In 1824, Singapore officially became a British colony and was initially under the colonial authority of British India. In 1867, Singapore was upgraded to the Straits Settlements, which came under the direct rule of the British, and became an important port of call for ships sailing between Europe and Asia.

Since the 1870s, the local rubber plantation industry has flourished, and Singapore has become a major global rubber export and processing base.

Hu Zhen took Liang Kunri, Jiang Yunfeng and a few other people to board the dock and enter the city of Singapore. Among the people who came and went, there were many men with braids, and it was obvious that this was the Chinese who were forced by the pressure of the Qing court and did not dare to cut off their braids overseas.

Hu Zhen appeared in Europe at the beginning of the crossing, and saw men with big pigtails all over the streets and alleys among the public, but for the first time, he felt very awkward.

"When can you cut the braids?" Hu Zhen turned around and asked Jiang Yunfeng.

"Cut your braids?" Jiang Yunfeng was stunned for a moment when he heard this, he didn't know why Hu Zhen asked so much, and only replied after a while: "This pig's tail braid is indeed very inconvenient, especially in this hot place in the South Seas, it is extremely inconvenient to groom, and there are often insects, just to go back to his hometown to see if he can escape the interrogation of those dog officials, if you want to go back to Borneo to fight, it will be more convenient to cut it off!" ”

"What bullshit braids, they are all sins made in the Qing Dynasty, and they will all be cut off in the future!" Liang Kunri often listened to Hu Zhen's lectures, and knew that the Han people did not have the custom of keeping braids, but the Manchu court forced all Han people to have to keep braids in humiliation.

"You're pretty open, and you won't commit suicide by jumping into the water just because you cut off your braids! However, it is too early to discuss the need for everyone to cut off their braids, and once we return to our homeland, we will have to keep our braids for a while! Hu Zhen nodded and continued to walk silently.

In the street ahead, a large group of Chinese people gathered in a circle to block the way, and some people in the crowd let out sad sobs.

Hu Zhen didn't know what was going on in the middle, so he opened his mouth and asked a person next to him, "What's going on here?" ”

"Alas, someone committed suicide!"

"Suicide? What's going on? ”

"It is said that he borrowed debts from his hometown in Tangshan and came all the way here to beg for a living, but the Antai rubber factory where he worked was about to close down, and he couldn't pay his wages, his wife was seriously ill and borrowed money to treat him, and was forced to commit suicide by the creditor, and the husband and wife both swallowed salt and committed suicide, leaving only three and a half old children, who were driven out by the landlord, and the bodies of the three children and adults had nowhere to go, and everyone was looking for a donation, but the salary was a drop in the bucket, and everyone was not rich, and now the three children were going to sell their bodies to bury their parents, alas, ......",

When Hu Zhen heard this human tragedy, he couldn't help but feel sad, and he and Liang Kunri and Jiang Yunfeng pushed aside the crowd, only to see two adult corpses lying in the middle. Two boys and a girl knelt beside them, their ragged clothes, their bodies were thin and sallow, and they all had straw sticks on their bodies that sold their bodies, and they kept crying, the older boy was twelve or thirteen years old, the younger boy was only seven or eight years old, and the girl was eleven or twelve years old. The older boy was holding a broken bowl with dozens of loose coins donated by the Chinese, but that money was not enough to buy half a coffin.

"What's your name? Are you really going to sell yourself? Hu Zhen pointed to the ground next to the child and asked with the words "selling yourself to bury your parents" written crookedly.

The big child looked up, saw Hu Zhen, and hurriedly wiped away his tears and replied: "Yes, my name is Zhang Dajiang, my sister's name is Zhang Xiaoxian, and my brother's name is Zhang Dahe!" ”

"What price do you offer?"

"The price? I just hope that some buyer will pay for the burial of our parents, and this is the price at which we sell ourselves! ”

Looking at these three poor children, Hu Zhen was already moved with compassion, but he didn't want to pretend to be too forced, so he said: "If I buy your three brothers and sisters, what can you do?" ”

"We are willing to be a buyer for the rest of our lives, no, we are cattle and horses for our benefactors!"

"Really?"

Zhang Dajiang was about to answer, but the little girl Zhang Xiaoxian hurriedly said: "Our three brothers and sisters will never tell lies, as long as we still have a breath, we will really be cattle and horses for the rest of our lives to repay the great kindness of our benefactor!" ”

"Okay, you all bought it for me, and you will follow me in the future!"

"Really?" The three children had a surprise in their eyes, and they didn't think that anyone like them would be willing to buy them.

"Why should I lie to you?"

The three children hurriedly knelt down in front of Hu Zhen and thanked him for his kindness.

"Okay, don't say thank you for now, you guys get up quickly and go take care of your parents' funeral!"

Hu Zhen said that he would take out a few pound bills and ask someone to properly settle the parents of the three children as soon as possible, give the three children a meal, and buy a few slightly more decent clothes.

After arranging, Hu Zhen continued to move forward, and according to the pre-arranged contact information, he quickly found the stronghold he had arranged in Singapore.

It is a large house facing the street, and there is a big sign written on the door that reads "HSBC Preparatory Office".

Hearing that the big boss came back from Europe, a person in the house hurriedly ran out to greet Hu Zhen: "Mr. Hu, hello!" ”

It turned out that this person's name was Fan Qianhai, who was also a Chinese worker who was sold to the United Kingdom, and was rescued by Hu Zhen, because he had a special talent for settling accounts and doing business, and was sent back to Singapore by Hu Zhen to prepare for banking business.

Hu Zhen nodded to Fan Qianhai and said, "How are the few things I told you to do?" ”

Fan Qianhai looked up, made a gesture of invitation to Hu Zhen, and said, "Mr. Hu, please in the house, it's convenient to talk inside!" ”

After entering the back room, after Hu Zhen sat down, Fan Qianhai reported while serving tea: "Several important things arranged by Mr. are steadily advancing, Zhenhua Trading Company in addition to Singapore, has been in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wuchang, Taipei and other 20 places at the same time set up branches, ten months ago began large-scale business, business involves silk, linen, tea, sugar, machinery, grain, rubber and other aspects of sales, is currently operating well, has some profitability. Pacific Shipping Company has also set up branches in 12 cities to undertake shipping business. However, according to Mr. Hu's telegram instructions, after our huge cost of fighting, the Straits Settlements of Singapore still approved the opening of the Singapore branch of the Chinese bank, but it must wait until a month later to open, and the stale officials in China do not know whether they are very unhappy with the Chinese own bank or want to make some money, the procedures are very troublesome, and it is still in the preparatory stage! ”

After listening to Fan Qianhai's report, Hu Zhen nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, these two things of Zhenhua Company and Pacific Company have done well, although the affairs of Huihua Bank are a little slower, as long as they can be opened." For foreigners, we must keep a low profile, we can change our strategy in the country, in the future, we can consider acquiring foreigners' banks, use foreigners' bank shells to operate, and quickly embark on the right track of business expansion, as for the Manchu officials who are hindered, we can first hire some foreigners to come forward for us to open up, and our own people will operate behind the scenes! ”

When Hu Zhen spoke, he felt very uncomfortable, he was a dignified and upright Huaxia man, in his own land, but he still had to use the name of foreigners to open the way of business, it seems that he must speed up the establishment of a strong military force and create a new and powerful Huaxia.