Chapter 319 New Immigrants

"Come on, you must be a little uncomfortable when you are new here. Here is your medicine. You will be fine in a few days."

"Thank you doctor"

A woman left the clinic with her baby, medicine for her younger son in hand.

"I really don't know why I came here. Life is better, but this place is really not as good as Smyrna."

The female population of Porto Andronico is so small that young girls simply don’t come here unless the whole family comes. In order to allow women to come here, the higher authorities exempted women from paying various taxes.

After local immigrants established themselves, they would bring their families over. Some will also marry Arabs who have converted to Orthodox Christianity, which can be regarded as promoting local integration.

"Marina, how are your children today?"

"It's getting better. The weather here is still a bit uncomfortable for him. It will get better after a while."

Women are few in this town, but they are an integral part. They still need to solve all kinds of trivial matters in life. After all, the town is not pretty if they are all men.

In order to alleviate the physiological needs of immigrants, the brothel industry also developed. Purchasing female captives from Abyssinia to run the business would be acquiesced to by the superiors as long as they did not resign themselves to their fate.

Another immigrant ship arrived, this time with a staggering 250 people, a fifth of whom were women.

"Is this the east?"

said a new immigrant as soon as he set foot on the land. This place is a little different from what he thought, but those lands should be real. After all, he came here to make a living, and Sicily was no longer suitable for him.

The battle between Naples and Aragon in Sicily continued, and some people who wanted to live a quiet life had to leave their homes. When they saw the pie drawn by the East India Company for them, they swallowed it directly and came to this land of the East with their own few possessions.

"Remember, you only have two days to think about it. In two days, the ship will leave for the next stop. If you don't come up by then, you will be considered to have settled here."

The captain told them things to pay attention to. For specific information, they can go to the city hall for consultation. The local residents also welcome them, after all, there are many people in their town.

The Sicilian also followed the crowd to the city hall. Along the way, he looked at the landscape of the new town, which was very different from the Messina city he often visited. Most of the buildings are made of wood, the roads are straight, there are no fountains and only a few wells.

Arriving at the town hall, the chief told them about the immigration rewards at Andronico Port. No one can obtain a certain amount of farmland and pasture, or live in the city in exchange for cash. The first three years are tax-free and they can explore the surroundings freely, but of course their lives are not guaranteed.

Some people backed down after seeing the conditions here, but some gritted their teeth and decided to stay. They started registering here.

"Name?"

"Lewis Parker"

"Are you sure you want to stay?"

"Sure, sure."

City officials registered his name in the register, "Congratulations on becoming a member of the town, Parker."

Parker received a 110-acre land quota from the city hall, and the other party thoughtfully told him where there were pubs and entertainment facilities in the town.

Fortunately, the city hall has a few people who understand Latin, otherwise it would be impossible to immigrate from Western Europe.

Although I have obtained a quota for land reclamation, I still need farm tools, seeds and other supplies, but I have less than 10 lei in my body, so I have to get everything myself.

For the current plan, he had to find a job first. He walked into the tavern, which had the most news. He could find out some job news or where to get credit.

People in the tavern were tasting delicious food, drinking wine, and some were playing dice or bragging loudly. If you weren't sure you were in the East, this place would be no different from a European tavern.

"I've never seen you before. Are you new here?"

The tavern owner looked at Parker. The new face and clothes he had never seen before must be a newcomer.

"Yes, it is!"

Parker learned a little Romanian, but only to give simple answers.

After hearing the affirmative answer, the tavern owner shouted at the top of his lungs. "Everyone, a new guy is here, let's welcome him!"

The tavern burst into cheers. After all, there were new people joining here, and they naturally welcomed them. Parker looked at them, a little overwhelmed, but still smiled and expressed his gratitude.

"Come on, this is what I asked you to do."

The boss took out a glass of wine and put it in front of him, and Parker also bought an appetizer and started eating it. People around him kept trying to get close to him, and he finally got them busy with other things. Then he asked his boss about the situation here.

"You have asked the right person. Let me tell you, there is a market to the east when you go out. You can buy daily necessities and food there. You can cultivate land to the south and west. But I advise you not to grow food. There is very little water.”

Hearing this, Parker felt a little discouraged. If there is not enough food grown, why should we go hungry?

The boss saw his concerns and said. "Don't worry, there are merchants bringing grain to sell in the market every day. You can buy a little. Of course, you can try to raise some cattle and sheep and grow vegetables. Here, they are the main source of food."

“So, where can I get a job?”

"You can go to the bulletin board in the square and look at the information about people who want to be hired. If you have skills, it will be easier to find a job. There is a shortage of such people here."

Then he asked a few more questions, drank the wine and left.

Although he could stay in a hotel, he had to save money. So he stayed in the stable of the hotel for one night and went to the square to find work early the next morning.

Andronikos finally had 100 people staying. Some of them were merchants, some were explorers, but more were civilians like Parker who wanted to build a family business here.

As the population continued to expand, the speed of local land reclamation and area expansion was also increasing. In order to protect the town and land, the government organized patrols to patrol the city every night. Fearing that those conflicting tribes would come back, this happened several times last year. Some residents' houses were burned and the land was destroyed. The most serious one was that a family of five was killed. This was the worst loss since the city was built.

The commander began to equip the town with artillery and trained the defenders to use muskets and other weapons. The stored supplies were enough for two months. There were also wells and wine cellars in the city, so there was no problem drinking. At present, we still have to recruit immigrants, as they will be needed for future expansion, even if it costs more.