Chapter 218: Chinese Workers (Updated today! Please subscribe and support)

In September 1864, the most talked about topic in Lima was probably the American Company and the fleet anchored in the harbor. In the past few days, in order to welcome the arrival of this fleet, the president even held a grand ball to welcome these guests from afar.

Even if most of these guests are Indians... no, Chinese, so what? They came with warships, and most Peruvians are of Turkish and Spanish descent. Even if it's like all South American countries, the upper class has whiter skin. But it doesn't matter. The problem now is that Peru needs their help.

People are always pragmatic. Can skin color help them resist the invasion of the Spanish?

No, but America's fleet can.

It is for this reason that the president and politicians of Peru constantly promote "friendship among Americans" in newspapers, and at the same time satirize Chile's betrayal of America.

In a word, under the official propaganda of Peru, the Americana Company is part of America, and the local Chinese immigrants are of course Americans.

In the eyes of the Indians, these "Americans" were even more friendly than Hispanic immigrants. After witnessing the white people's politeness to the sailors, they couldn't help but feel envious, and some even took the initiative to learn Chinese.

Not only did the Indians feel this change, even Gu Zhijie and his friends also found that everything seemed to be changing.

The police who used to be arrogant in front of them have now become very polite when speaking.

"Mr. Gu, you are busy."

Seeing the patrolling policeman leave politely, Gu Zhijie's expression became a little strange. After a while, he spoke.

"Have you noticed that these people seem to be different from the past?"

“It’s quite different.”

Li Laishun squinted his eyes, looked into the harbor, looked at the three large black warships, and said.

"Perhaps, it's because of those warships."

"It's not a possibility, it's definitely a possibility!"

Li Sanbao put the rag aside and said with some pride.

"I say, Brother Laishun, have you gone out and taken a look? Ever since the warship of the Amelia Company arrived here, the people who used to look down on us have now been very polite to us. Why? It's because the officers and soldiers on the warship are Chinese, and we are also Chinese..."

In the past, no one took the Chinese seriously. But now it was different. Ever since the fleet came, even though it was not sent from the Qing Dynasty, the Peruvians looked up to them because most of the officers and soldiers on board were Chinese.

He became more polite in his words and deeds.

"Chinese..."

Gu Zhijie looked up at the bay, was silent for a moment, and then spoke.

"Do you think they will help us?"

"Help us?"

Without asking, you know what this "help us" means. It is not to help them, but to help those Chinese workers who are still suffering.

Li Sanbao glanced at the hat Gu Zhijie was wearing, pursed his lips, thought for a while, and then said.

"Master Gu, if you cut your braids, maybe they will really help us. After all, we are also Chinese, we just have one more braid than the soldiers..."

He has one more braid than the soldiers!

It’s not mentioned that the general doesn’t have braids!

The official didn’t have a braid, and even his appearance looked a bit like a foreigner.

But even without pigtails, they still look Chinese and speak Mandarin.

If not them, who else can we ask?

"…the evil barbarians rely on their wealth to bully the poor, lose their conscience and disregard reason, regard contracts as old paper, and treat people's lives as worthless. They are stingy with food, clothing, and wages, and show no sympathy for those who are exhausted and tired. They often make harsh demands on them, beat and scold them, or work hard in shackles, or farm in hunger and cold…"

After Gu Zhijie finished reading the letter for help, the dozen or so Chinese workers kneeling on the deck all knelt down and prayed.

"We are all Qing people who were deceived by the Peruvians and brought here more than ten years ago. The Peruvians treated us extremely cruelly. After eight years of labor, only one person out of a thousand could survive. Today, there are still tens of thousands of our compatriots trapped in various places in Peru. Please save us from suffering!"

"My fellow countrymen, please stand up quickly, please stand up quickly..."

Li Xuelin quickly stretched out his hand and said.

"Please stand up and speak,"

In any case, he never expected to encounter such a thing as soon as he arrived in Lima. Before they could support the Peruvians, Chinese workers came to accuse the Peruvians of their crimes.

But something seems to be wrong!

Even if Li Xuelin sympathized with these people's plight, what could he do?

The fleet is Nanhua’s fleet, the navy is Nanhua’s navy, but they... are Qing people!

Of course, Li Xuelin also came from there, but when the Qing people were bullied and abused abroad, shouldn't the Qing Dynasty intervene? Nanhua intervened... It was not legal!

"Everyone!"

Mario stepped forward and said.

"Ma is the plenipotentiary envoy to Peru this time. My master knows about the abuse and oppression you have suffered, and is extremely angry. However, as you need, the fleet is the Nanhua fleet, and you are... people from the Qing Dynasty. It is really inconvenient for us to come forward!"

The official's refusal made Gu Zhijie and others change their expressions. Just when they were looking desperate, they heard Mario say.

"However, this is not difficult to do. Are you willing to become a naturalized citizen of Nanhua?"

In fact, before Mario came to Peru, he had already received a secret message from South China, asking him to use this visit to completely solve the problem of Chinese workers in Peru.

Although Zhu Xianhai asked Ao Guanhai to lead people to rob a wave of Chinese workers on Chincha Island, he was unable to rescue tens of thousands of Chinese workers in the plantations in Peru. In the past two or three years, Peru has introduced tens of thousands of Chinese workers. What kind of life do these Chinese workers live? They are treated like slaves. These Chinese workers are forced to do dangerous work, and their treatment is even more horrible.

Perhaps to the Qing Dynasty, these Chinese workers were the so-called "abandoned people of the Celestial Empire", but to Nanhua, these Chinese workers were precious wealth, there were tens of thousands of them!

And there are tens of thousands of young and strong laborers. If they are given tools, they can be road workers or farmers. If they are given guns, they can be soldiers. If they are given women, they can be reproductive machines... Well, in short, they can help China conquer this land.

How could we give up such help? Of course not.

Become a naturalized citizen of Nanhua?

In fact, it is to solve the problem from a legal perspective. Of course, for Gu Zhijie and others, they have no idea what it means to become a Nanhua citizen. The only thing they care about is that after becoming a Nanhua citizen, they will have a backer. In fact, this is probably the reason why many Chinese workers in North America join gangs, just to find a backer.

The so-called naturalization is actually very simple. It is nothing more than issuing a passport. In fact, in this era, people can travel between countries with or without a passport. The so-called passport is actually just a piece of paper. However, in less than an hour, Gu Zhijie and others became citizens of Nanhua, or citizens of Linhai City of America Company.

After they completed their naturalization, they immediately rewrote the "petition". The petition was no longer asking for justice, but asking the authorities to rescue their relatives who were "imprisoned" in the Chincha Islands and Peruvian plantations.

(End of this chapter)