African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 44: Chapter 40: The Immigrant Army Returns to the Country

The Battle of Lissa had ended, but it didn’t have much impact on Ernst.

Now, besides hastening to supply the warring parties with materials, Ernst’s main focus was to accelerate immigration from the Far East and Europe.

Although the Marine District had cleared the land, there wasn’t enough manpower to develop such a vast area. Except for a few new settlements with a slight population, most of the land was left unused.

To attract more immigrants, Ernst sent instructions to the East African colony to increase the pace of immigration, using deceit or force if necessary, to bring more people from the Far East.

...

July 4, 1866. Jiaozhou Bay.

A Dutch fleet, passing through East Africa, docked at Jiaozhou Bay, and unlike before, this time some Chinese who had lived in the East African colony for a long time returned with the staff responsible for immigration affairs of the Heixinggen consortium.

They were the first batch of Chinese immigrants to the East African colony.

Before heading to the East African colony, they were mostly sallow and emaciated, unable to get a meal, nearly starving. After the German recruitment, they went to sea without much hesitation.

After nearly a year of recuperation in East Africa, they were no longer emaciated, their faces glowing, physiques strong, and especially their eyes showed an indescribable pride.

Setting foot on their motherland again, they were no longer people of the old country; they were now registered Germans holding East African colonial household registration.

Different from before, perhaps they used to fear the local dignitaries, but now, with the backing of the Germans, they had gained confidence.

At this moment, they were carrying weapons, negotiating with the Germans and Qing Country officials.

Since Germany was not yet unified, the Heixinggen consortium could not fly the flag of the German Empire, so this mission-laden group of East African Chinese immigrants carried weapons to intimidate these timid Qing Country officials.

Trained by German instructors, the Chinese immigrant army responsible for negotiations with foreigners at Jiaozhou Bay seemed quite organized.

Although their firearms were outdated flintlock guns, only the Prussian military had large-scale converted to breech-loading flintlock guns worldwide, and these guns were not second-hand decommissioned ones from Prussia but new guns produced by the Heixinggen arsenal.

Paired with brightly colored custom Prussian uniforms, they looked just like Prussian East African branch soldiers, which indeed impressed the Man Qing diplomats, especially compared to the current Qing Country army, presenting a model of discipline, a standard of the Royal Army.

This Man Qing official was the port management personnel of Jiaozhou Bay, previously aware that a so-called ”German trade caravan” came for trade here.

Because of the troubles caused by Britain, France, and even the Dutch and Portuguese in recent years, Qing Country officials dared not offend merchants or even ordinary people from Europe too much.

If a diplomatic incident were to be triggered, giving these foreign barbarians a pretext for war, would the Emperor forgive us?

A few years back, foreigners had attacked from the sea into the Forbidden City, and Jiaozhou Bay was even less secure than the Emperor’s palace, with the cannons of foreign ships being formidable enough.

Therefore, in the past, Qing Country officials turned a blind eye to the actions of Heixinggen consortium companies, fearing to provoke trouble.

The way of officialdom lies in adaptability, not seeking merit but no demerit, and usually, Qing Country officials would even support the staff of the Heixinggen consortium, fearing the foreigners causing trouble.

But today was different; no matter how incompetent or weak they were, they could not turn a blind eye. The foreigners who landed today brought a hundred-strong army. What was their intention?

Upon receiving the report from the dock informant, the dock management did not dare neglect it and directly reported to the government office. The highest official at Jiaozhou Port dared not show up and sent the deputy ”Wang Qiangui” to scout for information.

Wang Qiangui cursed inwardly but dared not oppose his superior, calling a few officials to the dock to understand the situation.

”Mr. Anthony! What is the purpose of your company’s visit?” Wang Qiangui cautiously probed.

A staff member of the Heixinggen consortium named Anthony pulled Wang Qiangui, who showed an expression of disdain but pretended to be overwhelmed with favor, and said, ”Hahaha, Wang, you’re just in time. This is our company’s private armed force, and we’re here mainly to assist with our company’s recruitment work throughout North China!”

”Mr. Anthony, although we are ’allies,’ we face our difficulties. After all, your country’s military might trouble our government’s top officials!”

Wang Qiangui immediately discerned the ”conspiracy” of these Prussian barbarians. Clearly an army, yet they claimed it was a private armed force? Could a group of servants display such military bearing, demeanor, and spirit?

On this point, Wang Qiangui had guessed correctly. Many immigrants in the East African colony had experienced bloodshed, as the natives would not submit meekly; proactive strikes were necessary.

And when choosing immigrant armies in the colony, preference was given to those immigrants who had already lived in the colony for some time.

Aside from being physically healthier after some recuperation, the colony’s senior officials were cautious with new immigrants, while these old immigrants had proven to be ”trustworthy people” through time.

Even though the Chinese immigrant army remained silent, standing neatly behind Anthony, Wang Qiangui still sensed a subtle aura of menace.

Anthony explained, ”Wang, I understand your concerns, but we Germans come with goodwill. I heard your country has a large population, especially an idle population, so we’re here for recruitment as usual! After all, you don’t need people who aren’t employable, and we need people for land development. If you send your surplus population to us Germans, wouldn’t that reduce some risks for you?”

Wang Qiangui wasn’t worried about this, knowing the facts of employment and population surplus? He was just serving for a meal at the government office, reading the Four Books and Five Classics, and occasionally watching court reports.

”Mr. Anthony, it’s not that I’m making it difficult for your country, but the problem with the army is hard to handle! If your army encounters trouble from our unruly folk, I won’t be able to keep my hat! My family relies on it for a living. Would you kindly consider our situation?”

Seeing that Wang Qiangui was unfazed by both hard and soft approaches, Anthony became angry. Do you want me to lose face?

”Wang, I now solemnly warn you, if you cannot agree to our demands, prepare for war!” Anthony threatened with war, although it was merely to intimidate Wang Qiangui, as Anthony couldn’t mobilize anyone other than these Chinese immigrant soldiers before him.

But even so, Wang Qiangui was intimidated and quickly replied, ”Mr. Anthony! Don’t get excited, don’t get excited, the matter is not so serious. It’s just that I am low in rank and light in power, unable to make decisions. Please wait a moment, I’ll report to my superior right away, and you won’t be kept waiting long!”

Saying so, Wang Qiangui instructed his men to stay here and ran quickly to the government office.

...

”Master, master, you should make a decision now! Otherwise, if the Prussian barbarians really cause trouble, will the Emperor spare us?”

”Detail the background of this Prussia carefully, and I’ll think of a way!” The obese and large-eared official said.

With inner disdain for his incompetent superior, Wang Qiangui said, ”Master, this Prussian barbarian is a strong nation in Europe, second only to Britain, France, Russia, and Austria. I heard that Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands are in the same echelon as Prussia....

After listening for a while, this superior understood that they couldn’t win.

”What is the purpose of their current visit?”

Uh...

Wang Qiangui continued, ”Like usual, they say it’s for recruiting workers to work overseas.”

”In that case, what are you afraid of! How much are a few unruly folk worth? Send them off first, and remember to have someone watch them. Don’t let them come to the government. If they’re genuinely recruiting, it should concern other local officials. If they’re not recruiting and have other intentions, as long as it’s not too serious, don’t meddle. If they head to the government... report promptly, and I’ll return to Beijing to seek help, and then you can temporarily handle affairs on my behalf.”

Thus, the colonial immigrant army and the liaison staff responsible for recruitment swaggered inland, with governments along the way daring not to obstruct, even assisting in their recruitment efforts inland.

After all, they mostly wanted peasants, who weren’t worth much.