The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 446 Cuban Plantation Refuses to Sell Chinese Laborers

The Banshee Bar was filled with smoke, and the smell of tobacco, alcohol, and some sour odor filled the air.

There was a slot machine in the corner. A man in his thirties put a coin in and pulled the lever, watching the roulette wheel in the machine go from spinning rapidly to gradually stopping on bell, bell, 7. He immediately raised his fist in anger.

But after hesitating for a moment, he put down his fist in disappointment.

If you break a slot machine, you can’t afford to pay for it.

When slot machines were first released, a few unlucky souls smashed them, and now they haven’t paid off their debts yet.

The man turned away, cursing: "I fucking hate Chinese stuff."

"We all hate them!" A man smoking a pipe not far away snorted, "But now those Chinese are too powerful!"

"Shut your mouth!" A man in overalls and a shirt sitting opposite the man smoking a pipe shouted.

His clothes were obviously much more respectable than those of the others here.

"Okay, I got it!" The man smoking the pipe listlessly played with the playing cards on the table.

"Dennis, when will this day end?"

The man in the overalls and shirt is Dennis Nick, leader of the California Workers Party.

Dennis smoked a cigar and kept silent. He didn't want the people around him to talk about him and implicate him.

He came to San Francisco ten years ago, and with his shrewdness and eloquence, he united a group of unemployed Irish people and founded the California Workers Party. Then he used the influence of the Workers Party to contract the prison and rent out the prisoners to build roads.

As a result, he made a lot of money in the past two years and saved fifty or sixty thousand dollars.

He originally wanted to run for mayor, although he knew he would not win.

However, you can increase your influence and fame and pave the way for your future.

Unfortunately, at this time, Chen Zhengwei's power expanded rapidly like a balloon. The Irish gang was defeated by him, and the Italians and Jews also cooperated with him.

He felt something was wrong at that moment and immediately kept a low profile.

If he hadn't been reluctant to give up the prison business and realized he couldn't make as much money elsewhere, he would have left San Francisco long ago.

Fortunately, those Chinese people did not cause him any trouble, which made him feel a lot more relaxed.

He hoped to continue living like this, save more money, and then leave San Francisco.

In fact, if he had not been afraid of retaliation, he would have thrown away the California Workers Party long ago. These people had become like hot potatoes to him.

After drinking two drinks in the bar, Dennis and his companions left the bar and walked quickly towards the carriage in the drizzle.

Two Chinese people who were hiding from the rain under the eaves not far from the bar looked at him carefully, then reached into their arms, pulled out their guns, and followed Dennis.

Then he raised his arm and pointed the gun at the back of Dennis and his companion's head.

Boom!

With the sound of gunfire, the two men fell directly to the ground, and blood continued to spread along the rain on the ground.

The two Chinese put their guns into their arms, without even stopping, and walked into the darkness as if nothing had happened.

Half an hour later, people from the Investigation Bureau arrived.

Michael took a look at the scene and ordered directly: "Take everyone in the bar back to the police station for questioning!"

Soon, everyone in the bar was taken back to the police station.

At around 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, the ordinary drinkers were released, but the members of the California Workers Party were retained because they were highly suspicious.

Even if it is not related to Dennis' murder, it is related to other cases.

……

The next day, Chen Zhengwei came out of his house and went to have morning tea with Lin Changning.

Yan Qingyou came over, shook off the rain on his body, and said with a grin:

“Brother Wei, sister-in-law!”

"Such a sumptuous meal! It makes me hungry just looking at it!"

"Find a place to sit down. No one is stopping you from eating!" Lin Changning said.

Yan Qingyou hung his coat aside, took his bowl and chopsticks and sat down, and said as he served the porridge: "Brother Wei, the California Workers' Party is finished!"

"Their boss died last night. More than 20 people were arrested, and Michael is still having people arrested! We can take care of everything in three days at most."

"I see! You didn't know them before?" Chen Zhengwei asked casually.

"I've heard of the California Workers' Party, but I don't know what they do..." Yan Qingyou said somewhat embarrassedly. He was indeed confused by the name of this Workers' Party.

After he started managing the port, those people all restrained themselves and kept a very low profile.

So he never paid attention to it.

"Let Xiucai and the lawyer go to the government building this afternoon to sign the prison contract and complete the procedures for establishing a security company!" Chen Zhengwei said.

"I'll have someone tell the scholar later!"

"Brother Wei, you can't make much money by contracting a prison! There are so many people there, and you, Brother Wei, must look down on them... and now no one dares to arrest our people!" Yan Qingyou asked. This was what he didn't understand the most.

Now no one in San Francisco dares to arrest Chen Zhengwei's people. He only makes tens of thousands of dollars a year by contracting the prison. Why should Chen Zhengwei go to so much trouble?

"There is a provision in the U.S. Constitution called double jeopardy! It means that the government cannot prosecute a person multiple times for the same crime in the same level of court system." Chen Zhengwei said casually.

“Even if someone is found guilty, once their sentence is complete, they cannot be tried and punished again for the same crime.”

"Do you know what this means?" Chen Zhengwei looked up and asked.

"If a person kills someone in Chicago and is found by the FBI, as long as he is prosecuted in San Francisco, he will not be prosecuted again when he returns to Chicago, regardless of whether he is convicted or not. Federal courts generally do not prosecute again."

"Ah! Brother Wei, I know what you mean!" Yan Qingyou suddenly realized.

If their people commit crimes outside, they can return to San Francisco and go to court without being prosecuted again.

"If the crime is serious, then we will find a lighter crime and have him stay in prison for a while... and then everything will be fine!" Chen Zhengwei continued.

“So contracting the prison is not just for the henchmen below, but also for the members of the committee.”

No matter what they have done outside, as long as it is not a crime against humanity... when the time comes, they will go to the San Francisco court, and all the serious crimes will be declared to have insufficient evidence. They will be given a lighter charge and stay in prison for a year or two, and then they will be safe.

So the prison had to be contracted out.

He plans to build some luxury apartments in the prison and provide them to important members of the gang.

They can enjoy everything in prison, whether it's cigarettes, alcohol, women, or anything else.

Of course, the price won’t be low.

This prison alone can earn millions of dollars a year from them.

And this is also a university.

In the future, if there are subordinates who need to be trained, just throw them in there for a year or two will be enough.

They can learn all kinds of knowledge, skills and lessons from important gang figures across the U.S. As for sending prisoners in prison to build roads to make money... they can't make much in a year, and they have to send people to guard them, which is too troublesome.

"Brother Wei, you can even think of this method!" Yan Qingyou couldn't help but say.

Chen Zhengwei has an amazing brain.

"Why else am I the boss? I've told you so many times that you must study more and use your brain more! If you don't use your brain, you will be a loser all your life!" Chen Zhengwei glanced at him contemptuously.

The reason he can get to where he is today is because of his persistent hard work and study!
Li Xiwen glanced at Chen Zhengwei, then went back to eating, not daring to speak.

After handing the matter over to Yan Qingyou and Rong Jiacai, Chen Zhengwei and Lin Changning took a carriage to the port after dinner and took a boat to Los Angeles.

Rong Jiacai had already sent people there to draw a map. He and Lin Changning went there to take a look at the situation and find two places to build a manor. Then they took a train to Sacramento to attend the governor's inauguration dinner.

A day and a half later, he and Lin Changning came down from the boat with more than twenty people.

"Weige!"

"sister in law!"

Several thugs were waiting at the dock.

"The climate here is really much better!" Lin Changning felt the evening breeze in Los Angeles and couldn't help but smile.

Winters in San Francisco are rainy, humid, and cold.

Los Angeles is much drier, with much less rain and less fog. The sea breeze here doesn't have that bone-chilling coldness.

The temperature during the day is around 20 degrees and 10 degrees at night.

"How's the relocation going here?" Chen Zhengwei stood at the dock, in no hurry to leave.

It's a lot quieter here than when I came here last time.

"More than half of them have left, and the rest will leave soon!" said the henchman. "The U.S. government is paying for their relocation anyway, so why are they staying here?"

In fact, there was a small incident during that period.

Just after the signing of the Washington Treaty, the news spread here and the people of Los Angeles felt that the Chinese not only stole their jobs, but also their homes.

So a group of people kept complaining angrily in the bar. After getting drunk, they encouraged each other and rushed into Chinatown with knives and guns, hacking at anyone they saw.

At that time, there were many of Chen Zhengwei's men in Chinatown.

Then they were beaten to death on the spot.

However, three people were also hacked to death in Chinatown.

After that, these people finally calmed down, and after being compensated by people sent by the US government, they left one after another soon.

There were originally 4,000 to 5,000 people, but now there are only 2,000 left, including more than 100 Chinese.

The rest will leave in the next half month.

After listening to this, Chen Zhengwei nodded and got on the carriage.

Along the way, I looked around this dilapidated little town. All the wooden houses that could be seen everywhere had to be demolished.

Los Angeles needs to be replanned, such as the sewer pipes. It is easier to lay the foundation of the city now than to rebuild it later.

That night, Chen Zhengwei stayed in the largest hotel in Los Angeles. The next day, he called the map makers and after asking them, he went to several places to check.

The first place was quickly determined.

Hollywood Hills.

The view is magnificent, overlooking Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean, and it is located in the mountains so it's quite private.

Although this place has not been developed yet, some people have already built manors and villas here, but they are not large in size.

……

While Chen Zhengwei was looking for a place to build a ranch in Los Angeles, Juan also returned to Cuba.

The situation in Cuba was actually very chaotic. After the ten-year war from 1868 to 1878, although the independence army failed, it also achieved certain results. For example, Cuba began to gradually abolish slavery.

This also made the value of Chinese laborers appear higher, much cheaper than slaves and even the black workers here.

The plantation owners here are also divided into two camps, either standing on the side of the governor or on the side of the independence army.

Even though those plantation owners were of Hispanic descent... they considered themselves Cubans, and for the sake of higher political interests and status, they held high the banner of Cuba being governed by Cubans.

Some plantation owners were even senior generals in the Cuban Independence Army.

So Juan didn't dare to agree to Chen Zhengwei. Some of these plantation owners had guns and had fought in wars. They were not comparable to the gunmen under his command.

Juan breathed a sigh of relief when he returned to Cuba.

After staying in his own manor for a day, he contacted a familiar family.

This was a large plantation owner who owned a large number of plantations in the Santa Clara area and also employed a large number of Chinese workers.

The Vidal family.

"Mr. Vidal!" Juan met his target at a plantation. The other party was the person in charge of managing the plantation from the Vidal family.

"Juan... I haven't seen you for a long time!" Manuel Vidal chuckled.

“I recently returned to the United States!”

"I heard that something big happened over there. The US government was defeated by a group of Chinese? This really surprises me!" Manuel Vidal laughed.

The news spread so widely that even he heard about it in Cuba.

"Is there any unknown story behind this?" Manuel Vidal asked later, after all, this matter was too incredible.

"The facts are just as you have heard. There is no secret story. The Chinese man is called Zhengwei Chen. He is very powerful and a military genius. He led his men to defeat the US Army." Juan said.

Manuel Vidal was a little disappointed to hear this answer.

When he learned about this matter before, he felt that there was something else going on and even argued about it with others.

"In fact, my visit this time is also related to Mr. Chen!" Juan continued.

"Oh?" Manuel Vidal was a little surprised.

"Mr. Chen hopes to buy the Chinese laborers on the Cuban plantation!" Juan said.

"All? Why? Because they are all Chinese?" Manuel Vidal was even more surprised.

"Maybe!"

"I refuse! I have signed a contract with those piglets, and I will not let them leave before the contract time is up." Manuel Vidal said without thinking.

What good does it do him to sell those Chinese to that Chinese?
His plantation needed a lot of manpower, and there were no cheaper workers than the Chinese in the whole of Cuba.

Even if those hard laborers, called piglets, were worked to death on the plantation, he had no intention of selling them.

Then Manuel Vidal asked with some contempt: "Are you helping that Chinese man?"

(End of this chapter)