Expedition to Europe

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(Thanks to the rewards from three friends, Heart Sword, Brother Axian, and Gu Qinfei. This chapter is updated normally, and today is another three chapters with sincerity!)

The history of the Chinese in the Nanyang region is a history of blood and tears.

Qin Zhiyuan heard about these things in another time and space, but it was not as impressive as listening to the parties involved.

"What can I do?" Qin Zhiyuan didn't want to stand idly by.

Many Chinese in the Nanyang region have left their hometowns, but they have never forgotten their roots. Whenever the country is in crisis, the Nanyang Chinese will always donate generously, or donate money and materials, or return to serve the country, and have never refused on the excuse of being away from home for a long time.

These things are worth remembering by everyone.

"General Qin, if possible, please send a detachment to Borneo to protect the Chinese. Our major chambers of commerce in Borneo will not only cover all the expenses of the garrison, but also provide a sponsorship." Huang Bohan was anxious.

Huang Bohan finished speaking and looked at Huang Jinsheng. Huang Jinsheng took out a check and presented it to Qin Zhiyuan with both hands.

Qin Zhiyuan took the check and saw that it was a promissory note from the City Bank of New York with a face value of 10 million US dollars.

"10 million US dollars! Mr. Huang is so generous." Qin Zhiyuan sighed.

10 million US dollars is an astronomical figure in this era. The Renault car Qin Zhiyuan rides is worth only 3,000 francs, which is 600 US dollars (the exchange rate between the US dollar and the franc is calculated based on the gold content of the legal currency in the early days of World War I. Before the war, the gold content of the US dollar was 1.5 grams of gold per dollar, and the gold content of the franc was 0.29, so the US dollar to the franc was about 5:1).

"General Qin, you may not know that the Dutch have just issued the Wartime Decree, which stipulates that from the outbreak of the European war, every Borneo resident who earns more than 3,000 guilders must pay a 30% war tax. But everyone knows that the Dutch did not participate in the war at all, so how can they talk about war taxes?" Huang Bohan was indignant.

"Yes, this war tax was just announced this year, and it is shameless to make up for the unpaid part of the previous two years. Just for this item, Brother Bohan will have to pay nearly 35 million Dutch guilders. If he fails to pay, the Dutch will buy Brother Bohan's property at a price of 70 million Dutch guilders. The greed and shamelessness of the Dutch can be seen." Huang Jinsheng inadvertently revealed Huang Bohan's power.

The exchange rate of Dutch guilders to US dollars is about four to one, which means that the war tax that Huang Bohan alone has to pay is almost as high as 10 million US dollars. The taxes that the Chinese in Borneo need to bear include not only temporary war taxes, but also more than 30 taxes such as head tax, watch tax, photo tax, writing tax, house tax, equipment tax, planting tax, livestock tax, carriage tax, company tax, export tax, import tax, inheritance tax, etc., which are second to none in the Nanyang region.

"The war in Europe is still going on, and I'm afraid I can't spare any manpower." In front of Pierre, Qin Zhiyuan couldn't give an answer immediately.

Pierre is French, and Qin Zhiyuan can't withdraw the active troops of the Foreign Legion and return to the Far East for $10 million, which will cause Pierre's disgust.

"If you can't withdraw troops, you can withdraw a group of officers. As long as there are officers entering Borneo, we can call up the militia and train them with officers sent by General Qin. As long as General Qin allows us to borrow General Qin's name, we can also achieve the same effect." Huang Bohan must have made a careful plan before coming. Seeing that Qin Zhiyuan couldn't send troops directly, he retreated to the next best thing.

Huang Bohan and Huang Jinsheng had a reason to find Qin Zhiyuan. In their opinion, although Qin Zhiyuan was a soldier of the Foreign Legion, he was actually a mercenary, working for whoever was paid. The profession of mercenary actually has a bad reputation in the international community. "War hound" is the synonym of mercenary. The reason why the French Foreign Legion emphasizes concepts such as "honor" and "loyalty" is actually to deceive people into working for them. In the eyes of Westerners, the Foreign Legion has no honor or loyalty at all.

"The Dutch are very wary of the Chinese. The Chinese in Borneo are not allowed to own weapons or form militias. Although there are 500,000 or 600,000 Chinese, they are like a pile of loose sand and cannot form a joint force. It's in vain to sigh." Huang Jinsheng was heartbroken.

"500,000 or 600,000 people? Is there so many?" Qin Zhiyuan doubted.

There is no exact number of how many Chinese there were in Borneo in the early 20th century. In another time and space, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, because China does not recognize dual nationality, only more than 10,000 Chinese in Borneo chose Chinese nationality. The rest either recognized themselves as Indonesian nationals or used dual nationality of Indonesia and the Republic of China. In the 1960s, anti-Chinese activities began, and the mainland prepared to evacuate 600,000 overseas Chinese, but for various reasons, only more than 90,000 people chose to return to the mainland. In the anti-Chinese incidents in the late 1990s, those with Chinese nationality either returned to the mainland or hid in the Chinese embassy for asylum. Almost all of the victims were those with dual nationality.

"There are more than enough! The Dutch have been abducting Chinese workers for decades. Every year, tens of thousands of Chinese workers are abducted from the mainland to Borneo. This number is increasing year by year. Just from what I know, there are about 500,000 people, distributed in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and other places. It can be said that they are all over Borneo." Huang Bohan has a higher status and has more complete information.

"Chinese workers, well, their status is similar to ours." Qin Zhiyuan began to look for the origin.

"It's a pity that there is no talent like General Qin among the Chinese in Borneo, otherwise we Chinese would not be as cheap as pigs and dogs, living in shame." Huang Jinsheng choked.

"You know, my troops are basically composed of Chinese workers. So, if it is appropriate, I can set up a logistics base in Borneo to train the reserve troops of the Foreign Legion to supplement the losses of the First Brigade in the war." Qin Zhiyuan finally found an excuse.

Although the Netherlands did not participate in the war, it has always been protected by the British. If Qin Zhiyuan sent troops to Borneo in a big way, it would definitely lead to joint opposition from the Dutch and the British. Qin Zhiyuan's current strength is still very weak, and he has little ability to resist the state machine, so he needs an excuse to act conveniently. Europe is currently in a state of chaos. Although it is close to Christmas and both the East and West fronts are in a state of truce, in fact, the Allies and the Allies are brewing a new round of offensives. They need more soldiers and more support. If they enter Borneo under the banner of training reserve troops for the Foreign Legion, they can at least get the support of Britain and France.

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The British and French are almost exhausted, and they can rely on all the forces they can. Qin Zhiyuan can foresee that his proposal will be supported by the French. Although the British may not necessarily support it, at least they will not oppose it.

As for the Dutch, who cares about them!

"This is really great!" Huang Bohan and Huang Jinsheng were overjoyed and shouted almost at the same time.

"To establish a logistics base, you need a stable piece of land, a large number of young men, and corresponding weapons and equipment. Do you have all these conditions?" Qin Zhiyuan asked.

Since it is to be built, Qin Zhiyuan will build a complete logistics base.

Permanent logistics base!