The Langkawi Islands are nominally composed of 99 islands. In fact, only Langkawi Island is inhabited, and the rest are uninhabited desert islands.
Speaking of which, Langkawi Island also has a long history. There is the tomb of a certain princess on the island, as well as the authentic relics of Sam Po Gong, which is enough to prove that Langkawi Island was inhabited a long time ago.
However, the population living on Langkawi Island is not large, only more than a thousand people now. Although British Malaya claims sovereignty over Langkawi Island, Langkawi Island is geographically far away from the island.
Siam is closer, so there are no white people on the island, only some indigenous people.
We can't blame the British for not caring about Langkawi. When the British first arrived in the Malay Peninsula, except for a few areas such as the Lion City and Kuala Lumpur, they didn't care about the indigenous people of the Malay Peninsula. It's not that the British are big-hearted.
In fact, the British have too many colonies, and the Chinese do not quite understand the British mood.
Even Kuala Lumpur, known as the "Four Continents", only began to be built in 1860, and the Federation of Malay has only been established for fifteen years.
Therefore, the process for Adan Company to purchase the Langkawi Islands is very simple. It is more than 500 square kilometers and only costs 500 pounds. The Langkawi Islands will become the property of Adan Company.
Of course, if Adan Company wants to obtain a complete Langkawi Islands, it will also need Adan Company to do the work of the islanders.
The Umbrella Company also has rich experience in this area, and the process cannot be written clearly. Then Adan Company got an empty Langkawi Islands and thousands of construction workers composed of local indigenous people.
The construction of the base began immediately. Langkawi Island originally only had a simple pier, and now it is being expanded around the pier. In fact, it is not difficult. All the original buildings on the island have been bulldozed, and the tomb of the legendary princess has also been dilapidated.
Those construction workers had no awareness of protecting cultural relics. Anyway, by the time David noticed, the princess's tomb and the authentic works of Sanbaogong were nowhere to be found.
David doesn't care about the Langkawi Islands, but the airport near the port of Medan is what David values about.
If there are only fighter jets, it is actually very simple to build an airport. Fighters can take off and land smoothly on grass, as long as the ground does not have too many fluctuations.
It's different with torpedo bombers. A fuze must be installed before the torpedo is installed on the aircraft. If a 350 kilogram torpedo explodes, it can basically destroy the entire airport, so the requirements for the runway are a bit strict.
Medan Airport is located in the valley of a mountain near Medan Port. Benson Toherty originally wanted to introduce the name of the mountain, but David directly changed it.
"The name of this mountain is a bit too complicated. It seems that this is the only mountain nearby, so let's call it Lonely Mountain." David said it casually.
Changing the name is a habit of Nyasaland people. The name Langkawi means strong eagle in Malay. There is an island next to it and it is called Pregnant Island because it looks a bit like a pregnant woman. As a result, David was very angry when he found out.
What kind of mess is this? Isn’t it said that there is an authentic relic of Lord Sambo on it? Although it has disappeared now, we still want to commemorate it, so Langkawi Island became Sambo Island.
"Lonely Mountain, okay, that's a good name." Benson Toherty didn't object, and David said whatever he said.
I really dare not object. Although the Umbrella Company has not been in East India for a long time, it has already shown sufficient strength.
In the past, the Dutch had to negotiate with the local kings if they wanted to recruit workers. Umbrella Company had no such scruples at all. I don’t know how the Umbrella Company intimidated those kings. Anyway, the Umbrella Company had only occupied Medan for a short period of time.
By the end of the day, more than 10,000 workers had been hired at Medan Port, working day and night to transform Medan Port according to David's wishes.
This is how this airport came about. More than 2,000 workers worked together, and in less than half a month, the airport was basically completed.
Although the time is short, the requirements are very strict. The airport has a runway of 400 meters long, which is enough for albatross to take off and land.
These runways were built using cement. Before the cement was laid, more than 2,000 workers used stone tampers to ram the entire runway many times. When David finally checked, he could not drive nails into the ground with a hammer before they were laid.
cement.
In addition to the runway, the airport also has hangars and underground oil depots. In order to obtain enough stones, the mercenaries used explosives to flatten a nearby mountain, and then built houses with wood directly on the stones.
At this time, Benson Toherty finally understood how the Umbrella Company built a house. The construction workers who came from Port Elizabeth were like building blocks. They could command a dozen workers to build a house in a day. Even that kind of
The two-story office building and the airport's lighthouse control tower are all made of wood. It feels like there is nothing impossible in the hands of these people. Just bring any construction worker to Batavia and he can serve as Batavia's commander.
Director of Asia's Urban Construction Bureau.
At this point, the remaining work was to build various defense facilities, but this was beyond the reach of these local workers. The workers from Port Elizabeth were fully responsible, and the workers from the local port were sent back to the Port of Medan.
Compared with half a month ago, Medan Port has also undergone earth-shaking changes. The scattered buildings originally built around the dock have basically disappeared, replaced by neat two-story wooden buildings. The original camp of the servant army has also been relocated as a whole.
Further out in the suburbs, where the camp is now a freight yard, and laborers are clearing the channel and expanding the wharf to accommodate larger ships, Benson Toherty often falls into a sluggish state. It is hard to believe that such a short period of time has passed.
There are so many changes in a short period of time.
"Benson, summon the Chinese farmers near Medan. I have something to say to them." David is very busy at work every day. During this time, mercenaries have been attacking everywhere and have captured large areas including Lake Toba.
Land, this is almost the limit of mercenaries. After all, the Far East Company only has 3,000 mercenaries. Taking too much land will cause the troops to be seriously dispersed. And then if they are counterattacked by the Dutch and local kings, it will be bad.
Will be strangled to death.
"Okay, I'll do it right away." Benson Toherty is also busy with official duties every day. He is still the top administrator of the Port of Medan and has fifty or sixty staff members. It's actually quite good to be busy like this every day.
, if you can’t relax, you won’t have time to think wildly.
The mercenaries are indeed very powerful. Benson Toherty's family has been picked up from Batavia by the mercenaries and sent to the Lion City. Even the daughter-like puppy was sent away. David gave Benson
·Tougherty’s settlement fee of one thousand pounds was said to have been paid by mercenaries when they left Batavia.
This situation is normal. David didn't even ask how much money the mercenaries leading the team earned. It was considered extra income for the mercenaries. Of course, David's filial piety was also indispensable.
"Wait a minute Benson, how did you make money before?" Andy, a senior employee of Adan Company, stopped Benson Toherty in time.
"Collect taxes, all kinds of taxes, land tax, property tax, head tax, transaction tax, even when you walk, you have to pay taxes. In the past, all intersections, bridges, ferries, and markets basically had checkpoints. As long as someone passed by, they had to pay taxes.
, even a baby being held must pay tax, this tax is called the butt tax." Benson Toherty was not embarrassed, this was how his previous salary came.
"Is that so?" Andy was a little worried. In the Adang Islands and Port Elizabeth, Adang Company didn't have to worry about revenue. It could collect a lot of industrial taxes and commercial taxes.
It doesn't work anymore. East India is a country mainly based on agriculture. There is basically no industry and commerce in the entire country. Andy is not used to collecting things like "butt tax". The main reason is that he can't lose face and can't afford to embarrass that person.
"Don't worry, we will wait for those Chinese farmers to come over tomorrow. While forming a militia, we will also establish a tax system. We will definitely not be so shameless to the Dutch, but the taxes we should collect must not be less." David was not in a hurry, Dong said.
The Chinese in India are quite rich, otherwise they would not be raised as pigs by the Dutch.
This is not a good description. It should be cut like a leek by the Dutch.
Benson Toherty opened his mouth, but did not speak.
"What do you want to say?" Davido looked around.
"It is not so easy to find Chinese people to collect taxes. The rich Chinese are all in Batavia. They call themselves overseas Chinese, believe in Catholicism, and receive Western education. They are more Dutch than the Dutch; the Chinese outside Batavia
They are called Baba Nyonya. These people are the descendants of intermarriage between Chinese and Javanese. They no longer consider themselves Chinese, and their appearance is no different from the locals. Only those Chinese who immigrated to East India in recent years are easier to manage, but because of
He has been in East India for a short time and actually does not have much personal property." Benson Toherty is now relaxed. He used to be a tax collector. This was originally Benson Toherty's trouble, but now these troubles are gone.
It's Andy's.
"It doesn't matter, there will be people who are willing to cooperate with us." Andy didn't seem to be too worried. The consequences of not cooperating were obvious. There are several people hanging on the pier right now. Those are the consequences of not cooperating.
It must be emphasized that neither Umbrella Company nor Adan Company is a charitable enterprise, nor do they have the patience to treat others sincerely, so they are decisive in killing those who follow me and prosper while those who go against me perish.
Even for the Chinese, the Umbrella Company and the Adam Company will not compromise unconditionally. The Chinese who committed crimes in Southern Africa must also serve their sentences and must be deported. The same is true in East India. If the Chinese farmers are willing to cooperate, then Andy will be very happy.
Welcome, if the Chinese farmers are unwilling to cooperate, then Andy will also be very welcome.
It is impossible for everyone to refuse to cooperate. There will always be people who are willing to cooperate, and then these people who are willing to cooperate need to be rewarded.
Then those farms that are unwilling to cooperate are the rewards for these people.
