If a certain area is designated for Tanka people to live in, many of them may still have concerns, because the local people's deep-rooted ideas have evolved into inherent discrimination.
But in Mekong Province, while it sounds far, it's not that far. They sometimes go out to sea for fishing and transport, and it's normal for them to travel three to five days. No one there knows they are Tanka people, so there's no discrimination or discrimination.
"Lord Li," a clear female voice rang out. A young woman, hiding in the crowd, asked, "May I ask if Mekong Province is stable and peaceful?"
Li Guozhu glanced around and didn't find the speaker, but he still started to explain: "Mekong Province not only has thousands of Ming troops, but also the Ming navy stationed there, and tens of thousands of immigrants. Do you think it can be considered stable and peaceful?"
"You've all heard of Champa rice, right?" Li Guozhu turned his gaze away, scanning the crowd. "In Mekong Province, we can harvest three crops a year. Just imagine how much food we'd have. If you didn't farm, you could still carry on with your old business. Coming back from fishing and transporting, living in a big house on shore wouldn't be better than staying on a boat, barely able to stretch your legs when you sleep."
The officer looked at the large box of silver dollars and stepped forward to help mobilize the troops. "Lord Li will only stay here for two days and then go to other places to continue recruiting. If you don't seize this opportunity, you will regret it!"
Li Guozhu nodded to the officer to express his gratitude.
"If it's true, this is a great opportunity." The young woman looked at her grandfather expectantly. "Grandpa, let's go ashore and farm. It's too dangerous to make a living on the water."
The old man looked at his granddaughter's expectant eyes and couldn't help but feel soft in his heart. This child has a miserable life. Her parents died at sea. How many more years can his old bones drift on the water?
Li Guozhu finished his explanation and didn't rush anyone further. He simply told everyone to take their time to think about it and then go to his residence to register. There were only two days left, and no one would wait after that.
Regarding the grace bestowed by the emperor on the Li family or the Maritime Merchants Association, Li Guozhu agreed with his adoptive father's idea that such a good opportunity should not be missed and he must go all out.
According to the standards set by the emperor, if you mobilize 2,000 immigrants to Mekong Province, you will be given the official position of a seventh-rank county magistrate; if the number reaches 5,000, you will be given the position of a prefect.
This seems a bit like waving flags to recruit soldiers. The higher the number of people you recruit, the higher the official position you will be given.
Even though he was serving in Mekong Province overseas, it was enough to make many people jealous. However, this grace was only given to the Maritime Merchants Association.
This seems to be a case of buying and selling official positions. Is Wansui so eager to develop Mekong Province that he doesn't even care about his reputation?
Li Guozhu shook his head, getting rid of these thoughts, but his steps became lighter.
…………………….
It is obviously not enough to just use national power for overseas expansion. Or, in other words, the country may not have such abundant financial resources at present.
And is the special policy that the emperor gave to the Maritime Merchants Association limited to the Mekong province?
No one knew that the emperor had already set his sights overseas, on the vast and sparsely populated South Seas region.
Recruiting people to serve as officials in Mekong Province is just a pilot project. In the future, if you can bring people to occupy overseas territories, whether you are a maritime merchant or a powerful and wealthy person, it will be common to be granted titles and official positions.
The expansion of the Ming Dynasty depends not only on the strength of the national army, but also on all the people of the Ming Dynasty. As long as you have great ambitions and dare to expand overseas, the country will support you.
The emperor thought of the example of overseas Chinese who established the Lan Fang Republic. Their innocent hearts were known to the world, but they were not recognized and accepted by the short-sighted and foolish emperor. In the end, they were isolated and destroyed by Western colonizers.
Being confined to the existing land and not striving for progress, don’t you know that the population will increase and increase, and don’t you see the seriousness of land annexation?
Use our swords to win more land for our plows. This is what a famous historical figure said, and the emperor agreed deeply.
In today's world, land is ownerless. Whoever has the biggest fist, who can grab it and hold it firmly, owns it.
In the side hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, a huge sand table is being built, which is almost like a globe being spread out to show the entire world.
They are all mine, all Ming Dynasty's. The emperor often came here, his arms crossed, clasped in front of his chest, gazing at it with great ambition, constantly reminding himself of this.
It would be inaccurate to say that no one understood the emperor's grand ambitions. For example, Li Dan and Yan Siqi, under the emperor's secret instructions, formulated grand plans for future development.
"Xue Lin Ah Feng?!" Yan Siqi's eyes widened. "That's a traitor to the imperial court."
Li Dan's eyes nearly rolled back into his head. He slammed his teacup down on the table and said, "Old Yan, listen to me. Don't talk nonsense. This could cost you your head."
Oh, Yan Siqi looked around and was relieved when he saw that there was no one else around. He stared at Li Dan with his big eyes.
Li Dan took another sip from his teacup, calmed his breath, and then slowly said, "Your Majesty intends to expand into Southeast Asia. This is basically certain. However, Liaodong has not yet been pacified, so he cannot devote his full strength to it. But Your Majesty encourages the people of the Ming Dynasty to emigrate overseas. You are also aware of this, right?"
"I understand." Yan Siqi nodded and said, "Isn't that Mekong Province? Aren't you sending people everywhere to recruit people to get a real official position for Li Guozhu?"
"Mekong Province is just the beginning." Li Dan waved his hand and said, "The Nanyang region is thousands of miles long, and much of it is desolate and ownerless. If ordinary people immigrate overseas, they will have to start from scratch and work hard on their own. What about us—"
Yan Siqi blinked, as if realizing something, and said, "We're different. We can still organize hundreds of ships and thousands of people. If we reach a desolate and ownerless place, we'll be the boss."
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