Chapter 1016 1107 Food
Later that day, Deng Zilong received a message from Wang Wanggao in the military tent. He had received more than a thousand pirate captives from the Yi people's captive camp and was escorting them back to the Ming army's prisoner camp.
Although he achieved his goal, Deng Zilong was not happy, not because the Yi people handed over all the captives, but because there was not much food and grass in the Ming army camp.
Although King Bakker of Sulu brought enough food for 5,000 troops to eat for a month, some time had been delayed before the attack was launched, and the more than a thousand local soldiers they had recruited earlier had almost eaten the food they brought.
Previously, Deng Zilong sent people to collect food and grass from the surrounding tribes, but the people who came back today reported that the results were minimal and they did not get enough food supplies.
The food and grass that the Ming army camp can use now is only enough for the army's needs for less than half a month.
You know, there are more than 7,000 people on the Ming army side now, and the daily consumption is huge. If the food and grass cannot be replenished as soon as possible, the army will be worried.
Just like after bombarding Daimao City for two days and launching several tentative attacks, Deng Zilong was worried that it would be difficult to capture Linfeng in a short time.
After all, the sea route to Linfeng has been cut off, and the pirates in the city have been forced into a desperate situation.
Only by fighting back and resisting the attacks of the Ming army and the Spanish coalition can they have a glimmer of hope.
In fact, the resources on Luzon Island are still very rich, but the local natives are relatively lazy and do not have the awareness of the Han people to be prepared for danger in times of peace, so naturally there is no need to talk about storing food.
For them, if there is not enough food, they will go to the woods to find a way to pick some wild fruits and vegetables to fill their stomachs and survive the most difficult time.
Therefore, it is indeed difficult to collect food from those tribes on a large scale.
As for the main force of the navy led by Yu Dayou, although they can probably bring some food, I believe it will be difficult to sustain for too long.
If so, they can only launch a strong attack before the food runs out.
However, such tactics and strategies have always been taboos for Chinese military strategists. In ancient China, wars were all about striving to achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost.
Although the Lin Feng pirate group suffered a great loss in strength with the attack of the Ming army and the Spaniards, Lin Feng has now moved all the firearms in his hands onto the walls of the Daimao City, and the lethality is also good.
The tentative attacks of the Ming army and the Spaniards all suffered certain casualties, which is enough to show this.
These pirates were able to hit the enemy ships with their cannons in the swaying state at sea, and they would naturally be more accurate when firing cannons after landing.
Fortunately, although some losses were caused, in each attack, whether it was the Ming army or the Spaniards, they led the vassal army to fight with a small number of their own soldiers, or commanded them to fight, so the most casualties were still those recruited vassal soldiers.
But even so, it was enough to make Deng Zilong and Savella feel distressed for a long time.
After all, these dead and injured people all had to pay.
If they didn't, there would definitely be no next time.
Although these Philippine natives are lazy, they remember grudges. It is difficult to cheat them again after being cheated once.
This is also the experience and lesson of the Spanish in the past two years. It is not easy to fool them.
At least before the Spanish are weak on the island, they still cannot turn against them.
The best way is to win them over with money and let them work hard. Anyway, they will make a lot of money after the output is shipped back to Europe.
Although Miguel did not tell Deng Zilong about this, the Ming army also knew these things from the Chinese scattered throughout Luzon.
"King Baker, I wonder if Sulu can prepare a batch of food?"
At this time, Deng Zilong greeted the King of Sulu in the military tent and asked him for a solution.
"General Deng, the superiors have given the order, and our Sulu country will naturally go all out to collect food for the army.
It's just that our Sulu country is small and has few people. Usually, the army is scattered everywhere to collect food, and there is not much food stored in the country."
Baker lowered his head and thought for a while before saying: "In fact, there is a way. I will send people back to transport all the food that can be collected in the country. In addition, the general can let my subordinates send more than a thousand people to go fishing at the seaside.
In fact, the food of the people of our Sulu country mostly depends on the output of the vast ocean.
With the catch from fishing, the army should be able to support it for a while.
And the Luzon people recruited by the general before can also be separated to let them collect food nearby.
For hundreds of years, everyone has actually come here this way."
After listening to Baker's words, although doing so will disperse the combat power of the Ming army, it seems to be the best way in the case that it is difficult to conquer the Daimao City in the short term.
Now the Ming army and the Spanish coalition forces can block Lin Feng and his men in the Tortoise City with their artillery and bird guns, and they cannot get out.
As for getting in, well, it seems that the Ming army and the Spanish do not want to spend this effort.
The power of artillery in this era is indeed a little bit less when it comes to city walls.
The Ming army also tried to bombard the city gate, but the inside of the city gate was obviously blocked by the pirates with soil. After breaking the city gate, it was still difficult to rush in smoothly.
For this, the Ming army also lost a cannon, which made Deng Zilong feel painful for a long time.
At this time, Deng Zilong also realized the problem. The Ming army seemed to have gathered a strong force, but it seemed to be of little use in the face of the tortoise-shell-like Tortoise City.
Unless he attacked regardless of casualties, but Deng Zilong did not want to try the consequences of doing so.
The ultimate goal of the Ming Dynasty was to gain a foothold in Luzon, and it was not good to do things that harmed others and benefited oneself too much.
As for what Bucker said, sending soldiers to collect food in the woods and fish on the beach would definitely increase the risk of exposure to the army, and it didn't seem to be a good idea.
But after thinking about it carefully, it seems that there is no solution.
When he was in trouble, Wang Wanggao suddenly ran in from outside the military tent, holding a bunch of sweet potatoes in his hand.
Yes, Deng Zilong knows sweet potatoes. He has seen and eaten them in Manila.
It was true that it was sweet and delicious, but even for him, the Spaniards were not willing to let him take away the raw sweet potatoes and sweet potato vines.
Although Li Jin has obtained some sweet potato vines, he still doesn’t know whether they can be grown in Ming Dynasty.
All I can say is that there is hope.
Now that Wang Wangao is holding a bunch of sweet potatoes in his hand, can he not be surprised? There are even sweet potato vines on them.
"Wang Baihu, where did the sweet potatoes in your hand come from?"
Deng Zilong asked hurriedly.
“Sir, these are from the fields outside.
According to the prisoners, after Lin Feng built the city here, he took in several local indigenous people, and they brought this sweet potato vine.
I heard that this thing can be grown in large quantities, and it doesn't need to be carefully taken care of. It can be grown in large quantities, which is one of the few benefits brought to the Yi people.
Many tribes now grow some of it as their food rations.
Previously, Lin Feng had people go to nearby tribes to exchange some cloth for some, and then planted them in the surrounding fields.
Originally, if we had attacked later, they would have taken these harvests and retreated to Tortoiseshell City. "
Wang Wanggao loudly told Deng Zilong the news he heard from the prisoners, with a beaming face.
"You mean, Lin Feng planted a lot of sweet potatoes in the fields outside the city? Are they still harvestable?"
Deng Zilong also said in surprise.
Just now, I was still troubled by the lack of rations for the army. Who knew that Wang Wanggao would bring such a huge surprise to him when he came back from grabbing some prisoners.
"You can harvest now, but it seems best if you wait another half month. Some sweet potatoes are still growing and can grow bigger."
Wang Wanggao said hurriedly.
"Immediately send someone to find those who know how to grow sweet potatoes, and ask them to continue planting sweet potatoes until they can be harvested."
Deng Zilong shouted happily.
Of course he could afford to wait half a month.
In fact, the food in the Ming army's military camp can support the growth of this batch of sweet potatoes. Even if it is not enough, it is not impossible to harvest a small amount in advance.
"By the way, are you asking if these sweet potato vines can continue to grow sweet potatoes? If they can, then these people must continue to grow them. The more they grow, the better."
Deng Zilong continued to give instructions.
His consideration was naturally to prepare for the garrison in Luzon in the future.
The Ming army was stationed in Luzon, but it was impossible for military supplies to be transported here from the Ming Dynasty.
Being able to collect food locally is naturally the best solution, and sweet potatoes seem to be a very good crop.
There is also rice on Luzon, but the production is not large because the locals are not very good at growing these things.
Those who mastered the planting technology were mostly Song people who escaped from China in the early years.
However, except for the initial stage, after they became familiar with the Luzon environment, most of them turned to business, which made more money and was easier.
As for the planting technology they mastered, there is naturally no word about it.
Therefore, the locals in Luzon are still growing rice in traditional ways, or in other words, they are resigned to fate and do not understand how to cultivate intensively to increase yields.
As for the rice they planted, apart from what was brought by the Song people in the early years, the rest was a reward given to the king of Luzon by Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, including agricultural products from the Ming Dynasty.
After generations of planting, we can still continue planting by saving seeds.
Ancient grain seeds were collected from the wild without the blessing of various technologies from later generations. Especially after the development of genetic technology, humans have been able to intervene in the growth and development of seeds and control the extinction of seeds.
Yes, because of the so-called technological inputs and future generations of seeds, farmers can only purchase them through qualified seed management agencies every year.
It is almost wishful thinking to continue planting by saving seeds.
It is said that not only the quality of the crops saved will be reduced, but the yield will also be extremely low or even impossible.
Improved seeds that have not been processed and can be used as seeds are considered highly confidential and will not be sold to the outside world at all.
Although technology has advanced and food production has increased, for some unknown reason, everyone is increasingly worried about the crops produced from such seeds.
Especially for genetically modified crops, it seems that except for the United States and China, other major countries in the world, especially Europe, have explicitly banned the import of genetically modified foods.
In China, people actually can’t tell which foods are genetically modified and which are not.
Although regulations require accurate identification, there are always unscrupulous businesses who cheat.
Correspondingly, in the United States, because of the heavy penalties for such fraud, not many businesses dare to do so.
Wang Wanggao also understood Deng Zilong's orders instantly.
He knew Ming's plan and planned to live here permanently, so the purpose of leaving the sweet potato field was self-evident.
"Yes, sir, I will go down and do this right now."
Wang Wanggao clasped his fists and said, "But sir, I asked you before I came here. It's not difficult to grow these sweet potatoes. You can just cut these sweet potatoes into several pieces or cut off a good sweet potato vine."
"That's good. The sweet potato vines Li Jin brought back look like they can be used to grow sweet potatoes."
Deng Zilong said with a smile.
"It's hard to say whether it can be planted after it has been soaked in the sea."
Wang Wanggao replied.
They also learned from Li Jin how he took the sweet potato vines away. Anyway, it was a bit dangerous.
"Bake these sweet potatoes and bring them to me."
Deng Zilong ordered happily.
"Okay, sir, please wait a moment, Your Majesty, please wait a moment, I will have someone bake the sweet potatoes."
Wang Wanggao said to Baker with a smile, and then took the sweet potatoes out of the military tent.
"Has King Baker eaten this sweet potato?"
After the arrangements were made here, Deng Zilong remembered that there was still the King of Sulu in the tent, and hurriedly said to him.
"I bought sweet potatoes from the Yi people merchants and ate them. The roasted sweet potatoes are indeed sweet and delicious."
Baker said.
"Does the Sulu Kingdom grow a lot of sweet potatoes?"
Deng Zilong asked with a smile.
"No, this thing has only been introduced from Luzon for more than a year, and not many people eat it here.
As for the sweet potatoes I bought from the barbarian merchants, the price is also high, just for the novelty."
Baker replied.
"The king might as well let his people grow them. It is said that this thing is easy to grow and the yield is also good.
As for the taste, Your Majesty has also eaten it, so I won't say much."
Deng Zilong returned to his seat and sat down, and continued.
But in an instant, Deng Zilong seemed to realize something, and the smile on his face suddenly disappeared. He looked at Baker with wide eyes and asked: "King Baker, did you say that the barbarian merchants sold you sweet potatoes, were they roasted or raw?"
"Of course they were raw."
Although he was a little curious about the changes in Deng Zilong's expression, Baker still told the truth.
"Hum."
Hearing Baker's answer, Deng Zilong did not comment, but he hummed in dissatisfaction.
"Is General Deng dissatisfied?"
No matter how stupid Baker was, he knew that there must be something strange, so he asked.
"The barbarians sell sweet potatoes to your country, but they forbid our Ming merchants to take them away."
Deng Zilong explained the reason, which puzzled Baker.
In Sulu, it seems that there is no such restriction on the barbarians selling things to them. In fact, there are already people in Sulu who grow sweet potatoes.
"I'm afraid the barbarians have ambitions for your country."
Deng Zilong just said lightly.
Baker was silent, lowered his head for a while before saying: "General, when I first came here, I told you that the barbarians seemed to have great ambitions for land.
In fact, I noticed it earlier, so when I saw the envoys from the upper country, I hurried over."
Deng Zilong waved his hand and smiled: "King Baker, don't worry, our Great Ming Emperor will not let the vassal state be bullied by the barbarians.
This Luzon is originally a vassal of our Great Ming, and the court has sent a governor to help it develop.
The barbarians say they can occupy it, but it's not that easy. Let's wait for this matter. When the news comes back, the court will definitely have an explanation."
Deng Zilong made preparations in advance to prevent the Ming Dynasty from stationing troops in Luzon and causing Sulu to worry again.