I founded a heavy industry group in the late Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 64 Changes on Dalu Island

Chapter 65 Changes on Dalu Island

Chapter 064 Shahe Guard Commandery Office. Chen Ying finally realized the benefits of institutional promotion. He could openly promote his confidants. It was impossible to just make them do the work without giving them benefits.

When he was in the Shahe Garrison Command, his command system consisted of only a handful of people. However, the Wei Commandery was completely different. It had four people in charge of military affairs, responsible for military training, discipline management, land reclamation, and various other matters.

More importantly, these hereditary military officers, similar to civil servants in later generations, could only inherit their positions through examinations. Some were greedy, some were ruthless, but the problem was that they all had a certain foundation.

The current Shahe Guard, from top to bottom, is very obedient because Chen Ying can decide whether they are hungry or have enough to eat.

"The rules in Shahewei are different from those elsewhere. Here, as long as you are able to work and are willing to put in the effort, you will have a full meal, clothes to wear, and a place to live. Those with good skills will receive even better treatment."

After three days of investigation, Chen Ying convened the first meeting of officers with more than one hundred households. He then said, "From today onwards, there will be no idle people in Shahe Guard. The elderly, women, and anyone who can move must be given work. Those who know how to make bricks and tiles, go make bricks and tiles; those who know how to spin thread, go spin thread; those who know how to weave cloth, go weave cloth!"

"You've all been starving for too long, and you're terrified of hunger. But I, Chen Ying, am making this clear today: since the imperial court has incorporated you into Shahe Guard, you've become my soldiers, and you must abide by my rules!"

Chen Ying looked at the officers and said, "I will not inquire about or investigate your past conduct, but now that you are officers of the Shahe Guard, you must stop exploiting your soldiers and embezzling funds. Li Cheng!"

"Your humble servant is here!"

"You will serve as the Left Garrison Commander, in charge of military affairs and criminal cases within this garrison."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

"Zhang Changgeng!"

"Your humble servant is here. You will serve as the Right Garrison Commander, responsible for supervising the officers of this garrison to ensure they are not involved in any illegal or disorderly conduct, and for overseeing the affairs of all departments within this garrison!"

"yes!"

Chen Ying continued, "I won't watch you starve to death, but I'm just one person, and I can't conjure up food out of thin air. Our Shahe Guard is severely lacking in military farmland. Apart from a few military households responsible for cultivating the land, everyone else is responsible for workshops and construction. I urge you to put in your strength and skills and work with me to rebuild Shahe Guard and make a living! We won't rely on heaven or earth, we'll rely on our own two hands!"

A strange fire ignited in the eyes of the officers, and they rose to their feet, saying, "We are ready to obey your orders, Commander! We will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Faced with the survival pressure of tens of thousands of people, Chen Ying had no choice but to use his special skills. Originally, he only wanted to develop slowly, but the problem was that with so many people, he couldn't proceed step by step.

Every grain of rice must be carefully calculated. Chen Yingyuan expanded the city walls, workshops, and schools using traditional techniques. He first cooked glutinous rice into a thick soup, then mixed it with quicklime and limestone (or river sand) to create a binding material called glutinous rice mortar. Houses or city walls built in this way were very sturdy.

That won't work now. We have to make clay cement. Actually, the technology for making clay cement is not complicated. After firing the cement, we can not only save a lot of glutinous rice, but also create a flagship product that can be sold to the outside world.

Of course, more importantly, he needs to change his development plan. On Dalu Island, Chen Ying only wanted to establish a smelting and shipbuilding base, but now he is preparing to produce salt.

Even though he knew that drying salt would damage the interests of salt merchants and offend the Donglin Party, Chen Ying didn't care about that now. However, in order to pursue profits, Chen Ying did not dry ordinary coarse salt.

Instead, they used cement to pave the salt fields, and through this easy-to-clean, corrosion-resistant, and low-impurity process, they produced snow salt. After arrangements were made, the more than 50,000 military households of Xingzhou Zhongtunwei were quickly relocated.

The military households of Zhongtunwei in Xingzhou were even more honest and simple than Chen Ying had imagined. They were very enthusiastic about their work. To be fair, when these people arrived at Shahewei, Chen Ying did not assign them any positions; they all enjoyed the treatment of apprentices.

The problem is that no one complained. The treatment Chen Ying gave them was beyond their expectations. They had food to eat and grain to take with them. What more could they ask for?

When it comes to treatment, the real problem is comparison. Compared to his peers in the Ming Dynasty, Chen Ying is already considered to have achieved great success.

As Shahewei gradually got back on track after a period of adjustment, Chen Ying had to face the problem of expanding his army, which also gave him a major headache.

Despite having over 50,000 men, Xingzhou Zhongtunwei couldn't select many military households; their bodies had already been hollowed out.

Some people may appear tall and have large frames, but due to long-term malnutrition and heavy physical labor, their vital energy is depleted, and they develop hunchbacks at a young age.

They should be given at least six months or even longer to recover. The problem is that today is a crucial year for Nurhaci to unify Eastern Mongolia. If the Tianqi Emperor hadn't given Chen Ying military power and had just made him a foreman, he would have obediently developed the region. But now he's given the Shahe Guard and is being asked to train 7,000 new soldiers.

Chen Ying naturally wanted to undermine Nurhaci. Once the new army was trained, he would take them on a trip to the Mongolian grasslands, since the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

"Brother-in-law————"

"Use your job title during work hours!"

"Yes, Commander!"

Song Xianze, holding the account book, said, "I've done a rough calculation. The gap on Dalu Island is—not small."

"How many?"

"At least two hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"I'll figure out the money problem!"

Chen Yingdao said, "Shahe is now on the right track, but I'm really worried about Dalu Island!"

"Commander, leave this to me!"

"Um!"

On June 26th of the fourth year of the Tianqi reign, Chen Ying led Wang Tiezhu and more than 1,300 others, along with over 100 large carts, to Tianjin. After meeting with Gan Yanshou, and with Gan Yanshou's help, Chen Ying hired 20 ships fully loaded with grain and goods to set sail for Dalu Island.

You should stand at the bow of the ship, with the sea breeze blowing in your face.

Three days later, at the Dalu Island pier.

When the fleet docked, Chen Ying stared at Dalu Island in disbelief.

He even doubted whether he had come to the wrong place. At this time, the original dock on Dalu Island had been expanded three or four times, and a dock with six ships was under construction, housing six large ocean-going vessels.

More importantly, the docks were piled high with timber, making the entire island look like a huge construction site. The population had also increased significantly, and a city three times the size of Gonghua City was beginning to take shape.

Chen Jide bowed and said, "Greetings, Commander!"

Wang Tiezhu patted Chen Jide on the shoulder and said, "This is our Shahe Guard Commander!"

"ah----"

Chen Ying said with some confusion, "Chen Jide, you've done a great job. I didn't expect you to have such ability, building such a magnificent Dalu Island in just over two months!"

"Commander, this—"

Chen Jide became somewhat embarrassed: "This is not my doing—"

"If it wasn't your achievement, then it must be Da Niu's. Does he really have that ability?"

Chen Ying still finds it hard to believe.

Chen Daniu lowered his voice and said, "Miss Su did this!"

"Su Mei?"

"That's right, it's her!"

Chen Daniu lowered his voice and said, "She used the adults' name to command the entire island."

Through Chen Daniu's introduction, Chen Ying discovered that Su Mei was actually a female strategist.