Two years later

October 1888

Port of Batavia (Jakarta).

The ocean liner "Leipzig" from Germany docked at the wharf, the passengers mainly white and Chinese disembarked one after another, white ladies and Chinese businessmen with parasols carried large bags of luggage, porters and carriages on the dock were noisy, eager to find generous customers, and everyone ignored a tall, thin and dark-skinned man beside him.

The man, dressed in a dirty coarse cloth coat, with a disheveled beard and a greasy luggage roll, had been living for more than a month in the cheapest of the ship's bottom warehouses, which smelled of musty and foul feet, and wind and maggots clinging to it, like a refugee fleeing the famine.

The man with the greasy felt hat raised his head, revealing a pair of sharp and deep eyes, this person was Sheng Yeyun, the "Jiabidan" in Bacheng, who had been wandering for more than two years, and finally came back after many difficulties and dangers.

At this moment, strong emotions welled up in my heart.

Tears suddenly welled up in his eyes, and in an instant his cheeks were covered in an instant, and then he stood on the dock and began to cry, crying so sadly.

"Wow grass's voice, it scared me, what are you doing here in the blue sky and daylight?"

"Who is this...... Sick, isn't it? ”

"Who knows, a stupid madman, who looks like a dog."

"Wow, it stinks, get away from him."

The people around him covered their noses in disgust and scattered, even the dock workers did not approach, this crying man was like a crazy flower child, there were two copper plates in his pocket that could be used to get oil, and whoever stuck to it was unlucky.

Half an hour later

Sheng Yeyun, who was crying bitterly, suppressed his grief, tried his best to calm the churning emotions in his heart, and thought again with a calm head, what should he do next?

He stood up and looked around, all he saw was a look of contempt and disdain, and when he saw too much, he became numb, unable to affect Sheng Yeyun, who had gone through the calamity.

For more than two years, I have been hiding in Mozambique everywhere, doing odd jobs to earn money, wishing that a penny was broken in half and finally scraped together the money for the expensive ferry ticket back to Java.

Thinking about the high-spirited guidance of the country at the beginning, he once fantasized about being able to wrestle his wrist with Queensland, and the cruel reality left Sheng Yeyun with endless pain and desolation, he finally understood a truth;

In the face of great strength, all flies and dogs are floating clouds.

Most of the passengers on the dock have left, and the crew is bored sorting out the cables, discussing where to have a good drink and relax after the vacation, and then find a gentle Nanyang sister to turn over the clouds and rain, and let the essence of more than a month of savings be swayed.

The last time I was so relaxed was in the town of Xi'an, in the Horn of East Africa, where the Arab women were really energetic, and there were delicious cashew chicken, braised fat sausages and Dongpo pork.

If you want to say that the Chinese food is authentic, it has to be in Xi'an Town, and as for the curry-smelling Cochin Port, it really makes the seafarers feel sick to their stomachs, not to mention.

Sheng Yeyun calmed down and looked around, and saw that no one was paying attention to him, a down-and-out traveler, so he walked forward with a worn-out luggage roll in one hand, and carefully observed the surroundings.

More than two years apart

The port of Batavia has not changed much, and a row of tall light gray warehouses stands tall in the dock area, with a large sign in black on a white background that reads "Pan Asia Shipping Company".

Sheng Yeyun knows that this is a super-large shipping company belonging to Queensland, Australia, with fixed routes in Penang, Luzon, Siam, Myanmar, mainland India and even Mozambique, covering the South Pacific and Africa, with hundreds of large and small passenger and cargo ships, and its power is extremely huge.

Unexpectedly, the shipping business was carried out to Batavia, which was not seen more than two years ago.

Thinking of the treaty of friendship and trade signed between the Dutch and the Queenslanders, Sheng Yeyun's eyes flashed with a hint of understanding, Queensland's powerful influence had entered Java Island deeply, and it was impossible to stop it.

He sighed to himself and moved on.

"Jingle Bell ......"

The crisp ringing sound aroused Sheng Yeyun's idea, and he watched several brightly dressed Chinese young men and women riding "Phoenix" brand bicycles passing in front of him, and the shiny bicycle spokes caused a group of envious eyes, this is the most fashionable imported gadget at the moment, and of course the price is not cheap.

A car costs £5 and 3 shillings and 5 pence, which is a bit more expensive than a ton of steel.

On the dirt road full of smoke and dust, a white Dutch farmer drove a heavy four-wheeled tractor of the "Iron Bull" brand full of goods, "boom", and the ox carts and carriages on the road hurriedly dodged to make way for this huge steel monster.

For a moment, the screams were incessant, mixed with the sound of angry slang in the vernacular.

Ordinary vendors are dragging rubber-wheeled flatbed trucks, piled up with home-grown vegetables and fruits to sell along the streets, and the shouts of high and low echo in the streets and alleys, full of the familiar smell of fireworks.

Sheng Yeyun saw that rubber-wheeled flatbed trucks were everywhere, and the merchants who used to sell along the street were nowhere to be seen, his eyelids twitched fiercely twice, and his heart felt as uncomfortable as being pricked by needles.

No one knows better than him that the rubber-wheeled flatbed trucks that dot the streets are also products from the Phoenix bicycle factory, except that this is a brand called Volkswagen, which can be found everywhere in Mozambique.

The black laborers who built roads and water conservancy projects, the Chinese immigrants who reclaimed the wasteland, the gunners who hunted in the wild, and the cashew nut traders all used this cheap and high-quality rubber-wheeled cart extensively.

When Sheng Yeyun was doing odd jobs, he also dragged a rubber-wheeled cart and walked sweatily in the streets and alleys, which was an experience that can never be forgotten, deeply engraved in his heart.

The "Volkswagen" brand produced by the Phoenix Bicycle Factory only has two rubber wheels with an iron bottom bracket and costs £11 shillings per pound.

Once you buy it, you can build your own flatbed truck at a local carpenter's workshop, whatever you want, and finally just put it on wheels.

Such a rubber-wheeled cart has a large cargo volume, and one person can push and run, but it can not push two or three people, and can transport up to 20,000 pounds of goods.

If conditions permit, you can put on a donkey or a big green mule, and in the blink of an eye, it will become an animal-powered cart.

Don't look at just two rubber wheels with iron bottom bracket, in fact, this set of products has a high technology content, in addition to steel spokes, also need steel bearings and high-strength steel rings, pneumatic tires made of natural rubber (including inner tubes), and valves on the inner tube.

Any one of these technical difficulties is a difficult problem that agricultural countries cannot overcome.

At least in the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the Ottoman Empire, which did not start industrialization, European countries did not have the capacity to build.

On the island of Java, not even matches can be made, let alone the high-tech "Volkswagen" brand.

"Servant Street, is there a mistake?" Sheng Yeyun muttered bitterly, buried his head and continued to move forward.

When we entered the city, it was evening.

The smell of cooking food wafted through the streets and alleys, and the high-spirited young men and women dressed in fashionable youth clothes and short-sleeved skirts walked by energetically, which surprised Sheng Yeyun ...... Most of these young men had their braids cut off and looked vibrant.

"Servant Street, is there any mistake...... Don't your ancestors want it? ”

Sheng Yeyun vomited weakly again, and suddenly felt that he touched his head, and the hair on the back of his head was messy and not long, let alone braided.

He forgot and cut off his braids himself......

On the territory of the Queenslanders

No one dares to risk the world's condemnation to wear braids, which is tantamount to summoning the immigration and police departments to put you in small shoes, what...... Don't cut braids?

The immigration registration card cannot be registered, you need to bear all the fees for immigrants, you can't enjoy the preferential treatment for immigrants, you can't get the land within the policy, there are no preferential loans, all public offices close the door to you, let alone being a soldier.

Walking on the street is often followed by the police; "Hey, come here, take out your ID card and check it?"

"What...... I don't have an identity card, and I'm not a Qing official or businessman, so please come with me. ”

"Why did I arrest you, because you have suspicious deeds, we need to slowly investigate your origins, and first serve three months of hard labor."

Then, there is no then.

No matter how stubborn people are, they will obediently cut off their braids, and those who are unwilling to cut off their braids will stay in the forced labor camps and be slowly forgotten......

"Cutting off the braids, it's really undesirable, hey......" Sheng Yeyun sighed heavily, looking at the strange and familiar streets and alleys with a bit of a blank look, I don't know what has happened in the past two years?

For the sake of prudence, it is better to inquire clearly before deciding on the next step.

He looked left and right with a complicated expression, and saw a merchant walking the streets and alleys dragging a flatbed truck over, and hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, clasped his hands into fists and saluted; "This big brother, please ask you about the Sheng Mansion in the north of the city, how is the situation now?"

"Sheng Mansion, which Sheng Mansion?"

"It's the Shengfu in the north of the city that came out of Kapitan, it's very famous."

"Oh...... You're talking about the death on the street, it has long been defeated, I heard that the black-hearted "Jiabidan" Sir Sheng died violently overseas, the family has no leader, the family is very happy to fight for property two years ago, no one will let half a point, the second room simply contacted a group of bandits, and the black hand got rid of more than 20 people in the big house, and in the chaos a fire burned the old house, which has already become a blank land, and as a result, the second room was investigated by the Governor's Palace, and all the family wealth was confiscated, and God really opened his eyes, good is rewarded, evil is rewarded......"

"Ah......h

The words that the merchant said exploded in his heart like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, Sheng Yeyun's face suddenly turned pale, and he walked away in despair, and he didn't listen to the rest of the words.