1876

Queensland, Australia offshore

The blue sea surface was undulating, and large groups of white seagulls danced and circled on the sea surface, and their sharp chirping sounded.

A 2,000-ton German merchant ship from Hong Kong, the Fleming, came from the tall chimney with thick black smoke leaping through the waves. The cheerful dolphins jumped and galloped on the bow and sea surface. The reciprocating steam engine on the freighter made a huge roar of machine, and the brass-like pressure relief valve sprayed out a large ball of white high-temperature steam from time to time, which filled most of the hull.

In the front warehouse where goods were piled up, dozens of Chinese workers wearing melon-skinned hats and long braids surrounded the sides of the ship, looking up at the strange port city that appeared on the sea and skyline, with hope, nervousness and uneasiness in their eyes.

They come with a dream of gold digging, wondering what their destiny is waiting for?

The gold rush that began in 1851 in Australia has continued for more than 20 years.

A large number of gold diggers flocked to this untapped barren continent, including Chinese from the Far East and black people on Pacific islands, flocking all the way.

In the early stages of the Australian gold rush (1851 to 1854), there were not many Chinese people in Australia. Starting from 1854, Chinese workers entered a stage of explosive growth.

In 1854, in the first demographic of Victoria where gold was discovered, there were only 2,261 Chinese workers, but by mid-1855, the number had reached 19,300, and by the end of the year, it exceeded 33,000, a sharp increase of 14 times in one year, becoming the largest labor group in gold mines.

In 1857, there were 41,623 Chinese people in the Victoria Gold Mine alone. The highest peak was as high as 52,000 from 1858 to 1859.

At the climax of the NSW gold rush, there were 26,300 Chinese workers, accounting for one-eighth of the local population.

In 1875, after the news of gold discovery in Queensland broke out, the number of gold hunters from China increased significantly, with 600 to 900 every month, Chinese workers traveling across the ocean with their dreams, hoping to realize their dream of rushing gold and making money in this distant foreign land.

The destination of the German merchant ship Fleming is Queensland. After a long ocean voyage, it is about to arrive at its destination.

In the condescending cargo ship cab

Captain Ian Fleming stood next to the rudder, holding a heather pipe produced in Florence in his mouth. His black and red face, blown by the sea breeze, was hidden in the thick and choking smoke, and a complacent light appeared in his gray-blue eyes.

The trip was loaded with various goods from the Far East and arrived at the Queensland port, including coffee, cocoa, milk and tea, as well as cloth, palm oil to aluminum ingots, filling this huge iron steam cargo ship with great benefits to the Fleming family in Mecklenburg.

Oh, by the way, there are 179 Chinese workers on board, each of whom will contribute 240 Jinmark one-way tickets.

According to the price of 20 German gold marks per pound, the money is about 12 pounds, which is an additional income for the freighter.

Looking at the port city in the distance, the tall spires of buildings appearing and looming, which made Captain Ian Franming feel the long-lost European architectural characteristics, and a familiar feeling suddenly arises in his heart.

He had a condescending look of contempt in his eyes towards this remote continent hanging alone overseas.

During the Second Industrial Revolution, for all Europeans, Australia's distant continent was almost the same as that of the natives, living with criminals and prostitutes exiled from the British Isles and Europe, almost another world.

And... if it weren't for these damn Australians' anti-China policy, Mr. Freming would have earned more.

More than ten years ago

In view of the rapid growth of Chinese workers who have been influx of gold in Australia and pose a serious threat to the European population on the Australian mainland, the Victorian authorities passed a bill to restrict Chinese immigration to China under the motion of the Royal Commission of Gold Mines, led by British Faulkner.

The bill provides;

Every 10 tonnage of ships coming to Australia is allowed to carry one Chinese person, and every Chinese entering the country must pay a cap tax of 10 pounds. This is the first restrictive bill against Chinese workers in Australia's history.

On the blue sea

The German merchant ship Fleming sounded a long whistle, slowing down and approaching the dock, and more Chinese workers with long braids and small hats were poured out of the cabin, all of whom were young and middle-aged men.

The youngest were fifteen or sixteen years old, and the older ones were no more than 30 years old. Seeing the beautiful and strange city outboard of the boat, everyone couldn't help but cheer in unison.

After more than 30 days of hard drifting on the sea, I finally arrived at the place where gold was produced in my dreams. Everyone's eyes were full of expectations and excitement.

In the mouths of Chinese people, the distant American continent is called San Francisco, and Queensland, which is lonely overseas in Australia, is called New Kingsco.

A tall boy stared at the city looming on the skyline in the distance. The fishy and salty sea breeze blew his black hair and his eyes were filled with complex emotions that were far beyond this age.

He is Li Fushou, and his young body has mature souls from later generations.

This ancient steam era, the time when China has fallen for a hundred years, this barren Australian continent, alas...

Li Fushou sighed softly, with a sense of hesitation and confusion in his eyes, and his face full of worries about the future. He also felt a sense of loss without system blessings and lacked much confidence in his heart.

Various complex emotions intertwined, and a long sigh came out.

Suddenly

Li Fushou turned around in disbelief and looked back. Someone touched his butt hard, the kind that was very hard.

An extremely humiliating feeling arose, and he would never have thought that such a thing would happen.

This is a medium-sized thin man, Wu Zhanyuan, a green-skinned gangster in the cabin next door, and there are several companions standing beside him.

Wu Zhanyuan stared at the face of Li Fusheng's childish boy who had not yet taken off his eyes and smiled maliciously. He stretched out his fingers and sniffed them at the end of his nose, revealing a lustful meaning.

"Hehehe...boy, I can't tell that it's quite material, it feels good!"

More than a month of boring and tasteless sea journey left these young men with energy without anywhere to vent their energy, and they were really idle.

This moment

Li Fushou's evil fire surged onto his forehead, and he kicked it out without saying a word. He hit Wu Zhanyuan's soft belly. The powerful force made him take a few steps back, covering his lower abdomen in pain and unable to stand up.

Li Fushou was in power and was unforgivable. He then caught up with two steps and hit him with a sudden hook punch, which immediately made the peach blossoms bloom.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"stop."

The rabbits rose and fell very quickly in these few times. It was too late for Wu Zhanyuan's neighbors to react, and immediately shouted loudly. Someone rolled up his sleeves and prepared to come up and take action.

At this moment, Li Fushou reached out and took off the one-handed iron hook from the warehouse pile, raised his arm and slapped it down.

This change shocked everyone.

The one-handed iron hook used to load and unload goods on the freighter is extremely sharp and has the same shape as the captain of the iron hook, and is used to hook large luggage bags.

Once it is pierced on a person's flesh and blood, the consequences...

"No!" Wu Zhanyuan covered his nose with his hands and looked extremely panicked, but unfortunately it was too late.

The sharp iron hook emitted a cold light under the sunlight, and it drew a very short arc and pierced it.

After a shrill scream, blood splashed out, and the sharp iron hook pierced deeply into Wu Zhanyuan's right shoulder, making him scream like a dead dog, and he lay on the deck and couldn't move.

The neighbors who were preparing to help the boxing, the Chinese workers at the bow of the boat not far away were all stunned by Li Fushou's ruthlessness. The steps he had taken had quietly shrank back, and rolled up his sleeves and put them back.

This kid is a ruthless man and cannot be provoked.

When you go out, it is better to have less than more things. There is no need to offend a ruthless character for a young gangster.

Li Fushou wiped a handful of warm blood that splashed on his face, and blood surged on his young face, revealing an expression of extreme resentment.

He coldly glanced at the cringe-looking Chinese workers around him. These people took a few steps back and left a large area.

"The surname of Wu, I'm crazy about the girls. Why are your hands so cheap? You just used your right hand? Should I throw you into the sea to feed the sharks?"

"Li... Master Li, please spare your life!"

Wu Zhanyuan was so painful that his nose and tears were all over his eyes. He crawled on the wooden board of the bow and kowtowed a few times. He didn't expect that he would get into a bad god for a moment. He was really scared to pee. "The villain has no eyes and does not recognize heroes. He offended Young Master Li and deserved to die. Please see all the people in your hometown. If you spare me this time, you will never dare to do it again."

"Do you want to have a next time?"

"Oh, I can't even speak clearly with this broken mouth. I dare not... I really don't dare. I am crazy about gaining and losing my heart. Please spare my poor life."

For this matter, we won’t fight with our lives.

Since he found the place back, Li Fushou's anger calmed down; "I should have ruined you, but I will spare your life for the sake of my hometown."

"Thank you, Mr. Li, woooo..." Wu Zhanyuan was already crying.

"You slut dog, you will call Mr. Li when you meet again." Li Fushou looked at Wu Zhanyuan who was lying on the ground with disgust. He was polite to such a hooligan. He twitched his hand violently, pulling out the bloody iron hook amid the other party's screams, bringing a large piece of flesh and blood to roll it around.

Wu Zhanyuan was trembling all over in pain, and he lay weak on the boat deck and couldn't get up anymore, just like an injured dog.

At this moment, the noisy footsteps from the cabin behind, and the curse from Captain Fleming's thick voice; "Damn it, let me go, what the hell is going on?"

The Chinese workers onlooked out a path. Captain Fleming hurried over with several crew members holding weapons. When he saw the bloody scene in front of him, he was immediately angry and shouted;

"Hey, who is making trouble on my boat? It looks like a slaughterhouse. Is it you? I will peel you and throw it into the sea."

"You definitely won't do this, Captain Fleming." Li Fushou responded in a deep voice.

"Why? I need you to give me a reason." Captain Fleming was obviously stunned when he didn't expect the other party to speak English.

The crew members on the freighter were British, Spanish, German and Dutch. Captain Fleming gave orders and spoke common English. Li Fushou had received higher education in his previous life, so of course he was familiar with this.

Li Fushou looked at the black muzzle in the crew's hand calmly, and tried his best to calm his tone; "It's just a lesson for a slave. In our ancient empire, this is dealing with his own property. You won't want to intervene. Please believe me, Mr. Captain..."

Relying on his skillful English, he is the only person on this boat who can understand English and Chinese. Li Fushou is fearless and sure that Captain Fleming will not cause trouble.

"Oh my God, this is a really backward and ignorant rule."

Captain Fleming looked at Wu Zhanyuan who was crawling on the ground. The blood had turned his clothes red, and his wrinkled bronze face showed a helpless look. He had no mood to understand the truth. "This young gentleman, you need to know that this is my ship, and I can't tolerate messing up here."

Sure enough, Captain Fleming's tone eased. He traveled on the Far East route all year round, had a slight understanding of the ancient Eastern Empire, and waved his hand to let the crew put down the weapons in his hand.

"I'm sorry, it caused trouble for the captain."

"This is not something that can be solved with an apology." Captain Fleming's eyes showed a cunning look, and the meaning was very obvious; he wanted to extort some benefits.

Poor Li Fushou's pockets are cleaner than his face at this moment. How can he squeeze out half a penny?

After solving the imminent crisis, Li Fushou put his heart back in his stomach and felt more calm in dealing with it;

"Sir Captain, I am teaching my slaves a lesson. According to the ancient Eastern rules, outsiders should not interfere, otherwise it would be an offense to my noble family. Most of the people on the ship obeyed my orders and have arrived in Queensland smoothly. Seeing that the journey is about to end, you wouldn't want to cause any trouble at this time, right?"
To be continued...