Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 100 Hu Wenhu's Big Mouth

In the end, both of them stayed.

Li Xiaowei was arranged to serve as the first police chief of Penang, responsible for building the police force and maintaining internal security in Penang, while also having certain military functions.

Ho Shai-lai was the Penang militia coach.

In Penang's current situation, it is impossible to support a specialized army through taxation, nor is it possible to allow the army to engage in business or control the means of production.

Then we can only resort to conscription.

Zheng Yi meant that he would completely relax the control of guns among the people in Penang and allow people to obtain certificates to own guns, especially factories and construction sites of various sizes. In addition to setting up security departments, they would also have to conduct regular drills.

School, military training.

The chambers of commerce were used as units to reorganize and establish militias, and all adult men were required to participate in military training on a regular basis.

However, how to train, how to deploy, and how to organize are all things that He Shilei should figure out on his own. How much support can Zheng Yi provide, where will the weapons come from, whether an officer corps is needed, and how to select officers are all problems that must be brought up at the meeting.

In addition, the police station that Li Xiaowei was responsible for was naturally also mentioned at the meeting.

three days later.

Penang City Council Hall.

Zheng Yi threw the things on the table and said:
"Everyone, take a look. This is the Penang military training plan drawn up by Coach Ho, and the police station construction plan drawn up by Chief Li. Needless to say, both of these matters concern the armed forces of the Chinese in Southeast Asia. They are major issues not just for Penang, but for all of Southeast Asia."

"Also, I just received a call from Captain Lai from Perlis. The Chinese representatives in Perlis overwhelmingly agreed to the military settlement plan I proposed earlier."

"They even specially fenced off a piece of land for this purpose. Uncle Hu, how many hectares is it?"

Hu Wenhu: "About 40,000 hectares. Brother Lai also patted his chest and guaranteed that 40,000 hectares of land, with a little cultivation, would be excellent rice fields.
Other agricultural products such as tobacco, rubber, and fruit can also be grown. However, a lot of land is occupied by Malays. They want us to help them find a way to plant rice on these lands so that they can become public land belonging to all of Penang.

"Mr. Zheng, everyone, what we Hakkas mean is that once we lose an opportunity, it will never come back. Food is always more important than anything else. Without food security, we Chinese in Southeast Asia cannot be truly safe.
Without food independence, we Chinese will not have true independence. We can’t just focus on Penang, Penang Island, this small piece of land, right? What we want to do is to be the leaders of all the Chinese in Nanyang!

As he spoke, Hu Wenhu even showed an aggressive attitude, as if he was ready to fight anyone who disagreed with him.

But after he finished speaking, everyone at the table showed an embarrassed look, and couldn't help whispering and muttering to each other.

"Forty thousand hectares? Isn't that a bit too much? Is that number accurate? How did you get it?"

"I find it hard to imagine how such a small state like Perlis could have 40,000 hectares of land. If all of them were planted with rice, that would be too much. What are you Hakkas planning to do? Can you even cultivate 40,000 hectares of land?"

Hu Wenhu naturally retorted, "We Hakkas can't eat up all the crops on such a large scale by ourselves. That's why we sell the land and let us develop it together."

Yi Guangyan couldn't help but frowned: "Sell? That land is yours, so you sell it? I know almost everything about the situation in Perlis. Forty thousand hectares, you really dare to ask for so much!

How many hectares of paddy fields are there in the entire state of Perlis? I'm afraid you are calculating the paddy fields in the entire state of Perlis. You are crazy! You want to exterminate all the Malays.

Hu Wenhu: "The Malays in Perlis killed over a thousand of my Chinese compatriots. Shouldn't they be driven out and killed completely?"

Even Tan Kah Kee couldn't stand this and said, "Mr. Zheng and I had already discussed this the day before yesterday. Our stance is to support you Hakkas in fighting back against the Malays in Perlis and punishing them for what happened four days ago. But, Brother Hu, punishment and annihilation are not the same thing."

"Mr. Zheng and I both support the use of military force, but if we Chinese in Nanyang want to gain a foothold in Nanyang, we must not follow the evil path of nationalism and Nazism.

We want to live, but we also need to let others live. If you don't let others live, they will fight you to the death. It's not a question of whether you're afraid or not, but it's unnecessary."

Upon hearing this, Xu Shengli also said, "That's what I mean. Mr. Zheng said something very well, and I agree with it very much. If Penang, and the Chinese in Southeast Asia, want to stand up, the first thing to do is to clearly identify who our enemies are and who our friends are."

"Nanyang is such a place. Generally speaking, there are fewer Chinese and more indigenous people. Even though we Chinese account for half of the population in Malaya, it is still necessary for us to live in harmony with the indigenous people.
There are some anti-Chinese and anti-Chinese forces among the Malays. These are enemies and should be eliminated, but I believe there is still a section among them with whom we can live in harmony.

Li Jiqian didn't say anything, but Li Xiaoshi, who was sitting behind him, couldn't stand it anymore. After reading the plan, he was so angry that he threw the document back on the table.

"Hu Wenhu, what are you doing? There are nine Malay sultans in Malaya. As early as the 18th century, the sultans on the Malay Peninsula had a pact with each other to help each other. If one person is in trouble, eight people will support him. Even the British did not dare to make such an excessive request.
I'm not against military settlements, and I'm not against the need for self-preservation among the Chinese in Southeast Asia, especially in these wild places. But is this self-preservation? You're clearly using the name of Penang to exploit your own selfish agenda. That's too much! Impossible! At most, I'd allow you to enclose 5,000 hectares." Hu Wenhu: "What? 5,000 hectares? I could just surrender to those Malays. Why, oh, they Malays have nine fucking sultans who help each other. When one side is in trouble, all the others come to their aid. Why, when it comes to us Chinese, when I'm in trouble, you all come to undermine us, huh?
Why the hell should I move my family business to Penang? Mr. Zheng, what did you say four days ago? Unity! Right?

Why, now that we Hakkas are in trouble, are we Nanyang Chinese really that united?!"

As he spoke, Hu Wenhu took out his walking stick and slapped the table, making it make a loud noise.

On the side, Li Xiaoshi pinched his temple helplessly, his face flushed red from Hu Wenhu's words, and he was glared at by Li Jiqian.

After all, he was still young and accidentally said the wrong thing. Hu Wenhu caught him and started to attack him crazily.

But he didn't dare to say a word in reply, and simply took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and started smoking.

There really are no rules in Penang. Even in the highest city council, smoking is still allowed. Sometimes they even talk while eating. The main thing is casualness.

In fact, what Li Xiaoshi said is very reasonable. The more unpleasant something sounds in this world, the more true it is. Hu Wenhu is clearly using the guise of unity to make a big move.

Zheng Yi wanted to use the Hakka people as pawns to play games with the British and fight against the Malays. In fact, the Hakka people were just cannon fodder.

But they really had no choice, because it was the Malays who started the fight first, and the Malays had already killed more than a thousand of them. This was something they could not tolerate.

Even if they know they cannot win, they still have to retaliate, otherwise the Hakka people will not be able to survive in the future.

If Zheng Yi does not help them, Hu Wenhu will have to take the lead himself and support the militia of Glass State.

Since Zheng Yi wants to play it big, then let's just play the biggest one.

Anyway, we all try our best.

Let’s take a chance. Why don’t I take a big chance?

We Hakkas contribute our manpower, money, and lives to serve as the vanguards for the Chinese in Southeast Asia. So is it reasonable for me to get more benefits?

If the investment here is small, the Hakka people are also afraid of British intervention, so Zheng Yi sold them out.

Since we are all fighting for our lives, instead of taking a small gamble that the British will not intervene directly, why not just do something big and invest 40,000 hectares? Then there is no need to gamble whether the British will intervene or not, they will definitely intervene.

However, he also forced Zheng Yi and others to not just stand by and watch, and to accompany the Hakka people and the British to fight to the end.

Of course, asking for a high price and then paying back the price is not enough. Zheng Yi estimated that Hu Wenhu's figure of 40,000 hectares was purely to leave room for bargaining, which is a very basic negotiation skill.

If 40,000 hectares of land were to be cultivated, Penang would not have enough manpower and financial resources.

What's more, the Malays will really fight you to the death.

This is not a question of whether they can win or not. The goal of the Chinese in Southeast Asia, especially the Chinese in Malaya, is autonomy, self-reliance, independence and security. To put it bluntly, as long as the Malays do not take the initiative to attack them, they are already very satisfied.

Excluding Europeans, the Chinese own 90% of Malaya's wealth. As rich people, why would they take the initiative to fight with the poor?

Besides, to be honest, the nine Malay sultans are indeed much more united than the Chinese.

Unity is Zheng Yi's slogan.

As we all know, generally speaking, the more slogans are shouted, the more they are lacking in reality.

After everyone expressed their opinions, they naturally all turned their eyes to Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi was still smiling, without any sign of solemnity on his face, as if he was dealing with a trivial matter. He handed Hu Wenhu's documents to He Shili, who was attending the meeting for the first time today.

"If we look at this purely from a military perspective, without considering the relationship between us Chinese and the British, Malays, and Indians, what do you think?"

(End of this chapter)