The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 17 Arrangement of Manpower
  It was already evening, and most of the 252 recruits stayed at the old camp, and the bunks were still very tight.

There was not enough space, so another row of beds was built in the middle of the original big bunk, and more than twenty temporary bunks were built next to the livestock pens in the second row of warehouses.

The remaining 16 tents were temporarily set up in the open space in the front yard, finally solving the accommodation problem.

After nightfall

The old camp was closed. On the construction site in the front yard, tents were neatly arranged, and 51 tightly bundled mules and horses were parked in the passage.

The shafts of the carts of mules and horses were either set up on big benches or on rocks, arranged neatly, and none of them were tied to animals.

Armed patrols with swords, guns and shields passed by the camp from time to time and were heavily guarded.

The lights in the dormitory have been turned off, and there are waves of sweet sounds of sleep. Intense training will begin again tomorrow morning.

A few streets away in the north of the city

The lights in the Jinyu Tower are bright, the wine and meat are fragrant, and the laughter and laughter can be heard from time to time.

There were more than ninety old brothers who participated in the battle of Shuifang, except for the brothers who were on duty in the old camp. Nowadays, most of them gather in Jinyu Tower to have a drink.

Today, Grandpa Feng Guohui hosted a banquet for all the brothers. Nine tables were opened and only his own brothers were entertained.

During this period, big fish, meat and wine were served, and the brothers mingled with each other. They had a great time eating and drinking, and the atmosphere was very lively.

on chief
  "Zheng Xiucai, this time I will personally lead the mules and horses caravan to the south, and I will leave the foundation of my family to you. Train the new recruits well and defend the territory for me. I will give you a great credit." Feng Guohui confessed. .

Zheng Xiucai looked a little reluctant. He glanced at Ma Ganqiang, then at Hu Laohu, then put down his glass and said;
  "Master, I still want to go out with you to open a trade route. After the mule and horse caravan leaves, there will be nothing in the old camp. Otherwise, I can just let the tiger stay at home to guard it."

"Xiucai, don't fart. Your Majesty likes me as a strong general who dares to fight and kill. I am suitable for opening a trade route. If you go to Momojiji, you will only be holding back. It is better to take care of the stall at home." Hu Laohu responded with a laugh.

Without waiting for Zheng Xiucai to retort, Feng Guohui quickly stretched out his hand to stop the two of them from fighting. If they really started to quarrel, they would fight for a whole day and night without winning or losing.

Feng Guohui said;

“Stop arguing, let’s settle it.

Hu Laohu, Zheng Xiucai and Ma Ganqiang, all three of you have your own role. Regardless of the importance, you are all generals of our Nanyang Company. There is no room for debate.

Zheng Xiucai is prudent and considerate in his work. I can rest assured that I will leave the family business in Surabaya City to you and nothing will go wrong.

This is because we need to be armed to open up trade routes and we don’t have enough firearms. I can only leave you 12 smoothbore muskets and 200 newly recruited men.

The main thing is to keep an eye on the Wilson Road site and concentrate all our manpower here after we leave.

He sticks to it and trains new recruits on weekdays.

Just a few people at the old camp can keep an eye on it, and it won't be a big deal if it's lost. "

After the explanation

Ma Ganqiang raised his hand with a grimace and said, "Master, why don't I relieve you of the duties of the patrol room? Come back and work with you, it will be a bit of a help."

"Nonsense, you stay in the patrol room and take advantage of this favorable opportunity with Nanyang Company at your back to win over more people in the patrol room." When Feng Guohui said this, he paused, glanced at the accountant, Mr. Feng, and explained. ;

"Mr. Feng, deduct 300 silver coins from the public account to help Ma Ganqiang work. With this money, you can use this money to establish an information network for me in Surabaya City.

I want to know all the news about the four major families of Qiao, Huang, Hu, and Lin, as well as all the gangsters. I can't be blind, lest someone come to kill me and I'm still confused.

Work in the patrol room first, it is an open channel after all, and I will find a way to put you in the position later. "

"Boss, since you said that, I have no choice but to do something." Ma Ganqiang had no choice but to comply.

After everything was arranged, everyone toasted and drank again.

It was only when he was drunk and his eyes were burning that Feng Guohui stood up and prepared to leave, telling everyone not to drink and get in trouble.

As soon as he left, the bustling sound of changing cups and cups in Jinyu Tower increased by three points.

Feng Guohui returned to the small courtyard from the side door. When he heard the bustle coming from the direction of Jinyu Tower, a smile appeared on his lips.

After reorganizing, the gambling stalls of Jinyulou will reopen tomorrow to welcome gamblers from all over the world.

Doing business makes money, it's not shabby.

The most important thing for Nanyang Company is to establish a foothold first. Fighting and killing cannot be the norm, and it cannot support hundreds of brothers.

Opening up trade routes is the main business of Nanyang Company and needs to be implemented as soon as possible. This cannot be delayed.

What was being planned behind this was a big business of smuggling spices. While thinking about the details, Feng Guohui took off his clothes, took off his belt with a gun, took off his willow leaf flying knife bag and other items, and handed them over one by one to the personal maids who came over. . Then he sat on the chair, took a sip of the fragrant tea offered by the maids, picked up the hot towel and wiped his face, feeling refreshed.

"Reply to the master, the bathtub is ready."

"Replying to the master, I have prepared some pastries, snacks and a fruit plate for you. Should you bring them here or send them to the bathroom?"

"Send it to the bathroom. Take a hot bath and feel refreshed."

"As you command, master."

In addition to the two plump young women Chun Hua and Xia He, there are also four young maids full of youth for him to pick. Feng Guohui is intoxicated in the enjoyment of the sinful landlord and old wealth, feeling both pain and happiness.

These maids don't have any complicated ideas. They just want to please Feng Guohui. If they are taken over by Feng Guohui, they will reach the sky in one step.

Of course it hurts. How can we remain indifferent when we can't enjoy these beautiful flowers?

Because Feng Guohui's existing Tongbei Quan Kung Fu has progressed rapidly during the war and has reached great success.

Going up, we are not far from the master realm.

At this time, martial arts practitioners pay attention to locking the Jingguan, and rely on the pure yang energy of the boy's body to move forward bravely, and they are most afraid of letting their body leak out at this time.

So, it’s naturally painful.

Lying in the steaming bathtub, Feng Guohui went against his will, hardened his heart, and drove out several flowery maids, and then he began to enjoy the bath comfortably.

There are not many things left in front of us, the manpower has been allocated, and the Spaniard Garvey Torres also went to Batavia, preparing to get a large amount of supplies and money to invest.

There will be another day of recruitment tomorrow, and we will set off early the day after tomorrow.

Except for an old brother who stayed behind, all the other people were brought along. Plus more than 200 new recruits, the manpower of the armed mule and horse caravan was enough.

these two days
  The Nanyang Company spent a lot of money to collect shields and armor and build swords, guns and equipment. Although there is not much progress, I have collected some.

Basically, it can guarantee more than 30 long guns, more than 10 short guns, 15 archers, and the remaining swords, shields and armors to arm more than a hundred people. This is the largest force currently assembled.

Therefore, it is not a problem to form a mule and horse battalion and a sword and shield battalion, plus a musketeer team, to deal with three to four hundred bandits.

The current population distribution of Java Island is that Chinese immigrants live together with local indigenous people in the cities. In important cities such as Batavia, Bandung and Surabaya, they account for about 3% to 4%, and they control the main local business channels. and internal and external trade.

In small and medium-sized towns such as Semarang, Ganwang, Solo, and Kabumen, the Chinese population accounts for about 1% to 2%, and their influence and control are relatively weak.

In the vast hinterland towns, the majority of the population is indigenous.

The bandits and thieves that Feng Guohui was worried about were also local aborigines. They used tribes and villages as their bases, and sometimes acted as bandits and sometimes as civilians, causing even the Dutch colonial army a huge headache.

From 1825 to 1830, there was a great Javanese uprising led by Diponegoro. The Netherlands paid a great price to suppress this rebellion, and the remnants of it continue to this day.

Those small groups of one to two hundred, three to five hundred, or even more than a thousand local armed forces hide in the deep mountains and dense forests and attack from time to time. They are like maggots attached to the bones and are difficult to eliminate.

After a long time, I just let it go.

It should be noted that the Dutch operated the East Indies colony with the assessment standards and perspective of a running company.

If it cannot make ends meet for a long time, it will arouse criticism from the royal government and internal hostile factions, putting great pressure on the Governor's Mansion.

In the more than ten years from 1825 to 1838, due to the expenditure of a lot of energy and financial resources to suppress the indigenous rebellion, the annual expenditure of the Dutch Government House rose to 3 million to 500 million Dutch guilders.

The annual income is only about 2800 million to 2900 million dong, leaving a huge gap in fiscal revenue and expenditure.

This led to the resignation of four Dutch governors, which is very telling.

The subsequent governor promoted the indirect slavery system of "farming system", on the one hand to reduce military expenditures, and on the other hand, to support urban bosses as tax collectors in urban taxation, usually mainly Chinese.

In the vast countryside, the local aboriginal nobles are mainly tax collectors and are responsible for collecting taxes from local aboriginal residents and farmers to maintain peace.

through various measures
  The Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies has reversed the previous financial dilemma of being unable to make ends meet, and it can also contribute tens of millions of guilders in net income to the Kingdom of the Netherlands every year, which has been generally praised.

This approach has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the local development environment is relatively relaxed. As long as you have people, guns, and abilities, you can get ahead without too much official suppression.

The Dutch will not spend any extra effort if they can. They neither spread Christianity locally nor promote the Dutch language, nor do they repair local roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Everything is focused on saving money and trouble.

This also led to the Dutch colonists being aloof and unresponsive to local public opinion. They cultivated a second class such as Chinese and local indigenous nobles, each of whom found their own place in this colonial society.

Feng Guohui thought about it and fell asleep while sitting in the hot tub, snoring happily after a while.

(End of this chapter)