The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 96 Gold
October 1724, 10, Fort Pinch (now the town of Harrismith, South Africa).

The two sides of Tianti Mountain (now the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa), which runs through the southeastern region of South Africa, decrease in a step-like manner.The east slope is steep, cut by many rivers, and the terrain is rugged and broken. Facing the humid airflow of the Indian Ocean, the terrain is rich in rainfall. Subtropical mountain evergreen forests grow densely, and alpine grasslands flourish.The western slope is gentle and slightly tilted towards the inland plateau. Due to its leeward position, the climate is arid, with many grasslands and shrubs.

An army of several hundred men formed a single column, winding its way through a magnificent open grassland.The land here is dauntingly vast, covered with short, stiff grass and scattered with huge rocks, with the occasional outline of a thorn tree breaking the smooth skyline, and here and there the shadow of a ravine.Several raised peaks break up the plain terrain, and blue-yellow flower bushes are scattered like spots on the hills.

The air here is trembling, with a faint smell of dry dust floating around.Thick white cirrus clouds accumulate in the sky during the day, and the sun is clear. From here, you can clearly see herdsmen driving their cattle several kilometers away.

Geng Tingzhao, commander of the Third Regiment of the Indian Garrison in Cochin and Lieutenant Colonel Ling Hui, rode a majestic Mawari horse onto a hill and looked forward with a telescope.

"Sir, according to the markings on the map, there should be an immigration point called Fort Pingzhi three or four kilometers ahead." An intelligence staff officer reported from the side: "If we speed up a little bit, we should be able to get there before sunset. .”

Geng Tingzhao put down his telescope and turned his head to look at the marching team under the hill. The Indian servants, each thin and dark-faced, were carrying muskets. Under the leadership of officers at all levels, they took a slightly heavy step. , constantly flowing forward.Although there was sweat on their foreheads, their breathing was somewhat rapid, and they all showed unconcealable fatigue, they still gritted their teeth and continued to march under the strict military orders.

"Order the troops to rest in place for 10 minutes." Geng Tingzhao ordered: "No one is allowed to move around without receiving military orders."

"Yes, sir."

"I think the Governor-General of Qianzhou should build a railway from Changning (today's Durban, South Africa) directly to Xingshan." Zhu Changbo, deputy commander of the Third Regiment of Cochin and Major of Xuanjie Regiment, took off the kettle , handed it to Geng Tingzhao, then pointed to the vast meadow and said: "Although this is a plateau and mountainous area, the terrain is flat, and a large number of black slave labor can be recruited. It should not cost much to build a railway. .With this railway, we can better control the inland areas, and we can also continuously transport the gold mines there to Changning, and finally ship them back to the mainland."

"How can the government have so much energy to invest in the construction of Qianzhou?" Geng Tingzhao took the kettle, took a few sips, then wiped his mouth and said: "Nanyang Islands, Malay Peninsula, Annan, Luzon , India, and Myanmar are the core interests of our country, and if we want to build railways, we will probably focus on these areas."

"Today is different from the past." Zhu Changbo said with a smile: "The discovery of the Xingshan gold mine is enough for the cabinet ministers to turn their attention here. Think about it, the huge gold mine belt stretching for hundreds of kilometers, this has to be for me How much revenue Qi has contributed! Even if the government does not contribute money, as long as a railway license is issued, there must be many business companies and consortiums rushing to invest in the construction of this railway."

"Humph, we haven't even built a railway yet. Thousands of people are flocking to Xingshan to pan for gold on foot, on horseback, or in oxcarts. If a railway were to be built, wouldn't there be even more people flocking there?" Xiang Xingshan?"

The [-]rd Cochin Regiment of the Indian Garrison Army came to Changning on several transport ships a month ago under the orders of the local General Staff to strengthen the defense of the Qianzhou Governor-General and prepare for the possible outbreak of the Qi-British War. Sexual preparation.

However, in view of the chaotic situation in the Xingshan gold mining area, the Governor of Guizhou ordered the regiment to first mobilize some officers and soldiers to cooperate with the two mixed battalions of the Army's [-]th Regiment that had been stationed in Xingshan to stabilize local order and protect the core gold mining area. .

Therefore, Geng Tingzhao led two battalions of officers and soldiers to set out from Changning and meander all the way north.While marching on the way, officers and soldiers would see small groups of gold diggers appearing near the team from time to time.Even when the troops set up camp, they would camp and rest not far from the military camp.

These gold diggers marched with the team, and of course they did not come to attack this economical army.They just wanted to be closer to the army so as to avoid being attacked by the indigenous feudal clans.

It is true that when the Qi people expanded their colonization into inland areas, they would clear out and drive away the local indigenous tribes, almost wiping out the indigenous people near the colonial points.However, the full population of Qi in South Africa is only over 20, and they are mainly concentrated along the coast.So, the vast interior, especially the mountainous and plateau areas, is still dominated by the indigenous people.

Due to the looting and killing by the Qi people, the local indigenous people in South Africa were naturally very hostile to any outsiders.If they see three or five lone gold diggers, the natives don't mind launching a surprise attack, killing or capturing them, and then holding a grand "living sacrifice" celebration in the tribal camp to improve their barren lives.In the evening, more than 800 Qi-Indian officers and soldiers arrived at the immigration point named Pingzhi Fort.

However, this fortress surrounded by wooden rafts and rammed earth was less than 300 meters in radius and could not accommodate too many officers and soldiers.Therefore, after Geng Tingzhao arranged for some officers to stay in the camp, he took more than thirty officers and guards and entered Pingzhi Fort along with the enthusiastic villagers.

This fortress was built 15 years ago and has a population of more than 150. They mainly make a living by grazing cattle and sheep and growing wheat and sorghum.During the off-season, men would go out hunting with swords and muskets. Ostrich, antelope, and buffalo were all targets of great value to them. If they were lucky, they could hunt precious rhinoceros for their feathers and leather. , and rhinoceros horns, which can be sold to merchants who come to buy them in exchange for a lot of money, and the meat on them is a rich ration for people.

"There don't seem to be many people in the village!"

There are only a few brick and stone houses in the fort, most of which are made of rammed earth. Some women and children stood under the eaves, looking at the group of officers and soldiers curiously, although the clothes they wore looked a bit dusty. , but all of them have rosy faces and full of energy and blood, presumably they are not worried about food and clothing.But in the entire fort, as far as the eye could see, there were only a few mature men, and most of them were women and children.

"To be honest, sir, most of the men in the village have gone to Xingshan to pan for gold." Niu Yifu, the commander of Pingzhi Fort, said: "As early as last year, the people in the village heard that gold mines were discovered in Xingshan, and then there were five The six villagers left together. After a few months, those villagers actually brought back a lot of gold nuggets. Seduced by this, almost all the men in the village ran to Xingshan."

"Then the crops in the fields and the grazing animals are all left alone?"

"Not all the crops in the fields have been lost. The women in the village can also plant some, but the sown area and post-autumn output are definitely far less than before. Looking at the situation, this food is probably not enough to eat. I'm afraid. We need to buy them from Nanchuan (now Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) or Changning. As for the livestock that are pastured, half-grown children can replace them, so that they will not be wasted."

"What if the natives come to create a vassal state? How will you deal with it?" Geng Tingzhao couldn't help but shook his head after hearing this.

It’s really a golden eye!

"Hehe... Sir, you don't need to worry now." Niu Yifu grinned, "How dare those primitive and ignorant natives dare to come and attack our Pingzhi Fort without even having a piece of iron? Even if they dare to come, , then we can shoot them all outside the fort. In the whole fort, there are no boys of thirteen or fourteen years old, or women working at home, who can’t shoot!"

"From your tone, you would be happy to see the men in the village go out to pan for gold?"

"Ahem... Sir, you don't know something." Niu Yifu said with a bitter face: "It has been more than ten years since our Pingzhi Fort was established. Although we have no worries about food and drink, and have enough food and clothing, our pockets are very poor. Just The cattle and sheep we raised here, as well as the fur and rhino horns we hunted, were deceived by the unscrupulous traders who came to buy them. Even if we exchanged a few coins, we still have to buy some daily household necessities in Nanchuan or Changning. , the price is extremely expensive. You see, if you dig gold in Xingshan, wouldn’t you become rich in one fell swoop? Whether it’s building a new house, buying furniture, buying some household items, or giving it to the mother-in-law and children at home. If you buy clothes and jewelry, you will have a lot of money at once!"

Geng Tingzhao also smiled bitterly after hearing this.

Indeed, in South Africa, a place with no industry, except for food and beef and mutton, which are relatively cheaper, almost all daily necessities are more expensive than in the local area.Moreover, there are indeed not many profitable businesses in remote inland areas, and life is miserable.

Today, the Xingshan Gold Mine has attracted countless people from Qianzhou and even all over the world to go gold mining. It is conceivable that under such circumstances, prices in the entire Qianzhou Governor-General Region will inevitably soar sharply. In addition, local agricultural and animal husbandry production will be affected by this. Serious impact, large-scale food shortages are also a high probability event.
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(End of this chapter)