Opening game, American Tycoon

Chapter 381 Captives are the pioneers of colonization (first update, please subscribe)
For ordinary people, the war is over and life must go on.

But for some, the war is not over.

When the women in Buenos Aires fell into the arms of South China soldiers or ordinary South China people either because of life or because of love.

In the desolate bay of the Patagonian Plateau in the south of Nanhua, those captured prisoners of war are being pulled one by one to board the immigration boat.

These prisoners of war will be sent to Congo on the other side of the ocean, where the company owns a large plantation, where the rainforest needs manpower to reclaim and plant.

And captives are the best human resources. After all, working in the tropical rain forest will face the threat of various diseases.

Like all prisoners, after being captured at the front, Captain Wesley boarded the train with the soldiers to the POW camp,

Just when he thought the prisoner-of-war camp would end, they were stuffed into the boat again. After a few days of rough seas, they arrived at the port of Madita at the mouth of the Congo River. A few years ago, in order to free the black slaves— ——Zhu Xianlie sent thousands of black slaves he rescued in the Brazilian gold mines to Congo. In order to settle them, he bought a large area of ​​land in the river mouth area. The vast Congo River and its hinterland are tropical rain forests, swamps and random Malaria and other diseases such as sleeping sickness made it difficult for Europeans to settle.The Western powers of this era were reluctant to colonize the region due to the lack of obvious economic interests.

This also made Nanhua "pick up" a leak. Since the day when Madita Port was built in 1865 to house more than [-] freed slaves, Nanhua has been carefully planning and building this colony.

But in just a few years, a brand new city appeared on the banks of the Congo River.Of course, the price paid in the process of urban construction is also extremely tragic.

When these Argentine prisoners of war came to Puerto Martita, what they saw was an oriental-style city. Except for a few European-style buildings, Chinese-style brick and wooden buildings are very common in the city.In this exotic city, besides the yellow race, there are also many black people.

"Captain, do you know where this is?"

When getting off the boat, Fernando looked at the unfamiliar city in his sight and asked a little nervously.

"We sailed on the sea for eight days. There are coconut trees and tropical rain forests. There are also many black people. I think we should be in Africa..."

Wesley is not only an army officer, he is also a middle school geography teacher, coconut trees, and the edge of the city seems to be planted, and the plantations seem to be planted with coffee trees.

Just when he was trying to figure out the area he was in from the limited information, they who had just disembarked were driven by black soldiers again and caught up with a train.

The whole process was so fast that there was no time for them to breathe.

"Already on the train?"

Standing on the balcony in front of the company building, Li Wende used binoculars to look at the prisoners who had just been sent from a distance, watching them stuffed into the carriage like sardines.

"Yes, sir, when they arrive in Kinshasa, they will be sent to the ship as planned, and then distributed along the Congo River to the plantations along the coast."

Major Ding Quan who was standing beside him laughed.

"Sir, this time Nanhua won a big victory. I heard that almost [-] people were captured. With these manpower, the area of ​​the plantation will at least double this year!"

What is the most important thing for Nanhua Central Africa Company?
Of course it is a plantation. When Li Wende first came to Madita five years ago, it was just a small fishing village, but now?Not only is it a bustling city, but a large tropical plantation has also been built nearby, where rubber trees, coffee trees, and tropical crops such as oil palm and sisal are planted.

In order to expand inland, while sending expeditions up the Congo River, he even built a railway to the inland, because the Congo River below Kinshasa is very fast and has many waterfalls that cannot be used by boats. , Between Madita on the Atlantic Ocean and Kinshasa, a railway must be built to pass.

In order to build this railway, the company recruited hundreds of thousands of laborers from various tribes in the local area, and finally paid an extremely tragic price to build this railway in the tropical rainforest.

Although the price was extremely tragic for the local people, tens of thousands of people died on the railway site, but after the railway was opened to traffic, the company finally extended its hand into the hinterland of the Congo River.

It was also from then on that the light of modern civilization finally shone on this dark continent. For the first time, the local aborigines felt the convenience of modern civilization such as railways, steamships, and electric lights. Founded towns arose in this wild land, bringing to them modern civilization.

"Twice as large... Plantations are important, but what we need is not just plantations, but through those scattered along the rivers, to establish our dominion over the heart of Africa."

After a pause, Li Wende said,
"By the way, is there any news about Captain Zhao Lifeng?"

Captain Zhao Lifeng is the captain of the company's expedition team. He had set off as early as the beginning of the year, but there has been no news since the start.

"Not yet, but I think he's the same now as he used to be—driving steamboats up the Congo River, doing business in every village they pass: offering glass beads, ironware in exchange for papers signed by the chiefs, legally Transferred their land to the South China Company."

The so-called "expedition" means conquest, but it is not conquest at all. The so-called "kingdoms" in the area are tribal alliances.It has long been extinct, and there are only a few indigenous tribes in the entire Congo River Basin. The expedition team only needs to sign contracts with chiefs from various places along the way, and they can easily obtain large tracts of land and labor.

Of course, they will also encounter resistance, but in the face of modern weapons, that kind of resistance is simply negligible and not worth mentioning.

At the same time, the expedition team will also establish many outposts and trading posts along the coast, and the company will then enter the outposts and establish plantations based on the outposts. Thanks to the efforts of the company's expedition team, they It has been more than [-] kilometers deep into the hinterland along the Congo River, and many towns including Kinshasa have been established.

"It's just our job."

Standing under the parasol, Li Wende looked at the port and said in a rather calm tone.

"The Europeans have divided up the whole world. It is really not easy for the commander-in-chief to lead us to create that piece of foundation in South China. For the sake of future generations, we must expand our land as much as possible before the Europeans pay attention to Africa." The territory, laying the foundation for the future!"

When he said these words, Li Wende looked at the urban area and said.

"Why do Europeans like to colonize? Look here, even the most ordinary South Chinese can live in a spacious mansion. Not only can they live a life of luxury, but they can also own at least five or six locals. Maids, this kind of life can only be provided by the colony, in fact, all this is the return that the colony provides to their pioneers."

And this kind of return is not without cost. When they first arrived in Madita, the first thing they planned was the cemetery. The hot climate of the tropical rainforest and the spread of malaria and other diseases made these colonial rulers who came from afar They paid a high price, and even Li Wende's wife died of dystocia after arriving at a port in Madita.

But they managed to start the colony from nothing.All have been richly rewarded, though at an extremely high price.

"Not to mention us, even those prisoners of war, they will also enjoy a life on this land that they cannot enjoy in Argentina."

Looking at the train that had already left the train station, looking at the carriages being towed by the steam locomotive, the corners of Li Wende's lips twitched.

Those talents are the pioneers of Nanhua's colonization, and colonization must be fatal.

It's better to kill others than to kill yourself...

(End of this chapter)