Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 414 Smuggling Ways to Get Rich

Lieutenant Li Yong and Lieutenant Mo Zhenxiong were driven out of the headquarters, and came to the Chaoshan restaurant in the town with unhappy faces. This was a business run by a platoon leader of the Sixth Company. They were looking for an uncle in their hometown to help take care of them. Lieutenant Li Yong is the sixth company commander, and Lieutenant Mo Zhenxiong is the sixth company deputy commander. This is tantamount to a business run by his own brothers, of course I have to take care of it!

  The owner of the restaurant saw the regular customers arrived, and he greeted him in person; "Company Commander Li, Deputy Company Commander Mo, what brought the two of you today, welcome!"

   "Don't mention it, it's TMD frustrated."

  "This is not common. Who is guilty of ambition and dare to provoke the two chiefs to anger, and I will go to him to settle the account."

   "Forget it, old head Li, we both ate closed doors, which one are you going to count on? Is the platoon leader Li?"

   "Oh, you, the chief of the six companies directly under your command, asked me, but you are really asking the right person. The shopkeeper will be on duty at the pier today, and will not be free at night. You will not be able to see anyone until tomorrow."

"Wow, it's the turn of Acan's platoon to be on duty today!" Li Yong suddenly realized when he slapped his forehead, followed the old head of Li to walk into the tavern, and smiled while looking at Lieutenant Mo Zhenxiong next to him; Then shouldn't you lead the camel team on patrol tomorrow?"

   "Isn't it? It will take at least five or six days to go out this trip. It's hard work!" Lieutenant Mo Zhenxiong replied with a dull expression on his face.

  In accordance with the expeditionary task force regulations;

  The four companies stationed in Xi’an Town take turns to dispatch camel or horse teams to carry out drag-net patrols along both sides of the coastline. The range extends to the border area of ​​Djibouti, and the farthest is more than 200 kilometers deep.

  This is the hardest task, but it must be done in accordance with the regulations.

  Because there is an outpost in each of the most remote areas, more than 20 soldiers are stationed. Every time the patrol has to bring a few soldiers back, it is impossible to make a fake.

   Coming to the vast and desolate African region, the expeditionary contingent purchased a lot of horses and camels to patrol the border and perform duties according to local conditions. This is much more efficient than running on two legs.

Li Yong smiled and did not answer. As the chief military officer of the 6th company, he would also personally lead the camel team to go out on patrols. This is the rotation of the three chief officers in the company. They have their turn at least once a month. Of course he knows to stand up. How hard it is to walk on the Gobi Desert under the scorching sun.

"Old Li, give us a big watermelon from Liangshui Town, come with a plate of dates and sweet apricots, and make a pot of tea, wait a while to pick up some delicious dishes, and our two brothers will drink and talk. "

Old Head Li asked eagerly; "Would you like to arrange two Arab women? I have just arrived here with a few beautiful girls. One of them is the daughter of a local tribal chief, who is only 15 years old. It is really tender and smooth. , The sir will definitely like it."

   "What mess, old Li, you are not ashamed. I heard that you have bought three maids. Beware of dying on a woman's belly one day." Li Yong replied with black lines.

   "Ha ha ha... With your auspicious words, no matter what my old man does, even if he is a little bit tired, he will open up branches and leaves for the old Li family."

   "Okay, okay, don't worry, Zhenxiong and I have something to discuss, so don't let people make trouble."

  Li Yong waved his hand impatiently, and came to the lounge with Mo Zhenxiong to sit down, the big watermelon and fruit plate soaked in cold water, refreshments soon came up.

  The big watermelon was sweet and crunchy. The two ate a few slices each hungrily, and they were refreshed with the juice. Then they washed their hands and dried their mouths, and began to drink tea slowly and chat while drinking.

  The two talked about business matters. The so-called “Lands near the water” come first. Most of the most profitable businesses in Xi’an are run by the officers and soldiers of the Expeditionary Task Force. Although they are a little bit tiring, they can make a lot of money.

  The many brothel kilns in Xi'an are full of Arab women and black girls. The shop owners behind them are officers from Erlian and Wulian. Without such a deep background, business can't go on.

  Li Yong is an officer who was born in the Guards. He doesn't like these shady businesses, even if he makes more money, he doesn't bother to do it.

   "Zhenxiong, do you know Erlian's Hu Acai?" Li Yong unhurriedly peeled off the apricot, stuffed the flesh into his mouth and asked softly, then chewed sweetly.

Mo Zhenxiong didn't know what the company commander meant when he mentioned Hu Acai, so he picked up what he knew and said; Erzby was in the **** battle. Because of his outstanding military exploits, he was sent to the officer training class for rotation. After graduation, he was assigned to the Kalimantan Second Division. He opened the two largest brothels, and I heard that he earns at least this amount every month."

  Mo Zhenxiong stretched out two fingers, meaning £200, which is a considerable income.

   "Huh, our 6th company was knocked out by him." Li Yong threw the apricot kernels to the ground, and slid out a long way with a "click".

   "What should I do? Now everyone is a colleague, we can't call the door to bad people's business."

"If you look up and see, you don't need to see you." Li Yong lowered his throat and said quietly; "Tell you a secret. When he was on vacation last month, Hu Acai took a heavily armed platoon from Er Company and crossed it. From the sea to Yemen on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, help a local tribal chief to grab territory. This battle brought back more than 200 male and female slaves and a large number of gold and silver utensils. Each soldier was assigned at least two strong men. Li and a young woman, think about it, the farm needs manpower, even if it is resold."

   "There are still such things? Isn't it a violation of discipline to play privately? Is it because the captain is also involved?" Mo Zhenxiong was obviously taken aback, and the question was blurted out in his heart.

   "Nonsense, without the captain's nod, Hu Acai would not dare to mess up even after eating the ambition, Leopard, how many heads does he have?"

   "But... can this work?"

"So our expedition task force is far from being as simple as it seems on the surface. The Red Fort has granted the right to make decisions on the spot and has the important mission of expanding its influence in the region. I think this is Captain Lei's action. One of the measures to radiate influence to the Arabian Peninsula. Since tribal chiefs in Yemen can be hired to fight, what about Saudi Arabia, Syria and the densely populated Mesopotamia?"

"I'm afraid we can't stretch our hands that far." Lieutenant Mo Zhenxiong is not a fool. He has been rigorously trained at the Young Eagle School and the Officer Training Class. There is no lack of relevant geography and history knowledge. He said after a little thought; "Yemen The emirates, large and small, are quite chaotic. Foreign powers such as Britain, France and Germany do not pay much attention to this place. However, Syria, Iraq and Iran are different. To deal with it, and Britain, Germany and other countries have infiltrated very strongly, I am afraid that we can't easily intervene, right?"

   "So it's just a probing action, let's see how all parties react."

  Old God Li Yong explained, seeing Lieutenant Mo Zhenxiong's thoughtful look, he knew that he had enlightened him.

Expeditionary contingent cannot be viewed simply as a military role. It is Queensland’s hand that penetrates into Africa, a diplomatic team, a caravan, a mercenary, a stronghold, and a transit line on the ocean trade line dominated by Chinese. Station, can stir up the turbulence around the region,

  But it can also be a balloon that is testing the bottom line of European countries. If something is wrong, just retract back. Dealing with a few bold officers will be enough to explain it without hurting anything.

"Brother Yong, I think I understand." Mo Zhenxiong nodded lightly, considered for a moment, and said; "Erlian has topped our qualifications for rotation. Does Captain Lei mean to pay for his credit, otherwise the palm of his hand is back? It's all meat, it doesn't make sense!"

   "It seems that you are really enlightened. This also shows that Captain Lei has more confidence in the old troops of successive companies, and priority is given to them to complete important tasks."

   "Then what should we do with the 6th company?"

   "What else can I do in this ghost place, of course it is to make money! Otherwise, I will be totally blinded by eating sand and suffering." Li Yong answered bluntly, with a clear look.

  Mo Zhenxiong's eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked; "Brother Yong, do you have any good ideas?"

   "Of course, Shanren has a clever plan. It is by no means comparable to those who operate skin and flesh businesses."

  Li Yong deliberately threw the bait, but he insisted on refusing to go on. The air was so full that it made Mo Zhen's ambition unbearable.

   In desperation, he could only pour a cup of hot tea, put his hands up and handed it over respectfully, and said, "Brother Yong, please drink tea."

  The etiquette for tea invitation was very well done. Old God Li Yong was here to take the tea cup, uncovered the lid and sniffed the fragrant tea fragrance, only then took a savoury sip, and a satisfied look appeared on his face.

He looked at Mo Zhenxiong's expectant eyes, he couldn't help but laughed out loud, and he broke his work immediately; "Hehe... Brother Zhenxiong, of course I have to drink your tea now, you don't Can't wait for this time, right?"

   "Wait, Yong brother will taste it slowly."

   "Forget it, you have to know sooner or later anyway. This is the way I found money for our Sanlian brothers. Everyone will follow me to ensure that the money is going to go."

  At this time, Li Yong is no longer selling off the ball, so he told his plan so and so, Mo Zhenxiong heard it over and over and shouted; "Wonderful, great, just do it."

  The road for Li Yong to make a fortune can be summed up in 5 words; buy a ship and run for transportation.

  But after careful analysis, the difficulty makes people take a breath, and most people can't play it.

First of all, you have to have a boat. In the entire Arabian Peninsula, the local merchants are still dominated by wooden sailboats for coastal trade. Two or three hundred-ton sailboats require seventy or eighty sailors, and some ships even more. Ports run the transportation and trade, and you can also be a pirate when you meet the fat sheep.

The new type of steam iron ships can only be owned by European powers, and the local Arabs will neither build nor buy them. Because the powerful Ottoman Empire strictly forbids them, the transportation level in the region is greatly lagging behind. They are still sailing ships two or three hundred years ago. era.

Li Yong just had a way to buy it. An iron-hulled transport ship belonging to the 19th Century United Shipping Company struck a rock in the wind and waves near the Mande Strait. Fortunately, the flooding was not too serious. After being towed back, it has not been repaired and deliberately shot. Resell.

  The head of the office is a classmate from Li Yong's Young Eagle School. At the beginning, the speaker was unintentional, and the listener was interested, so Li Yong was worried about getting on the iron-clad cargo ship.

This iron hull ship has a displacement of 760 tons. It is an iron hull freighter for offshore bulk cargo transportation. It is equipped with a 660 hp horizontal marine steam engine and two boilers. The power system and rudder system are intact, but due to the long service time , It appeared rusty under the severe erosion of the sea, and the bow hit a few big holes again, which looked rather miserable.

  The key is cheap!

  Such a sea-going vessel costs more than 1100 pounds (a sea-going vessel is much more expensive than an inland vessel). It is almost half the price of a new vessel after more than 7 years of service, which is too cost-effective.

   could not be better used for smuggling. Yes, Li Yong’s plan is to buy this ship to travel between the town of Xi’an and the rich Basra in the Mesopotamia, doing armed smuggling business.

  He didn’t have that much money himself, so he pulled the officers of the sixth company into a partnership and added bank loans, and it was almost enough.

There is no shortage of goods, and armed forces are readily available. As long as you buy the ship, you can open the door for business. Since the second company of Hu Acai can sneak to North Yemen to help the local chieftain in battle, then my sixth company can also send soldiers on vacation. Ship armed with escort.

  Of course, I have to count as Captain Lei.

Through the matter of Hu Acai, Li Yong understood that the expedition task force in the entire Somalia region has no enemies. The black nomadic tribes in the desert and Gobi do not even have steel knives, and they are still using poor bone spears. Pose any threat.

  If there are enemies, it can only be expeditions from European countries outside the territory.

  On a small scale, the expeditionary task force can handle it on its own. If a large-scale attack comes, it can only retreat and cannot fight head-on.

The most important role of the   Expeditionary Task Force is to show its existence. The tiger skins of the British occupy a large area in the Horn of Africa and maximize its influence.

  Of course, forget about doing business. Without delaying normal military duties, sending soldiers on vacation to fish for extra money, inquire about news by the way, and expand your influence. This is the best of both worlds.

  The Iraq region in the Mesopotamia has a long history, and Mesopotamia is one of the birthplaces of ancient civilizations in the world.

  City-states appeared here in 4700 BC. The northern part of Mesopotamia was called Assyria in ancient times, the southern part was Babylonia, the northern part of Babylonia was called Akad, and the south was Sumer.

  The current Iraq region is under the jurisdiction of the decadent Ottoman Empire. Due to the bad relations with the neighboring Iranian kingdom and the tension between the two sides, coastal trade is strictly prohibited. There are almost no ships in the Persian Gulf.

Due to the shortage of funds for the local Ottoman garrison, naval ships have been anchored in ports for a long time to become an existing fleet. The noble commanders on the warships rarely get on the ships, and most of the sailors do small business on the shore. There are places near Basra and the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The sea is defenseless, and many Persian businessmen started smuggling business and made a lot of money.

  Basra City in Iraq is located on the west bank of the Xiatai Arabian River where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers converge. It is 55 kilometers south of the Persian Gulf. It is the largest port and the second largest city in Iraq. The ancient wharf has a history of thousands of years.

  Basra is the only hub connecting the Persian Gulf and the inland water system, and was once called the "Venice of the East".

  The smuggling location Li Yong fancy is Basra City, which is a large city in West Asia with a population of more than 600,000 today. There are millions of people living in many nearby towns and the market is extremely broad.

  (End of this chapter)