With abundant funds in hand, the expansion of FLM Hotel has entered the fast lane, in addition to the main store, the second and third stores have been opened in Chinatown, and the new location of four stores is being prepared.

As a result, the number of employees has also swelled dramatically to more than 260 people.

The third batch of 10,000 steel food boxes arrived, and after the first few days of excitement, the leasing situation slowed down, and only about 1/3 of the sales were made.

On the one hand, because of the saturation of the market, basically one Chinese gold prospector for every two people rented a food box, and the rest of the people were basically hard-working, who would rather break down than spend two silver shillings.

There are also a small number of people who have unique solutions, such as setting rabbits to fight yellow sheep, touching fish and kangaroos, anyway, there are many prey in the wilderness around, and they are very easy to catch.

On the other hand, because the weather is getting colder, the way to pan for gold, mainly in the shallow parts of the river, is no longer enough, and the gold prospectors are forced to go ashore to sift through the gold mines in the nearby land, and their income has plummeted, less than 1/4 of the original amount.

Standing in the bone-chilling water in the cold weather of October, even a strong man could not last 20 minutes, and often left serious sequelae.

In this case, some gold diggers have tightened their money bags and are unwilling to pay more.

As we enter November, the weather is getting colder and colder.

Li Fushou was riding in a four-wheeled carriage with steel plates on the inner wall, and had just returned to his residence from Standard Chartered Bank, and Nan Huaiyu sat next to the driver of the carriage, with a short gun stuck in his waist, and two long guns full of bullets in the long box under his buttocks, in case of any contingency.

On both sides of the carriage were Chinese gunmen with loaded guns, and after a period of training, they are now on guard.

Li Fushou got off the carriage and looked left and right, and walked into the courtyard without saying a word.

Although business has been sluggish recently, the customer base of nearly 20,000 people is not playing, and the savings discount in his pocket has steadily increased to about £6,900.

Recently, I have been in frequent contact with banker Kevin Turner, and I have contacted the Owen family through Standard Chartered Bank, and the news I have received is mixed;

Regardless of who the buyer was, Owen agreed to sell the ranch as long as he was willing to pay cash as soon as possible, and the current price is £33,000.

In addition to the 530 square kilometres of freehold property interests, there are a large number of outbuildings and extensive sheepfolds, stables, cattle sheds, a coal mine, a bauxite mine, plus 3,000 acres of land that has been reclaimed.

Besides

Owen Farm also has more than 100,000 sheep, more than 2,000 cattle and a large number of chickens, ducks, geese and birds, which are worth more than 4,000 pounds.

Therefore, it would have to cost more than £37,000 to take down Owen Farm in its entirety, and it would be impossible to do less.

In this era, it was a huge amount of money, enough for the British Imperial Navy to buy a 4,500-ton steam ironclad ship, and in the French-dominated area of the southern part of the Americas, it was able to buy 2,000 sturdy black slaves.

Counting the money in his hands, Li Fushou is still a full 30,000 pounds short.

Standard Chartered is willing to provide £15,000 in credit support, which must be secured by the pasture, but there is still a gap of £15,000.

In the past few days, Li Fushou has been annoyed by this.

Because that dumb boy Owen can't wait to go to Europe, it seems that he can't wait for a day.

Li Fushou walked into the room and closed the door, this is where Mr. Mike Harmana's family used to live, the doors and windows are beautifully decorated in European style, and there is a large fireplace.

He sat back in his chair and let out a long sigh, his heart full of longing for the vast Owen Farm, knowing that once the opportunity was lost, it would not come back.

For white ranchers, farms are the lifeblood of generations, the foundation of survival, and the unique lifestyle of white ranchers, which cannot be easily transferred.

Unless the previous generation dies or is heavily in debt, or encounters a loser like Owen, who wants to destroy their foundations.

Owen Ranch is also in the top 10 in Queensland, and although there are many white ranchers who are greedy and know that this is a good property to pass on, they are far inferior to Li Fushou, and they can't afford to buy a ranch with a lot of cash.

Owen, a born loser, admits money and doesn't recognize people, and things are frozen there.

Li Fushou took a sip of coffee, letting the bitter taste linger in his mouth, and couldn't help but feel refreshed.

I can't say it, buddy only has to make a big move.

The slender fingers gently tapped the leather handle of the chair, and the look in Li Fushou's eyes gradually became firm, ready to put the plan into action.

"Huaiyu, you go to the state immigration office, ask Mr. Wexford to come and ask Mr. Wexford to come and have important things to discuss with him."

"Got it, young master."

Nan Huaiyu immediately went out and went to find the officials of the Immigration Department according to the young master's instructions.

In the more than two months since he came to Brisbane, Li Fushou has become a powerful star in Chinatown, and is well known to the upper class of Queensland, so he has also met many powerful people.

For example, state legislators, lawyers and bankers, members of the Royal Australian Gold Mining Commission and ranchers' associations, members of the upper echelons of the police and politics, etc.

After all, Brisbane is just a small city of less than 100,000 people, and there are only a few dozen people in total, so it is not difficult to get acquainted with.

Li Fushou's plan is very simple, he is going to sell the naturalization permit of the British Empire's Australian colony, which looks like a simple piece of paper, but in fact it is the real official recognition of Chinese identity.

Completely different from a simple entry permit, this is an extremely important piece of identification.

In other words, the British Empire recognized the Chinese who obtained the naturalization permit as citizens of the British Empire's overseas colonies, who could do business in accordance with the law, marry and obtain the protection of property and personal rights, have the right to vote and stand for election in the autonomous states, have the qualifications to engage in politics and public office, and have all other corresponding rights.

Chinese who have obtained naturalization permits can become police officers and government officials, join the army or politics, and become one of the real masters of this land.

Of course, this refers to the Australian colonial government of the British Empire, not to the British Isles proper, thousands of miles away.

Why did Li Fushou dare to do this?

The reason is very simple, Mr. Wexford, the director of the Queensland Immigration Department, is a typical Irishman, who has no more than the same pot of urine with the authentic British from the roots, and the two sides have a deep grudge.

The interests of the so-called British Empire are nothing in his eyes.

In the eyes of those who don't know the inside story, they think that Mr. Wexford is an authentic Englishman, but he thinks that he is an Irishman, and that he is not the same thing as those Englishmen.

The grievances and grievances in this are too long, so let's not mention them for the time being.

Therefore, there is no psychological barrier for Mr. Wexford to sell a Queensland naturalization permit privately.

The Chinese gold diggers in Queensland were essentially wealthy, but they were reluctant to show their wealth to whites because of their thrifty and clumsy traditions.

In 1876 alone, Queensland gold prospectors sent £800,000 worth of gold to Oriental Shenzhou, which shows that this is a large gold mine that deserves to be explored.

Why are fewer than 100 of Brisbane's tens of thousands of Chinese gold prospectors naturalized, eventually married white women and settled down to become part of the city?

It is because the British have always been wary of Chinese naturalization and are easily unwilling to open their mouths, which will cause an imbalance in the national structure and is not conducive to the rule of whites.

Even if the Chinese gold diggers held the money, they could not find a temple to worship the Buddha, let alone obtain a naturalization permit to settle down.

Are they unwilling?

No, deep in the heart of every Chinese gold digger, they are willing to settle in this beautiful and rich land, take deep roots and multiply and develop.

However, if you can't get a naturalization permit, you can't walk into the church here with your lover's arm, get married, have children, do business and buy real estate, and you are a black household working as a temporary worker, which shows the extreme importance of naturalization permission documents.

By the way

Li Fushou also met Mr. Wexford, the director of the Immigration Department, when he was applying for a naturalization permit, and the two had a friendly and in-depth conversation, and understood the meaning beyond the topic.

A moment later

Mr. Wexford came as promised, and Li Fushou let him into a quiet study to talk in detail, and instructed Nan Huaiyu not to allow anyone to disturb this important private meeting.

"Mr. Wexford, have a Havana cigar, this is the best from the Americas."

"Uh-huh, why not?"

Mr. Wexford was a middle-aged man of slightly fat stature, a graduate of the prestigious University of Oxford, and most of his authentic British classmates held important positions, either in the Admiralty or in the Home Office, or at worst as the Governor of the colonies of the British Empire, which was found all over the world.

His fellow Irish countryman, for example, is the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong, and he is much better mixed than Mr. Wexford, at least not in this middle of nowhere where birds don't.

So for Mr. Wexford, it was a realistic choice to get some money back to Ireland, or to go to the Americas.

At least New York, the Irish stronghold, is 100 times stronger than Brisbane.

The conversation lasted for about 30 minutes, and then ended in a pleasant atmosphere, with two big hands clasped tightly together.

From this moment on, the two became an alliance of interests.

Mr. Wexford was in charge of the Queensland Dominion government's troubles, looking for wealthy Chinese gold diggers to naturalize and pay the relevant payments, and Li Fushou was in charge, and the two sides shared the benefits.

The Queensland Immigration Department does not cost much to fulfill the official documents, only one pound and six pence, mainly because the naturalisation documents require photos and related formalities, and this part of the cost is borne by the applicant.

It was agreed that the Chinese gold diggers would have to pay £40 for naturalization, which would be divided equally between the two men, and that Mr. Wexford would receive £20 for each naturalisation certificate.

Mr. Wexford could not possess it alone, and needed to be evenly involved with the conspirators, and he would certainly take the lion's share, and it would be a good income.

Li Fushou sent someone to run errands, and he was able to obtain 18 pounds, 11 shillings, and 14 pence for a certificate of naturalization.

After the two parties broke up, they made preparations in full swing.

The news quickly spread among the staff employed at the Fu Lin Men Hotel;

The young master has a channel to get an official Australian naturalization certificate, and he only needs to spend 40 pounds to dredge the relevant personnel.

All the Chinese who heard the news were all moved.

Young Master Li Fushou does such a big business, will he still deceive people?

The fast ones have already taken action, rummaging through the boxes and cabinets to raise funds for naturalization certificates, and the sooner they want to get ahead of others, the better.

It's only three days

Li Fushou's men collected 21 naturalization certificates and 840 pounds, demonstrating the wealth of the Chinese gold diggers and the infinite magic of the naturalization certificates, which allowed the Chinese to open their belts and take out the last steel jump.

Mr. Wexford was also very efficient, taking photos and filing a series of procedures in one day, and then held a formal oath of naturalization at the immigration office and obtained an official naturalization certificate with a steel seal.

This action, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, exploded in an instant among the Chinese workers.

Without much mobilization, 52 applications were received on the 4th day, 71 on the 5th day, and 171 on the 6th day......

The enthusiasm for naturalization from the Chinese workers stunned the initiators, Li Fushou and Mr. Wexford, and felt as if something terrible had happened.

But they could no longer get off the ship, and the surging large sum of pounds made everyone's eyes red-eyed, and they quickly worked overtime.

Until the end of November

After completing 1920 official naturalization certificates, Li Fushou paid off all the money for the purchase of Owen Ranch before the end of the month, officially completed the bulk property rights transaction through the law firm, and renamed Owen Ranch as Red River Valley Ranch, which truly became his own property.

By facilitating this large transaction, Standard Chartered also received thousands of pounds in intermediary fees, to the delight of all three parties.

Vast Red River Valley pastures

Li Fushou rode his horse and stood on the high mountain collar, overlooking the distant sky, until the end of his sight was all his own pasture land, and an irrepressible pride rose in his heart.

Look at it from afar

Several silver-white rivers meander into the Brisbane River, then down the rugged Red River Valley to the city of Brisbane and through Moreton Bay into the endless South Pacific.

Ocean-going steamers carrying goods could enter the heart of the pastures via the great rivers and travel further afield.

In the distance, the forest is black and oppressive, and on the vast pasture, cattle and sheep wander leisurely in groups of three or five, and the abundant pasture is half a person high, and they don't need to be taken care of at all, and they all eat fat and strong.

The high-quality sheep on the pasture can give birth to 2~3 sheep every year, if they are not slaughtered, the current hundreds of thousands of sheep all over the pasture will soon double, to the point of headaches.

Li Fushou took a deep breath of the cold air with the fragrance of earth, pointed ahead with a horsewhip in his hand and said; "Shoutian, Ah Sheng, did you ever think when you just got off the ship that in just over three months, I would be able to create such a grand scene?"

"The young master is a man of heaven, and my generation is far behind."

"yes, I can't even dream of it! The young master is a god-like powerful person, and being able to follow behind is the greatest blessing in my life. ”

"yes, yes......"

"Hahaha......... Hahaha......"

Li Fushou laughed loudly, the pleasure in his heart was incomparable, jumping and hitting his chest, as if he was about to jump out in the next minute.