A few days later, more than 20,000 Chinese left on transport ships, and the remaining 80,000 immigrants were still stranded in Songkhla.

Han officials in charge of immigration affairs and the Songkhla government have set up more than 30 temporary settlements in the vicinity of Songkhla to ensure the daily food and livelihood of the migrants.

The original group of Chinese was transported away, and a new wave of immigrants poured in from the mainland, and the expanded Songkhla Port was filled with tens of thousands of short-stay residents, and at the same time showed a sense of anachronism that was out of place.

The wharf was busy with young Chinese coolies who arrived in Songkhla before the outbreak of war in Argentina, because the British blocked the sea transport from the South Seas to South America, they recuperated and rested in Songkhla for a while, and regained some strength, so they used the free time during their stay to work as temporary workers on the wharf.

When the market is good, when the new Westerners merchant ships or a large number of Chinese merchant cargo ships come into the port, they are busy for most of the day, and after five or six months, the Chinese young men who temporarily do odd jobs and do coolies at the wharf have saved a few sums of silver in their pockets, and every ten days and half a month, when they encounter no work at the wharf, the Chinese young men will return to the shacks in the resettlement site and buy a pound or two of fat pork for the elderly and children at home to try.

The Western merchants who lived in the port inn, or appeared at the port wharf a small part of the time, and commanded the coolies and Chinese men to carry the goods, were generally dressed brightly and neatly, wearing black suits, dark sailors' hats, and foreign missionaries wearing Chinese gentry costumes in order to adapt to Chinese customs, and all kinds of Westerners appeared in Songkhla Harbor, and the cameramen who were transferred to Songkhla with the army would also take some photos that reflected the local customs and customs when recording the marching and combat scenes of the Nanyang Legion troops with their cameras for propaganda purposes. As part of intelligence gathering.

The same photograph of foreigners, Chinese coolies on the docks, and unkempt shacks and new immigrants who have just escaped from the mainland, record three completely different scenes of life in the same era.

The garrison camp of the Nanyang Army is more than ten miles away from the port of Songkhla, and after the troops are transferred here from the Natuna Islands, the soldiers spend most of their time in the barracks, carrying out the final training and repair before the war in accordance with the preparation orders issued by the officers, and in a small part of their leisure time, the soldiers will take turns to walk out of the barracks and order a table of wine and food in the tavern of the port of Songkhla, and greet the brothers in the same company and squad to drink and chat, and by the way, experience the customs and customs of the Natuna Islands, which are very different from those in the Songkhla region.

The Natuna Islands covers an area of only 2,300 square kilometers, the islands have been built as a large military camp by the Nanyang Legion, in addition to the regular army and militia of the Nanyang Legion stationed on the island, the rest are more than 3,000 Chinese people living in the local area and 8,000 to 10,000 Chinese immigrants, the Natuna Islands are the third migrant shelter in the Nanyang region, when the migrant ships encounter waves or when someone on board is sick, the ship will dock at the Natuna Islands nearby, and put down the Chinese immigrants who need treatment and recuperation. and staying in a boat to shelter from storms and waves.

Chinese immigrants on the Natuna Islands generally stay for only three to five days, and then leave the island when the tide calms down, the migrant fleet replenishes a small amount of supplies, or the stranded Chinese immigrants on the island are in good condition.

Songkhla is different, on the other hand, there are all kinds of people of different races and beliefs, merchants, and the increasingly busy Songkhla Port is full of strange things happening every day, such as the clocks that will tell the time brought by foreigners, and the boatloads of rubber water shoes carried on the local merchant ships of the Han Kingdom, which are comfortable and convenient to wear on the feet, and are not permeable to water at all.

The weather in the Nanyang region is hot, the precipitation is abundant, the jungle and the water flowing out of the nearby river, there are many unknown small insects, these small insects usually bring dysentery, diarrhea and other diseases, many of the early Chinese immigrants have suffered from insects, at the beginning of the Chinese people are the reason for the soil and water adaptation, did not take it to heart, thinking that it will be over if you endure it, and later, with the increase in the number of immigrants, even according to a small proportion of disease deaths, tens of thousands of immigrants, there are almost dozens to a hundred deaths, After ten years of exploration and summarization of immigration experience, the immigration agency gradually formulated a set of detailed and perfect immigration regulations, from the initial extensive immigration to the use of current medical technology and ship transportation capacity, as far as possible to ensure the safety of immigrants and reduce the mortality rate on the way to migrants.

Rubber-soled cloth shoes, waterproof shoes is the most mature aspect of the use of the rubber chemical industry in the Han country, the nineteenth century eighties and nineties is the beginning and development of the chemical industry, compared with the steel, electrical, mechanical and other industrial categories, the previous life is a chemical industry, graduated as a soldier for two years, after leaving the army to go to a foreign country Li Mingyuan, to know more about the chemical industry, therefore, in the field of rubber chemical industry, give the most advice.

At the initial stage, it lagged slightly behind Western countries, but because of the more detailed and clear technical solutions and guidance provided by Li Mingyuan, after ten years of development, the chemical industry relying on rubber, dyes, pigments, textiles, refined salt refining, etc., quickly surpassed the competitors in the same industry in the West, and came to the forefront of the current world in terms of technical reserves and practical transformation.

Chemical industry is one of the basic industrial systems parallel to machinery manufacturing, steel, coal, etc., although the chemical production process, will bring many pollution problems, but for the current development of science and technology, the pollution generated by the chemical industry is not worth mentioning, in the field of chemical industry, Han is the first country to carry out practical production, after the national industrial technology is mature, all aspects of the industrial shortcomings are completed, the use of first-mover advantage, Han can also make advanced research in the field of environmental protection, on the one hand to solve the local water pollution problem, on the other hand, to transfer heavily polluting enterprises that are highly polluting and cannot be solved by current science and technology to overseas colonies, territories, or other countries, while ensuring high profit margins, to avoid irreversible pollution of the local environment.

The arrival of technological products such as waterproof rubber shoes and cameras has aroused the curiosity of the local Chinese in Songkhla and enriched their lives.

The minimum guarantee of food and drink was solved, and at the same time, according to the order, they got the tickets to leave for South America, and the Chinese immigrants who stayed in Songkhla removed their worries, and when there was no work to do at the wharf, they were also in the mood to take their young children to the street to look at all kinds of strange things and marvel curiously.

The port of Songkhla has a limited number of merchant ships entering the port every day, and only a small fraction of the tens of thousands of well-fed and recovering temporary workers are lucky enough to get the job of carrying freight.

"Everyone has paid attention, the Nanyang Legion recruits logistics migrant workers, with a daily salary of 200 Wen, and a settlement every ten days, only 6,000 people are recruited, and all the money you want to sign up with me!"

A group of soldiers in military uniforms came to the open space of the resettlement site, and a Han official in charge of resettlement walked to the center of the clearing and shouted loudly.

"My lord, can you exchange copper coins for Han silver dollars or silver?" A man in the crowd plucked up the courage to ask, "The price of copper coins for silver is the same every day, copper coins are inconvenient and worthless to hold in your hands, or Han silver dollars are easy to use, a Han silver dollar can buy 50 catties of rice, which is much more cost-effective than taking copper coins and silver." ”

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the financial system of the Manchu court collapsed, and one tael of silver could be exchanged for 1,000 copper coins and 80 catties of rice, but in the eighties and nineties of the nineteenth century, silver and copper coins depreciated sharply, and the purchasing power of silver declined, and one tael of silver could usually be exchanged for three or four thousand silver dollars, or only 50 to 60 catties of rice.

The financial system of the Han State was in a period of substitution of the gold standard and the silver standard, and both gold and silver could now be circulated in the controlled areas. The denomination is equal to 0.537 taels of silver, but in terms of actual purchasing power, 1 Han Yuan can buy 40 catties of rice, which is equivalent to 1.86 Han Yuan of 1 tael of silver, can buy 74 catties of rice.

"There are Han Yuan banknotes and silver dollars, and those who want to exchange their wages for Han Yuan can go to the logistics office for unified registration after the construction period."

"I want to sign up, count me, I'm strong ............"

After listening to the other party's explanation, the Chinese immigrants below rushed to sign up.

"Line up one by one to the front, everyone has a chance, don't worry." …… Looking at the crowd of people who were swarming forward, the officials loudly commanded the order of the clearing.

"My lord, the two thousand Songkhla troops are ready, and the troops of the two generals Chen are all gathered outside Songkhla City."

In an inconspicuous location outside the vacant lot of the resettlement site, his officials reported to Mei Dongxing.

"Let the city lord of Wu and the two generals Chen go to the barracks and wait for a while, and within half an hour, I will rush to the barracks to meet and talk with them."

…………