Chapter 81 Where is Nanhua?
Facts have proved that in troubled times, people can be plundered men, military rations, or leeks that can be chopped down at will.
Of course, they can also be goods. Even as goods, people can be ridiculously cheap.
One P1853 rifle made in India could be exchanged for 20 people - boys, girls, and children, this was the package price. According to the agreement reached between Wang Botao and the American company, one hundred rounds of paper-wrapped bullets could be exchanged for two young boys.
For Wang Botao, this is a completely no-cost business. He doesn't care about the future fate of these people at all. Why would foreigners buy people?
What else can I do? It's definitely not a good thing. But it has nothing to do with him.
For him, all he cared about was how many foreign guns, gunpowder, and cannons he could exchange for.
As for people?
It's not worth mentioning at all!
"Oh, what a pity, what a pity..."
Looking at the common people brought by his subordinates, Wang Botao said with regret.
"If I had known that this guy could also change his gun, I would have killed fewer people. There are so many empty places in and outside the city, and it's hard to get people."
While saying this, Wang Botao said to Zhao Shian.
"Zhao Shuli, you should discuss with Liu Tongyi and let them stay for a few more days. We have plenty of people. As long as they are willing to wait for a few days, it will be easy to get tens of thousands of people, right?"
Now he actually missed the time when he first came to Jinshan. At that time, there were people everywhere. There were tens of thousands of people in any town, which was enough to exchange for a lot of foreign guns and cannons.
It's like now... what a pity.
Alas, what a pity!
Although they sighed, they still had to do business. According to the agreement between the two parties, these people had to be sent to the seaside, and then sent by boat to Tanhushan Island, which was only more than 60 miles away from Jinzhou. Although there were only a dozen families on the island, it did not prevent Li Fugui from setting up a "waiting station" here.
The so-called "waiting station" was actually a group of straw huts divided into male and female camps. Even the guards were temporarily conscripted men. When Liu Kunpeng went to Shanghai to find a boat, Li Fugui naturally became the leader of the "waiting station".
Once people got on the island and entered the waiting area, they began a lengthy process - registration, physical examination, numbering, getting and changing clothes, getting bamboo slips with work numbers, forming teams, training...
All of this was the procedure that the boss had already decided when they left Nanhua. The men had to undergo military training here. To put it bluntly, it was to train them to be obedient.
"Where's the whip?"
“Cut them all!”
As soon as everyone got ashore, before they could figure out what was going on, their braids were cut off without any explanation.
Of course, for those who have survived the knife attack, they have no other choice except to obey helplessly. In , as ordinary people, all they can do is to survive.
In the following days, they either walked in a line or ran around the island every day. Of course, they were able to eat their fill - one dry food and one liquid food, and occasionally one or two pieces of sea fish, but that was just enough to fill their stomachs.
"one two three four……"
Before the boat reached the harbor, loud slogans were heard from the shore. A child with a gray face and who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old raised his head and looked over there.
There was still some curiosity .
"Brother Liu, why did those leaders... send us all to the sea?"
Li Lin asked curiously.
"Third Young Master, how would we know about this? But Third Young Master, you have to remember that when you are on someone else's territory, you have to follow their rules. Those people... are carrying knives..."
Liu San swallowed nervously. He was scared. He saw with his own eyes how those long-haired people killed people. Although he didn't know why they spared him and the people around him, it always made sense to be cautious.
"I know I know……"
Li Lin nodded.
"People are under the eaves..."
Finally, the crowded ship docked at the port, and the men and women who had survived the knife-edge were driven ashore by the Taiping Army.
It was like counting goods, counting them one by one.
"Twenty people in a team, twenty people, damn..."
If someone was a little slow, someone would chop them with the back of a knife, followed by a round of scolding.
Looking at the chaos on the dock, Li Fugui frowned and talked to himself again.
"I don't know how Mr. Liu is doing in finding his boat."
…
As long as you have money, you don’t have to worry about the ship.
As interpreters, Liu Kunpeng and Mir found several American clippers in just three to five days after arriving at the Shanghai Concession. After all, not every clipper had the chance to be loaded with goods such as tea, raw silk, and porcelain.
These clipper ships often wait for cargo at the dock for one or two months.
The next thing was simple. It was nothing more than negotiating the price and modifying the boats - the boats also needed to be equipped with multiple layers of equipment so as to carry as many people as possible.
Of course, Liu Kunpeng was not idle either. He even registered a company in the British Concession - "American Company". The scope of its business was naturally to sell foreign goods from various countries, and also to specialize in labor business.
If it were last year, exporting contract laborers from the Qing Dynasty would still be "illegal", but last year, relying on their strong ships and powerful guns, the British and French allied forces fought all the way to the capital, and after burning the Qing emperor's garden, in addition to ceding territory and paying compensation, the new treaty also included precise clauses for various countries to employ contract laborers. Now this is also a "new industry in the Qing Dynasty."
Mil is a black man, but this does not prevent him from being a "foreigner". Of course, Liu Kunpeng is just a comprador.
After nearly half a month of hard work, the seven clipper ships in the Huangpu River were finally modified.
On February 25, 1861, ten clippers left Shanghai at the same time. When the ships left, Liu Kunpeng just stood at the window of the western-style building, looking at the ships from afar and talking to himself.
"My lord, rest assured. I will never let you down for saving my life!"
While talking to himself, he walked to the table again and started writing a letter. It was a letter to several Qing generals, some with the surname Zeng and some with the surname Li. The content of the letter was nothing but content related to the "emerging industry" of contract labor. Of course, it also included the extremely flexible payment method that the American company could accept.
The next morning, ten clippers arrived at Tanhu Mountain. Li Fugui, who had received the news, had already prepared for the voyage. More than 20,000 men and women stood at the dock in a daze, looking at the eight ocean-going ships in the bay. Although they did not know what was waiting for them, they still felt a chill in their hearts - they were afraid that they would never come back after this trip.
But they did not dare to resist and just sighed as if they had accepted their fate.
"If you don't want to get on board, I'll hand you over to Changmao..."
If it falls into the hands of Taiping, it will be a dead end!
Alas, I would rather be a dog in peace than a man in chaos!
With almost desperate eyes, people got on the boat and squeezed into the narrow and dark cabin. When lying on the narrow beds in the dim cabin , Song Yu looked at his sister and asked.
"Sister, where are we going?"
"Didn't you say we were going to Nanhua?"
"Where is Nanhua?"
Nobody knows.
