I

"These are the gold sands you dug for?" Xie Yuan's eyes lit up.

Deng Youzhang said: "Thirty indigenous people were arranged to squat in the river day and night to pan for gold. They can dig out more than 80 kilograms of gold sand every year. Some people have picked up gold nuggets in the river, and there are probably gold mines in the mountains upstream. But we people, They don’t even know how to prospect for minerals, so they have to send masters from China to prospect for minerals.”

In fact, there are two larger gold mines in Deng Youzhang's territory, and the other one has not been discovered.

The place where they panned for gold sand was near the original settlement, only a few kilometers away from the village. There is also a large gold mine in the place where they are about to attack. It is also the earliest gold mine discovered in history. More than a thousand kilograms of gold sand can be mined every year alone.

There are more gold mines on the island, mainly located in the east, which is not Deng Youzhang's territory.

Let’s put it this way, after Madagascar became independent, using the most primitive gold mining methods, the annual gold output was five tons—this was what was left after the French colonists mined it.

Xie Yuan said: "Make a list of the Chinese people who have drifted to the island, and write down their hometown addresses. Your family members have all received pensions, and this money will not be taken back. Give me the gold. After that, each of your families will be given fifty taels, and the rest will be confiscated. I will also take your gold, muskets, and horses and leave some for you."

"This is such a good sentiment, but there is a shortage of war horses on the island!" Deng Youzhang was overjoyed.

Xie Yuan reminded: "All the stallions in the army have been gelded. On the way back, I will help you contact the King of Oman and ask him to send ships for trade regularly. You can exchange gold with him and buy some stallions for breeding." I will leave you a few cavalry officers and veterinarians from the mission. You must learn to ride and raise horses as soon as possible, and you will have to rely on yourself from now on."

To be honest, the Chinese court is not very enthusiastic about overseas gold and silver mines.

Gold and silver mines were discovered in Luzon and Borneo, so Zhao Han sent mining experts to take a look around. Since it was not a rich mine, the imperial court did not bother to interfere. It only sent officials to manage and collect taxes. The gold and silver in the mine was open to immigrants, and the mine was purely used to attract immigrants.

Of course, the prospecting team has not withdrawn and is still looking for rich ores in overseas territories with high wages.

Various poor mines in the country have also been closed down one after another and restored to cultivated land or mountain forests. Unlike when the country was first founded, everything was in short supply. As long as there were mines, they would mine them. No matter how small the legs of mosquitoes were, they were still meat.

Seeing that the rainy season was approaching, Xie Yuan did not stay any longer. When Deng Youzhang came up with the list, he dropped some supplies and left.

Three hundred muskets, some ammunition, and two hundred horses were left behind.

One bad thing about the island is that every Chinese New Year must be during the rainy season. There is no way to celebrate together at all. Chinese people can only eat sumptuously at home, and the real big festival will have to wait until summer.

The twenty-four solar terms have also become symbols. As an idea, they cannot guide agricultural production at all.

The territory currently controlled by Deng Youzhang has a tropical plateau climate and a tropical grassland climate, which is not as uncomfortable as a tropical rain forest. Tropical diseases occasionally occur, but they only kill a few old friends, especially from May to October, which is very cool and dry.

Cool and dry, it's a good time for a fight!

Generally, the rice harvest is completed before mid-May, and it will be delayed until late May at the latest.

After obtaining the supplies, they went through a long rainy season and prepared to send troops after harvesting the rice.

There are two targets they want to attack, one in the south and one in the north.

The north is called Mahevatanana, which is a mountainous area with a large gold mine. Of course, everyone does not know that there is gold, because even the indigenous people do not know it. The purpose of attacking there was purely for expansion, and it was easy to march along the river valley.

The southern part is called Marulinta and is located in the alluvial plain of the river. The area along the river is very suitable for farming, while the area a little further away from the river is all grassland.

The Northern Route Army was led by Li Luosheng, the magistrate and city lord in the north. Deng Youzhang sent 100 cavalry and 100 muskets. Although everyone has just learned how to ride a horse, it is enough to deal with the natives. After all, the natives on the island have never seen cavalry.

The South Route Army was personally led by Deng Youzhang, with one hundred cavalry and more than two hundred musketeers, and was invincible on the island.

Passing through the plateau and hilly areas, there is grassland all ahead.

There are also two Chinese city lords in the grassland area. They built their city by the river, and while farming, they also raised a large number of livestock. Mainly hump cattle, the type of zebu cattle in India. They also raised some goats. There were no sheep here yet, so Deng Youzhang planned to introduce some.

Supplies were hauled by ox carts, and were constantly joined by indigenous troops along the way.

The military strength is definitely sufficient. Ordering the indigenous tribes to follow suit is to make the indigenous tribes remember their obligations and to continuously demonstrate the force of the Chinese people. It doesn’t take too much, just 10 to 30 troops from each tribe, and a small amount of loot will be distributed to them after the war.

After marching for a full month, we finally reached the target area.

Deng Youzhang also asked some domestic shipbuilders to build more large ships, so that they could trade in Africa and send troops more easily. For example, the current target is on the seaside and can be reached in two or three days by boat. There is no need to march for a month.

The weather is cool, but relatively dry.

The rainy season two months ago made the grassland full of green, and some small tribes can already be seen in the periphery. They are nomadic and change their pastures regularly, but they also have their own so-called "royal court", which is actually the residence of the chief tribe.

"Governor, let me kill him!" Deng Anshun volunteered.

This is a 21-year-old indigenous boy who was adopted when he was a few years old. Chinese is his mother tongue.

Deng Youzhang nodded: "Take twenty cavalry with you."

Twenty indigenous teenagers, the youngest of whom was only 16 years old, rushed forward on war horses. Before they set off, they only trained riding skills for more than ten days. After marching all the way, I had to adapt to riding on horseback every day, but I was afraid that the horse would be tired, so I only rode for two or three hours a day.

When the indigenous herdsmen saw the cavalry coming, they didn't know what kind of monster it was. They were so frightened that they turned around and ran away, not even taking their own cattle and sheep.

Deng Anshun rushed over and caught a few herdsmen, and forced him to find out where the tribal leader's tent was. Then he galloped forward on his horse. He loved riding horses, it felt so good, and he thought he was born to be a cavalryman.

When the leader of a small tribe encountered the cavalry, he could not escape and could only kneel down and beg for mercy.

Deng Anshun raised his sword and scolded: "We are soldiers under the command of the Governor of China. We must either surrender to the Governor or be killed by me. It's your choice!"

"Submit, I will bring the tribe to submit..." The tribal leader agreed repeatedly, and then went out with ten young men to accompany the army.

Deng Anshun was riding on horseback with his head held high, and he felt superior to the natives who could not speak Chinese.

Since he was a child, he has heard from his adoptive father and teachers that there is a celestial China in the far east, where everything is available, there are 10,000 times more people than here, and the food is 10,000 times better than here. The natives on the island are all remnants of the Celestial Empire. They have forgotten to speak Chinese for too long. Only by learning to speak Chinese can they regain their identity as people of the Celestial Empire.

Deng Anshun is already a citizen of the Celestial Empire because he can speak Chinese and write Chinese characters. His educational level is roughly equivalent to not graduating from elementary school. Due to the lack of textbooks, the teachers just teach whatever comes to mind.

After bringing the leader of the tribe back, Deng Anshun rode up to Deng Youzhang: "Governor, will the emperor send someone here? When can I return to China?"

"Do you want to go to China?" Deng Youzhang asked with a smile.

Deng Anshun nodded and said: "The teacher said that China is our motherland, and our ancestors came from there a long time ago. I just want to see if there is not enough food to eat there."

Deng Youzhang said: "Next time the envoy comes, you can follow the envoy back to the country to see the emperor."

"Great!" Deng Anshun was excited.

A few days later, the expeditionary force arrived at the location of the tribal alliance.

This is a large gathering place with an earthen city. Thousands of people live in and around the city. There is a large amount of farmland in the river alluvial plain.

Deng Youzhang was not in a hurry to attack the city. He had already had experience in dealing with such large tribes.

Sure enough, seeing that they only had a few hundred troops, the alliance chiefs urgently summoned troops to go out of the city to fight. There was no time for the surrounding tribes to gather troops, civilians and slaves took up arms, and about 2,000 people came to kill them.

Finally he could open his guns and fire weapons. Deng Youzhang missed the days when there was plenty of ammunition.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

There were more than a hundred musketeers, many of whom were adopted sons of natives. They used casual marksmanship and fired randomly from a long distance.

A volley of guns was fired, and only a few enemy soldiers fell.

But this was enough to cause panic, and the natives had no idea what was going on. Near the man who was shot and fell to the ground, the native soldiers retreated, thinking that the deceased had been possessed by witchcraft.

Immediately afterwards, the cavalry officers left behind by Xie Yuan led a hundred novice cavalry around in a chaotic manner around the flanks.

"Charge!"

One hundred cavalry suddenly came from the side. The indigenous army, which had no formation at all, began to collapse in panic. They did not dare to resist the charging monster.

The battle to bully the natives is really lackluster and boring as hell.

However, indigenous states have been established in the central plateau of Madagascar. Its capital, Antananarivo, has a population of nearly 50,000, including residents outside the city. The capital with a population of 50,000 is enough to prove that the country is strong and the handicraft industry is relatively developed.

At that time, it would be slightly interesting to fight with the indigenous countries.

Unfortunately, there is a mountain range between the two forces. If Deng Youzhang wanted to get there, he would have to go around from the north or the south. Counting the rugged mountain roads, the actual distance was equivalent to walking from Nanjing to Beijing.

After taking this city, they conquered another piece of territory.

An old brother from China was appointed as the magistrate of this city and was responsible for managing the surrounding tribes.

It is really a feudal system. Li Luosheng in the north has the strength to expand on his own and does not need Deng Youzhang's help at all.

Even if the imperial court takes over the island in the future, these people will always be local big families, controlling countless farmland and pastures. And through marriage, they have inextricable ties with the indigenous tribes.