The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 734 Who agreed to their price increase?

In the afternoon, a boat packed with Chinese laborers slowly sailed into Penang.

"Finally I'm back alive..." Huang Jie held his child's hand, with a look of relief and bitterness on his face.

His family opened a herbal medicine store in Klang and usually prescribed medicine and treated illnesses for people. Therefore, when the riot broke out, people who had received favors from his family came to inform him and took them to hide.

Therefore, the family was spared.

After hiding for a week, everything in the cellar was gone, and they couldn't find a way out.

Then one day, there was a sudden burst of gunfire outside.

Later, I heard Chinese people shouting everywhere, asking those who were hiding to come out.

Only then did they realize that someone had come to rescue them.

They were some Chinese people wearing Western clothes, with short hair and holding guns. It was said that they were Chinese Americans who heard about what was happening here and came to rescue them.

Huang Jie was full of gratitude to these people.

If it weren't for them, it's hard to imagine what would have happened to my family.

Just two days before these people arrived, some Chinese who had been hiding could not bear the hunger anymore and secretly ran out to find food. As a result, they were caught by the natives and beaten to death, with their bodies dragged on the street.

Then the Chinese from the United States broke into the Sultan's palace and killed the Sultan's guards and people in the palace.

Arrangements were also made for them to come to Penang by boat.

"What should we do in the future?" Huang Jie's wife, a timid and gentle woman, grabbed Huang Jie's clothes, smeared a handful of dust on her face, almost unrecognizable, and her eyes were full of anxiety.

No one is hurt, but everything is gone.

She didn't know what to do next.

"I don't know... I heard from them that we can go to America? It is said that the Chinese there live well... They are also short of doctors..." Huang Jie comforted his wife.

Even if the medicinal materials business fails, as long as you have medical skills, you will never starve to death.

"Aren't we going back?" Huang Jie's wife asked.

"What's the use of going back? Besides, they saved our lives, and we don't know how to repay them... Let's go and see if we can help in any way." Huang Jie said softly.

He helped treat the wounded over the past two days and also talked with Chinese Americans and listened to some of the things they said.

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard a commotion among the other people on the boat.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Huang Jie's heart immediately tightened.

Now, at the sight of this commotion, he was frightened from the bottom of his heart.

"That's their battleship, owned by Chinese Americans!" someone in front shouted.

Huang Jie squeezed in the crowd, tiptoed and tried to look in the direction the crowd was looking, but all he saw was the back of the head.

It was not until he was pushed off the boat by the crowd that he saw several boats parked at the side of the pier.

Like a giant, it has a steel hull, huge cannons, and rows of gun ports on the sides...

And it's not just one ship, but several.

"Is the United States a country of the Chinese?" someone asked in a low voice. They didn't know what the United States was, but when they saw such warships, some people wondered if the Chinese had established a country somewhere else.

After getting off the boat, many Chinese from other places were waiting at the dock looking for their relatives and friends.

Some acquaintances burst into tears after meeting each other, but most were disappointed.

The local gangs and chambers of commerce also organized people to relocate them outside the city.

Many people outside the city are working overtime to build simple sheds.

It is a tropical season in Malaysia, and for these refugees, a shed to shelter from the rain and sun is enough.

It would be better to have a straw mat to sleep on.

"You guys stay here for now. You will be given food every day, two meals a day."

"If you have relatives or friends, go and seek refuge with them. As for the rest of you, don't run around... Think about what you want to do next."

"Stay here, or return to the Qing Dynasty, or go to the United States..."

"Where is America?" someone asked immediately. We have heard them talking about America these days, but few people know where America is.

"It's far away, even farther from the Qing Dynasty than Nanyang. You need to take a boat to get there. The Chinese there live a good life, are not bullied, and the wages are high. You can get 27 British pound a month!"

"So many?" Many people asked in surprise.

I just escaped death and I don’t know where the future will go.

When they heard about such a place, many people were attracted.

They only earn 8 British pound a month from mining.

"Of course there are a lot. You can buy one mu of land for 10 eagle dollars, and one month's salary can buy two mu of land! It is said that the place is very big, but there are few people."

"But you won't get that much when you first arrive. You have to pay half of your monthly salary back for the boat fare. That's eight months!"

Those people had no objection to this. After all, they had all been to Southeast Asia, and it was only natural for them to pay back the shipping fee.

"One eagle dollar can buy 10 kilograms of beef over there. You can eat so much beef that you vomit with half of your salary..."

At the temporary resettlement sites outside Penang, the various chambers of commerce arranged for people to settle down and then explained the situation in the United States to them.

These laborers could earn 2 British pound a month in the Qing Dynasty, 8 British pound a month by mining in Malaysia, but 27 British pound a month in the United States.

Nothing could be more convincing.

And the Chinese there are not bullied, they also believe it.

From the Chinese holding guns they saw, each of them was muscular, with a tough and fierce temperament. They looked much more elite than the Green Camp soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, and their weapons were also powerful.

How could such a person be bullied? Normally, they would stay away from such people.

But it’s different now, it was these people who rescued them, and there was no looting along the way. Instead, they felt at ease and close to these people when they saw them.

"Okay, I've said what I need to say. You can think about it on your own. Take a break, and then those who are strong can stand up and build some sheds for those who come later!"

"It's not just you who are suffering this time, the Chinese in Perak and Selangor are all suffering!"

……

As batches of Chinese were shipped in from Perak and Selangor, a large number of people appeared outside Penang and the city itself was also overcrowded.

The air also began to smell like feces and urine.

This situation is inevitable when there are too many people and not enough places to accommodate them.

Chen Zhengwei was too lazy to pay attention to all this. Penang was not his. San Francisco and Los Angeles were his.

At this time, he was sitting on the sofa in the hotel lobby, opposite to him was Sir William Hewitt, the commander of the British Royal Navy's East India Fleet.

"According to the survivors, it was the Chinese who looted them! You have to hand these people over." Sir William Hewitt's face was calm. He no longer had the energy to be angry.

London sent a telegram asking Chen Zhengwei to help suppress the rebellion, and did not allow him to go to war with Chen Zhengwei. What could he do?
But there is one more thing that must be resolved.

After the British people in Penang were brought back, many people said that the Chinese had robbed them.

No matter what, he had to make Chen Zhengwei hand over the murderer.

"No problem! There were indeed some Chinese running around during the riot that day. As for whether it was robbery, I don't know. But their running around caused even greater panic. In order to suppress the riot in time, my people couldn't tell them apart. They shot them to death and the bodies were thrown outside the city and haven't been buried yet. Ask them to identify the people and see if they were the ones who were robbed!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

"Are you sure it's those people?" Sir William Hewitt looked at Chen Zhengwei and asked.

"So let them go and identify the person. If not, I will kill a few more!" Chen Zhengwei showed an attitude that he did not take human life seriously at all, which directly choked Sir William Hewitt.

But what he was thinking and what Chen Zhengwei had half-hidden were two completely different things.

Chen Zhengwei’s solution to problems is often to solve the problem of the person who raised the problem.

Sir William Hewitt also knew that Chen Zhengwei had no sincerity at all. After thinking for a while, he said: "Take my soldiers to have a look! Then I will go back and tell them!"

"No problem..." Chen Zhengwei spread his hands...

In fact, so many people died that day, but the Chinese had already been buried.

Many natives were thrown into the corpse pit and have not been buried yet...but it doesn't matter.

He said those bodies were, those bodies were.

"Goodbye!" Sir William Hewitt had nothing else to say to Chen Zhengwei, so he stood up and left with his men.

"Tsk!" Chen Zhengwei sneered, then leaned back on the sofa, thinking to himself, the shipping fee for transporting those Chinese to the United States was 53 dollars per person, but he also had to provide them with food during these days, and take care of them when they were sick...the cost was almost 60 US dollars.

I only asked them to pay back 100, I am really doing charity.

If there are 1200 Chinese, that would be $ million in profit?

And compared to buying people from piggy banks, it saved $1800 million.

That’s 3000 million US dollars.

Is this how the account is calculated?

Chen Zhengwei calculated carefully and felt that there should be no problem.

After these people arrive in the United States, they are placed by a labor company and can receive a commission of $3 per month.

This month can bring me a profit of 90 US dollars, which is million US dollars a year.

And he also has a place to accommodate these people.

There is a shortage of people everywhere in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and at least 10 people can be directly accommodated.

Oregon has large tracts of land, much of which is forest land.

California is now building a railroad to Oregon.

The remaining 20 was thrown into Oregon to build railroads, cut trees, process wood, and open up wasteland...

With a population of 20, Oregon naturally developed.

Later people coming from the Qing Dynasty continued to fill Los Angeles.

When Chen Zhengwei was thinking about it, Li Xiwen came over and said, "Brother, Hong Kong has rented more than 20 ships to transport people!"

"Ryukyu has also allocated a place for resettlement."

Chen Zhengwei nodded: "These are easy to deal with. The main thing is food and medicine! These are used by hundreds of thousands of people! The daily consumption is an astronomical figure."

"Brother Xiucai has already purchased grain in the United States... Now the price of grain in the United States has increased..." Li Xiwen scratched his head.

Chen Zhengwei sells grain to Panama, Peru, and Cuba...all of which are purchased from the United States.

The United States also mainly exports food to Europe.

Then the scholar started buying up large quantities of grain... The price of grain in the United States has now increased by 10%.

"The price has increased?" Chen Zhengwei turned his head and looked at Li Xiwen with a look of hostility: "Who agreed to their price increase?"

He has been doing business for so many years and no one has ever raised his prices!

"The price of the grain we bought has not increased, but the price on the market has increased by 10%..." Li Xiwen saw Chen Zhengwei's eyes and knew what he was thinking, so he explained immediately.

After hearing this, Chen Zhengwei continued to lie on the sofa.

As long as you don’t raise the price for yourself, then it’s fine.

Besides, food prices in the United States are so low, corn and potatoes are so cheap, so what’s wrong with a slight increase?
(End of this chapter)