A few days later

"How is it, have you seen Brother Sixian?" Li Xuanzhu asked with concern.

"No, now the family compound of the Marine Police District is closed by the security department, and on the surface, it is still armed soldiers standing guard, but in fact, there is no use for birds, it is just for outsiders to see, the internal security department is conducting large-scale screening, and the king of heaven is not allowed to enter."

"People won't let in, can't you hand a note in?"

"Camp, my Duan Qirui has always been reliable, Brother Sixian asked someone to bring the word out, oh, it is the team leader He Quanshou, so that we don't have to worry about his situation, he is cooperating with the security department to screen the officers and soldiers, and we can't see each other in the short term, so we don't have to worry about it."

Speaking of this, Duan Qirui paused, leaned over and said a little mysteriously; "That team leader, He Quanshou, made a special gesture and told me that Brother Sixian had passed the loyalty review, and this time it was possible to be a blessing in disguise and enter the sight of Lord Earl......"

"That's awesome." Li Xuanzhu raised his eyebrows, obviously quite surprised by the news.

"Tut-tut...... Not really! Our senior brother Sixian has a chance to take charge alone, and when your boss and sister-in-law return from studying in England, they will be mixed up under other people's hands, and you can tremble in Ginza when the time comes......"

"Alright, don't be such a bastard." Li Xuanzhu pushed Duan Qirui away with a disdainful expression, with an expression that I am not the same kind of person as you.

As a matter of fact

In terms of the degree of the eight women, Li Xuanzhu is even better, and his original form will be revealed immediately;

"Let me tell you about it, there has been a big move in the division recently, the first and second regiments will be moved to Jayapura after resting, which is now the weak point of defense, and it is very close to Borneo and Sulawesi, and it can exert strong pressure on the Dutch through the garrison, I estimate what else to do, but unfortunately these bustles have nothing to do with our three regiments."

"Camp, will our three regiments stay in Moresby now?"

"How can it be so stopping?"

"How...... Have a new mission? ”

"Well, today I went to the regiment headquarters, the regiment received the task of cooperating with the colonization of the Qingshui River Basin, the regiment gave this task to our second battalion, I will personally take the first company and the second company and the logistics company to participate in the operation, the third company, the fire company and the supplementary company stay in the camp, you go back and quickly mobilize, prepare more comprehensively, bring more camp tents and various anti-insect and anti-bite medicines, and two days later, follow the fleet to carry out the task."

"Yes, guaranteed to complete the mission." Duan Qirui replied with a salute.

"Then get out of here, what are you doing with me?" Li Xuanzhu walked to the chair next to him and sat down, casually picked up a large tea jar of herbal tea and took a sip, watching Duan Qirui leave quickly.

"Oh my God, this belly is a lot bigger than before, and it looks like it's going to work out more." Li Xuanzhu sat on the chair and felt that the military uniform was a little supportive, so he couldn't help touching his stomach with his hand, and said to himself; "The daughter-in-law hasn't married yet, don't grow into a big fat man first, then it's over."

His current identity is the commander of the second battalion of the third regiment, and there are more than a dozen orderlies, communication soldiers, health officers, and guards under him, and the battalion headquarters has a small stove alone, and the officers eat well and nutritious, so his body has developed rapidly and he looks much stronger.

in the final analysis

The Queensland National Guard belongs to the army of feudal lords, and there is no talk of equality between officers and soldiers, officers and soldiers are treated differently, and low-level officers and middle-level officers are treated differently, and class differences can be felt everywhere.

If you want to get ahead, you have to fight with your life.

Come to think of it, Shangri-La is the lowest-paid mounted infantry division, and the average soldier is paid 6 shillings and two pence a month, which is less than 1/3 pound, and if he does not fight, it is about four pounds a year, which is about the same as that of an ordinary dock packer.

It was different in battle, and for every large-scale battle, soldiers were rewarded with more rewards, ranging from £1 to £5, such as attacking the positions held by the Dutchmen in Erdaoliang, and each soldier was given £5 in advance, and after the battle, there was a generous reward for merit, money for the field and medals, and the Earl never skimped on these expenses.

Of course, the officer's reward is higher.

This is the rule in the world today, and the British, the French, and the Germans all did it, and the same was true of the Manchus.

The salary of the Guards Cavalry Division is much higher, the annual salary of ordinary soldiers is about more than ten pounds, plus the equipment and feeding of war horses, the annual expenditure of maintaining a cavalry is about 45~50 pounds, which is still in the case of non-wartime.

About half of the expenses are spent on feeding war horses, that is, no less than 20 pounds per year, which includes a large amount of forage concentrate and salt, black beans, eggs, as well as war horse equipment and other expenses......

Australia has vast natural pastures, and the cost of feeding war horses is only about one-third to one-quarter of that of Europe, and the terrain is flat and far away, which is very suitable for the development of cavalry units.

In the European region

For example, the Napoleonic Royal Guards Dragoons of the French Army across the continent cost more than £85 to feed a light cavalry horse, and the heavy cavalry generally used a horse of more than £110.

In the popular "Sense and Sensibility" in Europe in the 18th century, according to the protagonist Austen, horses were expensive to raise at that time, with ordinary horses costing 25 to 40 pounds a year, and fine horses often costing hundreds of pounds.

But no matter how littered the horse is, as long as you want to use it to pull the cart and help, the annual breeding cost will not be less than 40 pounds, and the horse will not have the strength to work if it is not well fed.

The cost of raising horses for aristocratic carriages was generally above £85, and two horses plus a groom cost more than £200 a year.

In other words, horses are much more expensive than people, and they are by no means affordable for ordinary people.

The topic comes back

With the current income of the battalion commander of the major in Lee, it is about 230 pounds a year, which is twice as high as the company officer, and he has entered the middle officer's club.

Compared with the friendly troops, this level of income is one-third lower than that of the Guards Cavalry Division, and even lower than that of officers of the same rank in the Navy, and there is no comparison.

But the army has an advantage, that is, it has extra money, filial piety and other income, such as the officers and soldiers of the 1st Regiment and 2nd Regiment of the former Shangri-La Division who invaded Borneo, and the income from the seizure is simply a lot of money, and they have made a lot of money.

Of course, the majority belonged to the Borneo occupation forces, and except for half of the captured property that was allocated to military expenses, all the officers and soldiers made a fortune, and even the three regiments that remained in Moresby shared some leftovers, and Li Xuanzhu alone received an additional income of 350 pounds, which shows the richness of the capture.

In the past year, Li Xuanzhu has gone from being a penny to a net worth of more than 1,000 pounds, realizing the original accumulation of wealth.

Two days later

Port Moresby

Seven ships were gathered in the harbor, including five 3,000-ton ships carrying large quantities of supplies, and two 260-ton distant-water fishing boats, preparing to go to the mouth of the Qingshui River (formerly the Frye River) in the Coral Sea, and trace the Qingshui River up to find the planned location of Tianshu Town, set up an advance camp and dock for the arrival of immigrants, and explore further inland......

The wharf is crowded and bustling.

The tractors carrying the goods were loaded with large barrels of salted fish, salted meat, grain piled high and all kinds of land-clearing utensils, lined up in a long column waiting to be lifted onto the ship, and many people who participated in the colonization advance team boarded the ship one after another surrounded by their families and relatives, waving goodbye.

I can't come back for at least half a year and a year, and mosquitoes breed in tropical rainforest areas, so it's hard to say when people will be gone, no wonder everyone is worried.

Fortunately, the Qingshui River Basin has been uninhabited for thousands of years, in a primitive and barren state, and there is no usual human tropical malignant epidemic disease, as long as you pay attention to health protection, it should not be a big problem.

All the personnel involved in the previous colonization group must be bathed and disinfected before boarding the ship, so as to minimize the chance of carrying germs, strictly control the occurrence of hot epidemic diseases from the source, and win more time for colonization and reclamation.

on the pier

Wu Xuewen, the governor of Shangri-La, is saying goodbye to Li Fushan, the mayor of Moresby, and he will personally lead a team to the Qingshui River basin to determine the new site and start the construction of Tianshu Town.

"Your Excellency, the risk of colonizing the new region this time is quite large, you are also responsible for the two provinces, in case there is any mistake and regret it is too late, it is better to take a trip instead of you......"

"Brother Fushan, you don't have to persuade again, this major plan to open up the Qingshui River is the top priority of the development of my Shangri-La area, and it is a big matter, and I, the general manager, must go to the front line to command, and I can't always listen to the report and make decisions in the rear, which is too inefficient."

Wu Xuewen looked at the endless crowd on the wharf, and a sense of entrepreneurial pride rose in his heart, and he said to Li Fushan with a solemn expression; "In case of any accident to me, I also ask Brother Fukuyama to unswervingly implement the colonization strategy, and we must not let the grand blueprint we plan together fall short, then we will become sinners of Shangri-La, and we will not be blind under Jiuquan."

"Please rest assured, Fushan will definitely live up to expectations, I only hope that you will return as soon as possible, and you will come back to preside over the overall situation of Shangri-La!" When Li Fushan said this, his brows rose with a thick melancholy, and he said with a long sigh;

"After our repeated efforts, Lord Earl allocated 130,000 pounds of support from Necuri, plus the more than 30,000 pounds we worked hard to raise, it can only last for more than two months at most, and it will not last until the beginning of next year anyway!"

Speaking of the topic

Wu Xuewen's face became solemn, his brows furrowed deeply, and the financial difficulties were the biggest obstacle to this colonization plan, and there was almost no solution.

According to the latest news from Australia;

In order to obtain the full support of the British side, the Earl plans to dedicate four first-class battleships with a displacement of 10,000 tons at the grand celebration of the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty's accession to the throne, with a total planned cost of more than 3.5 million pounds (including design costs and the cost of adding special facilities to the Hongshan shipyard).

Coupled with the massive expansion of troops and preparations for the Battle of Borneo, the already loose financial situation has become extremely tight, and Mr. Kestner, the director and general manager of Huitong Bank, has jumped to his feet and released harsh words on the board of directors.

Therefore, the major colonization plan of Shangri-La Island, the Earl's squeezing out of 130,000 pounds from the inner treasury is already the limit, and the follow-up financial support next year is also dangerous, and the strength will not be as great as originally thought.

Before the end of the year, the loan from Huitong Bank is completely gone, in a word; There is just no money.

This has caused significant difficulties for the current plan, and there is no money for anything?

Think back to the beginning

£420,000 was invested in the first phase of the town's high-standard construction, and a large amount of money was invested in the later period to build a high-standard permanent concrete pier, a high-standard street with well-developed drainage facilities, a stilted building complex with raised concrete pillars, improved street greening and gas street lighting, and a high-standard concrete storehouse and other utilities.

"Alas...... Now that money is being asked everywhere, we must understand the difficulties of the Earl, and try to overcome them by ourselves if there are difficulties. Wu Xuewen's brows furrowed tightly, and he said after careful consideration;

"The colonization plan cannot be delayed for a moment, it must be started immediately, and with less money in hand, we will try to simplify it as much as possible, and do more with the least money.

Tianshu Town does not need to build a perfect sewer pipe network for the time being, nor does it need to build high-standard streets, after the mud road is tamped, the wharf is also simple because of the ugliness, temporarily replaced by wooden plank roads, bridges and other things are also handled, and small money is spent to do big things.

Housing construction can also be postponed, we just bring more tents, mainly to build an advance camp for immigrants to settle in, with enough manpower we can do more things, snowballing bigger and bigger.

Brother Fukuyama, please do a good job of logistical support in the rear, this task is far more difficult than what I have to face, and it will be hard for you. ”

"Where did the chief manager say, this is Fukuyama's duty, I am here to make a military order for you, no matter what, I will do my best to supply the material and manpower needs of the colonization team, there is really no way, I will go to the Red Fort to kneel down for Lord Earl, and I will never shorten the material needs of the colonization team, the first immigration ship will be sent to Tianshu Town in October, please relax."

"Okay, you and I are brothers of the same heart, and their profits are gold."

Wu Xuewen and Liu Fushan's two pairs of big hands clasped tightly together, showing a rare smile.

That's when it happened

There was a commotion in the distance from the pier, and the two turned their heads to look over, only to see the soldiers of the 3rd Regiment and the 2nd Battalion in full armor, escorting more than 1,600 Dutch prisoners of war.

"Boss, this ......"

"Huh...... I saw that these Dutch prisoners of war were idle, so I simply stuffed them into the colonization team to work as coolies, which would save a lot of money. ”

"Uh...... All right. ”

Li Fushan touched his nose and didn't squeak, our chief manager was also forced by money, and he actually started the idea of Dutch prisoners of war, which is really no one!

It is estimated that by the time the negotiations are over, it will be good if half of these Dutch prisoners of war will remain.

It's not deliberate abuse, you must know that this is a tropical colonization and reclamation, as a coolie doing the most tiring and dangerous work, mosquito bites and difficult working conditions are unavoidable, plus there is no good medical conditions and poor food, how can you expect to be all right, isn't that a fantasy?

Well, the people of Shangri-La hate these Dutch whitekees, and if they die, they will die, and they will not be more precious than anyone's life.

These prisoners of war came from previous naval and land wars, and there were no nobles.

The Dutch nobles were killed in the bloody battle of Erdaoliang along with Lord Smitt von Crawens, a colonel of the Royal Dutch Army, and the German Colonel Heinrich and Lieutenant Colonel Schmeichel, who belonged to the mercenary officers, were all killed by the Dutch with knives and died cleanly.

The rest are all Dutch civilians and a handful of mercenaries, no one to pay a large ransom for them, and they can only earn a way out of their hands, and if they can return to the day when peace was negotiated, they may be able to free themselves from their misery and win a new life.

No way, the weak have no human rights!