With the disappearance of the tropical cyclone, the rainy season in Borneo has also come to an end. The equatorial sun has once again shown its power. After resting, the exploration team is preparing for a big job. Some on the construction site are holding the derrick, and some are
While breaking stones, no one noticed that a small blessing boat was slowly approaching on the horizon.
Huang Shidong raised his Dutch telescope with a four-clawed dragon pattern in both hands and observed the Australian construction site through a dim and distorted field of vision - on this 100-foot-long straight coast, Australians were scattered in all directions.
He built seven or eight derricks. It looked like they were not used for pumping water, and he found no traces of paddy fields or other land reclamation. Except for a small village rising from the ground, there was almost nothing.
Near the coast, the Australians built two watchtowers with wood, and a large black ship was parked quietly on the sea more than a hundred feet away from the coast, which was particularly conspicuous in the blue sea and sky.
Such a big black ship is the legendary Australian ship that can spit out black smoke and white gas and can sail without wind. Huang Shidong is very aware of the power of this kind of ship. No wonder they can roam the sea in less than ten years.
Then, he saw the long trestle on the shore. Since the trestle was built here, it must be used as a stronghold.
"Go towards the trestle and prepare to dock." He gave the order.
"Master! The Australians sent a small boat."
While Huang Shidong was looking here, the Australians also discovered Huang Shidong's boat. Immediately, a local crab boat, which is common in the area, came to intercept it.
"Lower the sails!" he ordered immediately.
The crab boat came close, and there were four Chinese people on the boat who were wearing strange clothes. They were wearing dark blue short-breasted jackets and bamboo hats made of rattan on their heads. They each held long bird guns in their hands and looked at their boat warily.
"Who are you!?" the other party asked in Ming Dynasty Mandarin, and then an Australian next to him repeated the question in Hokkien.
Huang Shidong quickly raised his hands and replied in Minnan dialect: "Sir, the younger one is called Huang Shidong. He is doing business in the big city. Hearing that there is business here, he came here."
Although the Huang family is not originally from Fujian, and the Chinese in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, mainly speak Hakka, most of the people doing business in Southeast Asia are Hokkien, and Hokkien is equivalent to Mandarin when communicating with foreign countries.
"Stop the ship for inspection!"
Huang Shidong immediately asked someone to throw down the wooden anchor. After a while, the crab boat came up with a scratching hook, and someone boarded the boat to inspect it.
"Are there any firearms?"
"There are two small cannons and eight firecrackers..."
"The artillery is plugged into the fire door, and the firecrackers are concentrated on the deck." The visitor did not speak much and was very simple. "Where is the gunpowder barrel?"
In less than a moment, the firearms were disposed of.
"You are not allowed to bring swords or spears ashore. These must be left on the boat." An Australian asked, and then asked:
"What did you bring?"
The Australians stood on the side of the ship inspecting the cargo in the cabin, while several others were on guard with guns. Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit tense, Huang Shidong smiled and took out the prepared cargo manifest, and tucked a half-peso into the back of the cargo manifest.
Silver dollar.
"Let me tell you, I have 400 kilograms of pickled beef, ten jars of rice wine, and dozens of baskets of fruits... Please check, sir!"
The Australian who came up took the bill of goods and threw the silver dollars back.
"Master, this is my honor to you."
"Take it back, we don't need the money." The visitor had a straight face. But Huang Shidong saw a trace of reluctance in his eyes, and said hurriedly, "Not only do you have it, but these brothers also have it."
There is...everyone has a share."
"It's not okay for everyone to have it, it's the rule!" Even though they showed obvious expressions of "pity", these fake Kun still refused.
"Yes, yes, I'm just confused." Huang Shidong secretly smacked his tongue.
The Australians looked through the cabin and checked. Seeing nothing unusual, they issued a "permission to dock" document.
Huang Shidong's ship was docked next to the trestle, and someone came to contact him for handling and unloading. After paying the handling fee, all the goods on the ship were unloaded to the yard.
"Are you going to sell these goods piecemeal or in bulk?" As soon as the goods were unloaded, someone came over to ask.
"Excuse me, what are the regulations?" The goods shipped by Huang Shidong were actually gifts, but he still asked deliberately in order to find out the truth.
"These goods of yours are all of use to us and can be sold to us in bulk. If it is for retail sale, you can allocate a piece of land in the market, build a shed and sell the goods yourself, and just pay the rent on a daily basis; if it is for retail sale, you can sell them in bulk.
, you want to sell it for whatever price you want, and you will pay according to the price here. However, whether it is retail or in bulk, the tax will be 50% off every 100% of the value of the goods.”
"Of course we have to set up a stall on a piece of land." Huang Shidong originally wanted to set up a stronghold here to monitor the Australians openly, instead of just relying on Alan and a few people to do skin and meat business. "The small ones have been buying and selling in Nanyang for generations.
"
"In this case, you come and go through the formalities." The person said.
Accompanied by Li Kun, Huang Shidong completed the formalities, paid the money, and registered the relevant personnel information. Then he said: "Actually, the villain does not intend to sell this batch of goods."
"Why do you change so much?" The Australian was a little annoyed, "Why are you here if you don't sell? Why are you renting land?"
"The young one is here to ask to see the Prime Minister of Australia..."
At the mention of "Australian Chief", the expressions of several Australian pretenders changed, and several sailors immediately surrounded their masters and servants, "Who are you? Why do you want to see the Chief?"
"My surname is Huang and my name is Shidong. I come from Kota Kinabalu..."
Fake Kun obviously didn’t know where Kota Kinabalu was, but when the other party asked to see the chief, he was obviously not an ordinary businessman. He didn’t dare to neglect, so he said: “Where are you from, please write a charter. I will send it to you. Let’s see the chief again.
Can’t see you!”
"Yes, yes, I have a letter here, please ask the acting chief..." Huang Shidong took out a letter from his arms.
At that moment, Haibing sent the letter over. Huang Lu accepted it and was surprised to hear that someone wanted to see the elder. She immediately called Cui Yunhong and Wu Tingwei.
"The Huang family in Kota Kinabalu?" Huang Lu touched her chin, "I don't remember this family exists."
"It's weird that you are here in the family." Wu Tingwei learned about the deeds of some Nanyang Chinese. "Kota Kinabalu is Sabah. Kota Kinabalu is the down payment of Sabah in the old time. It is one of the few capitals in Malaysia that is dominated by Chinese. The Huang family is
The Huang Senping family is well-known in the local area and is married to Sudan."
"Then, isn't this company in Malaysia? Why is it related to the Sultan of Brunei again..."
"Damn it, you didn't even listen to the lecture held by the Grand Library. The territorial changes in various countries in Southeast Asia are actually quite drastic. Anyway, you just know that the Huang family is a prominent family in Brunei."
"Not only are they prominent, they are also very powerful." Cui Yunhong said.
"Look at this letter, it says that the person coming here, Huang Shidong, is the youngest son of the head of the family - this is not a small standard."
"The question is what are they here for?"
"When we first arrived in Nanyang, it was natural for them to come to pay homage to our eldest brother..." Huang Lu said.
"I think things are not that simple. Kota Kinabalu is more than 200 kilometers away from us. Our well digging here will not hinder them. They are definitely not just here to say hello."
"Let's talk about it after we meet in person." Cui Yunhong said, "If you really need help with something difficult, I'll help you if you can."
Regarding the Chinese in Southeast Asia, the Senate's policy still favors unity and utilization. Although there are many problems within the Southeast Asian Chinese group, they are "one family" after all. The Senate still has a better view of this group than various foreigners in Southeast Asia.
The natives are closer.
Huang Shidong was called into the camp, and after being polite, he brought up the matter of buying medicine.
"My father also knows that this matter is very abrupt, but now the people under his rule are often sick. In a major epidemic, the number of deaths may be thousands or even hundreds. Villages and fields are often reduced to ruins. I would also like to ask several leaders to consider this.
For the sake of the Chinese Miao descendants, I will give you some medicine..."
Wu Tingwei shook his head with regret: "The Huang family has done a great job in protecting the local Chinese Miao people, and the Senate also admires it, but this medicine..."
Huang Shidong's heart dropped.
"We don't have much of this medicine. In fact, it's okay to tell you: this medicine is the bark of the Cinchona tree. Foreigners have known this medicine for a long time, but just eating the bark has curative effect, but it is of no great use..."
Huang Shidong is aware of the drug Cinchona bark. Gui Lao used it for sale more than ten years ago. Whether it is boiled or processed and ground into powder, it does have certain curative effects, but it cannot cure the disease and is useless against falciparum malaria. In addition,
The sources are scarce and the price is expensive. It is better than having no treatment at all.
Huang Shidong almost said that your potion was obviously very useful, so he quickly swallowed it again.
"Although we have a method of making it, the bark of the trees is scarce, and the potion used for making it is also very rare... and the income is only a little every year. When the work is started here, workers are often affected by miasma, and when there is no medicine, they can only
I am helpless..."
Wu Tingwei's words are true. The Senate's current development projects in places such as Taiwan, Sanya, Vietnam, etc. all have huge demand for antimalarial drugs. Although artemisinin extraction has been successfully developed, promoting the commercial cultivation of Artemisia annua is not an overnight success. The extraction requires chemical extraction.
Agent; to purify the bark of the cinchona tree into quinine sulfate, an extractant is also needed - these all depend on the leap-forward development of the petroleum and organic chemical industries. What's more, in addition to the Senate commissioning voc to engage in commercial planting of the cinchona tree in the Nanyang Islands
Outside the park, it has not yet been promoted. It relies entirely on a small amount of wild cinchona tree bark imported from South America by the Portuguese. Not to mention the small quantity, the price is also very expensive. It is not enough for your own use, let alone giving to others.
Tens of thousands of Chinese in Borneo provided antimalarial drugs...
To truly eliminate the harm of malaria, we still need to rely on comprehensive environmental management and chemical pesticides. However, environmental management is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It will take many years of continuous development and construction to change. As for chemical pesticides, unfortunately, it is the same as the Senate.