1850 American Gold Tycoon

"Sold to the slave states in the South? That's not a good deal."

Liang Yao shook his head decisively.

What Fremont said is reasonable. At present, the slaveholding and abolitionist factions are at odds with each other. If slaves are openly traded in the United States, it is very likely that they will become inhumane in the end.

Although the abolitionists in the North did not intend to abolish slavery for the sake of abolition, the current issue of black slavery in the United States is the same as the racial issue in the United States in later generations, the environmental issues in the European Union, and certain topics that cannot be touched. It has become a kind of political correctness and has nothing to do with reality.

"Then what do you plan to do with these indigenous prisoners of war?" Fremont looked down at these indigenous people wearing Dutch and Indian Army uniforms.

"Put them back, or hire them to become mercenaries for Umbrella Company?"

Feeding, drinking and eating for more than 3,000 people is a huge expense.

Liang Yao has never been a person who is willing to suffer losses, so naturally he will not keep these indigenous prisoners of war in vain.

"They have a history of serving the Dutch and Indian armies and are not suitable to become Umbrella's mercenary forces." Liang Yao had no such intention, he said.

"Umbrella's mercenary group is a military organization, not a trash can. These indigenous military qualities do not meet the standards for becoming a mercenary group of Umbrella Company."

The Chinese population in West Borneo is sufficient. Rather than recruiting local indigenous people, Liang Yao is more willing to recruit Chinese with the same cultural background.

"It's true. These sloppy Southeast Asian indigenous people are not a good source of soldiers." Kruger also agreed with Liang Yao's point of view. The Chinese are indeed better soldiers than these indigenous people.

The British and Dutch hired native soldiers to maintain their rule in the colonies because their core population was insufficient, but Liang Yao had no such trouble.

Liang Yao has the same cultural background and can be used by the quasi-core population that accounts for nearly one-third of the world's population. There is no need to recruit local indigenous people as military and police to maintain rule.

"Let them open up rubber plantations. Later, I will ask people to go to Brazil to get more rubber saplings. After the war is over, we will package them and the plantations and sell them to businessmen in California." Liang Yao said.

Establishing plantations requires a lot of labor, and as long as they have a whip in their hands, the natives of these Indonesian islands are good laborers.

"Isn't this still slavery?" Fremont couldn't help teasing.

"Slavery is just a means, not an end." Liang Yao said with a smile, "What's more, this is Borneo, not the United States, and there is no damn political problem."

After leaving the military camp, Liang Yao returned to his residence in Pontianak City.

The Dutch and Indian forces on Borneo Island were annihilated. The next issue Liang Yao had to consider was not victory or defeat, but how to expand the results.

Liang Yao assigned two tasks to Elvis's Arizona Infantry Regiment. The first was to go south by boat and capture Kendawangan, which was empty of troops.

The second is to detach a battalion to cooperate with the Umbrella Company mercenaries in Dongwanlu and go north to the Sultanate of Brunei.

After Elvis took the order and walked out of Liang Yao's office, Liang Yao immediately drafted two more letters.

One letter was written to Sartre, telling him that the overall situation in Borneo was settled and that a California consortium could be organized to conduct business inspections in Borneo.

As for the letter, it was written to Tevis, the governor of Batavia.

Its content is nothing more than asking the Dutch and Indian authorities to withdraw from Borneo and restore peace between the two sides.

Not only is the entire West Borneo now in Liang Yao's possession, the South Borneo area controlled by the Dutch and Indian authorities is also in danger. Even after the Battle of Java, due to the severe damage to the East Indies fleet of the Dutch and Indian authorities, Liang Yao Yao also gained temporary control of the sea and blockaded Batavia.

Liang Yao has mastered sufficient negotiation capital and has basically achieved his strategic goals. It is time to send a signal to the Dutch and Indian authorities for peace talks.

After writing the letter, Liang Yao summoned Hong Kong Governor Bonham, hoping that Bonham could deliver the letter to Batavia on his behalf.

Bonham was a smart man. He knew that Liang Yao hoped to use his status as the British Governor of Hong Kong to promote peace talks between Liang Yao and the Dutch and Indian authorities.

"You have eliminated the main force of the Dutch-Indian army. Now is the time to expand the results. You can take all the Borneo areas except North Borneo into your pocket and then negotiate with the Dutch-Indian authorities." Wen Xianbei He held his hands and said with a smile.

Rather than negotiating peace between the two sides, Bonham hoped that Liang Yao could engage in a protracted war with the Dutch and Indian authorities, preferably a protracted war with an indeterminate outcome, to weaken the Dutch and Indian authorities' rule over the East Indies.

Bonham had already reported in detail the battle on Borneo Island to the Governor-General of India, Earl Dalhousie, and believed that this battle was likely to change the power structure of the entire Southeast Asia region in the future.

In view of the limited garrison strength on Hong Kong Island, Bonham hoped that the Governor-General of India, Earl Dalhousie, would lend a helping hand and send troops to assist him in occupying North Borneo.

However, Earl Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, was indeed very interested in this matter. Earl Dalhousie believed that the strategic focus of the British Empire was currently in the Near East.

It would not be wise to make enemies of the Netherlands at this time, and it would not be in the interests of the British Empire.

Bonham was also helpless about this. Since the Governor-General of India refused to help, he could only place his hope in the cabinet and parliament in London.

But it takes time.

"The purpose of our expedition to Borneo is to protect the overseas Chinese, not to fight for the sake of war. Since our goal has been achieved, there is no reason to continue this war. You are proficient in Sinology, and you must know that the meaning of Chinese characters How is the word "武" written?" Liang Yao said grandly.

If possible, Liang Yao certainly hopes to swallow the entire island of Borneo.

It's a pity that his digestive capacity is limited and he is temporarily unable to digest the entire island of Borneo.

West Borneo and North Borneo have a considerable Chinese population. Liang Yao directly occupied these places, and the management costs were relatively low.

The Chinese population in South Borneo and East Borneo was not very large. In addition, after the Dutch and Indian authorities colonized South Borneo and East Borneo, in order to maintain their rule in the new colonies, they planned to cleanse the Chinese in these areas. , leading to the fact that there are basically no Chinese in South Borneo and East Borneo.

If Liang Yao wanted to rule South Borneo and East Borneo, the cost of ruling would be far different from that of West Borneo and North Borneo.

"Stop fighting with force. You are not only a person who knows how to start a war, but also a person who knows how to stop a war at the right time." Wen Xian said with a smile.

"I'd like to take a trip for you."

He knew that Liang Yao was willing to have peace talks with the Dutch and Indian authorities at this time, not because Liang Yao was kind-hearted, but because Liang Yao wanted to leave things as soon as possible.

"Bonham definitely wants us to continue fighting with the Dutch and let Bonham go to Batavia. Is it reliable? The British have always been cunning. I'm worried that Bonham's departure will not only fail to promote peace talks between us and the Dutch and Indian authorities. , but it will add fuel to the fire." Deng Wenkang expressed his concerns.

"No matter who is sent to Batavia, the result will be the same. I sent Wenxian there just to show goodwill to Batavia and to show that we are willing to negotiate peace." Liang Yao said.

"The Dutch and Indian authorities still have the card of the East Indies Fleet in their hands. As long as they have this card in their hands, they will think that they still have the possibility of a comeback and will not accept peace talks."