Expedition to Europe

The domestic political chaos still has an impact on Qin Zhiyuan.

In fact, since July, the scale of labor imports from the north of the Republic of China through the Beiyang government has begun to shrink. By October, there were only more than 4,000 people a month, which was half less than at the beginning of the year.

Fortunately, Qin Zhiyuan still has the import channel of Borneo. Huang Bohan works very efficiently and can ensure that nearly 10,000 people go across the ocean every month. So far, there are more than 100,000 Chinese on Corsica.

Among these 100,000 people, the proportion of children is still more than half, and the rest are women, children and young people under 35 years old.

This number does not include the French on the island, nor does it include soldiers of the Foreign Legion. If all the Chinese soldiers of the Foreign Legion return to Corsica, the population of Corsica will now exceed 200,000.

In fact, it is far from reaching the limit. Corsica has a population of 330,000 in the 21st century. If the survival ability of the Chinese is considered, even if Corsica increases to 500,000, there will be no problem.

Qin Zhiyuan is actually responsible for the food, drink, defecation, urination and sleep of these 150,000 people. The monthly consumption of food alone exceeds 3,000 tons, of which a large proportion is meat and eggs. That is why Qin Zhiyuan has been struggling to make ends meet and diversify his sources of income.

However, after the successful development of penicillin, this tight situation will be greatly improved.

The benefits generated by penicillin are so high that there will be no problem even if the scale of immigration is expanded tenfold. Moreover, Corsica already has fishing boats and orchards, and can solve part of the food problem by itself, so the food problem will be relegated to a secondary position in the future, and the development of Corsica will soon enter the fast lane.

In fact, the current speed is fast enough. There are indeed only 150,000 residents on Corsica, but there are also nearly 100,000 laborers hired from North Africa and German prisoners of war. These people work every day, especially the German prisoners of war.

After arriving in Corsica, these prisoners of war immediately started working. Perhaps they were grateful for the better care they received in Corsica than on the French mainland, or perhaps it was the special request of Crown Prince William. Their concentration at work was comparable to that of the Chinese, and their work efficiency was even better than that of the Chinese.

In fact, in terms of education level, the general education level of German prisoners of war was far higher than that of the Chinese. Almost the vast majority of them had received secondary education, and a small number had received university education, and even had the level of joining the institute as "scientific research dogs".

These people received special treatment. After Long Chengxuan and Long Chengyuan, who had studied in Germany, came forward to invite them, the German prisoners of war who had received higher education joined the institute and became non-staff members of the institute.

This process was very smooth, because among the German prisoners of war, there were actually classmates of Long Chengxuan and Long Chengyuan at Aachen University, so it was natural to renew their relationship.

Lu Zhengxiang finally left in disappointment, not because Qin Zhiyuan was unwilling to open the penicillin factory in China, but because of the current situation in China, even if the factory was opened there, it would probably not be able to go into production smoothly.

The Beiyang government was on the brink of extinction, and the northern and southern provinces were in flames. The Republic of China, which seemed to be rich in resources, could not even find a piece of pure land. It was really a pity.

The penicillin factory did make money, but it was afraid that it would immediately become a golden baby that everyone was fighting for after entering the country, which would cause more trouble.

Although the conditions for setting up a factory were not yet met, Qin Zhiyuan still made a promise that once the conditions were ripe, Qin Zhiyuan would open a penicillin factory in the Republic of China and would also start to enter the heavy industry.

If a country wants to rise, it would be a joke if it does not have heavy industry, especially steel and oil. Qin Zhiyuan will definitely get these two things. Only by establishing a complete industrial system can the Republic of China have initial competitiveness and then get rid of the control of Western countries.

Qin Zhiyuan is currently preparing talents in this regard.

In the steel plant where the old Renault has already started production, there are nearly a thousand Chinese workers distributed in various links from ore dressing to steelmaking. After two years, these Chinese workers will become skilled workers, and the more outstanding ones will even become engineers. When these Chinese workers return to the Republic of China, they can immediately support a steel plant.

Such a human resource layout is also applicable to the weapons production workshop of the old Renault.

It can be said that perhaps the Chinese workers sent by Qin Zhiyuan to the old Renault factory lack design capabilities, but in terms of production, their technology is not much worse than those of the old employees in the Renault factory, and they are even much higher in terms of work enthusiasm and labor intensity.

Due to their limited education level, the Chinese did start at a relatively low level, but once the Chinese adapted, their burst of learning ability was indeed amazing.

There is an old Chinese saying: Many skills are not a burden.

This fully reflects the Chinese attitude towards technology or skills.

It is for this reason that the old Renault values ​​the human resources in Qin Zhiyuan's hands.

Qin Zhiyuan and Lu Zhengxiang talked to the end, and he couldn't help but invite Lu Zhengxiang to go to Corsica and serve as the chief executive of Corsica.

After much hesitation, Lu Zhengxiang declined Qin Zhiyuan's invitation.

It was not that Lu Zhengxiang did not want to join Corsica, but that Lu Zhengxiang was still the Beiyang government's ambassador to France. If he resigned and joined Qin Zhiyuan at this time, even if he had a bright future, it might lead to a feud between Qin Zhiyuan and the Beiyang government.

This was something Lu Zhengxiang absolutely did not want to see.

Although he was rejected by Lu Zhengxiang, Qin Zhiyuan did not care.

Everything should be done in a natural way. Since Qin Zhiyuan has expressed his goodwill, Lu Zhengxiang will surely remember Qin Zhiyuan's favor even if he declines. Once the time is right, Lu Zhengxiang will naturally consider this matter.

Just as Corsica is gradually getting back on track and the situation in Sidi Bel Abbas is beginning to unfold, the contradictions in Borneo finally broke out.

October is the season of clear and crisp autumn weather, with bright sunshine and salty sea breeze.

Gu Xingbang and Ma Gaojie led a company of Umbrella Company security guards to board the ship from Penglai Island and go to Surabaya to take over for a month-long rotation.

Penglai Island is the secret base of the Umbrella Company. It was originally a deserted island with an extremely difficult Javanese name. After Zhang Tianshou and Qin Haoge arrived in Borneo, they disliked the original name because it was difficult to read, so they changed it to "Penglai Island".

Penglai Island was originally an uninhabited desert island. There are fresh water resources on the island, and the area of ​​the plain is not small, but because of its remote location, it has not been developed.

There are countless islands like this in Borneo.

After Zhang Tianshou and Qin Haoge led the Chinese to land on Penglai Island, they spent three months to flatten the rocky wasteland and build a military training base. They also successfully reclaimed 50 to 60 hectares of wasteland and planted food, vegetables, and fruit trees to meet some needs.

Now Penglai Island has a camp for nearly 10,000 people to live in, as well as a large processing plant for the production of consumables such as bullets and explosives.

This work was compiled and uploaded by Liujiu Book Bar~~

Zhang Tianshou and Qin Haoge have been in Borneo for more than half a year. During this half year, they built camps and factories, and trained the first batch of "security guards" with local Chinese children in Borneo and miners hired from the Republic of China as the backbone.

Although the local Chinese in Borneo are obsessed with business, some of them have not lost their blood. They can no longer tolerate the oppression of the Dutch and the shamelessness of the indigenous people. As long as there is a spark, it will explode.

As for the miners in the mines, they are born to be the best fighters, strong, loyal, and disciplined. As long as they are organized and targeted, they are at least no worse than the Kumamoto miners of the Japanese Sixth Division.

These local Chinese officers and miners have received nearly four months of training. Almost two months ago, they went to the mines and plantations of Huang Bohan, Huang Jinsheng, **** Mao and others in batches to undertake security tasks. The effect is very good. Although taxes to the Dutch still need to be paid, the extortion of the locals has almost disappeared.

Gu Xingbang and Ma Gaojie went to Huang Bohan's plantation in Surabaya to be responsible for security work. Gu Xingbang and others called this "going to work."

Penglai Island is about 150 kilometers away from Sishui. It takes about three hours to reach Sishui by taking the small steamer provided by Huang Bohan.

"Old Gu, do you think Mr. Huang's appetite is too big? His plantation in Sishui now covers more than 2,000 hectares. If he buys another 5,000 hectares, won't all the land in Sishui be bought by Mr. Huang?" Ma Gaojie and Gu Xingbang whispered at the bow.

"Why don't you buy it and keep it? Are you going to watch those natives abandon it? The land around Sishui is so big. Let alone 5,000 hectares, you can't reclaim it all, let alone 50,000 hectares. It's in the hands of these natives who won't move even if they are whipped. If it were in our hometown, it would have been reclaimed long ago. Do you believe it?" Gu Xingbang looked like he had met the wrong person. He hated those natives so much when he thought of them.

"Natives" refers to the aborigines of Borneo. These people can be called the laziest people in the world. They guard the land with three crops a year, but they always live a life of hunger and fullness. They would rather beg from the Chinese than to open up wasteland and plant crops.

Begging happens frequently. For the Chinese living in Borneo, the aborigines here are almost like beggars. Many times, the Chinese with relatively better family conditions will give a little to the begging of the natives, but there are also times when they don't give.

Often when they don't give, these natives will change their faces. If they can't get what they want through begging, they will pick up long knives and use force to force.

And often after picking up long knives, the Chinese will surrender.

The meaning of Gu Xingbang's existence is to make the natives dare not take the knife.

"That's right. If this were in our hometown, we would guarantee to plant food on the top of the mountain for him. Every family would be divided into 100 acres of land. All the food would be stored at home. If people can't finish eating, I would feed pigs, ten pigs..." Ma Gaojie muttered to himself with red eyes.

Ma Gaojie and Gu Xingbang are both from Shandong. Shandong has never been peaceful since the late Qing Dynasty, so the lives of the common people can be imagined. Ma Gaojie originally had seven brothers and sisters, but only three of them grew up. When he grew up, in order not to drag down his family, he chose to join the labor team and go to Europe.

Thinking about the lives of his brothers and sisters at home, and looking at these natives who would rather be beggars than work while guarding the land with three crops a year, Ma Gaojie felt that the world was really unfair.

"Don't think about those things, think more about the present." Seeing his old brother was moved by the scene, Gu Xingbang hugged Ma Gaojie's shoulders and described a bright future. "Our Master Qin said that when the war in France is over, he will lead us to grab land all over the world. By then, every household will have at least 100 acres. You can ask for three or four wives, come to your hometown as the main wife, marry a French woman as a concubine, and come to Borneo as the third wife. Don't tire yourself to death by then."

"Exhausted to death? I'm willing to die of exhaustion!" Ma Gaojie laughed, thinking of the bright future with great longing.

Perhaps it was for this prospect that Ma Gaojie and his men were willing to follow Qin Zhiyuan in his battles.