A large crowd of people gathered on the banks of the river, and it was clearly divided into two sides.

In the open area of the space, there were four blood-stained men lying on their prostrates, who knew by looking at their outfits that they were Chinese gold diggers, all with long braids on the back of their heads.

Three of them were gone, and only a young man was left moaning in pain, one of his arms hanging limply and bloodstained.

If Li Fushou was here, he would have been able to recognize this young man as Liu Shuan, who had disembarked with him.

The fearless young man who had vowed to realize his dream of wealth in the Australian gold fields was like an over-frightened quail at this moment, looking at the fierce white man with a gun in front of him with a pale face, and muttered:

"All of them are dead, and you have killed them...... Nothing left......"

A few white men brutally searched for gold dust from the dead man, as well as a few gold bumps the size of little fingers, which alone were worth tens of pounds, which made them laugh excitedly.

There were hundreds of Chinese gold diggers watching, numbness, hesitation, fear, and anger in their eyes, but none of them dared to come forward.

Three Royal Australian Mounted Officers on tall quartful horses appeared on the hillside, glancing indifferently, Shi Shiran continued to advance, and his figure soon disappeared into the lush bushes.

Only the rampant laughter of the perpetrators echoes in the air, and money stimulates them to heat their heads, and a larger robbery crime is about to happen.

"My God, what's going on here?"

Steve McQueen, the captain of the armed guard of the gold mines, led people over, and saw from a distance that "Wild Wolf" Bilken stuffed a handful of glittering things into a leather horse bag, and couldn't help but curse; "How did you show up on my mine, you damn wolf, and those mounted policemen are blind? Ignore the notorious repeat bank robbers, and you all deserve hell. ”

"Don't be impulsive, man, we're law-abiding citizens."

As he spoke, "Wild Wolf" Bilken glanced at his accomplices, and the other bandits wisely stopped, the dead Chinese laborer's corpse had been stripped of his clothes, his hair was braided, and his sleeves and waistband were rudely torn apart, just to find the gold hidden on his body.

"Law-abiding citizens?"

Steve McQueen couldn't help but sneer, and didn't care about the miserable Chinese laborers on the riverbank, he had seen too much of this situation, and just threw it into the Palmer River.

"As far as I know;

Eight of Australia's nine Dominions are offering bounties for you, and you damn bastard has committed 22 aggravated robberies and murders, robbing expensive postal parcels and banks with brutal methods and no fewer than 40 victims.

Let me think about how much the bounty is?

£120 or £150, it's not a small amount of money anyway, are you tied up or ready to resist? ”

Steve McQueen's hands were less than a fist away from the revolver on either side of his thigh, his eyes were fixed on Bilken in front of him, and the atmosphere quickly became tense because of the confrontation between the two sides, and the armed guards of the gold fields quietly formed an encirclement formation, and they had the advantage in numbers.

"Alright, don't stress man, you're in this place for the money, and so am I." The notorious bank thief Bilken shrugged his shoulders disapprovingly, walked over to the other party, and said in his mouth; "Although I have done some wrong things before, but that is all in the past, now everyone is working together to squeeze these Orientals, which is more profitable than robbing a bank, let go of your guard, let's talk about ......"

"Stop, Bilken, I can't help but pull out my gun and shoot you in the head."

"As you wish, you idiot with muscular bumps in your head can make £150 a day here, don't bother me now, you'll get your share."

Bilken stopped, untimid in the face of Steve McQueen, who was a head taller than him, and threw a money bag like a dog.

Steve McQueen caught it with his hand, feeling heavy in his hand, and opened it to see that the golden light shimmered, and there was gold dust worth 30 pounds inside.

"Oh...... Praise Jesus, what a generous person you are. ”

"Now get out of here!"

"Dear Mr. Pilken, then we will not hinder your important business, and I would like to remind you that Master John Dennis is in the mines today, and if it can be solved with a knife, I think it is a safer way."

"Uh-huh...... Steve McQueen, you're a good dog with a lot of eyesight, and you're begging your owner for a few fleshy bones, like that little Irish. ”

"Thank you for the compliment, I hope you die in the wasteland as soon as possible, this is not the place you should be." The wrinkles on Steve McQueen's face stretched with joy, and he paddled the heavy money bag in his hand and winked at his men.

Come fast, go faster.

The bandits turned their faces and stared greedily at the large group of Chinese laborers, as if they were mountains of gold that could be moved.

A group of Chinese ......

The white people in Dennis Gold Mine did not choose to start with Chinese laborers who cut off their braids, nor did they choose Chinese laborers with the word "Hongmen" on their chests, let alone indentured laborers, but only found free Chinese laborers with scattered sand.

The few people who were killed just now were free Chinese workers, who had no background, no strong heels, and were the weakest group to be bullied.

Mid-XIX century

After the rise of foreign gold rushes, there was a gold rush in St. Francisco, North America, which lasted for more than 40 years, and was called San Francisco by Chinese workers.

In the middle and late periods, there was a gold rush in Australia that lasted for more than ten years, which was called "New Gold Mountain" by Chinese workers.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the coastal provinces of Shenzhou were struggling to survive, the contradiction between population and land became increasingly prominent, and the people fought on a large scale for water and land, reaching an astonishing level of more than 100,000 casualties, and the local government was helpless.

In this historical context, the Chinese have gone to the South Seas and even crossed the ocean to the other side to develop, just to seek hope for survival.

meanwhile

The northern Shaanxi region "went to the west", and the people in the neighboring Jiaodong area "broke through the east", which was to struggle for a way out of this difficult world.

The difference between indentured Chinese laborers and free Chinese laborers is actually very simple.

Chinese workers who come to Australia will go through the stage of "indentured Chinese workers", because they cannot pay a huge amount of tickets for crossing the ocean, and many young men who are forced to make a living sign a deed of sale with a bite of their teeth, which is commonly known as "selling piglets" in the Liangguang area.

These Chinese laborers traveled thousands of miles to the other side of the ocean, worked diligently in the gold mines, and used the gold sand to pay off their debts.

This is called indentured labor, and the gold mine arranges accommodation, work, and the income is used to pay off debts.

Two-thirds of the gold sand mined by the indentured laborers is handed over to the mines, and the remaining one-third is not their own, but is used to pay off debts, and if they are lucky, they will be able to pay off all their debts in a few months and become free laborers.

In view of the influx of a large number of Chinese workers in Australia, which caused a serious imbalance in the population, a poll tax was introduced to restrict the entry of Chinese workers, and each person needed to pay 10 pounds, which greatly increased the burden on gold prospectors.

But as long as the dream of gold and fortune is not shattered, there is still a steady stream of Chinese who come across the ocean.

After becoming a freelancer, he only had to pay four shillings a month in the gold mines, and everything was his own.

Indentured laborers were the property of the gold fields, and white gold diggers would not be allowed to touch their cake and get away with it.

Now a large part of the Queensland Free Labor has joined the Hongmen, a very powerful gang that the white gold diggers know they can't afford to provoke, and the general robbery and extortion will avoid this part of the people.

The remainder of the free labourers, who are reluctant to pay two shillings a month, or two pounds a year, are the most victimized.

After a few months of hard work in the gold mines, Liu was lucky enough to pay off his debts and become a freelancer.

The dream of making a fortune was shattered before it was realized, which hit Liu Zhu very hard, and he sat on the river beach in a daze, completely unable to hear the cries and begs for mercy of the cowardly Chinese workers in his ears.

I don't know what kind of psychology it is, Liu Xuan has not joined the hot Hongmen in Chinatown, but chose to advance and retreat with a group of fellow villagers, and the three dead people lying on the ground are some of them.

Wrong, so wrong......

The chaos of the evening continued, and most of the Chinese workers belonging to Hongmen were not harassed, and they silently walked past the bullied Chinese with unbearable expressions on their faces.

These Chinese workers have one thing in common, that is, they have a cloth seal the size of a cigarette box on their chests, on which are written the big words "Hongmen" in Chinese, and the lower row of small characters are; A member of the dyeing team of the Blue Dragons.

"Brother Hu, are we really going to die?"

"How can we save ourselves if we are unarmed?"

Hearing this, Huo Ran looked back, wearing the mark of the deputy commander of the Qinglong team on his chest, about 30 years old, with big shoulders and a round waist, and a fierce expression, he was Li Heihu, who was known as Brother A Hu.

The eldest brother Li Baihu and the second brother Li Heihu are both trying to survive in Australia, and they came here during the last Victorian gold mining boom, more than ten years ago.

Because the two brothers have outstanding military value and are fair and righteous, they were elected by a group of people as the captain and deputy of the Blue Dragon team.

The laborer was stunned by this rhetorical question, and his face turned red and said; "Our Hongmen brothers meet people in distress, and they have the righteousness to help!"

"Oh, how did you learn the rules of the mountain gate in the auditorium, any of the brothers in the same family are in trouble, we have a helping hand, and this does not include others." Liu Heihu reprimanded casually, and said with a solemn expression with his hands clenched into fists to the sky; "The lord of the mountain once said;

A red river passes through it, and the green hills on both sides are enchanting.

Brotherhood is all over the world, and there is no one who does not cross the mountain.

As long as my brothers in Hongheshan work together, the ghosts will not dare to bully us, and others will not be able to take care of their idle affairs.

Hongmen Xiangtang is open in Chinatown, and these comrades who have been bullied by others can enter with their feet raised, and I believe that they will not be harassed. ”

Speaking of this, Li Heihu's voice couldn't help but get louder, and he explained to the surrounding Hongmen brothers; "I warn you not to cause trouble for this door, take the initiative to break the rules, even if you are fished out of the white people in the end, you will be severely punished by the torture hall, the laws of Hongmen are strict, this does not need me to remind you, those who do not obey the order and trespass, will be beaten with a stick, and at worst they will be stabbed with three knives and six holes until they sink into the sea, and the king of heaven and Lao Tzu will not be merciful."

"Brother Hu, don't worry, we don't dare."

"That kind of reckless man doesn't have to worry about it, let it fend for itself, and we'll be quiet."

"It's just that we're all rule-abiding people."

The noise here attracted the attention of the white man, who stood on the big rock and urged his men to search for Chinese laborers, and with a dangerous narrowing of his eyes, he jumped off the stone with his legs raised and strode over.