agricultural development, Zheng Jing advised commoners to replace their grass huts with houses made of wood and baked tiles. He ordered temples worshiping the Buddha and local Fujianese deities to be constructed. An Imperial Academy and Confucian Shrine were established in 1665 and 1666. A regular civil service examination system was implemented for selecting talent to manage Taiwanese affairs. Chinese language schools for both the Chinese and indigenous populations were opened to break Dutch and indigenous influences. Chinese cultural hegemony was promoted in concert with territorial expansion to the south and east. According to the poet Shen Guangwen, Zheng Jing disbanded the troops and turned them into military colonies. Shen and other literati abandoned Zheng Jing once they realized he lacked the ability to retake the mainland and was permanently settling in Taiwan. According to one of Shen's poems, he often looked to the west for good news from the mainland but had to flee north out of fear of alienation from the group. Zheng Jing justified the new direction by saying that in thirty years, Taiwan would be able to compete with the Central Plains. This was not entirely unfounded. According to a 1665 inscription by the poet Wang Zhongxiao: "Once the Imperial Surname [Zheng Chenggong] governed this land, the Chinese people came one after another. In Anping of Dongning, I only see and hear Chinese. The people here are people of the Middle Kingdom, and the soil is the soil of the Middle Kingdom." In later negotiations with the Qing, Zheng Jing described himself as the ruler of the Kingdom of Dongning. He boasted that he had nothing to envy about the Central Lands and that many barbarians paid obeisance to him. Zheng Jing agreed to relations with the Qing based on a model such as Korea, that was functionally independent, but the Qing refused his offer. Agriculture The most immediate problem facing Zheng forces after the successful invasion of Taiwan was a severe shortage of food. It is estimated that prior to the Zheng invasion, the population of Taiwan was no greater than 100,000. The initial Zheng army, their family, and retainers that settled in Taiwan is estimated to be 30,000 at minimum. According to a 1668 memorial to the Qing court, Shi Lang claimed that there were 20,000 to 30,000 Han Chinese in Taiwan under the Dutch. Zheng Chenggong brought with him another 30,000 soldiers and