The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 733: Notorious
Da da da!
In the city of Larut, people from security companies guarded the main intersections, separated people from different communities, and shot anyone who showed up.

Every three or five steps on the street, a corpse was stuck in the middle of the road to intimidate the natives and others.

These people were trying to escape.

And it’s not just the Malays.

Whether it is the British or the Indians.

Chen Zhengwei once said that people should not be too racist.

So they are all treated equally.

"If only we had tung oil!" Lazai muttered as he watched the Chinese chop up the remaining wooden beams and window frames of some houses into firewood and pile them up.

Tung oil is still the best for starting a fire, it lights up quickly.

But that thing is used for repairing ships and can only be found in port cities.

Those young and strong Chinese who were organized were working hard at this time, and when they looked at the indigenous community, there was undisguised hatred in their eyes.

Looking at those short-haired Chinese people wearing hunting suits, they felt quite close.

Although they had never met before, these people came to rescue them.

They had suffered for such a long time in Malaysia, and it was just this group of people who rescued them.

Many people feel that it is worth selling their lives to them in the future.

"Without tung oil, using wood is the same. Fortunately, the food problem has been solved... otherwise, many of these more than 10,000 people would have starved to death before they could be sent back to Penang." Another member of the security company laughed.

The food was easier to collect than expected.

All the food in the Chinese people’s homes was looted, but there was none left in the grain stores’ warehouses.

These Malaysian grain merchants are mainly Chinese, and the bosses have fled directly to Penang.

The natives occupied the granary but did not move away directly. The influential natives regarded the granary as their own and arranged for people to guard it.

After the security company entered the city, those people just ran away.

When they went to the granary, there was still half a barn of grain.

Even if it's not too much, it's enough to make porridge to sustain tens of thousands of people for a few days.

At night, after the organized young men had piled up the firewood around the indigenous community, the captain of the security company looked at the sky and said, "It shouldn't rain, right?"

"It's not raining heavily yet. It looks like it won't rain..."

The captain of the security company nodded, and then said: "Let them light the fire!"

"Let those Chinese laborers order it themselves, and that will be considered revenge for them!"

After the order was passed on, some Chinese workers lit the firewood outside the community, and the flames began to burn, engulfing the firewood and then the houses...

Seeing this, the natives rushed out again, but they were shot dead as soon as they rushed out.

The remaining people looked at the spreading fire with despair.

There was a chorus of begging, crying, and yelling.

"Retreat! There's so much smoke, we'll be stuck if we don't leave now." After seeing the flames, Lezai immediately led his men to evacuate Larut City.

By the time they left the city, half of it was filled with smoke and the flames were growing bigger and bigger.

"God says, blood for blood, tooth for tooth, Amen!" A young man pulled out the cross from his chest and said silently.

There was more than one person who had the same action as him.

After all, what the leader likes, the subordinates will follow. Chen Zhengwei has been baptized and wears a cross around his neck every day. Many of his subordinates also wear crosses.

Believe it or not, at least it seems like you believe it.

"What does God say?" The captain of the security company has always been dismissive of this kind of talk.

"God said he has forgiven me!" The young man put down the cross and said seriously, then looked up at the city in front of him that was gradually engulfed in flames, with a somewhat ferocious look on his face.

……

As Larut was engulfed in flames, Chen Zhengwei looked at the surrender letter in his hand and asked, "What the hell is this?"

"Brother Wei, it's the Sultan of Selangor... When our people entered Klang, they surrendered! They sent a letter of surrender, saying they were willing to make compensation!"

"Compensation? They robbed the palace and their money is mine. They want to use my things to compensate me?" Chen Zhengwei was immediately furious and tore up the letter of surrender and threw it into the trash can.

"Hang him! And then set him on fire!"

"Now the British have to thank me! I have helped them so much." Chen Zhengwei stretched lazily.

The British would not kill the Sultans easily as this would make the Malays full of hatred towards them.

Unless, as before, the Sultan participated in a rebellion or murdered senior members of the colonial government.

However, since he had killed the Sultans of Perak and Selangor, Britain could support whoever they wanted to come to power without causing any opposition.

You can even win the favor of the natives.

All the bad guys were done by themselves, and the benefits were all taken by Britain.

After this incident in Malaysia, its reputation in Islamic countries must have been ruined.

Chen Zhengwei felt that Britain had won this time.

The only downside is that the population will decrease a bit.

It's probably only reduced by a few hundred thousand, after all, cities in this era are not big.

Add to that hundreds of thousands of Chinese laborers. The population of the Straits Settlements plus the sultanates of Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang, including Chinese laborers, was just over a million.

Now the total is almost half gone.

But this is not a big problem. There are definitely still many indigenous people in the forests of the Malay Peninsula.

Besides, there are so many people in India, we can just pull some of them over.

"There's no reply from Siam yet?" Chen Zhengwei called Li Xiwen to ask.

"They still need some time to consider, right?" Li Xiwen thought for a moment and said.

"It's just a matter of agreeing or disagreeing. It's only three million dollars. Why is there so much to consider?"

"If they agree, I won't go to Siam!"

"If they don't agree, I'll go get it myself!"

It's such a simple matter, what's there to consider? It's not like they have to sell the palace, it's just a 3 million interest-free loan.

While Chen Zhengwei was asking questions, King Chulalongkorn of Siam was also holding a meeting.

"We have to pay this money. You all should know the way that man behaves! If we don't pay, he will come knocking on our door. This is his usual style."

“The question now is, what can we gain from this?”

As Chen Zhengwei thought, Siam's foreign policy has always been flexible.

As long as you dare to hit him, he will dare to sign an unequal agreement with you.

King Chulalongkorn is 31 years old this year. He is proficient in Western culture and knows English. He is a king with a broad vision.

Chen Zhengwei had a notorious reputation, and Chulalongkorn had known Chen Zhengwei for a long time, and he knew what he had done along the way.

When someone says they want to hit you, it may be a threat.

But Chen Zhengwei will really shove his fleet into your face and open fire.

So after learning that Chen Zhengwei wanted to borrow money from them, he prepared to pay the money without much hesitation, in order to avoid disaster.

The only question is what benefits can be gained from the opportunity.

"We can establish diplomatic relations with him and learn from him about economy and military affairs, which will be very beneficial to our economic and military reforms!"

"Also, I heard that he has a drug that can treat many diseases. It's just that this drug has been in Western countries. We can take this opportunity to buy some."

"In addition, there are weapons and ammunition..."

"In addition, his Los Angeles and San Francisco should have been built by his own shipyard, and it is said that their speed is faster than that of the French..." Chulalongkorn said as he thought.

"Your Majesty, the warships must be purchased in the UK... otherwise it will easily cause dissatisfaction among the British people! The British navy is the most powerful in the world!" someone said immediately.

"You're right!" Chulalongkorn thought about it and nodded.

Soon, the Siamese court made a decision and sent Prince Dewaon to Penang. He was Chulalongkorn's half-brother and Siam's foreign minister.

Chulalongkorn looked at the ministers in the court and felt somewhat regretful.

He actually wanted to find a minister of Chinese descent, which would make it easier to deal with Chen Zhengwei.

Unfortunately, no.

Among all the Southeast Asian countries, the Chinese in Siam have the highest status.

However, it still exerted influence on Siam through taxation, trade, agriculture, and marriage.

After the meeting, Chulalongkorn kept Prince Dewaon and discussed Chen Zhengwei with him.

"Remember, don't provoke him. Stay humble and respectful. It is said that he has a bad temper and is moody!"

"We usually think that people with bad tempers are not very smart. He caused a lot of trouble along the way from the United States to the Straits Settlements... It seems to confirm this view, but it's all an illusion!"

"If he was as foolish as he seemed, he wouldn't be in the position he is today! Although many people think that the British are supporting him... but if he only relied on the support of the British, he would not have such a high position in the United States!"

"He's smarter than anyone thinks... That's why I want to establish diplomatic relations with him. There's a lot we can learn from him!"

"I even want to send people to the United States to learn...how to make the country strong."

In Chulalongkorn's view: Chen Zhengwei is just one person, who made his fortune in the United States with the help of tens of thousands of Chinese people. Now he has a powerful fleet and army, which is worthy of learning for a small country like Siam.

Subsequently, Prince Dewaon informed the American Minister to Siam and agreed to Chen Zhengwei's loan request, but he had to visit Chen Zhengwei in Penang.

……

"Agreed? I told you that Siam's foreign policy is very flexible!" Chen Zhengwei smiled after getting the news and got 300 million US dollars with just his lips.

This is how the world is. As long as you are vicious enough and others are afraid of you, you don’t need to do anything in most cases.

There is nothing in this world that makes money faster than robbery.

It’s a pity that the United States is too weak now, otherwise it would want to sell U.S. Western Development Bonds to other countries.

Open the door and sell bonds!

I will beat you if you don’t buy it!

"Brother, the Prince of Siam is coming to visit you! He said he wants to establish closer diplomatic relations with the United States!"

"Visit me? Let him come!" Chen Zhengwei agreed after a little thought.

He immediately knew what Siam was trying to do.

He didn't mind it.

(End of this chapter)