Chapter 41 Returning home in glory

July 13, 1866, Far East.

Wang Dazhi is an old member of the Chinese immigrants in the East African colonies, and is now a member of the Chinese immigrant army in Binhai District.

Just a month ago, senior officials from the Chinese Immigration Office in the East African colonies found Wang Dazhi and discussed with him using his Chinese identity to return to the Qing Dynasty to attract people.

The current Qing government has just pacified the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The south has been suffering from military disasters for a long time, which has greatly eased the conflict between people and land in the south. Since the Song Dynasty, the economic center of gravity has moved southward, and the south is a densely populated area. Although the mutual conquests of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing government have caused a large number of Land was vacant, but after the end of the Taiping Rebellion, the population from surrounding areas could quickly fill these vacancies.

In the north, the rise of Tsarist Russia and colonial expansion directly threatened the Qing's Longxing Land. Before, they were afraid that the Chinese would destroy the Qing's Dragon Vein ancestral land. Now that the Rakshasa people are coming, there is no need to consider the distinction between Tsinghua University and the Qing Dynasty. Now, in order to immigrate to the border, the Qing government relaxed restrictions on immigrants from the Northeast, and a large number of Chinese poured into the Northeast. This was a breakthrough to Guandong.

In the relatively northwest Shanshan area, they also have an immigration route to the Inner Mongolia area to farm land for the princes and nobles, that is, through the west entrance.

The current main option for immigrants from the East African colonies is to go north, through the northern seaports, and be transported back to East Africa by ship.

The people in the north currently have two choices, one is to go to the Northeast, and the other is to East Africa. Compared with foreign countries, their own land is of course the first choice, so when making the choice, most immigrants choose to travel to Guandong with their families.

This is also the reason why this time the East African colonies want to bring over the old immigrants who are already living in East Africa. Otherwise, if these Chinese see real benefits, who will believe what you Western devils say?

As for the south, it is not so easy to recruit people. In addition to the new living space created after the Taiping Rebellion, the locals have two options. One is to go from the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta to the Americas. The Americans currently have the advantage of Germany. It's incomparable. Even the British and French would recruit some Chinese to serve as thugs in the colonies.

The second is the south, especially the southeastern coast and the southwest border. They can start businesses and develop in the Nanyang region. Because of the convenience of sea transportation or the proximity to the border, many people have gone to Nanyang or Southeast Asia since ancient times.

The South is already full of clans, and the township parties they spontaneously formed will also recruit people in the South. Therefore, it is the most difficult for the East African colonies to recruit people in the South. There are many competitors, and the conditions they offer are not attractive.

How could these Chinese spontaneously go to the East African colonies? In addition to actually distributing land to these Chinese, they will definitely drag their families and their families to colonize East Africa.

But Ernst would not give away the land in vain. The land in East Africa was Ernst's private property and would still be of great use in the future. If he gave the land away directly, he would not necessarily be greeted with tears of gratitude, and he might even breed white-eyed wolves. .

Only when it was time to divide the land was it time for Ernst to give these Chinese immigrants land property rights.

That is war, and only Ernst, who works hard and has voted for the title, will distribute the land to the meritorious people in the form of military merit.

Now that the land in East Africa has been divided, in the future when Britain, France and other countries start to eye the land in Africa, what will Ernst do to win people's hearts? Or land.

Moreover, in Ernst's vision, the future of agriculture in East Africa is intensive, rather than self-sufficient among small farmers. You work for the Hohenzollern family, and I will give you the land. The harder you work, the more land you get. In this way, countless large-scale farms will be born in East Africa.

If everyone could get two or three acres of land, then the Chinese would dare to live. It would be fine if there was a shortage of people in the early colonies, but what if there is no shortage of people later? By then, no matter how fast East Africa develops, it is estimated that it will not be able to keep up with the rapid growth of population.

Therefore, Ernst carefully considered the issue of immigration and the way of survival after immigrating to East Africa. Anyway, he should not be too radical, as East Africa was there and he could not escape.

Even if Britain, France and other countries began to carve up Africa, Ernst estimated that there would still be a population of five million in East Africa at that time. Let alone five million, even with three hundred thousand plus the help of the German Empire, Ernst would dare to fight with the British Let’s have an African war.

…

Mopan Village is an unremarkable small village in North China.

The village is very lively today, not because there is any festival, but because Wang Dazhi, who left a year ago, is back.

There was nothing strange about Wang Dazhi's return. What really surprised the villagers was that Wang Dazhi came back with foreigners, and there were several soldiers behind him, all holding real things in their hands.

At first, when the villagers saw a group of people coming to the village with Western guns, they didn't dare to show their presence. These days, with the war and chaos, who dares to join in the fun because it hurts their necks?

Fortunately, everyone knew Wang Dazhi, and he used a big loudspeaker to spread the word throughout the village.

"Folks, don't be afraid. I am Wang Dazhi! Don't you remember me? Now that I am prosperous, I am here to lead you to a good life."

Wang Dazhi was wearing a military uniform and looked like a man of five. He held his chest high and held his head high as he went around the village to spread the word. When he reached the depths of the village, several acquaintances pulled Wang Dazhi into the house.

"Dazhi, it's really you! Oh my god, you're so fat that I almost didn't recognize you."

Wang Dazhi looked at the dark hemp straw in front of him and almost didn't recognize it.

"Aren't you Lao Xu from the end of the village? How are you doing? Now that my brother is prosperous, he will lead you to a good life."

Lao Xu walked around Wang Dazhi twice and said in surprise: "You are so prosperous, and all the clothes you wear now are stained with flowers! You look like you are dressed as a soldier, right?"

Although Lao Xu didn't recognize the Prussian military uniform, the soldiers behind Wang Dazhi when he entered the village couldn't fool anyone, and they were all carrying real things.

Wang Dazhi said with a smile: "No, no, I am now the deputy captain of the 25th Squadron of the Binhai Branch of the East African Colonial Chinese Immigration Army." He said with a complacent look on his face.

Lao Xu asked curiously: "I'm really an official! Okay, this is the East African colony. What else is Binhai? How old is your official position?"

As soon as Wang Dazhi heard Lao Xu ask about himself, he immediately said with joy: "Brother, I am no longer what I used to be. I am not a big official, and I only have five or six people under my command. Don't look at whether this official is good or not." It's big, but the things inside are very particular. We are not ordinary officials, but officials for the Germans. You don't know, with my outfit, I walked hundreds of miles from Jiaozhou to here. All the high-ranking officials I met on the road would send gifts out of the country when they saw me."

Wang Dazhi then pretended: "Do you know that Mayor Li in our town was nodding and bowing to me just before I returned to the village?"

Lao Xu was surprised and said: "What kind of German soldier do you have such a big background? Even the officials are a head short when they see you!"

"Old Xu! You are so ignorant about this. Do you know that foreigners invaded the Forbidden City a few years ago?"

"Of course I've heard it said."

"That's right, now even the emperor is afraid of foreigners, let alone foreign soldiers? Look at me, I was originally an old farmer who couldn't afford to eat in the village. After the land was taken back by the rich man Wang, didn't I go to Jiaozhou to beg for food? ? I heard that you can carry bags and make some money at Jiaozhou Pier, so I went there. I met a big German boss who was recruiting people, saying they would farm for them. I didn’t pay much attention at the time. After all, I could hardly even eat. I couldn’t find a job. I was so hungry that I was skinny and skinny. When I arrived at the dock, the steward saw that I was dying and refused to accept me. It happened that the Germans were recruiting people, and they gave me food when they signed up. So I signed up, and then ate a few We boarded the ship as soon as we had lunch."

Wang Dazhi recalled the past days and couldn't help but sigh: "On the boat, the man who made me vomit and have diarrhea fortunately arrived on land soon. Later I heard someone said that it was East Africa. The German boss wanted to reclaim land and was short of manpower. I I was recruited there. At first I just farmed. There was a lot of land over there, and no crops were grown. The locals lived by hunting lions and wild beasts, and the land was all deserted. The German boss asked us Chinese to develop these lands. .”

"Later, the number of people gradually increased. At this time, the German commander in East Africa began to look for men among our group to serve as soldiers, and I was selected."

Lao Xu asked curiously: "Isn't this the same as the Qing Dynasty? If you can't afford to eat, you go to serve as a soldier!"

"It's different! Lao Xu." Wang Dazhi hurriedly said to Lao Xu: "How can you be a soldier of the Qing Dynasty as well as a soldier of Germany? Let me tell you, do you know how many meals I eat every day?" Wang Dazhi said with a look on his face. Said with a sense of superiority.

"Two meals? That's good."

Wang Dazhi said to Lao Xu with a look of disgust: "You really think that Germans are not so stingy. I eat three meals a day, and I can eat meat every week. I am wearing Western fabrics." , and you can also receive a small salary every month.”

Then he handed the cuffs to Lao Xu and others and said: "You all feel this clothes, what a good material, how smooth."

When Lao Xu and others touched it, it turned out that Wang Dazhi had done really well. When he was in the village, his ribs could be seen through his clothes. Now he is not only fatter, but also has a red face. He can tell at a glance that he is good at oil and water. , also wearing five or six people.

However, Lao Xu still asked cautiously: "This foreign master is so kind to you? He didn't ask you to work hard."

Wang Dazhi said disgustedly: "You have to work hard to get your turn! And you don't know that in East Africa, we are also encircling and suppressing the indigenous people. Those indigenous people hold mallets and poles in their hands, and the better ones have stone spears. They come all the way from me One shot can knock one down, they are very weak.”

Hearing this, Lao Xu and others began to think about it. What Wang Dazhi said was really heart-breaking. Who doesn't want to live such a good life? But who knows whether you, Wang Dazhi, have chosen the best.

"Brother Dazhi, this East Africa is so good, doesn't it have any shortcomings?"

Wang Dazhi understood that this group of people were still worried, so he comforted him: "It's a good life. You won't believe me if I say there are no shortcomings. There is indeed one shortcoming."

"Brother Dazhi, what is it?" several people asked curiously.

"The disadvantage is that there are too many old men there and too few women. But don't worry. When you go there, you won't have to worry about a wife in the future."

"Isn't this contradictory? Brother Dazhi."

"Now you are confused! Think about it, is it easy to get a wife in the Qing Dynasty? There are not a lot of bachelors, why? It's because you are poor. You can save some money in East Africa in a few years, and your health will be better If you can take care of yourself and come back in the future, you will be strong and have money, what girl from that family will look down on you?"

Wang Dazhi then whispered to a few people: "To tell you the truth, I came back this time to solve the problem of my wife. The commander told me that when the time comes to return to Nanyang, he will spend money to buy me one in Nanyang. , there is a way over there, of course, the premise is that I do my job well!"

"Look, I now have money, a livelihood, and a wife. Isn't this what I am? So I can lie to you? Come to the village and help me publicize it, especially those old bachelors, if they don't act now , stay single for the rest of your life!”

Several people became anxious after hearing this, and said to Wang Dazhi: "Brother Dazhi, how many people are you recruiting? If there are too many people, why don't you stop them? You can't forget about us if there is a good thing!"

Wang Dazhi looked at the anxious people, waved his hands and said: "Anxin, Anxin, you don't have to be afraid of being robbed. There is a lot of land over there, but there is a shortage of people. Take as many as you come. In this way, if you can be in the village Invite a few more people so that I can put in a few good words for you in front of the commander and find a good place for you."

As soon as several people heard this, they quickly assured Wang Dazhi that he would definitely live up to his expectations. Soon the propaganda team went to the village to publicize door to door. The boast was even more exaggerated than Wang Dazhi's, and he almost said that East Africa is paradise. You won't be able to eat hot food if it's too late.