African Nationhood

Chapter 308 Immigration surge
  (Thanks to book friend Qing Feng 1987 for the tip, thank you puppet!)

The Spring Festival of 1893 was nothing unusual in Southwest Africa. People went to and from get off work as usual and gathered with close friends and relatives as usual.

But in the Qing Dynasty in the distant Far East, it encountered the coldest winter in a century.

How cold is it?

Wusong River and Huangpu River in Shanghai were frozen and could not be lifted for more than ten days. None of the centenarians in the village had ever seen such a scene.

Yangcheng, a city that travels all four seasons in one piece of clothing, rarely received more than half a meter of snow. Further south, Qiongdao actually experienced frost.

……

Even the south is so cold, and the cold in the north of the Qing Dynasty will only get worse.

But for Nanhua Company, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
  As soon as Shi Jintang received the information from the Qing Dynasty Commercial Office, he instructed Fu Tong of the Immigration Bureau to take action quickly.

The grain, dried sweet potatoes and dried salted fish accumulated by the Nanhua Company over the years came in handy, and the fully loaded cruise ship sailed towards the Qing Dynasty.

At the same time, the Immigration Bureau contacted Li Zhongtang and informed him that Nanhua Company could provide disaster relief food to help the Qing Dynasty in disaster relief and take in homeless refugees.

And he only needs to inform local officials, before the snow disaster has really started, firstly, organize the victims to gather in the coastal areas, and secondly, maintain order among the refugees.

In this way, the Nanhua Company could help the Qing Dynasty slow down the formation of disaster victims and refugees, which would be of great benefit to the Qing Dynasty.

Li Zhongtang is also an old man who directly proposed that Nanhua Company's disaster relief food must be handed over to the local government for control.

Nanhua Company cannot publicize this matter, nor can the number of homeless people it takes in be made public.

Naturally, Nanhua Company didn't care about these trivial matters and agreed directly.

The two sides negotiated to designate several ports such as Lushun, Jinmen, Weihai, and Jiaozhou Bay as relief ports.

The scale of immigration this time will be very large, and all departments of Nanhua Company will be coordinated.

Not only did they have to transport grain to the Qing Dynasty, but they also had to transport a large amount of medicine to Lanfang Company. At the same time, they also had to collect food from Singkawang and other places in Lanfang Company.

The newly acquired territories such as the Sulu Sultanate and the Mariana Islands have also received orders. They must transport excess grain to Lanfang Company, increase fishermen's fishing volume, dry it and make it into dry goods for transportation to Lanfang. company.

Lanfang Company also purchased large amounts of food from surrounding Sarawak and the Dutch colonies so that this wave of immigrants would not be short of food.

At the same time, Lanfang Company also organized civilians within the company's territory to catch large quantities of fish, and the company would purchase large quantities of them with cash.

……

Nanhua Company's preparations seemed sufficient, but they were not enough when facing the first batch of refugees arriving at the northern port of Qing Dynasty.

In Tianjin alone, there were nearly 10,000 victims in the first batch of arrivals. The thousands of tons of grain transported by the Nanhua Company's "Golden Gou Port" simply could not last long.

The Beiyang Trading Office of Jinmen Port came to hand over the goods to a Han national named Ma Gui from Zhang Jing. This man was in the officialdom and had no regard for the life and death of the victims. He only cared about personal profit. He resold the grain he got at a high price.

He made a lot of money, but the victims still died of cold and hunger.

Zhong Wenyao was furious when he learned about this situation, but he had no choice but to shelter and treat the victims as much as possible.

In accordance with the company's regulations, try to accommodate young and middle-aged victims, while also taking into account young children. As for the elderly and weak, try not to accept them.

Zhong Wenyao ignored the orders of the Immigration Bureau and accepted everyone who came to him, regardless of gender or age.

Therefore, his "Golden Hook Harbor" was rated at 1300, and he directly loaded it with more than 2500 people.

Seeing so many people, the cook on the ship had no choice but to provide wotou and kelp soup to the victims, and the salted fish and other things could only be divided into portions.

There is nothing we can do about it. The only thing we can do is to save the lives of the victims and let them have enough to eat at Lanfang Company.

……

Because there were too many victims transported on the "Golden Hook Port", even though it was February and the sea was not very rough, the old and the weak still couldn't hold on, and a large number of people died.

Zhong Wenyao was heartbroken after seeing it, and had no choice but to bury the deceased in water.

When we arrived at Lan Fong Company's Singkawang, only more than 2500 of the 2000 people who boarded the ship were left.

When the people from the Immigration Bureau saw that all the young people coming off the boat were young and strong, they gave Zhong Wenyao a thumbs up and said, "Captain Zhong did a good job. These immigrants look very energetic."

Zhong Wenyao felt depressed when he thought of the Jinmen port and the Qing compatriots who died during transportation. He ignored his colleagues at the Immigration Bureau and went straight to his cabin to sit in silence.

After the transfer of immigrants was completed, Zhong Wenyao directly asked his colleagues to load as much food as possible on the ship. He planned to disobey the company's ban and provide disaster relief at the Tianjin Port himself. The officer at the Immigration Bureau was a little confused about this requirement, but he didn’t ask any more questions.

It was only when the Beiyang Prime Minister's Office protested to Nanhua Company via telegram that Fu Tong learned of what Zhong Wenyao had done. He immediately telegraphed Zhong Wenyao to stop his irrational behavior.

At the same time, he warned Captain Zhong: Everything should be done as agreed with the Qing Dynasty. We can successfully immigrate thanks to the official assistance of the Qing Dynasty. If you break the rules, you will also damage the company's immigration plan!
  Only now did Zhong Wenyao wake up from his lack of calmness. Although he understood that it was the right thing to do, he was still a little reluctant in his heart.

When transporting immigrants, as always, people of all ages and genders were loaded onto the ship.

In fact, his phenomenon is not unique. Other cruise ships transporting immigrants have experienced large loadings.

When the Immigration Bureau compiled the report, Futong also noticed this problem, and he wisely did not pay more attention to it.

As long as immigrants are lucky enough to reach their destination, they are entitled to enjoy some good days.

He is not born with a cold heart. Facing the massacre of black natives by the company, he will have a troubled conscience when he dreams back at midnight.

But when I think of what the young and wise lord said when facing Chaoyang: "Even if I have to bear eternal infamy, I won't hesitate!"

Although his tone was sonorous when he said those words, Futong could guess the persistence and struggle deep in the heart of the young lord from his stubbornness in giving all his children names with the word "日" next to them.

Like the young lord, he was not born cruel, but the cruel environment forced them to pick up the butcher's knife.

The natives are pitiful, but the Qing compatriots are not pitiful?
  They are all seeking survival, no one is nobler than the other!

……

The snowstorm in the Qing Dynasty caused a large increase in the number of refugees in the Qing Dynasty. Nanhua Company mobilized all its transportation capacity and transported one million immigrants in a few months.

So many people almost overwhelmed Lan Fong Company, and Singkawang was overcrowded everywhere.

Huo Zhen and Qian Cai, who had just taken office, led a team to Singkawang to maintain order. Because the number of immigrants this time was too large, the Nanhua Company Immigration Bureau needed to coordinate a large amount of manpower and material resources to receive immigrants.

The pharmaceutical department that had just moved to Jinling (Bulawayo) was also complaining. They had not yet arranged the production of the new factory, and such a large wave of immigrants suddenly broke out here.

They had no choice but to arrange for the factories in Jinling to resume production as soon as possible, and the factories in Anhai Town had to work overtime, otherwise they would not be able to keep up with the surge in immigration pressure.

……

On the one hand, the company is relocating its headquarters, and on the other hand, there is a surge in immigration pressure. Therefore, many plans scheduled by Nanhua Company have been postponed or canceled.

Shi Jintang hurriedly went to Jinling Electric Power College to visit Tesla and Hertz, and encouraged them to cultivate more talents for the Electric Power College.

Then he hurried back to the conference center building in the government district to preside over the immigration diversion meeting.

The meeting decided that on the one hand, the company would vigorously transport immigrants, and on the other hand, the Lanfang Company would come forward to sign short-term employment contracts with the stranded immigrants, so that they could help Lanfang Company carry out infrastructure projects.

In this way, it not only avoids trouble caused by immigrants being too idle during their stay, but also helps Lanfang Company improve its infrastructure level.

After Zhong Yilin and Li Yuchang learned of the company's decision, they immediately expressed their support and asked the company to continue to transport food supplies to meet the immigrants' daily dietary needs.

By the second half of 1893, including the immigrants in 1892, the total number of immigrants in the Nanhua Company had exceeded the 400 million mark.

The number has reached 402 million. The next step is to settle the new immigrants as soon as possible.

The Matabeleland region has also seen a significant increase in its agricultural and industrial population due to the large number of immigrants.

Lanfang Company's infrastructure level has also been greatly improved due to the large number of immigrants entering the country to work.

The construction of water conservancy projects alone will help Lanfang Company open up an additional 20 hectares of fertile farmland, and more than 5000 kilometers of road and bridge projects are being urgently repaired.

These infrastructure projects have greatly enhanced the livable area and agricultural potential within Lanfang Company's territory.

For a long time, Li Yuchang always praised Nanhua Company for its greatness when he met everyone. Not only was the local area prosperous, but even Lanfang Company also developed rapidly.

As the scale of Nanhua Company's immigration increases, Lanfang Company's scope of benefits also increases.

This is all thanks to Boss Shi's wise leadership, and everyone in Lanfang Company is dissatisfied!

　Please subscribe, collect, recommend and vote monthly.

　　感谢书友20190228105414663、逍遥8118、书友20230104190030577、深夜的孤独者、独自2、书友20180206140940605、书友 20200609181332805、zhaoyl3、听CM雨、九云晓峰、九v鱼、柳云龙、书虫书虫、随风飘扬泡泡、城市悠闲、书友20220622225441609、书友20190721141343015月票支持！

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)