The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 182 The Poor East India Company

In the early morning, there were not many people on the wide Antai Street, except for the vendors rushing to the morning market and delivering goods, and some natives who were collecting water and transporting dung trucks.

The quiet air is filled with the smell of earth, breakfast and grocery stores. At the end of the street, there is a spire clock tower. Although it has experienced decades of erosion, it is still running steadily, providing residents of the entire neighborhood with Exact time. The melodious bells ring from time to time, telling the passage of time.

The buildings on the street are undulating and arranged in sequence. There are banks, pawn shops, post offices, restaurants and shops. They are faintly illuminated by the morning light, revealing a vague and hazy beauty.

Occasionally, some people come in and out from the entrances of houses or residential buildings on the street. At this time, they will throw away some old things or throw away some useless items.

On the west side of the city, there is a cathedral built by the Dutch decades ago. It stands tall like a solemn old man. It silently watches everything in the city and never forgets its own. Duty.

On the edge of the city, there is a newly built railway station, and trains are constantly going in and out, heading to different destinations.

In this city, people's daily routines will continue, but time will not stop. A new day begins right now.

As the number of pedestrians on the street gradually increased, a mixed-use carriage had to slow down and drive slowly towards the dock.

"Xingbao, when you return to Weiyuan, you must keep my affairs in mind and talk to your father-in-law more. If you have time, you can come to Yong'an to see it in person. After all, the opportunities and channels on Kaihua Island are better than There is much more in Weiyuan, and maybe we can find a new investment and development business.”

While Ni Guolu was talking to his brother-in-law Fan Xingbao, he turned around from time to time and told the driver to drive well and not to hit pedestrians and vendors on both sides of the street.

During his stay in Fan Xing for more than a day, Ni Guolu took him to visit his family's grain and oil workshop in order to attract investment from his father-in-law's family. He also kept bragging about how broad the market prospects were, claiming that as long as his family's grain and oil workshop introduced advanced With the addition of advanced production machines and the expansion of the factory building, he will definitely make money every day and grow into one of the largest grain and oil merchants in Yong'an City.

He even persuaded his father-in-law's family to invest some more money to cultivate hundreds of acres of land in the island circle and build a grain plantation to integrate production, supply and marketing with his grain and oil mill.

As long as the people of our country continue to multiply and immigrate, the grain and oil business will be a permanent business, and there will always be huge market demand.

However, Fan Xingbao was not an ignorant country bumpkin. He had been running a plantation with his father for seven or eight years, and he knew a little about business. No matter how much the second brother-in-law talked about, he never made his position clear. Due to the relationship between relatives, he only said that he would tell his father about Ni Guolu's request after returning to Weiyuan.

As for whether his father will spend money to fund the upgrade of his grain and oil mill, Fan Xingbao naturally cannot make a certain promise.

However, when Fan Xingbao inadvertently revealed that many plantations in operation on Weiyuan Island were always short of native laborers, things suddenly took a turn for the better.

Ni Guolu claimed that he had an old military officer who retired and served as the Supervisor of the Nanyang Railway Guards, responsible for the life and death of more than 10,000 native workers. Through his channels, native coolies can be obtained. Larger quantities, perhaps a thousand or eight hundred, would probably be difficult to come up with, but a number of three to five hundred would be extremely easy for him.

If the father-in-law's family's plantation intends to introduce native coolies, he is willing to promote it.

As we all know, Weiyuan Island is vast and has a harsh environment. It is full of primeval forests with high mountains and dense forests, as well as swamps everywhere. Only a small amount of lowland plains exist along the coast.

The State of Qi has brought it under its rule for more than eighty years. Through unremitting immigration and development, it has only controlled the coastal areas and some inland valleys that are more suitable for survival, and has not penetrated deep into the hinterland of the inland plateau.

Perhaps because they have less contact with outsiders, the natives on Weiyuan Island are not only more ignorant, but also more cruel, or wild and untamable. Even if they are whipped with whips, they often cannot do delicate agricultural work. This is not a plantation. The most suitable "laborer".

Moreover, after so many years of "consumption" and various infectious diseases brought by immigrants, the number of natives on the entire Weiyuan Island has dropped sharply. Although the specific number cannot be determined, local officials in various prefectures and counties also admitted that the number of natives has dropped to very low levels. "There are almost no traces of natives hundreds of miles away from the immigrant villages." This has made local infrastructure construction and The plantation economy lacked sufficient "laborers".

However, Weiyuan Island's plantation economy relied on a large number of laborers to cultivate, harvest and process cash crops. These crops, such as coffee, rubber, cocoa and sugar cane, require seasonal large-scale labor inputs. Aboriginal labor became the primary source of meeting this demand because they could be readily supplied, controlled, and exploited.

Compared with freely employed agricultural workers, the natives only need to pay a small "wage" to provide basic living conditions and maintain their labor ability. This allows plantation owners to control production costs more effectively, thus improving the market competitiveness of cash crops.

As long as there are enough native laborers, plantation owners can expand their planting operations on a large scale. They can cultivate more land and increase the production of cash crops because the supply of this labor is relatively cheap and "easy to use."

In order to promote economic development, local governments have increased efforts to develop land within their jurisdiction, and have also greatly encouraged and supported the plantation economy. They will even tacitly allow plantation owners to hire armed guards to go deep into the inland plateau areas to "recruit" native laborers, thereby further expanding the scale of the plantations and increasing local fiscal revenue.

If Ni Guolu can obtain a large and stable source of native labor through his military background, it will be the biggest good news for the Fan family, which will enable the plantations they run to obtain enough native labor.

After all, the natives are to a certain extent a "consumable product" and need a continuous replenishment channel.

Fan Xingbao immediately said that as long as his brother-in-law could obtain cheap and large-scale labor resources for their plantation, in return, his father would seriously consider investing some money in him.

When Ni Guolu heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

This father-in-law’s family is really a bit snobbish!

There is no benefit at all, and it really can't be exchanged for real money investment. I'm afraid that the funds invested in him will be wasted and the original capital will be lost.

If the loan conditions of several banks in the city were not too high, how could he find his father-in-law's home?

When the carriage was about to exit Antai Street, it unexpectedly got stuck on the road. A large crowd of people gathered at the street ahead, blocking the passing carriages and pedestrians.

"My boss, there is no way forward." The coachman An Dahai squeezed back from the front with sweat. "Several princes and their people surrounded the gate of the East India Company, clamoring for an explanation from the Dutch."

"What, the Dutch owe money to the princes of the feudal states?" Upon hearing this, Ni Guolu immediately jumped off the carriage, frowning, and looked at the growing crowd in front of him.

"It seems that the Dutch embezzled the money used to redeem our land in Qi and did not distribute it to the princes of the feudal states." An Dahai curled his lips and said disdainfully: "No, several years have passed. These people The princes of the feudal states were left with nothing and no money in their pockets, so they thought of asking the Dutch for money."

"Really?" Ni Guolu couldn't help but shake his head after hearing this, "These Dutch people are so evil! When they wanted to hand over the land on Kaihua Island, they knew that our Qi National Congress respected and recognized the land and assets they retained. Not only did they take the opportunity to do whatever they wanted, They plundered the wealth of the princes of the feudal states, and frantically occupied land and hoarded real estate. Damn it, now they have incurred a huge debt!" Four years ago, after several months of consultations and negotiations between the Qi government and the Dutch East India Company, Finally, a unanimous agreement was reached on the peaceful transfer of Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia.

The Qi government promised to protect all the wealth legally owned by the Dutch East India Company and its expatriates. European residents in the colonial territories to which they belong will be free to choose their nationality after three years.

Against this background, the Dutch East India Company and its affiliated expatriates began their final madness, using various pretexts to launch organized plundering of princes, tribal leaders, and ordinary residents in the territory. Even a colonial army stationed in Cirebon directly entered the local Sultan's palace and looted the Sultan's wealth.

When the governor-general of Qi State in Kaihua heard about this, he was stunned and didn't know why.

You Dutch people, can’t you have some face?

Our Daqi Empire has been running Kaihua Island for decades, and at any rate, it has gradually disintegrated various feudal kingdoms through civilized means, and finally deposed their autonomous powers and brought them under the "kingship".

Needless to say, those feudal states and tribes that did not submit to the "king's rule" would use thunderous means to physically destroy their people, and their property and land would be taken back to the government.

For those princes and tribal leaders who surrendered, certain preferential treatment was given. As long as they settled down, comforted the people, and surrendered sincerely, not to mention killing their lives, even the property and land they owned were fully protected. , let them transform into rich people and maintain a leisurely life.

Even in order to resettle immigrants and obtain land from the hands of princes, the government paid a certain amount of financial compensation - of course, the compensation fee was not too high, but it was still money to redeem, right?

It's not like you Dutch people, who don't care about any dignity at all. When you are packing up and leaving, you don't forget to plunder and plunder.

Damn it, so shameless!

The natives who came to make trouble this time were all the princes and nobles of the former Sultan Kingdom of Cirebon. Four years ago, when the Dutch were leaving, they took over hundreds of thousands of acres of the best land in the territory with a wave of their hands. Put it under their own name, and use the euphemistic name to negotiate land redemption and compensation with the people of Qi on their behalf.

When the local civil affairs officials of the Qi people settled in, they held their noses and recognized these lands as belonging to the Dutch East India Company in accordance with the takeover agreement reached by the two parties.

Later, in order to resettle immigrants and establish plantations, the Qi government redeemed the land occupied by the Dutch in installments and then distributed it to immigrants or resold it to plantation owners.

Through land sales, the Dutch gained more than 200,000 yuan in income in Cirebon, which made everyone in the East India Company really happy. This unexpected non-operating income was naturally appreciated by the company's senior management and related parties. Any money misappropriated by interested parties will not be included in the company's accounts.

Today, the princes of the feudal states who have been deprived of their land ownership are watching helplessly as the land that once belonged to them is filled with Han immigrants and plantations one after another, producing countless amounts of grain, corn, and sugar cane every year, but they have nothing to do with them. , there will be trouble immediately.

However, they did not dare to provoke trouble with the local government in Qi. They had no choice but to go to the Dutch East India Company to find an explanation.

It is said that the people of Qi were given money to redeem their land. Should you Dutch give us some?

At the beginning, in order to prevent local people from causing trouble and ensure the peaceful handover of the Cirebon Sultan Kingdom, you Dutch people promised to strive for greater economic benefits for us.

Why, he turned around and put the benefits into his pocket, patted his butt and ran away!

In the past, these princes would not have dared to come to Batavia to block the door of the East India Company's commercial building. They would immediately send out armed soldiers and teach them how to position themselves every minute.

But it’s different now. Batavia is already a city ruled by the Qi State. The East India Company has also abolished all armed mercenaries. It is no different from other ordinary large trading companies, even if there are so many in the business hall. With ten bodyguards protecting him, how dare he commit murder in the street under the rule of Qi State?

What are you afraid of!

After careful advice, these feudal princes led hundreds of people to directly surround the East India Company's headquarters early this morning, blocked the door and began to collect debts.

Nearby businesses and residents gathered to watch this strange thing.

Well, the East India Company, a giant international trading company, was blocked at the door by a group of natives.

This is a bit disgusting.

Several senior staff of the East India Company angrily yelled at the natives blocking the door and asked them to leave immediately so as not to affect the company's image and reputation.

There were also a few smart employees who ran towards the street separately, preparing to find the police to expel these natives.

If it weren't for the fact that several brothers from the Fan family were rushing to the dock to take the passenger ship to continue their journey to Jianye, Ni Guolu would have really wanted to stay with his coachman to watch this sensational farce.

What a long time to see you!

The East India Company, with an annual trade volume of tens of millions of dollars, was actually blocked by a few natives to demand debts. Isn't this a joke for my Daqi people?

The square of the pier passenger terminal has gathered many passengers who are preparing to board the ship and leave. Some of them are looking forward to the departure information of the passenger ship at any time. There are also friends and relatives expressing their farewell feelings to each other and wishing a smooth journey. The aristocratic officials wore formal expressions, spoke polite official phrases, and made farewell gestures.

As the whistle continued to sound, the Fan brothers waved goodbye to Ni Guolu and slowly moved forward with the long queue of passengers.

Just when Ni Guolu was about to turn around and leave, he saw four carriages coming from the direction of the city, followed by dozens of fully armed cavalry, attracting many attentions.

"It's English!"

Vaguely, a low voice came from the crowd of spectators.

Oh, how did the English come here?

Are they here to surrender?

(End of this chapter)