In the port city of Boqueron in eastern Cuba, a group of Chinese workers in ragged clothes and dull expressions lined up waiting to board the ship.
Cuba was still a Spanish colony at this time. After the abolition of the slave trade, Spain, like Peru and the United States, recruited Chinese workers from mainland China to replace the slaves.
It was not until 1874, under international pressure, that Spain abolished the system of employing Chinese labor.
There is a Chinese grocery store near the port. The owner is a Chinese coolie who was freed the year before.
"Shopkeeper, another batch of Chinese workers are about to be shipped out." In the grocery store, a clerk who went out to investigate the news reported.
"Which batch is this?"
"The fifth batch, the first four batches of Chinese workers were shipped out three days ago, and the two escort warships parked in the port also left."
"All the warships have sailed away?" The shopkeeper stopped his pen, closed his account book, and raised his head and asked.
"Two large warships have sailed away, along with five merchant ships and a wooden sail frigate."
The grocery store clerk said.
"The grocery store is closed today. You and I will go to the port to take a look." The shopkeeper took the hat he just bought from the wall, closed the door and walked towards the port.
The Port of Boqueron is one of the transit points connecting North and South America. There are many trading ships moored in the port.
What the grocer and the clerk noticed was a row of Peruvian ships transporting Chinese workers in the port.
The Peruvian fleet consists of seven ships in total, including five medium-sized merchant ships and two small sailing frigates. Five or six cannons can be seen placed on the sides of the frigates.
The Chinese workers in front began to board the ship, and the Spanish tax collector at the port was chatting and laughing with the Peruvians.
"Master Sun, isn't there a shortage of labor in Cuba? Why are we still sending Chinese workers out?" After observing the Peruvian ships at the port, the shopkeeper walked up to a Chinese and said politely.
In order to better manage the colonies, Western colonists often promoted some people to serve as colonial officials and assist them in managing colonial personnel. Sun Liande was one of the people selected to manage the Chinese workers.
"Shopkeeper Wang, it was the governor's wish to transport the Chinese workers out. How do I know the reason?" Sun Liande said calmly.
"Haha, I have a few relatives who were transported to the ship and taken away, so I hope Master Sun will be accommodating." The shopkeeper said with a smile, and quietly handed Sun Liande two silver coins in his hand.
Sun Liande glanced at the silver coins in his hand and found that they were two Spanish silver dollars. He immediately knew what was going on. He put the coins away and said with a gentle expression, "Don't worry, Shopkeeper Wang, I am also Chinese and will not harm my compatriots."
The shopkeeper's face twitched, and a feeling of nausea welled up in his heart.
Sun Liande was originally a member of the Chinese workers in Cuba. Later, he reported a Chinese workers' rebellion and was valued by the Spanish colonists, who made him a small port tax official to assist the Spanish colonists in collecting taxes.
After Sun Liande gained his freedom, he helped bridge the gap between the Spaniards and Manchu officials, and used deceptive means to transport a large number of Chinese from China to Cuba to work as coolies.
Even though he knew that Sun Liande had done many bad things, the shopkeeper still suppressed the hatred in his heart and pretended to be respectful and listened to what he had to say.
"I heard that there is a labor shortage in Peru. In order to develop the land, the Peruvians promised to allocate the newly developed land to those who reclaim the wasteland." Sun Liande said solemnly.
In fact, these Chinese workers were bought by the President of Peru, who planned to collect 30,000 people and hand them over to Li Mingyuan's people.
Family scandals should not be made public. Peruvian President Pedro did not pass on the news of the Chinese labor rebellion, but only gave the Spanish colonists a contradictory reason. Therefore, Sun Liande did not know the real inside story.
Shopkeeper Wang was a little disappointed. He recruited Chinese workers to reclaim the land, but it was more of a scam. The land in Peru was in the hands of large miners and farmers. Will they allocate the land to migrant Chinese workers?
Shopkeeper Wang refused to give up and asked Sun Liande again. In the end, he did not get the information he wanted, so he said goodbye and left. He walked to a secluded beach and imitated a bird call. After a while, a small boat came from behind a desert island.
"Brother Wang, long time no see." A dark-faced man jumped out of the boat and said to Shopkeeper Wang.
"I have something urgent to see General Hou, and I hope Brother Li will leave as soon as possible." Shopkeeper Wang was not polite to the swarthy man and urged him to sail.
The two were old acquaintances, and the swarthy man saw that his words did not seem to be false, so he immediately helped him get on the boat, then said hello, and the other sailors on the boat understood and steered the boat away.
The Caribbean Sea is surrounded by small islands and was an active area for pirates before the 20th century.
Although after more than a hundred years of British attacks, pirates around the Caribbean ceased for a while, but since the black Haitians defeated the Spanish, French, and British armies in 1794 to become independent, Caribbean pirates have become active again.
Pirates obtained daily necessities by trading with Haitian blacks, and many pirates were directly employed by Haitians. Haitians usually worked as farmers, but when they saw that there was oil and water to fish, they put down their farm tools and turned into pirates.
Shopkeeper Wang and the dark man's boat left the coast of Cuba and entered the heart of the Caribbean.
The boat Shopkeeper Wang was sitting on was about ten meters long and three meters wide. There were a total of fifteen people on board.
Such a small ship is insignificant compared to the merchant ships that can easily reach tens to hundreds of meters in the sea. However, relying on the triangular sail on the ship, the small ship can run faster than the merchant ships in a favorable wind.
The boat passed through the busy waters of the Caribbean Sea and headed towards a remote area.
"Brother Li, there is someone blocking the way in front of me." The boat was moving forward, and suddenly two small boats appeared not far away, appearing and disappearing in the waves. It seemed that if they were not careful, the boat would be destroyed and people would be killed.
"Don't be nervous, we've met a fellow traveler." The swarthy man didn't move. When the two boats came to the side, the swarthy man raised a flag with a dragon's head and waved it left and right. After the black man on the opposite boat saw it clearly, he mumbled.
After a few words, the waterway was opened and they were allowed to leave.
The swarthy man belonged to a group of pirates nearby, and the dragon's head flag was their symbol, so the pirates on the opposite side quickly let him go after seeing the flag.
"Brother Li, you said that black people like them dare to go to sea with a small broken boat. They are very brave." There was still some distance from the destination, shopkeeper Wang chatted with the swarthy man.
"Who says otherwise? Our captain is too small even if he is ten meters long, but look at them, they just hollowed out a big tree and turned it into a canoe and dared to go into the sea. Their courage is really admirable." The swarthy man joked.
"A group of uncivilized natives, even if you give them a lot of good wood, they can't build a big ship." Shopkeeper Wang said scornfully.
Shopkeeper Wang is telling the truth. After the black Haitians occupied Haiti, they massacred all the white people on the island, and most of the black and white mixed-race people were killed by them. Without the technical support of the white people and mixed-race people, the black people made the island of Haiti a mess.
, millions of black people couldn't build a big ship, so they could only make a living by robbing passing merchant ships. What they did was even more arrogant than the Somali pirates of later generations.
"Haha, Brother Wang is right, how can a group of barbarians compare to us." The dark man laughed loudly. The other sailors also laughed.
Listening to the laughter of the sailors on the ship, Shopkeeper Wang suddenly felt disappointed. The black people who were ridiculed by his own group were able to defeat the French, Spanish and British armies one after another and gain independence.
And what about the Chinese laborers who are the people of the Celestial Empire? I just saw them being bought and sold at will like livestock.
Thinking of the tragic experience of overseas Chinese workers, shopkeeper Wang became silent and did not speak again along the way.
