The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 645: Mr. Chen is still doing things to encourage the Chinese!

"Brother Xiucai, this is a telegram from the Russian Embassy! It's a protest!" The henchman raised the telegram in his hand.

"Just send the protest to the White House. Why send it to us? Ignore them!" Rong Jiacai was not even interested in taking a look at the telegram.

He still has a lot of things to do.

The new president will be sworn in the day after tomorrow, and Xu Yan will travel directly from Pennsylvania to Washington to attend the president's inauguration reception.

"Brother Wei's story is really encouraging!" The man didn't leave in a hurry. He just stood there and said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Rong Jiacai raised his head.

"Even after the Qing Dynasty won the war, it was still bullied by the Russians and had to cede large tracts of land to Russia! Brother Wei had the Russian envoy beaten up, and Russia couldn't even say a word. At most, it protested!" The henchman laughed happily.

"It really boosts the morale of the Chinese people. From now on, everyone will know that there are two Chinese people in the world: the Chinese of the Qing Dynasty and the Chinese of America!"

Rong Jiacai was stunned for a moment, then nodded after thinking for a while: "You are right!"

After the henchman left, he leaned back in his chair and whispered, "Human heart!"

He hadn't thought of that before.

He only remembered it after his henchman reminded him.

In fact, in the Qing Dynasty now, many people have no concept of national identity at all.

Overseas Chinese know what a country is better than ordinary people in the Qing Dynasty.

Look at the British, French, Germans, Russians... Look at the Chinese, Mexicans, and the Americans...

The British, the French, and other powerful European countries will never be bullied wherever they go.

A strong country is the biggest support for these people.

Therefore, although the agreement signed between the Qing Dynasty and the Russian Empire was Qing Dynasty's business, it made everyone look down on the Chinese.

Chen Zhengwei's casual instructions made others dare not underestimate Chinese Americans.

Although they have no control over the agreement, no one in the United States can bully the Chinese.

"Brother Wei still understands people's hearts!"

Rong Jiacai felt that Chen Zhengwei was a natural leader.

Although he was sold here just like everyone else and was younger than himself, Chen Zhengwei was born bold and daring, had great talent in business and fighting, and understood human nature.

People like him and Aaron have to keep learning and thinking just to barely keep up with Chen Zhengwei.

……

At this time, at the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, a group of Chinese businessmen were also discussing the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.

"If you win, you have to cede land. If you lose, you have to cede land. If you fight, you have to pay money. How can this be justified?"

"That's right! If that's the case, just cede the land to them and save the trouble of fighting!"

"Although we are overseas, I am still very angry when I see this agreement!" Two newspapers were passed around among a group of people, and someone kept banging his head on the table.

This time, when the Times published the article, it also published the agreement from two years ago.

Everyone knows what happened.

Although compared with two years ago, a large amount of land has been recovered, compensation has been canceled, and there is a tax exemption agreement, it still makes people's blood pressure rise.

"That's what those shitty officials are like. If I were Master Wei, I would skin them alive!"

Everyone thought about Chen Zhengwei's temper. Not only would he skin them alive, he would even skin the Russian Tsar alive as well.

"You don't even need to eat. You're so angry that you're full of yourself!" Lin Yuanshan just got up and left. He really didn't want to discuss this anymore.

Others also left.

The next morning, Lin Yuanshan had just gotten up to eat breakfast when his attendant ran in: "Master, today's newspaper."

"What's in today's newspaper?" Lin Yuanshan asked without raising his head while drinking porridge.

"Yesterday, some Chinese broke into the Russian Embassy in the United States and broke the Russian ambassador's leg..." said the attendant nearby.

"Master, this should be done by Lord Wei, right?"

"Let me see!" Lin Yuanshan stopped eating immediately, put his chopsticks on the chopstick holder, and took the newspaper from his follower.

"The Russian envoy was attacked. The Russian Empire strongly protested and condemned, and demanded that the United States severely punish the murderer!"

Lin Yuanshan read the newspaper carefully. Although it only said that it was done by a Chinese and did not mention the specific identity, he knew without thinking that it must have been done by Chen Zhengwei.

No one else is brave enough to do this except him.

"It has to be Mr. Chen!" Lin Yuanshan laughed loudly, and stopped eating. He stood up and said to his attendant, "Bring the hat over here."

"Get out!"

He wants to find Liang Yi Yue.

At this time, Liang Yi Yue also saw the news and had the same opinion as Lin Yuanshan.

This must have been done by Chen Zhengwei.

Liang Yiyue was smiling and said to his family:
"It is Mr. Chen who is doing things to boost the morale of the Chinese people!"

"I feel much better now!"

"If we follow Mr. Chen's lead, we won't have to endure this."

After a while, Lin Yuanshan came over and saw Liang Yiyue having dinner at home.

"Just right, he came out halfway through eating! Bring me another set of bowls and chopsticks!" Lin Yuanshan was not polite either, he and Liang Yi Yue were old acquaintances.

In fact, their relationship was not very good before.

After all, one is the president of the Zhaoqing Guild Hall, and the other is the vice president of the Ningyang Guild Hall.

Although the various guild halls in San Francisco still exist today, their influence has been reduced to the lowest level. They are now places where fellow townspeople can socialize and chat with each other.

The relationship between these two people is actually good.

Seeing the newspaper in Liang Yiyue's hand, Lin Yuanshan laughed: "You read the news too!"

"Boss Lin, you came to me just for this matter?" Liang Yi Yue asked with a smile.

"That's right! I was so angry yesterday that I didn't even eat. When I saw this news today, it was Mr. Chen!"

Lin Yuanshan and Liang Yiyue both laughed.

Putting aside other things, Chen Zhengwei is behind this, so he has the confidence to go out and talk to people about his affairs.

Don't be afraid of being bullied.

……

Two days later, on March 3, James Garfield was sworn in at the White House and became the 4st President of the United States.

This incident is a big deal, but no one cares about the beating of the Russian ambassador.

Only the envoys of various countries care more.

After all, this isn't the first time this has happened.

This is the second Russian Imperial Minister.

However, it is obvious that the US government has no control over Chen Zhengwei, and it is extremely unwise to have a conflict with Chen Zhengwei in the United States.

Chen Zhengwei said to himself when he got up to eat at noon.

"Send a telegram to the White House congratulating Garfield!"

"What kind of person is this new president?" Lin Changning asked casually.

"He looks very smart, but as to whether he is really smart... we will know later." Chen Zhengwei didn't say much.

Not long after finishing his meal, he took people to the shipyard. Today, another cruiser and two torpedo launchers were being launched, so Chen Zhengwei had to show up.

With the addition of this cruiser, Chen Zhengwei's fleet now has a battleship, a frigate, two cruisers, six Ter-class gunboats, and seven torpedo launchers. Although the displacement of the torpedo launcher is only more than 500 tons, it can move with the fleet and be resupplied by supply ships and can also go to the ocean.

Chen Zhengwei felt satisfied as he watched the second cruiser being launched.

Finally everything is back on track.

The cruiser was the USS Los Angeles.

Then I went to the conference room with the three Donahue brothers and the people from the shipyard.

"Mr. Chen, this is the transport ship we designed!" Peter Donahue placed a piece of information in front of Chen Zhengwei.

"This transport ship is designed to transport people! Of course, it can also transport cargo, but it doesn't have the capacity of a dedicated cargo ship."

Chen Zhengwei picked up the information of the transport ship and looked through it. This transport ship has a displacement of more than 3300 tons, a dual steam power system, and also has sails as auxiliary power.

The steam-powered ship has a speed of 23 knots, and with the aid of sails, it can reach a maximum speed of 25 knots.

Of course, the most important thing is the crew loading of this ship. The cabin is divided into small rooms with two rows of bunk beds, and people can lie on the ground. Each cabin can accommodate about 24 people.

The overall structure is actually a bit like a prison, but the environment inside the cabin is much better than the piglet boat that Chen Zhengwei took when he came here.

Each cabin also has a toilet and a porthole for ventilation.

This can separate people as much as possible, greatly reduce the chance of death during the voyage, and reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

There are also three food warehouses, one of which is a cold storage warehouse.

The cabin structure of this type of ship cannot be used as a passenger ship or cargo ship. It was mainly used to bring people back from the Qing Dynasty.

It can also be used as a troop transport when needed.

“How many people are on board?”

"For a one-month sailing time, the normal number of people should be around 2880, which is already the limit. In fact, a ship of this size can only carry a maximum of 2000 people, but we have made great efforts to increase the number to 2880."

"I think we can stuff a little more in!" Chen Zhengwei said as he flipped through the drawings.

There are 120 rooms in total, and it's not impossible to squeeze three or four more people into each room.

Even if two or three more people were crammed in, it would still be much better than the crowded piggy bank he was on originally.

At that time, there was almost no space to stretch your feet, so you had to put your feet on other people's legs or stomachs.

"But this ship can only hold food for 3000 people!"

"They can eat less. Eating less won't kill them. As long as they don't starve to death, that's enough!" Chen Zhengwei felt that the Donahue brothers had no idea how resilient people are.

"We need to build another San Francisco-class cruiser, and four of these transport ships!" Chen Zhengwei thought for a moment and said, "As for the torpedo launcher, we don't need to build it."

For the time being, seven torpedo ships are enough. They are enough to blend into the fleet and fight against Spain.

Coupled with Chen Zhengwei's ability in naval battle command, Chen Zhengwei felt that he could beat the shit out of Spain.

The next most important thing is to recruit people from the Qing Dynasty here.

At the same time, he had one more goal.

Nanyang.

……

In Louisiana, in a hardwood forest north of Lake Pontchartrain, a large number of black people gathered.

Wooden houses and tents made of various woods and rags are connected in a row.

A large number of black people settled here, which led to a rapid deterioration of the environment. In addition, there was no arable land, so the black people here relied on food transported from outside.

As Louisiana gradually recovered from the disaster, some black people gradually left and went to other cities to find a place to settle down.

However, there are still more than 40,000 blacks here. Although it is only half of the more than 80,000 blacks at the peak period, it still makes the Louisiana state government full of vigilance.

In particular, these blacks began to have their own programs and slogans, and those blacks who left here have always maintained contact with this place.

At this time, in a wooden house.

This year, especially the management of this huge camp, has made Nathaniel more mature.

"We refuse!" Nathaniel said, looking at the white man in front of him.

"I think you should reconsider this proposal. This proposal is good for all of us." Several white people on the opposite side frowned. These people were sent by the Louisiana state government.

Demanded that Nathaniel disband the black camps here and disperse these blacks to plantations and other cities within the state.

In contrast, Louisiana would call for improving the status of blacks and giving Nathaniel certain benefits.

"Is betraying others the benefit you mentioned?" Nathaniel suppressed his voice.

"No way! This is not what I want!"

"We want the government of this country to treat us fairly! Instead of that useless appeal, you are deceiving us!"

"During the war, we black people also shed blood and made sacrifices!"

"But what did we get?"

"We want to build our own city, have our own mayor, and participate in fair elections! We want the right to vote!" Nathaniel's voice became louder and louder.

And outside their wooden house, there were many black people gathered there.

If it were the Nathaniel of the past, he might still be deceived.

But as he had communicated with Chen Zhengwei and some black elites joined his team, he knew that the right to vote was the most important!
Only with the right to vote will those congressmen and politicians take black people seriously.

And now, Southern states are adding legal provisions to restrict black people's voting rights.

For example, requiring voters to pass a literacy test, but setting higher standards for black people.

For example, by requiring voters to explain a portion of the Constitution or law before voting, election officials could arbitrarily decide whether voters understood it, thereby depriving black people of the right to vote.

Even white primaries were set up to limit black participation in the electoral process.

After the Civil War, there were still some black congressmen who represented the interests of black people.

Today, black lawmakers are almost nonexistent.

"You will only bring trouble to yourselves!" Seeing Nathaniel's refusal, several white people said in a deep voice.

"We will fight as hard as we can! I don't want my children to be like me!" Nathaniel put his hands on the table and said without flinching.

He heard the threat in the other person's words.

The other party looked at him for a few seconds, then left with the bag.

When I went out, I saw a lot of black people gathered outside.

The people sent by the Louisiana government to negotiate had a bit of contempt in their eyes.

Then he walked through the crowd.

A black child threw a stone which landed at his feet.

The white man turned his head and glanced at him, with malice in his eyes.

The group then left and reported back to the Louisiana government.

There is no way the Louisiana state government would agree to the demands of the black people.

A day later, the Louisiana state government received the news and the governor convened an internal meeting.

"They have no money and are so poor that all they have left are the shoes on their feet. So how did they manage to survive until now?" a congressman asked with a contemptuous tone.

Then others spoke up:
“Someone must be funding them!”

"We must cut off their contact with the outside world and block their channels for purchasing food! We must not let a single grain of food fall into their hands! Once they all starve to death, the problem will be solved!"

Tens of thousands of black people died, and no one cared.

"In addition, we must also be prepared to mobilize the National Guard to prevent them from causing other troubles."

(End of this chapter)