Brisbane, Queensland, Chinatown

The simple archway made of Australian maple has uncleaned tree side branches, and it is clear that it has just been built.

The high Chinese-style cornice building on the archway makes people feel at home.

The streets here are relatively narrow, with tall and low wooden buildings on both sides, and there is an endless stream of Chinese with black hair, black eyes and yellow skin, and the strong smell of fireworks comes from the streets and alleys, which is the unique taste of familiar Chinese food.

The Chinese laborers crowded into the carriage were agitated, and after more than a month of drifting at sea, birds faded out of their mouths.

When they smelled the familiar smell of scallion pancakes, pork blood porridge and fried dough sticks, they drifted faintly in the streets and alleys, and the mouth was frantically secreting saliva, and everyone couldn't help but look around.

Queensland's Chinatown is a large Chinese settlement, with more than 30,000 Chinese gold prospectors living here, all of whom are sturdy young men, the oldest of whom are no more than 50 years old, and are the first Chinese workers to come to Queensland.

Among them, less than 100 of them married local white women and started families, most of them were the best of the early gold diggers, who had left the dangerous gold mines to develop in Chinatown and accumulated a lot of money.

Other Chinese gold diggers, mainly young adults in their twenties and thirties, have flocked to the city in the past two years, hoping to realize their dream of becoming rich overnight.

Look at the sky, it is about noon.

The vast majority of gold prospectors work in the gold fields located far from Brisbane, only returning in the evening, with a simple lunch to take a bite of.

Therefore, there are not many people in Chinatown, and there are some dark-skinned Indies women who frequently greet Chinese men who come and go, and look radiant.

"The workers belonging to the Penelli mine have arrived at the ground, everyone comes down, move faster, I am Liu Dadao, the foreman who manages you, I have opened my eyes to see clearly, don't admit my mistake tomorrow morning."

Liu Dadao, who had a cowhide belt around his waist, stood on the wheel and shouted loudly, a sturdy bearded man, about 30 years old, who commanded 42 Chinese laborers from the Pinelli Mine to get off several wagons.

"All of you remember;

The £10 poll tax per person entering Queensland is paid by the Penelli mines, and this money is to be paid by you for the sand gold you dig in the goldfields, with interest at an extra pound per month until it is paid.

Before that

You all live in cage houses, and the accommodation, food, and carriages to and from the gold fields are arranged by the Pinelli mines, and the relevant expenses are borne by you.

Don't be delusional about leaving, it's 140 miles from the nearest town, and it's deserted and full of ferocious beasts.

Don't blame me for not reminding you, you newcomers can ask someone to inquire, and those who left without permission have died in the wilderness, without exception.

As a word of advice, honest work is the right way.

If you are lucky, you can kick a large piece of dog's head gold on the road, and you will make a fortune. ”

When I arrived in Chinatown, naturally a Chinese boss who ran a cage house came out with his guys, and asked the Chinese workers to carry their luggage in and settle down.

The so-called cage house is a small room in a house that is divided into a cage with wooden boards, and can only accommodate the size of a bed.

With the influx of Chinese workers in Queensland's Chinatown, the houses that could survive the cold season immediately became tense, and cage houses came into being.

Stand at the corner of the street

Li Fushou leaned next to the big bag of luggage and did not leave, and he said to the three people who had been following him; "You think about it yourself, whether to follow me or go to the mine to pan for gold, the idea is to get it yourself."

"Young Master Li, I heard that the gold mine is very dangerous, even if you are lucky enough to dig up a large piece of dog's head gold, I am afraid that you will not be able to get it back, and you will not have that blessing to enjoy." He Shoutian said resolutely; "I can't make a fortune, I just want to follow the young master to eat a bowl of stable rice."

The strong Fan Asheng is exactly 20 years old this year, and he is a real person with a simple temperament, and he is also decisive; "The young master is a person with great ability, I am willing to follow the young master."

Only Liu Xuan hesitated, and said with a blush on his face; Li ...... Young Master Li, I still want to go to the mine to try my luck, otherwise I will not be willing to cross the ocean to Xinjinshan. ”

"It doesn't matter, it's all voluntary." Li Fushou took out a shilling silver coin and handed it to Liu Xuan, and said with a smile; "You can help a little in the morning, this is your reward."

"Young Master Li, this is not necessary, I didn't help anything." Liu Xuan waved his hand, but his eyes were staring at the shiny silver coin in Li Fushou's hand, revealing a fiery look.

"Huh...... Everything is one yard, this is the money you deserve, I like to do things clearly, I don't want to owe favors for a little thing, that thing...... Too tired. ”

Li Fushou grabbed his hand, put a shilling silver coin in Liu Xuan's hand, and said with a faint smile on his face; "In this way, we will clear up, and in the future, I will do business and open a shop, and you will take care of the business and settle the accounts as you want, which is more refreshing."

He Shoutian and Fan Asheng, who were standing behind him, looked at each other silently, they knew the meaning of Young Master Li's words;

In the future, the road will be towards the sky, and each side will go to the same side, and it will be what it should be.

In addition to these two people, there is also a fellow villager named Menlanzi who is willing to follow Li Fushou, because Menlanzi has been a restaurant apprentice for several years before coming to Australia, and he has the skills to cook, and he is more willing to be a chef than a gold pander.

Hearing that Li Fushou was about to open a restaurant, the doorman immediately changed his mind to follow, and he couldn't get away.

Everyone has their own ambitions, and they should not be forced.

What could be more tempting for a gold prospector aspiring to be a chef than the call of a hotel owner?

Li Fushou paid the entry poll tax for four people, including himself, and his bulging wallet suddenly lost 44 pounds, that is, 11 pounds per person.

In addition to the entry poll tax of ten pounds per Chinese worker, the extra pound per person is the handling fee charged by the Penelli Gold Fields, even if only half a day has passed, it is charged according to a month, which is completely unreasonable.

If others might be distressed, Li Fushou paid all the fees without frowning and got 4 tax payment certificates.

In this foreign country, nothing that can be solved with money is a problem.

When Li Fushou left the dock, he could clearly feel the greedy eyes of the onlookers Australian men, and even a cowboy with bad intentions rode a horse and followed him until near Chinatown before leaving stupidly.

This is a wild continent full of villains, not a Garden of Eden.

When you are weak, you have a large amount of cash in your hands, which is undoubtedly an extremely dangerous thing, and it is easy to be shot and targeted.

After Mr. Li helped the other three pay their poll tax, the three followers would have to serve for at least two years to pay off the debt, based on the average Queensland labour earnings.

This means that he has three more stable and reliable people to use, which is far more worth it than the pound lying in the purse.

Seeing Li Fushou spending 44 pounds generously, the cage house owner Fat Lao Chun, who was standing not far away, immediately paid attention, whispered to other Chinese workers, and quickly noticed Li Fushou's extraordinary.

"This little brother Li, can you take a step to speak?" Fat guy Chun raised his voice and shouted to Li Fushou and his party of four.

"Uh, you're ......"

"Hehehe, I am the owner of this inn, Fat Guy Chun, who has been in Australia for more than 10 years, originally a gold pander in the Victorian Gold Fields, and now I have a small business in Brisbane's Chinatown, just to make a living."

"Long admiration, long admiration, we have just arrived in the treasure land, please give us more guidance." Li Fushou bowed his hand.

"Then sit down and have a cup of tea and talk slowly."

"Okay, it's better to be respectful than to obey."

The Chinese Workers' Inn in Fat Guy Chun is two three-storey wooden buildings that were originally purchased for £72 and 6 shillings, but now their value has more than multiplied with the rise of the Queensland Gold Rush.

As the innkeeper, Fatty Chun lives in a narrow wooden house of less than 10 square meters on the third floor, and because of the orientation of the room, he can't see a ray of sunlight in this still warm September.

All the other rooms are rented out separately to make money, and when it is busy, there are even people living in the hallway, and the inn guys move to the fat guy Chun's room to live together, just to make a few more money.

In the narrow wooden house, the fragrance of tea lingers.

Li Fushou took a sip of the crimson hot tea soup, feeling the comfort from body to heart, and just had a chat with Fat Lao Chun, which made him know a lot about the current situation in Queensland and Chinatown, which can be said to be worthy of this trip.

Queensland is an autonomous state established in Australia in 1859, only 17 years ago, with a total area of 1.72 million square kilometers, is the second largest autonomous state in the entire Australian Dominion, located in the northeast.

Brisbane, the city where the gold diggers are located today, is a new city that emerged as a result of the gold rush, the capital of Queensland and the largest city in the autonomous state.

The city has a population of less than 100,000, more than half of whom are gold prospectors, and about half of the population is engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, mostly white farmers and cowboys.

The population composition is mainly European immigrants and Chinese, about 6:3, and the remaining 10% of the population is from the indigenous countries of the South Pacific island countries and Southeast Asian descent, and a few adventurers from the Americas, the composition is very complex.

Due to the introverted personality of Chinese workers, they are not sociable, and have little ** flow with the local white people, and most of them live around Chinatown to form their own small circles.

The reason is simple: most of these Chinese gold diggers are young and strong men, who are hard-working and hard-working, and they have gained far more in the gold fields than white gold diggers.

In addition, Chinese people have few vices of eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling, so they can accumulate a lot of money and send it back to their hometown, which will of course cause others to be red.

In the first eight months of 1876 alone, Chinese workers in Queensland sent back £715,000 worth of gold, equivalent to more than £20 per Chinese worker, which was a lot of money.

Enter 1876

The white gold diggers in Queensland have become increasingly contradictory with the Chinese, vicious brawls have continued, and many Chinese gold diggers have disappeared inexplicably, with a total of more than 170 dead and injured, most of whom are Chinese gold diggers.

The local police in Brisbane did not arrest any of the white murderers, which made the situation in the large and small gold mines in the Palmer River valley in Queensland suddenly tense, and the irreconcilable contradictions between the two sides became more acute.