Human hearts are fickle, and when it comes to one's own interests, blood relatives such as parents, brothers and sisters may turn against each other, let alone so-called former colleagues in the army.
In the feudal era, especially the army in the late Qing Dynasty, there was no such thing as comradeship. The situation of the Black Flag Army was better, but only limited.
Otherwise, even if they are deliberately targeted by the imperial court, with the reputation and strength of the Black Flag Army, it will still be easy to properly resettle the nearly a thousand laid-off brothers.
Wu Dong didn't think much about it. With the three hundred Black Flag Army officers joining the militia, the size of the militia suddenly reached nearly a thousand people.
Not to mention, there are a lot of local young people who have always been interested in joining the vigilante groups.
Although the welfare benefits of the militia are average, there is no problem in supporting oneself, and it also attracts many young locals who have difficulties in life.
Huang Feihong occasionally mentioned that a large number of young people in the local area wanted to join the vigilante groups.
Considering the logistics supply and the government's reaction, we did not open the door to accept people.
Otherwise, I am afraid that the number of members of the militia group at this time would have exceeded 2,000.
But despite this, the addition of three hundred retired soldiers once again made the life of the militia a little tight.
It is inevitable that some old members will make some complaints.
After all, the number of people required to purchase agricultural and fishery products is not that exaggerated, and it is not a labor-intensive industry.
In order to increase revenue, Wu Dongdu began to raise poultry and livestock in separate areas. In the absence of feed, the scale could not be increased and there were few manpower to divert them.
At this time, he had to start some plans that he had already prepared...
"Tell me, how do you need support from the Black Flag Army?"
As a middleman, Huang Feihong informed Liu Yongfu of some of Wu Dong's intentions.
Liu Yongfu was worried about the Black Flag Army's dismissal of soldiers, so he reacted immediately and invited Wu Dong to come in person to avoid discussing it. After meeting, he asked directly.
"Does Mr. Liu have the guts to deal with foreigners who commit crimes in Foshan?"
Wu Dong was not polite and said bluntly: "They are just foreign sailors who run ships!"
"no problem!"
Liu Yongfu's eyes flashed and he said without hesitation: "If foreign sailors take the initiative to commit crimes, the Black Flag Army has the responsibility and obligation to punish them!"
But he was secretly relieved in his heart. Wu Dong's words just now caused him some misunderstanding.
If they were to directly confront foreign merchants or consuls, the pressure from the Black Flag Army would be too great.
It's not that I'm afraid of foreigners, but I'm worried that the court will think too much.
"That's it!"
"Little brother, can you speak more clearly? Liu didn't understand!"
Not to mention that Liu Yongfu didn't understand, no one including Huang Feihong understood Wu Dong's thoughts.
"I plan to build some shops at the dock and directly earn money from foreigners!"
this……
After listening to Wu Dong's "lofty words", Liu Yongfu was at a loss. Is this the so-called solution?
Is it so easy to make money from foreigners?
But they didn't know that Wu Dong really thought that foreigners' money was very easy to make.
Many methods that we do not want and are unwilling to use on Chinese people can be used on foreigners without any psychological burden.
If the Black Flag Army's activity area was not strictly limited to Foshan, Wu Dong felt that neighboring Guangzhou would be a better place to perform.
With the endorsement of the Black Flag Army, the Foshan River Wharf was soon designated as a docking area for foreign ships, with several newly built shops.
In the shop, they sell either desserts or various drinks.
In addition, there are dance halls that imitate bars and mobile gambling stalls in private.
In the modern life, Wu Dong learned some Western pastries, especially cake making, which can be summed up in one word: sweet!
When the shop opened, it quickly attracted many foreign sailors to patronize it.
Both snacks and drinks are very popular.
The key point is that the bartenders imported from Southeast Asia have attracted these foreign sailors to linger and feel so excited that they spend money like water without feeling any distress at all.
As for the mobile gambling stalls, the income is astonishing, and the speed of extracting oil and water is fast and violent enough.
In a short period of time, several shops here have become real prosperous shops, and their daily turnover and profits are enough to make others jealous.
In this era, sailors who go to sea all earn a lot of money but keep their heads in their belts. No one knows when they will be unlucky enough to encounter a storm or die in other accidents.
Therefore, as soon as the sailors of the sea ships arrived on land, they spent money lavishly, which is a good explanation of what it means to be drunk today and drunk tomorrow.
The key thing is that they still spend dollars and pounds that are directly linked to gold.
The consumption of one or two people is higher than the profit earned from purchasing and selling fresh fish and shrimp in a few days. It is an absolute huge profit.
It's a pity that other forces on the dock don't dare to get involved in such a business, so they can only watch and drool.
There is no way, these foreign sailors are not good gentlemen, they will make trouble no matter they are drunk or have lost all their money.
At this time, without the full support of the Black Flag Army, the government would not easily help.
That's right, the Black Flag Army treated the foreign sailors who dared to make trouble in those shops without any mercy.
Wait until the other party's ship leaves, then send them directly onto the ship to tell them to get out.
I can only say that fortunately, although foreigners in this era were arrogant, they were not yet to the point where they later became emperors.
At this time, the Qing court had not yet experienced the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War and the Gengzi Rebellion, and was not completely convinced of foreigners, but was very wary of them.
Otherwise, the fact that foreigners are unable to even establish an embassy in the capital at this time is the best proof.
The Black Flag Army was a strong force that had fought head-on with the French army and was able to win. Naturally, they would not be afraid of the negative consequences of arresting the foreign sailors who committed crimes.
At this time, the truly powerful foreigners in Guangdong Province were the British. Most of them were located in the Guangzhou area and won the richest cake.
As for Foshan, American businessmen who have not yet completely exploded, and foreigners from other countries who are not strong enough come to do business.
The American businessman Sassoon, the villain in the Once Upon a Time movie, was actually nothing compared to the foreign circles in Guangdong Province at this time.
As long as the Black Flag Army stands firm and their methods are not so fierce and cruel, they can easily deal with it. This is all the idea given by Wu Dong, and the effect is quite good.
Although the local government offices in Foshan received protests from foreigners from time to time, which gave them some headaches, they did not panic.
Relying on this unflattering method and relying on the huge profits of a few shops, the financial crisis of the militia was quickly solved, leaving Black Flag Army commander Liu Yongfu, Huang Feihong and others stunned for a while.
They never expected that what was originally a huge headache would be solved so easily...