The prosperity of the guano trade is inseparable from the current background of the times.

Early 19th century

The first industrial revolution originated in Britain swept Europe in full swing, to the middle of the 19th century, Britain has become the world's first industrialized country, the industrial revolution represented by steam power has profoundly affected European and American countries, large-scale industrial production has replaced the traditional handicraft industry, greatly improved social productivity, and promoted the prosperity of international trade.

In Europe and the United States, there are many factories and a strong demand for labor, which has led to a large number of landless farmers entering the factories to work, and the rapid increase in the urban population, which has correspondingly increased the demand for agricultural products.

Compare it to

The development of agriculture is lagging behind, and in the era of chemical fertilizers, land yields were low, and the only way to promote crop production was through organic fertilizers, so human and animal manure was a very sought-after resource.

In order to increase the fertility of the land, Europeans even went to the battlefields of the Napoleonic period to dig up the skeletons, importing animal bones from Australia and New Zealand and burying them in the ground to increase fertility.

The effect of all these measures is not obvious.

However, the emergence of guano has solved the biggest problem in agricultural production in Europe and the United States, doubling the crop yield, which is a valuable agricultural resource, which is in the ascendant in international trade, and the heat is unprecedentedly high.

The guano deposits on the islands of Peru are rare and precious resources, which have been robbed by European and American countries, and the price has been rising.

It is in this context that Peru has become a major importer of Chinese workers from South America, and they can pay a large amount of money to continuously import Chinese workers from the Chinese mainland.

Another major importer of Chinese laborers is the sugar plantations of white Cubans, which are expected to total at least 150,000 at this stage, mainly in the surrounding areas of Havana.

After the Opium War

The closed gates of the Qing Dynasty had actually broken its defenses, and the great powers, led by the British Straits Settlements and the French colonies of Indochina, due to the urgent need for labor, imported an astonishing number of Chinese laborers from the coastal areas of the Shenzhou mainland every year, with an average annual number of 100,000.

In the Straits Settlements alone, more than 3 million Chinese laborers were imported into the Straits Settlements in the past 10 years (from the first half of the 19th century to the end of the Qing Dynasty). In Batavia (Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies alone, there are more than 130,000 Chinese.

Throughout the 19th century

It is the era of the great migration of Chinese workers, who have a population of no less than 10 million people in Southeast Asia, Australia, South American countries and North America.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in order to carry out colonial expansion in Malaya, the British encouraged a large number of Chinese laborers to develop it with preferential conditions such as land grants and loan subsidies.

In the early days, most of the Chinese laborers were bankrupt peasants and unemployed poor people on the southeast coast, who were placed in foreign countries due to deed sales or abduction, and suffered from blood and tears.

During the Tongzhi period, the "Revelation of the Rescue of the Times" recorded:

"The number of people who have been deceived into going abroad and die is thousands every year. There were those who died of illness halfway, there were those who begged for death, and there were those who burned ships. If you want it, you will all end up together. Even when they come ashore, they are full of extremely hard laborers, and they have insufficient food and drink, and they have more than enough whipping; or innocently killed, unprotected, and killed. Huamin is innocent, floating for tens of thousands of miles, and it is so cool to be subjected to such a moment! ”

It was part of the history of labor blood and tears, and by the middle of the 19th century it had intensified, becoming the second largest wave of human trafficking after the slave trade, which spread almost everywhere in the world.

20s of the 19th century

With tens of thousands of Chinese workers already working in tin mines near Malacca and in the princely states in the western part of the peninsula, the primeval forests of Penang and Singapore were quickly cleared up by Chinese workers before moving to the inland princely states of Johor, Selangor and Perak.

Chinese workers have built their own villages and towns in Johor, just like the North American Grape Valley, where thousands of villages are inhabited by Chinese, and almost all of the banks of the 29 rivers in Johor are planted by Chinese workers.

The port of Singapore in the Straits Settlements became a stronghold for Chinese workers to push inland into the peninsula.

Take North America as an example;

Pacific Cruises is a steamship company specializing in the transportation of Chinese workers across the ocean, the cost of transporting a "piglet" is about 6~7 US dollars, and the ferry ticket to the destination in North or Central America is worth 50 US dollars, and the shipping company can make huge profits from it.

In the Cuban market, an indentured Chinese worker only needs about 350~400 US dollars (a strong man over 18 years old).

Early 19th century

A black slave is worth 250 US dollars, with the cotton trade in the southern United States produced a huge profit, the demand for labor is more urgent, in the middle of the 19th century, a strong male black slave over 18 years old needs 800 ~ 1000 US dollars, the highest even needs 2000 US dollars, the total number of black slaves in the United States alone has reached more than 3.9 million people.

The obvious difference between one is only 400 meters and the other is more than 800 meters, which greatly stimulates the urgent demand for Chinese labor from plantation owners and mine owners in Central and South America, and is the fundamental factor that triggers the wave of population movement.

The tide of history is mighty and running along the original trajectory......

In Richard's heart, there was not only the idea of expanding the basic consolidation of the Chinese forces, but also the consideration of seeking a bright future for these Chinese workers who had been displaced to foreign lands.

Compared with the white mine owners and plantation owners who were mean to oppress Chinese laborers, following Richard to open up a career in North America, the prospects for these overseas Chinese were brighter.

It is incumbent upon Richard to do his part for his compatriots.

His target is not the 3,000 or so Chinese workers in San Francisco, but hundreds of thousands or more in Central and South America, but this must be done step by step.

Ponder for a moment

Richard sighed softly and stood up, the heavy pressure on his shoulders made him feel that he had a long way to go.

At this stage

It is still necessary to lay a solid foundation in San Francisco and build up the corresponding industries, it will take time to train soldiers, it will take time to consolidate power, and it will take time to clear the obstacles in the way of progress.

The plan has been decided

Richard opens the reputation system interface and lights up the prestige title quest "King of the Bay Area";

Prestige Title Quests; "King of the Bay Area"

current task progress; 31,722 people/3,331 people, an improvement of more than 10%.

10%？

Richard thought about it for a while, and then he understood the reputation system's determination, and the number 3331 included 2,955 Chinese in San Francisco and some Chinese in Sacramento.

After purging the influence of the Council Hall, he has been recognized as a Chinese leader, the "King of the Bay Area" in the eyes of the Chinese, and has a high reputation in the region, which is recognized by the prestige system.

And it is obviously not easy to get the entire San Francisco region, including whites, Mexicans, and indigenous Indians, to recognize this title of "King of the Bay Area."

At the very least, the huge force that has been running for 10 years with John Sartre has not been universally recognized, so you can imagine how difficult it is to complete the task of this prestigious title.

In this hellish place, whites and Mexicans have a lot of brains, and if you want to be recognized by them, you must have crushing strength.

Richard silently cheered himself up;

Well, my future is a sea of stars, and it's just a small challenge in the way forward, with enough confidence to accomplish it.