The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 209 The Initial Formation of the Eastern Legion

"Your Excellency, His Excellency Brigadier General Fragosse has arrived."

In Paris, the temporary residence of the Eastern Mission, Lin Tong was busy sorting out documents when the guard at the door came in to report.

Following Lin Tong's nod, a tall, goateed, long-faced Frenchman who looked to be about thirty-one or thirty-two years old was led in.

Lin Tong quickly put down the quill in his hand, asked the commander of the aid fleet to sit down, and ordered the guards to prepare tea and pastries.

"General, I didn't expect you to come here in person. I said I would visit you after I finished processing the information."

Brigadier General Fragosse smiled faintly, and was very satisfied that Lin Tong called him General, but at the same time, he spoke very directly.

"Your Excellency, our time is very tight. Please allow me to be direct."

Brigadier General Fragosse's French was not as standard as Lin Tong's, and had a strong southern Marseille accent.

"It may sound presumptuous, but I do want to know what price Prince Haxian can offer us?"

Lin Tong nodded. He knew that this "price" definitely did not mean salary, because it had been agreed to be paid at double the French Navy's salary.

So the price mentioned by Brigadier General Fragosse refers to the additional benefits.

It was indeed a bit presumptuous and greedy, but Lin Tong knew that this was worth giving.

Because in terms of navy, the East, led by the Qing Dynasty, has fallen behind in all aspects.

These three regular warships of the Kingdom of France, especially the Crown Prince, a three-class sailing battleship commanded by Brigadier General Fragossel himself and soon to be renamed Prince Ha Tien, will be the ballast of King Mo Zi Bu in the East.

With it, even if we don’t dominate the South China Sea, we will at least be one of the only two powerful forces in the South China Sea, enough to suppress the Dutch fleet in Batavia.

Of course, this is assuming that the Dutch don't go crazy and send their main fleet to the East.

At the same time, Lin Tong understood one thing more clearly: for a person like Brigadier General Fragosse, the results of doing things diligently and doing things perfunctorily are completely different.

For example, now the right to recommend naval officers is in his hands. If the extra benefits are sufficient, he will try his best to help Lin Tong select, and even lobby some elite officers to go to the East.

If you just pay him a salary and don't give him a penny, he will definitely recommend the first mate or second mate of a merchant ship to you as an elite officer, and then go to the East to make a living.

Before setting off, King Mo Zibu also discussed this matter with Lin Tong and had basic conditions, so Lin Tong quickly handed a contract of employment to Brigadier General Fragosse.

"Prince Ha Tien has already prepared two manors for the Brigadier General in the rich eastern lands, the plains at the mouth of the Irrawaddy River. These include 6,000 acres of prime farmland, 70 tenant households, and a sugarcane plantation.

Of course, there is also the earldom title that matches it, which includes aristocratic annuity, privileges, and even automatic membership in the Ha Tien Republican Parliament.

This estate belonged to the famous Portuguese adventurer Philippe de Brito ninety years ago. If all its income were converted into silver, it would be no less than 48,000 livres per year."

Lin Tong didn't know whether Mo Zibu had conquered Lower Burma, and he didn't know that Mo Zibu had already given Lower Burma to Zheng Xin.

But he knew that Mo Zibu could definitely meet this small condition.

Brigadier General Fragosse nodded with satisfaction. A net profit of 48,000 livres per year was quite a lot. Even if a discount was given when shipping it back to Europe, it would still be good to have 40,000 livres left.

This is equivalent to approximately 1,700 pounds sterling and 5,600 taels of silver.

You should know that at that time, the salary of a skilled craftsman in Paris was only 840 livres (35 pounds, 123 taels of silver), which was approximately equal to the salary of 48 semi-skilled craftsmen.

And these are skilled workers, whose salary levels are basically the same as those of tutors, and they belong to the high-income class. Other manual laborers and maids earn even less.

Brigadier General Fragossels knew even better what Lin Tong meant by deliberately emphasizing that the title of earl had aristocratic pensions and privileges, because in France at that time, officers at the brigadier general level were definitely aristocrats.

Commodore Fragossels did not have a title because he had just been defeated in the Seven Years' War and was badly beaten by the British Navy. Therefore, even after paying for his pardon, he was still stripped of his baron title by the king.

"Your Excellency, Ambassador, please allow me to express my most sincere gratitude to His Royal Highness. He is a generous monarch. I, Commodore Fragosset of the French Navy, am happy to serve him, but..."

Brigadier General Fragosse still had one last concern. "Considering that each acre of land can generate a net income of eight livres, I believe the tenants assigned to me will be the most obedient."

As expected of an old colonialist, Brigadier General Fragosse grasped the core of the matter immediately.

The core of colonies, manors, etc. is still to have obedient tenants or serfs.

Without this, just training and managing these guys would be a real headache.

If you are not a docile serf, you expect to earn about eight livres per acre of land. You are dreaming, you will definitely lose money.

Lin Tong smiled faintly, "Relax, Brigadier General. His Royal Highness has assigned you three of the best retainers. They are Christian warriors from Japan, or Eastern knights who believe in God. If you don't like them, you can also replace them with Annam warriors."

They are the most ferocious and professional sheepdogs. Any serf in front of them will work obediently and will never dare to be lazy. "

When Brigadier General Fragosse heard the two adjectives "brutal" and "professional", he immediately smiled with satisfaction. The other party was an expert, so it seemed that he was right.

"Okay, then I won't bother you, Your Excellency the Ambassador. Don't worry, the naval officers and soldiers of the Eastern Fleet are definitely the most elite.

By the way, Your Excellency the Ambassador may not know that France was severely damaged in the Seven Years' War. The losses of the army were even greater than those of the navy. Therefore, a large number of prospective officers who graduated from military academies in recent years have become unemployed.

They have rich paper experience, and even more energy and desire, making them far more useful than some experienced and slick officers.

At the same time, most of them came from impoverished nobles, small businessmen or even civilian families, and often had exhausted their family fortunes to pay for the high tuition fees of military academies.

If someone can give them a job at this time, even a relatively cheap job, they can immediately gain their loyalty.

I believe that by recruiting them to the East, they will be able to play a huge role soon after simple training."

"Thank you, Brigadier General! Your advice is very useful!" Lin Tong pondered for a few seconds, then realized that the long-faced Frenchman in front of him was right. "Archaeological warfare" isn't necessarily a derogatory term; everyone starts at the "archaeological" stage. With time to adapt and gain experience, they'll soon be able to demonstrate their effectiveness.

Besides, hasn’t the king always wanted to build a military academy? Even if they can’t train people on the battlefield, it would be very good to use them as teachers who only teach theory.

As soon as Brigadier General Fragosse left, Army Colonel Reinstein walked in.

This is a short man with a big head and a round face, with a pair of green eyes hidden under thick golden hair.

"Are you a count?" Lin Tong hesitated for a moment, because the most conspicuous part of this person's information was where he was named Count Woldswinia.

Colonel Reinstein casually stroked his golden hair. "I bought it for three thousand livres. The Wettin family has been around for seven hundred years, leaving behind a bunch of empty titles. I just happen to be related to them by blood."

The Wettin family originated from the Electorate of Saxony and is a very ancient family. The most famous Ernst branch gave rise to the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty, a famous Holy Roman noble family in Europe.

At that time in Europe, especially in the Holy Roman Empire, there were many nobles who had been passed down for hundreds of years but had become so impoverished that they even sold their manors.

Therefore, many big businessmen or branches of this noble title can spend a lot of money to buy a title.

The former is usually achieved through marriage, while the latter is achieved through inheritance. This kind of Shinra title has nothing but the title, so it can be regarded as an embellishment.

"I see in your information that you were born in Lorraine, so you must be French? You also participated in several important battles in the Seven Years' War."

Lin Tong asked hesitantly. This person's background and resume seemed a bit magical.

Now Lin Tong also knows that this kind of blond-haired and blue-eyed Europeans are generally most common among Germans or Slavs, and there are very few such people in France.

"Born in Lorraine, but his ancestors are Saxons." Colonel Reinstein nodded, and his expression began to become a little embarrassed and angry.

"Damn the Seven Years' War, damn Duke Richelieu III, damn the incompetent Marshal Soubise, they are all sinners!
Frederick II was also a sinner. These fools would never know what terrible abyss they would lead the German nation into.

This foolish war will forever put Prussia in the miserable position of becoming Britain's cannon fodder and hound.

The Germanic people have no future. They will be toyed with again and again until they lose all their usefulness!"

Lin Tong was dumbfounded as he looked at the colonel who was so concerned about his appearance when he entered the room, and instantly turned into an angry golden baboon.

He also knew that this person's profile stated that he had a duel with a colleague at the beginning of the year and shot the man, leaving him seriously injured.

Where did this magical experience of being convicted by the Prussian court several times for insulting King Frederick II of Prussia and being banned from entering the country forever come from?

It would be strange if he didn't fight with his colleagues or get involved in lawsuits with this somewhat neurotic big mouth.

Lin Tong now had some doubts about this person's ability, but he continued to flip through the information, and it was clearly written on it.

Colonel Reinstein was the only officer in the entire Battle of Rossbach who led the cavalry to inflict heavy casualties on the fierce Prussian cavalry.

Of the 169 Prussian casualties, more than were killed by Colonel Reinstein's half-cuirassier cavalry.

Of course, almost all of his subordinates were killed in the battle, and only thirty-five of the two hundred cavalrymen survived the war.

But they also successfully covered the retreating French army. Otherwise, if Frederick II had pursued them again before dark, the French army would have suffered far more than 3,000 deaths and 5,000 captured, which would have been at least double.

When Lin Tong saw the six words "proficient in cavalry tactics", he immediately regained his confidence in the colonel.

Colonel Reinstein didn't see Lin Tong's expression. After calming down, he began to express his opinions in a torrent of words.

"I have read many of François Arouet's works on the East and I know you very well.

I think that even though Your Highness is in a hot area, he should still try to build a cavalry.

Because although the climate is hot, fighting will definitely not be done during the hottest time. If the temperature can be maintained at around 27 or 28 degrees, cavalry will still be very useful.

I suggest that Your Excellency the Ambassador purchase two hundred sets of half-breastplates that only protect the front in France, and equip them with British-made Queen Anne 1752 cavalry carbines and cavalry-specific pistols.

It doesn't take too many, just two hundred people, and this will be a decisive team!

In addition, the army going to the East, please do not recruit any musketeers. They are useless. They are just two-legged cannon fodder and can be forcibly conscripted from the fields.

The key is to have artillery with good quality, grenadiers who dare to fight at close range, and hunters who never miss a shot.

The Seven Years' War has just ended. Except for France, a large number of soldiers and junior officers in Austria and Prussia have lost their jobs. Your Excellency the Ambassador should find a way to hire more of these elite troops.

In addition, the review of resumes must be strict. If a person has been in the army for more than five years, is still alive, and has not been promoted to the rank of Junior Guard or above, he should never be hired.

Believe me, it's not that he has a lot of combat experience, but he is particularly good at shrinking and being lazy on the battlefield."

Lin Tong was overwhelmed by what he heard. He didn't understand many of the things, so Deputy Envoy Lin clapped his hands, but he was not clapping, he was calling people.

"Major Wang, please come in and discuss this with Colonel Reinstein."

As he spoke, Lin Tong bowed slightly and said, "Colonel, I believe your opinion is correct, but I still need to listen to the opinions of professionals.

If all goes well, please trust in His Royal Highness’ generosity.”

"Okay." Colonel Reinstein's eyes dimmed a little. He looked at Lin Tong and said hesitantly:
"Money is important, but I need the future even more. The Germanic people have lost their future, but perhaps Eastern civilized races like you still have one.

If your prince has greater ambitions, I will serve him, but if not, I doubt I will be so fond of the East."

(End of this chapter)