African Nationhood

In early November, the "Hot Springs" arrived at Port Beira.

During this period, all the "Boxers" who were brought from the Qing Dynasty were rebels. The reason why these rebels were sent was all Li Hongzhang's idea.

In 55 days, from government support to government pursuit, the "Boxers" all had a fantastic experience from heaven to hell.

All of them had sallow faces and dull expressions.

When we were at Lanfang Company, all the men had their heads shaved, and the few women were forced to change into bloated skirts and all wore pullovers.

Although they had changed their attire, there was a clear difference between them and the immigrants who had arrived in Beira Port a long time ago.

After disembarking from the boat, they saw Arabs who looked at them strangely, as well as Chinese men and women wearing Mao suits and Lenin suits. These Boxers were both curious and frightened.

There are so many Chinese here?

The young and chubby Liu Huang glanced at the situation at the dock and quietly touched the tall man next to him.

"Elder brother, where are we?"

The tall man glared at him and whispered: "Didn't I tell you, you are not allowed to call me senior brother again."

Liu Huang touched his head and said "oh".

He was stunned and asked again.

"Altar Master, where are we then?"

The tall man immediately became anxious, stretched out his hand to twist the silly boy's cheek, and said viciously: "Are you trying to kill me on purpose?"

Liu Huang was in pain and scared, and tears were falling from his eyes.

"Well, I, I was scared and didn't remember..."

A one-eyed man next to him directly pinched the tall man's wrist and said in a muffled voice: "Let go!"

The tall man glared at the one-eyed man, and then let go of Liu Huang's fat face.

Liu Huang covered his red cheeks and lowered his head, not daring to look at the tall man anymore, and subconsciously moved closer to the one-eyed man.

The tall man is called Zhu Feng, and he is the altar leader in a place in Jing Province of the Qing Dynasty. The "tankou" composed of boxers all call the altar leader after senior brother.

The one-eyed man's name is Zheng Yijiang. He is a practicing master and likes the chubby boy Liu Huang very much.

He usually protects the little fat boy, but when he saw Zhu Sandao bullying the little fat boy, he immediately took action.

They were among the boxers who were suppressed earlier, and were sold to Nanhua Company completely out of their own control.

They did not endure any interrogation or torture along the way. After boarding the ship, they made one request: as long as they were honest and obedient, they would survive. Anyone who disobeyed would be killed!

After boarding the ship, they have no free time. They have to be busy every day when they open their eyes. There is no free time all day long.

In this way, these people have no intention of thinking about anything else, and fall asleep at night when they are tired.

Those who were stubborn and disobedient and dared to resist were shot directly and their bodies thrown into the sea.

There were not even a hundred but eighty people who were shot by the crew along the way. In addition, more than two hundred people who were not adapted to the seafaring ship died one after another.

Nowadays, those who can reach Beira Port safely are those who are lucky and relatively honest.

They only stopped at Lanfang Company's Pontianak Port for two days. Not only were they not allowed to disembark, they also had to shave off their braids one by one.

If you don't shave your braids, you will be attacked. When you wake up from the dream, you will not dare to fight with the enemy.

After obediently shaving their heads, they were all asked to change their clothes, and then the cruise ship set sail and continued to the port of Beira.

During the entire journey, which lasted nearly a month, these people never touched land.

Now that they finally got down to land, these boxers were much more relaxed.

The female boxers on the ship were treated separately. They were taken off early as soon as they arrived at the port, and they didn't know where they went.

"Listen up, you people. All of you, stand still and don't stagger around. Do you hear me?"

A man in black clothes and a wattle hat came over and yelled at the boxers.

There was a large box hanging on his waist, and the gun handle wrapped with red tassel was exposed. It was obvious that this man was in charge.

Nearly a thousand boxers were in high spirits, and they all stood in line obediently, fearing that they would displease the supervisor and be punished.

"Listen to my command, everyone under the age of 12 will come out."

The short and fat Liu Huang was a little panicked. He was 11 and a half years old and didn't know whether he should go out. The one-eyed man behind him, Zheng Yijiang, reminded him in a low voice, "Get out, fat boy."

Liu Huang then walked out of the team in a panic, not daring to look back for fear of being punished.

“Those who came out stood in a row alone and stood to one side.

Others form a new team and move quickly. "

The more vicious the steward's tone, the less they dare to disobey and obey the instructions obediently.

After the team was lined up, the steward continued to issue the command: "Everyone is here, follow me and run."

After the Boxers ran out of the pier with Wattle Hat, Wattle Hat issued an order: "If you are under 12 years old, get on the carriage. The carriage will take you to school. Don't make any noise on the road, otherwise you will be whipped. Do you understand?"

Fifty or sixty children all answered: "Yes!"

After the group of children got on the carriage, Wattle Hat continued running with the remaining boxers.

This line was very long, but the boxers in this line were not confused at all, although they were curious about the environment where they were.

But after arriving here, they found that there were many compatriots around them, and they felt more at ease.

The team ran for nearly ten miles before arriving at a large workshop with towering walls and armed guards at the entrance.

It was made of leather, and there was an unpleasant stench everywhere.

There are many overseers in this workshop, and everyone is dressed similarly to the steward who brought them here.

Everyone was carrying a gun, and their faces were serious.

The wattle hat in charge took them to the open space of the workshop and began to lecture them.

"This is where you will stay for the next year. Those of you who perform well will be able to go out at the end of the term. If you work hard outside for two years, you will be able to get free land and a wife.

If he behaves badly and is disobedient, he will continue to be sent to a forced labor camp or, in severe cases, be shot directly. Do you understand? "

Many boxers were shocked and accepted their fate. If they endured it for a year, it would pass quickly.

They all replied, "I understand."

"Well, except that you can't come and go freely, everything else is very relaxed. You have one day off every month.

There will be condolence performances every month so you can relax a bit. In addition, you are paid for every day's work, and you can freely control your salary.

Okay, if you have any questions, you can ask them now. "

The one-eyed man Zheng Yijiang raised his hand and shouted "report".

Thorn Hat nodded, "Tell me."

"Don't you ask about the things we have done?"

"You committed all your crimes in the Qing Dynasty. This is Southwest Africa. No one here cares about your past.

We just ask you to be obedient people here, do you understand? "

Hearing Jingjiao Mao's answer, Zhu Sandao was obviously much more relaxed.

He answered loudly along with everyone else: "I understand."

"Report."

Vitex Hat looked at Zheng Yijiang who still raised his hand, "Speak."

"I would like to ask, do the children who were taken away just now also have to work?"

"They don't have to work, they just need to go to school. Their lives are different from yours.

But you must also learn literacy and arithmetic here, otherwise you won't be able to get a wife here, do you understand? "

When they heard that literacy was linked to land allocation and marrying a wife, these Boxers couldn't help but murmur in their hearts.

The people here are really evil. They go to such great lengths to teach immigrants how to read.

Zheng Yijiang felt relieved and replied loudly: "I understand."

"Do you still have any questions? If there is no problem, we will disband. We will go to the cafeteria to eat later." (End of Chapter)