There are more than 50 people, the oldest of whom is no more than 35 years old, which is still considered young people in the 21st century. At this age, most people already have seven or eight children, and those who are in a hurry can become grandparents. Therefore, among the more than 50 people, the ratio of children and babies is a bit high. There are a lot of little kids, more than 30 of them. No wonder Li De is worried.
Rock was not worried. Having more people was a burden for Li De, but it was an asset for Rock. If the only requirement was to have food to eat, it was really not difficult. Before Rock was in charge of the refugee camp, the mortality rate in the refugee camp was over 20%. When Rock took over, he didn't know which link had gone wrong. The supplies allocated by the British were still based on the standards from two months ago. The difference was enough to feed hundreds of people, but a mere fifty people was really a drizzle.
"Will there be any problem?" Anton was a little worried, but at the same time there was hope in his eyes.
Rock immediately understood that Anton probably had this need as well. Who doesn't have relatives? Anton's family has already immigrated to Cape Town, so he must have relatives in the Qing Dynasty. It seems that there is no need to choose whether to stay in the Qing Dynasty or immigrate to Cape Town.
"It doesn't matter. The vineyard needs workers anyway." Rock was not worried. With Henry in charge of the bureau, Rock had a lot of room to maneuver.
In fact, it is not unrelated. Although the vineyard does need workers, compared with those Boers, hiring Chinese is actually not cost-effective. After all, hiring those Boers only requires one pound of meat per week, while hiring these Chinese definitely requires salary. Although these Chinese will not ask for 50 oceans a month, the cost is definitely more than hiring those Boers.
Of course, we can't care too much at this time. If Rock doesn't help, these people will have no food or clothing, which will definitely affect future immigration. Maybe other Chinese police officers will even lose enthusiasm for their families to immigrate. This is not worth the loss.
Then all of them can stay, the adults can go to work in the vineyard, and the children can go to school, but this will bring new problems.
“The schools in the refugee camps teach in Dutch and English, but our children can speak neither Dutch nor English, so they can’t even understand what is being said. What can they learn?” Anton was very worried. He also had two children of school age, and this problem was very urgent.
Rock didn't think about this question and was scratching his head for a moment .
When the Boers colonized the Cape, the lingua franca was Dutch. After the British drove the Boers away, the lingua franca became a coexistence of English and Dutch. Chinese children can speak neither English nor Dutch, so there will definitely be problems in their education. Although there are translators in the refugee camps, there are no Chinese translators, so this problem is very serious, and at least Rock has no way to solve it now.
In fact, the most suitable person to be a teacher is Rock. He knows English and has received systematic education, so being a teacher is easy for him.
But it is impossible for Rock to be the king of the children. He is very busy now and has no time to teach, so he has to think of other ways.
"How about calling Lao Liang back?" Anton proposed a solution.
Although Liang Dingxin's English level is not good enough, he is the most suitable candidate. It's a pity that Liang Dingxin is currently in Qing Dynasty and they have to find a way to transport people to Cape Town, so it is impossible for him to come to be a teacher.
"No, no, there are so many bachelors waiting in the bureau." Rock disagreed. Anton's child was going to school, so Anton could use some money to pay for his own. But Rock had to look at the overall situation. Compared with education, increasing the population base was more important now.
After Rock gave this reason, Anton couldn't object. After all, if he couldn't even feed himself, he wouldn't care about the lives of his brothers.
"Then let the women take care of the children at home first, and we will find a solution ourselves." Anton compromised. If the matter was to be resolved, he had to send a telegram to Liang Dingxin. There were not enough talents in the Cape, but there must be some in the Qing Dynasty. Not to mention other places, the customs had been controlled by the British, Robert Hart, for forty years, and there must be many people who knew English.
Then send a telegram to Liang Dingxin. Nowadays, teachers with translation skills are considered special talents and their salary must not be low. Rock directly offers a monthly salary of ten pounds, and I believe someone will be tempted.
…
At the end of April, another large number of reinforcements arrived at the Cape. The total number of British troops on the Cape battlefield had reached 400,000. In early May, the British army launched a new offensive. On May 12, the British army captured Kronstad, the new capital of the Orange Free State . The Boer coalition retreated to Transvaal to continue resistance.
"The war is about to end. I think good news will come from London soon. Maybe we will go to London together to meet the Queen. Are you ready?" Henry - Superintendent Henry was very excited. The end of the war meant that rewards would be given according to merit. Henry had such merits as killing the commander-in-chief of the Boer coalition, Jubert, so a baron was the minimum.
As for Rock——
Well, Rock did not hold out much hope. He was not as optimistic as Henry. The Second Boer War lasted for more than two years. Historically, on September 1, 1900, the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, Roberts, announced the annexation of Transvaal by Britain and declared the end of the war. However, in fact, the peace negotiations between the British and the Boers did not end until May 1902, lasting a total of 31 months.
"Don't be so optimistic. The Boers will not surrender easily." Rock didn't say much. It was useless to say more. Henry wouldn't believe it.
400,000 troops gathered in the Cape, and everyone believed that the war would end within a few months. After all, the total population of the Boers was only 440,000, and even if the expeditionary force could defeat the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State.
The problem was that the hatred between the British and the Boers was too deep. In the Orange Free State, the methods adopted by the British army were no different from the combat methods of the Japanese army in the War of Resistance Against Japan. They killed all who could be killed, burned all who could be burned, and robbed all who could be robbed. The Boers would not surrender easily, and the end of frontal fighting did not mean the end of the war.
"Of course they won't surrender easily, but they have to submit. The Cape is part of the British Empire, which is an indisputable fact." Henry was very sure that it didn't matter if the Boers did not surrender. They just had to destroy them all. The expeditionary force had the ability to do so.
"How are you and Lacey?" Rock didn't want to dwell on this issue. Henry wouldn't like to hear too much, and it would affect the relationship between Rock and Henry.
"I have met General Hopkins. General Hopkins promised that he would not force Lacey and would let her make her own choice." Henry was very happy when talking about Lacey. It seemed that the progress was good.
"Congratulations, I'll treat you to a meal when I get the chance." Rock is very confident now. When it comes to cooking, Marvin's skills can beat all the chefs in Cape Town, including the chefs in the Governor's Palace.