At this time, Dr. Quan was attracted to the men working in the stackyard, and he found that most of the people working here were blacks, and after these people were trafficked to Timor as slaves, almost all of them lost their personal freedom, and only blacks in the naturalization camp could come out to work under such circumstances.

Of course, in addition to the blacks, there are also many natives who come to work here, and if you look closely at these natives, there are also mestizo natives and a small number of other races---- they are all free people.

Wei Hong knew that Dr. Quan was very interested in these people, after all, Dr. Quan went out for the first time, and it was only one day that he really came into contact with overseas people in this era, so he said to the latter, many of these people are free people in Dili City or the surrounding areas, they come here to earn wages, as little as one or two silver a month, and as much as three or five taels, and the labor in the freight yard is a piecework system, and more work is more, so don't look at this work is very tiring, but it is still very attractive to the idle labor around Dili City.

Doctor Quan nodded, he knew that in this era, one or two pieces of silver a month could fully support himself and his wife.

I heard that you recruited quite a few soldiers in the naturalization camp? But why not recruit from among these freemen?

Doctor Quan asked Wei Hong.

"To be honest, it's a bit difficult, being a soldier requires training, and you may risk your life to fight, for free people, you can live without taking these risks, who will eat the bowl of rice of being a soldier?"

Wei Hong replied.

"That sounds like this, I heard that the Han Chinese and Japanese ronin soldiers in your garrison are treated more than the soldiers in the naturalization battalion?"

"Uh...... The main reason for the high salary of these people is not because they are Han or Japanese, but the main reason is that they have the earliest time to enter the garrison, and their military skills and qualifications are placed there, most of them are grassroots officers and managers, in fact, there are many indigenous soldiers who are treated the same as Han Chinese. ”

Wei Hong answered Dr. Quan's question very seriously, because he knew that Dr. Quan's question was not just a question that he had thought of by chance, but was asking questions on behalf of the Ministry of Finance and even the Senate - although Dr. Quan did not say it explicitly, whether it was Xiao Pingguo or Wei Hong, they both knew in their hearts that Dr. Quan's visit to Xin'an City must have brought someone else's commission and eyes.

Sure enough, Dr. Quan's later words revealed some hints:

"Xiao Wei, do you know how much your garrison spends a year?"

"I know some, Brother Xiao knows best......"

"Okay, before I left the Red Mansion, Xia Xiaoou of the Ministry of Finance said to me, your Xin'an City Garrison, each soldier will use up sixty taels of silver a year!"

"Holy! So many? ”

"Oh my God, is this the standard of an ordinary soldier?"

At this time, Zhou Ruiyue and Chu, who didn't know when they came over, exclaimed in unison.

"That's right, this is the average, that is to say, according to the standards of the current era, the military salary and other expenses of the three ordinary soldiers here here, including weapons and ammunition, can raise a seven-grade county order in that Qing Dynasty! The problem is that people still have to support the master's family in a county order, and they also have to manage the people of a county......"

"Doctor Quan, the county order of the Qing Dynasty wants to collect the ...... that consumes silver for fire"

Wei Hong muttered at this time.

"That's right, Wei Hong, no wonder Elder Sun has been praising your knowledge progress recently, and you have really grown, but you have to admit that you don't spend this piece of silver for a long time, right?"

Wei Hong immediately nodded honestly and admitted:

"Yes, yes, but if we don't want to spend money, who will work for us? Now I have to spend money here, but also give me a future, so there are many people in the naturalization camp who are willing to come to the garrison to serve as soldiers. ”

"Well, how are those Han and Japanese people treated?"

"Relatively speaking, it is indeed relatively high, in fact, not only the Han and Japanese, but also the Portuguese, Arabs and Europeans, these people are indeed in good physical condition, so as long as the character passes, the military skills go up, the military salary is similar to the Han people, so they are very loyal to us, of course, we give them good treatment is also the main reason, these people in addition to the military training is harder, food and clothing do not cost money, and there is a monthly salary to get, these people are at least squad leaders, Each person is paid at least three taels of silver a month, and there are 30 platoon commanders, the monthly salary is six taels, and the number of company commanders is ten taels. ”

"I heard that Xiao Hou had four Chinese followers around him at the beginning, what is the situation now?"

"Of the four Chinese who followed Brother Hou at the beginning, two followed Brother Xiao and two followed me, with a salary of eight taels per month."

"Well, the capitation fee is pretty much the same, so that's why you're recruiting soldiers in the naturalization camp? Because is it cheap? ”

Dr. Quan asked.

"Yes, Doctor Quan, for the sake of economy, I have been trying my best to find soldiers in the naturalization camp recently, especially the black slave soldiers, it is very cheap, there is no military salary in the first half of the year, and after half a year, the training is qualified, and the military salary of one or two silver per month, these blacks are okay except for their poor language skills and weak health, not to mention that the time of trade labor can be shortened through military service, which can be regarded as mutually beneficial."

Doctor Quan nodded silently, pondered for a moment and then said:

"Well, that sounds reasonable, can you tell us about your plans for the future of the garrison?"

Wei Hong immediately responded:

"Judging from the current situation, the source of the soldiers of the garrison in the future will mainly be the naturalization battalion, and Lefik has promised me that in the future, not only will we sell blacks to us, but other races will also be trafficked, by the way, Brother Xiao has a contract, which is very detailed, as well as the price code and the standard of receiving people, and I will ......go back to you for review."

"Hehe, Xiao Wei, I am not satisfied with you saying that I came to Xin'an City this time, and I did have some inspection tasks, and the Senate and the Ministry of Finance have some commissions for me, of course, if you have any difficulties, you can also tell me.

Although there are telegrams exchanged every day, and the connection is fine, the Senate and the Treasury always hope that someone can see it with their own eyes and get some first-hand information, so my questions may be a little verbose, I hope you don't mind......"

"I don't mind, how can I mind, in fact, my family has a lot of support for us and is very timely."

Wei Hong also hurriedly responded, but he raised his eyes and saw Zhou Ruiyue and Chu brothers looking at him with disdain, and his expression was clearly saying: When did you Wei Hong learn from these old people to speak official language? Where is your usual complaining energy?

At this time, Dr. Quan said:

"Okay, Xiao Wei, I want to remind you, of course the blacks in the planning camp should be used, but you can't just use blacks, and other races must also have a certain proportion, the Senate hopes that our army will not be too single, and the multi-ethnic army will be easy to control some ......"

"And that said?"

"Yes, so the Senate will try its best to settle Han immigrants for you Xin'an City, and Elder Sun agrees with this opinion."

"Doctor Quan, what is the reason why a multi-ethnic army is easier to control?"

Yue Chu next to him asked.

"Being able to restrain each other! Got it? ”

Dr. Quan responded with a smile.

At this time, the general Wei Hong couldn't help but snort when he heard it, looked at the three in front of him, and explained with a serious face:

"Hehe, Barrister Li is really thoughtful, this is because the army of a single nation is prone to form a nationalist atmosphere, and the consequence of a strong nationalist atmosphere is that this sentiment will often be above the law, specifically, it will be above the law, therefore, if we are not careful, our army may become a hotbed of militarism, thus allowing the army to become a tool of a small group of careerists......"

Obviously, the Australian Commonwealth does not want our army to become like that, after all, it is difficult for a multi-ethnic army to form a group with race as the core, but this does not prevent our army from uniting on another basis - although we are different nationalities, we are all people, so in the end we can only unite on the basis of humanity.

In other words, we can only be faithful to the law, because the law is based on universal humanity, and of course, only on universal humanity, and not as some claim that the law is an "instrument of class oppression".

So under this concept, the army is not loyal to any nation, nor to a small group, let alone the so-called symbol of the nation, the emperor, therefore, the army will eventually become an army that defends the law, not a private army of someone or a small group. ”