Chapter 269: Fox!
At the narrow gates of Jakarta, Dutch guards were leaning against the base of the boulder and coral reef walls, smoking cigarettes with Chinese characters, whispering and laughing and telling vulgar jokes, and every now and then some alcoholic soldier took a small flask from his bosom and poured it into his mouth.
"Look, that nouveau riche Arroso is here again." A sharp-eyed Dutch soldier saw the figure on a horse approaching in the distance and stabbed his companion beside him.
"Tut-tut, this guy is really diligent enough, he went out to recruit coolies so early. It seems that this guy must be very stingy with his salary, otherwise, why would those coolies leave after working for him for a few days? The companion spat out the butt of his cigarette to the ground, patted his military uniform and walked to the city gate. The other soldiers also stood to the side grinning, but when they looked at the approaching figure on horseback, there was a wave of jealousy and greed in their eyes.
"Hey, look who it is, good morning Mr. Arroso. I didn't expect you to be out of town so early today. The Dutch soldier ensign guarding the gates took off his hat and saluted the nouveau riche who rode a thoroughbred Arabian horse, dressed in a sumptuous robe, and accompanied by several white escorts.
"Good morning gentlemen. yes, what else can I do when I go out of the city, it's not because those damn laborers have been working for a few days, and there are not a few left. You know, I pay them a lot of money, two guilders a day, but look at what they do to me? I've only been doing things for a few days, and I didn't even want my salary and ran away, is it because I'm not generous enough or not affinity enough. The middle-aged chestnut-haired man sitting on horseback shook his hand with a huge ruby ring and complained about the injustice he had suffered.
Although the soldiers maintained listening and sympathy on their faces, in fact, their hearts were full of contempt. Two guilders a day, only sixty guilders a month, which is almost one-tenth of the salary of these soldiers. Even the wages paid by the Governor's Palace to the natives amounted to at least one hundred and twenty guilders a month.
Despicable businessmen, shameless vampires, brazen nouveau riche. This is one of the more classic in the hearts of these soldiers about the Spanish nouveau riche who has been in Jakarta for less than two months.
However, the Arroso did not realize it, and instead complained that he had to provide food and shelter for the damned laborers every day, in addition to their salaries, which was a huge expense.
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Eventually, after being reminded by his attendants, Arozzo realized that he had been waiting too long at the city gates. "I'm sorry guys, I'm glad you were able to listen to me pour out all this, and in return for your kindness to me, Valencia hastened to bring out those little gifts I let you carry."
"Oh, that's embarrassing, dear Mr. Arroso." The leading Dutch lieutenant looked embarrassed, but his neck stretched out to look at the pocket on the back of the horse, the head of the attendant behind Arrozo.
"Don't be sorry, honorable soldiers, if it weren't for your loyalty, how could we, civilized people, be so peaceful in the moonlight sipping wine and listening to elegant music, instead of facing the poisonous arrows and swords of those barbarians. So, please accept the friendship of me, a Spanish friend. Aroso's answer won the favor of all the Dutch soldiers present, and although they were still jealous of the nouveau riche's wealth, and despised the nouveau riche's stinginess and greed, they must also admit that he would be a good friend if he were generous.
At least for now, they thought the Arroso was pretty good, with a bottle of Bordeaux wine, a chunk of bacon, top-notch Italian cheese, and a pack of high-end Qingguo cigarettes each.
"My God, you're a good friend, and you've earned our friendship." Seeing the bottle of French Bordeaux wine, the Dutch ensign's eyes were about to glow red, and this bottle of wine alone was already worth a month's salary.
Now that France is in a mess, it is very difficult to export French Bordeaux wines, and it has also greatly increased its value, so that even His Excellency the Governor would be greedy for such a bottle.
"The nouveau riche is worthy of being a nouveau riche, and it is really ...... that he can even make such a good thing, and give it away," the Dutch lieutenant was really speechless, and he felt that it would be nice to have the friendship of the nouveau riche, at least, if he could taste this fine wine from time to time.
"A bunch of stupid bs!" After the horse had left the city gate for some distance, a fluent Chinese language came out of Arrozo's mouth. Hearing this, the group of attendants around him all laughed.
"But Arrozo, you son of a bitch has gone too far, and you actually gave these fools the Bordeaux wine that the young master gave you to deal with." Beside him, the head of Arrozo's attendant first looked around cautiously for a moment, and then lowered his voice, and also reproached the other party in extremely smooth Chinese.
"You don't understand this, the role I want to play is an upstart, a nouveau riche who has money to spend and doesn't play, and seems generous when he treats his friends, if I give me a gold coin or two, how can I show my generosity as an upstart in order to win the favor of these fools, how can I make them unsuspecting us to smuggle people and weapons in?" Arroso took the wig off his head and scratched his scalp before explaining.
"But it's Bordeaux wine, my God, and that's the gospel that God has given to us believers." An attendant next to him came up, his face wrinkled like an eighty-year-old woman with a face full of resentment.
"Are you questioning the young master's decision to put me solely responsible?" Seeing the squire's dissatisfaction, Arroso asked, and as soon as a word came out, all the squire's heads shook quickly.
"Of course not, how could we question the young master, you are simply insulting our personality." An attendant suddenly came back to his senses from Fang Cai's pity, and confessed with indignation on his face that if Liang Pengfei stood here, he would even be willing to dig out his heart and liver to show his loyalty.
"Since everyone has no opinion, then we don't need to discuss this issue anymore, don't worry, the young master once promised me that as long as we complete the task perfectly this time, he will give each of us a case of Bordeaux wine as a reward, and each of us will receive a beautiful Filipino maid, and two pounds of gold, is all this not enough to make up for the damage in your hearts?" Arrozo's words suddenly made the expressions of these attendants change to those of excited patients who had just been beaten.
"Of course, it's totally enough, my gosh, a box, I feel like my heart is going to explode." One of the attendants exaggeratedly clutched his left chest. In exchange for a kick from Arroso. "Alright, the conversation is over, it's not far from the grass shop, and I don't want to see expressions and movements on your faces and actions that go beyond your identity."
"Yes sir, please ......" Valencia, the head of the squire, was the first to regain humility and respect, and expressed his respect to the employer.
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Grass shop street, is the Chinese gathering area outside Jakarta, since the battle of the Red Creek has passed decades, only slowly developed outside the city of Jakarta Chinese settlement, so far, the number of Chinese living in Jakarta city has reached 40,000, however, because the shadow of the past massacre is still hovering over the heads of those Dutch butchers, so they require that the Chinese can only live outside Jakarta, and if they enter the city to work, they must have Dutch or Western businessmen come forward as a guarantee.
However, due to the hard-working and industrious nature of the Chinese, the employment of Chinese as laborers is more popular than the local natives, and it is also for this reason that except for a few Chinese who own their own industries. The vast majority of the tens of thousands of Chinese in Caopu Street survived by selling their labor.
"Tianfang, come out quickly, ready to eat." In an inconspicuous house on Caopu Street, the Chinese who were sitting in the back room, carefully dumping some powder into a small oiled paper tube, heard the suppressed sound coming from outside, paused, continued to move, and replied in a low voice: "Got it, Uncle Huang, I'll come over in a while, I'm sorry for you." ”
"Hmm!" After a slightly dull answer came from outside the door, Zheng Tianfang finally managed to put all the powder into the special paper tube as the footsteps faded away. "Thirty-seven detonators, three hundred meters of leads, for the sake of insurance, a dye barrel needs two to three detonators, then there are at least twenty-five detonators, my mother......" Zheng Tianfang sighed with great resentment, and after putting this special paper tube into the small box stuffed with cotton next to it, he continued to load the new detonator. Because of the important and confidential surname of Lei Mercury for the military, among the 300 elites sent to Jakarta this time, only Zheng Tianfang and another student who was at the same time as him knew the use of Lei Mercury and the process of making detonators.
For the sake of security and confidentiality, Zheng Tianfang did not know where the student was on Caopu Street now, and he did not need to know, but his task was to complete the production of all the detonators and leads before receiving instructions from the north, and be on standby at any time.
The old man who was called by Zheng Tianfang to Uncle Huang hunched his waist and walked into another room, where the table had already been set up with food, and a girl about sixteen or seventeen years old was staring at the room with big beautiful eyes that the door was not opened, and even the old man Huang walked into the room without noticing.
Seeing the girl's appearance, Uncle Huang shook his head: "Xiaoxiu, don't help your grandmother, what are you doing here?" ”
(To be continued)