapter 3208
On April 2, 1657 in the Han calendar, in the east of Hangzhou, on the banks of the Qiantang River.
As one of the major events of this year's National Day celebrations, the official weapons and equipment exhibition opened here grandly.
With the warm-up of the series of activities in the past few days, the public also showed great enthusiasm for this exhibition. Tens of thousands of people came to the riverside early in the morning, waiting for the official opening.
The Executive Committee attached great importance to this event. Defense Minister Yan Chujie personally attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech to thousands of onlookers at the scene.
"Everyone, the Haihan Army has been invincible and invincible in the past thirty years, thanks to the most advanced and powerful weapons and equipment in the world!"
"Any young person who is determined to make a difference should join the Haihan Army and serve the country. You will learn not only military skills in the army, but also all the conditions needed for success!"
Yan Chujie spent a lot of space in his speech to promote military conscription, taking this opportunity to attract more young people to join the military. This is also one of the main purposes of his attendance at the event.
However, at this time, most of the people's attention had long been attracted by the row of naval ships behind Yan Chujie. For ordinary people, these large ships beyond their knowledge are the real attractions of the exhibition.
The military has arranged more than 20 naval ships of various sizes, including the "Zhoushan", for this exhibition, most of which are from the East China Sea Fleet. These naval ships docked along the north bank of the Qiantang River, with a distance of more than two miles from end to end.
Some of the ships will be open to the public in batches at different times, which is one of the reasons why so many people come to watch.
In addition to the navy, some artillery pieces that were unveiled at the West Lake military parade the day before yesterday were also transported here for display to the public. The regret of not being able to see clearly enough during the military parade due to the distance can finally be made up for.
The entire exhibition lasts for seven days, during which in addition to equipment display, one or two special lectures will be held every day. Some combat heroes selected from combat troops from various places will tell the public about their military life and combat experiences here.
For ordinary people, such opportunities are rare. Usually they can only learn about the war through newspaper news or storytellers' performances, and rarely hear descriptions from those who have experienced it.
In addition, the indispensable recruitment link will also run throughout the entire exhibition period. Donghai Region is not the only one recruiting new soldiers here this time. Other overseas regions will also set up recruitment points here to attract soldiers with generous treatment.
While Wang Anbang was directing his men to set up recruitment points, he listened carefully to Yan Chujie's speech in the distance.
One of his important tasks when returning home this time is to recruit as many immigrants and recruits as possible. This task sounds simple, but in practice it is not easy.
Overseas regions have already had relatively mature routines on how to recruit immigrants and new soldiers.
How to carry out effective publicity, what conditions should be offered to be attractive, and how to arrange the recruited personnel, there are multiple plans for reference in every link.
Wang Tom was worried that the young Wang Anbang was inexperienced, so he specially sent several experienced military recruiters and immigration officers to return to China with him. Therefore, Wang Anbang does not need to worry too much about the specific operation process. Wang Anbang originally wanted to find another way and set the recruitment point near the beautiful West Lake. However, under the strong opposition of his subordinates, he finally compromised and came to the arms exhibition to set up a stall.
However, near them, there were recruitment points in several other regions, and the competition was almost face-to-face. This also made Wang Anbang a little dissatisfied with the persistence of his subordinates.
If you can follow your own ideas and set the recruitment point at the West Lake, where there are many tourists and there is no competition among peers, will it be easier to recruit immigrants and new soldiers?
However, the North American region also has its own unique advantage, which is the group of Spanish prisoners of war that Wang Anbang escorted back from across the ocean thousands of miles away.
Wang Anbang ordered people to drive a few wooden stakes on the ground and fasten the prisoners of war to the wooden stakes with shackles, which soon attracted many people to watch.
Ordinary people may not know what kind of achievements the Haihan Army in North America has had, but the large group of prisoners of war with deep eyes and high noses in front of them is enough to show that this army is not a mere appearance, but is fighting on overseas battlefields. The strength of the combat troops that have achieved brilliant military exploits cannot be underestimated.
Seeing that more and more people were watching, Wang Anbang and several of his men quickly took out leaflets that had been printed in advance and distributed them to these curious people.
There are two types of leaflets, one for recruiting immigrants and the other for recruiting new soldiers. Immigrants automatically obtain local household registration from the day they arrive in settlements in North America, and can apply for a certain amount of private land from the local government according to their own needs.
This is slightly different from the practice of some overseas regions that allocate thirty to fifty acres of land to immigrants per household. North American regions do not even set an upper limit for the area of land that can be applied for.
Those who choose to join the army directly and choose to retire after their service period will not only enjoy the same treatment as ordinary immigrants, but also receive a very considerable settlement allowance linked to their years of service.
Sure enough, someone soon noticed the description of the land distribution policy on the flyer. This was simply unimaginable to ordinary people. If you go to the local area, wouldn't you be able to become a big landowner overnight?
Immediately, someone came to inquire whether the land distribution could really be as stated in the leaflet, and the government could give as much land as they wanted.
Wang Anbang gave an affirmative reply: "We in North America are currently following this rule, but the premise is that the land allocated to you must be used to its best advantage. The government will conduct random inspections regularly. If a large area of the allocated land is abandoned, then The government will also take back the abandoned land.”
"In short, you can ask for as much land as you have the ability. For those who run farms and pastures there, it is common for a family to own thousands of acres of land."
Someone asked tentatively: "Master, if you put it this way, the land over there is as much as you want. Isn't it very worthless?"
Wang Anbang smiled and said: "You have misunderstood. Our place is just a vast land with sparse people and few land transactions. As for the value of the land, the country has spent so much military expenditures and sent troops thousands of miles to the other side of the ocean to fight the Spanish. Regardless of the land value, It costs to build local settlements so that immigrants can enjoy such treatment. Do you think these lands are worth it? ”
The current population size of North America is completely disproportionate to the area it controls, so this seemingly unrestricted land distribution policy has been formulated. However, in order to prevent people from taking advantage of the loopholes to maliciously enclose land, the official still left a backup plan and stipulated that the land applied for by immigrants must be effectively used.
But even so, for ordinary people in China who do not have land, such a land distribution policy is still very attractive. They seemed to understand immediately why someone would be willing to leave their hometown and follow the Haihan Army to settle down so far away.
(End of chapter)