The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 180 "King Transformation"

May 5, Yongan (now Jakarta, Indonesia).

"beep……"

With a long and loud whistle, the liner "Qishun" slowly docked at the berth of Yong'an Port. The thick anchor chain was quickly put into the water. Some impatient passengers could not wait to rush to the side of the ship. , waiting for the gangway to be lowered, and kept standing on tiptoes to look towards the shore.

Fan Agui and others were holding on to the side of the boat, curiously looking at the pier below, and carefully peeking at Fan Xingbao, for fear that he would lose his temper again and scold them for their ignorance and stupidity.

Since the passenger ship they were traveling on stopped at Suide Port in Shunguo for a day more than ten days ago, the rich cousin's temper became a little irritable after he lost money at the gambling house on the pier. If you have any difficulty with your words, you will be scorned or even scolded. As a result, the Fan family brothers did not dare to say anything in front of him, so they simply stayed in the third-class cabin to hide from him.

At this time, when the passenger ship arrived at this port, which is called Yong'an Port, I heard from the sailors that it would stop for three days, so that the passengers on the ship could go ashore to get some fresh air, or go shopping in the city, taste the local food, and appreciate the city. exotic.

According to the sailors, the city was under Western rule four years ago. Later, the Yi people were forced to give the city to Qi under pressure from Qi.

Fan Agui and others couldn't help but clicked their tongues after hearing this.

Darling, in this part of Nanyang, the Qi State is really domineering. With a glare, the Western Yi people had to kneel down and surrender, and willingly "gifted" such a city to the Qi State.

You must know that this city has been run by the barbarians for more than a hundred years. It was built by them as an eastern base, and they really made great efforts to carry out large-scale construction.

Although I haven't gone to the city to see the excitement yet, looking from a distance on the boat, I can see rows of buildings stretching into the distance, many towering spiers cutting through the city's skyline, and countless carriages and people From the pier to the city, clouds of black smoke also spewed out above the city from time to time.

Such a city probably has a population of hundreds of thousands, and the wealth accumulated in it is also tens of thousands. But under the pressure of Qi State, the Western Yi people gave up.

This Nanyang is really like what Fan Xingbao said. As long as you pass Qiongzhou, all the oceans, islands and continents are the territory of their Qi country!

"What are you looking at? Let's go, let's go, get off the boat and get some air."

While Fan Agui and others were stunned, Fan Xingbao greeted them impatiently to disembark and land. After speaking, he followed the flow of people and walked towards the gangway without waiting for their response.

Seeing this, Fan Agui hurriedly followed, took the luggage bag from Fan Xingbao's hand in a flattering manner, and followed step by step.

"Follow closely and don't look around! If you get lost in the city, be careful and the police will catch you and throw you to a remote island overseas to colonize."

After getting off the boat, Fan Xingbao looked for a passenger carriage to enter the city, while turning his head to scold the brothers who were still looking around.

"Oh, I saved you." Hearing this, Fan Agui immediately took a few steps and stood beside Fan Xingbao. At the same time, I couldn't help but turn around and look at the long queues in the distance.

On the west side of the pier, several long lines of native coolies were boarding the ship one after another under the close surveillance of armed soldiers.

There were strong men, women with sad faces, and even stooped old men. Everyone was silent. One by one, they walked through the empty dock area and boarded the cargo ships docked at the berths. .

These natives are all coolies involved in the construction of the Quang (Ninh) Yong (An) Railway. After the project is completed, they will be transferred to the neighboring Quang Ninh Province (including Banten Province and Lampung Province on both sides of the Sunda Strait in Indonesia today). , Bangka Island, Belitung Island) Zhaoping Prefecture (now Bandar Lampung City, Indonesia), prioritized the construction of the railway from Zhaoping to Lean (Teluk Betong, the southern port of Sumatra Island) in order to better control Guangning The Strait (today's Sunda Strait) is important.

The fate of these Javanese natives is undoubtedly very tragic. During the rule of the Dutch East India Company, they worked as cattle and horses, and were reduced to the lowest level of slave labor. They were arbitrarily humiliated and exploited, and their lives were consumed in endless labor. among.

After the people of Qi took over the land and assets belonging to the Dutch East India Company, they did not usher in personal "liberation" and a turning point in fate. Instead, they continued to be treated as consumables and dedicated the rest of their lives to the local construction of Qi. , sweat and blood.

In order to improve the living environment of Yong'an City, the people of Qi State carried out large-scale construction of urban infrastructure. Under the whips and sticks of supervisors, native laborers worked day and night to build urban roads, clean up simple and dilapidated shanties, and dig for water. pipelines, filling swamps and ponds.

No way, in order to transform Batavia into more like Amsterdam, the Dutch dug many artificial canals and ponds throughout the city, but this also caused more sources of tropical infectious diseases. Given the importance the people of Qi attach to the prevention and control of various infectious diseases, they will naturally not allow this situation to continue to exist and spread.

Therefore, after the people of Qi obtained jurisdiction over the city, they not only changed its name, but also invested huge sums of money in corresponding renovations.

After all, the 70,000 to 80,000 residents in this city are all citizens of Daqi, and we cannot allow tens of thousands of people to die because of a plague or some kind of infectious disease.

The Javanese natives who work at work are often regarded as lazy by the supervisors because of their lazy character and small body, and they have always been treated miserably. Punching and kicking were commonplace, and killings and injuries were not uncommon.

Poor food conditions, heavy work, and mistreatment by supervisors, all imposed on the native laborers, caused the number of these lazy native coolies to decrease at a rate visible to the naked eye.

When they finally finished the infrastructure renovation project in Yong'an City, they still couldn't breathe a sigh of relief. Qi State also began to plan to build the Guangyong-Yong Railway, and established the Nanyang Railway Trading Company through the issuance of shares, and quickly raised two million yuan in funds from the society.

As a result, these native Javanese laborers were sent to the railway construction site and began a one-year construction period.

Extreme heat, heavy rains, typhoons, geological landslides, construction accidents, and various diseases have cost more than 2,300 lives on this railway line, which is only 120 kilometers away.

According to the grand plan of Nanyang Railway Trading Company, in the next fifteen years, more than 2,500 kilometers of railways will be built in the Kaihua Governor-General's District, initially forming a railway network around the island. Based on this level of consumption, to complete the entire railway construction plan, it is likely that 20,000 to 30,000 people will be needed to fill the construction site.

Not to mention, the plantations all over the island, as well as the construction and renovation of infrastructure in one city after another, will consume the lives of countless indigenous workers.

Natives, their fate is indeed tragic!

When he first arrived in the Qi territory, Fan Agui didn't know what would happen to the natives. But looking from a distance, they looked like a group of helpless sheep, being driven mercilessly onto the ship by the heavily armed Qi soldiers. There was no good outcome, and a bit of panic could not help but arise in their hearts.

When we arrive in Qi State, what will be the fate of us newcomers in the future?
-

Wes Parks walked out of the Department of Immigration building with a dejected expression, looked up at the blazing sun at noon, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then let out a long sigh.

"How's it going, Wes?" Harper Schmid came up quickly and asked with concern.

"The examiner thinks that my Chinese is too poor to be a true Qi native." Wes Parks shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands helplessly, with a deep sense of disappointment in his tone. "Oh..." After hearing this, Haber Schmid stretched out his right hand and patted his arm, comforting: "It's okay, Wes. There is no chance this time. At the end of the year, there will be a language assessment. I believe, After half a year of hard work, you will definitely pass the assessment of the Immigration Department and officially become a naturalized citizen of Qi."

"Half a year later, I still don't know if I will have the chance to return to Batavia again." Wes Parks said with a wry smile: "You also know that as a sailor, I can't control my own time at all. ...Oh , damn, those square words really stumped me!”

"Wes, we are very unlucky." Haber Schmid said: "I heard that twenty or thirty years ago, as long as you had lived in Qi for five years and had some proficiency in Chinese conversation, you could easily become a naturalized citizen. . But now, Qi State seems to have stricter and stricter restrictions on Europeans with non-oriental faces. Not only must they have five years of residence, but they must also have a stable residence, and the difficulty of the Chinese language test has also increased accordingly."

"Yes, the very inclusive policy of Qi State back then is no longer there." Miller Scola, who was next to him, heard this and also complained: "As Qi State became more and more powerful, they began to become arrogant and Becoming conservative, and emphasizing more and more Eastern ancestry and Chinese ethnicity. Oh, God, this is not the attitude that a great country should have."

After hearing this, Schmid and Parks couldn't help but shake their heads and lament.

Yes, Qi is rich and powerful. It controls a vast ocean and covers a large area of ​​overseas territory. The entire Indian Ocean is like their inner lake. Countless countries and nationalities are crawling at their feet. They have enough confidence to maintain this aloof status. attitude.

The Qin State, which dominates the east, has a huge population and national power, so it can only stay on the mainland and expand towards the barren northwest region, and does not dare to plunder the Qi State on the sea.

India, which was once prosperous, has been unable to control the situation of the empire since the Mughal Empire was defeated by the Qi State. The governors of various regions have become self-reliant. The Maratha Kingdom took advantage of the situation and emerged. Bengal was controlled by the Qi State and became its own system. The southern states Bangjun is a puppet and servant of Qi, and the entire subcontinent can be said to have been shattered into pieces, reduced to a colonial territory that Qi can take and seize.

The Safavid Empire of Persia was dealt a heavy blow by the Afghan rebels, and its decline was irresistible. Now, with the strong intervention of Qi State, although the empire's power seems to be recovering again, its internal affairs, diplomacy, and military are all Being controlled by the Qi State, it was like they were a protectorate.

On the European continent, the situation is treacherous and disputes continue among the countries. Even if they are as powerful as France, Britain, and Spain, it is difficult for them to face the power of Qi alone.

It is reported that the Qi-British War has come to an end as early as the end of last year. The British government is running around Europe in order to obtain the necessary diplomatic support so that it can sign a decent armistice contract with Qi.

Yes, England actually began sending envoys to contact the people of Qi in July and August last year, hoping to end this war.

They are at the end of their rope and can no longer fight.

In more than two years of war, England lost seventy or eighty warships one after another, and more than three hundred large and small merchant ships. Overseas trade and fisheries suffered a devastating blow. The English government was even more heavily in debt. Even if it issued national debt at an annual interest rate of over 15%, it would not be able to raise enough funds for the war.

The Viceroyalty of New Spain in the Kingdom of Spain began to attack British Belize, the French began to covet British Barbados, and the Netherlands also showed greedy eyes on the British Bahamas.

To make matters worse, Qi State sent a task force, combined with the Qingguo Navy, based in Spanish Cuba, to frequently raid British North American colonial territories, and even directly launched landing operations in some weakly defended areas to plunder coastal towns. The destruction of local production and living order has made the entire North American territory in turmoil. While they cursed the cruelty of the people of Qi, they were also full of endless complaints about this war.

Qi's main fleet once had two large-scale decisive battles with the English navy near the English Channel. Although the English performed extremely bravely and displayed a very high level of technology and tactics, they sank and damaged more than ten Qi ships. ship.

However, due to the huge gap in the protective performance and maneuverability of battleships, especially when facing an ironclad ship, the English Navy seemed somewhat helpless. In the two naval battles, the losses were very heavy, with as many as 20 ships and 2 ships. Warships above the level were sunk or captured, other types of warships suffered countless losses, and thousands of officers and soldiers were killed or injured.

So much so that at the end of the battle, some English naval captains refused to leave the harbor to fight.

That was not an evenly matched battle at all, it was purely a bloody massacre!

The opponent's armored ship was obviously hit by dozens of bullets, but it showed no signs of harm. It fired off rounds of artillery fire one after another, hunting down the English naval warships in front of it one by one.

After the people of Qi invented the steam engine battleship, they once again subverted the battle mode at sea!

It is foreseeable that under the threat of Qi's powerful maritime force, even if England contacts more European countries and obtains necessary diplomatic support, it will eventually be forced to sign a potentially humiliating contract due to the unequal situation between the two sides.

On the other hand, through this war between Qi and Britain, the European continent will definitely be sufficiently wary of Qi.

More than twenty years ago, Qi State began to intervene in the situation on the European continent through the War of Spanish Succession. At that time, it did not attract much attention from European countries.

A regional power that dominates the Indian Ocean relies on its strong industrial production capacity to actively expand its trade market. For the benefit of South America, it follows the European Union and fights a war with the declining Spain.

No matter how powerful their maritime power is, can they still reach the distant European continent?

However, the battle between Qi and Ying greatly shocked the European continent.

The people of Qi can really project their maritime power to such a distant North Atlantic!

They can also influence the situation in the Balkans and the Holy Roman Empire through the Ottoman Empire!

They can also influence the situation in the Caucasus and even the Russian Empire through the Persian Empire!

They also established close relations with Prussia and Sweden, which in turn affected the situation around the Baltic Sea!

It can be said that Qi has become an important force influencing the situation in Europe. This will also force European countries to take Qi's influence into consideration when making a major diplomatic decision.

Since the founding of Qi on the Han continent, except for several early invasions by the Spanish Philippines and the Dutch East India Company, for more than 80 years, there have been almost no foreign invasions that can threaten Qi's homeland. However, it can rely on a series of overseas bases and ports to remotely control the Eurasian continent. At the same time, it has the advantage of controlling various maritime ports and has a vast overseas market, which continuously nourishes the country of Qi to continue to develop and grow.

Yong'an and the surrounding areas were originally the territories of the Dutch East India Company. After they came under the jurisdiction of Qi State, the Chinese and corresponding ethnic groups (mixed blood) automatically obtained overseas national status, and they were very happy.

However, many European residents only have the right to reside in overseas territories and need to be screened and assessed by the Ministry of Immigration before they can obtain formal national status. This has caused many Europeans who hope to become citizens of this big country to complain and criticize the Qi government. Different treatment is suspected of "racial discrimination".

How come those former senior staff of the East India Company who are worth tens of millions of dollars can easily pass the examination of the Immigration Department and obtain official national status of Qi in three years?

The Qi government not only treats immigrants differently based on race, but also dislikes the poor and loves the rich!

"... Let's talk about it. Compared with the indigenous people who are treated as humble slave labor, we Europeans at least have a glimmer of hope to become a part of this country. Moreover, even without national identity, we can still bask in peace and stability. In an environment where we can earn a salary that is beyond the reach of people on the European continent, we should be content in our hearts.”

Haber Schmid was sitting by the window of the tavern, looking sideways at a group of immigrants who might be from Qin. They were walking and curiously looking at the tall buildings on both sides of the street, and said quietly.

These lucky immigrants from the East only need to stay in Qi for a few years and once they submit their applications, they can successfully become official citizens of this country.

The so-called "same people" have different lives!

(End of this chapter)