America 1869: A Doppelganger Every Day

"Your method looks good, and relatively speaking, it requires less effort from us."

"In particular, this way we can give them a different compensation method, directly compensating them for the land and shops."

"Those who want to farm will be compensated with a certain amount of land, and those who want to do business will be compensated with a shop or housing so that they have the opportunity to do what they want."

"The compensation varies depending on the length of the term, but it is better than simply giving money."

"But it only looks good on the surface."

"The first question."

"If they've all been relocated to other parts of Chile, what will happen to the guano mines? Without workers, who will mine them?"

"Secondly, the second question."

"If these people were given compensation for less than a year of service, would they accept not receiving any?"

"If everyone is compensated, then there will be no one left at the mines."

"If these problems are not solved, they will definitely cause endless trouble in the future."

"I know that as the consul of the Qing Empire, it is your duty to consider the needs of the Chinese people, but we also have our own difficulties."

The meaning is clear: they won't listen to Smith unless all the problems are resolved.

Fortunately, Smith was prepared and quickly echoed the president's words.

"Your Excellency, I had naturally considered that as well."

"I am aware of the situation at the mines, and I know that it would not be worthwhile to hire Chinese laborers at normal wages."

"That's why I suggested that people who have been here for more than a year can choose to leave with compensation."

"However, we can impose a restriction."

"For example, give them a certain amount of time, preferably a few months, or at most a year."

"We stipulate that after one year, they can leave the guano mine, and in the year or months before they leave, they can receive normal treatment."

"At the same time, don't forget one thing: there are many people in the Qing Empire."

"You can recruit people again from the Qing Empire."

"However, after we recruit people this time, we can't sign contracts that are almost like slave treaties."

"You can definitely sign a new contract."

"The contract stipulates that only 30% of all salary and benefits will be allocated to the reserve fund, while the remaining 70% can be converted into a reserve fund."

"This reserve can be used to purchase land, houses, boats, and so on in Chile."

"When you feel you have enough savings to buy land to live on, a shop to work in, or a boat to fish, you can leave the mine."

"In this way, the cost you pay will not exceed 30%."

"Even with more staff, if things are handled well, the costs won't be much different from what we're paying now."

"And their reserves can only be used to buy your land, houses, boats, and the like."

"That means you didn't contribute any money at all."

"And once they have the money to buy these things, they will have to join Chile and pay taxes to the country."

"With this year-long buffer period, you can recruit a large number of people from the Qing Empire."

"The advantage of doing this is that it first solved the public opinion problem, and at the same time, it provided standard treatment."

"While the country has not lost any money, it has not made any further investments."

"At most, immigration will cost some money, but if you are willing to pay more wages upfront, then I think the immigration bureau in the Qing Dynasty will be willing to help you immigrate."

"In other words, you can pay them more wages in the early stages and keep less reserve funds so that they can pay back the money owed to the Daxing Immigration Bureau. Then you can increase the reserve funds. This will not cause you any loss."

"We didn't spend much money, and you don't need to worry about the immigration process."

"The number of workers at the guano mines will not decrease; in fact, it may even increase."

"Ultimately, these people will become part of Chile and generate more benefits for the country."

"You could say my plan is absolutely a win-win situation."

"I just don't know if you'd be willing to accept it."

If they still refuse to accept this method, then they are fools.

Sure enough, the matter was settled within two days.

When several official Chilean newspapers simultaneously reported on the solution to the problem of Chinese laborers in the guano mines, it immediately sparked a public outcry.

The Chinese American Daily and the Chinese American Weekly reported on the incident immediately.

While this publicity stunt salvaged Chile's reputation, what truly garnered attention was...

But what truly drew attention was Smith, the American consul general of the Qing Dynasty in Chile.

He was hailed by the Chinese American Daily as the hope of the Chinese community in Chile.

The very next day after this incident, he received a commendation from the Qing Empire.

At the same time, this caused a huge stir among Americans who were almost losing motivation to learn Chinese.

Smith is already so famous now. Whether he stays in Chile, returns to the Qing Dynasty, or even returns to America, he has a bright future ahead of him.

Even now, they are still beyond the reach of many people.

The fundamental reason why Smith has everything he has now is because he learned Chinese and went to the Qing Dynasty.

So these people work even harder, and many more people come here specifically to learn Chinese.

Even people from other countries wanted to learn Chinese and traveled to the Qing Empire.

This has played a supporting role in Li Changsheng's global Chinese language campaign.

However, his real goal in presenting this plan and method was not to help Chile solve its problems.

The real reason he did this was hidden behind this plan.

Everyone's attention is now focused on how Chile has perfectly resolved the issue, providing compensation to the workers and granting them Chilean citizenship.

It also solved the problem of insufficient miners in guano mines without incurring extra costs, making it a perfect solution.

However, there is an even better benefit while implementing this plan.

Of the current 200,000 workers, approximately 18,000 are within the past year.

The remaining 170,000 to 180,000 were all laborers with more than a year of experience.

This means that nearly 200,000 people will join Chile this year.

Chile's total population is only around 200 million.

Chinese people make up 1/10 of the population.

Moreover, at least tens of thousands of Chinese will join every year in the future.

If this continues, the number of Chinese people in Chile will continue to grow.

Furthermore, Chile has more than just mines; if Chinese people make money and live well here, there will definitely be a large number of more Chinese people immigrating here.

As a result, Chinese people will occupy an important position in the future population distribution of Chile.

It could even allow Chinese culture to spread across this land.

Of course, that's all for the future.

With the situation in Chile resolved, Chinese immigrants to the Americas will be able to enter Chile in the near future.

However, Li Changsheng understood very well that this was not a long-term solution.

As the number of Chinese immigrants increases, it will inevitably have an impact on Chilean society, and restricting Chinese people from entering Chile is only a matter of time.

After all, while Chile is said to have a population of 200 million, there are actually more than 50 Mapuche people who are not under their jurisdiction.

In reality, there are only 150 million people. If there were too many Chinese, they definitely wouldn't be able to accept it.

Therefore, Li Changsheng changed his target once again.