activa-t Chapter 58 Nanyang is also the South
Chapter 58 Nanyang is also the South
Chapter 58 Nanyang is also the South
After the Han navy assisted the army in taking over Brunei, it dispatched a fleet to escort the envoys to Sulu.
The envoy read a royal decree to the Sultan of Sulu that was similar to that of Brunei.
The current Sultan of Sulu and the Sultan of Brunei are close relatives, and the two countries stand together when facing the Han Dynasty.
Brunei, being the more powerful nation, chose to obey, and Sulu did not hesitate, accepting the imperial decree directly.
From then on, Sulu, like Brunei, transformed from a vassal state into a chieftaincy.
The Borneo military took over most of the Chinese influence and controlled the most powerful princely states of Brunei and Sulu. The Dutch in Europe had fled before the Han army arrived.
Therefore, it only took a little over a month for the Great Han to nominally control the entire Borneo.
However, this will have to wait until the army has completely subdued all the inland princely states and destroyed all forces that dared to resist.
Only by taking over all the coastal outposts left by the Dutch and completing a comprehensive exploration of the entire island can one truly control Borneo.
This is also the task of the Borneo military for the next few years.
Hong Huoxiu's squad of the South China Sea Patrol Team of the Nanyang Fleet was credited with the first success in the entire operation because he was the first to discover the British fleet last year, successfully intercepted it, and was responsible for leading it to Tianjin.
Because of his literacy and quick wit, Hong Huoxiu was promoted to platoon leader after returning to the South China Sea. At the same time, he was transferred to a steam communications ship to learn how to operate the brand-new steam sailboat and transport intelligence, military reports and orders to various places.
During this operation by the South Seas Fleet to take over Borneo, Hong Huoxiu's steam communication ship was also part of the mission sequence.
Now that the takeover operation is in its initial stages, the steam communications ship where Hong Huoxiu is located has received a new order to deliver the initial report from the Borneo military to the capital.
Hong Huoxiu received the military report sealed with sealing wax and directed the steamship to set sail from the Brunei port.
After the steamship slowly sailed out of the dock, the remaining task was to speed up the coal shoveling.
The hard-sailed ships of the Great Han were easy to operate and did not require many people on board.
However, in order to shovel coal for the steam boilers, it is now necessary to arrange for a large number of sailors to take turns doing the work.
Soldiers taking turns resting had the opportunity to chat and gossip.
Hong Huoxiu stood at the bow of the ship, watching the workers digging a well in the distance, and chatted with the other sailors around him: "So the kerosene used for lighting lamps in Southeast Asia comes from the area south of Brunei City—"
The two sailors beside him immediately exclaimed, "This kerosene is a wonderful thing; it makes the lamps much brighter than candles."
"It would be great if it were cheaper; it would save so much trouble for cooking, as we wouldn't have to chop wood or shovel coal."
Amidst the murmurs and complaints of the crowd, the steamship drifted further and further away from the dock, and the coastline gradually became blurred.
Hong Huoxiu was still on the deck looking at the sea, continuing to learn how to calculate latitude and longitude.
An hour after setting sail, two sailors covered in soot emerged from the cabin, cursing: "Puniam, finally the change of shift."
"Shoveling coal is such a deadly job, it's not something a human being can do —"
Seeing the two sailors' appearance, Hong Huoxiu said, "This steamship is great in every way. It runs faster against the wind than with the wind, but shoveling coal is too much of a hassle."
Two sailors who had just shoveled coal immediately chimed in, "Who says otherwise? If we didn't have to shovel coal, this ship would be wonderful!"
Hong Huoxiu suddenly remembered what he had said to the other sailors: "Since the boiler is just for boiling water, wouldn't it be much easier if we could use kerosene to boil water?"
"The whole big pot, plus the big wick, can keep burning; you just need to add water periodically."
A sailor covered in soot, overhearing this, muttered thoughtfully, "Ketwater for the boiler? That should work, but how expensive would that be?"
"The key issue is that it's not easy to store. If you accidentally break the jar, it could easily burn the whole ship."
The other sailors followed suit and echoed his sentiments.
I thought that using kerosene to power a boiler might be feasible, but ultimately it wouldn't be cost-effective, and more importantly, it was too dangerous.
Coal is still cheaper and safer, but shoveling coal is really dirty and tiring.
The steamship sailed northeast, and after reaching Luzon Island, it refueled and replenished its water supply, then carried military reports from Luzon northward.
Along the way, coal was replenished and water was supplied at three stations: Taiwan, Shanghai, and Weihai. After half a month, the ship arrived at Leting Port.
The first large-scale coal mine, the first large-scale iron mine, and the first steel and machinery industrial center of the Han Dynasty were all located in this area near Luanzhou.
The Luanzhou Railway also extends along the Luan River to the coast, and a new port was built in Leting at the mouth of the Luan River.
The Port of Laoting has taken on some of the functions of the Port of Tianjin.
Steamships and large ocean-going vessels would dock in Leting to transfer goods, while traditional coastal sailing ships would go to Tianjin.
When the steamship entered Leting Port, Hong Huoxiu came up to the deck again to look out.
At this moment, someone next to Hong Huoxiu suddenly exclaimed, "Look at that boat! Although it's emitting smoke just like ours, it has no sails or wheels. How can it sail on its own?"
Hong Huoxiu looked in the direction of the sound and indeed found a strange steamship.
Hong Huoxiu felt that it not only lacked sails and paddle wheels, but even the hull didn't look like it was made of wood.
It is entirely black, without any wood grain, and looks like blackened iron.
No one could tell Hong Ho-soo and the sailors on board what was going on with that strange steamship.
The group discussed it for a long time, but couldn't come to a conclusion.
In the end, everyone could only watch the spectacle, and after maneuvering their own boats to shore, they quickly delivered the military intelligence.
Upon receiving the report, the Imperial Guard captain in charge of relaying military intelligence at the dock immediately took the report and arranged for someone to take the next train to the capital.
This military intelligence report was finally delivered to the cabinet on December 12.
Emperor Liu Yulong of the Han Dynasty read through the report on the morning of December 13th and was in a very good mood.
Borneo has a total area of 730,000 square kilometers, which is almost equivalent to the combined area of Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan provinces.
The combined area of Jiangsu, Jiangsu, and the five provinces makes it the third largest island in the world.
The total area of the plains on the island is about 300,000 square kilometers, which is roughly equivalent to the total area of the North China Plain, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain, plus the small plains of the Han River, Xiang River, and Gan River.
Although the original soil of tropical rainforests is quite barren, rice can be grown in places with sufficient rainfall and heat. Long-term rice cultivation can slowly improve soil fertility and form paddy soil comparable to black soil.
The vast continent of Borneo has the potential to become a super granary in the south of the Great Han Dynasty.
Liu Yulong then issued a special instruction that, starting the following year, supplies would be sourced from Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in the south.
Seven provinces, including Fujian and Guangdong, continued to organize migrations to Borneo to reclaim wasteland.
Coastal areas went directly to Southeast Asia, while inland areas took the Yangtze River waterway to reach the sea and then went to Southeast Asia.
All families that immigrated to Borneo were allocated 50 acres of wasteland each, while families of meritorious soldiers who wished to immigrate were allocated 150 acres.
From the day the land is cleared, as long as rent and taxes are paid continuously, it can be used forever and passed down to one's descendants.
In the vast majority of the Han Dynasty's homeland, Liu Desheng not only completed the nationwide land redistribution but also transferred all land ownership to the emperor.
The people who were granted land only had the right to use it, and private transactions and leasing were prohibited.
On this basis, rural land use rights should be adjusted periodically within the scope of the village collective.
Land use rights are typically redistributed every five years based on population changes caused by weddings and funerals.
Only the land designated for survivors' benefits is exempt from adjustment and allows recipients to cultivate it for life.
Now Liu Yulong allows Borneo's land to be exempt from adjustment, and even allows the people to pass it down directly to their descendants.
The aim was to maximize the enthusiasm of the people to migrate and reclaim wasteland.
At the same time, Liu Yulong also felt that the Han Dynasty court might not be able to redistribute land again in 30 to 50 years.
Even if the emperor were to order a forced redistribution, efficiency and fairness would be difficult to guarantee.
It would be better to promise the first group of people who reclaimed the land that it would be used forever. They were the pioneers who opened up new lands and developed new territories, so it is reasonable for them to receive different treatment than the locals.
Wasteland is not ready-made paddy fields; it needs to be reclaimed and cultivated over a long period of time to gradually become paddy fields in the south.
There is not much output now, and allocating fifty acres of wasteland to each immigrant household is not much at all.
The new Han population is still too large. The plains of Borneo, covering 300,000 square kilometers, can only accommodate 10 million households even if each household is allocated only 50 acres of wasteland.
Ten million households, at most fifty or sixty million people, which is about the size of a populous province at that time.
Even if the population doubles in 30 or 40 years, it will only be a little over 100 million people, which is about the size of a modern populous province.
Therefore, one Borneo is not enough; we still need to control the entire Southeast Asia.
Since Nanyang is located in the south, it is also the south of the Han Dynasty, and Borneo is just the beginning.
Myanmar, Siam, Vietnam, Sumatra, and other places are all future targets.
As for the equally large population in the north, they have been continuously being transferred to Liaodong over the past two decades.
In the future, they can be shipped overseas to places where wheat can be grown, such as the Americas and Australia.
After the Han Dynasty gradually gained control of Southeast Asia and acquired a sufficient number of steam-powered sailing ships, it was time to formally wage war against the British, at least to reclaim Australia.
Although India is closer in distance, its population is too large to be considered a suitable destination for immigrants.
But India is very important to Britain.
Before the discovery of gold, Australia was a penal colony for Britain.
The Han dynasty could conquer a portion of India and use it to exchange for ownership of Australia with Britain.
Liu Yulong mentally prepared to carry out the plan step by step.