Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 210 Hongmen II

In Rio Grande do Sul, as Li Mingyuan set off for Paraguay, Chinese people living in various places began to welcome the festive Mid-Autumn Festival.

Worshiping the moon, appreciating the moon, visiting temple fairs, after more than a year of hard work, the Chinese who have saved up some wealth spent their second Mid-Autumn Festival in Rio Grande do Sul in their own ways. On the other side of the continent in San Francisco, USA, a group of Chinese people dressed in their best also held a solemn ceremony for this festival.

"1 Since you join Hongmen, your parents are my parents, your brothers and sisters are my brothers and sisters, your wife is my sister-in-law, and your son is my nephew. If you violate this, you will be killed by the five thunders.

2. If one's parents or brothers pass away after years of age and have no money to bury them, and if a white silk comes flying to someone begging for help, immediately inform them that those with money can give money, and those without money can help with their labor. If one pretends to be ignorant, he will be struck to death by the five thunders. ...

36. Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans all hold their own skills. Once they join the Hongmen, they must put loyalty and righteousness first and make friends with brothers from all over the world. In the future, when an uprising breaks out, they must work together to destroy the Qing Dynasty and restore the Milue Lord as soon as possible to avenge the burning of the Five Ancestors. If they are half-hearted and do not work hard, they will die under thousands of swords. "

A young Chinese man with braids knelt in the center of the hall, recited the thirty-six oaths in a loud voice, and respectfully placed the incense stick in his hand into the incense burner in the middle of the table.

"Master, the congregation has finished reciting the oath, it is your turn."

"Well... Chen Yuandong from Xiangshan joined our Hongmen Hongshun Hall on September 8th of the year Jisi. After consulting the founder and deacons, I have accepted Chen Yuandong as a disciple of the Hongshun Hall with the character An..."

After a series of tedious ceremonies, more than forty Chinese people completed the initiation ceremony. However, Huang Shengui, the host of the ceremony, looked a little tired.

"Master, there are a total of 47 brothers joining Hongshun Hall. Here is the specific list. Please take a look."

The "companion hall" in Hongshun Hall who was responsible for assisting the hall master in managing Hongmen affairs handed over a brand new book.

"Are these the only ones?"

Huang Shengui quickly flipped through the roster and asked doubtfully.

"Thirty-two local Chinese workers, thirteen brothers who followed the master to San Francisco from Canada, plus the master and me, a total of forty-seven people."

The "companion" of Hong Shun Hall explained carefully, "The hall master has been away from California for seven years, so he may not know much about the situation here.

Half a year ago, a group of Chinese who claimed to be from Rio Grande do Sul came to the United States. They reached an agreement with the company that built the Pacific Railway. They paid to transport the Chinese workers who completed the railway construction. So half of the Chinese workers who built the railway were transported to Rio Grande do Sul. The remaining half of the Chinese workers joined other Hongmen sects in San Francisco, some left San Francisco to make a living elsewhere, and many were bewitched by a Chinese named Wang Youtian and chose to stay and wait for the arrival of the immigration ship. Like the earlier immigrants, they immigrated to Rio Grande do Sul. Therefore, there were not many brothers who joined the Hongshun Sect.

"South Rio Grande?" Huang Shengui muttered to himself, and asked, "How much do you know about them? Are they like the Yixingtang in the Malay Peninsula, selling Chinese slaves in the name of immigration?"

The Yixing Hall was one of the two most powerful Chinese forces on the Malay Peninsula. The leader of the Yixing Hall, Hou Yaoguang, was not only the leader of the Hongmen on the Malay Peninsula, but also the largest human trafficker in the British Straits Settlements. Hou Yaoguang relied on his three to four thousand subordinates and obtained the monopoly of human trafficking in Penang, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and other places by relying on British Straits Settlements officials and the local king of Penang. He constantly deceived and purchased Chinese from the mainland in the name of Guangdong Company under his name, and then sold them to the Malay Peninsula, the East Indies, the Southeast Asian Peninsula and other Southeast Asian regions.

Human trafficking has accumulated a lot of wealth for Hou Yaoguang and Yixingtang. With the profits from the trafficking of Chinese workers, Hou Yaoguang maintained a force of more than 500 people equipped with muskets. It was precisely relying on the core force of more than 500 people under his command that half a month ago, Hou Yaoguang and Qiu Tiande, the head of the Da Gongtang, which was one of the two major Chinese forces in Malaya, not only refused the recruitment of the National Defense Army, but also killed the envoy sent by Sun Bin.

Yixingtang and Dagongtang's wanton oppression of Chinese workers, helping foreigners suppress their own people, and vigorously suppressing other Hongmen halls have long caused dissatisfaction among many Hongmen branch halls, including Huang Shengui. However, due to the strength of Yixingtang and Dagongtang and the support of foreigners, other halls did not unite to deal with them. The reputation of Yixingtang and Dagongtang in the overseas Chinese community has become infamous. When the "companion hall" of Hongshuntang heard Huang Shengui mention Yixingtang, he immediately understood that Huang Shengui had a misunderstanding of the Chinese in Rio Grande do Sul, and explained, "I originally suspected that Wang Youtian and his team had bad intentions in transporting Chinese workers, but two months ago, I personally asked more than a dozen Chinese workers who returned from Rio Grande do Sul, and learned some about the situation in Rio Grande do Sul from them."

The "accompanying hall" paused for a moment and asked Huang Shengui, "Have you ever heard of a group of Chinese people establishing a country in the southern part of the Brazilian Empire?"

"Canada is located in a remote area, and it was difficult for me to get news from the outside world. However, when I was traveling by rail to the east coast, I heard from several Chinese workers that the Chinese workers in Peru had rebelled and defeated the Peruvian army that was besieging them. But didn't the Chinese workers in South America rebel in Peru? Why did they go to the southern part of the Brazilian Empire to establish a country?"

"What you heard was not wrong. The Chinese workers in South America first rebelled in Peru. Then they abandoned the territory they occupied in Peru and moved all the way to southern Brazil. They cooperated with the Paraguayan troops to defeat the main force of the Brazilian Empire and occupied the land of two southern Brazilian states in one fell swoop, forcing the Brazilian Empire to recognize the fact that the Chinese occupied the two southern states."

"The Chinese laborers in South America are really amazing. They defeated the armies of several countries unarmed and took a piece of land from the foreigners. I really want to see what kind of person the leader of the South American Chinese labor uprising is like!"

After listening to Pei Tang's introduction, Huang Shengui did not complain that Wang Youtian and others had snatched away Hong Shun Tang's potential members. Instead, he became interested in the leader who led the South American Chinese workers' uprising.

"I heard from other Chinese workers that the king of Rio Grande do Sul is Li Mingyuan, the son of Li Shixian, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's attendant king. He is a god-like commander of the army and has never lost a battle since he led the Chinese workers to revolt."

"Prince Shi Li Shixian is indeed a rare famous general. I never thought that his son, at such a young age, could command battles just as well as his grandfather."

The Taiping Rebellion lasted for more than ten years. In 1862, when the Qing army and the Taiping army were fighting in full swing, Huang Shengui came to the United States to make a living. He was one of the earliest Chinese to come to the United States. At that time, the main force of the Taiping army was still there. Huang Shengui was in the south and had heard many stories about famous Taiping generals such as Li Shixian and Li Xiucheng. He was deeply impressed by Li Shixian's bravery and fighting skills.

"Seven days ago, Wang Youtian invited representatives of Chinese workers from the East Coast to discuss matters. I saw more than 300 young and strong Chinese guards there. Although they were not carrying weapons, judging from their appearance, the 300 Chinese guards were not something that ordinary Hongmen members could match."

"Wang Youtian once invited you to discuss matters?"

"Yes, Wang Youtian wants the Chinese forces in America to join Rio Grande do Sul."

"How many forces have agreed to join them?"

"There are many ordinary Chinese workers willing to immigrate to Rio Grande do Sul, but there are only a few Hongmen sects willing to join them."

"Each overseas Hongmen branch operates independently, so it is not easy to add an administrative agency above them," Huang Shengui thought.

"Master, do you think Wang Youtian and his men will use courtesy before force? After our Hongmen rejects their request for surrender, will they use force to suppress the Hongmen?"

"Overseas is not like the mainland. Even if they want to forcibly recruit Hongmen, they can't go too far. However, our Hongmen has been developing in the United States for too short a time, and the forces of each branch are scattered. If they want to deal with Hongmen, the situation will be very bad for us."

(End of this chapter)