It was already very hot in the Caribbean in April, and in the port of Xinjing, near the mouth of the Mo River (Mississippi River), many black people in the Free State were toiling to transport supplies for several large ships.

They were all small traders who were accustomed to doing business on the river, paddling a small sampan without a keel, which is common in China's inland rivers, with two sturdy rowers paddling oars fixed to the boat at the back end, and two vendors selling all kinds of fruits, cured meats, shochu and other food at the front end. These things generally sell well, especially when a ship has been at sea for more than a month, and sailors are more hungry for fresh water than usual.

Ships that come to replenish supplies are generally Caribbean Shipping Company's merchant ships, especially the Liang brothers' ships that call at the company, and almost every three months a ship laden with all kinds of local commodities comes to the docks to unload their goods, and then haul away cotton, oak (a certain amount of Free State lumber is required to be imported each year), dried fruit, furs, tobacco, and in recent years, more cane sugar.

The price of sucrose is very cheap, only 7 yuan and 6 jiao of silver per 100 catties, but due to the serious shortage of supply, there are no big customers who come to purchase sucrose. The vast majority of the goods produced by the few sugar cane plantations in the Free State, with the exception of some for their own use or trade with the Indians, were bought in batches by the merchants of the Air Canada Company and consumed in places such as Huaiyuan Island – and a large part of them were brought to the Cape Verde Islands by passing ships for sale—indicating that the business was not large enough to bring much-needed money to the Free State.

Yes, the Free State is still in need of money. Although there are only about 36,000 people in their country, including the Xhosa, Khoisans, Swahilis, Malays, Mings, and Indians, and this is after the addition of a batch of South African Black Eight Banners at the end of last year, it seems that they don't need much currency, because it is likely to bring down their country's primitive economy and cause undue turmoil in the country.

But who has allowed them to rekindle their recent war with the Indian tribes? The rapid consumption of war materials has made them extremely dependent on imports, and a large amount of precious metals that they have managed to accumulate have flowed into the pockets of Air Canada, and it is believed that if it were not for the nearly 800 families of Black Eight Banner officers and soldiers who moved from South Africa to bring a lot of cash, the country might already be in a shortage of money.

In fact, it is ridiculous to think about it, after the release of a large amount of currency in the East Coast Republic of China because of the large-scale infrastructure construction, which led to the rise in prices and inflation, the free state actually had a suffocating deflationary phenomenon, I have to say that this economy is too fragile, so fragile that it may degenerate to a barter state in the next moment.

Air Canada, to be honest, is quite kind, monopolizing 90% of the country's foreign trade, and they have stepped up their efforts to import goods from here. For example, almost all of the oak lumber needed for the Harbor Mobile Ship Repair Yard was imported from the Free State to help them tide over the storm as quickly as possible, knowing that they could have organized their own men to go inland to cut down the oak trees, even though that might lead to armed conflict with the Indians.

Major Tian Xing, head of the advisory group of the Republic of China to the Free State, had just returned from the Spanish port of St. Augustine today, aboard a merchant ship belonging to Air Canada. The ship departed from Huaiyuan Island and delivered a portion of its firearms and ammunition at St. Augustine, all of which were purchased by the Spaniards, who were said to have recently been tormented by the frequent French pirates, and some coastal colonial villages and towns were attacked by pirates and suffered considerable losses. Because of this, the governor of New Spain ordered the import of some weapons and ammunition from the people on the east coast, and strengthened the defenses of various places, so that the French pirates did not dare to attack.

The ships then made a difficult circumnavigation of the Florida Peninsula and sailed along the northern Caribbean Sea, stopping at the ports of Pensacola and Mobile, and finally anchored at the port of Shinjing today. Tian Xing was accompanied by several intelligence officers from the military police headquarters, their faces were serious, and they stretched out their hands to block many small traders who wanted to come together to sell goods, and then escorted Tian Xing to board a carriage and drove directly towards a merchant house not far from here, which was the office space built by the Qiangdong Trading Company, and the scale was not small.

Because the road conditions along this riverside road are not good, the carriage travels all the way, but the scenery on both sides of the Mo River is not bad, and it is not too anxious. As far as the eye can see, there are green rice paddies and forests with a variety of trees, many of which are towering trees suitable for shipbuilding. In the distance, there were large and small lakes, verdant hills, and beautiful houses, which Tian Xing knew were the customs buildings built by the Xhosa blacks of the Free State at the suggestion of the scholars of the Ming Kingdom, which seemed to mean that the country had at least a hint of a civilized country in terms of import and export trade.

The customs house was built partly on a solid stone floor – which apparently took a lot of effort – and partly on the river, supported by thick log pillars. They have an elaborate approach bridge in front of them, allowing boats to dock at high or low tide. Customs officers wrote down the rules and regulations and posted them on the wooden walls of the building, and a flag was erected on the roof of the building, embroidered with large Chinese characters, telling everyone that this was the customs and that all ships calling at the port for trade must come to pay import and export duties.

There is no doubt that this customs was created against Air Canada, which monopolizes almost all of the country's trade. In the old days when Air Canada traded in the Free States almost never paid taxes, and they and their secondary agents said with great vigour, "We have brought much-needed goods to the Free States, and we have brought them a large number of people from South Africa, and what taxes do we have to pay?"

That's right, and they did that for many years, until the Executive Committee felt that they should help the Free States establish an effective system of import and export tariffs to improve their government's finances, and Air Canada's good days came to an end. However, fortunately, the tax rate set by the Free State is not high, and the average price of various goods is not more than 5%, and Air Canada is not unacceptable, so it should be an extra amount of money sponsored by the Free State every year.

After passing through customs, the final destination is also in sight. The two-storey Qiangdong Trading Company's trading hall was built in a beautiful location near the river. Probably during the day, the windows were wide open (but they had to be closed at night, lest they would be annoyed by mosquitoes), and there were two small sampans parked on the river below them, on which a few black men were foaming at the mouth of their groceries to sell their food, hoping that the rich men in the merchant house would buy some of them.

The carriage soon stopped in the open space at the entrance of the merchant house, Tian Xing got out of the car and walked into the merchant house surrounded by military police, and soon welcomed Liang Qiangdong, who came out to greet him after hearing the news, into the house. The decoration in the room is quite good, and there are many beautiful flower pots, Tian Xing looked at it, only to see some plants such as a thousand day red, impatiens and morning glories, which makes people look a little pleasing to the eye.

It would have been a little messy in the room, for some wooden chests and barrels were haphazardly stacked on the floor, containing a lot of tea, porcelain, silk, and glass products, and it was not known which of the nobles of the Free State was intended to be given to them, as ordinary Free State citizens could not and could not afford to use these luxuries.

"Head Tian, congratulations on your successful return, I thought you would be a month late." Liang Qiangdong motioned to his secretary to make tea for everyone, and then said with a smile: "How about it, Huaiyuan Island is being built well now, right?" ”

"Not a bad fart, the epidemic is rampant, and the economy is withering." Tian Xing threw a hat on the table, then pursed his lips and said: "Huaiyuan Island is really full of disasters, malaria, leprosy, and yellow fever have broken out alternately, many people have died, and the rest are also panicked, and the sailors of the ships going there have also been ordered to stay on the ship as much as possible and not to enter the port, just for fear of being infected by various diseases." To be honest, it was too dangerous for me to wait for the ship there and then leave. ”

"Isn't that what the tropics, I thought you were used to it." Liang Qiangdong shook his head and shifted the topic elsewhere: "How is it?" Did you hear anything from Huaiyuan Island? It's very close to the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands, so there should be a lot of news, have the Dutch captured a few French islands? ”

"Dutch? With the bankrupt finances of their West India Company, what could they rely on to attack the French? Martinique and Guadeloupe each have thousands of white French colonists, and there are many in Saint Lucia, so what are the Dutch capable of fighting? I have heard that the island of Tobago, which they controlled, was once occupied by the French, only to be recaptured by the Dutch with ships. In the Caribbean, the biggest threat to the French is the Spaniards, they have soldiers, ships, even if the combat effectiveness is poor, if they play to the death and fight a war of attrition, the French will still be unbearable, at least the French on the island of Hispaniola may not be able to bear it. Tian Xing took a sip of the teacup and said disdainfully: "No, when I was on Huaiyuan Island, a Spanish ship came over and repeatedly asked us not to trade with the French on Hispaniola, although our business with them has been interrupted for a long time. ”

"The French in Hispaniola have been under siege for a long time, right? The last time they got supplies was a year and a half ago, right? On that island, where there is hardly any industrial civilization, food may be easy to say, but war materials are difficult to replenish, and I estimate that the French are running out of stocks, thanks to the Spaniards' waste wood. Liang Qiangdong said: "By the way, there is something you may not know, when you were on Huaiyuan Island a while ago, a French ship on Hispaniola Island broke out of the siege and came to Xinjing Port, asking us to intervene in the war on the island. I listened to their tone, and did not seem to mind the glorious surrender, but fearing that the Spaniards would not keep their word, I asked us to intercede and suppress the Spaniards so that they would not dare to mess around. ”

"Is there such a thing?" Tian Xing Huo Ran stood up and said, "This thing can actually be done!" All the Spaniards wanted was Hispaniola. And the hundreds of French expeditionary forces on the island, after being effectively abandoned, now all they want is to live. Okay, let them evacuate to Xinjinggang, I am in charge of this matter, it is not a big problem, and I will send someone to Cuba in a few days to contact the Spaniards. ”

"I said, why doesn't Air Canada eat these people? If I'm right, the French immigrants in the western half of Hispaniola will flee for fear of reprisals, right? What did they do during the war, but the Spaniards saw it? To tell the truth, there are about 2,000 of these people, including merchants, farmers, merchants, craftsmen, craftsmen, and soldiers, and they are really a great tonic for the Free State. Now that Air Canada has built Mobile City, why not think of a way to do it here at a time when there is a shortage of people? Liang Qiangdong asked with some puzzlement.

"How many people are there in Air Canada's Mobile City? Accepting so many French people at once, I'm afraid that it won't be anti-guest-oriented. Besides, Air Canada is a national enterprise, and it is more complicated to accept so many foreigners at once, and in the future, you will have to worry about troubles such as espionage, so you can simply throw your brains to the Free State and let them toss around. By the way, isn't your second brother Ryazan a warlord in Fengtian City, yes, this time I will also be a good person, and the handicraft craftsman will do his best to choose your brother first, replenish his blood, and do things for the country in the future. Tian Xing glanced at Liang Qiangdong and said with a smile: "The commander of Liang Du is not only a courtier of King Xinjingmo, but also an old friend of the people on the east coast. ”

Liang Qiangdong was a little sneering when he heard this, his second brother is indeed a nail in the East Coast that has penetrated into the Free State. As the envoy of the Fengtian Festival and the commander of the Ma Bu army, he has territory and army, the third brother is the national teacher of the Free State, and the younger brother occupies a large part of the import and export trade of the Free State, which has great influence in both the religious and secular circles, and is indeed a sharp weapon for the East Coast government to control the Xinjing Mo royal family.

"Okay, that's it, it's basically fine." Tian Xing saw that Liang Qiangdong didn't speak, so he smiled, and then he suddenly seemed to remember something, and asked Liang Qiangdong again: "What have Su Mo's bastards been doing lately?" The last time I left, I heard that they had set up another hall on the island of Tortuga, and they had gathered a bunch of pirates who had been scattered before. What the hell is this guy thinking, and where is he now? He didn't communicate with me before doing these things, and he didn't want to mess around! ”