America 1869: A Doppelganger Every Day

The Viceroy's Residence of Liangjiang.

Zeng Guofan looked at the white man and the Chinese man in front of him with great curiosity.

"I had heard before that some Americans had learned Chinese and even taught in China or became Chinese consuls in Europe and America."

"I just never had the chance to see him before, but I never expected to see him today."

"I wonder what important matter you two have to discuss with me?"

Li Changsheng possessed the body of the yellow-skinned clone, so he spoke directly.

"Your Excellency, as you may know, thanks to Mr. Li Changsheng, the author of The Little Dwarfs, Chinese immigrants to the United States can now obtain citizenship."

"With citizenship, one can have the same rights as foreigners."

"You can learn more and acquire more knowledge."

"When they have completed their studies, some of them will even return to the Qing Empire and contribute to its development and growth."

"If more people from the Great Qing Empire who could not survive could go to America, then the people of my Great Qin Empire could have a place on American soil."

"It could even influence the decisions of the United States, which would be absolutely a good thing for our Great Qing Empire."

Before Li Changsheng could continue speaking, Zeng Guofan raised his hand to interrupt him.

"It's no use telling me this."

"What you're saying is all possible, but the probability is not high, is it?"

"Tell me your purpose."

As expected, the old man wasn't buying it, Li Changsheng could only sigh and say.

"Then I'll just say it directly."

"We represent Mr. Li Changsheng, who is located in the United States."

"Mr. Li Changsheng is dedicated to changing the international standing of Chinese people."

"At the same time, we hope that every Chinese person who goes to America can receive the fairest treatment and truly live a good life."

"That's why we came to the Qing Empire to promote the idea of ​​immigrating to America."

"However, I only recently learned that all the people of the Qing Dynasty who wanted to immigrate to America needed to rely on American merchant ships."

"These merchant ships always carried people from the Qin Empire with their cabins full, but when they arrived, there were always fewer people."

"We didn't notice it before, but now we know that these missing people died on the road for various reasons."

"According to our investigation, the main causes are insufficient food, insufficient medicine, and other reasons."

Ultimately, it's because these people don't have money.

"As long as they have enough money, I can't guarantee that all of them will make it to San Francisco, but I can expect that a large majority will!"

"They are also people of our Chinese nation, and I hope that you can provide them with some assistance."

"At least it will allow them to successfully reach San Francisco."

"After that, our Chinese Laborers Association will handle them properly."

Zeng Guofan nodded.

"Logically, we should indeed provide assistance, but there have been many immigrants recently, and it would be a huge expense if we provided assistance to everyone."

"Obviously, even if I wanted to help, I wouldn't be able to."

"You must know this situation since you came to find me."

"So please share your methods. I'll support you if possible."

Li Changsheng sighed, "This old guy is practically a shrewd old man."

He stopped wasting time and got straight to the point.

"You may not know this, but it normally costs around $50 to $60 for a Chinese laborer to immigrate from our Great Qing Dynasty to San Francisco, America."

"And this five to sixty dollars is based on the premise that they can travel in a multi-person room, have a place to rest, and have enough food and water."

"Nowadays, merchant ships bring people back to America for the same price of $60, and if you can't pay that, you have to sign an IOU for $80. If you want to improve your meals or get sick during the process, you might need even more money."

"Of course, without money, these people can only wait to die."

"In fact, the cost of the boats these people traveled on was less than $60, or even just a mere five dollars."

"It is precisely for this reason that the captains of these merchant ships did not care about the deaths of Chinese people at all."

"After all, they can basically make money as long as they send 1/10 of their people there."

"A little more means a little more money; a few deaths won't affect them."

"This is also why the number of deaths among Chinese immigrants abroad has increased rapidly."

"What we want to do is solve this problem."

Zeng Guofan nodded, showing some interest.

"If it's about ensuring the survival of my Chinese people, I can help you. But what is your proposed solution?"

Li Changsheng took a deep breath and said.

"I hope to cooperate with the Qing Empire to establish a Qing Immigration Bureau."

"The immigration office is responsible for providing ferry fares for all Chinese people who want to travel."

"They were given $25 when they set off, and after arriving in San Francisco, the branch in San Francisco gave them another $25."

"In this way, we can ensure that these Chinese people can safely reach San Francisco."

"However, we won't say how much we'll pay, since those merchant ships are saying they're offering 80 or even 100 dollars."

"So we signed a $100 debt repayment agreement with all the Chinese workers."

"They were required to use half of their monthly earnings to pay off the debt once they arrived in San Francisco, until it was fully repaid."

"Given the current situation in San Francisco, a normal job should pay $12 to $15, and with certain skills, you could earn $20 to $30."

"Even the most basic $12 can be paid off in just one year."

"San Francisco is responsible for collecting the outstanding debts, and half of the collected debts belong to them, while the other half needs to be sent back to the Qing Dynasty Immigration Bureau."

"In this way, we can earn $25 for every person we send out."

"Of course, this is just the ideal scenario, but at the very least, you can earn $20."

"Based on the exchange rate between the US dollar and silver, that means each of us can earn 20 taels of silver."

For Zeng Guofan, he really needed money right now.

After all, building a navy, ships, and an army all require a lot of money.

Even if he himself didn't need it, the Qing Empire did.

Originally, even Zeng Guofan was unwilling to deal with those refugees, but now, thinking that each refugee could receive 20 taels of silver, he couldn't sit still.

"Are you serious? If you can guarantee that every Chinese immigrant to the imperial court will receive 20 taels of silver, then I will agree to this."

"At least in the Liangjiang region, there is absolutely no problem."