Wild North America 1846

"Put your gun on your shoulder and walk together."

Under the command of the British instructor, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty dressed in full British military uniforms lined up neatly and marched to the sound of military drums, initially showing the style of a strong army.

Richard was wearing the uniform of a British Army major and stood at the side of the training ground with a serious expression, supervising the training of the officers and soldiers.

His face was expressionless, but he had to admit from the bottom of his heart that after putting on the uniform of the British army, this armed force of the Tang Association really looked like an army.

After all, they had a good foundation before and had experienced the baptism of battle. After the past few days of training, the formation has moved in a good shape. The officers and soldiers have high morale, showing the strong spirit of an army.

At this moment

A messenger came running to the front, stood at attention, saluted and reported; "Sir, the latest news has been sent from the Bay Area pier; the first batch of two ships of Chinese immigrants from Central America transported by the American Pacific Cruise Line, with a total of 557 people, has arrived in the port.

Could you please give me instructions?"

"Oh, it was delivered so quickly?"

When Richard heard this, his brows stood up, a trace of surprise appeared on his serious face, and then he straightened his face and ordered, "Notify the logistics team of the preparations to receive personnel, and order the Guards Cavalry to pick them up at the Bay Area dock in 10 minutes."

people."

"Yes, sir." The ordering soldier stood at attention again, saluted, then quickly turned around and ran away to convey the order.

Richard originally reached an agreement with the British forces behind Ronald Evanson. The British led the effort to transport a large number of Chinese immigrants from Central and South America to the San Francisco region to enhance the population base of the region and expand the size of the army.

, is originally the meaning in the title.

In more than two weeks, the first batch of Chinese immigrants arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area. It must be said that when it comes to matters related to their own interests, the British are still very effective.

The Panama region in Central America is less than 2,000 kilometers away from Alta California. If you use a new type of ship to sail by sea, it takes about 4 to 5 days, so the distance is not that far.

There is only one city in the entire Panama region, and that is Panama City on the Pacific side. More than 80% of the population in the region lives in Panama City, which also means that the vast majority of Chinese workers are stranded in this city.

According to the British method, as long as a recruitment notice is issued with a promised salary of 15 US dollars, the vast majority of Chinese workers can be attracted, which saves time and effort.

This group of Chinese workers came at the right time. With this labor force, brick kilns, hydraulic sawmills, hydraulic gold mining troughs, mills, oil presses and other workshops can be opened to solve the imminent labor problem.

After simple preparation

Richard personally led his people to greet him first. He might not be involved in this kind of thing from now on and just leave it to his subordinates.

But this was the first batch of Chinese immigrants from Central America, and Richard felt it was necessary to personally take action to express his serious attitude towards it.

bay area marina

Today's Bay Area pier is just a simple wooden trestle. When Richard arrived with the crowd, he saw hundreds of Chinese workers with dark skin, wearing torn clothes, braids, and melon-pipe caps.

The numb and helpless look deeply hurt his heart.

This made the words he had originally planned choke in his throat, and eventually turned into a soft sigh.

These Chinese workers from Central America went through more than two years of hard work, and many of them lost their lives in the dangerous tropical rainforest. However, they did not earn much money due to the squeeze of the local construction companies.

When I first came here, the passion and impulsiveness in my eyes had been tempered by heavy labor, and now all that was left was heart-wrenching numbness and helplessness.

What they need now is food and hot water, and then have a good rest. We will talk about anything in two days.

Richard waved to Gaiwang Mountain and ordered, "Put down the dried meat and cakes, and find a way to cook a few pots of hot soup to keep these compatriots full, and then set off back to Grape Valley. Remember not to make any arrangements for these two days.

What matters is to focus on recuperation and recovery.”

"I understand, young master, I'll make arrangements right away." Gai Wangshan nodded and hurriedly went off.

When Richard walked up to this group of Chinese workers who were like refugees, he immediately caused a commotion.

Many people saw that Richard was an extraordinary person, and one person immediately greeted him and said, "Fan Zhiyuan, a common man from outside the country, relies on the love of the Chinese labor brothers to be the foreman. May I ask if this noble son is the employer?"

"Well, you are right to call me the boss. I asked the English to hire you here..."

"We common people, please pay homage to our master." When Fan Zhiyuan heard that he was indeed the master, he knelt down and paid homage.

Behind him, a group of Chinese workers all knelt down in darkness. This formation was quite shocking.

Richard didn't expect this, and quickly stepped forward and stretched out his hand to pull Fan Zhiyuan up, and then said to everyone;

"Brothers, please get up. You are home when you get here. Please don't make this big ceremony.

In this three-thirds of an acre of land in San Francisco, I, Richard, regard you as a tribe connected by blood and as my own brothers. I will never yell at you or drive you like cattle or horses.

As long as I, Richard, have something to eat, I will never let you go hungry.

Now that everyone has just arrived, they may still have doubts. We don’t need to say too many sweet words, everything speaks for itself through actions.

Brothers, from now on, just watch how I, Richard, conduct myself and do things, whether I am a deceiver or not.

We have been working hard on the sea for the past few days, and we have to walk back to the Grape Valley later. We all helped to cook some hot soup, and the food was immediately distributed to everyone. After eating, we had the strength to go on the road.

Remember one sentence;

Within a radius of several hundred kilometers in North America, we Chinese must straighten our backs and behave as human beings. No one, no matter they are ghosts or Mexicans, dares to bully you.

This is what I, Richard, said. From now on, brothers, look at it with your eyes and remember it with your hearts to see if this is just nonsense.

When we get here, as long as the brothers work together and follow me, I, Richard, promise;

Everyone here will have a bright future. They can build a house and buy a property here, marry and have children, and become successful and respected here.

I won’t talk too much, let’s just take action.”

Richard's simple words moved all the Chinese present, and they couldn't help but shout;

"Young Master is so kind to you, we should do our best to do it."

"If this can be done, I and other ordinary people overseas will lose their lives and sell them to Mr. Li from now on."

"I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. Please accept my homage, Sir."

"It is enough for this life to be valued by noble people! If Mr. Li has any assignments, just ask him. We will go through fire and water without hesitation."

"Master Li..."

The simple local accent echoed in his ears, and Richard saw the flame of hope in their eyes again, no longer the stinging numbness and helplessness, and he was greatly relieved.

He raised his hands and pressed them down. After the emotional voices of the crowd stopped, he said loudly;

"Brothers, let's eat our fill first. We still have a long way to go later. When we get to Grape Valley, we will rest for two days and walk around. This is the homeland of our Chinese people.

As for what to do in the future, let’s talk about it and let everyone’s opinions and preferences prevail.

Those who are willing to join the army can do so, just like the soldiers behind me. After training, they will become the backbone of our Datang Society.

Those who are willing to work can do so. Many factories will be established in the future, and there will always be a trade you like to engage in.

Those who are willing to farm can do so. We have a large area of ​​fertile land here, which can be used to display our talents.

Those of you who are literate, including those who understand foreign languages, and those who are skilled in blacksmithing and carpentry, please don’t forget to state your family name when registering.

At that time, we will try our best to arrange suitable errands for you.

Okay, let’s eat something to fill our stomachs first. If anything happens, we’ll discuss it in detail when we return to Grape Valley.”

Richard waved to everyone enthusiastically, and a reserved English voice came to his ears, saying, "You can tell they like you."

Richard turned around and saw in front of him a tall and thin white man with a hooked nose, high cheekbones and thin lips, who was looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Judging from his appearance, he is a pretty mean person.

Richard took the initiative and said, "Let me introduce myself, Richard, the president of the Datang Association, is currently the vice president of the federation."

"It's a great honor to meet you, dear Lee. I am Ben Johnson, director and general manager of American Pacific Cruise Lines. I am of British descent from Oxfordshire, England. In addition, I don't have a good impression of the United States."

"Me too."

After saying this

The two of them laughed out loud in unison, and Ben Johnson politely made a "please" gesture and actively invited Richard to visit his ship.

The two ships docked on the wooden pier, a three-masted sailing ship and an iron-hulled steamer with a displacement of 760 tons, symbolize the products of two maritime eras.

On the three-masted sailboat, the white sailors on board were busy cleaning the deck. This type of ship was common on the east and west coasts of North America. There were more than a dozen sailboats moored in the bay, which of course did not attract Richard's attention.

What caught his attention was this new iron-hulled steam paddle wheel. There was a large round paddle wheel on the left and right sides of the ship, a tall sail mast on the bow, and a propeller on the stern.

.

This thing is the top level of shipbuilding technology in the world today. The "Great Western" sailing in the Atlantic is also driven by this method.

Compared with sailing ships, iron-shell paddle wheels can completely ignore wind direction and wind speed, rely on their own power to cross the Atlantic Ocean in 14 days, and use fewer people to transport more cargo. They are undoubtedly an era ahead of sailing cargo ships.

The iron-hulled ship had two cargo holds, which contained most of the coal. A thick layer of straw was spread on the coal pile. This was where the Chinese workers slept.

When the sea conditions were good, the Chinese workers could go up to the deck to breathe the fresh sea breeze. They had normal food supplies and were not mistreated, so they were in good physical condition.

In the captain's cabin behind the iron-shell paddle wheel, Ben Johnson entertained Richard with coffee and plum biscuits, showing great enthusiasm.

As far as Ben Johnson knew, the elegant young man opposite was a big customer.