Chapter 40: Return of the Immigrant Army
The Battle of Lissa was over, but it had little impact on Ernst.
Now, in addition to stepping up the supply of materials to the warring parties, Ernst's main concern is to speed up immigration from the Far East and Europe.
Although the coastal area has cleared the land, there are not enough people to develop such a large area. Except for a few newly developed strongholds with a small population, the vast land in the middle is abandoned.
In order to absorb more immigrants, Ernst sent instructions to the East African colonies, ordering the immigration rate to be increased, and to bring in more people from the Far East, whether by deception or robbery.
…
July 4, 1866. Jiaozhou Bay.
A Dutch fleet passing through East Africa docked in Jiaozhou Bay. Unlike in the past, this time, returning with the staff in charge of immigration affairs of the Hexingen Consortium were some Chinese who had lived in the East African colonies for a long time.
They were the first group of Chinese immigrants to the East African colonies.
Before going to the East African colonies, most of them were pale and thin, unable to get enough food to eat, and almost starved to death. After being recruited by the Germans, they went to sea without too much hesitation.
Now, after nearly a year of recuperation in East Africa, he is no longer as thin as before. His face is rosy and he is in good health. In particular, his eyes reveal an indescribable sense of pride.
When they set foot on the land of their motherland again, they were no longer natives of their homeland. Now they were all registered Germans with household registration in the East African colonies.
It is different from the past. Maybe they were afraid of the local dignitaries before, but now they have the support of the Germans, they feel more confident.
At this moment, they carried guns and negotiated with the Germans and Qing officials.
Now that Germany has not yet been unified, the Hechingen Consortium cannot use the banner of the German Empire. Therefore, in order to intimidate these Qing officials who bully the weak and fear the strong, this group of East African Chinese immigrants with a mission are all armed.
Having received training from German instructors, the Chinese immigrant army responsible for negotiating with foreigners in Jiaozhou Bay looked quite capable.
Although the guns are all outdated muzzle-loading flintlock rifles, the Prussian army is the only one in the world that has replaced its guns with breech-loading flintlock rifles on a large scale. Moreover, these guns are not second-hand goods retired by Prussia, but new guns produced by the Hechingen Arsenal.
Paired with the custom-made colorful Prussian military uniforms, they were simply the Prussian East African division. In the eyes of the Manchu diplomatic officials who came to negotiate, they really had something special. In comparison, the Qing army at that time was simply disciplined and a model of a royal army.
This Manchu official was a port manager in Jiaozhou Bay and had previously known that a so-called "German caravan" had come here to trade.
Because of the troubles caused by Britain, France, and even the Dutch and Portuguese in recent years, Qing officials and merchants from Europe and even ordinary people did not dare to offend them too much.
What if a diplomatic incident occurs and these foreigners find an excuse to declare war? Will the emperor forgive us?
A few years ago, foreigners broke into the Forbidden City from the sea. The Jiaozhou Bay is even less secure than the emperor's palace, and the artillery of the foreign ships is enough to do a lot of damage.
Therefore, in the past, Qing officials turned a blind eye to the actions of the Heixinggen Group's companies, for fear of causing trouble.
The way to be an official is to be flexible, not to seek merit but to avoid mistakes. Usually, Qing officials would help the staff of the Heixinggen Group for fear that foreigners would cause trouble.
But today is different. No matter how incompetent or weak we are, we cannot turn a blind eye. The foreigners who came ashore today brought an army of over a hundred people. What are they going to do?
After receiving the report from the dock spy, the dock management did not dare to neglect it and reported it directly to the government. The highest official of Jiaozhou Port did not dare to come forward, so he sent his deputy "Wang Qiangui" to inquire about the news.
Wang Qiangui cursed in his heart but did not dare to object to his superior. He called a few officers and went to the dock to find out what was going on.
"Mr. Anthony! What is your company doing?" Wang Qiangui asked cautiously.
A staff member of the Heixinggen Consortium named Anthony pulled over Wang Qiangui, who looked disgusted but pretended to be flattered, and said, "Hahaha, Wang, you came at the right time. This is our company's private armed forces. This time they are here mainly to assist our company in recruiting workers throughout North China!"
"Mr. Anthony, although we are all 'friendly countries', we have our own difficulties. After all, your country's army will embarrass the top leaders of our government!"
Wang Qiangui identified the "conspiracy" of these Prussian barbarians at a glance. They were clearly an army, but they said it was a private army? Could this uniform, this posture, this spirit be displayed by a group of servants?
Wang Qiangui was right about the spirit. Many immigrants in the East African colonies had seen blood. After all, the natives would not surrender obediently, so they had to take the initiative to attack.
When the colonies selected Chinese immigrants for their armies, they would give priority to those who had already lived in the colonies for a period of time.
In addition to the fact that their bodies were stronger after a period of recuperation, the main reason was that the colonial high-level officials were more cautious about new immigrants, and these old immigrants were "their own people" who had stood the test of time.
Although the Chinese immigrant army did not speak and lined up neatly behind Anthony, Wang Qiangui still felt a looming murderous aura.
Anthony explained, "King, I know your concerns, but we in Germany came with good intentions. We heard that your country has many people, especially idle people, so we are here to recruit workers as usual! After all, you don't need these people who are unable to work, and we need people to develop the land. If you send your excess population to us in Germany, you will have fewer hidden dangers, right?"
Wang Qiangui was not worried about this. What employment, what overpopulation, what did he know? He was just making a living in the government, at most reading the Four Books and Five Classics and looking at the court newspapers.
"Mr. Anthony, I'm not trying to make things difficult for your country, but this army is difficult to handle! If your army gets into trouble with our unruly people, I won't be able to keep my hat! My family depends on it for food! Can't you please give us some consideration?"
Seeing that Wang Qiangui was not moved by any persuasion, Anthony got angry and said, "I'm giving you face, right?"
"King, I am now solemnly warning you. If you cannot agree to our demands, then prepare for war!" Anthony threatened war as soon as he opened his mouth, but in fact he just wanted to scare Wang Qiangui. In fact, Anthony could not mobilize any other soldiers except the Chinese immigrants in front of him.
But even so, Wang Qiangui was still scared and said quickly: "Mr. Anthony! Don't get excited, don't get excited, the matter is not that serious, it's really because of my low position and power that I can't make a decision. Please wait a moment, I will inform my superiors right away, and I will definitely not keep you waiting for long!"
Having said that, Wang Qiangui ordered his men to stay where they were and ran towards the government office.
…
"My lord, my lord, you better make the decision! Otherwise, if the Prussian barbarians really make trouble, will the emperor spare us?"
"Tell me all the details about Prussia, and I will think of a solution!" said the fat and big-eared official.
Contemptuous of this incompetent superior, Wang Qiangui said: "Sir, the Prussian barbarians are also a powerful country in Europe, second only to Britain, France, Russia and Austria. I heard that Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Prussia are in the same echelon..."
After listening for a long time, Shangguan finally understood that he couldn't win.
"Then what is the purpose of their visit?"
Well……
Wang Qiangui continued, "Just like in the past, they said they were recruiting workers to work overseas."
"Well, what are you afraid of? A few unruly people are worth a few bucks. Send them away first. Remember to send someone to watch them. Don't let them come to the government office. If they are really recruiting workers, other local officials should be worried. If they are not recruiting workers but are doing something else, as long as it is not too serious, don't meddle in their affairs. If they come to the government office... you must report it in time, and then I will go back to Beijing to ask for some help. You can temporarily take charge of the affairs for me."
In this way, the colonial immigrant army and the liaison office staff responsible for recruiting workers marched inland in a swagger. The government officials along the way did not dare to stop them and even helped them in recruiting workers in the mainland.
After all, they are just peasants, worth very little money.
(End of this chapter)
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