Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 11 Red River Valley Ranch

The Owen family ranch base camp is located at the foot of a mountain not far from the river. A few miles away is a dense forest. From time to time you can see kangaroos, thylacines, pheasants and wild boars, and fast-running ostriches gallop in the wilderness. After that, the original ecological scene.

  Now it is renamed the Red River Valley Ranch, which belongs to Li Fushou’s private property. No one can break in without permission.

  The castle law of the British Empire stipulates that the owner of a private property has the right to kill anyone who breaks in without permission, so as to protect his private property rights and interests. It can be exempted from legal sanctions.

  The castle law is a legal interpretation that protects the private property interests of nobles and large estate owners. It gives them the right to defend their property and belongs to the privilege of the rich. Li Fushou happens to enjoy such legal convenience.

The main part of the manor is a white Victorian building. Li Fushou is standing on a tall building, looking out through the oval window lattice. A group of people are driving in several carriages, chickens, ducks and geese, etc. The birds "quack" screamed and scattered, and a big rooster even flew to the tree.

  After finishing the handover procedures of the ranch, Li Fushou came over to live for a few days in a hurry, just in time to send a large number of recruited Chinese to the manor for resettlement.

   approaching severe winter

  Many gold prospectors in the Palmer River Valley have left the gold mines and returned to Brisbane’s Chinatown to spend the winter. They will not return to the gold mines until the beginning of the Spring Festival next year and continue their gold mining careers.

  Chinatown became lively as a result. Every day there was a constant stream of strong men doing nothing. The business of Qinlou Chu Hall exploded. The restaurant was filled with people every day, and the shops ushered in the best time to do business.

  If you don’t work, you don’t have money. Many Chinese can’t stay free. They swarmed when they saw the recruitment of Red River Valley Ranch.

  They are not very demanding, just give one shilling a month for food and housing, anyway, there is strength, regardless of whether it is carpentry work or wasteland farming.

  Most people plan to spend a few months on the ranch and wait until the beginning of the spring next year before going to the Palmer River Basin to pan for gold to make a lot of money.

  There is no shortage of horses and tools in the ranch. After the arrival of the first batch of 600 workers recruited, they started to work in full swing.

  The first thing they want to build is a permanent house. They use explosives to open mountains and fetch rocks nearby, build a large number of workshops, storehouses and level the docks.

According to the plan;

  Pregnant and expectant sheep must be fed in a warm sheep pen to increase the survival rate of the cubs and reduce the loss of extensive stocking.

  Secondly, a large amount of pasture needs to be stored to supply hundreds of thousands of sheep and more than 2,000 cows through the severe winter, rather than allowing them to die after the arrival of the blizzard.

  The second is to build a dam in the Red River Valley to stop the rainstorms in spring and autumn and use hydropower to generate electricity. Cattle and sheep manure can fertilize the land and form a circular biological industry chain.

  In Li Fushou’s plan, the Red River Valley Mountains have a large amount of high-quality iron ore resources. Wharves can be set up along the Brisbane River, and steel plants and shipyards can be put into operation to create more employment opportunities and economic benefits.

  The pasture continues to expand the herd. Milk can be processed into milk powder, wool can be dyed and processed into yarn products, excess beef and mutton can be made into cans, and the scale of pig farming needs to be expanded. After all, the Chinese community has a great demand for pigs.

  Sausage, braised pork head, braised pork ears, braised pork tongue, stir-fried pork loin, pork liver, braised pork intestine, pork blood porridge, stewed pig’s trotters, pork ribs in sauce, braised pork...

  As long as there are a large number of Chinese people, pork products will not worry about sales, and they will really be able to eat flowers.

  Li Fushou stood at the window of the manor with his thoughts, and countless ideas came to his mind, and he was fascinated for a while.

  In this vast land, there are countless magnificent pictures that can be written.

  The entire British Empire, Australia, including New Zealand, is rich in resources and has a total population of more than one million people. The biggest problem is that the market is too small.

  But let your eyes go. As the world's largest colonial empire that never sets, the British Empire has colonial lands on five continents and a huge market with a population of 550 million.

  As long as the products are cheap and high-quality, they are well received by customers, and products from Australia can enter the colonial areas of the Commonwealth without any barriers. This is Li Fushou's greatest reliance.

  The closest big market is North America Citi, which is located in the southern states and California, with a huge population and market.

  It has just been eleven years since the smoke of the Civil War dissipated. The trauma caused by the war was full of horrors. The overall economic and industrial level had regressed for more than ten years, and many destroyed towns were still in ruins.

  Therefore, there is a considerable demand for products from Australia, such as wool, leather and steel products, which is a vast market to be developed.

  Traveling from Australia to various parts of North and South America is more convenient than traveling to and from East Asia, and there are fewer trade restrictions.

  Li Fushou was thinking about it at the desk, Fan Asheng walked in lightly and knocked on the door when he saw it.

"What's up?"

  "Master, the neighboring Smith Ranch and Ludendorff Ranch have come together, and they have arrived near Baixi. It seems to be unkind. Should we make some preparations in advance?"

   "Oh...hehe, I'm so bold, how many people are they here?"

   "There are about twenty-three or four cowboys, all riding horses with guns and fully armed."

   "Go and inform Nan Huaiyu and Liu Shan, order the ranch guards and the white cowboys to assemble, bring the weapons and let's take a look."

   "Yes, Master."

  Li Fushou stood up suddenly, tied the heavy gun bag around his waist, picked up a cowboy hat and hurried out.

When he walked to the gate of the manor, there was already a field of people called Masi outside. The fast-moving cowboys stepped on the horses in full gear. Many people hurriedly came out of the wooden house, put their spears in their horse bags, and quickly Turn on the horse.

  "Master, please get on the horse."

"Well."

  Nan Huaiyu walked over with two horses, and handed the reins to Li Fushou. He stepped on the maroon quarter horse neatly, slammed his feet and slammed out of the horse, shouting loudly for the whole team.

  Not too long

   More than 50 knights with live ammunition were all ready to go. Among them, 40 were selected Chinese gunmen from Red River Valley Ranch, and there were more than a dozen white cowboys.

  Li Fushou took the lead in galloping away, followed by a large number of cavalry rushing towards Baixi, the sound of horseshoes billowing like thunder, attracted the attention of a large number of Chinese workers.

  They don’t know what happened?

  The owner of the manor, Young Master Li, was sent out in person. I’m afraid something big will happen!

  The clear shore of Baixi

   More than twenty heavily armed cowboys are sitting or lying leisurely, and some are drinking horses by the river, with a relaxed look.

  Smith, a tall and lanky man, and Ludendorff, a sturdy bear-like man, sat on a boulder by the stream, and they were talking about Li Fushou, an Oriental who has recently settled in the Red River Valley ranch.

Both of them are ranchers adjacent to the Red River Valley Ranch. One is British and the other is Dutch. They each own tens of thousands of acres of large ranches. They are ground snakes in Brisbane, Queensland. It has been in business for several generations for a hundred years.

   "Damn it, Red River Valley Ranch has recruited hundreds of Chinese workers. What does this Chinese rancher want to do?"

"Huh, no matter what he wants to do, I will never allow this yellow boy to break the peaceful pastoral life in the upper part of Brisbane. I hate the name Red River Valley, and I hate this Oriental boy even more. He is not welcome here. Where should he come from? Come and go where to go, otherwise, I want to let this **** know how good a shotgun is."

   "Hahaha... Ludendorff, you should say this to this Eastern kid."

   "Bah, don't think I dare not, I will scare him to piss."

  The wild, bear-like Ludendorff "pooh" spit out the grass roots he was chewing on. His whole body was thickly hairy, and his arms were covered with dense hairs. He was an extremely strong Nordic giant.

"Smith, please believe me. The Red River Valley Ranch employs a large number of Eastern laborers. It is a very serious incident. These locusts from the East will ruin life here. They sweep the plains like a plague, bringing disease and hunger. Nothing will be left, we must drive him away."

   "This is unrealistic Ludendorff, this is the property of the Chinese, and he has the right to stay here."

   "Huh, if this rancher named Li dies in the wasteland, then everything is over."

"Maybe…"

  The two people are discussing, and their words are full of hatred for Chinese ranchers. As the most conservative white group, they are disturbed by the influx of Chinese in the Red River Valley ranch, full of fear.

  Before this, no Chinese had ever stepped into the traditional realm of white ranchers.

  They are like dangerous hedgehogs, showing their sharp spikes nervously, trying to maintain the traditional ranch life.

Suddenly

  The calm stream vibrated fiercely, and it attracted the attention of the experienced cowboy like a flare gun, and he screamed in horror;

   "Sheet, a large group of horse teams are rushing in our direction, **** it, get on the horse, we may face an attack."

   "Oh, God! We are doing stupid things."

The cowboys rushed to the horses in a panic, maneuvering the restless quarter horse to meet the place, and saw a galloping steed on a high hill not far away, sitting on top of a fully armed young knight. , Looked over with a cold look.

   Then more knights appeared on the two wings of the hillside, five...ten...twenty...forty...fifty...

  The knights quickly spread out to the sides, forming an obvious cavalry encirclement. They pulled out their lances from the horse bags in front of them without saying a word, and the battle was about to start.

  The cowboys from Smith and Ludendorff Ranch panicked immediately. Although they were fully armed and loaded with live ammunition, they were carrying short single-action revolvers, whose power could not be compared with long guns.

  In the wilderness where beasts are infested, the revolver that the cowboy carries is an indispensable weapon for the hand, but the long spear is different.

   "Damn it, are they going to fight us?"

   Ludendorff’s words contained panic and anger. He didn't expect this Chinese rancher to be so tough that he came up and spoke directly with a musket.

"We are afraid that we will encounter the worst situation, and the fire will be extremely detrimental to us. We will let you down... Let everyone lay down their weapons. We should express goodwill to the Red River Valley Ranch, not for provocation." Smith has a gloomy face. Going dark, at this critical moment, he finally made a sober decision; "Everyone keeps quiet and stays here. I will personally explain to the other party. All this is a misunderstanding."

  In the fight, both in number and weapons were at a loss, Smith quickly made a wise decision... to admit it.

  He opened his hands to indicate that he was not hostile, and then ran to the front with a trot, squeezed out a blunt smile and said;

  "Oh, our dear neighbor Li, please let your subordinates lay down their weapons. We came here with good intentions. We don't want to cause accidental injuries due to misfires. Let us all calm down and sit down and talk."

   "I have nothing to talk about with you, get out of my land." Li Fushou's face was still cold, as if he was a thousand miles away.

  "Ok, this is Smith, and that gentleman is Ludendorff. The Red River Valley Ranch is our ranch in the southeast, I think it can..."

   "Shut up, idiots, I know what you guys want to do, get out of my ranch now." Li Fushou has no time to gossip with the other party, let alone maintain the apparent hypocrisy, this is all nonsense;

   "If you enter the Red River Valley Ranch without authorization next time, you will be greeted by hot bullets and death. If you warn, I won’t say it the second time. Now get out of here, right away, right away..."

   "Okay, okay, we will leave immediately."

  Smith couldn't talk about it at all, and the other party's toughness would do it at any time, hurriedly turning the horse's head and fled.

    Ludendorff, who had spoken a lot earlier, didn't dare to put one fart, and disappeared into the forest in the distance on his horse.

  How can you be as strong as a bear?

  A bullet is still dead, Ludendorff is not as reckless as he has shown, and escapes faster than anyone else.

Li Fushou waved his hand with a grim expression; "Nan Huaiyu led a group of people to press up from the left, Li Shan led a group of people to press up from the right, and Old Mike took your white cowboys in the middle to follow up, and take this group of uninvited guests. Keep sending out the Red River Valley Ranch, and finally fire a warning shot, now act."

   give an order

   Fifty-odd knights all started to move, galloping on the wasteland with a roar of horseshoes, chasing them out in a fan shape, and quickly disappearing on the distant hillside.

  Seeing the horse team go away, Li Fushou rode his horse to Baixi and turned over, patted the horse's **** and let it graze on its own.

  The breeze was blowing, and Li Fushou sat on the rocks by the stream for a while to rest. In the clear water, the fish heads were densely packed and they were swimming happily.

  The waist-deep weeds in the surrounding wilderness are dotted with dots of wild flowers. The white, red, and yellow are really beautiful.

  The cold autumn breeze blows, and the leaves in the forest "crash", and they are full of vitality under the blue sky.

  He couldn’t help feeling deeply in his heart;

  This is really a land with abundant water plants and rich resources!

  Thinking of the greedy faces of the white farmers Smith and Ludendorff, Li Fushou's face flashed a trace of contempt.

  None of these sharpened neighbors has a good relationship.

  Not a robber is better than a robber, not a robber is better than a robber, just waiting for the soft lower abdomen of the Red River Valley Ranch to be exposed, and then rushing to tear it to pieces.

  Taking harmony as the most important...wrong, forbearance is the best...wrong, step back and the sky is wide...it is ridiculously wrong, this set of old good people's methods will not work.

  On this wasteland where the weak and the strong eat, you can only rely on knives and guns to protect yourself from harm, and you can’t pin the future on the sympathy of the jackals. That is simply looking for the skin of the tiger, so stupid that it can’t be stupid.

  The white rancher came with his guns and live ammunition, which is a naked declaration of force. Sima Zhao’s heart is well known to everyone, and he doesn’t even need a fig leaf.

  For this kind of person, the strongest response must be given.

  (End of this chapter)